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FAITH IN ACTION | 05 March 2016 | Issue 6637 | $1.50

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WAR CRY The Salvation Army Te Ope WhakaoraNew Zealand, Fiji & Tonga Territory

FOUNDER William Booth

GENERAL André Cox

TERRITORIAL COMMANDERRobert Donaldson

The Salvation Army’s message is based on the Bible. Our ministry is motivated by love for God. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human need in his name without discrimination. War Cry exists to support and advance The Salvation Army’s message, ministry and mission.

EDITOR Major Christina Tyson

GRAPHIC DESIGNLauren Millington, Amber Wilkinson

STAFF WRITERS Ingrid Barratt, Major Shar Davis, Robin Raymond, Vanessa Singh

CONTRIBUTORSKris Singh (music reviewer)

PROOF READING Major Jill Gainsford

OFFICETerritorial Headquarters, 204 Cuba Street, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wellington 6141 Phone (04) 384 5649 Fax (04) 382 0716 Email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org www.salvationarmy.org.nz/warcry

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All Bible references from the Holy Bible, New International Version, unless otherwise stated.

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BY SHAR DAVIS

I have been somewhat determined in my life that I would never be a feminist. After all, if you believe the stereotype, that label

is reserved for man-hating, bra-burning, body-hair-growing women who shout their cause, defending their gender from any attack (perceived or otherwise). I did not see myself fitting this category and had no desire to do so in the future. But I came to the realisation I had been deceived both by my misguided understanding of feminism and, my supposed avoidance of being one.

Feminism is simple really. It is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities, politically, economically and socially.

When I was at primary school, the teachers decided girls would no longer be allowed to play rugby at lunchtime. We’re not talking bone-crunching tackles with mouth guards and headgear as essential items. As a 10-year-old who loved all sport and would happily play sport all day, I was most put out by this decision. So, I did the only thing I could think to do. I handwrote a petition and went around collecting signatures from as many people as I could, attempting to have this unjust decision overturned. Little did I know that I was a fighting feminist.

Emma Watson gave a speech to the United Nations for the launch of the HeforShe campaign and brought the topic of feminism and gender equality to the masses. She extended a formal invitation to men and boys around the world to join the conversation, recognising that if only 50 per cent of people are involved in the discussion about equality there’s little chance of real change.

She suggests gender equality is also a male issue, with the value of the father’s role in parenting undervalued. That many males are unable to express their emotions because of supposed definitions of masculinity and therefore they need to

be part of the dialogue to bring change. The famed Harry Potter girl is a fighting feminist.

It may disturb some people to hear that Jesus, too, is a fighting feminist. Jesus broke apart the cultural norms with his seamless interactions with both men and women during a time where women were viewed as inferior to men in so many ways.

He entrusted the news of his resurrection to the woman who visited his tomb. He protected a woman caught in adultery when everyone around her was preparing for her judgement and execution. Another woman—who had multiple marriages and was living with her current boyfriend—was drawing water from a well in the heat of the midday sun to avoid the scorn of others. She was used by Jesus as the catalyst for her entire village hearing about the Kingdom of God. There was no gender issue for Jesus; he came to offer relationship with God to all, male and female alike.

Those who identify with being a disciple of Jesus are called to live a life that emulates the life Jesus lived. He didn’t just believe in equality between the genders, he actively pursued it. He showed it through his own actions and spoke up even when it went against the majority or the accepted norm. That’s what takes Jesus from a ‘feminist’ to a ‘fighting feminist’.

Where are all the fighting feminists today? March 8 is International Women’s Day. The UN reports that the World Economic Forum predicted in 2015 that at the current pace it will take until 2133 to achieve global gender equality. This is a call to action. This is a challenge for us to go beyond believing in gender equality and do something about it.

Whether it be calling for equality for male nurses with their female counterparts, or education for all regardless of gender, there are things we can all do. As Emma Watson asks, ‘If not me, who? If not now, when?’

UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Photography: AFP PHOTO

02  WarCry 05 March 2016 Let’s Talk | 03

05

14BIBLE VERSE

Philippians 4:8 Contemporary English Version‘Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise.’

Piripa 4:8‘Heoi, e ōku teina, ko ngā mea e pono ana, ko ngā mea e whai hōnore ana, ko ngā mea e tika ana, ko ngā mea e kinokore ana, ko ngā mea e ātaahua ana, ko ngā mea e kōrerotia paitia ana …’

WISE WORDS

Habit is habit, and cannot be thrown out of the window, but must be coaxed downstairs a step at a time.

J. Evan Smith Booth the Beloved 19

A lifetime of changesLife is filled with countless transitions—with beginnings and endings. In this edition, Major Heather Rodwell reflects on the transitions she’s experienced throughout her life as a woman of faith, a Salvation Army officer, as a wife and then as a divorcée. Heather has found that in all of the different seasons, God has plenty of gifts to give if we are open to see and receive them.

Every time of transition offers some measure of questioning and anxiety about an unknown future. Anyone who has ever started a new job would know the initial discomfort of feeling somewhat ‘dumb’. Of not knowing who’s who, where things are found, how things work. But how can we know these things when we’ve never worked in this place or with these people or using this workplace’s systems before?

And so it is in life. We don’t know how to be a student until we’ve faced a few assignments and exams. We don’t know how to be a staff member until we’ve found our first job. We don’t know how to be a parent until a child joins our family. We don’t how to find our place in a community until we’ve moved somewhere new. We don’t know how to adapt to an empty nest until our children have left home. We don’t know how to work through the pain of grief until we’ve lost someone we love. We don’t know how to be an older person until we age. All of these things are learnt in real time, no matter how much we endeavour to prepare ourselves.

One of the things about being human is that it is in life’s ‘not-yet-there spaces’ that we discover our capabilities and character. There are countless promises in the Bible of God’s nearness in challenging times, and countless invitations to seek God and his strength. May God help you embrace whatever transition you are in. May he bless you with confidence and peace, and most of all with a deep sense of his loving presence.

Christina Tyson

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04  WarCry 05 March 2016

HomeThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying UpMarie KondoAt first glance, this book feels a little bit bossy, like your mum telling you to tidy up your room. But it is actually subversive. While seemingly belonging to the ‘house and garden’ worldview that idealises perfection and on-trend storage, the real message is that we have too much stuff. The only way to truly overcome our over-stuffed and over-burdened homes is simply to get rid of our stuff. Kondo’s mantra is discard, discard, discard, and only grace your space with the things you really love. It’s a simple, ecological, anti-consumerism message—disguised as self-help. (10-Speed Press)

Pop CultureWe Want to BelieveAmy M. DonaldsonWith the re-boot of The X Files franchise, comes this spiritual take on the concept that ‘the truth is out there’. Donaldson sees the TV series’ quest to find extra-terrestrial life as a metaphor of our search for God. This isn’t as fanciful as it sounds, since the show’s creator Chris Carter, has actually said, ‘The show is basically a religious show. It’s about the search for God.’ Using The X-Files as her cue, Donaldson addresses difficult questions about suffering, forgiveness and the journey towards God. It’s refreshing to see pop culture presented not as a worldy evil, but as a signpost in the bigger story of God. (Cascade Books)

Worship/PopYouth RevivalHillsong Young & FreeWith 2013’s We Are Young And Free, Hillsong Young & Free’s electronic dance music (EDM)-influenced pop sound made a profound impact on the church music scene worldwide, and their follow-up Youth Revival strikes many of the chords of conversation and controversy of its predecessor. The strengths aren’t in its songwriting, though this is refined, nor are its strengths in its lyrical depth, which were arguably stronger in their debut.

The strengths of this record are rooted in the way Youth Revival captures the current cultural climate so well. Latching onto familiar musical trends, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between lead single ‘Where You Are’ and the latest Justin Bieber

release. The subversive and brilliant strength of the record is precisely this. The use of big synths, finger snaps and pan-pipe vocals holds a mirror to the popular and reflects back a Christian worldview.

Youth Revival is a laser-focused album that understands and delivers to its teenage target audience. Simple, catchy melodies are paired with introspective lyrics that speak to a level of faith that isn’t complex, but one of searching, affirmation, longing and surrender. Each song is exciting and fresh, and fit comfortably into the pop genre.

While Youth Revival is an easy listen, and could be written off as shallow, it’s important to remember the purpose and target of this type of music. This record is yet another landmark in Hillsong’s mandate to capture, shift and change popular culture for the Kingdom.

ThrillerConcussionPeter Landesman / M (Offensive language & content that may disturb)It’s a fallacy that the dead tell no tales. When former NFL football player Mike Webster (David Morse) is found dead in 2002—after years of depression, mood disorders, drug abuse and suicide attempts—Nigerian-born forensic pathologist Dr Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) conducts the autopsy. Omalu discovers neurological deterioration similar to Alzheimer’s disease, labels the disorder ‘chronic traumatic encephalopathy’ (CTE) and publishes his findings. He then embarks on a mission to raise public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.

Omalu finds himself taking on the US National Football League (NFL), which he imagined would welcome his research. Instead, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (Luke Wilson) does his utmost to derail Omalu’s crusade.

Smith was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for Concussion. Alec Baldwin also puts in a strong performance as an NFL doctor increasingly plagued by guilt at his failure to adequately care for players.

The script reflects writer-director Landesman’s strong interest in stories about justice, including investigative journalism on human trafficking, the global arms trade and other crimes and atrocities. Perhaps it is Landesman’s desire to tell the whole story that makes parts of this movie over-written, but despite this, Concussion is a worthy and important account of what happens when sporting entertainment counts more than player health.

It took until 2009 for the NFL to publicly acknowledge the link between football concussions and CTE. The movie’s production led to the creation of a foundation in Omalu’s name to advance CTE and concussion research. Omalu has also found evidence of CTE in war veterans.

Bookshelf

Playlist Reel News

To win a copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, tell us which you prefer: a tidy house or a tidy car.

War Cry Giveaway, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wgtn 6141 or email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org. Entries close 21 Mar.

