Be A Tough Soldier for Jesus!

Be A Tough Soldier!                                 Capt. Kelly Durant  Re: 7-16-17

II Tim 2: 1Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

2. In Bolivia, in LaPaz, I had a few friends in the military and sometimes I would visit the base. On the base everyone would always be jogging. It seemed no matter where you looked the Soldiers were jogging and I asked my friend why are they in such a hurry. He explained that the rule is that if you are a new Soldier, you are required to run all the time while on the base! Only the 4^th year Soldiers were allowed to walk. Interesting training, don’t you think? Soldiers need training!

Who is a Soldier here in Our Army? Soldiers need preparation to learn to be tough! Spiritual warfare is a different war from what most of us know of war. But each Soldier here must do his or her own training to make their selves tough, or strong in the Lord’s grace as mentioned in verse 1. The battle is to share your faith!

How do you get strong in grace? It comes by personal prayer time, Bible study time, and obedience to Jesus! But are you really sacrificing and suffering as much as you should? Most Christians are not! Ask God the question of how dedicated you are or not and He will show you! As former General Linda Bond said, “God does not want mediocre servants!”

3. Being a Soldier for any nation of the world implies doing a great sacrifice, the laying down of your life to die if need be and even people as young as age 18 must die if necessary. In the military, your life is no longer yours, you are the property of the state for them to use, and abuse as they wish!

A Soldier of Christ must recall that they also are giving up their life to follow Jesus as he states Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 

Being a Soldier in the world requires hard labor, getting extremely tired, withstanding extreme temperatures, working stressfully long hours, getting blisters, bruises, and cuts, putting up with punishments, humiliations, commanders yelling at you, and learning how to dominate an enemy when he is attacking you trying to kill you! Christian Soldiers are always under attack by Satan as he wants them to sin and leave the faith because of guilt, be complacent, lazy, and in the end be a traitor to Jesus who gave you and me the mission of fighting against his evils!

4. Soldiers of Jesus have hardships, and this includes mental, spiritual, and physical ones. But how do we make war, when our mission is peace and God’s love?

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall see God.”  That simple statement was a like a double edged sword cutting down all the aggressiveness and authority of the Roman warmongers who took pleasure in mass carnage! Jesus says be a peacemaker, love your enemies? There is no pride in that!

As Christian Soldiers we must distinguish what our war is all about, it is about living a new life in grace. Grace gives us is a clean slate for our sins, and when your sins are gone and you obtain holiness then you are inspired to never sin again, to never again want to feel the dirtiness of a guilty conscience. And you are so happy for discovering Jesus that you never stop telling others about Him! Ours is a war in which we fight with the desire to give salvation to everyone as Jesus did!

5. Our war is a war on Satan and all the world’s evils destroying people’s bodies and souls.  We seek to save anyone living in ignorance, sin, and suffering. Christian Soldiers must be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause! What a contradiction, how ironic, from the world, we seek to save our enemy and do good to those that abuse us!

What does the salvation we offer imply? Obviously it includes forgiveness, grace, eternal life, and heaven for the soul. But ours is a salvation that helps people out of poverty, hunger, clothing, and education needs as well. We provide for this in part, but the world’s governments claim that they provide for their people, and they do cover some things, but their help is never enough to really help as needed. The military and government’s role in the world does not eliminate the greater destructive evils of mass deaths in wars, crime, addictions, and violence.

6. A Soldier of Christ will store up their reward in heaven, but to serve the world means you will never get anything without you being charged Cesar’s pound of flesh! If you borrowed from Cesar in Rome, and you could not pay it back in money, you would pay it back in a body part in the amount of pounds you owed!

Contrasting to serving Christ in us; no government prepares the people of the world to answer to God and answer for the consequences of their sin which leads to eternal death.

Governments are sterile institutions and necessary evils set up to put the brakes on man’s abuses or the violence would be absolute as in the days of Noah with total anarchy, chaos, and murder non-stop. It is governments that need soldiers for their self-preservation. Thank God for them. We do want to preserve our nation; we believe that God has Blessed America!

