OzThoughts Monday 2nd January 2006
See Special Message:
http://www.paperboy.nl/index.cfm?PID=8809FB61-AAB9-DF5F-21FC7E77DB9F6EC1
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For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
... And he will be called
…Mighty God…
(Isaiah 9: 6 New International Version).
If Christmas is the season of joy and excitement then
what of the New Year? How would you describe its
meaning for you.?
It is certainly a time for looking back over a year
past. In all that has happened there is a hymn that
comes readily to my mind:
Now thank we all our God
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom his world rejoices;
Who from our mothers' arms
Hath blessed on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
(SA Song Book Song Number 12)
It is a time of thanksgiving and a time of prayerful
expectation of a year when we can seize the God given
opportunities. I remember that Jesus, the babe of
Bethlehem is indeed “Mighty God”. And I think of
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he says:
16 I couldn't stop thanking God for you--every time I
prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks.
17 But I do more than thank. I ask--ask the God of
our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory--to make
you intelligent and discerning in knowing him
personally,
18 your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see
exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the
immensity of this glorious way of life he has for
Christians,
19 oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who
trust him--endless energy, boundless strength!
20 All this energy issues from Christ: God raised
him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven,
21 in charge of running the universe, everything from
galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt
from his rule. And not just for the time being, but
forever.
22 He is in charge of it all, has the final word on
everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules
the church.
23 The church, you see, is not peripheral to the
world; the world is peripheral to the church. The
church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts,
by which he fills everything with his presence.
(Ephesians 1: The Message).
Yes the mighty God we serve is there for us in this
year.
PRAYER:
O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever-joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us,
And keep us in his grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The Son and him who reigns
With them in highest Heaven.
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number:12
Author: Martin Rinkart (1588-1649)
Translated by : Catherine Winkworth (1827-78)
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Australian Thoughts at the Weekend
Collections
I have a number of collections. Firstly, there is my
collection of stamps. I started out in this when I was
about ten. It taught be about different countries and
something about them. In fact I learnt to recognise
Chinese, Japanese and Korean stamps fairly quickly. I
also learnt that some countries have strange names for
themselves. Switzerland called itself Helvetia. Norge
seemed a strange way to spell Norway. So it went on. I
learnt about Kings, Queens and Presidents. I learnt
about special events. I learnt things like the United
States of America could not put its flag on a stamp as
the postal cancellation mark would deface the flag.
Some years later the flag appeared on a stamp of the
United States. I learnt something about the value of
various stamps.
Shortly before I started collecting stamps, I started
collecting books. The first ones were Little Golden
Books. Johnny Appleseed was a favourite there. These
were added my Sunday School prizes. I loved the story
of Shadow the Sheep Dog. I soon added other books and
my collection has grown to where it is now several
collections.
I have a collection of various translations of the
Bible and New Testaments. That’s really a part of a
big collection of religious books. Another part of
this collection is a collection of hymn books which
although many are a bit battered, I treasure. I have
several books about hymns and hymn writers which I
also value as a resource.
Of course, I have many Salvation Army books. I am
grateful that my parents had valued Army writings and
had a few books which they suggested I read about the
time I commenced Corps Cadets. That reminds me I have
a big collection of Corps Cadet Books of the Month.
Often these were the short biographies that could be
read in an hour or two but also included some major
books By Commissioners Brengle and Coutts. I only have
a few of my own Corps Cadet Handbooks but I have quite
a collection from later when I was responsible for
leading.
Sunday School (we never used the term – it was always
the Company Meeting) provided quite a heap of
resources for my collection. I have about a dozen of
the red International Company Orders books and the
later Living and Believing and the Manual of Bible
Teaching Series. I also have quite a collection of the
annual booklets which were published as a resource for
the Y.P Anniversary which included songs, poems and
short dramatic items and tableaux.
Another major part of my book collection is my
Australian collection. I have several hundred books
about Australia and by Australian authors. These range
from the academic to the very lightweight. There is
historical fact and fiction. There is politics and
travel.
Of course, I have book collections relating to my
other hobbies such as gardening, woodwork and fishing.
Another hobby is photography and that has not so much
generated a collection of books but a collection of
cameras. Gardening and woodwork, too, are not only
hobbies but have generated their own collections of
tools. Fishing has generated a collection of more than
a dozen fishing reels and a collection of rods for
various purposes.
Oh, I forgot birds. I breed birds so that has
generated a collection of about a dozen books and
about 70 birds. These are mostly zebra finches of
various colours, a diminishing number of canaries and
at the moment four quail. I have a general interest in
Australian wildlife and yes that means more books.
Years ago, my wife found and cut out of a newspaper a
small cartoon. It was one of the “Love is” series. It
simply said “Love is letting him keep his junk”. So we
have developed a respect for each others collections.
I thanked my parents for introducing me to Army books.
I think I can also thank them for the collecting gene.
My father had a few prized possessions but none more
than his motor mechanic’s tools. Along side those
tools, in his shed was I think every part he ever
replaced in the various cars and trucks he owned over
the twenty years he lived at that address.
My dear mum has the real collector’s gene. Some less
reverent people would call it a hoarder’s gene. One of
her uncles was a champion. When Uncle Les died, his
house was absolutely full of newspapers stacked in
order in the various rooms and passageways. He also
had a huge collection of empty tin cans and various
screw top bottles which would come in handy for
something one day. Unfortunately, those who cleaned
up after him did not share his vision.
I have been thinking about my collections and my
inclinations in that direction since I heard a program
on radio this week that hoarding is a disease. Not
only that the speaker was saying but she has a program
to break hoarders of the disease. I guess Uncle Les
was a sufferer of OCHD Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding
Disorder.
I thought about my collections and their worth to me
when I read during this week’s OzThoughts on the
Sermon on the Mount. Jesus very clearly says:
"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by
moths and corroded by rust or--worse!-stolen by
burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's
safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious,
isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the
place you will most want to be, and end up being.
(Matthew 6: 19 -21 The Message).
I am also reminded of what the Letter to the Hebrews
says:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great
cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let
us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him
endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured such opposition from
sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose
heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3 New International Version)
I can feel a New Year’s resolution coming on.
May you have a great New Year filled with an over
abundance of blessings from your Heavenly Father.
Father, let me dedicate,
This new year to thee,
In whatever worldly state
Thou wilt have me be;
Not from sorrow, pain, or care
Would I ask that thou shouldst spare;
This alone shall be my prayer,
Glorify thy name.
Chorus
Thy great name! Thy great name!
Let my life, O Lord, each day
Glorify thy name.
If in mercy thou wilt spare
Joys that yet are mine,
If on life serene and fair
Brighter rays may shine,
Let my glad heart, while it sings,
Rise by faith's exultant wings,
And, whate'er the future brings,
Glorify thy name.
If thou callest to the cross,
And its shadow come
Turning all my gain to loss,
Shrouding heart and home,
Let me think how thy dear Son
His eternal glory won,
And in steadfast faith pray on:
Glorify thy name.
Authors: Lawrence Tuttiett (1825-97) (verses), alt
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 916
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are copyright and are used here with permissions
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others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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This is the first part of Chapter 8 of HEATHEN ENGLAND
by Commissioner George Scott Railton. It was first
published in 1878, just as the name “The Salvation
Army” was adopted. (This is actually the 5th Edition
which was published inn the early 1880s).
The second part will be published next week. Anyone
who would like to receive by email a copy of the whole
book, please send a request to OzThoughts@...
Commissioner Railton was the first Commissioner and
for many years the right hand man of General William
Booth.
This book is important for us today as it records why
the Army did things the way they did in its earliest
days. It helps give direction to those who want to get
back to “Booth’s Army”. It supplies fact not
imaginings shaped and reshaped throughout the years.
You might note that the testimony meeting in this
chapter is a “Watchnight Service” or New Year’s Eve
Meeting.
CHAPTER VIII (A). (8 A)
COMMUNION OF SAINTS.
"WE know that we have passed from death unto life,
because we love the brethren," is a rule which we see
continually exemplified in connection with our
services.
The new convert, if not, indeed, the stranger who
ventures within our gates, is immediately ushered into
a family circle where everyone feels the tenderest
interest in every one else, and where no stiffness,
introduction, or formality can for a moment be
tolerated. Something more than the familiarity of the
workshop; something more like the jovial
good-fellowship of the tap-room, purified and elevated
by spiritual influence; this is the kind of atmosphere
in which the convert suddenly finds more than
compensation for the loss of godless friends and
companions in sin.
The love of the people for one another demands and
finds expression in a multitude of gatherings of a
socially-, religious kind, where, to an extent
impossible in more public services, they "have
fellowship one with another."
"Come near, all ye that fear God, and I will declare
what He hath done for my soul," modernized in our
favourite song
"Come, ye that fear the Lord, unto me,
I've something good to say
About the narrow way;
For Christ the other day saved my soul!"
99
is a cry constantly heard amongst us, and always
heartily responded to.
Meetings for the relation of religious experience are
held, as a rule, once every Lord's Day, generally in
the afternoon, sometimes, as a variation from
preaching, in the evening. These meetings are open to
the public, and have been used to the salvation of
many.
At the older stations, where there are disciples of
several years' standing, the relations of experience
are frequently full and marvellous in their heavenly
height and depth. Where only young converts and
speakers abound, and indeed, as a rule, everywhere,
short, sometimes very short, speaking prevails.
As an example of the rapidity with which people
burning with first love manage to declare what God has
done for them, we may cite a meeting, thus described
by the officer who conducted it:
“Sixty-six men and women spoke, we sang ten times, one
man had a fit, one woman fainted, and the benediction
was pronounced, in sixty-seven minutes, and we went
home praising God."
But what can people say at such a speed? The following
is a pretty fair representation of what various
persons on such occasions:
No. 1.-"Friends, I am washed in the blood of the
Lamb."
No. 2.-"The last ten weeks have been the happiest of
my life."
No. 3.-"I mean to live better next year than ever I
did in my life."
No. 4.-"I want two things during the coming year: I
want to feel every second the cleansing blood on me,
and the Spirit of God dwelling within. I feel the
blood is on me now, cleansing from all sin, and that
God is within, giving me the victory."
No. 5.-"I promised God and Brother D – last watch
100
night that I would speak to some one about their souls
every day during the year, and, bless God! I have, and
I have the names of forty of them who have been
converted."
No. 6.-"I am saved outside and in."
No. 7.-"This has been a memorable year in my history.
On the 16th of July I asked God to pardon my sins, and
He did it. Last Sunday He saved my wife, and, bless
God! I can now say-
‘Here I give my all to Thee,
Time and friends and earthly store.'
I had heard the passing-bell tolling this morning for
some one who had died very suddenly, and I said if
that had been me I should have gone straight to
heaven."
No. 8.-“Thank God, though I have been a great sinner,
I have round a great Saviour. I've been a rough un. I
could punch and box a bit; but now I fight for Jesus,
for He has washed away all my sins."
No. 9.-"My feet are on the rock. I have been trying
to work for Jesus. I am unworthy, but God help me! "
No. 10.-"He has saved me and saved my wife, and we
are going on to heaven together."
No. 11.-"I'm a soldier for Jesus, and am winning
victories over self."
No. 12.-"By the grace of God I am saved."
No. 13.-"This has been a month of weakness, but I
think I have lived nearer to God."
No. 14.-"I am happy, and my wife is happy. I love the
Lord Jesus. He makes me happy. I had a good old father
I promised to meet in heaven, and now I am on the
way."
No. 15.-"l am fully saved and happy in God."
No. 16.-"And, thank God! I'm saved and washed in the
blood of the Lamb. I am going on."
No. 17.-"I am saved."
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No. 18.-"I am clinging to the Cross."
No. 19.-"I can truly say
'Nothing on earth do I desire
But Thy pure love within my breast;
This, only this, I will require,
And freely give up all the rest.' "
No. 20.-"I am glad I am washed in the blood of the
Lamb."
No. 21.-"We often forget to praise God for the
mission. I hear its praise wherever I go. I go four
miles off daily, and I hear of it there. I thank God
for this. I praise God for what I have received
through it. I never forget to pray for it when I'm
talking to God; for if the Lord had not sent it here,
I should not have been on my way to heaven."
No. 22.-"I can praise the Lord that He has kept me
faithful-praise God that there ever was a mission that
spoke to me and led me to Christ, and trust the Lord
will yet give me health and strength to push on the
good work."
No. 23.-"I have had a long illness, but the Lord has
brought me through. I am surrounded by ungodly people,
but He has kept me faithful. Oh! may He give me and
give us all grace to see what stones we may throw in
the way of others! May we not be a hindrance to
anyone!"
No. 24.-"Praise God that He found me out and
followed me up. Most of us were led and brought in,
and difficulties were cleared out of our way. Praise
the Lord, He has cleared away mine! The Lord bless us
all! "
No. 25.-"I do bless God for what Jesus has done for
me. I'm trusting in Him every day. He is a very
present help in the time of trouble. I have never been
so happy as I have been since I came to Him. Bless the
Lord for the work! I should like to do more for Him."
No. 26.-" Praise God that He ever found me out with
102
the singing. I heard it one night outside Brother -'s
house, when it was pouring with rain. They were
praying when I went in, and I have been trusting in
Jesus ever since. May the Lord keep me on! I hope we
shall see the room full. If I can only bring one in I
will. Sinners can see I never was so happy before."
No. 27.-"I feel thankful the mission was ever drawn to
lift up the standard of the Cross, for I was in the
wrong road till it met my sight. The Lord give me
wisdom, for I desire to give a hand in this great
work! I pray in faith. I am very thankful for a place
amongst you and in the Gospel ship. The Lord help me
to move on and keep us all! "
No. 28.-"Bless the Lord! I have been trusting in Him
four years. I was under conviction for seven years.
I've been round the world three times, but I never had
a minute's peace till I gave my soul to Jesus, four
years ago, when I came to the penitent form. I know
the place where the Lord saved me. I have had trouble
since then. One of my arms is paralyzed, and I thought
it a great trouble at the time, but the Lord has
blessed it all to me. And though I have had a great
deal of persecution and abuse for Jesus' sake, they
wouldn't get me to give Him up for anything."
No. 29.-"The Lord has seemed to say to me, 'Feed My
sheep! – feed My lambs!' and I have done it, with the
Lord's help. Sometimes I think ‘a prophet is not with
out honour, save in his own country;' but I will
testify for the Lord as long as He lends me breath.
Sometimes the devil says, 'Turn it up,' but then there
comes a knock at the door, and in comes some seeking
soul and finds peace; and, therefore, I can say I am
very glad to see them under the roof. My inmost desire
is still to work for the Master, and when I look back
and see what has been done the last twelve months, I
can praise the Lord! "
The last speaker was formerly one of the most hopeless
103
drunkards in this neighbourhood. He is now, as he so
beautifully expressed, "a father in Israel."
No. 30.-"I am glad I am saved, I know I am saved."
No. 31.-"I can say with a clear conscience that all
my sins are pardoned. I have had six weeks of it,
bless the Lord. "
No. 32.-" I feel I am nearer to God than ever I was
before. "
No. 33.-" Well, I praise God that I know my sins are
forgiven. I have been saved a week."
No. 34.-" I am so glad Jesus saves me now. It's the
best week I ever had."
No. 35.-" Jesus has done so much for me, I must
speak."
No. 36.-" It is impossible to tell how much joy I
have."
No. 37.-" Glory be to God! I have at last been able to
move! For a long time I lived in Grumbling Street, but
now have got into Thanksgiving Square. Is there anyone
here would like to change? There's a house to let;
come and live next door to me."
No. 38.- Says she wants more pluck, so that she might
do more work for the Lord in the open-air as well as
inside.
No. 39.-Says he is very happy indeed since the Lord
has saved him. He thinks it a fine thing to be a
Christian, his joy being a deal greater than ever his
sorrow was. "Oh, bless the Lord for ever taking in
such a wretch as me! Before I heard you preach I was a
rank atheist."
No.40.-Says she knows she is on the right side, and in
spite of anyone else she is going to stick to Jesus.
Although people do say she is going wrong, she does
not mean to be beaten by Satan. She means to beat him.
No.41.-An infant in Jesus, says she is almost
overwhelmed sometimes with joy (or swelling of the
heart, as she puts it).
104
No. 42.- Says he can talk best about his Jesus when
quiet at home; but it makes him shake in public.
No. 43.- Says he likes to get the steam up at home,
then when he gets to the meeting to turn the tap on
fully, and set the engine going; he likes plenty of
steam!
No. 44.-"Oh, my blessed Jesus, what would I have done
without Him when I was left to battle with this cold
world alone? Oh, bless Him! How I do love Him! "
No. 45.- Says he counted the cost, and after putting
all together, he found to be a Christian was
profitable for this life. It was the means of filling
his pockets as well as his soul.
No. 46.-"Oh, praise the Lord! I can boast of having a
clean heart. For a long time I have wanted to serve
the Lord fully, and now I mean to follow all the way."
No. 47.-"To-day has been a good day to my soul. If
it's so sweet to live here with and for Jesus, what
must it be to be there, where all are holy?"
No. 48.- Thinks it a blessed religion. It is so cheap,
or he, with a large family to support, could never
have bought it. For six weeks he has almost lived in
heaven.
No. 49.-" Why talk about heaven! I find it's heaven
all the way to heaven."
No. 50.-" Friends, I'm not half saved, not a bit
saved, I am saved all over. I had been ten years a
poor prodigal, and I was a drunkard, a swearer, a
blackguard, and everything that is bad, but now me and
my wife are going to heaven."
In order to understand why such speaking never loses
its interest and freshness, the reader must endeavour
to add in imagination to the above words the idea of
new converts rising up week by week amidst the joyous
shouts of many to give us their novel testimony, and
must fill up the scene with shining faces, flashing
eyes, bursts of merry song, words and tunes so
familiar to most of those present that a verse needs
only to be commenced without any warning by
105
one to be taken up in a moment and sung with the
heartiness and vigour of a carousal by all, flowing
tears, rough, open-mouthed strangers at the back
drinking in every word with utter astonishment, until
a dirty hand goes up with a sudden jerk to one cheek
or the other, or the sad face sinks down on to the
bench in front, while rejoicing saints crowd around to
pray for the poor sinner who sobs and cries for mercy.
Just one example of the marvellous effect which God's
Spirit constantly gives to half a dozen simple words
let fall by one or another at these meetings.