GIVEAWAY

A Worshipfulllife winner is: S. Martin

SalvationismCatherine BoothJohn ReadThe name of Catherine Booth is widely-known and much-loved in the Salvation Army world, so it’s a surprise to discover how little there is in the way of any modern analysis of her theology. Salvationist author, John Read, addresses this void in his new biography. He provides insights into how Catherine formulated much of Salvationist doctrine—including, significantly, its concept of salvation itself. This, of course, became the namesake of the movement. Like all theological works, Read’s analysis does slip into academia, but it is essential to remember, revere and at times re-think our foundational beliefs. (The Lutterworth Press)

AS TOLD TO INGRID BARRATT

Photography: AJ Johnston

Feature | 05

Major Heather Rodwell reflects on how the darkest places in her life have become the greatest gifts. After experiencing divorce as an officer, Heather thought that life as she knew it was over. And it was. Because God had new, brighter beginnings …

me, as corps officer at Tawa Corps. This is a chance to give back to the corps that nurtured my young faith. It is also returning to my first love, the local corps, with all the potential of a faith community.

My role now is to make way for the next generation. We need to provide opportunities, rather than limit younger people. They live in a different world to us and will bring with them a different Army—a great Army!

Who would not want to finish ‘the race’ doing their first passion? What a gift! What an unexpected gift from God.

ResurrectionsThe journey I expected my life to take came to an abrupt and devastating end in my 40th year. But that allowed God to open unexpected doors in my life, which he has continued to do ever since. I was astounded The Salvation Army broke with tradition by asking me to retain my officership. I did not accept their generous offer lightly, as I did not want to stay simply for the sake of security. But after seeking God, I felt this was his path for me.

I experienced the compassion of the movement in placing me at Canterbury North-West Divisional Headquarters, where I could have a less public role for some time. As it turned out, this was of God’s doing (as always). I was appointed to a Community Ministries role and found myself identifying closely with the life circumstances of those who came there for assistance. Because I was being faced with my own pain, I was able to experience empathy and compassion for others. This was another gift from God.

To my surprise, I stayed in Canterbury for 17 years. It meant that my children had a very atypical upbringing as officer’s kids. They were able to do all their schooling in Christchurch and follow their dreams. My son represented Canterbury in basketball and my daughter pursued her passion for horse riding.

It also meant they were able to retain a relationship with their dad. I was determined that my children would never feel ‘less than’. I still wanted them to feel that they belonged to a whole family.

As I turned 50, I could look back and thank God for a supportive family, good friends, wonderful children and a deeply fulfilling ministry. Most of all, God had stripped away my false self, and gifted me with a sense of who I really was.

For Christians, church participation can be a safe place to hide behind our false selves. We are simply cleaned up versions of ourselves, not radically changed or made holy in God. But this is a weak version of true salvation. The most awe-inspiring gift is to know that when the masks are stripped away, you are loved and accepted for who you really are.

Hope for no-hopersThat’s the beauty of Jesus—look at the no-hopers he surrounded himself with to become his disciples. That’s the model. Even when we have nothing to offer, we have value.

We try to define our own identity when, in fact, our identity is something God gives us. ‘As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust,’ says Psalm 103:13–14.

One thing I was very comfortable with was that as a divorced officer I would never be in senior leadership. So when I was appointed a divisional commander, it was a completely unexpected door. At times I openly said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense!’ But I was blessed to spend fulfilling years in that role.

The one change I have ever sought was for greater space to be made for spiritual formation. We’re an activist Army and good at celebrating our ‘doing-ness’. But this can sometimes come at the expense of a deeper life, where we know Christ and how he is shaping us. I think a well-rounded spirituality means I am evangelical, I am activist, I am charismatic, I am contemplative. We need to build into all those spiritual traditions, rather than place ourselves in one box.

Last year I turned 60, and with this has come a new season and new gift. I will be finishing my officership back where it all began for

I’m naturally a very private person and only deeply share with a select few. It didn’t even occur to me to share with my husband the journey God was taking me on.

Jars of clayOn the exterior we were seen as successful officers with a stable marriage. On the strength of our time at Belfast, we were to be promoted to a larger corps. By this time I sensed that something was deeply absent in our marriage. There was no animosity, there was simply a lack. There was a sense of keeping up appearances in public, but a growing distance in private.

Ahead of our promotion from being lieutenants to becoming captains, we had to meet with the Divisional Commander (the person in charge of the Army division where we served). As we were on our way to the interview, I felt a voice—that I have now come to recognise as the voice of God—telling me I needed to be honest about what was happening in our marriage or there would be consequences.

One of my biggest weaknesses is pride. I have a tendency to want to keep up appearances, rather than allow my failings to be seen. I grew up in a family where the expectation was that you always did your best, and there was no room for failure. So there was no room in my thinking for failure within my marriage.

I couldn’t bring myself to be honest with the Divisional Commander. I kept up the disguise. Within two months our marriage had ended. On the surface, it broke down because my husband found someone else who was also in an unsatisfactory marriage, and together they found a way out. He had an affair. It would be easy for me to say it was something that ‘happened to me’, but I have come to recognise my part in the relationship breakdown.

At this time, I thought my officership was over as well as my marriage. Salvation Army policy was that if your marriage ended, you could not stay on as an officer.

I would not wish divorce on my worst enemy. As a Christian, it was crushing and the shame I felt was huge. The Army was very gracious and no one pointed the finger—they didn’t need to, I was more than capable of doing that myself. I felt crushed for my children as well—seven and nine at the time—because I knew the pain of divorce from my own parents’ marriage.

But looking back from a distance of 20 years, I can see that this became a gift from God. I was completely stripped down, emptied of all my self-sufficiency, self-intactness and pride. I simply had to face my brokenness. My daily walk was 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, which says:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

ast year I came into my 60th year, and I find every new decade is accompanied by a time of reflection. I was single for 20 years, married for 20 years, and have now been

single again for 20 years. Along the way, I have learned that every unexpected twist in the journey of life can become a gift from God.

When I was four, my family of six moved to Tawa, Wellington. My mum was down at the local shops one day when someone tapped her on the shoulder and said, ‘Excuse me, do your children go to Sunday school?’ The person was a children’s leader at the Tawa Salvation Army Corps (church), so that is where my faith journey really started.

For whatever reason (I suspect it’s God!), I have remained within The Salvation Army throughout the seasons of my life.

The callIt was as a teenager I first felt a sense of God’s call on me to become a Salvation Army officer (minister). But, as you do when you’re a teenager, I put the call aside to pursue romantic relationships.

I was married a month short of my 20th birthday. I loved my husband and had the full expectation of a happy and healthy marriage. After all, we were both professing Christians and active in corps leadership. However, with the benefit of hindsight, I can also see perhaps I chose to marry to find stability because my own family was in disarray and this was a way to craft my own future with some semblance of control. But control is only ever an illusion.

Soon after we got married, I was reminded again of my call to officership by God. I prayed to God, ‘I say “yes” to you, but you will have to call my husband because that is his journey.’

Meanwhile, we established a successful photography business together, and also had two children.

So when, 10 years later, my husband received his own call to officership, we quickly applied to enter The Salvation Army Training College and were accepted. We worked really well as a team, having established a good working relationship when we ran our business.

Typical of many Salvationists, we expressed our faith in activism rather than stillness, and in doing rather than being. We worked well together in church activities, but the shared spiritual journey was dormant in our marriage. I had hoped that becoming officers would deepen our spiritual connection.

Wider spacesOur first appointment was as corps officers at Belfast Corps (now Christchurch North Corps). It was only a year old at the time and the appointment was great fun. There were no traditions that couldn’t be touched, and we saw people who were seeking and new believers growing the corps during our four years there.

It was at this time that God started to widen my spiritual horizons. I began exploring the contemplative side of faith. I had grown up in a busy, chaotic household, and silence was not part of my nurturing. So when I discovered contemplation, I thought, ‘Wow, this is what I need!’

I thought I had a really strong sense of who I was, but looking back, I realise that I had a very flimsy sense of self. God began to reveal who he really made me to be. I guess you could say I was a latecomer to my own faith journey. I would now call myself a silence and solitude freak.

The nature of spiritual formation is that it happens out of what God is doing in you, rather than what you are intentionally doing for him. As a ‘doer’, this was a whole new way of being.

Church participation can actually be a safe place to hide behind our false selves … but this a weak version of true salvation.

THE WEIGHT OF FAILURE

A reflection from Healing from Divorce

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is required to wear a scarlet ‘A’ on her clothing for the rest of her life, branding her as an adulteress for all to see. When I divorced, I felt as if I were a modern-day Hester wearing an enormous red ‘D’ on my forehead among our Christian friends and within the church. I felt marked, exposed and condemned.

Though divorce is saddeningly common, even our secular culture values a traditional home and family. Going beyond the civil marriage contract, we Christians say our wedding vows not just before civil authorities but before God. Yet, as a Christian who married a Christian, I was divorced. How could this have happened? We had promised to love each other until death. Instead, we had hurt each other, year after year. We had failed each other; I had failed myself—and God. This thought was almost more than I could bear.

I have never met a divorced person for whom divorce was a casual decision. People don’t divorce because someone left the cap off the toothpaste or kept a crazy schedule. Those who end a marriage do so because they feel that there’s no other option they can live with. The details of the pain and problems are not really that important. Every marriage has its unique problems, and every bad marriage has its array of destructive and painful ones. Divorce is a last resort.

God’s grace extends to us in our failures, including the failure of a marriage, and sinks deep into our heart. With time, it displaces the guilt and self-condemnation. God does not condemn us (see John 3:17), even when we want to condemn ourselves or feel condemned by others.

Dear God, when I feel judged by others and am harsh with myself, remind me of your kindness. Help me to remember that you do not ask for perfection and that you love me in my worst moments. In the name of Jesus, who refused to condemn. Amen.

Where have I seen evidence of God’s kindness?

How can I show kindness to others and welcome those in pain?

By Mary Lou Redding (Upper Room Books), available from Epworth Books, www.epworthbooks.org.nz

06 | WarCry 05 March 2016 Feature | 07

TestifyCaring community brought Russell Healey to The Salvation Army and is what he tries to give back as a rural chaplain.

I was a typical Kiwi boy: fishing, hunting, rugby and cricket. I got to the stage I didn’t like the way I was living. It was mainly the drink. I was going out with a Salvation Army girl at the time, now my wife. One night I didn’t tell anyone, but I jumped in the car and went to The Salvation Army night church, and I kept going and after going three nights in a row a family invited me to their place for supper. It was the genuineness and the friendliness of the people, that they took the time to invite me to supper and the old guy at the door shook my hand. I thought, ‘It can’t be all bad if this guy’s shaking my hand.’

I joined the youth group and stayed. Later, we spent 13 years in Wellington before moving back to Invercargill and re-joining the corps there. I’ve been involved in various roles at the corps. I’m the Corps Sergeant Major and the Mission Coordinator. Through that role I began to visit businesses, going in saying, ‘Hi, I’m from The Salvation Army, what can we do for you?’

