Why is fasting spiritual?

Fasting has both physical and spiritual benefits. I have already shared some of the physical benefits in another post and there are ample articles by much more qualified people to read up about that. But why is fasting spiritual? It is universally practiced in all major religions. But what makes it so spiritual?

Here is one perspective from my own experience. Food is my ultimate and go-to comforter. As in, when I feel upset, sad, disappointed, moody, or frustrated, I eat. Eating covers up these feelings and I am able to cope and move on with my day. This is normal. As I become more aware of my emotions and spend time in prayer, scripture, and journaling, I notice these moods and can begin to process them. But without fasting I only get so far.

Some attitudes are so deep that they take more significant hunger to uncover. When I am fasting and I notice a poor attitude, sadness, or mean spirit I cannot comfort it with food. I have to confront it. Of course I could choose to shove it down but it makes fasting really miserable. I try to always set aside a little extra time in my day of fasting (especially toward the end) to review my day, my inner spirit, and bring it before the Lord. I ask him what is underneath any distressing feelings. He often shows me and I can respond faithfully. 

Feeling hungry or at least empty is really helpful in noticing these deeper, more subtle attitudes. Because I have been fasting for a couple years now, I have become more used to how it feels and I find I have to fast longer to get that really empty feeling. Hunger actually goes away, but the emptiness does not. It’s not a negative emptiness though, it is actually a relief. It is an emptiness that feels receptive to the Holy Spirit. 

So why is fasting spiritual? It is not because you are resisting food but rather because you make space to fully experience your emotions and attitudes and to bring them before God without quickly comforting them or shoving them down with food. What a gift to bring even more of myself to God. What a gift to have more space in my heart to receive all he has for me.

Benefits of fasting

I have been fasting in various forms for 2 years now. Here are some of the benefits I have experienced.

1. I no longer get hangry. I used to get so hangry all the time. I would blame my mood on my food or my lack of sleep regularly. I would plan my day around meal times and worry if I couldn’t fit in a meal close to a meal time. Once I started fasting I no longer needed my life to revolve around meal times and I learned that I can miss meals without losing my mind or my heart. After all, as a follower of Jesus, He should be in control of my attitudes and not my stomach. This has been really freeing. I love that even when I am really hungry I can be growing in love, in patience, in joy, and in all the other fruit of the spirit. 

2. I have more time. Without needing plan, prep, eat, and cleanup as many meals each week, I have a measurable addition of time to my life. I can use this time to accomplish tasks or extra time for prayer, Bible study, or time with friends. Most of my fasting is only for breakfast and lunch and since I have teenagers they are capable to do it themselves. This might not be true with others with little ones who are more dependent on them. 

3. I am healthier. Fasting allows your body a break from the constant work of digestion. After about 12 hours without food, you have finally depleted the energy in your blood and your body is able to start autophagy, basically a cleaning out system. Your body begins to get rid of cells that don’t belong there, including fat cells that are transferred into energy. The longer your fast, the more complete the cleaning out. Studies also suggest that it cleans out damaged cells and precancerous cells – preventing cancer! I’m not a scientist or a doctor so I’m trusting other authorities on this. But I can confirm that I feel healthier and my scale agrees. Like all good things, there are also risks so proceed wisely. Make sure to do your own research to understand the benefits and risks.

4. Prayer has increased. The physical discomfort of fasting reminds me to pray frequently. I’m not always fasting and praying for something specific (thought it is very Biblical to do so) but I am generally praying for revival, renewal, and a closer walk with Jesus. I pray this for me, my church community, and the world wide church. This is motivated by 2 Chronicles 7:14: if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

5. Greater control and discipline in other areas as well. Fasting takes a good amount of self-discipline. I find that self-discipline in one area often benefits other areas as well. Even when I am not fasting I find I have more control over what I put in my mouth. 

I feel like I could say more but this is a good list to start with. If you have fasted, what other benefits have you experienced that I haven’t mentioned?

Why did I start fasting?

I tried fasting as a spiritual discipline when I was a young adult. I spent a few months skipping lunch on Wednesdays and I came to hate Wednesdays. True story. I gave up when I decided it was actually negatively affecting my relationship with Jesus as I blamed him for my negative attitude and dread of Wednesdays. 

Fast forward 15 years….