But no government by their programs or military might can save the soul; that mission is up to you, and me: I mean you sitting on that church pew, the Christian Soldier! Consider this quote from the Salvation Army’s first street Soldier that preached a few dozens of thousands of sermons on the filthy London streets streets…Gen. William Booth  

7. “To get a man soundly saved it is not enough to put on him a pair of new breeches, to give him regular work, or even to give him a University education. These things are all outside a man, and if the inside remains unchanged you have wasted your labor. You must in some way or other graft upon the man's nature a new nature, which has in it the element of the Divine.”  (8. Sp)

In other words Soldiers, you must preach Jesus and serve others in need, but if Jesus does not change a person’s heart, it is not on your conscience. This person who got help with an unrepentant heart may just keep on going down the wrong path in life and our sacrificial love, generosity, and compassion did nothing! It basically means this person still remains on the wrong side of this war, the one of destruction by living for selfishness, and animalistic passions. Proverbs 10:16The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

9. With Jesus it is black or it is white, you are on His side teaching others to save others, or you are by default dividing against Him. Our war is a spiritual war against the rulers of darkness in high places. Jesus said, Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. You are either fighting for Jesus as a Soldier, or by default, you will be fighting against Him by living out life in your own prideful stubborn will!

The founder of this worldwide Salvation Army had such a vision for souls, such an aggression and passion to fight for the Lord and save souls, that he started this massive movement that has kept the momentum and the fire burning ever since! I personally have seen dozens of churches start up and then after just a few years fade away but this is not so with the SA! Especially around the world! The SA is still growing strong after 152 years! But our few millions of members are not even 1% of the world’s population! We have a lot of work to do!

10. We should learn more from the original founding father, the General, of this worldwide dedicated army who by battling the enemy won many victories through people just like yourselves, the priceless Soldiers for Jesus Christ! God’s royal priesthood! He said:

“While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight; while little children go hungry, as they do now, I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight-I'll fight to the very end”! This is our war! Our mission is to fight until the end of the world! (11. SP)

12. All of us as Soldiers have the challenge to fight in all places to teach others of Jesus and of the true doctrines. Do you recognize evil and what to battle? We must bring more Holy Ghost power in the Corps and in our own personal life, and preach a Jesus that does expect us to repent and be sorry for our past sins being willing to do anything to live to fight for the right! Are you willing to take a bullet and be made fun of for standing up for Jesus? Don’t get so involved with the affairs of this world that you are compromised and a lukewarm ineffective Christian. Our fight is to save souls into heaven! But are you doing it?!

Will you suffer for Jesus? Paul did! 2 Corinthians 11:24-26 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

Jesus and I beg you, as Soldiers of Jesus, to serve Jesus in this Corps with passion and dedication! You are expected to tell others of Jesus, to pray and grow from the study of God’s word, and to serve those in need, visiting the elderly in the homes, and do anything in the kitchen or in the community that the Lord needs! There are dozens of ministry opportunities with us! Which one will you choose? How will you show to God and all you are a good Soldier winning some victories in this war against the evils in the world? Come and pray or conviction to obey the call!

Leadership: You Can Do It Jesus Way!

Leadership: You Can Do It Jesus Way!                           Kelly Durant  5-7-2017

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

2. It has been said that a leadership is like a rope: When you pull it, it follows, but if you push on it, it goes nowhere! Just this simple concept explains much about the world today and all the problems in the home, in the community, in the churches, in the nation, and in the political world!

Today, sadly, few good leaders who show the way exist anywhere! Everyone has a different idea of what a leader is, but honestly there are certain standards. We all can agree in general certain people placed in positions of power as leaders are not real leaders at all but rather arrogant nobodies that use and abuse the people under them. Do certain people and countries come to mind? A leader should be a motivator, but everyone always internally questions, what is their motive? Do they empower the righteous or do ‘good works’ (for Jesus)? Or do they prepare “yes men” to surround their selves so they can gain personally and be self-serving? When do you take the initiative?