I started working with firms that supply farmers. Then the dairy industry took a tumble. The price of milk solids dropped from $8 a kilogram to $4 a kilogram and lower and the panic set in. I’ve been a sheep and beef farmer, so I understand how it works. I just started driving up cocky’s driveways and the rural chaplaincy has gone from there.

It’s hard to see. I know some dairy farmers who are losing $3000 a day.

You don’t go in there saying, ‘We’re going to solve your problems’, but you say, ‘We’re here to help.’ From a chaplaincy point of view, we’re about getting people talking. Farming is a lonely life, you can be on your own for days on end, so the first thing you do is try and check everything’s okay at home and how their health is. Some will admit their health is being affected or things aren’t great at home, so you suggest they go and see their doctor.

I work with the Southland Rural Trust and we have access to financial advisors, farm management experts, councillors, support groups, whatever people need—so I link people in there as well.

The ultimate goal is to take Christ into the community. Once we know Christ as our saviour, I think it’s our job to take what we have out into the community, but you don’t go in there and bang a Bible down on the table. It starts with rapport and a relationship.

What I find is after you’ve been talking with people a while and listening to them they will say, ‘Tell me about your life.’ I will share my testimony and I say to them, ‘That relationship I have with Christ, you can have that same relationship, but you have to come to those terms yourself—and we can talk about that if you want.’

Sometimes you will never know if you made a difference, but sometimes you see people come to church or get involved in other ways.

Q&A

How Can I Be Happy for my Friend?

My best friend recently got married and is having her first child. I’m finding it really difficult, both because I’m still single, and because I feel like I’ve lost my best friend. How can I be happy for her and restore our friendship?

What you are expressing is such a universal human experience. There is always someone who is experiencing an abundance, which only magnifies our own feelings of loss or grief. First of all, don’t beat yourself up because you are struggling—it is normal and, in fact, it is healthy to acknowledge the pain you are feeling.

Acknowledging unfulfilled dreams, or even unanswered prayers, is far more authentic than ‘keeping up appearances’. But it shouldn’t stop there. Acknowledge the pain in order to move towards acceptance of the place God has you in right now.

If you don’t move beyond your own pain, you will be stuck in jealousy and won’t be able to heal yourself or your friendship. The best way to overcome jealousy is to deliberately choose empathy. Rather than concentrating on how you feel, consider how your friend feels. Value her feelings as equal to yours. Think about the situation from her perspective, rather than only from yours.

‘Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves … Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn,’ says Romans 12:10, 15. 

A healthy thing to do could be to find practical ways of helping your friend during her pregnancy—a meal, a thoughtful gift. You may be surprised at how this helps you overcome your sense of loss.

We often place expectations on our friends based on our own needs, without thinking about their needs or perspective. That’s when friendships become manipulative or even toxic. If you are expecting your friendship to remain unchanged, you are not giving your friend the freedom she needs during this new season of her life.

True friendship is able to change with the seasons. The transition may hurt, but you will move to a wider, freer space.

By donating goods and shopping at one of our Family Stores, you’re supporting the work we

do every day to help build communities.

It’s so we can do the things we do.www.salvationarmy.org.nz/familystores

Family Stores

08 | WarCry 05 March 2016 Lifestyle | 09

HEALTH

The Health Benefits of a Hug

There’s a hidden problem in our society that most of us don’t recognise, but may well be making us sick.

Humans grow through connection and relationship with others. We sense this spiritually and emotionally, and it has been proved scientifically. When we are cuddled as children, or we share a hug as an adult, it sends signals to the reward system in our brain that produces dopamine. This is the ‘megastar’ of neurotransmitters, because it is the feel-good chemical. Its job is to make us seek the things that are good for us. In simple terms, a hug makes us feel good. In scientific terms, the dopamine a hug produces encourages us to seek human connection.

World-leading cardiologist Dr Dean Ornish says human connection is the single most important factor for our health: ‘I am not aware of any other factor in medicine—not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery—that has a greater impact on our quality of life, incidence of illness, and premature death [than relationships]’.

Yet in our culture we celebrate the ability to ‘stand on your own two feet’. When you become a young adult, you leave home. When you choose to live on your own, you’re officially grown up. We see independence as a sign of maturity.

But science shows us that we should be encouraging inter-dependence and close human contact as we mature. When we don’t have good connections, we look for other ways to satisfy our dopamine cravings—and that could be anything from coffee to junk food, to drugs. This leads to addictive behaviours, which push us further into isolation, creating a vicious cycle.

That’s why church communities are generally good for us. Despite all their human flaws, churches are a place where you can connect with others. Find a church where you feel you fit in, where you are accepted and where people extend their friendship to you—this is positive for both your spiritual and physical health.

And make sure you hug it out, every day.

BUDGETING

Five-Minute UpcycleThese super quick and easy DIY ideas will turn your old junk into luxury funk.

Use old pillowcases as garment protectors: You know that one time you went to the drycleaners and your clothes came back in a plastic clothes protector? Well, you could do an even more stylie version with old pillows. Just cut a slit at the closed end, put a clothes hanger inside the pillow, with the hook through the slit, and you’re ready to hang your clothes inside their stylish protectors.

Globe fruit bowl: Saw an old globe in half for a super quirky and fun fruit bowl. Done!

Bread board 21st century stylie: Woe is us, we can’t look at our phone and cook at the same time. Oh yes we can! Get an old wooden bread board, attach a thin wooden rail across one end to make a shelf, and prop it up against the wall in your kitchen. Viola, you have a rustic holder for your phone or tablet.

Silver platter notice board: You know that old silver platter you inherited from your grandma? Tie string to the back and hang it up on the wall. Use magnets to create a very luxurious noticeboard. Downton Abbey chic!

On-trend shelving: Grab an old drawer, paint it and line with some nice paper (there are heaps of great patterns online you can print for free). Hang it on the wall and use as very on-trend box shelving.

Bookshelf with a secret: There’s nothing uglier than the wires, modem and stuff that goes with your internet connection. Hollow out an old book, and put your electronics inside it to hide them. Modern convenience with old-school style.

Orange candle centrepiece: You don’t even have to throw out your old oranges! Slice one in half and dig out everything except the stem-like piece in the middle, which will act as the wick. Fill it up with olive oil, and light the ‘wick’. This will burn with a beautiful orange fragrance for a few hours.

Let’s TalkI would like:

to explore what it means to follow Jesus

information about Salvation Army worship and activities

prayer for the following needs:

NAME:

ADDRESS:

Please post to: War Cry, PO Box 6015, Marion Square, Wgtn 6141 or email: warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org

BabaganoushEven if you're not an eggplant fan, try this tasty dip | Makes about 1½ cups

1 medium eggplant (300–400 g)1 medium–large garlic clove2–3 Tbsp lemon juice3–4 Tbsp tahini3–4 Tbsp olive oilabout ½ tsp salt

Prick the eggplant with a skewer in several places, then microwave it whole on high (100%) for 4–5 minutes, turning it over after 2 minutes, until it is soft and wrinkly. (Alternatively, place the eggplant in an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for 35–45 minutes, until soft and wrinkly.)

Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, place on a chopping board, cut in half and scrape the flesh out of the skin. Place the flesh in a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade, add the garlic, lemon juice and tahini and process until smooth.

With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil and add the salt. Stop the processor, taste the mixture and add a little more salt if required.

Serve immediately, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week.

From Fast & Fantastic Food for Family & Friends by Simon Holst. Go to www.holst.co.nz

Listen up, you couch potatoes: each recycled Coke can saves enough electricity to run a television for three hours. Denis Hayes

Find more Cartoons by McKerrow on www.facebook.com/cartoonsbymckerrow

CROSSWORD

Across1 The deepest parts4 Readies9 Sonnets and such10 Accumulator11 Perceive12 Drop13 Gets out15 Level out 16 Savvy about19 Kind of service20 Vocalising23 Went like the wind24 Atlas section25 Audio effect27 Used for plant growth28 Wagner work

29 Wound cover30 Small storageDown1 Unfolds2 Kind of ad3 Command to a dog5 Kinships6 Telling or showing7 Keep8 Pressure10 Act of conveying information14 Anyway17 Essential for restaurants18 Unlearned21 Pressed22 Rare26 Bubble

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QUICK QUIZ

1 What catch phrase was made famous by Kiwi TV presenter Olly Ohlson ?2 What film recorded the biggest opening for a first-time movie director?3 Christchurch is situated at the confluence of which two rivers?4 What chocolate bar can withstand intense heat and not melt?5 Who was stoned for stealing booty during the battle for Ai?

BY VANESSA SINGH

How life-changing is tidying up?Decluttering might be on trend at the moment, but is the process of decluttering and simplifying really worth it? And does the art of tidying up only apply to the stuff in our homes?

I’ve got a confession: I quite like stuff. I also quite like bargains. And this can be a lethal combination. Left unchecked, this leads to a home filled with stuff. Wardrobes bulging, storage spaces overflowing … and don’t even mention the embarrassment of that Tupperware cupboard!

There’s so much pressure on us to believe that the more we have, the better off we are. We’re encouraged to think we need the latest gadget, that our home décor needs annual updates, and that this or that new product will save us time, money and energy. In short, we find ourselves pursuing happiness through consumerism—the collecting of ‘stuff’.

Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising has been steadily gaining popularity over the past few years. Kondo, through personal experience and years of work as a Japanese cleaning consultant, presents a new approach to decluttering and tidying up that can span into all areas of our life, not just our possessions.

The essence of Kondo’s method is to filter everything we own and are looking to buy through the question ‘does this spark joy?’ Kondo believes if we consider all our possessions through this lens, we will simplify our lives and surround ourselves with only things that truly bring us joy, life and energy.

Now, that sounds like a great approach and a positive way to live, but it really is easier said than done. Kondo suggests the reason we often struggle to truly declutter and clean our homes is we try and chip away bit by bit, drawer by drawer. Her method is all about breaking down the process into categories (not rooms or areas), removing every item in this category (all clothes or all books), and literally handling each item in our hands to consider whether it brings us joy.

That joy might be as simple as something that serves a practical purpose and makes life easier (like a can opener or running shoes), or it might be the kind of joy you get from looking at or using something beautiful (a piece of art or musical instrument), or it might be joy from a memory you have of that item or what it means to you (a gift or a book). Joy can be found and felt in many ways—only you can decide what brings you joy.