I was in the middle of a really hard season of life. I was discouraged and frustrated and everything felt hard and heavy. I knew I needed God to intervene. I was desperate for him to feel close, to witness and experience his power. I was praying alot. I was processing life with my spiritual director (more about that in a future post). I felt so lonely, God felt far away.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6

I felt this hunger spiritually speaking. I felt a sense that I wanted to fast but I thought about how much I hated fasting and since I was already so miserable I didn’t try it. Then one day a friend told me she was intermittent fasting for weight loss and was loving it. She told me how she ate only one large meal a day. She told me she was never hungry and able to make it easily through the day. I thought this was CRAZY! I actually thought that it might be really unhealthy and that maybe it was bad for her and she didn’t realize it. So I checked out a book from the library about intermittent fasting and read the whole thing in a couple days. I learned about the science of fasting and how good it is for your body! I learned why fasting just one meal (lunch – as I did as a young adult) isn’t a good way to fast and why I was so miserable. 

I began intermittent fasting by eating only between 10 am and 6 pm daily. Soon It was 12 pm – 6 pm daily. I would get hungry, but the physical hunger I felt matched my spiritual hunger. On days I felt hungry I felt like my inner life and physical life aligned and felt I could bring my pain and hurt to Jesus and find strength. The more I fasted the longer I needed to go to continue to feel hunger. I routinely fast 24 hrs now and only sometimes experience hunger. But when I do I am thankful because it leads to heartfelt prayer. But I’m also thankful when I don’t …for obvious reasons.

I am no longer in such a hard season of life. My family is healthy, my community is strong, I regularly experience God’s comforting presence and see his hand at work around and through me. Yet fasting still helps me connect to the spiritual hunger that is still real in me. I continue to practice a weekly pattern for fasting but I also am starting longer fasts (more than 24 hrs). When I am fasting I spend extra time intentionally in prayer but I also fast for health reasons. I have never changed my fasting pattern or approached long fasts without carefully researching what is healthy and safe for my body. I have been so surprised to learn how powerfully healthy fasting is for our bodies. It’s sort of like our creator knew what was good for us when he implied regular fasting: “When you fast….” (Matthew 6:16).

So what about you? Do you want to fast? I would encourage you to start by skipping breakfast and spending extra time in the morning in prayer. You can drink plain black coffee, plain black tea or water only. Drinking lots of water will curb the hunger pains. Once that becomes easy you can add skipping lunch too. Do not begin a fasting plan without consulting a health professional if you have any health concerns or medications that require food. Don’t count it out completely though – you may find that hugely positive effects on your health!

A final note about fasting. Sometimes people talk about fasting from technology or fasting from only certain foods. I am referring to a full food fast throughout this blog. Other forms of fasting may be helpful and useful but they aren’t fasting as the Bible refers to. When referring to fasting, the Bible is always referring to food. 

Adventures in fasting

This week I completed a 48 hour fast. That isn’t a lot compared to Jesus but it is my longest to date. This year I plan to increase my fast by 1 day each month until May and then I will re-evaluate. Yes, that means I plan to do a 6 day fast. I know, I’m crazy.

Actually, I love it (more about that in a future post). It turns out that fasting is super healthy for you! And I’m careful to get all the nutrients I need and then some on the other days. Over the next few blogs I hope to say a lot more about how I started fasting and what I have learned along the way. But for today I want share with you what it was like for me to fast for 2 days.

I started on Tuesday after dinner. I didn’t have any snacks or dessert before bed. When I woke up I had a nice long quiet time because my kids had a 2 hour delay due to severely cold temperatures. While I looked ahead and considered not eating all day, I wondered how I would feel and felt just a little nervous. I also decided to plan my prayer focus for each 12 hour period to give me something to focus on rather than “help me not be hungry.” I decided my focuses (foci?) would be for our prayer ministry, for my church and for my leaders. I also chose a breath prayer for the duration of the fast which would be “Fill me with your Spirit, Lord Jesus.” 

I found both of these helpful throughout the day. I tend not to take meal breaks when I’m fasting so in the little down moments between tasks or while driving in the car, I was able to come back to the breath prayer first and then consider the prayer focus second. I was able to have extra prayer time in both the morning and evening of my fast days for further journaling and reflection.

The first day of fasting wasn’t difficult. I frequently do 24 hr fasts so my body no longer freaks out at those. The most constant side affect of fasting for me is being cold! I’m cold all day long! I have to drink hot tea and put on my winter coat to warm up while I am at the office. (I permit myself to drink water and hot tea with honey – those are the ONLY things I consume during a fast). I wonder if I fast longer if the feeling of being cold will finally go away? I’ll have to wait and see.

When I went to bed after 30 hrs of fasting I still felt good. Up until this point I hadn’t told anyone I was fasting, my family hadn’t even noticed (dinner was one of those crazy on-the-run dinners). I told Jonathan before falling asleep that I felt great and was really looking forward to doing another day. I fell asleep quickly that night.

