They Need You, They Need Me, They Need Christ

Ten days with General Gowans continued:

Spending time with one of The Salvation Army’s poet leaders gave me time to reflect on many of his songs and how they have helped form or express the core values and commitments of many Salvationists over the past thirty years. Is it time to take some of those musicals out of our history books and present them to a new generation of Salvationists? When General Gowans spoke to the youth at Long Beach United and at the Aggressive Christianity Conference, I realized that the majority of them have never seen one of the Gowans and Larsson musicals. The last one I remember that was performed was Man Mark 2 at the International Youth Congress. The Youth Congress was held in Macomb, Illinois in 1985. One of my favorite songs performed in this musical was, “They Need You, They Need Me, They Need Christ.” The song is so simple as it explains how easy it should be to reach a hurting world. WOW.

Could it be that more than 20 years have passed since the USA West has featured a Gowans and Larsson musical in any of its events? I think a few of the divisions may have performed the musicals in that time.

We will feature the story line and songs from the White Rose at the WOW Luncheon next June. Plans are under way and our program develops every day. I hope you will plan to be one of the 1000 women in attendance at that event!

How Will WOW Happen?

We have been absolutely blessed these past ten days to have been able to escort General John Gowans around the Western Territory. He came especially for the Aggressive Christianity Conference held this past weekend in San Francisco. Then we added on to that, the retirement meeting for Bob Docter as the CSM of Pasadena Tabernacle Corps, the Sunday Night United meeting at the Long Beach Corps, Territorial Officers’ Councils and lots of travel time.

Imagine having General John Gowans captive in the car for several hours at a time. What would you ask him? What would you tell him? Well, I told him about our WOW Initiative and how it was born from a passion to see women and women’s ministry programs in the army reach their full potential for bringing others into the Kingdom of God and into The Salvation Army. Do you know what he said? He said, “WOW!” Then he asked, “How is this supposed to happen? How will the women do this?”

How would you answer those questions?

Let us hear from you.

WOW - Win One - Who Me?

WOW – Win One

Witnessing for Jesus is something that every Christian is expected to do. Witnessing or evangelism is a scary thing for most of us. Many put witnessing in the same category as public speaking or singing a solo. Yet if you think about it, witnessing should be as natural to a person saved by grace as swimming is to a fish. Saying that and practicing that are two different things. I am what they call an introverted personality. Is there anybody out there like me? I prefer to listen rather than to talk. When I walk into a room full of new people in a new place, I find a safe person or spot and stay there. It is true work for me to mingle. It is true work for me to meet my neighbors when we move to a new place. Yet, it is easy for me to pray for them from the safety of my living room. So how can you expect me to win one woman (or child or man) for Christ this year? I need a strategy.

My thoughts go to the chorus, “Jesus bids me shine with a clear pure light. Like a little candle burning in the night. In this world of darkness, we must shine, you in your small corner and I in mine.”

Where is my corner? What is my comfort zone when it comes to interacting with other people? To formulate my strategy, I need to think in terms of beginning this work of “winning one” from a position of my strengths and gifting. If witnessing for Jesus is to be a natural part of my life, it must be something I can practice everyday. I believe that everything begins with prayer. So, I pray and ask God to bring people who are unsaved or un-churched to mind. Some live far away. They will be on my prayer hit list that God will send witnesses to them. Some are in my corner or realm of daily or weekly interaction. They will be on my prayer hit list and I will ask God to help me witness to them by my life and by my words. I ask God for guidance to be a faithful witness and to be aware of His timing.

Now the supernatural part of witnessing, “Lord give me strength to obey when You tell me to say a word or share a witness. Lord, help me to be in tune with You so that when You bring a surprise person into my corner I will be a bold witness for You. Finally help me to trust You when You move me outside of my comfort zone corner and obey. God help me to be intentional about witnessing for You.”

I underlined the references to God because only God can give the boldness I need to help me be a witness for Jesus. Jesus bids me shine.