"It was an experience meeting one Sabbath afternoon. A
large number got up and testified for Jesus. Among
them was our dear Brother-. He spoke of the peace and
joy that he had in believing, and I think I see him as
he stood in the midst of the hall and looked around
upon us all, saying, with quivering lips and beaming
eye, 'I've got it-I've got it! My ticket's safe. I'm
all right, ready packed up. And, oh, dearly beloved
friends, have you obtained peace? If you have not,
never rest short of it, for I can assure you that you
will never be really happy till you have yielded
yourself and all you have to Him.' Well, those words
sank deep down into my heart. But I was proud-I was
stubborn.
"At last I could stand it no longer. I went home into
the country. It was a lovely summer's day: the birds
were singing sweetly, the flowers were blooming, and
all nature was smiling on every hand. But I was sad. I
looked upward, and the scalding tears came thickly. I
thought, oh how I did so wish that God had pardoned
me, that I was accepted in the Beloved. Something
said, 'Why not be sure to-day? Why not make sure now?
Why not this very moment? Kneel down and ask for your
assurance.
You can have it for asking for, as well as Brother -.'
But I could not kneel in the road. Dear reader, you
will smile, I know, but when a soul is in reality
seeking after
108
different circumstances, have daily to carry on the
great warfare wherein all so greatly delight.
And, besides, provision must be made for the enjoyment
of holidays. Army people want no "entertainments."
They gave up all that sort of thing when they gave God
all their heart. And, if any of them were to become so
changed for the worse as to desire anything of the
kind, we trust the Army will never sink so low as to
provide it. There are plenty of people to supply
entertainments such as the worldly will gladly attend.
We have a higher calling. We must work the work of Him
that sent us while it is day, for the night cometh
wherein no man can work.
"But may not men be kept from the public-house by such
means?"
Undoubtedly they may; but what then?
"Well, it is a first step in the right direction."
Certainly; but we do not find it a step which makes
the steps to the cross more easy of ascent. Rather the
contrary; for to-day, as some time since, we find "the
publicans and harlots" stepping into the kingdom of
heaven much more frequently than the orderly sinners
who" do no one any harm," "do. their best," and" keep
themselves and their families respectable." There are
instances, over which we will always rejoice, in which
reformation is followed by repentance; but they are
far too rare to make it pay the Army miner to work the
entertainment "vein," while the Gospel of Christ,
simply set forth, without the expense or trouble of a
careful "get-up," is sure, any one evening, to do a
far deeper, grander, surer work upon the heart and
conscience of somebody. And that is not all. If, in
getting up and going through an" entertainment," the
spiritual life of one convert is injured, his taste
for purely heavenly things impaired, his solemn
earnest view of the fearful realities of the sinner's
future laughed into dimness, his hold upon his God
slackened, his continual spirit of prayer and faith
and his ceaseless readiness to take part in spiritual
109
exercises broken ill upon, a mischief is done, which,
perhaps, many a night's toil and prayer will not
repair. Therefore, the Army cannot and will not have
anything to do with entertainments. It will have no
meetings which do not naturally conclude with a
prayer-meeting and an invitation to penitent sinners
to come out and seek the Lord, should any such be
present. The Army exists to save souls, and by saving
them and using them to save others.
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OzThoughts Friday 30th December 2005
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9: 6 New International Version).
This week we are thinking about Jesus, the Wonderful
Counselor and some of the messages he shared about how
e should live.
As he sat there on the mountain de, Jesus the friend,
teacher and counselor shared a lot of his views on
life and how life should be lived to please God. His
Disciples listened carefully to every word he said.
They remembered everything he said. They would have
talked about it. Some would have shared it with
others. This sharing with the other Disciples and with
other people engraved the message deeply on their
memories.
The disciples had heard other teachers who taught as
if they were reciting formulas. These other teachers
had that blank look on their face that showed they
were not really involved in or enthusiastic about
their subject.
In fact, some of these teachers reminded the Disciples
of some of Jesus words on the mountain.
13 "Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is
flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a
successful life that can be practiced in your spare
time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of
people do.
14 The way to life--to God!-is vigorous and requires
total attention.
15 "Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot,
dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they
are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be
impressed with charisma; look for character.
21 "Knowing the correct password--saying "Master,
Master,' for instance--isn't going to get you anywhere
with me. What is required is serious obedience--doing
what my Father wills.
22 I can see it now--at the Final Judgment thousands
strutting up to me and saying, "Master, we preached
the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored
projects had everyone talking.'
23 And do you know what I am going to say? "You
missed the boat. All you did was use me to make
yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit.
You're out of here.' (Matthew 7. The Message).
Jesus’ teaching and counsel on that mountainside was
so different that one of the Disciples, Matthew later
recorded the reaction when he finished:
28 When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst
into applause. They had never heard teaching like
this.
29 It was apparent that he was living everything he
was saying--quite a contrast to their religion
teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever
heard. (Matthew 7. The Message).
Prayer and Meditation:
O Master, let me walk with thee
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil. the fret of care.
Help me the slow of heart to move
By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay,
And guide them in the homeward way.
Teach me thy patience; still with thee
In closer, dearer company,
In work that keeps faith sweet and strong,
In trust that triumphs over wrong;
In hope that sends a shining ray
Far down the future's broadening way,
In peace that only thou canst give,
For thee, O Master, let me live.
Author: Washington Gladden (1836-1918)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 519
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Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
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The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
are copyright and are used here with permissions
granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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You can also receive OzThoughts from the following
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OzThoughts Thursday 29th December 2005
Welcome to new members of OzThoughts Internet Ministry
Group. Our prayer is that you will find OzThoughts
helpful in your daily Christian walk. Thank you , too,
to members who invite friends to join or share it with
them, by email. By printed page , on websites and
email groups, or in your own ministry. (See "WE get
mail" below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9: 6 New International Version).
This week we are thinking about Jesus, the Wonderful
Counselor and some of the messages he shared about how
e should live.
Jesus was not a counsellor with personal standards
which he purposely kept hidden to have people try to
work out their own acceptable standards. He knew that
his Heavenly Father has set a code of acceptable
behaviour long ago and people should live their life
according to that. His counsel was in giving clearer
understanding of what God’s standards are.
Again as Jesus spoke to his disciples on the
mountainside he gave clear advice.
17 "Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to
demolish the Scriptures--either God's Law or the
Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I
am going to put it all together, pull it all together
in a vast panorama.
18 God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars
in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after
stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be
alive and working.
19 "Trivialize even the smallest item in God's
Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But
take it seriously, show the way for others, and you
will find honor in the kingdom.
20 Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the
matters of right living, you won't know the first
thing about entering the kingdom.
21 "You're familiar with the command to the
ancients, "Do not murder.'
22 I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as
angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder.
Carelessly call a brother "idiot!' and you just might
find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell
"stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of
hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.
23 "This is how I want you to conduct yourself in
these matters. If you enter your place of worship and,
about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a
grudge a friend has against you,
24 abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to
this friend and make things right. Then and only then,
come back and work things out with God.
25 "Or say you're out on the street and an old
enemy accosts you. Don't lose a minute. Make the first
move; make things right with him. After all, if you
leave the first move to him, knowing his track record,
you're likely to end up in court, maybe even jail.
26 If that happens, you won't get out without a stiff
fine.
27 "You know the next commandment pretty well, too:
"Don't go to bed with another's spouse.'
28 But don't think you've preserved your virtue
simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be
corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those
leering looks you think nobody notices--they also
corrupt.
29 "Let's not pretend this is easier than it
really is. If you want to live a morally pure life,
here's what you have to do: You have to blind your
right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer.
You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped
on a moral trash pile.
30 And you have to chop off your right hand the
moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a
bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good
in the dump. (Matthew 5 The Message).
PRAYER AND MEDITATION:
I want a principle within
Of jealous, godly fear,
A sensibility of sin,
A pain to feel it near.
I want the first approach to feel
Of pride or fond desire,
To catch the wandering of my will,
And quench the kindling fire.
Quick as the apple of an eye,
O God, my conscience make
Awake my soul when sin is nigh,
And keep it still awake.
O may the least omission pain
My well-instructed soul,
And drive me to the blood again
Which makes the wounded whole.
Author: Charles Wesley (1707-88)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 425
………………………………………………………………..
We get mail:
The purpose of this message is to tell you what a
wonderful job you are doing with your I/Net ministry,
you are no doubt bringing blessings into a vast number
of homes with your inspirational messages and
scripture readings and commentary and the hymns and
verses which bless and inspire, keep up the good work.
I currently print out copies and circulate
them around after my wife and I have read them. I
recently acquired a laser printer for this purpose
because the ink jet printer has proved too
uneconomical and expensive in ink to maintain and the
production is now proceeding at a blistering and
vastly more economical pace. – Les (Warwick Australia)
…………………………..
Thank you for a welcome OZ thought today (Wednesday).
I felt I should thank you
For your gentle but thought provoking e mail. Bless
you. Eileen (Boston MA USA)
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````````````
Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
Internet Ministry.
We remind you that you can be involved in the
following ways by email.
To send an email which will go to the whole group
address it to:
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry@...
[All emails are moderated for their suitable content.
Also to reduce the number of emails to the group added
in to the daily OzThoughts. They may be shortened by
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To send an email privately just to the writer send it
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To unsubscribe send an email (without a message) to :
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If you invite friends to subscribe they do it by
sending an email (without a message) to :
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-subscribe@...
(Tell them to check their junk box for the reply if
it does not seem to come).
The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
are copyright and are used here with permissions
granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
You can also receive OzThoughts from the following
groups (which you are welcome to join):
SalvationArmy3:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/salvationarmy3/
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http://groups.msn.com/PoemsfromtheLordbyAilsaYates
BAND MUSIC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandmusic
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OzThoughts Wednesday 28th December 2005
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9: 6 New International Version).
Yesterday, we thought about some characteristics that
Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor commended when he sat
on a mountainside and spoke to his Disciples.
One of the situations that we confront in life is our
possessions and our needs for daily living. Years ago
when I did some work for a marriage
Often, the couples lifestyle expectations and what
they considered necessary and essential expenditure
was a major cause of conflict. Their desires far
exceeded their income.
Jesus on the mountainside has a lot to say about
possessions and lifestyle expectations.
19 "Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten
by moths and corroded by rust or--worse!-stolen by
burglars.
20 Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from
moth and rust and burglars.
21 It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your
treasure is, is the place you will most want to be,
and end up being.
22 "Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open
your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills
up with light.
23 If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust,
your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on
your windows, what a dark life you will have!
24 "You can't worship two gods at once. Loving
one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of
one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship
God and Money both.
25 If you decide for God, living a life of
God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about
what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the
clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far
more to your life than the food you put in your
stomach, more to your outer appearance than the
clothes you hang on your body.
26 Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied
down to a job description, careless in the care of
God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27 "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever
gotten taller by so much as an inch?
28 All this time and money wasted on fashion--do you
think it makes that much difference? Instead of
looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and
look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop,
29 but have you ever seen color and design quite like
it? The ten best--dressed men and women in the country
look shabby alongside them.
30 "If God gives such attention to the appearance of
wildflowers--most of which are never even seen--don't
you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do
his best for you?
31 What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax,
to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can
respond to God's giving.
32 People who don't know God and the way he works fuss
over these things, but you know both God and how he
works.
33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative,
God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll
find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34 "Give your entire attention to what God is
doing right now, and don't get worked up about what
may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal
with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
(Matthew 6. The Message).
PRAYER AND MEDITATION:
There is a holy hill of God,
Its heights by faith I see;
Now to ascend my soul aspires,
To leave earth's vanity.
Chorus
Lord, cleanse my hands, and cleanse my heart,
All selfish aims I flee,
My faith reward, thy love impart,
And let me dwell with thee.
Though great the world's attractions be,
I pass contented by;
Gladly I sacrifice their charms
For those enjoyed on high.
I seek the blessing from the Lord
That humble saints receive,
And righteousness, his own reward
To all who dare believe.
O let me now thy hill ascend,
Made worthy by thy grace,
There in thy strength to stand and serve
Within the holy place!
Authors: William Drake Pennick (1884-1944)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 461
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````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````\
````````````
Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
Internet Ministry.
We remind you that you can be involved in the
following ways by email.
To send an email which will go to the whole group
address it to:
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry@...
[All emails are moderated for their suitable content.
Also to reduce the number of emails to the group added
in to the daily OzThoughts. They may be shortened by
editing]
To send an email privately just to the writer send it
to: OzThoughts@...
To unsubscribe send an email (without a message) to :
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-unsubscribe@...
If you invite friends to subscribe they do it by
sending an email (without a message) to :
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-subscribe@...
(Tell them to check their junk box for the reply if
it does not seem to come).
The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
are copyright and are used here with permissions
granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
You can also receive OzThoughts from the following
groups (which you are welcome to join):
SalvationArmy3:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/salvationarmy3/
Poems from the Lord by Ailsa Yates:
http://groups.msn.com/PoemsfromtheLordbyAilsaYates
BAND MUSIC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandmusic
Please forward this to your friends.
Thank you and God bless you with love, peace and joy.
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OzThoughts Tuesday 27th December 2005
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, [b] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9: 6 New International Version).
Isaiah predicts one of the names of Jesus will be
“Mighty Counselor”.
Now I have found some people who think they are mighty
counselors They attack every problem with an open
moth and seem to love people depending on them for
advice.
I am sure Jesus was not like that. He did have some
understanding he wished to share and what he gave was
good counsel. However, he would have listened
carefully to people to understand them. He did not
quickly treat them as the stereotypes that were
popular at the time.
As he sat on a mountainside talking to his disciples,
he showed them patterns for living that could be
considered successful lifestyles.
3 "You're blessed when you're at the end of your
rope. With less of you there is more of God and his
rule.
4 "You're blessed when you feel you've lost what
is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by
the One most dear to you.
5 "You're blessed when you're content with just
who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you
find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't
be bought.
6 "You're blessed when you've worked up a good
appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal
you'll ever eat.
7 "You're blessed when you care. At the moment of
being "carefull,' you find yourselves cared for.
8 "You're blessed when you get your inside
world--your mind and heart--put right. Then you can
see God in the outside world.
9 "You're blessed when you can show people how to
cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you
discover who you really are, and your place in God's
family.
10 "You're blessed when your commitment to God
provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even
deeper into God's kingdom.
11 "Not only that--count yourselves blessed every
time people put you down or throw you out or speak
lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that
the truth is too close for comfort and they are
uncomfortable.
12 You can be glad when that happens--give a cheer,
even!-for though they don't like it, I do! And all
heaven applauds. And know that you are in good
company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten
into this kind of trouble. Matthew 5 (The Message)
PRAYER;
Heavenly Father, help me to listen to the words of
Jesus. I pray that my life will be blessed because I
live as he would have me live. Amen.
MEDITATION:
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels in chorus
Sang, as they welcomed his birth:
Glory to God in the highest,
Peace and good tidings to earth!
Chorus
Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Fasting alone in the desert,
Tell of the days that he passed;
How he was tried and was tempted,
Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of his labors,
Tell of the sorrows he bore;
He was despised and afflicted,
Homeless, rejected and poor.
Tell of the cross where they nailed him,
Mocking his anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid him;
Tell how he liveth again.
Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see;
Glory for ever to Jesus,
He paid the ransom for me.
Author: Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
The salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 99
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````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````\
````````````
Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
Internet Ministry.
We remind you that you can be involved in the
following ways by email.
To send an email which will go to the whole group
address it to:
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry@...
[All emails are moderated for their suitable content.
Also to reduce the number of emails to the group added
in to the daily OzThoughts. They may be shortened by
editing]
To send an email privately just to the writer send it
to: OzThoughts@...
To unsubscribe send an email (without a message) to :
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-unsubscribe@...
If you invite friends to subscribe they do it by
sending an email (without a message) to :
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-subscribe@...
(Tell them to check their junk box for the reply if
it does not seem to come).
The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
are copyright and are used here with permissions
granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
You can also receive OzThoughts from the following
groups (which you are welcome to join):
SalvationArmy3:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/salvationarmy3/
Poems from the Lord by Ailsa Yates:
http://groups.msn.com/PoemsfromtheLordbyAilsaYates
BAND MUSIC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandmusic
Please forward this to your friends.
Thank you and God bless you with love, peace and joy.
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OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-unsubscribe@...
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OzThoughts Monday 26th December 2005
The wrappings have been torn off. The gifts revealed.
The food has been shared and the contact with loved
ones enjoyed. So that was Christmas! Well, it was
Christmas Day but Christmas continues.
I noticed shops at one center were tearing down their
Christmas decorations on Saturday afternoon. I guess
they move into their next season of encouragement for
customers to “swipe the plastic”. Christmas is done
for them. Maybe all that is left of Christmas will be
the long lines of people with returns when they reopen
for business today.
Christmas continues. If as some suggest “Jesus is the
reason for the season” then Jesus the Babe of
Bethlehem was not a one day wonder. If we with others
find good basis in The Bible for the thinking that the
reason for the season was God’s love for us that
continues. If as one gentlemen told a huge crowd of
people gathered to sing Christmas Carols that at
Christmas we celebrate Jesus death for us, then it
stretches right through to Easter.
Christmas is a personal season. So we decide if it
continues for us. God’s love comes to us in the love
we find inn the Babe of Bethlehem and the Christ of
Calvary. Christmas love continues as we worship God
and share that love with others in His Holy Name. We
can put away the wrapping, pull down the trees and
lights, decide we wont eat so much next Christmas and
in all this the love of the God of Christmas
continues.
Even , on the first Christmas, people reacted
differently.
19 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them
dear, deep within herself.
20 The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying
and praising God for everything they had heard and
seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!
(Luke 2 The Message).
PRAYER:
Father, thank you for Christmas. Thank you for what it
means to me. May your love through Jesus continue to
be evident in my life, my home and in my friendships
with others. Amen.
MEDITATION:
Wonderful story of love!
Tell it to me again;
Wonderful story of love!
Wake the immortal strain.
Angels with rapture announce it,
Shepherds with wonder receive it;
Sinner, O won't you believe it?
Wonderful story of love!
Chorus
Wonderful! Wonderful!
Wonderful story, wonderful story of love!
Wonderful story of love!
Though you are far away;
Wonderful story of love!
Still he doth call today.
Calling from Calvary's mountain,
Down from the crystal bright fountain,
E'en from the dawn of creation;
Wonderful story of love!
Wonderful story of love!
Jesus provides a rest;
Wonderful story of love!
