A summer reading guide by Captain Laura Van Schaick.

“Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven.”—Nicene Creed It’s a Christian conviction that our world is not the world as God intends. In far too many respects it is a broken world, a wounded world. Its injustices, hatreds and invisible boundaries do not characterize the world God envisions. In response, however, God has acted,

“The book is aspirational—more spiritual than self-help, more realistic than motivational, and more ambitious than personal growth.” 

How do we teach them to engage politically, without losing sight of eternity? 

Like Jesus’ original followers, believers today are sent into the world to be his witnesses (see Luke 24:48; Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). I pray that The Salvation Army will never lose or abandon a sense of urgency in living its mission. Let’s always speak to people about Jesus, the joy of our salvation and the peace that comes from knowing him

Lt-Colonel Keith Pike, territorial secretary for business administration, asked Microsoft Copilot four key questions to see how it would engage with the heart of Christian belief and practice. 

Purposeful breathing is one of the most effective ways to calm our stress response, and breath prayers combine deep breathing exercises with meditation on God’s Word.

We sometimes hear that the family is the basic unit of society, that villages and cities are made up of households, and so forth. The logic may seem intuitive because it has been repeated by philosophers since at least Aristotle. But both Jesus and Paul acknowledge more complicated realities in the community of Christ-followers.

The Salvation Army's work has always been about both discipleship and evangelism—serving people in need while proclaiming the hope of Christ. But we must ask ourselves: are we still effectively sharing the good news in a way that engages the world around us? Are we innovating in our outreach methods to meet the needs of a rapidly changing society?

Because Jesus became incarnate, God has not only empathized with us from a distance; he has felt the tears of grief and the joy of laughter himself.