WOW - Win One - Who Me?

WOW – Win One

Witnessing for Jesus is something that every Christian is expected to do. Witnessing or evangelism is a scary thing for most of us. Many put witnessing in the same category as public speaking or singing a solo. Yet if you think about it, witnessing should be as natural to a person saved by grace as swimming is to a fish. Saying that and practicing that are two different things. I am what they call an introverted personality. Is there anybody out there like me? I prefer to listen rather than to talk. When I walk into a room full of new people in a new place, I find a safe person or spot and stay there. It is true work for me to mingle. It is true work for me to meet my neighbors when we move to a new place. Yet, it is easy for me to pray for them from the safety of my living room. So how can you expect me to win one woman (or child or man) for Christ this year? I need a strategy.

My thoughts go to the chorus, “Jesus bids me shine with a clear pure light. Like a little candle burning in the night. In this world of darkness, we must shine, you in your small corner and I in mine.”

Where is my corner? What is my comfort zone when it comes to interacting with other people? To formulate my strategy, I need to think in terms of beginning this work of “winning one” from a position of my strengths and gifting. If witnessing for Jesus is to be a natural part of my life, it must be something I can practice everyday. I believe that everything begins with prayer. So, I pray and ask God to bring people who are unsaved or un-churched to mind. Some live far away. They will be on my prayer hit list that God will send witnesses to them. Some are in my corner or realm of daily or weekly interaction. They will be on my prayer hit list and I will ask God to help me witness to them by my life and by my words. I ask God for guidance to be a faithful witness and to be aware of His timing.

Now the supernatural part of witnessing, “Lord give me strength to obey when You tell me to say a word or share a witness. Lord, help me to be in tune with You so that when You bring a surprise person into my corner I will be a bold witness for You. Finally help me to trust You when You move me outside of my comfort zone corner and obey. God help me to be intentional about witnessing for You.”

I underlined the references to God because only God can give the boldness I need to help me be a witness for Jesus. Jesus bids me shine.

WOW Reports From the Field!

WOW! We are starting to hear from the field about their WOW kick offs!

Prayer Pots/Vessels begin to circulate in the ARC Command:

"Dear Officers,

As we discussed at Officer's Councils, we are introducing WOW's Prayer Pot Campaign. Because the ARC is unique we have taken the initiative to adapt the campaign to fit our needs. Therefore, here is how the campaign will proceed.

Each Center will receive the Prayer Pot for one week. We will be sending the pot to Seattle first. During the week, whenever it is convenient for you to meet with your women, you can pray for your specific needs. You may also want to initiate a prayer time for all of the other women's ARC programs.

If you wish you may put a list of the things you prayed about into the pot. Before sending the pot to the next Center please put something that symbolizes your group of women into the pot. The next Center to get the pot can then pray for you if they wish along with praying for their own needs.

In nine weeks, the pot will return to Command where we will summarize it's contents with a photograph or a list. If each of you has put your prayer lists into the pot, we here at THQ will also take some time and pray for you.

If at anytime during the nine week period, you see an answer to your prayers, please report this to us.

We are adapting this Prayer Pot program to our needs, so let WOW mean whatever you want it to mean. On the WOW website blog it says WOW can represent, "Women of Worth" or "Win Over Wickedness". Each of these can easily fit into our programs as each woman comes to understand that she is worthy in God's eyes and she can win over the wickedness of addiction. However, you may have a much better idea so feel free to be creative.

I will be sending the pot on Tuesday October 17, so you can begin Monday October 23.

Thank you so much for your cooperation in this campaign. May it truly inspire each of your women and may God give us the answers to our prayers."

