“Yet we are not without hope”

OK. This is a basically a Sally Army orientated post, but if you are reading this, and you’re not a Sally, there’s a lot of good stuff to chew over.
Phil Wall writes in his usual powerful and compelling way on the subject of hope, here at The Rubicon.

Challenging as ever - especially for those whose tribe is The Salvation Army – Phil pulls no punches when outlining some of the realities of the state of Western Salvationism. For some readers, it might make them wince a little, but for me, it’s imperative that we stare those realities straight in the face.

As Phil, says: “Yet we are not without hope”

No matter the difficulties that seem to confront us on every side, when we choose Hope over Fear, Spirit over Religion, Idealism over Cynicism, Mission over Tradition, Sacrifice over Comfort, Reliance over Independence, such an Army we become.

Thanks to @primitivesalvo at ArmyRenewal for pointing me in the direction of this great piece.

Empty Church?

HT to Dana and Chris for the heads up about this post about Empty Churches on Billy Ritchie’s blog.

A couple of paragraphs caught my attention:

Now the church is more than a building its people but somehow I think that one of the reasons these churches are empty is because they stopped serving their community a long time ago.

How about us all looking at this a different way. At the same time as this decline there is also stories of growth all over the country. Many churches taking on building projects. What if we all forgot denominational divides and gifted each other property. What if a church on the edge of closure struggling to keep up a building were to find a church that was bursting at the seams and say here is your answer.

….some really interesting things to think about.

Thanks, Billy

Danielle's Spiritual Inventory for the religious...

I've lifted this straight from Danielle Strickland's excellent ArmyBarmy Remix blog.

Danielle had mentioned that she knew of some people who use a few spiritual inventory questions to keep themselves in check. In what she describes as "the spirit of authentic discipleship" Danielle proposes some questions for consideration:

Are you friends with someone who is not a Christian?

Do you have friends in low places?

Are you aware today that there is nothing you can do to save yourself from sin? And how have you tried to produce your own righteousness?

Have you embraced a culture that is totally different from your own? If so, how?

Do you forgive freely?

Have you lavished resources on hospitality and fun recently? How did you feel?

Is there ‘dirt’ under your fingernails? Have you done something that required ‘work’?

Have you given something precious away –freely and without regret?

Have you gone swimming at the beach and rolled in the sand?

How often do you read a good secular book?
Have you ever sat in a bar and conversed with the occupants?
Do you protect the reputation of colleagues when they are criticized?
Do you own a hiphop CD?

and many more... the key is trying to live a Kingdom life - not just a religious one. The difference?

life that grows - not diminishes

life that is full - not empty

life that is abandoned - not restricted

life that is alive - not dead

This certainly challenged me...