Why continue?

Just this past weekend, a friend of mine and I were discussing some of the differences and problems that I have been having in regards to serving in The Salvation Army. There have been some ideological differences that have arisen where I take issue with the official stance. I won't discuss these here, but those of you who know me know exactly what those differences are.

My friend's question to me was:  "Why do you stay when you have these differences?"

It's a very valid question. Why should I stay and serve when I have a difference of opinion? Granted these differences tend to be sometimes at tremendous odds. It came to a point where an officer colleague said that those who do not agree with the official Position Statements should "separate themselves from the organization."

When I first saw that, I thought I did not read it correctly. Those who disagree should leave the organization? That was one of the most dastardly things I had read from a fellow colleague in a long time. With statements and opinions like these from fellow colleagues, it doesn't make it actually very conducive to a good working relationship.

So what does one do? What was my calling?

MY COVENANT CALLED BY GOD to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as an officer of The Salvation Army I BIND MYSELF TO HIM IN THIS SOLEMN COVENANT
	to love and serve him supremely all my days, to live to win souls and make their salvation the first purpose of my life, to care for the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, love the unlovable, and befriend those who have no friends, to maintain the doctrines and principles of The Salvation Army, and, by God's grace to prove myself a worthy officer.
Done in the strength of my Lord and Savior, and in the presence of (the following wording to be adapted to local circumstances) the Territorial Commander, training college officers and fellow cadets. (1)

I have never shirked my responsibilities in this regard. My whole life is based on Deuteronomy 6:4,5. I feel that my main goal is always to go about seeking to win souls for Christ. Part of this expresses itself in meeting the needs of people. As I have told reporters before, what I consider evangelism is perhaps not what they consider evangelism. When I am feeding people, clothing them, loving them, this is my form of evangelism.

So while I disagree with some of the official Position Statements of The Salvation Army and how it executes those views, I am still committed to my covenant that I made with God. I made a commitment to uphold the doctrines and principles of The Salvation Army as well. This is not, however, the Position Statements.

There is a significant difference between the Doctrines of The Salvation Army and our Position Statements. The Doctrines refer to what we believe. The Position Statements attempt to show how we view certain issues in society in the light of our Doctrines. I agree with a vast majority of the Position Statements, but not all. It should also be noted that the Position Statements vary from country to country, especially in its wording. That is why I am not posting a link to our Position Statements.

Our theology is ever-changing. There are some things that remain the same, but some things have evolved. For instance, it used to be unheard of for a divorced person to remain a soldier of The Salvation Army. He or she would have to be struck from the roles. Now not only do we enroll divorced people, but also perform wedding rites for them and ordain them as officers (clergy).

With that in mind, I recall one of my favorite songs regarding my calling:  "I'll Not Turn Back," written by John Gowans with music by John Larsson, both later becoming Generals in The Salvation Army.

I was going to record my own version for this blog, but experienced some technical difficulties. (Seriously!) So here is a YouTube recording of it. The words are as follows:

If crosses come, if it should cost me dearly,
To be the servant of my Servant Lord,
If darkness falls around the path of duty.
And men despise the Saviour I've adored.

Refrain:
I'll not turn back, whatever it may cost,
I'm called to live, to love and save the lost,
I'll not turn back, whatever it may cost,.
I'm called to live, to love and save the lost.


If doors should close then other doors will open,
The word of God can never be contained.
His love cannot be finally frustrated,
By narrow minds or prison bars restrained.


If tears should fall, if I am called to suffer,
If all I love men should deface, defame,
I'll not deny the One that I have followed,
Nor be ashamed to bear my Master's name.

In 2004 I was stationed in Hanover, Germany. That year happened to be a Congress (convention) of The Salvation Army. Interestingly enough, the Congress took place in Hanover, too. Our special guest for that weekend was General John Gowans. At one point, I had been asked to help with one of his workshops regarding his musicals. The General asked me to sing a solo, so I complied with this one. Being overcome with the words to the last verse, I started breaking up and crying as I sang the last verse. If you know me, I don't always show my emotions publicly, one of my many faults. General Gowans afterwards said that this was exactly how it was supposed to be sung.