I woke up at 5 AM with no alarm. I got up because I could tell I wouldn’t go back to sleep and as soon as I stood up I felt shaky and weak. I could even feel my heart racing which was a weird sensation for me. I put on my warm, fuzzy bathrobe and made my way carefully to my favorite prayer chair after getting a glass of water. As I sipped water slowly, Rupert (my dog) jumped on my lap to keep me warm. And I began to pray my breath prayer. I really felt light headed and maybe even a little feverish. But I knew it was from lack of food/water. I wondered if it was even safe to fast this long? I wondered if I should eat something? As I began to pray my breath prayer my body relaxed. The water hydrated me. And I began to feel wave after wave of comfort and warmth. I felt that this was my clear answer, I didn’t need to eat, I needed to depend on Him. As I sat and sipped I felt stronger. I dozed in and out of sleep for the next hour until I got up to have a cup of tea and get ready to take Emily to school. I felt all better by then – actually I felt better than normal. I felt amazing and empowered and ready for the day. I got ready and went to work – careful to look nice and put together so people wouldn’t look at me and tell me to eat something. (haha!)

My friends at work are amazingly supportive. At this time I revealed to them also that I had been fasting for about 40 hours and was planning to make it to 48. Even though I felt great at this time I figured they should know in case I suddenly collapsed or something. But they were all surprised by how happy I looked and encouraged me. I spent the day getting lots of tasks done then came home around 3 PM which left me with a couple hours of quiet time before dinner. I sat in my prayer chair again and hoped to feel those same waves of comfort that I did earlier in the day. I journaled about what I noticed which was mostly joy and thankfulness. I prayed for many Salvation Army leaders by name. I affirmed my trust in God as my provider and sustainer. I even dozed a little and it was so peaceful. At 5 PM I got up and began making dinner.

I broke my fast at 5:45 PM with a homemade version of beef stroganoff over mashed potatoes and a salad. I didn’t feel a huge compulsion to eat which helps me feel confident about doing 3 days next month. 

Over the next few weeks I will blog more about why I fast, how to start and benefits of fasting! I also hope to share more about my experiences in prayer. I hope you might also be encouraged to depend more and more on Jesus! If you have any questions about prayer or fasting, put them in the comments so I can make sure to be helpful!

Me on the day after my fast. Is it just me or does even my hair look healthier? Oh that might be because I got it cut….

What I have learned from Cadets

As of this summer, we will have been training officers as long as we were corps Officers (4 years).  This is crazy to me because I really thought I would be a corps officer for a long time.  We were stationed in Bloomington, Indiana for 4 crazy and wonderful years.  We really loved being corps officers.  I loved it even more than I thought I would, if I’m being completely honest.  The opportunities available to officers to share the gospel, mentor young people, and serve those in need in the community are endless and I really loved trying to do all these things.

But for these past 4 years we have been training officers, officers assigned specifically to train and prepare cadets to be corps officers.   We did this for 3 years in the Central Territory and now for 1 year in the Caribbean.   Despite being a vastly different culture and context, I am surprised at how similar cadets are.  Though I am a teacher to the cadets, I have been reflecting recently on the lessons that I have learned from the cadets, either directly or indirectly and here are a few that are true for me.

1. Leadership is about influence not position or power.  Cadets have very few real leadership opportunities.  They do not hold any position or any power on campus yet it is amazingly obvious which ones are gifted leaders.   The leaders on campus influence others without having any position or power.  The type of influence varies greatly, it might be influence to live healthier, start a new hobby, or practice a new spiritual discipline.  I feel that I have learned a lot about leadership by watching the cadets and I hope to use my leadership to influence those around me positively – regardless of whatever position I may or may not hold.
2. Never lose enthusiasm for the mission. Cadets see officership through rose-colored lenses.  They are eager to get to the “front lines” and save the world.  As a training officer I am thrilled to see this attitude. I do not want to temper this enthusiasm at all but I do want to give them some of the tools they will need to be successful in saving the world.  Unfortunately I don’t have all the answers to this but too many officers are discouraged after years on the “front lines” with less to show than they thought they should have. I hope that I will have this same enthusiasm when I get back to a corps someday.  Attitude and positive expectations go a long way in having an influence.  Don’t let frustrations, discouragements, and ‘real life experience’ make you forget your mission.
3. Submission often goes hand in hand with contentment. Those cadets who submit to the training process (as opposed to fighting against it) are generally the most content.  I think this transfers to corps life as well.  There will be times we don’t like our assignments or our tasks but when we submit to those in authority and do them, we will find contentment rather than frustration and anger.  Even as a corps officer, I learned this to be true for me but I saw it over and over again in cadets as well.
4. Teachers love eager students. Not just students who are obsessed with a grade or pleasing the teacher but students who truly want to learn and understand the material.  I find that cadets are incredibly highly motivated students.  They want to do well and that really makes teaching fun. I enjoyed when a cadet would tell me about a time they applied what they learned in my class to real life.   I have learned that I really like teaching, particularly Biblical studies, homiletics, or hermeneutics.

