The Position Statements from Biblical Views

The Salvation Army’s Position Statements. Do you know them and the Bible’s statues?   

by Kelly Durant

2 Timothy 2:15 

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

https://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/positionalstatements

2. How many of you get asked questions about your faith? Usually people ask questions like this, How do you feel about abortion? To start with, the question of how I feel about something puts the answer within a relative box, in other words how I feel and how you feel may both be valid or invalid, so how you or I feel is not the correct answer. There is a standard from God.

The real answer, not one based on opinions, emotions, or peer pressured replies is, what is the truth concerning this matter, or any other matter for that matter?  What is truth? Truth, according to the world’s definition is something universally consistently true and modern teachers would have you believe it is relative as well, that your truth may be as valid as my truth but that is not how it works. Most of the time things are black and white but people want to see gray so they can justify their own way instead of God’s way. Only Jesus is the truth!

For example, does the sun shine in the mornings? It does, no matter where you wake up on the earth. So you can see there is only one standard for physical events, and conclusively there is only one truth concerning moral, or often denoted religious rules as well, so why do people want to put truth into a feeling, or a relative perspective? It is for the purpose of the manipulation of feelings with scenarios that never or rarely exist so this conflictive person wanting black to be white and white black may contradict the Word of God in the Bible.

3. To be a Christian you must adhere to the Bible as absolute truth, if you do not, if you have a pick and choose faith, then you must evaluate that you are spiritually bankrupt and not a real Christian! You may be lacking in being connected to the Holy Spirit which brings you into all truth. John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. Have you ever prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit in your life?

In general most people agree with the 10 commandments. For example, “Thou shall not kill” is a good example of how most everyone will agree that you do not want a person to kill you, or your mother, father, son, or daughter and just get away with it! Laws exist so that the punishment for breaking them will bring consequences so peace and order are maintained. 

In the Old Testament it was an eye for and eye, so if you kill a life, your punishment would be to be put to death as well. And since a baby has a heartbeat after 2 weeks of inception,  technically all abortionists, and abortion participants are murderers. 1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. A murderer does not have eternal life, that is the law of God, but if a person had murdered and repented and totally changed, as in the case of Saul to Paul, then Jesus grace and forgiveness will apply. The huge factor is, ‘Is an act being done in ignorance?’ Or is it being done knowing by the law, the consciousness, and the mind that it is wrong? Willful unrepented rebellion against God’s law, Jesus grace, and a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will take a person to hell! Their spirit will be tormented and troubled now and then they die remaining in the torment. How sad not everyone does a U-turn to get back to God and live in holiness and love for forgiveness and eternal life! Only people who have done this have clear judgment, wisdom, and understanding. 

4. So the principles and positions Christians adhere to are all covered in the Bible. In ages past people would sacrifice their babies to Satanic pagan idols (Moloch, Baal, etc.) to be burned in the fire. That was human sacrifice, a rite condemned by Judeo Christian influenced societies but Satanist today still do human sacrifice! Also, today, aborted baby parts are sold for huge profits to bio labs. It is obvious we must remain firm against abortionbecause it is murder.

We are against alcoholand drugsbecause it causes people to destroy their bodies and it breaks up families as the addicted person may become demon possessed to feed their appetite for more. Many will sell their home, car, and their own bodies to get another buzz or high. 

Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. The Salvation Army rehab centers in all the major cities are full of people who have lost everything due to their uncontrollable desire to get high. What a torturous slavery!

And speaking of addictions, we are also against gambling. It is amazing that people will gamble away their 2 week salaries in a few hours and even turn over their homes, cars, and anything with the expectancy to win something by chance. Never start, you may have a weakness for gambling and not know it! The Salvation Army’s largest homeless shelter is in Las Vegas where hundreds show up daily after having lost everything in that cruel gambling sin city!

5. Another horrible addiction is pornography. It also has provoked divorces, caused salaries to be wasted on images of people breaking the law and opened the door for extreme abuse and human trafficking. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” or “Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s wife” makes it clear that God is not pleased when people lust for “strange flesh” because it breaks down the union a married couple should maintain. Single people also often destroy their ability to relate to others in a civil undebauched way. It degenerates the mind into a desire for more and more perversion leading up to ritual Satanic child abuse. Jesus breaks chains though!

