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From this page you can read Christmas message from the General of the Salvation Army, Shaw Clifton and Linda D Johnson Literary Secretary SA USA East. Through this page my intent is to "Sharing the Good News, Encouraging One Another and Accepting Every One." With God, with others, with Oneself".
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General Shaw Clifton’s Easter Message 2007
It
was to Nicodemus that Jesus spoke these words: “The Son
of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in
him may have eternal life” (John 3:14,15 New
International Version). Then followed the famous, most
often-quoted words in Scripture from John 3:16: “For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.”
Lifted up? Yes. That is exactly what they did to Jesus
at Calvary. They hoisted him high on a cross of wood and
nailed him there. Some thought it would get rid of a
troublemaker. Others genuinely believed he h
ad
blasphemed by claiming to be the Son of God. A few, a
precious few, knew who he was and wept their hearts out
as they watched him die. They could not take it in. A
good man condemned like a thief. Some who had been close
to him had deserted. While he suffered, they ran away
and hid.
Lifted up? Yes. There on a high hill, Calvary, at a
place called Golgotha, they executed the best person
ever to have walked on the face of the earth. Jesus was
innocent of the charges leveled against him. He took it
all in virtual silence, never protesting his innocence.
He knew he was at the center of the Heavenly Father’s
plan of salvation for all of humankind.
Lifted up? Yes. They looked at him, some mocking. They
taunted him with cheap, hollow words: “Come on down and
save yourself!” Even now some will still deride and
cheapen what was done that fateful day.
Lifted up? Yes. Into dreadful pain, more of the soul
than of the body. He was made sin for us that day,
carrying all the weight of my sins and yours as a
perfect, atoning sacrifice. He felt utterly cut off from
God, crying out in agony of spirit as he experienced
crucifixion of both body and mind.
Lifted up? Yes. His cross stands starkly as a sign for
ever of the loving heart of God towards us despite our
sin and disobedience. It is a constant reminder that we
can make a new beginning whatever we have done with our
lives thus far. Jesus “lifted up” means forgiveness for
the truly repentant, sincerely seeking sinner and the
real possibility of a pure and holy life even in a
sin-sick world.
Lifted up? Yes. Still today Jesus is lifted up for all
to see through the lives of those who have received him
as their Savior. The nailed-down Jesus, the dead Jesus,
was not the end of the story but only the beginning. He
defeated sin; he defeated death. The grave could not
hold him and they found the tomb empty, the grave
clothes lying discarded, no longer required. Hardly do
we commemorate his dying before we find ourselves caught
up in the wonder of his resurrection. Christ is alive!
Lift up your hearts!
Lifted up? Yes. You can lift him up: by the way you live
for him; by witnessing for him; by loving and serving
him; by obeying his words found in the Bible. You can
lift him up: by having a heart of concern for the lost;
by feeling the pain of a broken world; by sympathy,
compassion and an aching heart for others in their lostness and need. You can lift him up: by devoting
yourself to the sacred work of soul-winning, making it
your daily business; by responding to a sacred calling
into Salvation Army officership if that is what God is
speaking into your life just now; by simply being his
loving and obedient child.
Lifted up? Yes. There he is in Heaven, seated at the
right hand of God the Father. The Ascended One waits for
you, and for me. One day we will be in Heaven too, lost
in wonder, love and praise. We will see him face to
face. Will you be there? He did it all for you, all for
me.
This Easter, let all Salvationists lift up Jesus, for
all the world to see and believe that Jesus is the
Christ, so that they might have eternal life.
God bless you. He is alive and is with you day by day,
moment by moment.
Shaw Clifton, General of The Salvation Army
Easter
Blessings from Rev. Vic HAtzfeld
To
you, my brothers and sisters in Christ,
May the redeeming power of the Risen Christ be with you
this Easter and the love of God and the fellowship of
the Holy Spirit be with you now and remain with you
always.
Much love from the Addlestone Corps, United Kingdom
Territory.
A very happy Easter to you and yours.
Love,
Anne & Vic Hatzfeld
NEW YEAR MESSAGE 2007
Bread for All –
Really.
New Year message from
Commissioner Paul du Plessis (R)
January 2007
It
was in 1978 that health administrators from around the
world gathered in Alma Ata and formulated the brave
policy that proclaimed ‘Health for All by the Year
2000’. Six years have elapsed since then and still we
need to make targets. The words seem to have achieved
little. So when I hear someone saying ‘Bread for All’, I
wonder whether it can be achieved, really.
Hunger remains a significant issue for the world. It
shows itself in a variety of ways. A child is deprived
of sight and it’s a simple deficiency of vitamin A;
another is bloated and swollen and dies of chronic
under-nutrition. 852 million people across the world go
to sleep each night hungry. That’s compared with 842
million a year ago. The problem gets worse, not better.
How shall we respond? Feeding programmes from a
Salvation Army vehicle in Chennai or with meals at a
Compassion International Child Development Centre in
Nagercoil? And what of destitute people queuing in
Kolkata to be fed by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of
Charity? Or shall we listen rather to the famous Bengali
and winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, Amartya Sen?
He postulated that the answer to hunger and famine is
democracy.
Three and a half thousand years ago the nation of Israel
was in flight from Egypt through a desert. It’s not
difficult to understand that hunger became a problem. On
that occasion God fed them – all of them, really. Birds
fell from the sky, and a form of bread appeared on the
ground. And two thousand years ago when five thousand
people were hungry, Jesus, the Christ, fed them – all of
them, really.