For all the pure and blest;
Rest in those mansions above us,
With those who've gone on before us,
Singing the rapturous chorus;
Wonderful story of love!
Author: John Merritte Driver (1858-1918)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 139
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Internet Ministry.
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The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
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others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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You can also receive OzThoughts from the following
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BAND MUSIC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandmusic
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Australian Thoughts at the Weekend.
Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to
thank everyone for their support through this past
year. It would seem that OzThoughts Internet Ministry
reaches out daily to about 1,000 people through the
various groups and websites where it is posted.
I thank the individuals who take the time to post
OzThoughts to their group or place it on their
website. I know there are others who forward it to
their friends by email and others who print it and
hand it around. Still others use some of it in their
own ministry in their corps, church and community.
As a group we are a big number scattered throughout
this world. However, we are all individuals on our
Christian walk with Christ. My prayer is that we may
all be helped in our walk by pausing a short while,
thinking , praying , and reading scripture and
meditating on a song or hymn.
May each person have a great Christmas when Jesus will
be really close and a fantastic New Year when we know
that “God is still with us” in every circumstance.
The following ATAW was written a couple of years ago
and points to those around us and shows Christmas may
have its hurts as well as its joys.
Christmas Still Wrapped
It was the first Rotary Club weekly meeting after
Christmas. It was one of those meetings were casual
formality was the order of the day. Many of the
members were away on holidays. Some were holidaying at
home and this was reflected in their casual clothes
rather than the suit and tie they normally wore when
they came straight from the office to the lunchtime
meeting. It was a time of laughter and good fun.
The meeting was full of stories about Christmas
events. Some had taken time to worship. Others told of
family visits. There was comment on the recreational
activities or sporting events many had played. Many
talked about the cricket and some spoke about the
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
After the meeting one of the Rotarians came to me and
asked if it would be possible for me to call at his
home and pick up the presents which were under the
tree. We agreed that I would do it immediately. As I
was handed the parcels, I learnt these were for his
children who were with his former wife. It had been
promised they would be with him for Christmas. They
had not arrived. He said it was obvious his former
wife had once again broken agreements about access.
I was able to make sure these beautiful gifts went to
other children and pass their thanks to the father
whose Christmas had been empty of the expected joy.
I thought about this event when I heard on our
Television News a father say he had no answer to the
question asked by his son “Dad, should I buy a present
for Daniel?” Daniel disappeared on his way to the
shops to buy Christmas presents a couple of weeks ago.
An intensive amount of police work, extensive
searching, and a huge amount of media exposure has
brought no result.
Christmas is a sad time for many. There are many gifts
under trees and in peoples hearts which are stilled
wrapped. God’s gift of his son and his gifts through
his son often are still wrapped by those who need them
and could apply them in their daily living.
As I think of this two songs come to mind. The first,
considered a Christmas Carol, comes from the 18th
century and is written by a leading scholar and
Congregational minister of the time who overcame all
types of difficulty including being orphaned at an
early age. The second more modern was written by Annie
Johnson who also was orphaned before she was six and
adopted by a family called Flint. She was afflicted by
painful arthritis when she was in her teens and was
soon unable to walk. When she could not be a composer
and concert pianist as she wished, she decided to
become a poet. At first she saw this only as an
acceptable alternative to being a pianist but soon
realised it was a gift from God. Later in life she
wrote many of her poems using a typewriter as she was
unable to hold a pen.
Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
The Saviour promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.
He comes, the prisoners to release
In Satan's bondage held;
The gates of brass before him burst,
The iron fetters yield.
He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The wounded soul to cure,
And with the treasures of his grace,
To enrich the humble poor.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And Heaven's eternal arches ring
With thy beloved name.
Philip Doddridge (1702-51)
[The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 81]
***************************************
He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase,
To added afflictions he addeth his mercy,
To multiplied trials he multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father's full giving is only begun.
His love has no limits, his grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of his infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
Annie Johnson Flint (1866-1932)
[The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 579]
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````````````
Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
Internet Ministry.
We remind you that you can be involved in the
following ways by email.
To send an email which will go to the whole group
address it to:
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry@...
[All emails are moderated for their suitable content.
Also to reduce the number of emails to the group added
in to the daily OzThoughts. They may be shortened by
editing]
To send an email privately just to the writer send it
to: OzThoughts@...
To unsubscribe send an email (without a message) to :
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-unsubscribe@...
If you invite friends to subscribe they do it by
sending an email (without a message) to :
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry-subscribe@...
(Tell them to check their junk box for the reply if
it does not seem to come).
The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
are copyright and are used here with permissions
granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
You can also receive OzThoughts from the following
groups (which you are welcome to join):
SalvationArmy3:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/salvationarmy3/
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http://groups.msn.com/PoemsfromtheLordbyAilsaYates
BAND MUSIC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandmusic
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Thank you and God bless you with love, peace and joy.
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G'day Everyone
A group of Salvationists throughout the world,
Salvationarmy3
(salvationarmy3-subscribe@yahoogroups.com )
has undertaken to pray at 9am their local time on
Chrstmas Day and cause a
great wave of prayer throughout the world.
( I will pray during the introducrtory remarks of our
Christmmas Day Service at Gold Coast Temple and be
"prayerfully thoughtful of the group" during the whole
service).
Could I suggest that we also ask our friends to pray
at this time "for each other, our countries, our
families, and the Salvation
Army, but ...lets make sure we pray for each other"
To ask your freinds just forward this email.
Have a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year
Love and peace
OzThoughts Internet Ministry
Australia
Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
This is Chapter 7 of HEATHEN ENGLAND by Commissioner
George Scott Railton. It was first published in 1878,
just as the name “The Salvation Army” was adopted.
(This is actually the 5th Edition which was published
inn the early 1880s).
Commissioner Railton was the first Commissioner and
for many years the right hand man of General William
Booth.
This book is important for us today as it records why
the Army did things the way they did in its earliest
days. It helps give direction to those who want to get
back to “Booth’s Army”. It supplies fact not
imaginings shaped and reshaped throughout the years.
It may be interesting to note that while Commissioner
Railton is here championing the “Army” songs, it was
still experimental at this stage. He gives evidence
that the experiment is working. Robert Sandalls Second
volume of SA History has some comment. Notice that
here there is not mention of brass bands. Probably the
only brass band at this time (certainly at the time of
the early editions of this book) was the Fry family at
Salisbury Corps.
This is Chapter 7 of HEATHEN ENGLAND by Commissioner
George Scott Railton. It was first published in 1878,
just as the name “The Salvation Army” was adopted.
(This is actually the 5th Edition which was published
inn the early 1880s).
Commissioner Railton was the first Commissioner and
for many years the right hand man of General William
Booth.
This book is important for us today as it records why
the Army did things the way they did in its earliest
days. It helps give direction to those who want to get
back to “Booth’s Army”. It supplies fact not
imaginings shaped and reshaped throughout the years.
It may be interesting to note that while Commissioner
Railton is here championing the “Army” songs, it was
still experimental at this stage. He gives evidence
that the experiment is working. Robert Sandalls Second
volume of SA History has some comment. Notice that
here there is not mention of brass bands. Probably the
only brass band at this time (certainly at the time of
the early editions of this book) was the Fry family at
Salisbury Corps.
CHAPTER VII. (7).
HOW WE SING.
WE have a great deal of reason to sing, have we not?
Yes, and we sing a great deal. Our people are very
fond of singing, and it is well that they are so, for
singing helps them over many a rough piece of their
rugged pathway, and through many a season of darkness
and trial; and not only is the singing blessed to the
singers, but, thank God! it is used, more perhaps than
anything else, to attract the people to our services.
Not that our singing is peculiarly attractive from an
artistic point of view. We doubt whether to people of
taste and musical education it might not be rather
repulsive than otherwise. Such a friend once aptly
called it "a joyful noise unto the Lord." We are quite
prepared to admit that our singing, especially in the
open-air, may more closely resemble the blare of a
military band than the melody of the sanctuary; but if
the people who sing and the people who hear like such
singing-prefer it, in fact, to any other-what then?
"Educate and elevate their tastes."
And what in the meantime?
"Oh, break them of the other by degrees."
But how if they show a disposition to sing more and
more loudly and energetically the longer they walk in
the new happy path, and if they keep gathering other
noisy singers into their ranks?
We should like somebody to try teaching our people a
89
more refined style of singing; or, rather, we should
not like it to be tried, because we find that the
sound and force of the singing is in exact proportion
to the amount and character of the life existing
anywhere amongst us. And a moment's consideration
shows that this must be so.
Our training-classes are held in the taproom, the
public house free-and-easy saloon, the low
concert-hall, the forecastle, and the barrack-room.
From these classic neighbourhoods we draw our singers,
who, the moment they become" glad in the Lord," feel
an irresistible inclination to sing more loudly than
ever they did before.
Anyone who has listened to the sounds that are borne
on the midnight air from the open windows of the
public house, mingled with the squeak of the violin
and the rattle of mugs and pots, or to the not less
boisterous hilarity of the wagon-loads of
holiday-makers who rush through the streets on Mondays
and holidays, must be aware that when the
working-classes are "enjoying themselves" according to
their notions, their forceful lungs have the freest
play. How much more, then, when these same people are
overflowing with a joy they never dreamt of before,
must they be expected to give vent to it according to
their strength?
Given the largest number of these people in one place
given the most numerous and frequent accessions to the
company, the most numerous and frequent victories, the
greatest cause for rejoicing, and you have inevitably
the greatest noise. Such is our experience, at any
rate.
We shall not further plead for this sort of singing as
it concerns the singers, simply because it seems to us
the only singing possible to them. When they begin to
lose their taste for it, they are losing their taste
for singing, and for lively, happy, powerful religion
altogether. Such is our invariable experience.
But as to the effects of this singing, let facts
speak.
“The singing of the procession, and the march back to
90
the station, seemed to us extraordinarily full of zest
and power. It was quite amusing to notice the puzzled
look on the face of some street musicians, who
continued to strike their instruments, though they
could scarcely have heard them at all themselves, as
we swept by singing
‘I love Jesus, Hallelujah,
I love Jesus, yes, I do;
I love Jesus, He's my Saviour;
Jesus smiles and loves me too.'''
"But what good does it all do?"
The landlady of a public-house said one day, "Who are
these men and women who sing and preach in our
street?" "They are The Christian Mission."
"If they would not sing in our street I would give
them ten shillings and would contribute to the work,
for they are singing and preaching all my best
customers away from me."
"But," replies her informant, an old customer, "we can
afford to give The Mission more than that now. We are
converted to God. We have happy homes, happy wives,
happy children, and money to spare."
A young man, the son of a widowed mother, living in a
country village, was led away by drink and evil
companions, going from bad to worse, until at length,
on a drunken spree, he left his cottage home and his
poor broken-hearted mother, whose grey hairs he was
fast bringing to the grave, and went all unknown to
her to Cardiff. Here he signed articles for sea; but
just before his ship left the port he heard our people
singing in the open air, and was induced to follow to
the hall, where, deeply convinced of sin, he sought
and found mercy, How his first letter home must have
gladdened the poor widow's heart and made her sing for
joy!
One evening, in a densely-populated neighbourhood, a
band of people were heard singing-
91
"Stop, poor sinner, stop and think
Before you farther go ;
Can you sport upon the brink
Of everlasting woe?
Hell beneath is gaping wide,
Vengeance waits the dread command
Soon to stop your sport and pride
And sink you with the damned.
Once again I charge you-Stop I
For unless you warning take,
Ere you are aware you'll drop
Into the burning lake."
A solemn warning, sung in a way that must have
convinced everyone that it was meant! A poor woman who
had long been living in sin, heard, and could not
forget it. So powerfully did the Spirit of God apply
the words to her conscience, that she said she "could
not sleep at night, nor rest by day." She decided, as
so many have done before, to try to get rid of the
painful impression by "change of air and scene." But
it was no use. Early in the morning at the
booking-office, "Once again I charge you-Stop," rang
in her ears above all the bustle and the whistling of
the engines. "Once again I charge you-Stop!" seemed to
come sweeping down upon her on the breeze as she sat
on the steamboat helplessly asking herself, "How can
I?" "Once again I charge you-Stop!" was all she could
hear or think of in the great city to which she
journeyed, day after day, and night after night, and
the terrible charge fell upon her heart with
increasing weight every day, until at last, upon her
return home, she did stop. She found the last lines of
that outspoken hymn delightfully true as she fell
broken-hearted at the feet of Jesus
“None who come shall be denied
He says there still is room."
A sailor who had just come into port and drawn his
money was on his way to a place of amusement when the
92
singing in a little hall arrested him. He stood for a
while to listen outside. The music was just "his sort
of thing," though the words were entirely "out of his
line." By-and-by he ventured into the lobby and then
curiosity to see the people who could sing religion so
merrily drew him inside. A hymn-book was put into his
hand, and he was invited to a front seat. He thought
the singing so “very lively" that he said to himself,
"I will stop and hear what they have to say."
And then God spoke to him, laying bare all the secrets
of his past life so forcibly that he resolved there
and then to give up drink at any rate. He was reminded
that this was not enough, but said he would come again
and hear more.
"What's to pay?" he naturally inquired, unaccustomed
to hear singing, or meet with any sort of
accommodation ashore, without paying dearly for it.
"Nothing to pay," was the surprising reply, and the
next evening he was one of the first to accept our
hospitality again.
This time allusion was made by the speaker to a
mother's prayers, and the sailor prodigal's heart was
broken. Many a year had his poor mother prayed for him
while he had been drinking and running to every excess
of riot with bad companions. He had stood by her death
bed, and her entreaties that he would give up sin and
meet her in heaven had so far moved him that he
promised to comply with her wishes, and was serious
for a time. But, alas! "the drink again" did its
terrible work. All was forgotten, and he plunged into
sin as madly as ever, till thus marvellously brought
face to face with his mother's God.
Now, with tearful eyes, he asked, "Can I be
converted?" and, falling on his knees, sought
forgiveness in right-down earnest. When peace and
pardon flooded his soul with rapturous joy, who can
wonder that be could not suppose all this great
benefit was to cost nothing, and repeated the question
of tho night before
93
“What's to pay? "
"Nothing to pay," was again the answer, of course, and
he went away exclaiming
"Well, well! a teetotaller and converted, and nothing
to pay!"
A wretched drunkard sat one Sunday morning upon his
doorstep with parched lips and aching head, waiting,
as so many thousands, alas! do, for the opening hour
of their church-the public-house-his own house a
wreck, and his family as miserable as his continued
ill-conduct could make them. As he sat there a band of
strong men suddenly came round the street corner,
singing
“Oh, you must be a lover of the Lord,
Or you can't go to heaven when you die."
Before he could raise himself up to get into the house
they were standing right opposite, and what surprised
him most was to see two old mates amongst the throng.
What must have been his emotion when one of them,
showing him to everybody, said:
"There is a man sitting on this doorstep that I have
drunk gallons of ale with at the Red Lion, and he will
tell you what a character I have been; but now, thank
God, I am converted, and have joined The Christian
Mission.
"The Lord will save you too. Come and go with us,"
added the speaker, looking his old friend straight in
the face. The poor fellow looked at his converted
mate's clothes, and at his own, and the contrast
between them seemed to say with a loud voice,
"Religion is better than drunkenness," an unanswerable
argument which seemed to press itself upon him more
and more as the day wore on, in spite of all that he
could do to turn his attention to some thing more
agreeable.
In the evening a band of singers came along again,
this time with
94
“We are bound for the land of the pure and the holy,
The home of the happy, the kingdom of love,
Ye heart-burdened ones who in misery languish,
Oh, say, will you go to the Eden above? "
Heart-burdened enough, the poor fellow, brushing away
a tear, cried, "Give me my hat. I'll gang wi' them
chaps." Slinking along behind, he sat down, as he
supposed, in a quiet corner of the theatre to which
they led him. There were his mates right on the
stage, and when they rose and sang, to the tune of "
Annie Lisle," the verse,
“Earth hath many a scene of sorrow,"
he said, " Ah, Bill, that's true, for I have just left
one."
Every hymn struck him with overwhelming force. "As for
the man that preached," he said, "he must have known
all about my life. Somebody has been doing me a good
turn again in telling that fellow all he knows."
The prayer-meeting commenced with the hymn
“With a sorrow for sin let repentance begin,
Then conversion of course will draw nigh,
But, till washed in the blood
Of a crucified Lord,
We shall never be ready to die."
While this was being sung, his two mates had found him
out, and began to urge him to seek salvation at once.
"I can bear it no longer," he said, and took his great
load to the great Sin bearer, who gave him at once the
relief he needed, so that he could say, "I know and
feel I am a changed man. Glory be to God in the
highest! "
"You sing hymns to song tunes?" Yes, we do; and that
systematically and purposely, not merely because the
song tunes are the most lively and popular, and in
every way the best we can find; but because the mere
fact of using a song tune is calculated in itself to
help us in our one great object- “to catch men."
A stranger stood outside one of our halls one evening
in
95
utter amazement. A goodly company of people were
singing, and evidently singing with great enjoyment
too. The tune was that of "Auld Lang Syne."
"Whatever are they singing?" asked the stranger. There
was no mistake about the tune, but not one word of the
song! He could not for some minutes fairly realize,
however, that these were religious people actually
singing solemn, earnest truth to these familiar notes.
" Well, I never heard such a thing in my life," he
naturally remarked, when he fully comprehended what
was going on; and just such a surprise has led, we are
sure, thousands upon thousands of people to stay and
hear, in the open air, or indoors, what we have got to
say.
We do not think that the old-fashioned prejudice
against the use of any sort of music in religious work
has many surviving representatives, but should this
page meet the eye of one, let us just say one word in
defence of the practice.
Suppose a man or a woman who has persistently kept
away from any religious influence, hears the grand old
chorus
“I do believe, I will believe
That Jesus died for me:
That on the cross He shed His blood
From sin to set me free."
And suppose the last line especially, repeated again
and again and again, impresses him with the fact, so
long lost sight of, that God cares so much about
delivering him from the bondage he is under, that He
sacrificed His only Son to buy him this freedom. Will
the angels who note the good impression made, and
perchance the dawnings of repentance in the poor
wanderer's heart, be any the less pleased if the
repetition of those great words was occasioned by the
use of the tune of " Auld Lang Syne" ?
