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By Major Frank Duracher
Southern Spirit staff
Soldiers in Hagerstown, Md., are
learning the importance of discipline
in setting quiet time aside for prayer
and the study of key Scripture verses.
Majors Robert and Karen Lyle are
employing the material “Discipleship Training”
by Dr. Charles Lake in an ongoing Bible study,
and it has literally transformed their corps.
“There are eight levels through which our
people can work their way up,” Major Karen
Lyle said. “Every level is nine weeks long, and
during those nine weeks they have memory
verses they must memorize.”
The first group that started out last year is
right now at level 6, so they have successfully
memorized 54 verses of meaningful Scripture.
Perhaps the most important tool of the
course is an accountability sheet where
students log their daily progress. Their logs are
brought to class every week for the instructor
to inspect. The daily ideal is 30 minutes alonewith God, if not more, she said.
At the end of each nine-week study, each
graduate is given a certificate and moves up to
the next level.
Meanwhile, Major Robert Lyle is teaching a
special group of leaders who are being trained
to teach the first few levels to soldiers and
adherents coming aboard for the first time.
“This makes the course a ‘leadership
identification tool’ because it is from this pool
that we identify potential teachers of this
material, as well as likely candidates for local
officership in the corps,” Major Karen Lyle
said.
CSM Larry Miller, Garry Dawson and
Johnny Lewis are in the leadership class, and
not surprisingly, they are among a group of
men who have become a driving force in this
corps. Major Robert Lyle calls this group of
about a dozen, “Men of Integrity” (see related
story).
Five new conversions are the direct result
of the program, just this year. At present, 60
soldiers, adherents and recruits are enrolled
in the program since it began in September
2007. That represents about 45% of the
soldiership, and the percentage is growing.
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“We began the first group, which met
on Sunday evening in place of our salvation
meeting,” Major Karen Lyle said. “As time
went on and subsequent level 1 groups
formed, we started meeting at various times
during the week.”
For instance, a men’s breakfast meeting on
Monday morning is popular – as is a group
that meets before the normal Home League
meeting one weeknight. It also applies to Corps Cadet groups and classes for young adults.
“It even benefits married couples,” she added,
“because it helps to have a prayer partner. Some
married couples have never prayed together before!
Now they are.”
The secret of the success of this program is for the
students to document their accountability. “I don’t
want to use the word ‘habit,’ but it’s important to
make quiet time with the Lord, and the concentration
on the key verse for that week, a real part of your
daily schedule,” she said.
“That accountability log is the key to making this
study work. Somebody by the end of this week is
going to say (to you), ‘O.K., let’s see it!’”
This discipline soon “separates the wheat from the
chaff,” Major Robert Lyle pointed out.
“Make no mistake, this program requires
commitment. It is for the soldier who is serious about
being a disciple of Jesus,” he said.
“No matter where you are in your Christian walk,
this plan targets any aspect of your spiritual life,”
Miller said.
Miller, who works for the state of Maryland as a
corrections officer in a nearby prison, said that the
discipline of prayer and Bible study in his life has
brought inward peace and transformed his outward
countenance.
“This plan challenges us toward a step-by-step
lifestyle of holiness,” Miller said.
“That’s the beauty of it!”
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