Cascade's Women's retreat:

"Our Retreat was fantastic - we did have 240 women - can you believe it! Sheri Rose Shepherd was an excellent speaker and our ladies loved her. We have had such beautiful notes back from our officers. Eagle Crest in Redmond, Oregon is such a neat retreat center. Big conference center, restaurants, golf course, recreation center, lodge and then numerous houses and condos that are timeshares which are rented out by Eagle Crest. DHQ had two houses - 11 of us in one and 12 in the other. Many of the corps ended up in two houses as well. 20+ from Portland Tab and Moore Street. We had such a good response from our corps. The Gresham ladies stay an additional day and had such a great time. We have over 50 moms and daughters (took a picture)...we had several teenagers and early 20 year olds, plus several seniors. Three retired officers came, Millie Lum, Delores Austin, and Carol Pontsler. They had such a great time and we so much fun together.

We had a wonderful response on Sunday morning - the altar was filled. Of course, our theme was "His Princess". Sheri shared that there were four types of princesses: Princess Powerful, Princess Perfect, Princess Peaceful and Princess Party Girl. Each of the ladies discovered where they fit. We were to answer the question"How do others feel about themselves after they spent time with me? Do they feel encouraged or discouraged, am I a bearer of bad news or good news, how do my children and spouse feel, am I a loyal friend, do I bless others, etc. Several of our corps officers spent time Saturday evening with their ladies defining their gifts, asking the tough question to others in the group, listening to how others felt after time spent with each other, etc. Some wonderful times of honesty, tears, repentance and reconciliation. Wow - Sunday morning, people were so excited to share. We had so many giving popcorn testimonies - we went over our time - which was terrific. Several shared that they had hit a wall, and the wall had come tumbling down. Others found Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior for the very first time.

From our "Sharing Our Inheritance" workshop (leading people to Christ) we learned that we each have 250 people in our sphere of influence and 1/4 of those people want to know Christ as their Savior now. How easy then it should be to Win One Woman to Christ this year or two or three, perhaps five, wouldn't that be fantastic. We also had our prayer pots available with the small pedals and both pots were filled with names. God is soooo good!

I know an official report will come as well as a copy of our materials, but I just had to share the good news."

We want to hear more!

Review of WOW

This is from my first Blog:

"The Salvation Army of the Western Territory will spend the months of August and September praying about and planning for what they will do to Win Our World for Christ. Each corps will help their women Win One Woman for Christ, the Kingdom of God, The Salvation Army and for Women's Ministries.

That is the "How" phase."

Many of you did not know about WOW in August and September and you are just now in the "How" phase. You are just starting to pray and plan. We want to encourage this. Please pray about how you, your corps, your WM groups, and your division can reach new women for the Kingdom of God, the Salvation Army and for your WM group.

The "NOW" phase begins in October 2006 when corps and ARC units through out the territory will put their plans into action. The months of October 2006 through March 2007 will me monitored and measured. We will have a territorial celebration June 9, 2007 for what has been accomplished.

You may be able to tell, that I am excited about this Initiative and praying that God will use it and us for His Glory.

Prayer Pots Have begun to circulate!
We will circulate "Prayer Pots" through out the divisions and the ARC command. This is to insure prayer coverage for this fantastic opportunity. We also hope it will build interest in the WOW Initiative. Everyone will bring their prayer pots to the June Celebration.

What is your corps doing to pray for the WOW Initiative? We want to hear from you at THQ!

During the June 9, 2007 celebration we will have a time when we BOW before the Lord God to give Him our offerings of what was accomplished to date through this Initiative.

WOW The "Not" Diet

WOW!

Do you ever wonder why your spiritual life seems so "powerless" and out of shape when it comes to building the Kingdome of God. Maybe it could be your spiritual diet. Can you relate to the following?

" My own confession: I am sitting at my desk. I don’t have time to fight the traffic so I can go home before the next corps program. It is dinnertime and I am eating cookies and drinking a diet coke. There is not even enough time to stop by a fast food place. Don’t feel sorry for me. I did it to myself. Once again, I failed to think ahead and plan for proper nutrition. (Why is it always easier to keep a package of cookies in the desk than fresh fruit and vegetables? Hint - it has something to do with storage and spoilage.) Why didn’t God create carrots and bananas that fit into my briefcase and stay fresh for several months?