Should we be thought irreverent if we ventured to
doubt whether angels are not too much occupied with
greater thoughts to notice whether the tune be "The
Old Hundred,
96
"Ring the Bell, Watchman," or "Wait for the Wagon,"
supposing them to know the difference between the
three?
Would it not be a very hazardous thing to attempt to
determine the proportion of demi-semi-quavers to
minims in the songs of the better land? (They are
always called "songs.")
But without troubling the angels, we venture to say
that not one of our readers, if they could see and
hear the happy people who used to be so dark and
wretched not long since, would cavil at their joy
because it is expressed in the merriest of melodies.
"When we were in town," said a country friend, by no
means disposed by his tastes to adopt our sort of
music, "we looked in at your place in ----"
"Well, and what did you think of the singing?" "Oh,
they sang like troopers, and when we got out kept
singing the tune over all the rest of our walk."
It is by no means the least satisfactory piece of work
done in 1876, to have put in print the music and words
of our hymns, and we would say to any who do not find
it easy to reconcile this sort of singing to their
taste or their notions of religious propriety, "Will
you try their effect upon the children, or the poor?"
Is it not the most natural idea in the world, when you
wish to show working people that religion will suit
them, to fit its songs to the tunes they are fondest
of? At any rate, one, as we think unanswerable
argument is, that the plan succeeds.
A young man who recently had one of our men for a
fellow-lodger, said to the landlady as he came
downstairs, worried by the words the other had been
singing in their bedroom, "What's up with our mate? He
must be going mad; and I wish he was out on it."
The poor sinner went to his work; but soon another
young man broke out by his side, singing one of those
97
songs which stamp the Army man everywhere. Turning
upon the singer indignantly, he said, "What! have you
joined those folks, too?"
"Yes," was the rejoinder;" and you would make a good
soldier too."
"No, never!" answered the rebel; but he was soon in
the ranks, no doubt as ready as the rest to take up
the song
"Oh, I'm glad I'm in this Army,
Yes, I'm glad I'm in this Army:
And I'll battle for the Lord."
And so long as the Army people go on fighting and
conquering, will anyone really complain of the music
they march to? Surely not.
HOW WE SING.
WE have a great deal of reason to sing, have we not?
Yes, and we sing a great deal. Our people are very
fond of singing, and it is well that they are so, for
singing helps them over many a rough piece of their
rugged pathway, and through many a season of darkness
and trial; and not only is the singing blessed to the
singers, but, thank God! it is used, more perhaps than
anything else, to attract the people to our services.
Not that our singing is peculiarly attractive from an
artistic point of view. We doubt whether to people of
taste and musical education it might not be rather
repulsive than otherwise. Such a friend once aptly
called it "a joyful noise unto the Lord." We are quite
prepared to admit that our singing, especially in the
open-air, may more closely resemble the blare of a
military band than the melody of the sanctuary; but if
the people who sing and the people who hear like such
singing-prefer it, in fact, to any other-what then?
"Educate and elevate their tastes."
And what in the meantime?
"Oh, break them of the other by degrees."
But how if they show a disposition to sing more and
more loudly and energetically the longer they walk in
the new happy path, and if they keep gathering other
noisy singers into their ranks?
We should like somebody to try teaching our people a
89
more refined style of singing; or, rather, we should
not like it to be tried, because we find that the
sound and force of the singing is in exact proportion
to the amount and character of the life existing
anywhere amongst us. And a moment's consideration
shows that this must be so.
Our training-classes are held in the taproom, the
public house free-and-easy saloon, the low
concert-hall, the forecastle, and the barrack-room.
From these classic neighbourhoods we draw our singers,
who, the moment they become" glad in the Lord," feel
an irresistible inclination to sing more loudly than
ever they did before.
Anyone who has listened to the sounds that are borne
on the midnight air from the open windows of the
public house, mingled with the squeak of the violin
and the rattle of mugs and pots, or to the not less
boisterous hilarity of the wagon-loads of
holiday-makers who rush through the streets on Mondays
and holidays, must be aware that when the
working-classes are "enjoying themselves" according to
their notions, their forceful lungs have the freest
play. How much more, then, when these same people are
overflowing with a joy they never dreamt of before,
must they be expected to give vent to it according to
their strength?
Given the largest number of these people in one place
given the most numerous and frequent accessions to the
company, the most numerous and frequent victories, the
greatest cause for rejoicing, and you have inevitably
the greatest noise. Such is our experience, at any
rate.
We shall not further plead for this sort of singing as
it concerns the singers, simply because it seems to us
the only singing possible to them. When they begin to
lose their taste for it, they are losing their taste
for singing, and for lively, happy, powerful religion
altogether. Such is our invariable experience.
But as to the effects of this singing, let facts
speak.
“The singing of the procession, and the march back to
90
the station, seemed to us extraordinarily full of zest
and power. It was quite amusing to notice the puzzled
look on the face of some street musicians, who
continued to strike their instruments, though they
could scarcely have heard them at all themselves, as
we swept by singing
‘I love Jesus, Hallelujah,
I love Jesus, yes, I do;
I love Jesus, He's my Saviour;
Jesus smiles and loves me too.'''
"But what good does it all do?"
The landlady of a public-house said one day, "Who are
these men and women who sing and preach in our
street?" "They are The Christian Mission."
"If they would not sing in our street I would give
them ten shillings and would contribute to the work,
for they are singing and preaching all my best
customers away from me."
"But," replies her informant, an old customer, "we can
afford to give The Mission more than that now. We are
converted to God. We have happy homes, happy wives,
happy children, and money to spare."
A young man, the son of a widowed mother, living in a
country village, was led away by drink and evil
companions, going from bad to worse, until at length,
on a drunken spree, he left his cottage home and his
poor broken-hearted mother, whose grey hairs he was
fast bringing to the grave, and went all unknown to
her to Cardiff. Here he signed articles for sea; but
just before his ship left the port he heard our people
singing in the open air, and was induced to follow to
the hall, where, deeply convinced of sin, he sought
and found mercy, How his first letter home must have
gladdened the poor widow's heart and made her sing for
joy!
One evening, in a densely-populated neighbourhood, a
band of people were heard singing-
91
"Stop, poor sinner, stop and think
Before you farther go ;
Can you sport upon the brink
Of everlasting woe?
Hell beneath is gaping wide,
Vengeance waits the dread command
Soon to stop your sport and pride
And sink you with the damned.
Once again I charge you-Stop I
For unless you warning take,
Ere you are aware you'll drop
Into the burning lake."
A solemn warning, sung in a way that must have
convinced everyone that it was meant! A poor woman who
had long been living in sin, heard, and could not
forget it. So powerfully did the Spirit of God apply
the words to her conscience, that she said she "could
not sleep at night, nor rest by day." She decided, as
so many have done before, to try to get rid of the
painful impression by "change of air and scene." But
it was no use. Early in the morning at the
booking-office, "Once again I charge you-Stop," rang
in her ears above all the bustle and the whistling of
the engines. "Once again I charge you-Stop!" seemed to
come sweeping down upon her on the breeze as she sat
on the steamboat helplessly asking herself, "How can
I?" "Once again I charge you-Stop!" was all she could
hear or think of in the great city to which she
journeyed, day after day, and night after night, and
the terrible charge fell upon her heart with
increasing weight every day, until at last, upon her
return home, she did stop. She found the last lines of
that outspoken hymn delightfully true as she fell
broken-hearted at the feet of Jesus
“None who come shall be denied
He says there still is room."
A sailor who had just come into port and drawn his
money was on his way to a place of amusement when the
92
singing in a little hall arrested him. He stood for a
while to listen outside. The music was just "his sort
of thing," though the words were entirely "out of his
line." By-and-by he ventured into the lobby and then
curiosity to see the people who could sing religion so
merrily drew him inside. A hymn-book was put into his
hand, and he was invited to a front seat. He thought
the singing so “very lively" that he said to himself,
"I will stop and hear what they have to say."
And then God spoke to him, laying bare all the secrets
of his past life so forcibly that he resolved there
and then to give up drink at any rate. He was reminded
that this was not enough, but said he would come again
and hear more.
"What's to pay?" he naturally inquired, unaccustomed
to hear singing, or meet with any sort of
accommodation ashore, without paying dearly for it.
"Nothing to pay," was the surprising reply, and the
next evening he was one of the first to accept our
hospitality again.
This time allusion was made by the speaker to a
mother's prayers, and the sailor prodigal's heart was
broken. Many a year had his poor mother prayed for him
while he had been drinking and running to every excess
of riot with bad companions. He had stood by her death
bed, and her entreaties that he would give up sin and
meet her in heaven had so far moved him that he
promised to comply with her wishes, and was serious
for a time. But, alas! "the drink again" did its
terrible work. All was forgotten, and he plunged into
sin as madly as ever, till thus marvellously brought
face to face with his mother's God.
Now, with tearful eyes, he asked, "Can I be
converted?" and, falling on his knees, sought
forgiveness in right-down earnest. When peace and
pardon flooded his soul with rapturous joy, who can
wonder that be could not suppose all this great
benefit was to cost nothing, and repeated the question
of tho night before
93
“What's to pay? "
"Nothing to pay," was again the answer, of course, and
he went away exclaiming
"Well, well! a teetotaller and converted, and nothing
to pay!"
A wretched drunkard sat one Sunday morning upon his
doorstep with parched lips and aching head, waiting,
as so many thousands, alas! do, for the opening hour
of their church-the public-house-his own house a
wreck, and his family as miserable as his continued
ill-conduct could make them. As he sat there a band of
strong men suddenly came round the street corner,
singing
“Oh, you must be a lover of the Lord,
Or you can't go to heaven when you die."
Before he could raise himself up to get into the house
they were standing right opposite, and what surprised
him most was to see two old mates amongst the throng.
What must have been his emotion when one of them,
showing him to everybody, said:
"There is a man sitting on this doorstep that I have
drunk gallons of ale with at the Red Lion, and he will
tell you what a character I have been; but now, thank
God, I am converted, and have joined The Christian
Mission.
"The Lord will save you too. Come and go with us,"
added the speaker, looking his old friend straight in
the face. The poor fellow looked at his converted
mate's clothes, and at his own, and the contrast
between them seemed to say with a loud voice,
"Religion is better than drunkenness," an unanswerable
argument which seemed to press itself upon him more
and more as the day wore on, in spite of all that he
could do to turn his attention to some thing more
agreeable.
In the evening a band of singers came along again,
this time with
94
“We are bound for the land of the pure and the holy,
The home of the happy, the kingdom of love,
Ye heart-burdened ones who in misery languish,
Oh, say, will you go to the Eden above? "
Heart-burdened enough, the poor fellow, brushing away
a tear, cried, "Give me my hat. I'll gang wi' them
chaps." Slinking along behind, he sat down, as he
supposed, in a quiet corner of the theatre to which
they led him. There were his mates right on the
stage, and when they rose and sang, to the tune of "
Annie Lisle," the verse,
“Earth hath many a scene of sorrow,"
he said, " Ah, Bill, that's true, for I have just left
one."
Every hymn struck him with overwhelming force. "As for
the man that preached," he said, "he must have known
all about my life. Somebody has been doing me a good
turn again in telling that fellow all he knows."
The prayer-meeting commenced with the hymn
“With a sorrow for sin let repentance begin,
Then conversion of course will draw nigh,
But, till washed in the blood
Of a crucified Lord,
We shall never be ready to die."
While this was being sung, his two mates had found him
out, and began to urge him to seek salvation at once.
"I can bear it no longer," he said, and took his great
load to the great Sin bearer, who gave him at once the
relief he needed, so that he could say, "I know and
feel I am a changed man. Glory be to God in the
highest! "
"You sing hymns to song tunes?" Yes, we do; and that
systematically and purposely, not merely because the
song tunes are the most lively and popular, and in
every way the best we can find; but because the mere
fact of using a song tune is calculated in itself to
help us in our one great object- “to catch men."
A stranger stood outside one of our halls one evening
in
95
utter amazement. A goodly company of people were
singing, and evidently singing with great enjoyment
too. The tune was that of "Auld Lang Syne."
"Whatever are they singing?" asked the stranger. There
was no mistake about the tune, but not one word of the
song! He could not for some minutes fairly realize,
however, that these were religious people actually
singing solemn, earnest truth to these familiar notes.
" Well, I never heard such a thing in my life," he
naturally remarked, when he fully comprehended what
was going on; and just such a surprise has led, we are
sure, thousands upon thousands of people to stay and
hear, in the open air, or indoors, what we have got to
say.
We do not think that the old-fashioned prejudice
against the use of any sort of music in religious work
has many surviving representatives, but should this
page meet the eye of one, let us just say one word in
defence of the practice.
Suppose a man or a woman who has persistently kept
away from any religious influence, hears the grand old
chorus
“I do believe, I will believe
That Jesus died for me:
That on the cross He shed His blood
From sin to set me free."
And suppose the last line especially, repeated again
and again and again, impresses him with the fact, so
long lost sight of, that God cares so much about
delivering him from the bondage he is under, that He
sacrificed His only Son to buy him this freedom. Will
the angels who note the good impression made, and
perchance the dawnings of repentance in the poor
wanderer's heart, be any the less pleased if the
repetition of those great words was occasioned by the
use of the tune of " Auld Lang Syne" ?
Should we be thought irreverent if we ventured to
doubt whether angels are not too much occupied with
greater thoughts to notice whether the tune be "The
Old Hundred,
96
"Ring the Bell, Watchman," or "Wait for the Wagon,"
supposing them to know the difference between the
three?
Would it not be a very hazardous thing to attempt to
determine the proportion of demi-semi-quavers to
minims in the songs of the better land? (They are
always called "songs.")
But without troubling the angels, we venture to say
that not one of our readers, if they could see and
hear the happy people who used to be so dark and
wretched not long since, would cavil at their joy
because it is expressed in the merriest of melodies.
"When we were in town," said a country friend, by no
means disposed by his tastes to adopt our sort of
music, "we looked in at your place in ----"
"Well, and what did you think of the singing?" "Oh,
they sang like troopers, and when we got out kept
singing the tune over all the rest of our walk."
It is by no means the least satisfactory piece of work
done in 1876, to have put in print the music and words
of our hymns, and we would say to any who do not find
it easy to reconcile this sort of singing to their
taste or their notions of religious propriety, "Will
you try their effect upon the children, or the poor?"
Is it not the most natural idea in the world, when you
wish to show working people that religion will suit
them, to fit its songs to the tunes they are fondest
of? At any rate, one, as we think unanswerable
argument is, that the plan succeeds.
A young man who recently had one of our men for a
fellow-lodger, said to the landlady as he came
downstairs, worried by the words the other had been
singing in their bedroom, "What's up with our mate? He
must be going mad; and I wish he was out on it."
The poor sinner went to his work; but soon another
young man broke out by his side, singing one of those
97
songs which stamp the Army man everywhere. Turning
upon the singer indignantly, he said, "What! have you
joined those folks, too?"
"Yes," was the rejoinder;" and you would make a good
soldier too."
"No, never!" answered the rebel; but he was soon in
the ranks, no doubt as ready as the rest to take up
the song
"Oh, I'm glad I'm in this Army,
Yes, I'm glad I'm in this Army:
And I'll battle for the Lord."
And so long as the Army people go on fighting and
conquering, will anyone really complain of the music
they march to? Surely not.
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OzThoughts Thursday 22nd December 2005
Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown,
when thou camest to earth for me;
but in Bethlehem's home there was found no room
for thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
there is room in my heart for thee.
2. Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang,
proclaiming thy royal degree;
but in lowly birth didst thou come to earth,
and in greatest humility.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
there is room in my heart for thee.
3. The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest
in the shade of the forest tree;
but thy couch was the sod, O thou Son of God,
in the deserts of Galilee.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
there is room in my heart for thee.
4. Thou camest, O Lord, with the living Word
that should set thy people free;
but with mocking scorn, and with crown of thorn,
they bore thee to Calvary.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
there is room in my heart for thee.
5. When heav'ns arches shall ring and its choir shall
sing
at thy coming to victory,
let thy voice call me home, saying "Yet there is
room,
there is room at my side for thee!"
And my heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
when thou comest and callest for me.
Author: Timothy R. Matthews
There is something personal about Christmas. I was
listening to a Church Pastor being
interviewed on radio and it could have been a
Salvation Army Officer or a Pastor or Priest of any
church in the world.
He spoke how they had an open table at Christmas and
several hundred people would gather for Christmas
lunch. He said many individuals who are alone at
Christmas telephone and offer to help serve the meals.
He said we don’t refuse anyone and many of the helpers
enjoy the good fellowship as they too enjoy their
Christmas lunch.
I thought about the interview as we participated in
our Christmas Service at work today. There were active
Christians and others who lifted their voices and sang
the carols. Here was a group of individuals coming
together for a time of worship. I know there was one
Seventh Day Adventist in the group, and three
Salvationists and several members of the Uniting
Church. I don’t know which other church was
represented.
As individual we blended our voices as we sang the
above carol and the refrain “O come into my heart Lord
Jesus”. It was a very personal response.
I thought too , of individuals represented by “Joan”
in a poem I had just completed before I walk into the
service. I work now for the Blue Nurses (officially
Blue Care), an agency of the Uniting Church. There
are many “joans” throughout the world and we can share
a prayer for them.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, help me as an individual to see Jesus
more clearly in this Christmas Season. I pray too for
other individuals who will be confronted by different
circumstances at this Christmas season. I pray for
those who, in the name of Jesus show hospitality,
caring and acceptance at this time. Amen.
MEDITATIUON:
Not Alone at Christmas
Joan lay all alone on this hot summer morn
The sun beaming in woke her just after dawn
It would be another day long and alone
Age had wearied her right to the bone.
With the dawning that this was Christmas Day
Her memories came of children at Christmas play
She remembered her own sisters and brothers
And a happy house crowded with so many others.
Then many years later when her children came
It was a happy house with kids just the same
There was laughter and food and presents of toys
Exactly right for each of the girls and boys
She thought of how they grew years quickly went
Then her eldest son to War in Vietnam was sent
Life about then seemed to become so very sad
As a heart attack took her husband the kids’ dad.
The other kids soon seemed to move on with life
As they took for themselves a husband or wife
Kids were soon at play again but in distant places
And all Joan could do was remember their faces.
Joan lay all alone on this hot Christmas morn
Cards eagerly from their envelopes she had torn
Wishing Mother a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Each with a message this Christmas they would not be
here.
Joan lay on her bed lost in her thoughts once more
Soon there was a loud knock on the front door
Was it that a son or daughter had come to visit
She grabbed her gown and shouted “Who is it?”