I absolutely love working with cadets.  There are few greater privileges than being able to help shape the next generation of Army leadership.  I hope I will continue to learn and grow through this season of our ministry.

The problem of nostolgia

“I think I will like this weekend a lot more in retrospect.”

I told my husband this 24 hours into our 48 hour family get-away to a beach.  I had been looking for to this weekend so much, so why did I want to go home so badly once we finally arrived?!   Who wouldn’t like a beach getaway?  But a series of minor incidents had left me longing for the house we just left.

The first incident was the weather forecast.  Due to a hurricane in the Bahamas hundreds of miles away, we were forecasted to get rain all weekend.  Not exactly ideal for the beach.  However, I have learned not to put too much stock in weather forecasts around here so I hoped for the best but was fully prepared for the worst with a whole bag of family games we could play inside if needed.

The second incident occurred on our drive.  We were driving in unfamiliar territory and we were following Google Maps plan which appeared to take us on a “short cut”.  However this short cut turned into a nightmare road that was surprisingly steep,  dangerously potholed, and so remote that I knew if something were to happen to a tire or worse (the car) that we could be walking miles or waiting days before we found someone to help us.  It was one of those situations where even the kids realized how scary the road was and Mommy and Daddy had to try to keep a good attitude to curb the tears of fear and even though I sounded convinced of our safety to them, I was freaking out on the inside.  Fortunately we survived the road unharmed (and learned an important lesson about “shortcuts” around here) but the experience left us tense and worried about what else we might encounter in this unknown area.

The third incident was that after arriving to the beach house, my husband started to not feel well.  Without going into details, he spent most of the evening in the bathroom.  And though this is somewhat routine for us since we live in a foreign country and our stomachs are still getting used to it all, I suddenly realized that if this takes a different direction than normal and he starts to get worse at any point rather than better, I have absolutely no idea where a hospital is but I know that the nearest city is 50+ miles away on difficult roads that I am unfamiliar with.

The final incident was that I didn’t sleep the first night.  At. All.  I often have difficulties sleeping in new places so between that, the roaring sea (just meters outside our door), the howling wind, the pounding rain, and my anxiety over the events of the day, I didn’t sleep a wink.  By the time the sun came up and the kids came running in, I was sufficiently cranky and annoyed.

Day two got better.  We spent some time on the beach.  I took the kids out for breakfast (my husband was feeling better but not that good).  We had some friends come and meet up with us.  Other than two incidents where we had to run off the beach into the house because of a down pour, we had a good time.  Then… the electricity went out in the afternoon. For a few  hours we played cards together, went and found a restaurant with a generator and generally enjoyed some quality family time gadget-free.  I was trying to enjoy it but the whole time I was worried about “what if it didn’t come on before night and we have no fan and no AC…”  Fortunately, it came on toward the end of dinner and we went home to bed an enjoyed both the fan AND the AC.

So what is the problem?  It’s just another story of a bad weekend, right?  Wrong.  The weekend was exactly what I had thought it would be:  I enjoyed it in retrospect.  Once we got home I realized how great the weekend really was.  We had our first family adventure on a scary road.  We spent tons of time watching wildlife, taking pictures of sunsets, and swimming in the Caribbean Sea.  My husband had made a full recovery by the middle of day two and didn’t really miss too much of the action afterall.  It really was a fun weekend.  So why didn’t I enjoy it while it lasted?

This has been something God has been teaching me over the past few years. I often miss out on the current blessings because I’m too caught up in the worries and the “What if’s…”.  I fail to enjoy the present and I am often longing for either the past or the future.  When I am like this I am never content.  I’m never fully embracing where God has me in the moment and tend to worry, complain, and compare with others around me.

This is unhealthy for me emotionally, it’s ineffective for ministry and it’s not the kind of person I want to be.  I want to be like Paul who says in Philippians 4:11-13:

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Lord, teach me this contentedness that puts out my worries, silences my complaining, and helps me embrace each day that you have made and planned for me.  I know I will always be your child but help me to be the happy, obedient, loving child rather than the spoiled brat who is always complaining, frequently demanding, and rarely trusting You.  Thank you for your unending love that shapes me and molds me as I continue to grow and mature as your follower.  Today is the day you have made, help me to rejoice and be glad in it.