When the Congress was over, our Chief Secretary asked me to entertain the General and his wife in our apartment for 4 hours because his flight did not leave until 6 in the evening. As nerve-wracking as that was, I thoroughly enjoyed the time of fellowship that we had together. It also gave me the opportunity to thank General Gowans for writing such a beautiful song that became an anthem for me. He died in 2012 and I will always be grateful for the opportunity just to have said "thank you" to him.

Am I called? Yes, absolutely. Will I serve? Always. They will have to kick me out before I leave.

Homeless Jesus

The Christian Left

A couple of years ago I was introduced to the Christian Left, a Facebook page for Christians, such as myself, who hold a progressive/liberal worldview. Besides all of the politics that are discussed, they also delve deeply into social justice. As an officer in The Salvation Army, this appeals to me greatly. Once, they showed a picture of the sculpture "Homeless Jesus," done by Canadian artist, Timothy Schmalz.

As one can see, it is a statue of a homeless figure, wrapped in a cloak, and one can only tell that it is Jesus through his pierced feet. I was struck immediately by the powerful message behind this sculpture:

"I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in" -- Matthew 25:43 (NASB)

I was and continue to be deeply moved by this statue. It represents to me my mission as an officer in The Salvation Army:  "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me."

Nearby!

I found out that one of these statues was purchased by some parishioners of St. John's Episcopal Church in Grand Haven, Michigan, which is very close to me. I had to go see it. So I traveled down this morning for my own little pilgrimage to this statue.

Once again I was impressed by the simplicity of this message.

I have had some friends complain about the cost of this statue (approximately $22,000). I was not disturbed by this act of devotion. It reminded me very much of Judas Iscariot complaining to Jesus when a woman opened up a bottle of pure nard perfume, worth approximately $51,000 in today's reckoning. People said that this money could have been better used to actually help the poor, just like Judas said.

Even this church received complaints from their own parishioners regarding the expense of the statue. Wherever this statue has been erected, it causes people to either love it or despise it, as evidenced in this article.

My problem with this complaint is that the vast majority of people who complain about wasted funds do actually nothing to help the poor. They are offended even by the idea of the appearance of someone homeless in the neighborhood.

The Homeless and the Foreigner

People do not like having to confront the homeless. In my own community of Ludington, several organizations have attempted to establish a homeless shelter, but zoning is next to impossible to get approval for a shelter and if it is approved, the neighbors don't want the homeless near them. Often the homeless in Ludington have to resort to either couch surfing or tenting. Those who couch surf don't consider themselves to be homeless.

Tenting is illegal within the city limits, with the exception of campgrounds, which the homeless cannot afford. However, I do know of some property owners who allow the homeless to tent, despite the ordinances against them.

I have also been aghast at how we treat the undocumented immigrants in our country. The United States is not the only one with this problem. When I was in Germany, foreigners were also viewed as encroaching on their rights. However, the undocumented immigrants contribute more to the economy than we would believe. They often do the jobs that no one else wants to do. Since they are undocumented, their employers can treat them in the worst way possible and they have no recourse.

It is convenient to say from the comfort of being a citizen that these immigrants should go about the proper way to enter the country. In that case, I would recommend that they try themselves to immigrate to another country to see how easy it is. It isn't. Even for Americans, it is not so simple to move to another country. (For my example, see the blog I wrote here.)

It is easier for the public to turn a blind eye and think that there is no homeless or foreigner problem. To them I say, with Jesus, "I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in."

The Glazed Expression

 

The Conference

In April of 2000, then Major Bill Harfoot called me into his office. I was a cadet in The Salvation Army. I had put in a request that once I was commissioned (ordained) as an officer (pastor), that I could be sent overseas, preferably to Germany since I could already speak German fluently and I knew that Germany desperately needed officers.

Major Harfoot sat me down and told me, "All of the cadets know to which country they are going to be commissioned, except you. So I want to let you know that you are going to be commissioned to Germany. We will tell you your appointment at the Service of Appointments, but we felt that you should know so that you could make the necessary preparations to move overseas." After instructing me not to tell anyone, especially my family, I left his office euphoric and excited.