It’s a massive process, but so rewarding. When my husband and I took it on, we probably didn’t realise how long and demanding all this would be, but boy, did we discover a lot of stuff we didn’t need or that we’d been hoarding. We got rid of car loads of stuff, either on-selling or donating to The Salvation Army Family Store. We ended up with

more space to tuck things away, less ‘stuff’ cluttering our eye-line and a home filled with things we love. It’s made our home feel lighter, more joyful and peaceful. A home should be a sanctuary and somewhere where you—and those you welcome into it—can find peace.

The whole process challenged me. Often it’s not until we really take the time to consider what we fill our lives with that we see the things we don’t need. It’s so easy to allow stuff to build up in our lives, hiding it away or holding onto it, ignoring the mess or thinking it serves some purpose. But we can end up weighed down by ‘stuff’ that doesn’t bring us or others much joy.

Sometimes we let things slip into our lives without realising—like bitterness, habitual sin, fear, selfishness, apathy, emotional baggage, negativity and jealousy. And Kondo’s tidying-up questions can be usefully applied to these areas too:

• Does this bring or spark joy? Does this relationship/feeling/attitude/habit truly bring joy? Does it hurt me or others? Or does it lift me/them up and please God?

• What is its true purpose in my life? Does this relationship/feeling/attitude/habit have a purpose? Is it positive or negative? Does it fit in with God’s purpose for me?

• Am I having trouble letting go of this because of an attachment to

the past or a fear of the future? Why am I having trouble letting go of this relationship/feeling/attitude/habit? Am I scared to live without it? Is it stopping me from fully trusting God?

In Hebrews, Paul challenges us to let go of things that hold us back, to get rid of anything that stops us moving forward and following God. He writes: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

God doesn’t want us to be weighed down by stuff—he wants us to live free and for him. We find joy when we follow God’s purpose. And when we let go of anything that’s holding us back from that, that’s when we truly live.

To win a copy of The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, tell us which you’d prefer: a tidy car or a tidy house? Email warcry@nzf.salvationarmy.org, entries close 21 March.

AdviceA Worrying Four-Letter WordOne four-letter word might be ruining your friendships: the word ‘busy’.

It’s one of the most over-used words in our culture. Whenever someone at work asks how you’re doing, the standard answer is something along the lines of ‘I’m good, really busy.’ You can be busy meeting tight deadlines and managing high stress levels. Or you can be busy on Facebook. The word ‘busy’ has lost its meaning.

And that’s why it’s such a poisonous word in friendships. If you find yourself replying to invitations saying, ‘Sorry, I’m really busy’, you may be unwittingly sabotaging your friendships. Because ‘busy’ can mean anything, you’re basically saying: ‘I have no real excuse, I just don’t want to …’

‘These days, saying you’re busy is basically like saying you’re alive,’ says Kira Asatryan, author of Stop Being Lonely. ‘Often, “busy” simply means that you have higher priorities right now than seeing friends—which is totally fine. There are lots of legitimate reasons why friendships fall down one’s list of priorities. The issue is that “being busy” doesn’t communicate any of that. It lacks a sense of caring about the other person and fosters distance as a result.’

Asatryan suggests three alternatives that convey a more caring approach, when it comes to friendships:

1. Be specific: If you get invited to a birthday party but you can’t make it, don’t say, ‘Sorry, I’m busy’—that just sounds like a weak excuse. If you say, ‘I’d love to, but I have my son’s karate competition on the same day. Thinking of you though!’, it conveys a completely different message.

2. Set a timeframe: If you can’t make it now, suggest a timeframe for when you could catch up. This suggests that even if you are too busy now, you do genuinely want to re-connect.

3. Confront the dark side of ‘busy’: As we all know, ‘being busy’ can be a method by which we disengage from a relationship we no longer want to have. The kids call it ‘ghosting’—distancing yourself from a relationship without ever explaining why. If you’re using ‘busy’ in this way, it’s worth determining if you need to have that difficult conversation with the person you’re ghosting.

If what you really want is to end the friendship, think carefully about your reasons—maybe it’s a misunderstanding, or maybe your friend is bringing something up about yourself that makes you feel uncomfortable. It is better for both of you to have the conversation and give your friend a chance to put across their side of things.

On the other hand, some friendships are toxic and you need to ‘break up’. But determine whether this is the case before you ‘busy’ yourself out of a friendship!

There is one more good reason why you may not want to accept an invitation—and that is that you’re tired, need some time to yourself, or simply don’t want to be out. This is completely okay. But be honest about it—don’t use the ‘busy’ excuse. Say, ‘I would love to see you, but I really need to recharge my batteries. Can we make another time?’ If your friend can’t accept that, it’s their issue to resolve.

Remember, it’s okay to say no, but do it in a way that shows you care.

10 | WarCry 05 March 2016 Close Up | 11

05 March 2016 WarCry | 13

You’ve probably heard it a million times before but it’s definitely true: we can learn a lot from the past.

Those who went before us forged the way for us—discovering new things, developing ideas and pushing us further.

And it’s the same with the Christian faith. Some incredible people forged the way for us to live by faith today. Some of these guys were martyrs who died for the cause, others were incredible preachers bringing the Word of God to people and places yet to encounter it, others were activists who challenged the societal norms, others were writers putting their faith into words and helping people better understand their own faith.

Just because most of these guys died before the iPhone was invented, man walked on the moon and Justin Bieber became cool, doesn’t mean what they strived for and believed isn’t relevant today.

We can learn so much from them, and their legacies and words can encourage, challenge and inspire us in our own faith today.

Check out what a bunch of heroes of the faith had to say and have a think about what their words mean for you today. And you might also like to read up on their inspiring stories and other writings!

‘I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.’ C.S. Lewis, 1898–1963

C.S. Lewis was a British writer best known for The Chronicles of Narnia series. He was also a Christian apologetic who wrote a heap of incredible books (both fiction and non-fiction) about faith and God. And he was buddies with J.R.R. Tolkien.

‘We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.’ Dwight L. Moody, 1837–1899

Dwight L. Moody was an American evangelist and publisher known for his innovative approach to evangelism. Moody thought music, Bible teaching and training was super important to reaching new people. He also preached up to six sermons a day. Ledge.

‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906–1945

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian. Apart from his writings (including The Cost of Discipleship), Bonhoeffer was heavily involved with the Nazi opposition and was discovered to be involved with a plot to kill Hitler. He was sent to a concentration camp and later killed for his stand.

‘Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.’ John Wesley, 1703–1791

John Wesley was an English minister and theologian who, with his brother Charles and friend George Whitefield, founded the evangelical movement known as Methodism (which is where The Salvation Army was born from). John was super organised and preached over 40,000 sermons!

‘Why do so many Christians pray such tiny prayers when their God is so big?’ Watchman Nee (Ni Tuosheng), 1903–1972

Watchman Nee was a church leader and teacher who worked in China, where his early church meetings are considered the beginning of local Christian churches. He also published a heap of books, held conferences and trained people for ministry. Following the Communist Revolution, Nee was imprisoned for his faith and spent the last 20 years of his life in prison.

‘Take the world, but give me Jesus. In his cross my trust shall be, Till, with clearer, brighter vision, Face to face my Lord I see.’ Fanny Crosby, 1820–1915

Fanny Crosby was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist and composer. She was known for her writing, churning out over 8000 hymns and gospel songs, with over 100 million copies printed, despite being blind. Some of her songs are even in our Salvation Army Song Book.

‘Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.’ Mother Teresa, 1910–1997

Mother Teresa was an Albanian Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary. She spent time in Macedonia, Ireland and then India where she lived for most of her life doing amazing humanitarian work with hospices, homes for those with diseases, soup kitchens, mobile clinics, counselling work, orphanages and schools.

‘Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.’ Sojourner Truth, 1797–1883

Sojourner Truth was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth was born into slavery but escaped to freedom. After going to court to recover her son, she became the first black woman to win a case like that against a white man. She became a devout Christian as an adult and preached about the abolition of slavery.

‘Act, and God will act.’ Joan of Arc, 1412–1431

Joan of Arc was considered a heroine of France for her role in the Hundred Years’ War. She had a strong faith and saw visions from God encouraging her in her efforts. Joan of Arc was later found guilty for her crimes against the English and burned at the stake aged just 19.

‘Cast off all bonds of prejudice and custom, and let the love of Christ, which is in you, have free course to run out in all conceivable schemes and methods of labour for the souls of men.’ Catherine Booth, 1829–1880

Catherine Booth was co-founder of The Salvation Army along with her husband William. Catherine believed women had an equal right to speak in church and be involved in ministry, a legacy that lives on in the Army. Catherine was heavily involved in the Army’s charity and community work.

Take a LookRe-read each of these quotes and ask yourself the following:

What stands out to me in this person’s words and why?

What encourages, challenges or inspires me most?

How would I put this quote in my own words?

How can I apply the truths of this quote to my own faith and life?

Each of these people was an ordinary person, just like the rest of us. What made them stand out and make a difference was their extraordinary faith.

Be encouraged that these legends were only legends because they believed in a God bigger than themselves, that they trusted his leading in their lives, and relied on God’s courage to make a difference in the world. You can totally do the same!

Closer

Just because most of these guys died before

the iPhone was invented … doesn’t mean what they strived for isn’t relevant today.

FESTIVAL O ONE 2016Festival One made its triumphant return over the scorching weekend of 29 January to 1 February at Mystery Creek Events Centre.

In traditionally flamboyant style, The Salvation Army #festivaloha and their motley crew from Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, Sydenham, Kapiti and Miramar Corps, plus a youth group from Lifeswitch Upper Hutt, all pitched together in a Hawaiian-themed camp site.

One of our guys shaved his head like a pineapple, which earned him a spot later on as Festival One’s intern-MC and a small following of fruit-ies!

Rosy Keane caught up with Joanna Keane, who gave us some of her top highlights from the festival …

MUSICFestival One is a music event that seeks to give a platform for local artists who love Jesus to perform their craft. Strahan, Lydia Cole and Late 80’s Mercedes are always crowd favourites. Logan Anderson is a Salvationist and an artist who gets better with each year! International artists All Sons and Daughters, Bethel and Julia Grace drew big crowds. But Brady Toops’ unscheduled set and Ike Ndolo’s laidback style of interacting with the festival-goers were some of the most memorable and personal performances.