Another is human trafficking: it is modern day slavery! We also denounce this evil as no person should ever be the owner of another person! Those that control others in order to exploit their bodies for money usually do so by intimidation and blackmail,  getting them addicted to drugs, inflicting pain, or/and by fear which threatens violence will be done to them or their families if their greedy expectations are not met. Avoid abusers, pimps, drug dealers and those bound for hell at all costs! Never tattoo yourself with a their icons and nets as they are cruel overlords! 

People who live abused, exploited, or addicted are often suicidal and we are against suicideas well! It is not a solution but only brings on more pain to those around them, being family or friends. I have brought up suicide as a topic before and people become very emotionally affected. But remember there is always hope in God and there are testimonies of millions finding Jesus and gaining a new opportunity to live blessed and free from destructive the voices of oppression. Physical, mental, or spiritual abuse can be overcome with Jesus power. Assisted suicide, or euthanasia, is also deemed by us to be wrong as it is God who numbers a person’s days of their life and it should never be our decision usurping God’s authority. 

6. And The Salvation Army we decries injustices carried out by abusive authoritative powers. This makes us unpopular in certain dark places, but so be it. Have you ever seen the movie ‘Papillion’? It was of the escape of a prisoner from the a penal colony Devil’s Island in French Guiana. That island in the Caribbean off the coast of the north of South America was a horrific place of abuse and the Salvation Army denounced its atrocities and got ‘Devil’s Island shut down in 1960. http://sahpa.blogspot.com/2011/07/devils-island-by-harry-hayes-salvation.html

We declare we are nonpartisanand this means we do not endorse any particular party or power in any country. Why? Because Psalm 14: 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Dictators, presidents, and powers change hands often and to be associated with the deeds of one of these powers is counter-productive to spreading the good news of the kingdom of God. Our kingdom is not of this world, so what benefit would there be for us invest in this world’s unthankful, backstabbing political game of thrones?

We are against corruptionof any kind as it creates great disparities between the rich and the poor. We are for peacemakingwhere division of ideals and political views exist. Getting people to make peace will invoke great forgiveness on the part of some but God wants for all love, stability, and blessings. Matthew 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 

7. Considering the Salvation Army serves in 130 countries, we have had to take positions against certain cultural practices which involve ignorance, a waste of resources, or outright demonic rendering. Ancestral worshipis to be condemned. Spellcasting, witchcraft, white or black magic, Santeria, or any ritual practice is to be rebuked in the name of Jesus Christ and overcome by fasting and prayer. Days of the dead and all evil celebrations are unwelcome.

We honor our day to worship God, which is the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was ordained by God at creation and set aside as a holy day for Him.(Genesis 2:2-3) Christians worship on Sundays (our Son Day), and a day of rest prevents abuse from abusive employers. All Christians should always insist on having rest, worship, and fellowship on a reserved day. 

As Christians we also support protecting the environment. God created the earth for us to take care of and now that the food supply, water streams, and air are so contaminated, we must conclude that money minded humans, no matter the race or country, are guilty and are not very worthy stewards of God’s earth! We believe in helping to recycle and clean up where we can and not be wasteful, at home or in our community. Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 

8. We must always care for the homeless and desperate so we care for refugeesand displaced people. In the U.S. and abroad we attend to almost every major natural disaster. In certain countries a lot of our social services work is with refugees, so those who had to move away deserve attention and basic needs. It is not their fault they were displaced from their homeland because they wanted it. It is often due to a murderous military coop or a change of political or religious leaders, or an environmental/economic disaster. To survive, all must move at times.

Attending to refugees from another race, creed, or country may often provoke conditions for discrimination and racism. We condemn these and even in our Salvation Army mission statement we affirm that we attend to all, “without discrimination”. This implies not to be rude or inattentive to a person due to their gender, age, race, religion, personal sexuality, or for any reason. We are commanded to be ‘good Samaritans’ and racism is not tolerated. I saw a long time employee in Miami get fired because he spoke to several others about how evil the Jews were. There is evil no matter the race but to single one out is against the law in this country. Currently many Christians are being murdered and displaced in Africa and Asian countries. These refugees being from Iran, Sudan, and a dozen countries need your prayers! 

Historically, and presently certain races, religions, and different people groups pose acceptance challenges but those familiar with their Bibles know how Paul addressed the strengths and weaknesses of the Romans, Greeks, Jews, and pagans. We must apply wisdom in dealing with others different from us remembering always we are to “love our neighbor as our self”.

