Joy!

You can see on their faces the joy they have! They are such a blessing. Last night we had a more serious than usual discussion and I found myself feeling very protective and pastoral about them. We do have a confidentiality agreement, but I think I can say that everyone of them deals with some kind of discouragement, misunderstanding or even abuse at home and/or school because of their faith and especially because they are so involved with Pestisanas Armija. It's easy for me to talk about witnessing to my family and friends, but I don't face what they do. It occurred to me that they really need something much deeper than what I am providing. And after January, I won't be able to do this at all. So, pray with me that we find a solution for that, please.

I've been reading Agressive Christianity by Catherine Booth with Cory Harrison. Cory was one of my camp staff kids when I was a divisional youth secretary. Now he's all grown up and publishing books! I'm so old! Anyway, admittedly I don't always agree with or understand everything Catherine has written, but if she is anything she is challenging. And Cory makes her even more so. He defines this book as The Salvation Army's manual of evangelism to millenium three warriors. Here are some quotes that are significant for me and I don't mean as I look at the Army and judge it, I mean for my own spiritual journey:

We have been deceived in 'regards to the standards of our own relationship with Jesus and to our responsibility to the world.' 'The church, almost as a whole, has adopted an "It's all about me religion!"'

'If you don't want to raise your life to the standard of this righteousness, fine, but for the sake of the children, and for the children not yet even born, don't drag it down and try to make God's standards meet your little, insignificant , confined experience.'

'Do you want to know how to win the world for Jesus? Show people a real, living, self-sacrificing, hard-working, sweating, victorious life and the people will be influenced and transformed by it...'

'Faith that is EXPRESSED IN LOVE is everything.'

'There is no improving the future, without disturbing the present. The difficult part of it all is getting people to be disturbed.'