Commissioning Weekend came. People were trying to speculate, as they always did, where the new officers were going to be stationed. My parents pulled me aside and told me that one of the divisional commanders said that they could ask for the services of any cadets, except for Lee Sang-jung, who was returning to Korea, and for me. My parents wanted to know what that was all about. Somehow I expressed my ignorance.

Then Commissioner Hinson called me to the front and told me that I was being appointed to be the corps officer of the Dortmund, Germany Corps. I was excited, elated, and expecting God to be doing mighty things.

10 Years

 Then the years went by. During my time overseas I experienced many things:

• The Attacks on 11 September 2001
• Meeting, courting, and marrying my wife within 11 months
• Being transferred to Nuremberg
• Being transferred to Hanover after only 1 year in Nuremberg
• Expecting our first child
• Losing our first child due to miscarriage
• Defending my country as it needlessly attacked Iraq without provocation
• The birth of Zachary
• The birth of Nathanael
• Being told that we were being transferred back during the middle of our fourth 3-year term to the United States with no explanation as to why. When we repeatedly asked why we were being recalled, we were given 3 reasons, none of which were exactly accurate.
• Becoming pregnant with Gabriel in the midst of preparing to move back to the United States

The Return

My family returned back to the United States and were sent to Ludington, Michigan. I was told that returning missionaries had a more difficult time with culture shock than when they left their homelands. This is true.

I became aware of several things:

• Americans seemed extremely paranoid.
• Americans seemed to be extremely patriotic, to the point that it seemed to be idolatrous.
• My oldest children stopped speaking German and refused to speak it with us.
• The healthcare system in America was atrocious compared to the medical care we had in Germany.
• People were obsessed with guns.
• Thousands of people in America were dying every week by guns, but it seemed as if Americans were more interested in protecting their right to have guns than to save lives by getting rid of them.
• I now had a slight German accent when I spoke that (to this day) I cannot get rid of.
• I was no longer the same person. America was no longer the same country.

The Glazed Expression

After this revelation, I thought to myself, "Maybe I can at least talk to people about my experiences overseas in Germany and how God used my family to serve others there."

So I started to incorporate aspects of what I had learned in Germany to my ministry here. I would introduce songs in our Songbook that were originally German, translated into English. I would speak about my experiences in my sermons.

However, I was told to stop talking about the differences between the United States and Germany. People thought I wasn't patriotic enough. When confronted with that, I began to look at my patriotism. They were right. My patriotism is not what it used to be. I no longer view my country as better or more beloved than any other country. When I die, God will not give me preferential treatment for being an American. To insist that our country is somehow better than another is nothing more than the product of either low self-esteem or a bully syndrome.

Then I was told by well-meaning individuals to stop talking about Germany and my experiences overseas. That was a low blow to my own self-esteem. It was as if the 10 years I spent in Germany did not matter any more.

When people did ask me about my time overseas, it ran normally like this:

"Did you like being in Germany?"

"Yes, let me tell you about it," I would reply. Then as I began to talk, I noticed a glazed expression come across their faces. They were just being polite and only wanting to engage in small talk. They were not actually interested in hearing about my time overseas.

They didn't want to hear about the struggles I went through:

• How twice during my stay overseas, we couldn't be paid for 3 months because there was no money.
• How Germany did not receive any World Services (missionary) funds from The Salvation Army, even though it was dirt poor and a mission field.
• How my first corps had to close.
• How I did more funerals and less enrollment of soldiers.
• How I came home from visiting taverns, begging for money and smelling like smoke, just so that we could make ends meet.
• How The Salvation Army actually shrank in size while I was over there.
• How I missed the ministry I had, despite the hardships. 
• How I would forget a word in English because the German word made better sense. 

 

The Sojourner

I realized that there was one apt word that described me best:  I am a sojourner. I reside in a land that is not my own. Even if I were to return to Germany, I would never be fully accepted either because I am a foreigner there, too.

I also realized that I am not alone in my feelings. Many missionaries returning to their home countries go through the same issues. Returning missionaries go through a period of grieving, as if someone had died. Missionaries often feel as if they are no longer doing anything of significance in their home country compared to the ministry they did abroad. Returning missionaries go through depression. Their children have difficulties in adjusting to their new country. Returning missionaries often feel alone and isolated.