INTERACTIONThis year had new additions to The Village like the Barbershop—not a four-piece quartet, but a literal place for your beard and hair! If you didn’t have either, it was still awesome to be able to watch the staff work their magic. Frozen brownies rocked, and mindfulness books with the message of Christ from the Merch Tent were food for the soul. Open mic nights and booths for recording samples of your own songs saw some of the Upper Hutt crew get involved in the creation of some culture for the festival. It was cool to feel you mattered and could make a difference at Festival One. Rikk Watt (the international preacher) was also a great theologian who had dad jokes and facts to make the things he was saying different and easy to listen to.

SERVICEOne way we know we made a difference outside the Festival was Love This City’s initiative to ‘lovebomb’ Hamilton. Almost our entire #festivaloha crew signed up to go into the Hamilton streets and randomly bless the public by giving them gifts! Our group got to travel to Hamilton’s fire station and share some time, some muffins and some laughs with the firemen. It was a great time to show honour to those who honour us every day by their service and bravery. You have been #lovebombed!

COMMUNITY‘Community’ is a word often talked about but not often grasped. A really incredible part of Festival One is that the atmosphere seems to be heavy with community. From meat donated by local farmers and roasted over the BBQ, to different opportunities to pray and interact and take photos and share—all of it seems to point back to common unity. And that is where the heart of community lies: we share in loving music, and donuts, and sunblock, and spray tents filled with water. But best of all we share the common unity and fullness of community that is found in loving Christ.

‘It is God’s Spirit that changes the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and then things begin to be possible which before were impossible,’ said Oswald Chambers. Festival One offered us worship spaces to join together in praise; breathing spaces to join together in food; and spaces of encounter to join together in Christ. Now the challenge is to continue on in that same artistry and creativity, engaging Jesus in every space of our everyday lives.

What would you recommend to others about FESTIVAL ONE? It has everything! If you like music, it has music. If you like people, it has people. If you like brownies, it has brownies. But above everything, it is a place that has connection.

Appeal Launched to Help Fiji After Devastating Category 5 Cyclone

The Salvation Army in New Zealand has launched an appeal to raise funds for cyclone-related relief. A category 5 tropical cyclone struck Fiji with full force overnight on Saturday 20 February. Cyclone Winston was the strongest cyclone to hit Fiji and the strongest ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. Its impact has to some extent affected up to 90 per cent of Fiji’s approximately 900,000 people. Aerial images show that some villages have been completely destroyed, with reports of serious damage and destruction of schools, clinics and two hospitals.

By 25 February, 42 people were confirmed dead,. The Fiji Govern-ment declared a month-long State of Natural Disaster. Fiji’s two largest islands, Viti Levu (where The Salvation Army’s Divisional Headquarters is based) and Venua Levu, were still largely without electricity and many areas had no water supply.

Ahead of the cyclone, The Salvation Army established 10 evacuation centres at its halls in Labasa, Ba, Nadi, Sigatoka, Suva Central, Raiwai, Lomaivuna, Nasinu, Saweni and Lautoka. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Aid Programme funds The Salvation Army in Fiji to provide emergency immediate and ongoing relief to cyclone and flood-affected people. This includes the provision of emergency containers stocked with mattresses, tarpaulins, generators, shovels, wheelbarrows, chainsaws and protective clothing. The Salvation Army also has an arrangement with major Fiji food supplier RB Patel to ensure sufficient food and water for each of its evacuation centres. All Salvation Army officers in Fiji are trained in cyclone readiness. This includes training in emergency crowd management and grief counselling.

Due to the Government curfew, some Salvation Army centres were not required, but the Army’s Nadi centre was full, with 40 people seeking shelter at Lomaivuna, 30 at Sigatoka and Ba, 20 at Saweni and six at Nasinu. All Sunday church services were cancelled to ensure the safety of attenders, although Raiwai Corps held a service for those who had sought shelter at the corps. At Sigatoka Corps, The Salvation Army had been offering assistance to those living in a nearby squatter camp, where the oldest resident is 85 and the youngest just nine months.

Fiji Divisional Commander Major David Noakes reported that the storm was ‘vicious’. ‘Fiji is severely battered and its people extremely traumatised,’ he said. ‘The damage in villages is extensive, with a great many homes destroyed and left roofless. There is kilometre after kilometre of crop damage, with power lines down.’ Almost all Salvation Army halls and many officer quarters had been flooded, as the tremendous force of the wind pushed water into places where nothing could stop it. The Ba quarters was badly damaged by the storm and the officers there were in deep shock, said Major Noakes.

The situation for many Fijians was now desperate, said Major Noakes. Low-lying areas were severely affected by storm surges and ongoing flooding along major river valleys was likely to drive more people to seek help with food, shelter and clothing. Fijians would face challenges to food supplies and livelihoods, with agriculture, fisheries and tourism industries badly affected by the disaster.

The Salvation Army was not in contact with its corps in Savusavu (on Venua Levu) and Taveuni Island in the north east for several days as communication and access was very difficult. Major Noakes said they would fly in as soon as possible to assess the damage in both locations. People were very traumatised and living in lean-to shacks made from material from destroyed homes.

At Rakiraki Village (between Suva and Nadi), where the cyclone

first made landfall, there was almost complete devastation. ‘It can only be described as catastrophic,’ said Major Noakes. ‘The people’s response ranges from being in total shock to a determined resignation. There is a desperate need for water and The Salvation Army is sending supplies from Suva.’ The officers at Rakiraki Corps Plant were forced to evacuate their home due to flooding, but had since returned home. They were initially joined by several Salvation Army families who had lost their homes in the cyclone.

The Fiji Government was encouraging people to leave the evacuation centres to return to their homes and help with clean-up efforts. However, at Nadi Corps 15 families were still living at the Army hall after their homes on the banks of the Nadi River were inundated by water. Although they were doing their part to help in the cyclone’s aftermath, it seemed likely those from the hard-hit Nadi area would need ongoing shelter and food, said Major Noakes. Lautoka Corps was also still operating as an emergency centre, with people returning to the Army hall at night to rest from repairing their homes. The officers at Nadi Corps were involved in providing post-cyclone chaplaincy services at Nadi Airport.

In Rakiraki Village, Major Noakes estimated 60 to 70 homes have been destroyed. ‘It is clear that there will be huge need for assistance in rebuilding homes,’ he said. ‘The Fiji Government seems to be emphasising damage on outlying islands, but our visits confirm urgent needs on the Western side of Viti Levu from Ba through to Rakiraki.’

The Salvation Army’s New Zealand Coordinator for Emergency Services, Major David Bennett, has travelled to Fiji to assist with coordinating the Army’s response, along with Major Nigel Luscombe and Major Mark Ennever. A working group at Divisional Headquarters in Suva has also been formed, with Lieutenant Saimone Gataurua (Divisional Public Relations Officer and Corps Officer, Suva) acting as the Army’s Government liaison. Prior to becoming an officer, Lieutenant Gatauraua had long experience working on development strategies and infrastructure within the Fiji Government.

Initially, The Salvation Army is continuing to support people’s basic needs for food, shelter and pastoral support and will provide tarpaulins and ropes for victims. The Salvation Army is also exploring the possibility of rebuilding housing in an affected village where it is already at work. More details would be released as plans are developed, said Major Noakes, and it would be important to do this work in collaboration with local government and tribal chiefs in the affected area.

‘Thank you to the many Salvationists who are praying for the people of Fiji,’ said Major Noakes. ‘Please continue to pray, as people’s lives will be very different for a long time to come. The Salvationists in Fiji have dedicated themselves to serving their communities, despite the impact of the cyclone on their own lives. We are told our evacuation centres had a good atmosphere about them and there is a deep appreciation of the Army’s care.’

Donations for The Salvation Army Fiji Emergency Appeal can be made online at www salvationarmy.org.nz/FijiAppeal (specify ‘Fiji Emergency Appeal’ as the purpose), or donate via internet banking—The Salvation Army Fiji Emergency Appeal bank account number is BNZ 02 0568 0091726 02.

Rakiraki Village, home to The Salvation Army's newest corps plant

Our Community | 15

GAZETTE

AppointmentEffective 1 April: Mjr Heather Rodwell, Corps Officer, Tawa Corps, Central Division. Mjr Rodwell will also continue in her appointment as Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development.

Promoted to GloryComm Lorraine Buckingham was promoted to Glory on 2 Feb from the Avondale Resthome and Hospital, Auckland.

Lorraine Smith was born in Timaru on 23 Nov 1937. Lorraine met and married Hillmon Buckingham and together they entered officer training in April 1959 in the Pioneers Session. The couple was commissioned as lieutenants on 13 Jan 1960 and served in a variety of appointments, including 20 years as corps officers.

In 1982, Lorraine was appointed Secretary to the Territorial President of Women’s Organisations, and Nurses Fellowship Secretary. In 1985, the Buckinghams were appointed to the

training college, where Lorraine served as Counsellor. On being transferred to the Australia Southern Territory in 1987, Lorraine served as Divisional Director of Women’s Organisations, Melbourne Central Division. In 1990, Lorraine and Hillmon returned to the New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga Territory, where Lorraine was appointed Divisional Director of Women’s Organisations, Northern Division. While the Buckinghams were divisional leaders, new corps programmes and social service initiatives were successfully introduced.

In Jan 1994, with the rank of colonel, Lorraine and Hillmon were appointed to Territorial Headquarters, where Lorraine became Territorial Home League Secretary and then Territorial Secretary of Women’s Organisations. During this time, Hillmon was Chief Secretary. In 1997, they returned to Australia, to the Australia Eastern Territory, with the rank of commissioner. Lorraine served as Territorial President of Women’s Organisations and Hillmon

as Territorial Commander. On 31 Jan 2000, Lorraine and Hillmon retired and returned to New Zealand, retiring in Auckland.

We salute Comm Lorraine Buckingham for her influential leadership and example, her pastoral interest in and care of people, and her faithful service as a woman of God. Well done, good and faithful servant of Jesus!

A service to celebrate Lorraine’s life was held on 9 Feb at Auckland City Corps, led by Mjr Janee Sawyer.

Please remember in prayer Coralie and Kevin Bridle, Cols Lyndon and Bronwyn Buckingham, and Mjrs Michelle and Milton Collins, along with other members of the family.

BereavedMjr Don Walker and Mjr Lois Waring of their brother, Mr James (Jim) Walker, from Whangarei on 29 Jan. A service celebrating Jim’s life was held at Whangarei Corps on 3 Feb.