Chapstick & Tissue Holder Tutorial

I know a sewing tutorial is a little different than my normal theological blog posts but this site is supposed to be all about encouragement and I want to encourage you to try something new and creative!  I started sewing about 3 years ago and I have found it to be so much fun, stress relieving, productive, useful, helpful, and all around good.  I love to share my passion for sewing with others who also enjoy exercising their creative side.  Here is my first ever attempt at a sewing tutorial for one of my recent projects.  I hope you might be inspired to try making this or at least try to do something new and creative.  Anything!

I wanted to find a cute, affordable, useful, and homemade gift I could give to my daughter’s teacher for Christmas.  After surfing through Pinterest, I combined and tweaked a few ideas and came up with a matching chapstick and tissue holder on a key ring!  I love it!

I ended up making 11 of them (for other friends) and decided at the end to attempt my first ever tutorial.  I have learned so much from other’s tutorials I wanted to join in the fun.  This is geared for a beginner so I tried to take lots of pictures and explain everything clearly but if you have any questions make sure to leave a comment!

Here is what you will need:

2 Coordinating fabrics & thread, a large eyelet kit, key ring, hammer, sharp scissors, small scraps of fusible interfacing (not pictured) and a sewing machine (not pictured).

Cutting Instructions:

Cut the print  to be 14″ x 5.75″ (this is for the tissue holder).  Cut another piece of print to be 7″x 2.25″ (for chapstick holder).

From the plain fabric, cut piece to be 7″ x 2.25″ and 3″ x 1.5″. (This pictures has a piece at 6.5″ which I realized later and fixed!  Oops, we all make mistakes! Don’t give up if it happens to you!)

Match the 2 pieces that are 7″ x 2.25″, putting right sides together.  Snip corners like this:

Fold the small 3″ piece in half and snip corners again like this:

Cut small pieces of fusible interfacing to add to the pieces like this.  Fuse.

Congrats! You are now ready to sew!  We’ll start with the chapstick holder.  Take the 2- 7″x 2.25″ pieces, right sides together, and sew around the edge, leaving a 2″ gap on the side.  Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Cut the corners so that you can turn it inside out nicely.

Turn it inside out through the gap.  Iron.  Fold up to be the right size for your chosen chapstick.

You will still have a gap.  That’s okay because it will be sewn shut when you sew the sides.  Beginning at the bottom left of the folded chapstick holder, sewing 1/4″ along the side, top, and other side until you end a the bottom right of the holder.

In order to put in the eyelet for the key ring, make a small hole in the center using very sharp, pointy scissors.  If you recently purchased an eyelet kit, there will likely be directions on the box, from this point on, feel free to follow those instructions.  In case you don’t have them here is what I did:

Put the front of the eyelet into the front of the chapstick holder and place on eyelet mount.

Place the back of the eyelet on over the inside.  Using the tool, hammer gently into place.

Ta da!!! You are done with the chapstick holder.

Now to make the tissue holder.  I got this idea from this blog.  I followed the instructions carefully except for adding an important tab in order to put it on the key ring.  I’ll put together my own instructions below but if you have any questions you should check out her blog as she does a GREAT job on her tutorial.

Starting with your 3″ x 1.5″ piece, turn right sides together and sew around the edges with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Clip corners in order for it to turn inside out easily.

Turn inside out.  Iron flat.  Top stitch around the edges with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

This will be your tab to put it through the key ring.  In order to construct the tissue holder, fold material in half (right sides together) and sew along the 5.75″ side with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

Iron the seam to the side then turn the material right side out.  Iron with the seam in the center.

With the seam-side down.  Fold forward the sides so that they overlap about 3/8″ of an inch in the center of the top.

Sew along the side with 1/4″ seam allowance.

To add the tab.  put it inside the pocket so that the seams line up.

Sew again along the side with 1/4″ seam allowance.

Now we will box all the corners.  In order to do that open the packet and fold the seam so that it lines up with the inside long edge. Sew at about 1/2″ from the top.

When your done with a corner it should look like this:

Do this to all the corners.

Trim each corner at 1/4″ from the seam you have just sewn.

Turn the entire packet inside out and ta da!!!

Add the eyelet into the tab in the same way we did for the chapstick holder.

Add the chapstick, tissues, and key ring and you are all done!

How cute is that!

Please leave a comment if you like my tutorial or if you have any questions.  Happy sewing!!