The Solace

Shortly after arriving in Ludington, I received a phone call from St. John's Lutheran Church in Ludington. They had built the building where The Salvation Army was now located. They asked me for permission to remove a time capsule they thought was in there. I gave my permission, of course.

On the day they removed the time capsule, I was present. They opened it up and several documents were revealed:  a newspaper from that time, blueprints of the building, and a 14-page document, chronicling the history of that church in Ludington, all written in GERMAN! I was able to translate the document for them and let them know some history about their church's beginnings in Ludington.

Was it serendipity? Was it Providence? I like to think so. It was God reassuring me that he had not left me and would be with me here.

 My Advice

If you know of a missionary who has returned overseas, my best advice would be to give him/her an opportunity to tell about the experiences he/she had overseas. Befriend them. Take an interest in them. Let them know that their service was not in vain. Give them a forum to express their true feelings in regards to their service. In turn, God will bless you by this simple act of kindness.

Hospitality

Romans 12:9-13

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; ^[j]give preference to one another in honor; ¹¹ not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, ¹³ contributing to the needs of the ^[k]saints, ^[l]practicing hospitality.  (NASB)

What does hospitality look like? I thought I knew that until I was sent to Albania and Kosova in 1999 as a cadet (seminary student) in The Salvation Army. It was during the Balkan War when the Serbs attempted to cleanse Kosova of all Albanians  by either killing them or driving them out.

During that time it was my honor to serve the Albanians as they tried to survive the horrors of that war. One of the things I enjoyed the most was visiting Albanians either in their home or, in the case of the refugees, in their tents.

When the Kosovars returned to their homeland, they often invited us into their homes and prepared meals for us without hesitation. I was an honored guest. They sat and talked with us for hours about our family. They cooked fresh byrek (a filo dough pastry stuffed with ground beef or feta cheese) and roasted lamb. Lamb tasted the best when roasted over an open spit!

I realized that I knew nothing about hospitality. I tend to be introverted and opening myself up to others, especially, my home, tends to be difficult for me. However, one main lesson I do learn from this is that I need to put others first in my life. I need to put my selfish desires down and give to those in need. Hospitality means putting others first.

One common misconception in the Bible is that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of homosexuality. This misconception often occurs because of a simple lack of knowledge of the culture of that era. Indeed, our term for "sodomy" refers to same-sex acts. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because they thought of themselves first and not others. Ezekiel makes this point very plain:

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. -- Ezekiel 16:49 (NASB)

In this instance "sodomy" would actually be the state of being inhospitable and refusing to help the poor and needy. Lot and his wife knew this. They showed hospitality to the 2 angels and (perhaps in part because of this) they were saved from destruction. (The aftermath of what happened to Lot and his family is tragic, but for another blog.)

Hospitality is so important because it shows one of the central tenets of our faith:  to love your neighbor as yourself.

(This picture shows Arab hospitality:  offering a cup of coffee.)

Trying Vegemite

Being All Things To All People

One of the things I have learned as a missionary is that one should be open to all things. This is probably one of the reasons why I have become so progressive (or liberal) in my thinking.

When I was in Albania and Kosova, I tried Turkish Coffee. Coffee beans are ground to a fine powder, boiled in water with sugar, and then poured with grounds into an espresso cup. Powerful stuff and definitely not "good until the last drop!" However, it was delicious. In fact, beforehand I was a tea purist. One could say that I was a "tea-totaler." One phrase that was helpful to me which I learned in Albanian was "me shumë sheqer" (with lots of sugar).

Living in Germany, one dish that I really loved was mett. Mett is raw, spiced ground pork, usually eaten on bread with chopped onions. It was delicious! Yes, I got no trichinosis. Germans prepare the mett fresh and it is only allowed to be served the day it is prepared. I still remember when I was a lieutenant in Dortmund, Germany and writing back to friends and family back in the United States about my experiences, Commissioner Nancy Moretz personally wrote me to warn me against eating raw pork.

I had been speaking with many friends of mine from Australia regarding Vegemite. They kept extolling its virtues and taste and many of my American friends, save one, told me of its horrors. So I told my friend, Allyson, that I would have no problem trying it.

So she sent me a jar of Vegemite, SAO crackers, and Tim Tams. This is what happened. (My youngest son, Gabriel, makes an appearance, too.)