In the world bad leaders are violent oppressors like wolves, they stalk, kill, and eat the sheep, and then they may fight other wolves and kill each other! Any leader, be it the man of the home, the elected official, the pastor in a community, all have the “rope” equation, they are either trying to manipulate and command, dictate and impose, and control by fear and manipulation, or they are leading by example showing the way by sweating and doing the work inspiring others remaining humble following God’s principles of righteousness. It’s not the “push” but the “pull” that matters! Do you inspire or by your tongue uninspired others?

3. This Corps is not led just by Officers but by each person here! Each one must lead but also they must follow! Many people don’t want to be leaders and I don’t blame them! Who wants the frustration of trying to lead a bunch of belligerent, ‘I-know-what-to-do’ people provoking frustrations and dysfunctionality? Many people who have been bosses often have the perception that there is more blame coming their way than glory for doing a good job! Many men (and women) later in life just give up in frustration and stop leading altogether and disastrous consequences are reaped when people give up! For God’s work we must never give up or stop!

We all know we cannot make everybody happy, and we may not like those we serve with either! Don’t worry, be happy! Unhappy people can often drive you crazy as they can be the loudest voices diverting all the attention to themselves when they should just be trusting God! Often loud ones are people jealous of the power of others because their envy makes them want to have all the power. All of us who know how our carnal human nature is agree that power to all must be limited! Some people just want to just grab positions of power from others Instead of earning the leadership by production of good works leading a team. When you see a leader, ask yourself, “How did they get there?” Was their pursuit of power for Jesus and the good of “others”, or is it for their own ego ambitions, and pride appetites? If it is for Jesus all things will flow smooth with the oil of the Spirit!

Leaders are needed in the world, in the workplace, in the churches, as well as in the nations! But people who lust for power shouldn’t have it! Sad but true, ambitious aggressive people have an advantage over others. Jesus disciples had conflicts of power amongst their selves; think of the Zebedees and their mother wanting Jesus to put her sons on His right hand in heaven. Men and women lust for power! And how were Peter, and Judas as leaders?! Look at all the embarrassment and breakings Peter had to go through to learn how not to be proud claiming he was the best one, the most loyal. Never boast about your importance.

4. Why do I even care about the leaders here anyway? Because those in this Corps will have to lead even more now in this transition of us being absent with new Officers coming in. Jesus teaching His disciples was all about training leadership: a leadership done by example, humility, and love! Some people lead too little in the church and in the world. In ignorance some think Christians are ‘not of the world’ and should not be concerned to be leaders anywhere in society. Some Christians think we shouldn’t be involved in the world, in politics, or anything. But if you have an indifference to the influences in this world, then you are in effect letting the world go to hell by pacifically going along with the established powers that be with their evil leaders!

We, as our past forefathers, must offer resistance to oppressions and injustices. The entire book of James, which we can study later, addresses power abuse, and the solution is always to be a leader by example according to God’s word. Christian leaders must be persistent, patient, and take the initiative when others won’t. They must be peacemakers getting along with all being wound healers with the power of the Holy Spirit! Does this describe you? Or not yet? Pray for it or you are not maturing as God desires! The Bible has much to say about leaders. Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Do people love or hate working with you? Have you ever asked yourself that question? (repeat)

In the Old Testament we observe God wanted just judges and obedient holy leaders to be the ones in power. Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, all of them were leaders because they lived by the Holy principles of God. What was their leadership quality? The discernment of what is good and what is evil and speaking up about it with God’s truth! Psalm 15:4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord.

5. Be a leader here at the Corps because here you can make a difference! If you feel you cannot influence the leaders in the government and in this community, you are not alone! The common person usually never gets attended to by the rich and powerful, so all of your tax money sadly is in essence not paying for a community servant leader but rather a despot. So what should leadership in the church look like? We need leaders here and in the churches more than ever!

For me, the first question for empowering a leader is this, can evidence be observed that this person is obeying the commands of Jesus like this one? “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” If a person, or your own self, is not sacrificial, not under the humble authority of the cross of Jesus, not being a follower servant worker of Jesus to the death, then they are not what the church and the people need. Pray to change!

Leaders in the church may have different gifts that are needed for all our operations, but if a person is going to often be the more ‘full of their selves than Jesus’, then better it would be to let that one come to Bible classes and do personal study for a while longer until they learn what a Biblical leader is.