You might find this project so addicting it looks more like this…

The only way to recruit officers

The following post comes from my husband, Jonathan Fitzgerald, and therefore does not come from a female perspective as the name of my blog implies. However, this is relevant to anyone and everyone who calls themselves a Soldier in the Salvation Army. I’m thrilled that my husband agreed to write on a topic that we are both passionate about!

The past year, I have found myself in frequent conversations about the current state of The Salvation Army, specifically the relatively low numbers of those entering the Training College and becoming Salvation Army officers. The number of people entering training over the last few years has declined to a very concerning level.

We’ve got a problem in our territory. It’s not just an officer recruitment problem, because the number of soldiers has also declined over the last twenty years. Officer recruitment is merely an indicator of the overall health of The Salvation Army. If we aren’t recruiting officers to full-time service, we are in danger of losing our effectiveness as builders of Christ’s Kingdom because officers are uniquely positioned to put all of their time and talent into advancing the Salvation war. It seems to me that most ways of analyzing our Army’s health point to some danger signs. If you were experiencing a fever, stuffy nose, nausea, and soreness, you wouldn’t assume everything is all right. You’d probably go to the doctor.

The question we must begin with is this: For what purpose did God raise up The Salvation Army?

After much thought and study, I believe the purpose God raised us up is two-fold. The first part of our purpose is our commitment to entire sanctification as a real possibility in the Christian life. John Wesley, who was a strong influence on the founding of The Salvation Army, believed entire sanctification was the main reason his movement was blessed by God. We are inheritors of this truth. When we cease to take this seriously, we may see our movement slowly dry up and die.

In my experience, I see many wonderful officers and committed soldiers seeking to become more like Christ. They pursue their work and calling with energy and passion. However, my experience has also shown me that very few people treat entire sanctification as a realistic gift that God gives his people (most Salvationists have not really been exposed to this truth). We want to be more like Christ, but we’ve lost our firm conviction that God can and will make us like Christ—that He will allow us to live without sin, in perfect love and with perfect intentions. It’s like we want to be like Christ in theory, but don’t actually believe we can stop sinning. We ask God for far less than he wants to give us. I believe we as an Army have begun to ask God for a some crackers and a glass of water when he wants to give us a full banquet.  Salvationists want to be more like Jesus, but at the same time they don’t believe it’s possible, or at least likely, that they can ever actually be like him in his perfect love and intentions. But that’s just the wonderful truth our movement was created to proclaim…it is possible!

We as Salvationists must get this right. We must proclaim and live out the reality of this doctrine. But there’s more to the story. If John Wesley was raised up to remind the church of our call to be holy, William Booth was raised up to remind the church to win the world for Jesus. One way he said this was:

“We know that God hates sin, and we believe that He is doing His utmost to get people saved from committing it; and we know that He fails because He has such a wretched, cowardly set of Soldiers to fight for Him. With true Soldiers, and plenty of them, He would soon drive sin and the devil out of the world. Let us help Him.”

Said as only Booth could say it!

Our holy living must have social implications—it must reach out. William Booth and John Wesley both saw evangelism as a necessary byproduct of the sanctified life.

Wesley said something similar in regards to what holy men and women can do for the Kingdom of God.
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. “

Do you see in the last two quotes the interconnectedness of holy living (fear and hatred of sin) and evangelism? They’re the real two great foundations for which the Army was raised up. All the other things we do are just means to this end. We need to reclaim them as our foundations.

Our movement was raised up to fear and hate sin and boldly proclaim the saving and sanctifying power of Jesus Christ to a world that needs to know Christ’s love. My experience as an officer at the training school has helped me realize that we have a problem. We have wonderful, passionate, Christ-seeking cadets in every session that I have had the privilege to teach. However, so many cadets comment that they really had no real understanding of entire sanctification before training, and if they did, they didn’t get it from their corps or from Salvation Army events, but from their personal study. Many also comment that they struggle in the area of evangelism. I really don’t blame them for this. I think it is a larger organizational problem. I know that both of these deficits were evident in my life as a Salvationist youth. If those coming into training, who presumably are among the most committed Salvationists, don’t know the central truths for which we were raised up, what does that say about the direction of our Army? If God has raised us up to be a holy, gospel-spreading, sin-hating movement, and we have moved away from that foundation, will he bless our future?

Alright, enough of my playing the part of Debbie Downer.

I love The Salvation Army, and I want us to be faithful to our corporate calling. When we Salvationists make entire sanctification and evangelism the priorities of our lives and teaching, I truly believe we will see God blessing our Army more powerfully than we can imagine.