She flung open the door to see who stood there
Joan saw the one person who really seemed to care
A cheery greeting and a wide smile a friendly face
A Blue Nurse had brought Christmas to Joan’s place.
The nurse handed Joan a small gift and a handmade card
And when they hugged she felt Joan hug so hard
A shower was soon done and Joan dressed in her best
She felt this Christmas she was specially blessed.
Not only at Christmas but every single day
A Blue Nurse calls to get her on her way
A life that alone is so long and people bare
Is broken by the Blue Nurse’s loving care.
Ray Reese
Christmas 2005
Romans 12 (The Message)
(Selected verses)
1 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you:
Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping,
eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and
place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God
does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that
you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix
your attention on God. You'll be changed from the
inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you,
and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around
you, always dragging you down to its level of
immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops
well-formed maturity in you.
3 I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all
that God has given me, and especially as I have
responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as
every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important
that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are
bringing this goodness to God.
4 No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way
to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what
he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for
him.
6 let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be,
without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves
with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.
if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach,
stick to your teaching;
7 if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that
you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't
manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in
distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond;
if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself
get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a
smile on your face.
8 Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it.
Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to
good.
9 Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing
second fiddle.
11 Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and
aflame. Be alert servants of the Master,
12 cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times;
pray all the harder.
13 Help needy Christians; be inventive in
hospitality.
14 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your
breath.
15 Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy;
share tears when they're down.
16 Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make
friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
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OzThoughts Thursday 22nd December 2005
Phillips Brooks catches the quietness of Christmas:
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary;
And, gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God, the King,
And peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his Heaven.
No ear may hear his coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel.
Author: Phillips Brooks (1835-93)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number:86
There is plenty of boisterous things happening about
Christmas. It is a noisy season. I know many of us
reading this add to the noise. There is the bands
playing, the choirs singing and for some the bells
ringing.
For some it is the sounds of house cleaning and the
noises of a busy kitchen as Christmas treats are
prepared early. For others it may be the hammering and
sawing as special items are constructed in the
workshop.
There was a quietness about the first Christmas. The
shepherds listened to the bleating sheep and were
alert for other sounds in the night. The quietness was
broken by a most unexpected sound: the sound of an
Angel speaking. Then there was the beautiful sound of
the heavenly choir. Bethlehem was still asleep as the
Shepherds arrived at the stable and found the baby in
the manger and Mary and Joseph sitting quietly smiling
at their child and each other as proud new parents do.
The wise men came up on camels. The soft pads of the
camel’s feet silently moving along the hard stone
street. Quietly the wise men dismounted and conversed
with Mary and Joseph and presented their gifts. Then
just as silently as they came , they left.
At least one song writer imagines the quietness of
the occasion, if not the accurate truth of the matter
when he writes “but little Lord Jesus no crying he
makes”.
Many years ago the Prophet Isaiah recorded the words
“in quietness and in confidence shall be your
strength” Isaiah 30:15b KJV).
Seek out the quiet time in your hectic schedule of
this season so you can be at peace with your God as
you worship his son.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I come quietly to you. The world
rushes by, but help me to renew my strength in these
special moments I spend with you. Amen.
MEDITATION:
Where is Christ in Christmas?
“Where is Christ in Christmas?” they ask.
I am too busy to answer as I do another task.
I have decorated the house and the tree
Oh yes they said this year they would help me.
However again I am stuck with all the chores
Things to do and things to make without a pause
Then after that there is the Christmas cake to make
And I mustn’t forget the fruit mince pies to bake.
“Where is Christ in Christmas?” I now ponder
As I do my Christmas chores my mind does wander.
“Where is Christ?” the wise men asked of Herod the
King
But he joined the chorus who would ask the same thing
“Where is he?” said his parents on their way from
Jerusalem
When suddenly they found he wasn’t travelling with
them.
He was in the Temple among the wisest men of God
Doing His Father’s will He did not find at all so odd.
Where is Christ in Christmas? I now begin a list
To think of those who Christ never missed
I think of crowds but he found Bartimeus blind,
The lepers and a man in the tombstones out of his mind
A boy with his lunch and a woman at Jacob’s Well
And a woman who touched the hem he made well.
It is strange how a carpenter tells of seeds in the
ground
And the one sheep, one coin and a son that must be
found.
Where is Christ in Christmas? How could I face
The comments if he came to stay at my place?
Some said he will stay with them in Jericho
Surely to one of the Temple Priest’s place he’ll go.
However after all their preparations and endless fuss
He goes off with that little Tax Collector Zacchaeus.
Oh how it irritates the religious leaders when
Jesus says he is more at home with sinful men.
Where is Christ in Christmas? I think again
Surely he will be with the influential men?
The Pharisees, and scribes, the whole pious lot
Who say they live their lives without a sinful blot.
I hear he’s gone with Matthew and his friends to dine.
Drink more likely with that lot so fond of their wine.
Then when they wake to take in the morning’s fresh air
They find He is out in the garden alone and at prayer.
Where is Christ in Christmas? The thought arises
That he is off to Bethany before the sun rises
To spend the time there with Mary and Martha
(Why wasn’t Lazarus their brother called Arthur?)
“Where was Christ?” they asked when Lazarus died
But Jesus raised him to live as He too wept and cried.
They say that Martha is busy about the house doing
chores
But Mary spends all her time with Jesus she adores.
Where is Christ in Christmas? It seems to me
That he is not always where we want Him to be.
We look for him in churches with or without a steeple
But more often he is out there among the people
I saw him the other day with a lady old and tired
Not a woman by her dress or manner admired
But there he was with her without any great fuss
Helping her with all her parcels to catch her bus.
Where is Christ in Christmas? Surely I dream
But to me it really, yes, it really did seem
In the shopping mall he was sitting in red
As a young blind and crippled child was led
To request a simple toy on this old man’s knee
And bring a tear to the eye of many more than me.
It may be my crazy imagination running wild
But surely it was Christ who hugged that child.
Where is Christ in Christmas? I simply pray
Christ be with us all on this Christmas day.
With my family and the crowds to church I will go
Personally to worship Christ and Him better to know.
I really want to know and see Christ in every place
To see Him in the Christmas joy on every face.
Thank Him that even in every necessary chore
I can come and you my Lord, Jesus Christ adore.
Author: Ray Reese
Christmas 2003
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OzThoughts Wednesday 21st December 2005
One of the real joys of this Christmas has been
sharing fellowship with Salvationists throughout the
world who are doing their part in proclaiming “Joy to
the World” in many ways.
Many have related their special events with band,
songsters and dramatic action to two Salvation Army
groups to which I belong. They are the Salvation army3
group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/salvationarmy3/)
and the Band music group
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandmusic).
Others have told of lone stands at Christmas Kettles,
doing their part in a God empowered ministry of
witnessing. Some have told of enjoying fellowship
with other Christian and community groups and bringing
their witness to them.
Tonight our band was back at the “Champion “Light up
for Christmas” Street, witnessing to thousands who
passed by.
We can only thank God for the opportunities that are
provided to us to do what we can , where we can to
follow like the Angels and the Shepherds, and everyone
involved in telling of the birth of Jesus, God’s Son,
in Bethlehem.
PRAYER:
Father God, thank you for your world wide ministry we
are involved in with The Salvation Army. We thank you
for the fellowship we share with hundreds who are
about the same task. I pray that many might be found
kneeling at the Saviour’s feet this Christmas. Amen.
MEDITATION:
They came at Christmas
In white shirts and caps on a truck they came
And stopped our kids’ street cricket game
They played a Christmas song or two
And then they called for us to sing
So we kids sang to everyone’s delight
Of baby Jesus birth on a Silent Night
Another Christmas they came again
After mum had told us with heartfelt pain
That this Christmas there would be no toys
And we were the saddest of girls and boys.
Mum told us there were many like us
And that we would not make a fuss
But simply enjoy whatever we could.
They came this time without the band
But they brought to us a Christmas grand
They put bags and boxes on our kitchen table.
They said they knew we were not able
To have the Christmas we would like
Because dad’s workplace was on strike.
Now their love gifts meant without his pay
We could celebrate with joy on Christmas Day.
Another Christmas they came to our place
They came again without the band
And they carried no gifts in their hand
But they came on a mission of love
They with tears said from their God above
And we knew they could do no more
Than pray for our dear brother lost in war.
Again this Christmas throughout this land
The Salvos will come with song and band.
They will come to some with food and toys
And somehow share in many Christmas joys.
They come that they might with everyone share
The very essence of the Christmas season where
In Bethlehem’s stable God’s gift Jesus was born.
(Ray Reese - Christmas 2003)
.
Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
The Saviour promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.
He comes, the prisoners to release
In Satan's bondage held;
The gates of brass before him burst,
The iron fetters yield.
He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The wounded soul to cure,
And with the treasures of his grace,
To enrich the humble poor.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And Heaven's eternal arches ring
With thy beloved name.
Author: Philip Doddridge (1702-51)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 81
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Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
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OzThoughts Tuesday 20th December 2005
What has happened to Angels? Angels certainly had a
major part in the messages from God before Jesus
birth. They appeared not only to Mary and Joseph, the
parents of Jesus but also to Zechariah and Elizabeth,
the parents of John the Baptist.
On that very special night that Jesus was born the
Angels appeared to the Shepherds, they made an
announcement and then turned their attention to
praising God:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please
him. (Luke 2: 14 The Message)
It would seem that Angels have disappeared. Well
almost. They do appear again in later incidents. For
example in Acts 12. 7 where an angel leads Peter from
Prison.
It seems in one sense they might be a bit like sailing
ships and steam engines. They are still around and
useful but have been superseded. Hebrews Chapter one
tells us they have been superseded by Jesus. In fact
right there in Luke Chapter 2, the same Chapter as the
shepherd story, there is the Spirit of God coming to
speak to Simeon in Jerusalem.
God’s promise is He will be with us. Our communion is
with Him.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your daily presence.
Thank you that we can come to you at any time and call
you “Father” and know that you hear us. Help us to
listen to you today. Amen.
Angels, from the realms of Glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth:
Ye, who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth.
Chorus
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Shepherds in the field abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing;
Yonder sines the infant light.
Saints before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In his temple shall appear.
Sinners moved by true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you, break your chains.
Author: James Montgomery (1771-1854)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 75
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The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
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granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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OzThoughts Monday 19th December 2005
It was another great day at the Temple. It was God’s
day and there was great fellowship and worship as we
met. Tonight was a very different format as about 400
people (my guess) met to sing carols and celebrate
Christmas on the Temple lawn. I have been at about 6
of the Temple’s “Carols on the Lawns” and this one was
as good as any we have had. I feel pretty sure the
crowd was the biggest yet.
Yet, it was right at the beginning of the morning
worship when our lovely welcomer after welcoming our
visitors on behalf of our Corps Officers and the
regular worshippers read a poem. She has been kind
enough to forward me a copy. It certainly gives us
cause to think as we face another week.
There is a reminder here that as we come to Christmas,
not to compromise our commitment to the essential
things.
Make Time for Christmas.
Don't let Christmas pass you by,
In the rush to get things done.
Remember the reason we celebrate
Is the birth of the Holy One.
In the busyness of our daily lives
It's so easy to put Him last.
Before we know it, Christmas is over
And the magic we longed for is past.
We get caught up in those worldly trappings
Of the trimmings, the tinsel, the tree,
Often forgetting to kneel at the manger
Where the Spirit of Christmas will be.
This year as you plan and prepare for the season,
Make room in your heart for God's Son.
Honour the Babe who was born in the manger,
Before you get everything done.
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, help me not to get lost in the straw
of the stable or in wondering about those in the Inn,
help me to see Jesus in the manger and worship him.
Then having seen him, help me to tell others why I
have such joy. Amen.
MEDITATION:
See, amid the winter's snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See the Lamb of God appears
Promised from eternal years.
Chorus
Hail, thou ever blessed morn!
Hail, redemption's happy dawn!
Sing through all Jerusalem:
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Say, ye holy shepherds, say
What your joyful news today;
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?
As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous light;
Angels singing peace on earth
Told us of a Saviour's birth.
Sacred Infant, all divine,
What a tender love was thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this!
Teach, O teach us, holy Child,
By thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble thee
In thy sweet humility.
Author: Edward Caswall (1814-78)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 88
Luke 2 (The Message)
15 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the
sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to
Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what
God has revealed to us."
16 They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and
the baby lying in the manger. 17 Seeing was
believing. They told everyone they met what the angels
had said about this child.
18 All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.
19 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding
them dear, deep within herself.
20 The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying
and praising God for everything they had heard and
seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told!
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The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
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granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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Australian Thoughts at the Weekend
The Search
[ATAW originally posted December 2003]
From time to time in Australia, someone goes missing.
Often the news on a Monday morning will tell of bush
walkers who have become lost. A search has been
mounted by the police and other authorities to find
the lost person. As bush walkers love to tramp through
mountainous rain forest (jungle) clad slopes and maybe
follow mountain streams and old tracks, the search is
often long and difficult.
Some years ago I was involved with a Salvation Army
Emergency Services team which undertook to provide
meals for the searchers. The searchers included
police, a government helicopter, expert bush walkers
who knew the area, local citizens and volunteers from
the State Emergency Services. As the search was in a
National Park, a number of the National Park Rangers
were also involved.
On the third day the lost walkers were found. They
were uninjured but very weary and hungry. Sometimes
the searches are not as happy as they were this time
when they return. They sometimes return carrying
injured people and sometimes sadly they carry stories
of bodies located and investigations into the cause of
death begun.
The search I was involved in was at a place called
Christmas Creek, in the border ranges of southern
Queensland. I was reminded of this search when people
began to ask “Where is Christ in Christmas?” I began
to think maybe some were like me at the Christmas
Creek search. I was in the kitchen while others
tramped the damp, leech infested mountain rain
forests. Some people may see their role in the
kitchen. Other get involved in community and church
Christmas activities. Maybe some try to do the lot and
end up asking “Where is Christ in all this?”
Where is Christ in Christmas?
“Where is Christ in Christmas?” they ask.
I am too busy to answer as I do another task.
I have decorated the house and the tree
Oh yes they said this year they would help me.
However again I am stuck with all the chores
Things to do and things to make without a pause
Then after that there is the Christmas cake to make
And I mustn’t forget the fruit mince pies to bake.
“Where is Christ in Christmas?” I now ponder
As I do my Christmas chores my mind does wander.
“Where is Christ?” the wise men asked of Herod the
King
But he joined the chorus who would ask the same thing.
“Where is he?” asked his parents on their way from
Jerusalem
When suddenly they found he wasn’t travelling with
them.
He was in the Temple among the wisest men of God
Doing His Father’s will He did not find that at all so
odd.
Where is Christ in Christmas? I now begin a list
To think of those who Christ never missed
I think of crowds but he found Bartimaeus blind,
The lepers and a man in the tombstones out of his mind
A boy with his lunch and a woman at Jacob’s Well
And a woman who touched the hem he made well.
It is strange how a carpenter tells of seeds in the
ground
And the one sheep, one coin and a son that must be
found.
Where is Christ in Christmas? How could I face
The comments if he came to stay at my place?
Some said he will stay with them in Jericho
Surely to one of the Temple Priest’s place he’ll go.
However after all their preparations and endless fuss
He goes off with that little Tax Collector Zacchaeus.
Oh how it irritates the religious leaders when
Jesus says he is more at home with sinful men.
Where is Christ in Christmas? I think again
Surely he will be with the influential men?
The Pharisees, and scribes, the whole pious lot
Who say they live their lives without a sinful blot.
I hear he’s gone with Matthew and his friends to dine.
Drink more likely with that lot so fond of their wine.
Then when they wake to take in the morning’s fresh air
They find He is out in the garden alone and at prayer.
Where is Christ in Christmas? The thought arises
That he is off to Bethany before the sun rises
To spend the time there with Mary and Martha
(Why wasn’t Lazarus their brother called Arthur?)
“Where was Christ?” they asked when Lazarus died
But Jesus raised him to live as He too wept and cried.
They say that Martha is busy about the house doing
chores
But Mary spends all her time with Jesus she adores.
Where is Christ in Christmas? It seems to me
That he is not always where we want Him to be.
We look for him in churches with or without a steeple
But more often he is out there among the people
I saw him the other day with a lady old and tired
Not a woman by her dress or manner admired
But there he was with her without any great fuss
Helping her with all her parcels to catch her bus.
Where is Christ in Christmas? Surely I dream
But to me it really, yes, it really did seem
In the shopping mall he was sitting in red
As a young blind and crippled child was led
To request a simple toy on this old man’s knee
And bring a tear to the eye of many more than me.
It may be my crazy imagination running wild
But surely it was Christ who hugged that child.
Where is Christ in Christmas? I simply pray
Christ be with us all on this Christmas day.
With my family and the crowds to church I will go
Personally to worship Christ and Him better to know.
I really want to know and see Christ in every place
To see Him in the Christmas joy on every face.
Thank Him that even in every necessary chore
I can come and you my Lord, Jesus Christ adore.
(Ray Reese Christmas 2003)
Mark 9: 35-41 (The Message)
35He sat down and summoned the Twelve. "So you want
first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant
of all."
36He put a child in the middle of the room. Then,
cradling the little one in his arms, he said,
37"Whoever embraces one of these children as I do
embraces me, and far more than me--God who sent me."
38John spoke up, "Teacher, we saw a man using your
name to expel demons and we stopped him because he
wasn't in our group."
39Jesus wasn't pleased. "Don't stop him. No one can
use my name to do something good and powerful, and in
the next breath cut me down.
40If he's not an enemy, he's an ally.
41Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my
name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````\
`
OzThoughtsInternetMinistry@...;
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Monday only : patgor@...;
Dean_Clarke@...;
Vicki_Clarke@...
Wednesday: iapalmer@...
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````````````
Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
Internet Ministry.
We remind you that you can be involved in the
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To send an email which will go to the whole group
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The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
are copyright and are used here with permissions
granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
others may be accessed at www.biblegateway.com
Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
You can also receive OzThoughts from the following
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BAND MUSIC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bandmusic
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This is Chapter 6 of HEATHEN ENGLAND by Commissioner
George Scott Railton. It was first published in 1878,
just as the name “The Salvation Army” was adopted.
(This is actually the 5th Edition which was published
inn the early 1880s).
Commissioner Railton was the first commissioner and
for many years the right hand man of General William
Booth.