Now, in all fairness, my wife said it would have been funnier if she had been filmed. Shortly thereafter you see the quintessential American reaction.

Online Corps

 

Tonight!

I am very excited about tonight! I wanted to do a more in-depth blog today, but have simply not had the time. A friend of mine, Major Kevin Jackson, and his wife, Linda, have been visiting me this day. He has been interviewing me for a book that he will be writing. I spent the majority of the morning being interviewed. I got to talk about my passion, my ministry, and my experiences about being a Salvation Army officer in another culture.

Tonight I will be doing a podcast with him and some other Salvationists from California. We will be discussing Luke 12:22-34. There will also hopefully be a chance to start a series on discussing other World Religions.

This is something that I am passionate about and am looking forward to seeing how God can use this ministry!

For those of you who would like to join, simply go to this link. When you click on it, it will tell you when it is ready to begin.

I look forward to interacting with everyone! Please consider joining!

The Monster

A Horror Story

This morning I awoke to read a horror story about a woman who is accused of killing at least 7 of presumably her own children and hiding the corpses in her former home after allegedly giving birth to the babies there. This case has just been opened and there will be many people terribly fascinated with the story and unable to turn away.

This year we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.

Yesterday, a 73-year old former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan was arrested after killing 3 people simply because he thought they were Jewish.

That these are despicable acts of humanity's inhumanity is self-evident. However, I noticed something disconcerting happening:  We are quick to denounce these people as not being human at all, but being monsters.

Are they really monsters? What I believe is that each and everyone of us are capable of making such monstrous decisions. We are no more of a monster than this woman who killed her 7 infants. We all have the same capability of hate, but we also have the same capability of love.

Der Untergang (The Downfall)

In 2004, the movie "Der Untergang" (The Downfall) came to theaters. It was produced in Germany, played by German actors and Bruno Ganz (a Swiss actor) portrayed a very accurate image of Adolf Hitler, complete with Austrian accent. In it, people can see a very human Adolf Hitler. This met with some consternation in Germany (1). People were uncomfortable with the fact that Hitler was portrayed as a human being, who loved his dogs, loved his wife, was kind and considerate to his employees, yet could do such despicable acts of horror.

I believe this is what made the movie such a success.

Evil Incarnate

Living in Hannover, Germany, I lived a short distance from the former concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen. Nothing remains of the buildings there because they were destroyed by fire when the British troops in charge were afraid that typhoid would spread among the survivors. The German soldiers who were left along with the local rural citizenry were forced to bury the dead. Anne Frank is a famous victim of this camp.

When one walks up to the Memorial, one notices how peaceful it is. There are several small hills where heather grows abundantly. When one walks up to the hills, one sees a sign similar to this:

The inscription says simply, "Here rest 5000 dead. April 1945." There is mound after mound of these graves with similar inscriptions:  "Here rest 2000 dead. Here rest 1000 dead. Here rest 500 dead." In so much beauty, there is so much evil.

The Love of God Triumphant

I saw a terrible "documentary" recently where Ray Comfort went around interviewing people, trying to convince them with arguments that he was right and that Hell was a real place. The documentary was supposed to be about Noah, but contained little to nothing about it. His argumentation with people about the necessity of Hell and punishment were badly done and in poor taste. I don't know of anyone who has ever come to a personal relationship with Jesus through argumentation.

One of his points about Hell was that it had to exist for people like Hitler. I won't get into the various arguments about whether or not Hell exists, but simply to say that our perception of Hell is probably different than the judgment God is giving to us, his creation.

However, one thing that I would like to touch upon is the fact that Jesus' love is more powerful than all of Hitler's hate. His love is so powerful that it overcomes the hate in this world. I believe that if Judas had not have killed himself, that Christ's forgiveness could extend to him as well.

Shortly before his murder in prison, Jeffrey Dahmer (the serial killer who was also a cannibal) apparently accepted Christ as his savior. I believe that the love of Christ is powerful enough to save someone like Jeffrey Dahmer.

That's the issue at hand. Do we believe that God can forgive all sins? I believe that all sins are equal before God, but his love is more powerful than those sins. In the end, Love Wins.