With the end in view: Jesus
teaches disciples in His final hours
By Major Joanne
Senft
John 16:1
We continue to listen in on Jesus' conversation with his
disciples during his final hours. His words have not been altogether comforting
to this point. "I'm going away. You cannot come. The world will hate
you as it hated me. You will suffer persecution and alienation by people of the
world."
There are points on our journey when we really
would like to see the end from the beginning. Jesus is speaking here with the
end in view. It is not, however, only the end of His earthly life to which He
makes reference but to the end of every disciple's life on earth. Yes,
physically Jesus was leaving and there would be an ending of sorts. The
disciples had no idea at this point that the ending of Jesus' physical
presence would be the ushering in of His constant presence by way of the Holy
Spirit. So, to keep them from throwing in the towel, Jesus said to them:
"I have told you these things to keep you from giving up."
Has that thought crossed your mind lately? Have the circumstances
of your life caused you to want to throw in the towel? Join the human race!
Anticipating that reaction is exactly what prompted Jesus' advice. He gave
the disciples information that they could hold on to so that in the midst of
circumstances that would stretch and nearly break any person, they would have
His words to call to remembrance. Don't give up! Hold on! Remember, I told
you it would be difficult at points.
Jesus was pointing to
the way in which each disciple would "take up his cross daily and follow
Him." The cross was still in Jesus' future, a mere couple of hours
away. But it was for this that He came: to suffer, die and rise again to be the
life-giving source to every believer. His disciples were called to participate
in that very same lifestyle. No, our blood would never be enough to provide
salvation for the world, but our suffering, like His, would be used to point to
the loving heart of our Father and to our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Suffering purifies. But suffering also points to the fact that our
Eden has yet to be restored. We are at odds with the world in which we live.
There is a higher, greater, more noble Kingdom, whose King has purchased the
citizens by His blood and offered them a place of peace, joy, love, beauty and
harmony.
It seems too difficult here. We are blinded by the realities of
this world to the greater reality of the Kingdom. Jesus knew we would want to
throw in the towel, so to us, as to His disciples of that day, He declares:
"I have told you these things to keep you from giving up!" Hold on,
dear friends. This war is worth fighting.
Being there
Mission team from
Southern Territory sows seeds of evangelism at World
Cup games in Germany
By Brooke
Redwine
Southern Spirit
staff
Imagine having a worldwide stage with eyes
from every nation staring back at you, waiting to see your next move, hear your
next word and wondering why you're there. That experience summarizes what
happened when the USA Southern Territory sent a missions team to Germany for
the 2006 FIFA World Cup in June. Members of the team learned that just being
there, being different, captivated hearts with the revelation of God's
love.
For 10 days, team leader Captain Alejandro Castillo,
Naples, Fla., area coordinator, and team members Paul Brackett, property
insurance analyst for the Risk Management Department at THQ; Luke Walker,
community center outreach ministries coordinator in Tampa, Fla., and Jimmy
Taylor, public relations associate in the Texas Division, spent time getting
familiar with presence evangelism. The team quickly learned that "just
being there" was as much a witness for Jesus as any organized evangelism
strategy.
Although the team resided in Dortmund, most of
their ministry was 45 minutes away working with a small corps in Gelsenkirchen
in the northwest corner of Germany. Castillo was impressed with the humility,
enthusiasm and dedication of the corps officers. They organized a café
outreach, and the team advertised the café to fans in the streets. The
aim was to draw people into the corps and engage them in spiritual
conversations. Team members also handed out copies of the Jesus film, flyers
about the dangers of sexual trafficking and special editions of the War Cry
published just for the World Cup. The team - along with other Army personnel
throughout Germany - distributed more than 75,000 special editions of the War
Cry and 4,000 Jesus videos.
Captain Castillo even had an
opportunity to steer one Spanish-speaking man away from soliciting a prostitute
(which is legal in Germany). Not realizing that the team was handing out
pamphlets against prostitution and sexual trafficking, one man approached
Castillo and asked where he could find prostitutes. "I had the opportunity
to witness to him about Jesus," recalled Castillo, "and about the
danger of involving himself with a girl who may have been brought from another
country with false promises."
Another aspect of the
team's outreach was presence evangelism simply by being a soccer fan. The
German government had set up large-screen televisions in the city center so
that fans who couldn't afford to attend the World Cup could gather in the
street and watch the games. These crowds, known as Fan Fests, meant that the
team could meet people where they were in casual conversation. Walker
commented, "I truly believe that our best outreach was done when we just
went into the bars or Fan Fests to watch the games."
It was a
struggle at first when some team members experienced rejection as they tried to
share the gospel. But then they realized that it's still ministry to be a
shining light in the darkness, even when the results are not immediate. As the
team went about their days, they carried with them the hope of Christ revealing
Himself through their joy. "A lot of people think that becoming a
Christian means you stop having fun," added Walker. "But I'd like
to think that we showed this isn't the case at all."
DFW Metroplex Command wins
award for workplace flexibility
The Greater Dallas Chamber
of Commerce awarded The Salvation Army's Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
Command with the Alfred P. Sloan Award for business excellence in workplace
flexibility. The award, part of a nationwide initiative from Families and Work
Institute, was given to the command for its introduction of flexible work
standards to ensure higher levels of employee satisfaction. Flexible work
schedules and casual Friday dress are two of the standards for which the
Metroplex was recognized. "In the 21st century," said area commander
Major Mark Brown, "it's important to recognize that if we want to find
and keep good employees, we have to give them options."
Territorial Stewardship
Campaign 
Every Sunday each of you must put aside some money,
in proportion to what he has earned.
(1
Corinthians 16:2)