This book is important for us today as it records why
the Army did things the way they did in its earliest
days. It helps give direction to those who want to get
back to “Booth’s Army”. It supplies fact not
imaginings shaped and reshaped throughout the years.
This chapter relates the dedication and commitment of
early day Salvationists. Are those who want to return
to the “days of Booth” willing to demonstrate this
type of single minded dedication?
CHAPTER VI. (6)
"DAY BY DAY, WE MAGNIFY THEE."
YES, every day! That is it! The wild whirl of city
life is daily carrying the multitude on its thousand
eddies to the awful rush and boom of death's terrible
waves and to the dark depths of eternity. No day must
be lost if anything effective is to be done for the
poor dying souls. There are a thousand objects all
around to catch every eye and to fill up every mind.
The Son of Man cannot be lifted up too often if we are
really anxious to have all men drawn unto Him.
And once a man is laid hold of he must not be let go
for an evening. A hundred public-house doors must be
passed ere he gets home from his work. His home may
have little attraction at any time. Since his
conversion it may have become a very nest of hornets
to him. If you want to make it possible for such a man
to get established in the ways of God, you must not
leave him one leisure evening unprovided for. Reading
is not likely to be congenial to him oven if he had
anywhere to go where such reading as he now takes
pleasure in could be done in peace. To open any good
book at home is to raise a hullabaloo of ridicule if
not of blasphemy which, no matter how valiantly
withstood, must render profitable reading impossible.
You cannot, must not hope to lead poor people to
heaven unless you lead them daily.
More than that! The man who is daily fought against
81
must daily fight if he would win, and it makes it
unspeakably easier to fight all the working hours
alone amongst the immense majority who oppose, if he
can at least fight a few hours every evening in line
with his comrades.
"You were at that ranting-shop last night, then,"
said his mate to a man the other day.
"Yes, and I'm going again tonight," was the
overwhelming rejoinder, "and I mean to keep on going
every day as long as I live, for God blesses me
there."
How much harder it would have been for that man if
days intervened between every attendance at the
open-air or indoor service, and if thus each fresh
visit became like a separate effort with the prospect
of new obloquy and difficulty each time!
But once it is a settled matter that he is coming
every day to help to oppose sin and get other people
converted, the public house, the club, the social
gathering, the worldly entertainment have lost their
chance of catching him. He has no time for such
trifles. They are gone-left behind. He is "doing a
great work and cannot come down."
And in those nightly meetings of his, whether in the
open-air or indoors, God does bless him. It is not
that he can always do or say anything so remarkable
for Christ. At any rate, he again confesses Him before
man by his presence. It is not that he hears such a
wonderfully instructive discourse, or gets through any
human channel such new or useful teaching, for he may
have to come many a night and hear simple folks like
himself, who can tell him nothing new, and who, in
fact, address themselves mainly to the unconverted.
But he draws nigh to God and God draws nigh to him,
and he goes home with such benefit, with such
strengthening and cheering thoughts as no mere human
teaching could impart.
It is not that he sees anything of a very elevating,
refining, or pleasing character, or associates with
very extraordinary people. He stands at some ordinary
street
82
corner with his brethren; he enters some plain,
humble, undecorated place with but a few perhaps of
his own class, or of people even poorer and more
ignorant than he himself; but before he goes home he
very likely helps the angels to rejoice over some
sinner that repenteth, and the sight of a soul saved
gladdens him more than anything else on earth could.
He rejoices as if it were his very own brother, and as
one that findeth great spoil.
Scene.-A street in Whitechapel, 10.30 p.m. Two men
approaching each other, their faces shining all over
alike.
"Well, brother, how are you?"
"Happy, bless the Lord, we've just had four souls at
S-"
"We've only had two; but they were good uns. I think
one of them was a mate of -'s, but he got nicely
through."
"Hallelujah!" "Bless the Lord."
"Good night." "Good night."
"But what about their wives and families if they're
out so late?" Bless you, the wife of this one was
there with her baby, too, till nine o'clock. And when
she wanted to go home, she did not ask her husband to
leave that blessed prayer meeting till the poor
gasping sinner was happy in Jesus. Never such a thing!
She would rather he had stopped there all night.
"We can't both get out at night," says another, "so we
take it turn about to mind the children."
"My husband is very good. Though he won't come
himself, he never hinders me from coming as often as I
like," says another woman, whose husband is still
unconverted.
To people whose home only contains the necessaries of
physical existence-to whom a library is as
uninteresting as the shelves that bear it-whose
earthly ideas are bounded by a very narrow circle-who
are far too weary every night with their daily toil to
enter upon any new labour
83
which does not bring the energy it demands back to
them in enjoyment at once-to such people an evening at
home alone would be, comparatively speaking, a dull
and useless one. An evening in the company of their
companions on the way to heaven is far more refreshing
and beneficial everyway . Not that home and children
do not demand the most sacred and painstaking care;
but if home and children are not all sung by seven or
eight o'clock at night, they are never likely to be
so, and we make our services thus late to suit the
convenience of the people.
A servant girl has the option of a day out once a
month, or an evening per week. She chooses the weekly
evening, and rides two miles to be at the open-air and
indoor services. "I haven't been home for weeks," she
says. Her friends are all unconverted. To visit them
is to run into danger. Christ is more than father,
mother, sister, or brother to her, and she will only
call a little while before service time now and then
on a Sunday to invite them to come along. "And if
mother does come, I'm determined she shall hear me
pray for her before them all." She will get all her
family yet, we believe.
The Army having found out the need of the people, has,
therefore, from the first laid down the law: “An
open-ail service and an indoor service-at least one of
each-at every station, every night, if possible." Of
course, it is not always possible to hold an open-air
service; and it is not always possible to hold one
open to the public indoors, seeing that meetings of a
more private kind must occupy the only building we
have to use. Of course, every officer employed by the
Army has not had the strength needed for so many
services-some, alas! have not had the diligence
either. These last have soon found that, as there was
a way into the Army, there was also a way out. Of
course, the members at every small station have not
been able to muster every night in sufficient strength
to carry on an open-air meeting at times, also, their
leaders have
84
caused them to err in dealing with a slack hand, and
leaving undone the things that ought to be done.
If an officer feels that he must be up and doing for
his Master every day-that he cannot, dare not, let a
day pass without winning as many souls as he possibly
can-ought not all whom that officer teaches to feel
just as he does? And if the number of those who thus
bear about daily the burden of souls continually
increases, how can they all be faithful to their
convictions unless the number of services is
continually increasing proportionately?
But another argument for the multiplication of daily
work seems quite as weighty. Walk through even one
district of any city. Look at the miles and miles of
working people's homes, street after street, row after
row.
If the object be to make all these people hear the
Word of God, how many services must be held nightly to
bring the sound to every door even once a month? "But
may the people not all be reached by standing near
some of the main thoroughfares?" Oh, no, not directly,
at any rate. The men may, perhaps, to a large extent;
but not the women. To reach these the Gospel must be
proclaimed near enough to every door for the words to
be distinctly heard through the windows. Oh, what a
work is still to be done! Lord God, who is sufficient
for these things?
But daily service is not a mere Army question. Who
ever invented a religion without daily attendance on
public divine service? Why, the devil, of course,
whose policy always has been, is, and will be, as long
as he has to deal with sinful mortals, to persuade
them to put off till tomorrow what they should do
to-day!
Did not our fathers cut manna in the wilderness, and
stand before the tabernacle of God every day? Did not
God institute daily service in His temple? Did not the
Psalmist find it his only desire to dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of his life? Did not the holy
people before Christ was manifested meet daily in the
temple?
85
Did not He, our Master and our Example, daily teach
the people daily in the Temple, when near enough to
Jerusalem? Did not His apostles daily in the
synagogues, in house to house, preach and teach and
heal? Ay did not every converted reader of these pages
so understand and practise every day religion in the
time first love?
“Oh, but that was in a time of special services."
No doubt; and may God awaken the holders of special to
the solemn responsibility involved in practically
rating that they can, when they choose to make the
tend to God's work daily, and yet then of leaving
unattended to on most week-days for the rest of the
year!
“But I don't feel to need service every day. I have a
life which is not dependent on services for its
maintenance."
“And what about your neighbours who have no such life?
Should not your enjoyment of it make you daily more
anxious to bring them into it? "
“Well, I really don't see that, looking at the claims
of business, and family, and one's own mind and soul,
so much can really be expected of every one; of course
there may be people who feel called to it; but I
don't."
“This persuasion cometh not of Him that calleth you to
glory and to virtue."
There is neither glory nor virtue in deserting the
service lord and the salvation of men for days
together. If people do not serve the Lord daily in
public, it is simply their everyday life has very
little of the heavenly about it.
The love of a living daily interceding Saviour, no
less than the iniquities and woes of a dying world,
call for daily labour in the great vineyard, such as
can only be performed in bands; and if the Judge
coming in such an hour as we think not, finds our
place of worship shut as sitting at home, what then?
"Blessed is that servant whom his Master when He
cometh shall find so doing?"
While striving, however, to keep holy every day in the
86
year, and to make the most of every leisure hour for
the salvation of souls, the Army of course finds
Sunday its spiritual market day. The following
description of a Sunday at one of the smallest
stations will convey some idea of the way in which the
day is utilized generally.
There is a prayer-meeting at seven in the morning, an
open-air service from ten till eleven, indoor service
eleven to twelve-thirty, open-air again from two to
three, indoor service, generally an experience
meeting, from three till half-past four, after which a
plain tea is provided, at cost price, for those who
prefer to keep together preparatory to the evening's
work. A prayer-meeting is held after tea, concluded in
time to get to the open-air stand at six o'clock. The
indoor service at seven o'clock with the
prayer-meeting, which forms its great practical
feature, rarely concludes before ten o'clock. Such is
an Army Sunday.
At large stations, of course, a number of open-air
services are held simultaneously on Sunday evenings,
and in some cases at earlier hours also, in order
fully to utilize all the available force, and
occasionally the whole of the Sunday morning or
afternoon is spent out of doors.
We need scarcely say that, in many cases, our people
have to walk a considerable distance to each service,
so that really an efficient Army officer or member
has, with the exception of an hour or two for meals,
some fifteen hours "on duty" every Sabbath. And the
people who delight in such days of rest, used to be
unwilling to listen to anything about religion! Surely
something has happened which it would puzzle the men
of science and the Sunday League to account for!
It is difficult to explain to any stranger the
eagerness with which Army people hasten to any service
they can attend, the reluctance with which they go
away, the seemingly exhaustless energy thrown into the
work. The following lines from a favourite Army song
will convey a pretty fair idea of the state of feeling
from which all this springs:
87
Oh! the Salvation Army's a grand device,
Glory Hallelujah.
For turning this earth into paradise,
Sing, Glory Hallelujah.
Chorus-Hallelujah, Glory Hallelujah I
Hallelujah, Glory Hallelujah!
Hallelujah to the Lamb,
Sing, Glory Hallelujah,
They said it was only a flash in the pan,
But the flash a glorious fire began,
We go to the deepest sunk in the mire,
For we love to pull them out of the fire.
We lead them to our pardoning God,
And the brands are quenched in Jesu's blood.
The worst have had their sins forgiven,
And found on earth the days of heaven,
In the streets, in the lanes, aye, anywhere,
Our cathedral is the open air.
We may be rough, and speak aloud,
But our words are blessed to the hardened crowd.
Yes, saving souls is our delight,
Whether 'tis morning, noon, or night.
Many who once fought by our side
Have won the fight, and crossed the tide.
From suffering, want, disease, and pain,
They've gone with Jesus Christ to reign.
We grasped their hands in Jordan's flood,
And they shouted" Victory through the Blood."
No learning, money, or friends, we boast,
But on our side is the heavenly host,
We're soldiers fighting for our God,
And we shall conquer through the blood.
And when our work in the Army is o'er,
We'll meet and sing on Canaan's shore.
And of all we've seen, or hope to see,
We give the glory, Lord, to Thee!
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OzThoughts Friday 16th December 2005
A lovely friend from England sent this story, which I
think gives us good reason to stop and think about the
busy round that is imposed on us at this time of the
year.
Who Started Christmas?
Take a moment to consider this Christmas story.
A woman was Christmas shopping with her two
children. After many
hours of walking down row after row of toys and after
hours of hearing both her children asking for
everything they saw on those many shelves, she finally
made it to the store elevator with her two children
in hand.
She was feeling what so many of us feel during the
holiday season time of the year, getting that
perfect gift for every single person on our shopping
list, overwhelming pressure to go to every party,
every housewarming, taste all the holiday food and
treats, making sure we don't forget anyone on our
card list, and the pressure of making sure we respond
to everyone who sent us a card.
Finally the elevator doors opened revealing a
crowd in the car. She pushed her way in and dragged
her two kids and all her bags of stuff in with her.
As the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore
and blurted out,
"Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be
found, strung up, and shot."
From the back of the car, a quiet calm voice
responded, "Don't worry, we've already crucified
Him." The rest of the trip down was so quiet you
could have heard a pin drop.
Don't forget this year to keep the One who started
this
whole Christmas thing in your every thought, deed,
purchase, and word. If we all would, just think how
much better this world would be.
Jesus is the reason for the season.
Wise men still seek Him.
PRAYER:
Dear Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank
You for dying on the cross for my sins and for rising
from the dead. I open the door of my life and receive
You as my Savior and Lord. I trust You now to forgive
my sins and give me eternal life. Please make me the
kind of person You want me to be. Amen
(Prayer sent by Gee Jo Sam India - Please see this
wonderful website: http://www.salvos.com/geejoonline
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
1.
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed:
Chorus
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee;
How great thou art, how great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to thee:
How great thou art, how great thou art!
2.
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:
3.
And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
4.
When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great thou art!
Author: Stuart K. Hine
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 37
John 3:16 (The Message)
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his
Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no
one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can
have a whole and lasting life.
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OzThoughts Thursday 15th December 2005
“Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to
us.” (Luke 2: 15b KJV)
I was a kid before television came to our city. I am a
child of radio and 78rpm records. By that, I mean
Salvation Army band and songster records.
One record we had was different and has etched itself
very well into my mind. It was a record and a picture
book called “The First Christmas”. The narration, of
course, was on the record, and at the ding of a bell,
the page of the book needed to be turned. I loved to
have my turn to flip the pages on the bell. We
listened very carefully for the bell, and it was not
long before we had memorised where the bell would
sound. We often began to turn the page just before the
bell sounded. The rest of the family would cry out
“wait!”
We not only learnt when the bell would ring but we
also learnt the narration. I can still here it as Luke
2 from the King James Version is read.
I can still hear the narrator telling of the shepherds
deciding to go to Bethlehem. Their fear, if they had
any, had given way to anticipation and joy. They
hurried to Bethlehem to see, to know and to stand in
awe before the baby.
This was not just any baby, this was “a Saviour, who
is Christ the Lord.”
My prayer is that we might have that same joyful
expectation which becomes awe and worship as we see
the baby who is our Saviour Christ the Lord.
PRAYER:
Father, show Jesus to us in a real and wonderful way
today. Help us to show real joy as we love and live
for you. Amen.
Jesus, the very thought of thee
With sweetness fills my breast;
But sweeter far thy face to see,
And in thy presence rest.
Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
A sweeter sound than thy blest name,
O Saviour of mankind.
O hope of every contrite heart!
O joy of all the meek!
To those who fall, how kind thou art,
How good to those who seek!
But what to those who find? ah! this
Nor tongue nor pen can show;
The love of Jesus, what it is
None but his loved ones know.
Jesus, our only joy be thou,
As thou our prize wilt be;
Jesus, be thou our glory now,
And through eternity.
Authors: Attributed to: Bernard of Clairvaux
(1091-1153),
Translated: Edward Caswall (1814-78)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 61
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Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
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The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
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granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
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Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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We are open and you are welcome!
There is a discussion taking place in the USA and
Canada about whether Churches should close on
Christmas Day which is a Sunday. It seems some of the
largest Churches will close because of difficulties in
maintaining their services with fewer staff and
volunteers available and poor attendances. Now I think
they can make their own arrangements they know what is
best for them. (See:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2005/cln51212.html).
In Australia, Christmas Day Services have maintained
excellent attendances, and many churches across the
denominations have reported growing numbers of
worshippers. Many Churches have their biggest
attendance on this day. Some report that the
attendances on Christmas Day are only bettered by
attendances at Easter.
This may be helped by our radio, and television news
services and newspapers which give some focus to the
messages from the leaders of our largest churches.
Television news often shows families gathered for
worship as a part of how people spent Christmas Day.
Newspapers often give opportunity for Churches to
advertise on a special page of advertisements of
“Christmas Church Services”. Sadly, not many Corps
take advantage of this opportunity.
Rev Gordon Moyes, who has claimed to be the Minister
of Australia’s largest church, Sydney’s Wesley Central
Mission, wrote a book years ago called “How to grow an
Australian Church”. In it he pointed out that people
are likely to attend church at Christmas and Easter,
so churches should advertise to attract them at that
time.
He suggested by not wasting the advertising budget
with small and ineffective weekly newspaper
advertisements, the resources should be used for
attractive larger advertisements at Christmas and
Easter.
It is also effective for Corps Officers to write a
brief Christmas Message and send it particularly to
the Editors of the local community newspaper and the
other media outlets in their area. It may not be used
but it does, help the Media to know hat the central
message of Christmas is for The Salvation Army in the
local community.
There is nothing to stop individual Salvationists
writing a letter to the editor of their newspaper
expressing the joy of a Christian Christmas.
This year with Christmas Day on a Sunday, we as
Salvationists should be giving our priority to
worship, as we do on every Sunday. With Christmas Day
being a Sunday, there is double reason to come to
worship “Christ the new born King”.
The Gold Coast Temple Christmas Day Service is 9am.
The Australian Eastern territory has a Christmas
feature on its website
(http://www.salvos.org.au/christmas) and a section
there for “Worship. Carols and events” where Corps
have listed their Christmas Day service times.
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OzThoughts Wednesday 14th December 2005
I some time ago subscribed to am email list where
people seemed to have different agendas to those I
expected to find. Now these people were preachers of a
major denomination of the type which would hold up a
banner that says “Protestant”.
Now I say these people had different agendas. One of
there deep concerns was that Christians in their
congregations, who they considered misguided expected
to sing Christmas Carols in the Sundays leading up to
Christmas. “How do we teach these well meaning dear
misguided people that the season is Advent and not
Christmas?”