We can try to solve our problems by creating new programs, stressing more education, a new corps mission statement, more polished calls to officership, and a whole lot of other creative ideas. However, if these strategies are empty of officers and soldiers living out their callings in purity and perfect love, then nothing will reverse our dangerous trends. Our Army doesn’t need new ideas as much as it needs fresh examples of an old truth—officers and soldiers living holy lives and saying like Paul, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).

I haven’t talked much about what entire sanctification is or how it happens…perhaps that’s for another discussion. I encourage you to seek this truth in the word of God and the writings of holiness authors. God desperately wants to bless his people with this gift, if we’d only open our hearts and receive it. I believe that God is looking to The Salvation Army and pleading with us to reawaken ourselves to the truths for which we were created. We’re so close to being remarkably blessed by God. We do so many things well, and our services touch millions of people every year. When we again take seriously our first purpose(s), we are primed to see such an outpouring of God’s Spirit that the foundations of hell will quiver with fear.

So, do you want to know the best way to recruit officers? I believe it’s to have soldiers and officers who have been entirely sanctified; who are brave enough to stand in front of their peers and join Paul in saying “follow me as I follow Christ.”  I pray that my own life can be an example for others to imitate, not because of anything great about me, but because of the greatness of Christ living in me. Let’s be a movement filled with holy examples that recognize motivating others to accept our Savior’s love and call is the reason our Army “lives and moves and has our being.”

When we get this right, God is going to bless us greater than we could ask or imagine.

– Jonathan Fitzgerald

The high call of FOLLOWING

Pray for our leaders!

It’s easy to complain about leaders. Rarely does a day that go by that I don’t hear or read some kind of rant about some decision that has come down, either in my own community, across the Salvation Army, or in higher leadership. Implicit in any rant and rave is a distrust of leaders. We are quick to assume they’ve completely compromised all morals and apparently no longer love Jesus in order to make such a decision (whatever it may be). When people make different choices than us, we of course assume (1) they’re wrong and I’m right and (2) this must be because they’re not in step with the Spirit as I am.

We rarely would voice opinions in this way yet they are implicit in the way that we act and complain. It is a normal, gut-reaction that all people have when decisions are made by our leaders that affect us seem to have been made without regard to us. This attitude could be toward government leaders, church leaders, work leaders, and anyone else that holds influence over us.

When it comes to government or workplace leaders who might not claim to be Christian, this seems like an obvious reason for disagreement. Those who do not claim to be Christ followers aren’t even trying to make decisions in line with the Holy Spirit and so we throw our hands up and accept what we can’t control to some level. This is harder to do when it comes to disagreements with other Christ-followers. If we are all listening to the same Spirit, it seems as though disagreement shouldn’t be so pervasive. Yet experience would show that disagreements in the church from true, Christ-following disciples are as old as the Church itself. One cannot read New Testament letters without becoming aware of the constant disagreements in the earliest churches by those who all claim to be Christ followers (see all of Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 2 & 3 John, James, do I need to go on?).

The call to leadership is far from easy. Leaders have to make tough decisions that us followers know very little about (we like to think we know a lot but rarely have all the information). God has given me some gifts of leadership and I exercise those where I can and need to but God has also tasked me with the call to be a good follower. I am first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I have to look to my earthly leaders for guidance and direction. How can I expect to be able to follow one who is unseen if I can’t even follow one who is right in front of me and speaking to me clearly?

1 Peter 2:13 reminds us to “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.” Peter can tell us this because Paul reminds us in Romans 13:1 that “there is no authority except that which God has established.” If this is true for secular authorities who do not claim Christ as their leader as these texts suggest, how much more true would this be of the Church who seek God’s guidance in all things and who diligently want to obey Him in all things (Hebrews 13:17)? I wonder if there is a direct correlation between those who submit to earthly leaders and those who are able to submit to God?

So how can I be a good follower to my earthly leaders? I am not suggesting to salute and turn a blind eye when something is really wrong, however, we have to ask ourselves first, “Am I doing my job as a follower?” As followers we should pray for our leaders. If we are consistently praying for wisdom for our leaders, how can we react when they make a decision that we don’t agree with? I have to trust that the Lord answers prayer and perhaps my view of the situation is much smaller than my leaders. Before the first word of complaint comes out of our lips (or fingertips) I think we need to ask ourselves, are we really praying for our leader? Perhaps they need our prayers more than ever and my neglect of good “followership” isn’t helping the situation. My personal experience is that after consistent, long-term prayer for my leaders, I am much more likely to accept their leadership than complain about it. Prayer might change them but it will certainly change me. I have to trust that the Lord has put the right people in the right places. If that place for me is being a good follower, then I need to follow with all my heart and not set the pace for mediocrity.