The limits of time, the laws of nature, and my own shortsightedness worked against my good intentions for a diet and proper nutrition again. You may ask me why the cookies were in my desk at all. My excuse sounds like this: “I know that I will get hungry every once in a while. So I keep them there for emergencies.”

So here I am settling for the quick fix. I do this in my spiritual life too. I admit it. As much as I like sinking my teeth into a great time of prayer and Bible Study, there are those days that I settle for the quick fix.

“If I can sleep just ten more minutes,” I say to myself some mornings, “I can pray on the way to work and listen to the Christian radio station. Or I can set aside thirty minutes later today.” I talk to God while I brush my teeth or dry my hair. I thank God for the glass of milk and bowl of cereal and rush out the door.

The limits of time, the laws of nature and my own poor planning, start off my day without spending quality time with God. Half way to work lost in the Christian music or distracted by the crazy drivers on the road I suddenly remember I was going to use that time to pray. OK, I’ll pray for the crazy drivers and the people mentioned on the news. (The quick fix. I did my prayer duty for the day.) That is about as good for my spiritual life as diet coke and cookies are for my body.

I guess keeping healthy spiritually and physically are related. They both require fresh, nutritious food. Maybe God didn’t create carrots and bananas to fit in my briefcase so He could remind me to keep my devotional and spiritual life fresh? Kind of reminds me of the manna He provided for His people in the desert.

Hey, the cookies and diet coke are gone. I must to go or I will be late for Bible Study at the corps. After all limits of time and laws of nature only allow us to be in one place at a time."

Well, I would say that even though I experience the above, I do not recommend it as a good physical diet or spiritual diet. So saying, I am signing off to spend some time in study and prayer. Hope my "Not Diet" encourages a few to do the same.

Move Oh Lord

The summer theme song of our corps has been, “God is moving, by His Spirit, moving o’er all the earth. Signs and wonders, when God moveth, move oh Lord in me.” God always prepares His Church for a mighty movement. Those who have the gift of “seeing” stir up the prayer warriors. The prayer warriors cultivate the soil. The sowers sow the seeds. The movement grows and the people who are a part of the Church had better get with the movement or get out of the way. We humans say we want God to move, but when God moves it means things change. We humans do not like change.

October is on us. The WOW Initiative has started. Are you getting with the movement or are you an obstacle to the movement? Think about it. Most of us want to say that we are on board and a part of the movement, but in reality are functioning as obstacles.

What are some of the symptoms of an obstacle? First we need to know what an obstacle is before we know the symptoms. So here are some synonyms: barrier, obstruction, impediment, stumbling block, hindrance or problem. When you think of winning one woman, what is the first thought that comes to your mind? Is it defeat? “Oh, we have tried this before and nothing works.” Is it fear? “If I speak to someone about their soul, they may reject me.” Is it fatigue? “Great, that is one more thing to add to my list.” Is the desire for status quo? “I like our group just the way it exists. Why bring in new people? They will just mess it up.” Is it reluctance of any kind? “Don’t the people at THQ have anything better to do than give us things to do?” Those thoughts may be symptoms that you are an obstacle to what God wants to do in you, in another person, in your corps, in your WM group and in this territory.

Can one person make a difference? Yes! We need everyone to get with God’s movement. One obstacle, one blockage could cause great problems. One little blood clot in the body can cause a stroke that debilitates the functioning of the whole body.

Yes, we here at THQ need to get on board as well. We also need to pray, move oh Lord in me. We need to be sure we are not blocking God’s blessing. We are praying for you and need you to pray for us.

“God is moving, by His Spirit, moving o’er all the earth. Signs and wonders, when God moveth, move oh Lord in me.” WOW!