They discussed ways they could get the people to lock
into Advent and sing “Advent Hymns” instead of
Christmas Carols. There was plenty of time for
Christmas Carols in the 12 Days of Christmas. One
problem with that was that the people disappeared for
a couple of Sundays following Christmas, so not many
people would be singing the Carols.
Others seemed overly concerned with an Order of
Service for a “Blue Christmas”. Now for those who have
never encountered this (and I was one) it is a special
service for the sad and bereaved. One website says:
“Christmas time can be a very lonely, depressing,
"blue" time for those grieving the loss of loved ones
or other losses or for those who are all alone when
others are partying and gathering with family
members”.
Now I can agree that Christmas is a time of sorrow,
even tragedy for many people. However, I see that God
ordained it as a time of joy. Is it to harsh to say
that no matter what our personal circumstance God has
at Christmas created hope, and even joy by sending his
son for us?
Let us listen to the angels who could be saying don’t
greave in your fear , there is hope :
“ Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and
joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide:
A Saviour has just been born in David's town, a Savior
who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look
for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a
manger."
At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic
choir singing God's praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please
him.
(Luke 2: 10B – 14 The Message).
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, help me by my words and actions today
to show the real joy of
Christmas that is found in Jesus to all I meet today.
Father, I am mindful at this time of people who are
approaching this season with very heavy hearts because
of the circumstances of life. I pray for them and
those who minister to them that in al things they
might see hope and joy in Jesus. Amen.
Luke 2 (The Message)
8 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood.
They had set night watches over their sheep.
9 Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's
glory blazed around them. They were terrified.
10 The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to
announce a great and joyful event that is meant for
everybody, worldwide:
11 A Savior has just been born in David's town, a
Savior who is Messiah and Master.
12 This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in
a blanket and lying in a manger."
13 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic
choir singing God's praises:
14 Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please
him.
15 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the
sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to
Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what
God has revealed to us."
16 They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and
the baby lying in the manger.
17 Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met
what the angels had said about this child.
18 All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.
19 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding
them dear, deep within herself.
20 The sheepherders returned and let loose,
glorifying and praising God for everything they had
heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd
been told!
Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
The Saviour promised long;
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.
He comes, the prisoners to release
In Satan's bondage held;
The gates of brass before him burst,
The iron fetters yield.
He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The wounded soul to cure,
And with the treasures of his grace,
To enrich the humble poor.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim,
And Heaven's eternal arches ring
With thy beloved name.
Author: Philip Doddridge (1702-51)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 81
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OzThoughts Tuesday 13th December 2005
The various Christmas carols which hit the mark, do
not wonder at the fact that a baby was born in a
stable and placed in a manger for a cradle, but that
this baby was the Son of God.
John in his epistle states the same fact:
1 John 1 (The Message)
1 From the very first day, we were there, taking it
all in--we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our
own eyes, verified it with our own hands.
2 The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we
saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober
prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this:
The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.
3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling
you so you can experience it along with us, this
experience of communion with the Father and his Son,
Jesus Christ.
As Carlo Caretto says in the God who comes
“How existential is this beautiful sentence of John’s
‘What…our hands have touched.’
Yes, Jesus , God on earth, was touched by human
beings, handled, gazed on.”
PRAYER:
Father , having heard the witness of those who have
heard, seen and touched Jesus, we thank you for His
spirit who fills us today. Amen.
Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
Chorus
Sweet chiming bells, O how they ring
To welcome Christ, the new-born King;
Sweet chiming bells, O how they ring
To welcome Christ, the King.
All they people's consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us for ever,
Now thy gracious Kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne.
Author: Charles Wesley (1707-88) (verses)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 79
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OzThoughts Monday December 2005
What a treasure we have in the children who are
involved in our Corps. This weekend at the Gold Coast
temple has been our “Children’s weekend” with the
children of the Sunday School feature in a number of
ways. It certainly made for an inspiring and
enjoyable time of worship on Sunday morning.
I am sure every adult present would have given praise
to God for each child, their parents and the
volunteers who given so many dedicated hours of
service in leading and training the young people.
As we think of these young people, we can think about
God and his only son, who he entrusted to a young
couple and allowed to be born in a stable at the back
of an inn in Bethlehem.
It will help me I am sure to focus and meditate on the
words of that wonderful Christmas Carol “Once in royal
David’s city”.
Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed.
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.
He came down to earth from Heaven
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable
And his cradle was a stall;
With the poor and mean and lowly
Lived on earth our Saviour holy.
And through all his wondrous childhood
He would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly mother
In whose gentle arms he lay.
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as he.
For he is our childhood's pattern;
Day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak and helpless;
Tears and smiles like us he knew;
And he feeleth for our sadness,
And he shareth in our gladness.
And our eyes at last shall see him
Through his own redeeming love;
For that child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in Heaven above.
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.
Author: Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-95)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 87
PRAYER:
Father, thank you that Jesus, your son, can be our
childhood pattern. I pray for parents and others with
responsibility for training our children. May I do my
part to share the joy of Jesus today. Amen.
Matthew 11 (The Message)
27 Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now
tenderly. "The Father has given me all these things to
do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation,
coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.
No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the
Father the way the Son does. But I'm not keeping it to
myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with
anyone willing to listen.
28 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?
Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your
life. I'll show you how to take a real rest.
29 Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay
anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
30 Keep company with me and you'll learn to live
freely and lightly."
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Australian Thoughts at the Weekend
I think I was about ten when my mother woke me at 4am
on Christmas morning. I was to go carolling with the
Senior Band commencing as soon as it was light enough
to play. I quickly got dressed in my Junior Soldiers
uniform and headed to the breakfast table, wishing mum
and dad a sleepy “Merry Christmas” as I arrived.
Dad told me there was a present under the Christmas
tree that I should open now. The rest could wait until
I got back from carolling, when my brother and sisters
were awake. I soon found the reason I was invited to
open this particular present. It was a music stand I
could use when I played in the band. I remember
thinking later if it was not something useful that
morning, I would not have opened any presents until I
got home in time for Christmas lunch.
In those days, we rode from street to street in the
back of a truck. Forms from the hall were tied to the
sides of the truck and the bandsmen took their place
on the truck in a square formation. Even in that early
post dawn hour of Christmas Day, families appeared on
the verandahs of their homes and on the side of the
rode to greet the band. Some of the timbrellists moved
from family to family collecting donations and giving
out the Christmas issue of the War Cry.
We enjoyed it when the truck driver stopped the truck
in the shade under a tree. The bandmaster made
comments about the tree muffling the pure sound of the
band. To most of us that was only a technical detail
as we enjoyed a cool interlude. One hazard we did
encounter under some trees were swarms of mosquitoes
which made the tree their home. However, a few well
placed hits and they were soon dispatched to the next
life. At times though, they seemed to be queuing up
for their opportunity to be despatched to eternity.
In those early days, we had breakfast about 8am at the
Corps Sergeant Major’s home. His wife was recognised
as a good cook. We agreed. Now, I can’t remember
whether it was while we were eating breakfast or right
after that the CSM put on his mantle radio and we
listened carefully to the national broadcast by the
Melbourne Staff Band. Refreshed and inspired we
trekked out to the truck to continue our morning’s
carolling.
I had only been a “helping” member of the Senior Band
for about 5 years when it became impossible to
maintain the Christmas Morning carolling as many
bandsmen with their families were away on holidays at
the time. A bigger effort was put into the
pre-Christmas carolling to make sure as much as
possible of our Corps district was covered.
Our family was one of the families that would go away
for the Christmas New Year period. It is summer
holiday time in Australia. Now as luck or otherwise
would have it, we visited my uncle and aunty who were
Corps Officers at Southport Corps, on the Gold Coast.
Their small band still played carols from dawn on
Christmas morning. So, it was into another truck, and
off, not this time to residential streets as at home,
but to the seaside camping areas where we would play
amongst the tents and caravans.
People appeared out of their tents, sometimes still in
pyjamas but often in their swimming attire to listen
to the band. So throughout the morning, stopping only
at a Salvations home where we had breakfast in a large
tent in their backyard, we moved on from camping area
to camping area right down the Coast.
The morning ended with the band at the Beachcomber
Motel, in Surfers Paradise where the bandsmen sat on
deck chairs and lunges around the swimming pool.
People appeared on the balconies above us and threw
coins down to us, Occasionally a note would flutter
down. These were the early days of television, and
bandsmen were excited to be filmed by the news team
for that night’s television news. Excitedly, we would
gather in our individual homes around our television
sets to see ourselves on the news.
Interestingly, Southport Corps Band is now the Gold
Coast Temple Band and as it played carols in Surfers
Paradise Mall on Friday night, it was outside where
the Beachcomber Motel used to be some 45 years ago.
As I think of the early Christmas morning Christmas
carols one carol which comes to mind is “Christians
Awake”. I remember one Corps where two friends of mine
along with other bandsman got tired year after year of
the Bandmaster saying he had not missed a Christmas
morning carolling in all the many years he had been a
bandsman. Looking accusingly at others, he would
always add not only was he never late but he was
always first there ready to play.
In a casual conversation they found out what time the
bandmaster set his alarm for. However, with the
cooperation of the rest of the band, they arrived
outside his home, and just before the Bandmaster’s
alarm went off, they played “Christians Awake!” He
laughed as he came out to the band but his bandsmen
knew him well enough to know he was not happy.
It was a small corps band faithfully playing Christmas
carols in my wife’s neighbourhood, that reminded her
of the babe of Bethlehem. It reminded her, too, of
days spent at Sunday school at the Corps. She went
back to the Corps and eventually became a Soldier and
Local Officer. She left the Corps for the Training
College. Today, she serves the Lord quietly, in a
ministry of encouragement and prayer.
1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but
have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a
clanging cymbal
1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic
ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking
of a rusty gate.
My prayer is that the playing of our bands, and the
singing of our songsters will be more than the
creaking of a rusty gate to the families we encounter.
The Band Lad
At eight I was in the Young People’s Band
All said in my band uniform I looked grand
Then I first played carols from a printed card
And my 2nd Baritone part seemed very hard
It seemed I had to play notes without reason
But this was my part in the Christmas Season
My mates on 1st Cornet seemed to have it made
As there was some tunes in what they played.
One day the YP Band Leader came to me
He said today in the Senior Band you will be
The Bandmaster wants a few more players
He said not outstanding stars but stayers
Who will benefit from the experience
When they play in the band in years hence
So with the seniors in the band I played
And a life’s banding foundation was laid.
Christmas carolling here came with summer’s heat
It seemed that some of winter’s snow would be neat
It was hot and we dripped with perspiration
As we played our Christmas season’s exultation.
A solo cornet player in sucking for air inhaled a fly
He coughed and spluttered as if he was about to die
The bandsmen all around him struggled to play on
They couldn’t for laughing until he said it was gone.
The bandsmen between carols told a story or three
And the old days brought amusement to a kid like me
Some told of days before they went to fight the war
Incidents from before I was born certainly did not
bore
They held my interest as they told of other days
And how as bandsmen they carolled in other ways.
One told of playing carols in the very cold snows
When the rain froze in icicles on his cornet and nose.
Many years have passed since when carolling we marched
From street to street in the heat with tongues parched
My playing of carols has proclaimed the Saviour’s
birth
And now my recounting those past days brings joy and
mirth
I have played my carols on cornet, horn, tuba and
trombone
But after trying euphonium I am back where I began on
baritone
I played in prisons and hospitals, parks, churches and
halls
On radio, and television and now I play in beachside
malls.
It might be for some ice and snow and for us here
flies and heat
But Christmas carolling as a Salvo bandsman you can’t
beat.
It brings a sound of joy to a busy and wonderful
season
With a message God’s love for us was the only reason:
That God sent his son Jesus to live on earth among us
And it is Jesus birth that we celebrate with all this
fuss.
So as Salvo bandsmen we play carols wherever we are
able
To tell of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem’s humble
stable.
Ray Reese
Christmas 2005
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This is the second part of Chapter 5 of HEATHEN
ENGLAND by Commissioner George Scott Railton. It was
first published in 1878, just as the name “The
Salvation Army” was adopted. (This is actually the 5th
Edition which was published inn the early 1880s).
It is important for us today as it records why the
Army did things the way they did in its earliest days.
It helps give direction to those who want to get back
to “Booth’s Army”. It supplies fact not imaginings
shaped throughout the years.
This part of the chapter describes some early meetings
and how masses of people were saved.
Chapter V (5) Part B
"I shall never forget," says another, who came over
from the "West-end for the occasion, "hearing Mr.
Booth the first time he preached in the Effingham
Theatre, Whitechapel.
"There were two open-air meetings in the Mile End
Road, and a procession to the theatre. It was a grand
sight when we got inside to look at the house crowded
from ceiling to floor. I had never seen Mr. Booth
before that night, though I had often heard of him. He
commenced by giving out the hymn
‘We are bound for the land
Of the pure and the holy.'
"In the middle of the first verse he cried out to one
of his helpers, 'Flawn, shut that door!' He stopped
giving out another to say, 'Flawn, put those two young
men out!' In the course of another he came to a dead
stop, and looked up into a side gallery, combing his
hair with his fingers. All eyes were turned in the
direction of some men who had been misbehaving
themselves, but who were thus put to silence.
"By this time, the preacher had completely captured
me, and, I presume, nearly all the rest, although many
of the roughest East-enders were there out of pure
curiosity to see how he would do. We found we were not
listening to 'a parson,' who had so many hymns to
give, so many words to say, and then done. It was a
man, profoundly religious, thoroughly in earnest, but
able to talk to us about religion without any sort of
stiffness or formality, right from his heart, and a
man who was determined to be listened to and to
succeed.
"The singing was lively and powerful. Everybody seemed
to join in, which made it grand both in time and tune.
"The sermon was clear, pointed, definite, and short,
full of life and power, thoroughly arousing, and very
simple,
71
being mixed with touching anecdotes; and it had its
effect upon the people. Many were awakened, and
numbers saved."
"In October, 1867," says a third, "I heard that
William Booth was going to preach in the Pavilion
Theatre on The Blind Beggar.' My mother had often told
me when I was a lad, about the blind beggar of Bethnal
Green, who was quite blind, but whose daughter was so
beautiful that a king married her. Thinks I, I would
like to hear that tale again, I'll go and hear him.
But Lo, and behold, when I got there, it was me that
was the blind beggar.
"I can't remember anything of the sermon, except that
he told about a young lady that leaned over a bank
where there was a lot of water beneath, to pluck a
flower, and lost her balance, and fell into the water.
He said that was what drunkards and wife-beaters was
a-doing, and, thinks I, 'It's me he means.'
"In the prayer-meeting he come to me and says:
" ‘Well, my friend, how are you?
"’Oh, very well,' I says.
"’But how is your soul?’
“’ Oh, I don't know about that,' I says, and with that
I came away. But I couldn't make it out him asking me
how my soul was. Thinks I, I'll never go near him no
more.
"I kept on thinking about it all tho way home, and
when I got there my wife says to me, 'What, have you
come home, and sober too?
“’ Yes,' says I; 'and it would have made you sober, or
anybody else, to hear such a character as a man's been
giving me.'
"I kept thinking about it all the next day, and I
couldn't help going at night to hear him again in a
hall they had up the Whitechapel Road. He seemed to be
on to me worse than ever then, and I saw a man sitting
on the platform that knew me. Ah, thinks I, 'That
man's telling
72
him every word of it. I'll let him have it when I see
him in the docks tomorrow.'
"I came two or three more nights that week, and the
next Sunday I went to the theatre again. I cannot
remember anything about that service; but I went on to
the stage with forty-two more that night to seek
mercy. They took down all our names and addresses."
The effect of the services, as thus described by one
of the darkest and hardest hearers who attended them,
fairly represents the way in which theatre services of
the Army stamp strike the masses, who are aimed at,
generally. .
In the winter of 1873 a large circus was put up in the
centre of the town of Hastings, and we hastened to
lake advantage of the opportunity thus afforded us of
reaching the multitude.
Mrs. Booth occupied the platform on the first Sunday
evening. She was just then in a very delicate state of
health, "resting" at the seaside; but no consideration
could deter her from the enterprise when the open door
presented itself.
Now, Hastings is scarcely the sort of town in which
one would naturally expect to find an Army like ours.
The labouring population is by no means so large or so
rough as for our purposes we could desire; but that
night, at any rate, we saw a great company, such as we
should like to behold wherever our flag is hoisted,
and a great company of the right sort.
Of course, ladies and gentlemen, shopkeepers, and the
world-famed keepers of lodging-houses could not deny
themselves the treat of hearing Mrs. Booth, even in a
circus, for her preaching has always been of such a
kind as to attract, charm, and edify people of wealth
and taste, while aiming all the while at the humblest
intelligence and the roughest of characters. And there
were people in the audience who ought to have been in
their usual places of worship that night, and who
doubtless would have been
73
there had they not known from the memory of previous
experiences that Mrs. Booth would speak to them more
fearlessly and faithfully and searchingly than their
ordinary pastors. Everybody acquainted with Mrs. Booth
knows that she hits hard – very hard – at everybody's
conscience; but people who sincerely wish to be right
like to be hit hard; and ministers and others who
complain when their people go to submit themselves to
the scourge of such attacks forget that those wounds
will prove their healing-the healing of their church
as well as of the individuals who are sometimes so
severely condemned for running after novelty.
But the vast bulk of the congregation which filled
every seat round the great pentagon and in its centre
consisted of working people by no means accustomed to
any religious service whatsoever. And when every seat
had been filled, and standing space, too, occupied
below, the passage-way all round the top of the
galleries was crowded with a motley throng of young
men and lads-fishers of the sea, donkey-drivers of the
shore, and what not.
"Oh, dear! we thought; no earthly power can keep all
those young chaps standing quietly all the time."
Mrs. Booth saw the danger at a glance. The uneasy
movement which is inevitable at the first assembling
of such a throng was in full progress, when she turned
it to a perfect calm by the simple remark
"We are glad to see you all, and we are sure that,
seeing how many people there are who wish to hear, you
will be careful not to make a sound which could
prevent anyone from doing so, unless, indeed, some one
should have come in who has neither sense nor
conscience, in which case, of course, we cannot expect
them to behave themselves, and we shall be forced to
ask them to retire."
Not a soul allowed himself to be suspected of
answering the dreadful description. For two solid
hours those lads stood motionless, gazing at the
speaker as intently as the
74
sitting multitude below, and certainly there was
enough said that night to make them all look earnestly
enough.