Lt-Col Lynette Hutson of her father,

Mr Fred Collett, who was promoted to Glory from Christchurch on 13 Feb. Fred was a lifelong Salvationist, a soldier of Linwood Corps since 1964 and a bandsman for 70 years. A service celebrating Fred’s life was held at Linwood Corps on 17 Feb, led by Lt-Col Ian Hutson. Please remember in prayer Fred’s wife Doris, Lt-Cols Lynette and Ian Hutson, Envoys Collette (granddaughter) and Stewart Irwin, and other family members.

ResignationThe Territorial Commander announces with regret the resignation of Capt Geoffrey Miller, effective 28 Feb. Following his commissioning on 11 Dec 2010, Geoffry was appointed Corps Officer, Saweni Corps, Fiji. In Jan 2014, he was appointed Mission Training Officer, School for Officer Training, and Divisional Leadership Development Secretary, Fiji. We thank Geoffrey for his service and pray God’s continued blessing on him.

Increased Efforts to Prevent Child Abuse

The Salvation Army is strengthening its efforts to combat child abuse in New Zealand, with a new policy to spot and combat abuse earlier.

The Salvation Army Child Protection Policy, which was signed off in December, brings in stronger guidelines and increased training to protect children. It will also see new Child Protection Champions working around the country supporting the protection of children.

The policy is the latest step in The Salvation Army’s firm commitment to protecting everyone it encounters, bringing together and improving existing Salvation Army policies for protecting children, Territorial Secretary for Personnel Captain Gerry Walker said.

‘We’ve had processes in place, including the management of sexual offenders policy, police checks and a Safe to Serve training course for youth and children’s work. For this new policy we’ve collaborated with the different parts of the Army, bringing these together and giving a more coordinated, consistent approach.’

The review started in response to New Zealand law changes from the Vulnerable Children Act that was passed in 2014. However, Community Ministries National Practice Manager Jono Bell, who helped write the new policy, said it was also a good opportunity for the Army to step up its processes.

‘At the heart of this is that children are our most precious resource. The Salvation Army values children highly and this is another way we can protect and support them. Safe to Serve and other procedures have done a really fantastic job of lifting awareness, but it’s time to strengthen our services and the new legislation gives us a reason to do so.’

Although some of the attention around child abuse has eased in the past few years, it remains a major issue in New Zealand and something The Salvation Army is committed to helping combat, Jono said. The nature of The Salvation Army’s work means it comes into contact with many families and young people who have suffered or have an increased likelihood of suffering from abuse. The Army has a strong obligation to work to prevent abuse by its members and others, but it is also in a great position to act early and make a difference, and the aim is that the new policy will be an early intervention to prevent potential abuse, Jono said.

‘We work with 120,000 people and some are quite vulnerable. We come across people who have been victims of abuse on a daily basis. Because we’re an entry point to many people seeking any form of help, we have an opportunity to step in early when we notice something. It’s also bringing awareness that this can be a very real issue in our corps and centres and keeps in mind our obligations to children and young people.’

The new policy operates across all programmes run by The Salvation Army in New Zealand, whether or not they work with

children. It was written in consultation with staff across The Salvation Army and with advice from Child Matters, a charity which specialises in child abuse prevention.

The policy covers anyone aged zero to 17 and looks at all types of abuse including emotional, cultural and spiritual. It sits alongside national policies in Fiji and Tonga that match the different laws in each country and includes a regular review process to ensure that The Salvation Army is maintaining and improving its efforts to protect people, Gerry said.

The launch of the new policy is being followed by the appointment of a national Child Protection Policy Coordinator, who will oversee the implementation of the policy and organise training sessions in child protection that will run around New Zealand from 1 July. While departments dealing with children have been committed to and investing in training, new training is coming to bring everyone in the Army up to date with latest practice and the new policy rules, Jono said.

Child Protection Champions—staff who have received extra training in spotting abuse and working with families—are also being appointed to support corps and centres. In addition to offering advice they will work with staff and managers to take action when abuse is reported or suspected, including filing a report of concern with Child Youth and Family.

Under the policy, all new staff will be given an induction in the basics of child protection. Staff working with children, or responsible for work with children, will do at least one day of child protection training.

There are also stricter requirements for hiring staff to work with children, to reduce the possibility of hiring unsafe people. The process includes an enhanced police check, as required under the new law, specific questions that must be asked in job interviews, contacting referees and completing a risk assessment.

The policy includes stricter requirements around filing reports, and copies of reports of concern will be held in secure locations at the corps or centre and the Personnel Department at Territorial Headquarters. This is to make sure The Salvation Army is accountable and reporting well, and to keep a better track of anonymous statistics around child abuse. This will allow it to keep enhancing programmes with clearer targets and advocate better with government and other NGOs on issues relating to children, Jono said.

‘We need to make sure we have got good records and make sure we’re following best practice. We need to lift the levels of awareness and lift the levels of reporting to make sure we’re a key part of helping these children get the support and care they need.’

Midland Divisional Hui Strengthens Bicultural Connections

On Waitangi weekend, Ope Tauā (Corps) of around 80 people from the Midland Division gathered at Te Aranga Marae in Flaxmere for the Midland Division Hui. The theme was ‘Whakawhanaungatanga’ —building connections with a focus on our spiritual connection as te whanau o te Atua, the family of God.

Ko Kawari te Maunga—Our mountain is Calvary (the Cross of Jesus)Ko Waiora te Awa—Our river is the living water of God’s SpiritKo Rongopai te Waka—Our vessel is the good news of JesusKo Ihu Karaiti te Ariki—Jesus Christ is our LordHoea te Waka—Let us row together in unityAt the pōwhiri on Saturday morning, Flaxmere Corps welcomed

corps groups from Grandview (Kirikiriroa/Hamilton), Tokoroa, New Pymouth (Ngā Motu), Stratford, Gisborne (Tūranga-nui–a-Kiwa), and Napier (Ahuriri).

After lunch, we headed off to Clive River for a trip in the waka tauā (traditional war canoe) Ngā Tukemata o Kahungunu. The waka was gifted to Te Ope Whakaora (The Salvation Army) for the day by Jim and Marie Edwards from the Ngā Tukemata o Kahungunu Vocational Charitable Trust. This trip was an experience many will remember, particularly as we rowed past the site of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi for the Kahunungu/Hawke’s Bay region 201 years earlier.

On Saturday evening, we shared a delicious hangi and time to relax and get to build connections.

Sunday morning worship was uplifting, sharing together in the

presence and freedom of God’s Spirit, including the opportunity for worship using all three of New Zealand’s official languages (Māori, English and sign language).

Divisional Commander Major Garth Stevenson shared a challenging message on our identity, ‘I roto i te Ariki—in Christ’. Sunday evening’s pō whakangahau (celebration) was an awesome time of singing, dancing, testimony, haka and worship as each corps blessed us with special items. Guest speaker, Keith Newman (author of Bible and Treaty and Beyond Betrayal) spoke about reclaiming the stories of Māori and missionary ‘heroes of the faith’ from our history.

On Monday, Lieutenants Tau and Trish Mataki (Territorial Secretaries of Māori Ministry) introduced us to ‘Te Ōhākī—The Salvation Army Māori Ministry Strategic Plan’, which will be presented in wananga/workshops around the territory in the next few months.

The weekend concluded with a pōroporaki (farewell). A big thanks to the hardworking crew (kaimahi) of Flaxmere/

Paharakeke Corps who organised and hosted the weekend, and also to the Midland Divisional Headquarters team for their support. The entire hui was an uplifting time of worship, fellowship and encouragement to continue to pursue culturally-relevant ministry and mission within our own communities in ways that uplift and welcome all people.

By Captain Tim Malton (Corps Officer, Flaxmere)

16 | WarCry 05 March 2016 Our Community | 17

There is a purpose and a place for us beyond what we can currently see.

I recently attended a conference with the title ‘Tahatu Rangi’. This was explained to us as a Māori poetic term for the horizon and what is beyond. It points to the place where the earth, sea and sky meet. This is the place at the end of our view, but it also refers to the place that lies beyond. In that place is the beginning of a new view not yet obvious to us. The term contains elements of potential, of faith, of courage. It is also a place of strategy and for unconventional thinking that may lead us in new directions.

In The Salvation Army, this is a year of looking to the horizon and seeking God’s direction for what lies ahead. It is for us a year of Tahatu Rangi. We will need to stand on our heritage and the foundation of what has gone before, but at the same time this is not a place we can stay. We have to move toward the horizon, both personally and as The Salvation Army, a movement God raised up.

For me, as I prepare to farewell from my current role and take up a new appointment as National Director of The Salvation Army’s Addictions, Supportive Accommodation and Reintegration Services, I am very aware of the necessity to seek God’s direction for what lies ahead. But for each of us there is a purpose and a place beyond what we can currently see. What will this look like and will it be significantly different? Possibly, but our fundamental reason for existence remains the same: we are called to a hurting and broken world sharing the love, healing and wholeness of Jesus.

We look forward, but our view finishes at the horizon. We cannot see into the faith space that lies beyond. Neither can we stop the movement of time and the changes this brings to our lives, so to stay still is not an option for us. We must acknowledge that the entire Christian Church is facing challenging times in being relevant and connected, but equally that deep human needs do not change. Our human longing for meaning and belonging is the deep call of the heart toward God.

What does God have just beyond the horizon for The Salvation Army? This Tahatu Rangi space is a place that requires courage, but is filled with possibilities. And it is in this space that our faith takes hold.

We believe in and have experience of a God who goes before us, and whose faithfulness and constant love never fail. We can be certain the God who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). My hope is that we will all move forward with confidence, even when we cannot see what lies beyond the horizon.

Lieut-Colonel Lynette HutsonTerritorial Secretary for Business Administration

LEADERSHIP LINKS

Willow Creek leaders need to be recruiters and organisers of volunteers, not doers. This is something we can do better in The Salvation Army.

3. Worship Services: Recognising that the people coming to their services are often busy and stressed, Willow Creek has changed its format to provide opportunities for people to simply dwell in God’s presence. One aspect of this is the use of more solos.

4. Sections: Founder Bill Hybels is very conscious about making people feel welcome and get connected in such a large church. The 7500-seat auditorium forms around 35 natural seating sections, and noticing that people tended to sit in the same area each week, they have now employed ‘section pastors’ for each of these areas, for each of the different services. These pastors stand at the back of their section to welcome and connect people and organise social gatherings. It was a good week to attend, as at the end of the service my section shared coffee and donuts—just what a jetlagged Kiwi needed!