6. When I decided to follow Jesus, I was confronted and convicted with “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” and I asked myself, ‘Do I have what it takes to submit to follow the lifestyle of Jesus? Can I in essence conform to not being who I am naturally and to die to myself carrying the weight of the cross that Jesus assigns me? Would I be able to endure an entire lifetime to attend to the suffering and pain out there preaching Jesus always? Would I be able at times to endure humiliations under not so good leaders, while at the same time showing only Jesus’ happiness to others while living a life of altruistic fulfillment with eternity at its end? With God’s help I have done it so far, and if I can, you can too! It does hurt as you feel God chisel away on you to reshape you, but if He doesn’t cut away, you remain as a worthless hunk of rock instead of becoming a statue of David!  

There are no true leaders except those that are submitted to Jesus! As often stated, ‘A good leader must be a good follower’! So who do you follow? I know some people have a hard time following certain leaders, and often there is good reason! But there is no excuse to not lead as much possible like Jesus did.

A true Christian must be submitted totally to God’s will above all, and sometimes another man’s will may not always fall in line with what God’s will is for you, but you still may have to grin and bear it. How many of you have had to endure verbal humiliations just because you are not conforming to another person’s way of doing things? I have had to endure these things and God knows I hate it, but I pray and chose to be a peacemaker instead of causing all hell to break lose. Leaders are humble and work with others no matter how bad they may behave.

7. Another case concerning leadership is that some people often have the tendency to want to submit to a person instead of to Christ himself, and why? Because it is easier to pass the responsibility buck! Knowing God’s will for your life takes work, spiritual work, and many people do not know how to lead their own selves so they just want another to tell them everything to do.  Abuse by governments and churches happens due to ‘yes men’ who worship people in power instead of worshipping the one with the maximum power, the King of kings, Jesus!

Please do not fall into this trap: I Cor 1: 12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

You or I may admire, respect, or may even submit to certain Godly leaders on earth but this does mean that we should be idolizing them or man-pleasing their particularities. No one should be a fanatic of any man! We are servant leaders only when we are obeying Christ’s teachings. It’s ok to respect and admire a leader but never okay to worship them. It’s also wrong to not respect them.

8. Military structures by design are created so that man must submit to man but it is for the greater good because victories are accomplished mostly by armies working in harmony. This is God’s Army and it is working very well for 152 years. Mavericks and lone heroes are rare and should be few. We serve each other together in The Salvation Army and it serves as a great structure for church leadership. I will pray you can led more and work as a team for the good of all!

The general idea is that anyone being a part of this “Army” is here for the cause of serving Jesus and battling against the evil in the world. Isn’t that a noble cause? I have met a lot of old vets in my time doing disasters, and one of their sayings is, “I’m in the saving “Army” now, not the killing “Army”. I am amazed how many people adore structure. Don’t we all prefer structure to everyone ‘doing as they please’? Real leaders work in teamwork! For me, and for Jesus, please always work together, it is God’s design. The disciples went 2 by 2 and they grew to big numbers and revolutionized the world for Jesus!

Reflecting on these old vets, any Christian denying their self and their free time to serve those in need doing it for Jesus, is in essence taking up the cross! The ultimate denial of self is to not do anything for your own benefit or praise, but you are motivated by the love of God and to glorify Jesus preaching Him by good deeds as well as words. Loving leaders who care has always been God’s way!

9. One more last verse, John 15:16 ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.’

Some of you here over the years have tried to lead and brought new people and some here have never brought anyone. What really is your fruit as a leader? Taking up the cross may mean God wants you to evangelize more, or teach children, or teenagers. A leader sees where the gaps are and fills them in.

Pray and ask God to help you respond to the call to become an even more dedicated servant leader for the cause of Jesus Christ in your personal life and for this Corps! There is a place of leadership for everyone, so please lead on! The sacrifice we do of denying ourselves, denying our time, treasure, and talent for God’s service, will have eternal lasting rewards! Let’s pray now to be more of a leader Jesus’ way, amen?