It appeared a huge space for a woman's voice to fill,
unless, indeed, it had been one of those female
preachers whose shrill accents and masculine efforts
have brought female ministry so often into contempt.
"I wonder if they can all hear me," said Mrs. Booth to
me, when she found how easy it seemed to be to talk in
her natural, over-the-table fashion.
"I'll soon find out," I replied; and, leaving the
platform, I passed out at a side entrance and went
round to the front one, which was the most distant
point from the Speaker. There, outside the doors,
every word of the lesson could be heard as distinctly
as if I had stood within ten feet of the reader,
instead of being probably twenty-five yards away. The
care bestowed upon the pronunciation of every letter,
no less than the desire to make everybody receive
every thought, explains in no small degree the
pleasure with which huge audiences have invariably
listened to Mrs. Booth wherever she has gone.
The sermon I really could not attempt to describe,
for, to tell you the honest truth, although naturally
addressed in the main to unconverted people, it took
hold of me quite as much as everybody else, and I
challenge anybody who likes, to try to remember the
construction of a sermon which comes from the heart,
is aimed at the heart, and reaches its mark.
All I know is, it was about the prodigal son, and that
somehow or other the young rascal and his poor old
father came about the place and made us all feel
uncommonly queer about the throat and eyes. Not that
the preacher dressed them in modern apparel, or made
them talk street English, as is the fashion with some
popular evangelists of the day. She has a marvellous
power of presenting the most profound thoughts, and
the most remote events, in language which everybody
understands, and which is
75
nevertheless as correct and as dignified as the
language of Scripture itself. She exhibited our
heavenly Father's love, and our own base ingratitude,
in such a way that one could only feel utter
astonishment that anybody could go away that night
unsaved.
How fearful was the strain upon the orator's strength
no one off the platform could have imagined, so
perfectly did she seem at home throughout; but to one
who was near enough to see and feel how every atom of
her being was wrapt in the flame of eagerness to save
her hearers, it could never be a wonder that her
strength should utterly give way beneath such toil.
Watches, clocks, signals as to the flight of time were
useless to one who could see nothing but perishing
souls from the moment she began till the moment she
made us all bow to pray; and now all too late we have
to mourn that more effectual means were not adopted on
this and other occasions to preserve to the world a
force so invaluable.
We can only pray and trust that He who is our light
and our strength will yet enable Mrs. Booth, and
others who are walking in her footsteps, to pour
living water on our thirsty land as it flowed that
night in the circus at Hastings.
In May, 1874, a band of converted gipsies, who
frequently take services at our stations, were
preaching at Portsmouth. We heard that a large circus
at Southampton was lying entirely unoccupied. It
seemed a tempting opportunity to do something for that
town, and although we do not as a rule hold any
service except at our regularly established stations,
we ventured upon the experiment. The circus, which
held some 3,000 people, was readily secured, and the
work began. The town just then was unusually crowded
with strangers, awaiting the arrival of the Malwa,
with the remains of Dr. Livingstone.
After the first Sunday, noon-day as well as evening
meetings were held, and these were not only blessed
and
76
encouraging in themselves, but made the services of
tho approaching Sabbath widely known.
No one, however, could have anticipated the glorious
day that was coming. A thousand people came in the
morning, and fifteen hundred in the afternoon. At the
close of the latter service, the congregation were
invited to follow to an open-air demonstration.
Several hundreds did so, and marching in silence for
nearly half an hour, through the principal streets of
the town, they formed up at a place of public resort
near the Ordnance House, Of course an immense crowd
listened to the addresses delivered, and in the
evening the circus was crowded to its utmost capacity.
The officer who was leading and his three gipsy
brethren, delivered short, simple, heartfelt and
heart-stirring addresses, singing hymns between each
address. Every word seemed to go home with the power
of the Holy Ghost; and some two thousand persons
remained to the prayer-meeting.
The spirit of prayer seemed to be poured out so
abundantly, that it was at first a matter of some
difficulty to conduct the meeting with anything like
order, without giving offence to many; but those who
wished to engage publicly, were prevailed upon to come
near the platform; and so the feeling of the whole
meeting was kept concentrated on the soul-saving work.
At the first invitation to penitents to come forward,
only half a dozen responded to the call; but as soon
as these stood up rejoicing in God, another company
came forward. No sooner was the joy of pardon received
into the mourners' hearts, than they hastened to seek
after others. One young man, about twenty years of
age, was overheard praying, immediately after he felt
relieved of his guilty load, "Please Lord, let me tell
somebody, or I shall die. " Upon receiving permission,
he gladly stood up and related what God had just done
for his soul. This remarkable scene was repeated over
and over again. Silent prayer was every now
77
and then requested for some new group of seekers of
salvation, whose sobs alone would break the deathly
stillness of the building. The marvellous work went
on, until the names and addresses had been recorded of
ninety-seven persons who had professed to find
salvation. The officer had closed the meeting over and
over again; but still they came, and now at the last
moment, three more came forward, saying, "Oh, do stop
and pray with us." Their importunity could not be
resisted, late as was the hour, and soon the number of
the professedly saved was raised to one hundred.
A clergyman and several gentlemen belonging to
various denominations who were assisting to point
sinners to Christ, all concurred in saying that they
had never known such a time in their lives. In many
instances it was indeed a deliverance out of darkness
into light. Whilst they were singing
“I the chief of sinners am,
But Jesus died for me,"
a poor woman asked, "Please, sir, did He die for me?"
“Oh, yes, that He did," was the reply, and she soon
was able to believe as well as to sing it.
A sailor said, "Oh, sir, I came up here with a heavy
heart. I am out at sea generally for eleven or twelve
months together, and I never have any religious
services or anything. But now, praise the Lord, I can
go back much lighter. I can go to sea now fearing no
storm, for my soul is safe."
Rich as well as poor were found at the feet of Jesus,
amongst the sawdust in that circus ring. One gentleman
almost ran forward sobbing. He had only landed the
night before after four months' travel in South
America. He said, "I used to spend my Sabbaths in
fishing and shouting but I praise God for what He has
done for my soul now!" He gave the officer his
address, and said, "If you
78
can come there, I will take some large hall for your
services."
Relatives and friends rejoiced together. A woman said,
"My husband and brother have been converted tonight."
Another," Three of my cousins have been saved
to-night."
Great was our sorrow when the officer,
misunderstanding the extent of his discretionary
power, returned to London with the news of this
glorious day, having closed the series of services,
and so let slip the golden opportunity of seizing the
town. In our work, as in war, daring disobedience is
sometimes the best faithfulness. But we are thankful
to know the work did not stop, but was taken up by a
gentleman on the spot, and we believe special services
in public buildings have been held at intervals ever
since.
The following description of a Sunday, spent by Mr
Bramwell Booth and Miss Booth, at the last theatre we
had then taken, shows that the old results follow
to-day the old processes, and that a similar future is
assured as far as the resolution and abilities of a
new generation can assure it.
"West Hartlepool, Sunday morning, November 11th.
Very wet, but a good prayer-meeting at seven o'clock.
"In the forenoon we turned out into the streets with
some forty in our ring, mostly converted during the
month previous.
"In the afternoon Miss Booth spoke with unusual power,
and a blessed influence was felt by the congregation,
which comfortably filled the pit and first gallery.
"At night, although it was fearfully stormy, the
theatre was crammed, not less than fifty or sixty
people standing about the pit and stage. Miss Booth
preached on 'The righteous hath hope in his death.'
More than half the audience were in tears. While she
sang
‘Oh, the rocks and the mountains shall all flee away,
And you shall find a new hiding-place that day,'
79
it seemed to us as though every sinner in the place
must have fled for refuge at once.
"There were soon three long rows of penitents seeking
mercy. One man, in his anxiety to be saved, jumped out
of the pit on to the stage, instead of going round by
the regular steps, and was soon ready to jump for joy!
"Some of the seekers were persuaded to pray aloud for
themselves, and when others heard their cries for
mercy, they too came forward to seek the Lord.
"About a hundred of us finished up together on the
stage with tears of joy and shouts of triumph, singing
'The opening heavens around me shine
With beams of sacred bliss.'''
80
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OzThoughts Friday 9th December 2005
“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
Worship the Lord in the spirit of praise.
Bow down before Him,
Love and adore Him,
Come let us worship in spirit and truth.”
Author: James Curnow
“Worship the Lord in the spirit of praise.”
On the OzThoughts Ministry bebsite is a picture of the
text in the entry of Brisbane City Temple. It says
simply “Enter into his courts with praise” Psalm
100.4. Many would recognise the first half of this
verse as “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving”.
The whole text is on the wall of the Gold Coast Temple
above the band as they sit to one side of the
platform.
I have often thought as I read this text (and I have
seen it in many places of worship) that I agree we
should enter with praise and thanksgiving but what
then? I am sure the intention and the only answer is
to continue as we have begun. Whatever we do in our
time in God’s house do it with praise and
thanksgiving. Paul gives us some clues in Philippians
Chapter 3 where he tells us what is essential in our
worship and ministry for God.
Philippians 3 (The Message).
3 The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God
leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air
with Christ's praise as we do it. We couldn't carry
this off by our own efforts, and we know it—
4 even though we can list what many might think are
impressive credentials. You know my pedigree:
5 a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day;
an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a
strict and devout adherent to God's law;
6 a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even
to the point of persecuting Christians; a meticulous
observer of everything set down in God's law Book.
7 The very credentials these people are waving
around as something special, I'm tearing up and
throwing out with the trash--along with everything
else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of
Christ.
8 Yes, all the things I once thought were so
important are gone from my life. Compared to the high
privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master,
firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for
me is insignificant--dog dung. I've dumped it all in
the trash so that I could embrace Christ
9 and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty,
inferior brand of righteousness that comes from
keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust
kind that comes from trusting Christ--God's
righteousness.
10 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could
know Christ personally, experience his resurrection
power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the
way with him to death itself.
PRAYER:
Father God. I pray that I might do everything with an
attitude of gratitude and praise to you. Fill me with
the spirit of jesus which is a spirit of praise and
thanksgiving. Amen.
Do you know the song that the angels sang
On that night in the long ago,
When the heavens above with their music rang
Till it echoed in the earth below?
Chorus
All glory in the highest,
Peace on earth, goodwill to men,
Glory in the highest,
Peace, goodwill to men;
Glory in the highest;
Glory in the highest;
Peace on earth, goodwill to men.
Do you know the song that the shepherds heard
As they watched o'er their flocks by night,
When the skies bent down, and their hearts were
stirred
By the voices of the angels bright?
Do you know the story that the wise men learned
As they journeyed from the East afar,
O'er a pathway plain, for there nightly burned
In their sight a glorious guiding star?
Author: Abner P Cobb
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 80
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OzThoughts Thursday 8th December 2005
“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
Worship the Lord in the spirit of praise.
Bow down before Him,
Love and adore Him,
Come let us worship in spirit and truth.”
Author: James Curnow
“In the beauty of holiness”. What type of picture
does that build up in your mind? For some it may be
the quieter, more reflective meetings we used to have
Sunday morning.
I was told the story of a Divisional Corps Cadet Rally
(do they still have them?) which was held at a major
city corps. The Corps cadets in their enthusiasm felt
the good rhythm of the opening song and when they came
to the chorus, they began playing their timbrels and
clapping to the rhythm. It was going to be a great
meeting.
They were only a few bars into the chorus when the
Bandmaster stopped the band and spoke to the meeting
leader, telling him this was a Holiness Meeting and we
don’t have timbrels and clapping. The story as I heard
it contained an offer of compromise. There was a
choice either the timbrels and clapping stop or the
band would stop.
Others may feel the beauty of holiness in the rain
forest, the rolling hills, or a steep mountain slope
pushing its heights into a snowy cover. Some may see
it beside a lake, a mountain stream or the gentle
lapping of the sea or the rolling surf at the ocean’s
meeting with the land.
Others may feel they are in the presence of God in a
church, chapel, cathedral or a citadel. In the
quietness and the peace of the special place they find
a sacredness in which they discover the beautiful
holiness of God.
There may be even some who see the beauty of holiness
in the comfort given to an abused child or woman, to a
bashed man or in bathing a man who had been sleeping
rough for too many weeks. They find it in the quiet
hour in counselling an alcohol, a gambler or a
prisoner.
The shepherds found the holiness of God when they
found the baby Jesus lying in a manger in the stable
of Bethlehem. They thanked God right there as they
knelt in the straw for this precious gift of a special
child. None of the Gospel writers mention they felt a
need to go to a ‘holy place’ like Bethlehem’s
Synagogue to worship God in the beauty of holiness.
PRAYER:
Thank you that today I am found a part of the great
‘church” which is carrying out the mission of Christ.
May I find the beauty of holiness in the moments of
today. Amen.
Luke 2: 8-20 (The Message)
8 There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood.
They had set night watches over their sheep.
9 Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's
glory blazed around them. They were terrified.
10 The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to
announce a great and joyful event that is meant for
everybody, worldwide:
11 A Savior has just been born in David's town, a
Savior who is Messiah and Master.
12 This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in
a blanket and lying in a manger."
13 At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic
choir singing God's praises:
14 Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please
him.
15 As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the
sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to
Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what
God has revealed to us."
16 They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and
the baby lying in the manger.
17 Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met
what the angels had said about this child.
18 All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.
19 Mary kept all these things to herself, holding
them dear, deep within herself.
20 The sheepherders returned and let loose,
glorifying and praising God for everything they had
heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd
been told!
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend!
He knows our need—to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
Author: Placide Clappeau, 1847;
Translated from French to English by John S. Dwight
(1812-1893).
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Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
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Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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OzThoughts Wednesday 7th December 2005
“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
Worship the Lord in the spirit of praise.
Bow down before Him,
Love and adore Him,
Come let us worship in spirit and truth.”
Author: James Curnow
When the Shepherds came to worship, they came with
empty hands, willing hearts and an open mind. The Wise
Men came with some ideas and brought gifts of gold,
frankincense and myrrh.
It is easy to get caught up in “little rituals”. They
are all around us in life and we feel sometimes fell
more comfortable when “little rituals” are being
performed and spoken in a formula of words.
James Curnow in the above chorus calls us to “Come let
us worship in spirit and truth”. I see here an eco of
the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s
well.
John 4:23 (New International Version)
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father
seeks.
John 4:23 (The Message)
But the time is coming--it has, in fact, come--when
what you're called will not matter and where you go to
worship will not matter.
"It's who you are and the way you live that count
before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in
the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the
Father is out looking for: those who are simply and
honestly themselves before him in their worship.
As we approach Christmas we need to seek to worship
Jesus in a simple yet truthful and spiritual way. They
may mean leaving of the little rituas and just doing
it in simple faith he Shepherds who said “let u go and
see this thing which has been made known to us”.
PRAYER:
Father God, help us come before you with empty hands,
a willing heart and an open mind that we reach out to
you and be filled with the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.
Christians awake, salute the happy morn
Whereon the Saviour of the world was born!
Rise to adore the mystery of love,
Which hosts of angels chanted from above;
With them the joyful tidings first begun
Of God incarnate and the Virgin's Son.
Then to the watchful shepherds it was told,
Who heard the angelic herald's voice: Behold,
I bring good tidings of a Saviour's birth
To you and all the nations on the earth;
This day hath God fulfilled his promised word,
This day is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord!
O may we keep and ponder in our mind
God's wondrous love in saving lost mankind!
Trace we the babe, who hath retrieved our loss,
From his poor manger to his bitter cross;
Tread in his steps, assisted by his grace,
Till man's first heavenly state again takes place.
Author: John Byrom (1692-1763)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song umber: 78
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Thank you for your prayers and support for OzThoughts
Internet Ministry.
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The New International Version (NIV®) and The Message ®
are copyright and are used here with permissions
granted for “church purposes”. These versions plus
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Songs from The Salvation Army Song Book may be
accessed at www.salvationist.org
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OzThoughts Tuesday 6th December 2005
“Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
Worship the Lord in the spirit of praise.
Bow down before Him,
Love and adore Him,
Come let us worship in spirit and truth.”
Author: James Curnow
Two lines in the above verse stand out to me:
“Bow down before him,
Love and adore him”.
I remember when I was a teenager I was asked by the
Divisional Commander to be a Salvation Army
representative at an inter-church conference weekend.
Lots of things stand out in my mind about that
weekend, mostly because it was the first time I was
exposed to Christians of other Churches who wanted to
talk about their faith and practice. I think I
realised that a lot of my involvement was activity.
The Corps and its various sections kept us involved.
Another thing I remember was that one of the Captains
who was there was given the privilege of leading the
evening prayers. He called for us to kneel in prayer.
Immediately someone objected and pointed out that in
their church denomination it had been decreed they no
longer would kneel for prayer. Another took the
opportunity to declare that their denomination stood
for prayer.
Now this particular Captain was known not only as a
campaigner for Salvationists to kneel in prayer but
also as a man with a good sense of humour. He ended up
saying:
“Well, I will kneel in prayer, you do what ever your
Denomination asks, and I hope you are comfortable with
that!” So, we moved on with our prayer.
I hope it was acceptable to God. I have hoped that
about my praying ever since.
PRAYER:
Father God, I am glad you invite me to come into your
presence. At this time as we approach Christmas we are
reminded of Jesus, “Emmanuel, God With us.” I pray
that Jesus might be with me today in all I attempt in
your name. Amen.
Meditation:
Matthew Chapter 6 (The Message)
Pray with Simplicity
5 "And when you come before God, don't turn that
into a theatrical production either. All these people
making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for
stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?
6 "Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet,
secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play
before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as
you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God,
and you will begin to sense his grace.
7 "The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who
are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and
programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting
what you want from God.
8 Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father
you are dealing with, and he knows better than you
what you need.
9 With a God like this loving you, you can pray very
simply. Like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
10 Set the world right;
Do what's best--
as above, so below.
11 Keep us alive with three square meals.
12 Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving
others.
13 Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Whisper a prayer in the morning,
Whisper a prayer at noon,
Whisper a prayer in the evening,
To keep your heart in tune.
Prayer changes things in the morning,
Prayer changes things at noon,
Prayer changes things in the evening
And keeps your heart in tune.
The Salvation Army Song Book; Chorus Number: 114
Additional Words:
God hears my prayer in the morning, God hears my
prayer at noon.
God hears my prayer in the evening, and keeps my heart
in tune.
God answers prayer in the morning, God answers prayer
at noon.
God answers prayer in the evening, so keep your heart
in tune.
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