4 Minute Devotions: Salvationists

The season of Advent is a special time for salvation…

Luke 3:6 And all mankind will see God's salvation.

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When I was a teenager in Scotland, I worshipped with the Salvation Army. My best friend at the time, George, had joined the Salvationists and was a great trumpet player. He always seemed to have a good attitude, was very dependable as a friend, and worked hard at school. I wanted to be like that, so I went to the Army Hall for a number of Sunday morning meetings.

I liked seeing the worshippers in their uniforms and the worship was amazing. The participants sang enthusiastically and the brass band played along. It was a wonderful experience and I wanted to be part of their community, but to do so I needed to sign the pledge and I just wasn’t prepared to do that at the time.

I guess I wanted to have my cake and eat it, or to put it another way, I wanted to have my beer and drink it. Eventually, I stopped going to services because I knew I was being a hypocrite. It never affected George’s friendship with me. If he was disappointed, I never knew it. He was a true Christian and years later, when I fiercely battled against alcohol and struggled with my faith, George’s example kept me going at times. I could see God’s salvation in him when I was a teenager and it helped me seek Christ later in life.

Advent is a time when we can rediscover Christ. We often think about Him as the holy child in the precious manger, but for those of us who have struggled in life, He is much more than a Christmas card baby. Christ is the Savior of our souls. He is the Chosen One in whom God’s salvation can be seen by the entire world.

If you’re presently struggling with issues in your life and you’re feeling insecure, then please come to Jesus and receive His total reassurance. He has promised us that He will help to carry our burdens and restore us to God’s merciful love. It’s a wonderful blessing and a remarkable opportunity for salvation.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the true Christians in our lives, whose characters and conduct attract us to God’s salvation. Bless them for their understanding and support. Bring us closer to You through God’s amazing love. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

4 Minute Devotions: Friday Night War Cry

Late on Friday nights, during my old drinking days, you would usually find me in a pub with a whole lot of other hardened drinkers. We would swap stories and tell jokes, take the mickey out of one another, and generally have loud conversations that annoyed the rest of the people in the bar. The drunker we got, the louder we became. The more whiskies that we drank, the less our brains would operate. I think I enjoyed myself at the time, but I was usually too drunk to know.

Isaiah 8:9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!

Towards the end of the evening, a person from the Salvation Army would come in and sell their weekly newspaper, “The War Cry.” The Salvationist went from table to table, successfully selling their bundles of papers because no one wanted to offend them.

Usually, we would by a “war Cry” between us at the table and then we would read the articles. We would all laugh at these stupid Christians, in their stupid uniforms, selling their stupid newspapers. We thought that we were way too intelligent for all that Jesus stuff, but it had a weird affect upon us; we would all start to talk about God, life, and meaning.

Sometimes I would take the paper home with me and when I was sober the next day, I would glance at the articles. For a couple of minutes I would reflect upon my own life and where it was heading, but then I would start to think about which pub I would go to drink in the evening.

I cannot say for certain that the “War Cry” had any affect upon me and led me back to Christ. But perhaps seeds of faith were being planted by God for my eventual rescue from alcoholism.

That’s why I like to write these devotionals because of the seed planting that mysteriously occurs in other people’s lives. I’ve had emails from readers all around the world telling me that something I’ve written helped them through a crisis or enabled them to reconnect to God. It’s a wonderful blessing, but it all belongs to God. He’s the One who started the process on Friday nights, in Scottish bars, more than thirty years ago.

Prayer: Lord God, Your ways are mysterious and it’s only when we look back that we can see where You were leading us. Thank You for shaping, forming, and directing our lives. Thank You for Your Holy presence throughout our days. In Jesus’ Name, we gratefully pray. Amen.