Attending the Partnering to Prevail conference meant we got to hear insights from all of Willow Creek’s key ministry leaders. For example, a couple of hours with the Service Planning team helped us understand changes in their approach to Sunday services, and a couple of hours with their Children’s Ministry leaders helped explain why they’re re-writing all of their curriculum to reflect what they believe are changed requirements for reaching today’s children. We also enjoyed a full tour of their incredible facilities.

Lessons from North PointNorthpoint was a very different but just as amazing experience. I’ve read a lot about Northpoint and watched a lot of Andy Stanley talks, so it was a real buzz to be there and see it all in action. Sitting in the auditorium as the music started raised the hairs on the back of my neck.

What impressed me about Northpoint was:1. They are incredibly intentional about everything they do: For

example, they still do manual check-ins for children, as this ensures a personal touch (and some logistical challenges, with 2000 children). Their greeters wear t-shirts saying, ‘We’re glad you’re here’, and one-by-one, they met us and referred us onto someone else who chatted to us and led us into the auditorium to sit. The facilities are all purpose-built, including amazing venues for children that look like sets out of movies. And they don’t do social services, preferring to support other groups in their local community that are already doing it.

2. They keep everything simple: Northpoint has spent a lot of time grappling with what it is they want people to know, and have got it all down to something simple. For example, their small group leaders training course fits on a card and their discipleship plan fits on a page. New people are simply invited to attend the church’s ‘starting point’ group, and their congregation members are asked to do two things: ‘invest and invite’, spending time with their friends and, as appropriate, inviting them to church.

3. The leaders were so generous: We had dinner with an elder, breakfast with a senior staff member, and got to meet with one of the guys who planted the church.

This trip was an amazing experience. I’ve come away inspired and keen to share what I’ve learnt with others to help our own Salvation Army churches grow.Alastair (pictured, right) is Mission Support Consultant in the Corps Growth and Development Department at Territorial Headquarters.

BY ALASTAIR KENDREW

Learning from the ExpertsThere are some great takeaway lessons from US mega churches Willow Creek Community Church and North Point Community Church.

Late last year, with funding from a Salvation Army Mission Leader Scholarship, I was fortunate enough to travel with six New Zealand church leaders to visit Willow Creek Community Church (Pastor Bill Hybels) in Chicago and attend their Partnering to Prevail conference. Four of us then continued down to Atlanta to visit North Point Community Church (Pastor Andy Stanley).

I’d been invited due to my involvement in Willow Church’s Global Leadership Summit in New Zealand. And with both churches attracting well in excess of 20,000 people to their weekly services, it really was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only visit, but spend time with some of their church leaders. So, what did I find?

Lessons from Willow CreekWillow Creek is an incredible church. Twenty years ago, my wife and I were part of the Johnsonville Corps planting team that based its approach on Willow Creek, and we’d visited the church 15 years ago while holidaying in the US. At the time, we were amazed. We’d never seen a church with a food court or a 2500 seat auditorium by a lake. But that experience was nothing like what Willow Creek is today, with an entirely new complex leaving that old auditorium just for their youth service!

The things that stood out the most from Willow Creek were:1. Compassion: Besides the amazing new buildings, it is the

compassion ministries that have changed most since my last visit. Willow Creek’s Care Centre has a lot to teach us about how to serve people with dignity and how to dream big. For example, while we were there, Willow Creek was in the process of packing 70,000 gifts for prisoners. You don’t get a sense for how challenging that is until you see the row of trucks parked outside and the pallets of goods stored in the church’s gymnasium. It was also great to see the way they organise their services (for example, Wednesday is Employment Day, which means they can get specialist volunteers with expertise in that one area), that they have volunteer dentists, they give away cars, and that their compassion ministry has the stated goal of ‘making Jesus known’.

2. Volunteers: Willow Creek has been able to develop a culture of service, to the extent that they have 6500 volunteers—2500 of these in their Care Centre alone. To accommodate this,

Willow Creek Community Church …Willow Creek Community Church was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by Bill Hybels. It held its first service (in a movie theatre) in October 1975. The church outgrew this space and in 1977 purchased land in the suburb of South Barrington, holding its first service there in February 1981.

Their vision is to be an ‘Acts 2 church’, where people come to faith in Christ, have their lives transformed and love one another unconditionally. The church’s mission, ‘to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ’, remains its singular passion.

Today, more than 20,000 people worship at one of Willow Creek’s six regional campuses each weekend. Churches from around the world look to see what God is up to at Willow, and to find encouragement and equipping for their own ministries.

North Point Community Church …North Point Ministries (NPM) was founded in 1995, with the vision of creating churches that unchurched people love to attend. It has grown from one church to six in metro Atlanta and has developed a global network of more than 30 strategic partner churches.

Each week, more than 30,000 people attend services at NPM churches. Each month, sermons and leadership messages are accessed over one million times via its websites.

Its methods have evolved, but the mission has always been to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. NPM is also committed to equipping other church leaders who want to create churches that unchurched people love to attend.

ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE WORD OF GODIsaiah 43:19 New Living Translation‘For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.’

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communication’, adept at changing his language to suit his audience. His missionary companion, Timothy, was the son of a Greek father, and would have been familiar from childhood with the athletic contests of the Greek games. So, when writing to him, Paul happily mixes the metaphors of wrestling and running to describe his disciplined life and uses the victory garland awarded to the victorious athlete as an analogy for the reward that awaits him (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

In Athens, when confronted with a statue to the unknown god, Paul makes his case by quoting not from the Old Testament, but from Epimenides and Aratus, Greek poets with whom his audience would have been familiar (Acts 17:28).

And, when writing to the Colossians from a prison cell in Rome, Paul compares the victory of Christ over the powers of evil on the cross to the triumphant process of a Roman general parading through the imperial city (Col. 2:15).

So what?What’s the challenge for us today? I suggest that it’s three-fold. Firstly, do we have an experience of life in Christ that is so liberating that we want to share it with those around us?

Secondly, are we sometimes as guilty as the ‘judaizers’ of Paul’s day of locking Christ up in the narrow confines of our religious sub-culture and effectively shutting out people who are ethnically or culturally different from us?

And finally, are we willing to do the hard work of understanding and utilising the thought-forms and concepts of our day so we can communicate the good news in a language that our neighbours can understand?

A watching and waiting world needs our answers to all those questions.

righteousness’. That surely means, Paul argues, that Abraham is the spiritual father of all who have faith and not just the biological father of the Jewish race. That being the case, ‘those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith’ (3:6-9).

Those who follow the alternative path—attempting to obey the law—are ‘under a curse’, because they inevitably fail to keep all the laws demands. But for those who have faith, ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us’ in order that ‘the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ’ and that by faith ‘we might receive the promise of the Spirit’ (3:10-14).

By this point, some of the Galatians might have been ready to concede the argument. But Paul’s not finished—not by a long way! He’s just getting into his stride as he mines the Old Testament for passages that will arm him with gems of truth. The mention of ‘the promise of the Spirit’ prompts him to remember that the promises God gave to Abraham and his descendants were given 430 years before the law was revealed to Moses. Therefore, those promises, he reasons, have historic and spiritual priority over the law, even though they were not fulfilled until the coming of Jesus.

The purpose of the law in the interim was to discipline us and prepare us for the fulfilment of the promise (3:15-25). But now we are ‘sons of God’ through faith. Barriers of race, social and economic status, and gender no longer matter. We are no longer slaves, but free men and women, heirs to all God’s promises (3:26-4:7)!

This lengthy argument has almost reached a climax. Paul makes one final plea to the Galatians not to trade their freedom for captivity, assuring them he loves them like a mother loves her children. Indeed, his anxiety as he longs for ‘Christ to be formed’ in them, has been like the pains of a mother in childbirth (4:8-20).

But even now Paul can’t resist one final pointed analogy. The allusion to pregnancy brings to his mind the story of Hagar, Abraham’s slave-woman, and Sarah, his wife, who each gave birth to his offspring. Whereas the slave-woman’s child, the result of a failure to trust God, had no share in the inheritance, Sarah’s son was the fulfilment and the recipient of God’s promise. With the support of this analogy, he settles the matter there as he concludes triumphantly, ‘we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman’ (4:21-31).

Speaking the languageI’m not sure how Paul’s original readers felt by the end of all that, but I suspect many 21st century readers might want to take a deep breath and a short nap! Of course, this rabbinical style of reasoning with its allegorical interpretation of Old Testament texts is quite foreign and perhaps a little tedious to our modern way of thinking. But here’s the point we shouldn’t miss: Paul is convinced that the presence and power of Jesus in his life has given him a freedom and a joy that he could never have imagined possible. And his passion in life is to share that with others.

But that means Paul has to deal with the ‘judaizers’ whose distorted version of the gospel would rob the Galatians of their liberty in Christ. And so he has to ‘talk their language’. Paul has to argue for the truth of the gospel in the thought forms and concepts of the religious culture with which they are familiar.

Paul was a master at what we now call ‘cross-cultural

PAUL’S EXPERIENCE OF GRACE: GALATIANS 1:17–21‘But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not … I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!’

A BIG LITTLE PRAYER

Father, I open my life to you so that, by the power of your Spirit, Jesus himself will keep me free from sin and self-righteousness.I ask for the courage to step out of my comfort zone and reach out to neighbours and work-colleagues with friendship and faith.Help me to share the good news of freedom in Christ in words that people can understand and in ways that are welcoming.In Jesus’ name, Amen.

demolish their fallacious reasoning.His previous way of life had taught him two things about the

Law. Firstly, it makes us aware of our sinfulness by defining what is right and what is wrong. He even refers to it on occasions as a ‘schoolmaster’. And secondly, we lack the spiritual and moral power to keep its demands, which means we can never be justified—accounted as righteous and accepted by God—through the law. At worst, the law can throw us into despair at our own powerlessness. At best, it awakens us to our need for something that can deal with our sinful human condition.

Paul had discovered that ‘something’ in his encounter with Jesus and his experience of God’s grace. It isn’t easy for any of us, not even for Paul, to put into words the change that has taken place. He can describe what has happened to him and in him only by explaining that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus has become for him not only a fact of history but a present reality in his experience. He has ‘been crucified with Christ’. It’s no longer the old Paul who lives, ‘but Christ lives in’ him (2:20).