As good followers we must also learn how to voice concerns respectfully. At times we might need to learn how to support decisions that aren’t what we would have chosen but are final. The list of lessons in following could go on…

It’s not easy being a good follower; it’s a hard pill to swallow at times. But I believe that God has important lessons for us in the submission, first to Him, and second to our earthly leaders. There will be times that the Lord may call us to help a leader or redirect a bad decision but if we aren’t praying and supporting our leaders along the way, we likely won’t be in a place to do that effectively when the time comes. I am not suggesting that we should follow our leaders as brainless drones or automatons but I am suggesting that following is a significant spiritual discipline that we rarely take seriously.
It’s easy to complain about leaders. Praying for them and accepting that their leadership as divinely appointed is hard. Which one will you choose?

The Necessity of Baptism

There. I said it, the dread “B” word for Salvationists. As one of only two Christian denominations that don’t practice baptism, we often feel uncomfortable about the topic.   Just when we think we really understand our position we read something else and wonder if we are on shaky ground. Sometimes I think we even avoid preaching from texts that teach on the importance of baptism. Well, as Salvationists, we should all believe that baptism is essential, absolutely essential. Let me explain.

The Gospels make clear that there are two types of baptisms going on in the New Testament, a water baptism and a baptism of the Holy Spirit. John came before Christ, preaching repentance and baptizing believers while living in the wilderness along the Jordan River. Baptism was a Jewish ritual that John used to make his point concerning repentance. It is argued whether or not he tweaked the ritual for his purposes which later became the common church practice, however, it is undeniable that water rituals involving cleansing were essential to Jewish religious life at the time.   Baptism wasn’t something new that needed to be explained, it seems that people were coming to John in the dessert in droves and they already knew what baptism was.   Christians continued the practice and Jews largely dropped it but we shouldn’t think of water baptism as a uniquely Christian standard that Jesus began, he didn’t.

What completely unique thing Jesus did begin was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. John himself predicted this when he said, “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” in Mark 1:8 (see also Mat 3:11, Lk 3:16, and John 1:33). John seems to suggest that his own water baptism is inferior to the Spirit baptism which is to come. Though Jesus was baptized by water, his ministry was not primarily a ministry of baptism but of teaching. Paul also mentions baptism yet he is not described as having primarily a ministry of baptism either. If water baptism were essential (as opposed to just helpful), wouldn’t Jesus and Paul have spent a lot more time doing it and teaching it? If John’s water baptism is inferior to that which was to come, shouldn’t we look more at what that Holy Spirit baptism looks like?

The story about the first and most dramatic Baptism of the Holy Spirit is told in Acts 2. Though a similar Spirit baptism scene is told in Acts 10:44, it really is an extension of this first manifestation as God is showing that even Gentiles can receive the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit can refer to one event, but it can also refer to the awareness of the Holy Spirit in our own lives. This is the gift that is uniquely from Jesus Christ and this is the baptism that I seek. The working of the Holy Spirit in our lives is proof of God’s acceptance of us. The book of Acts consistently shows that that mark of the covenant between God and his people is no longer circumcision but rather the Holy Spirit empowering believers. There is no ritual, incantation, nor any amount of water that can bring that about – it is by the power of God alone.

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy for other churches (okay all other churches) to practice baptism. You should sprinkle, and dip, and submerge as much as you want and it is a wonderful symbol of regeneration, just as it is in the New Testament. But the true sign of regeneration is the Holy Spirit working in your life. Seek that baptism and everything else will seem second class.

So why are we Salvationists so uncomfortable with the teachings of baptism? I think as humans we like to be able check a box, we like to be in charge and know we are doing things right. Water baptism makes that easy. Spirit baptism is more of a grey area. What does it look like? How do you know if it’s the Holy Spirit leading? When will he come? How many times should I ask for it? As Salvationists we need to embrace this grey area and trust that God’s outpouring of the Spirit will supply all our needs.

I fear that our discomfort with water baptism has led to a discomfort with teaching on Spirit baptism. Are we seeking this in our own lives, in our corps, each and every soldier? Perhaps many of our problems and issues would fade away if we simply embraced the grey area and radical commitment that it is God’s desire for each and every believer to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came in one, powerful, world changing demonstration 50 days after the resurrection, but he can come each and every day again into our own life, empowering us to bring God’s Kingdom to Earth in real and tangible ways.

Any change I hope for has to start with me. I want to embrace the grey area. What does this baptism look and feel like? Am I making space for the Holy Spirit to work in my daily life? Do I listen to his prompting? Am I constantly aware of his presence?

Baptism of the Holy Spirit is essential. Absolutely essential. Are you seeking it?