And when the miracle was over he laid his claim to one
of the titles by which he is known – the Bread of Life.
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6: 35)
It was a statement to
point out that important though feeding programmes and
even democracy are, there is a deeper human need which
must be met. Jesus dared to say that it is found in
accepting him. This is no mere philosophy or theoretical
proposition. It is to accept Jesus deeply within our
total being, just like we eat bread. Many, if not most
Christians, celebrate this truth by taking bread in the
sacrament of holy communion. It is a symbol of the
deeper truth that Christ’s body was broken like bread is
broken - for all. We feed on him spiritually. It can be
bread for all, really!
I pray that those who read the reflections on this theme
in the weeks ahead will discover even more fully the
truth of this teaching of Jesus.
Note to visitors: no changes can be made to these messages without the Authors permission. All quotations are from the New International Version.
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2006
Christmas message from Mrs Linda D Johnson
“that is
above every name”—Jesus
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Naming
a baby can be a daunting task. Couples typically wrestle
with their own preferences, not to mention pressure from
parents and grandparents. But Mary and Joseph had no
choice about their child’s name. The angel who appeared
to Mary said about the Son she would bear, “you are to
give him the name Jesus, for he will save his people
from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
You might think that would be happy news for Mary, but
it caused her to ponder d
eeply
what such a name could mean for her Son. You see, to the
Israelites, atoning for sin meant offering an
unblemished animal to be killed by the priests. Saving
people meant sacrifice, and Mary knew that.
She had reason to worry. Jesus, the sinless One, would
be the ultimate sacrificial lamb. But the name of Jesus
would also have great power. In His lifetime, Jesus
demonstrated that He had the power to heal, to cast out
demons, to forgive sins. John, the Gospel writer, says
that He performed all these “miraculous signs” for an
express purpose: “that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may
have life in his name.” (John 20:31)
That first Christmas gift of a birth name, given by an
angel of God to Mary, became the perfect Gift for all
humanity. And when we believe in Jesus, God pledges we
will receive a bonus gift, the Holy Spirit. That promise
is for “you and your children and for all who are far
off—for all whom the Lord will call.” (Acts 2:39)
How can those who are “far off” receive those amazing
gifts this Christmas? From us. That is, from those of us
who are willing to proclaim and celebrate the coming of
the Lord Jesus, not just among ourselves in the Church,
but also among those who don’t know about Him.
Why not give someone the perfect Gift this Christmas?
Don’t worry about what to say. If you know Jesus, you
have the Holy Spirit within you, so you will find the
words. You may even find the perfect way to tell someone
by sharing one of the stories in this issue of
Priority!
Whatever you do, however you tell the story, be sure to
use the Name “that is above every name”—Jesus.
Have a truly blessed Christmas.
Linda D Johnson
Literary Secretary
Salvation Army USA Eastern Territory
http://www.prioritypeople.org
Note to visitors: no changes can be made to these messages without the Authors permission. All quotations are from the New International Version.
The General's Christmas Message 2006
Words and Songs to Greet the Saviour
7 December 2006 02:04 PM GMT
THE
opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke hold the divinely inspired
record of words and songs that preceded and greeted the glorious
birth of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Today these words and
songs still lift our hearts, as we celebrate Christmas again. It is
a time for speaking the good news of Jesus, and a time for singing
in praise of his birth. Let Salvationists declare that the Saviour
is born! Let the Army rejoice with songs of praise and gladness!
The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary with a message from God: ‘You are
highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ Then words of reassurance:
‘Do not be afraid.’ Still God speaks today to affirm and
encourage us. Mary was called to a sacred task, a highly privileged
task, as the mother of the Saviour. Although questioning, she gave
her assent: ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ Her words of
obedient surrender are an example to us all.
Next Elizabeth offered words of blessing to Mary and the child she
carried: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you
will bear!’ Mary’s instinctive response was to burst into song: ‘My
soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.’
What a marvellous picture we have of these two godly women
encouraging each other and lifting their hearts and voices to
Almighty God.
Elizabeth’s child, John, was born first, destined to be the
forerunner of the Christ. John’s father, Zechariah, had been unable
to speak (Luke 1:22) but suddenly he was released from silence to
voice words of praise and gratitude to God: ‘Praise be to the Lord,
the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.’
Zechariah recognised that John would
be ‘a prophet of the Most High’ who would ‘go on before the Lord to
prepare the way for him'. Here is a father releasing his child into
an unknown future for the sake of the plan of God.
Angelic words accompanied the good news of the birth of Jesus. The
angel told the shepherds by night: ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all
the people. Today ... a
Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.’ This same
message is the one we are called to declare today. It is simple, yet
profound. It happened long ago, but is for all eternity. We join our
voices with the song of the angels to proclaim: ‘Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.’
I urge the Salvationists of the world to speak on, to sing on. Let
our telling of the Christmas message be clear, using words that echo
the words of old, bringing blessings as of old. Let our songs be as
glad and spontaneous as the songs of old that accompanied the news
of his coming, songs that give glory to God.
Lift up your hearts, lift up your voices, lift up the Saviour of the
world!
Shaw Clifton, General of The Salvation Army
Note to editors: no changes may be
made to this text without the General's permission. All Scripture
quotations are from the New International Version.