Paul now lives a different kind of life with a different kind of goodness that isn’t based on trying to keep the law, but on living like Jesus in the power of Jesus. That’s why it’s ridiculous to suggest that he could or would go on deliberately sinning. Jesus—by his perfect life that provides us with an example, by his atoning death that has put us right with God, and by his living presence with us through the Holy Spirit—has done what the law could not do.

Argument Now Paul backs up his experience with a series of closely-packed arguments as he ruthlessly sets about demolishing the objections of the ‘judaizers’. He begins by chastising the Galatians for their foolishness, reminding them they had received the Spirit of God and witnessed God’s power at work, not by observing the law, but by responding in faith to the good news of the gospel. Why, he asks, would they now want to trade that for their own efforts to obey the law (3:1-5)?

Think about Abraham, he challenges them. It was his trust in God and his response to the divine call that was ‘reckoned to him as

In the third of this four-part series on Galatians, Chick Yuill looks at chapters three and four, where he finds the heat of the argument, and the heart of the matter.

I remember once hearing an excellent sermon in which the preacher was encouraging the congregation not to be afraid of people who challenged their faith with difficult questions or cynical criticisms. He summed up his advice in one memorable quote: ‘A person with a clever argument is no match for a person with a genuine experience of God.’

There’s a lot of sanctified sense in that brief sentence and I’ve used it a few times myself to make the same point. But as I read Galatians I can’t help thinking that Paul might have disagreed with that preacher’s counsel. His refusal to compromise with the ‘judaizers’ was rooted not in some abstract philosophy of religion, but in an encounter with the risen Jesus and a life-changing experience of the freedom that faith in Jesus brought. If ever there was ‘a man with an experience’, that man was Paul.

However, if his opponents ever imagined he would retreat into some kind of personal piety and refuse to engage in debate as they promulgated their Jesus plus theology, they were mistaken. Paul’s powerful intellect and his first-class theological education in the Jewish rabbinical tradition enabled him to reflect on his experience and to articulate the central tenets of the Christian gospel as no one else has ever been able to do. He never wearied of testifying to his personal encounter with the risen Lord.

But equally, Paul was never reluctant to meet argument with argument in defence of his convictions. Which is precisely what he does for the greater part of his letter to the Galatians. But, as always with Paul, his testimony comes first.

ExperienceThe most potentially damaging criticism that the ‘judaizers’ made against Paul’s gospel was that it would lead to lawlessness. If salvation comes solely through faith and not by keeping the law, they argued, there was nothing to stop these Gentile Christians from continuing to sin. Indeed, they persisted, if you push Paul’s theology to its logical conclusion, the more you go on sinning the more grace you will receive!

Paul needs only to refer to his own experience of God’s grace to

PART THREE OF FOUR

WHERE ARE WE GOING THIS TIME?

If this was a commentary, chapters three and four would require many pages of close, scholarly analysis in which we would try to tease out every theological nuance of Paul’s complex and sometimes complicated argument on justification by faith and freedom in Christ.

But that kind of scrutiny of the text is beyond the scope of these articles—not to mention beyond the capabilities of this writer! Besides, there are many excellent commentaries available which can provide you with that kind of help in understanding Galatians.

Our focus—more modest in many ways, but equally important—is not so much on how we can be informed about the text of this letter,

but more on how we can be formed by Paul’s words. That’s why, as you’ll have noticed if you’ve been following this brief series, we keep coming back to the So what? question—so what does this mean for us in our context today?

In other words, if we take Paul’s teaching seriously, what difference will it make to us on Monday morning with our family at home, with our colleagues at work, with our fellow-Christians at church, with our neighbours where we live?

This week, we’re sweeping through these chapters fairly quickly, picking out the main elements of Paul’s argument and reflecting on how these truths impact us today. You’ve been warned! Hold on and enjoy the ride!

20 | WarCry 05 March 2016 Soul Food | 21

CALENDAR

MARCH

5: Moral and Social Issues Council / Territorial Headquarters5: Junior Soldiers Big Day Out / Northern Division5–6: SpiritSong Visit / New Lynn Corps6: New Zealand Children’s Day7–8: Community Ministries Quality Improvement Working Party7–10: 12 Step Course (Part 1) / Booth College of Mission8: National Emergency Management Planning day8: Leadership Training Module 3 / Northern Division9: Jeff Farm Trust Board11–12: Territorial Executive Council 12–13: 125th Anniversary Celebrations / Woodville Corps13: Welcome to the Messengers of the Gospel Ngā Kārere o te Rongopai Session14: Youth and Children Quality Improvement Working Party16–18: The Big Picture Managers Training / Booth College of Mission18–20: National Youth Band Visit / New Plymouth Corps20: Palm Sunday21: Otago Anniversary24–27: Divisional Easter Camps25: Good Friday27: Easter Sunday28: Easter Monday (holiday)29: Southland Anniversary

PRAYER FOCUS

Please pray for: Petone and Rakiraki Corps Plants, Porirua, Pukekohe, Queenstown and Raiwai Corps, Central DHQ, The Salvation Army in Fiji following Cyclone Winston.

OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS

Commissioners Robert (Territorial Commander) and Janine Donaldson (Territorial President of Women’s Ministries)

6 March: Waihi Corps7 March: Midland Division Retired Officers Gathering8–23 March: UN Commission on the Status of Women, New York (TPWM)11–12 March: Territorial Executive Council13 March: Welcome, Messengers of the Gospel Ngā Kārere o te Rongopai Session14–22 March: International Moral and Social Issues Council, London (TC)

Colonels Willis Howell (Chief Secretary) and Barbara Howell (Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries)

25, 27 March: Johnsonville Corps Easter Services

22 | WarCry 05 March 2016

Wellington South Corps 1891–2016Celebrating 125 years in the Newtown Community26–28 August 2016Guest Leaders: Commissioners Robert and Janine Donaldson

Register your interest: e: wellingtonsouth.corps@gmail.com

Crossword Answers: Across: 1 Depths, 4 Prepares, 9 Verse, 10 Collector, 11 Look, 12 Omit, 13 Exits, 15 Plateau, 16 Onto, 19 Taxi, 20 Singing, 23 Raced, 24 Asia, 25 Echo, 27 Nurseries, 28 Opera, 29 Dressing, 30 Closet. Down: 1 Develops, 2 Personal, 3 Heel, 5 Relationships, 6 Presenting, 7 Retain, 8 Stress, 10 Communication, 14 Regardless, 17 Kitchens, 18 Ignorant, 21 Ironed, 22 Scarce, 26 Boil. Quiz Answers: 1 ‘Keep cool till after school’, 2 Deadpool (Tim Miller), 3 Avon and Heathcote, 4 Cadbury Flake, 5 Achan (Joshua 7:10-26).

Great Courses at Booth College of MissionBooth College of Mission’s Centre for Leadership Development offers a short course programme, designed to target specific leadership skills or issues. We would love to have you and/or your leaders—current or emerging—join us for one of our courses. All courses held at BCM unless specified otherwise. Travel to courses is subsidised.

5–8 April: Foundations for Community Ministries. This course is designed for anyone working within Community Ministries, including community workers, budget advisers, food bank workers, seniors ministries, drop-in helpers, welfare workers, advocates, administrators … and more.

19–21 April: ‘C-Squared’, Connecting & Communicating. C-Squared is a new intensive three-day course that will help you to make every communication opportunity strategic and effective. No matter if you’re communicating to funders, peers, congregations or online, this course will help you to discover not only what is being heard when you communicate but how you can make your message unforgettable. Through workshop-based processes, video feedback and personalised coaching, this course will teach you how to communicate to connect effectively in the 21st century.

26–28 April: Family Store Managers Training. Introducing Family Store Managers to the skills and knowledge they need to be a good store manager in The Salvation Army. Talk to your Divisional Family Stores Consultant if this is a course that you think would benefit you.

30 May–2 June: Brengle Holiness Institute for Local Leaders. This powerful and profound weekend experience will draw you fully into God’s light and empower you to live out a holiness that makes sense in your daily life. In 2016, this course is targeted specifically towards local corps leaders.

5-8 July: Foundations for Chaplaincy. An introduction to the basic skills, practices, philosophies and understandings which form the foundations for practice as a chaplain in various Salvation Army contexts.

For more information, P: (04) 528 8628, e: bcm@nzf.salvationarmy.org

For registration forms and travel advice, go to www.salvationarmy.org/BCM_courses

Kids Who CareOn 13 to 14 February, kids at Johnsonville Corps showed the awesome difference it makes when kids care about others.

Every term, Johnsonville kids church gets involved in a service project—and the first term is always focused on Nasinu Corps in Fiji.

Thirty-three children turned up for a sleepover on Saturday that included time at the local swimming pool, and an evening movie and popcorn. Then others

joined them on Sunday morning. A number of kids invited friends along, and some of those kids brought their parents.

While the grownups were inside at the morning service, some kids were busy washing cars in the car park. Others were decorating cupcakes and gingerbread people, and a few were setting up for a sausage sizzle.

As soon as the service was over, adults were quick to buy baking, lolly bags, some beautiful greeting cards and sausages. The service day raised $611!

Kids church leader Cara Reddish reminded the kids that it’s always a real blessing to help others. ‘The kids in Nasinu will be so pleased that you did this to help them!’ she told them.

Over the years, Johnsonville Kids Church has raised money to paint Nasinu Corps’ playground, to buy tables and chairs and build cupboards for the Tiny Tots programme, and to buy 10 new chairs for the corps to use on Sundays because they have so many people coming to church that they often run out of places for them to sit.

… as often as we

have the chance,

we should do good

to everyone, and

especially to those

who belong to our

fa m i ly in the fa it h .

code breakerUse the key to work out what the sentence says. Each picture represents one letter.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Clue: Galatians 6:10 (GNT)

Fun4Kids | 23

It’s Good to ShareIn the Bible there’s a story about a young boy who helped Jesus and lots of other people by sharing his lunch.

The boy had five loaves and two fish. He could have kept that to himself, but when Jesus needed food for the thousands of people who had come to hear him talk, the boy gave his food to Jesus so that Jesus could share it.

After Jesus prayed, there was enough food to feed everyone! (You can read about this story in John 6:1–13 and Mark 6:30–44.)

Just like that boy in the Bible, we can find ways to share the good things we have to help others. And helping others feels great!

Find two

of the same

puppy

picture …

‘LORD, WHERE WE ARE WRONG, MAKE US WILLING TO CHANGE;WHERE WE ARE RIGHT, MAKE US EASY TO LIVE WITH.’ PETER MARSHALL