9. Finally, for the record we do not accept or endorse sin,but we must attend to those in the world with multiple sins with the hope we will (and we do) win some to the Lord. But those that say they are brothers or sisters and practice sin are fooling their selves. Today, in our end-time apostacy, in too many churches,  sins such as fornication, idolatry of praise worshippers and preachers, and the extortion of church givers for the leaders lavish lifestyles, is accepted. Woe is to them as today many churches resemble the 7 churches in Revelation!

1 Corinthians 6: 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Let’s look at these condemned practices again but finish it with how we are to be.

Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Our goal is to study the Word of God, to be led by the Spirit of our loving God and to never be guilty of failing to honor Him in all we do, say, think, believe, and live out from day to day! Amen.

The Generation Of Vipers Existing Today                1-27-19  By Kelly Durant

Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Matthew 12:34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

2. How many of you are not afraid of snakes? I think we are all fascinated by the snake charmers in India who with a flute seduce the cobras to dance and obey them. Most of us are terrified of snakes but God gave us dominion over all the animals. A snake bite can kill you rather quickly! But millions are killed by us!

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

When I was a child, maybe about 4 years old, I recall going on the Indian reservation (in Oklahoma) and there was a Pow Wow and with beating drums several young men would dance and hold rattle snakes over their head and dance around, and then release them on the ground and pick them back up again. As a child I was scared but thought that it was cool they could control the snakes! 

3. What is the fascination with snakes? Today our culture, due to falling away from Christianity,  has shifted into pantheism again and it seems everywhere you look there are snakes. All the pop singers like Britney Spears and Taylor Swift have snakes as the themes of their acts. (It was Alice Cooper in my day) We self-identify with Jesus, but corrupt and foolish, ignorant, darkened souls self-identify with snakes because of their so called wisdom. And who sold them on that idea?

Identification and self-glory with snakes has been around since Egypt but it all started in the Garden of Eden. The serpent, who is in this case a rebellious betraying angel seduced Eve like this… Genesis 3:  4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

So here is the problem, Satan’s children today, the same as in the beginning, are not pleased that God did not make them a god equal to himself. They hate the fact that they are not all powerful and just ordinary creatures slithering through the dirt of this world. Snake worshippers believe the Garden seraphim (a shining winged serpent) was the true God bringing the light to ignorant Adam and Even (but he only brought death!). These deceived ones have the mission to seduce others with their poisonous doctrines of making evil good, and darkness light.

4. So what is the doctrine of the snakes? The exact opposite of  the Word of God! They claim that if you worship the serpent, you will become enlightened and be like a god, with an all seeing eye (the third eye pituitary gland spirit channeling) achieving understanding in the secret and occult sciences. This is the biggest farce ever! Their inflated ego makes them appear to be the condemned fools they are! Instead of these people healing, and contributing to humanity, they have been selfish and defiant, doing-as-they-pleased, destroying God’s innocent people to satisfy their lust for perverse sex, illicit money, and sacrificial blood for their cult practices. If we are to be ‘wise as serpents’, we must know their schemes!  

Ever since Eve altered her DNA with the forbidden fruit (which was allowed in the Garden as a test), our human bodies have suffered death. Adam and her only knew of goodness up until that point, but to learn of evil was the discovery that death, war, envy, hatred, and all the opposite attributes of God were going to start dominating people’s thoughts and violent practices! What advantage is there to the knowledge of that evil? Thank God in heaven that will be gone!

I think all of us are shocked at the amount of evil in the world and all of it is because of Satan’s snake adoring people; these are evil people who, by their hypocritical belief system, become debauched oppressive cold-blooded dark principalities abusing, robbing, and murdering people provoking God’s anger. 

5. Let’s look at history. The Egyptians, with their Pharaohs claiming to be gods, with their snakeheads on their headdresses, symbolic of their third eye illumination by the serpent, were deceivers who oppressed and enslaved millions in order to build their pantheon of stone idols that everyone then was made to worship. God hates all these humanoid stone idols! Their pantheon of false gods, which are human-animal fallen angels were exposed as frauds when Moses left. 

God allowed Jesus at age 2 to witness their vanity and Satan worship and it is the same with us, we must see it, learn of it, and get out of it! Egypt for you is where your idols and bad life was! Matthew 2:15(B) that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

And look how horrible were the snake worshipping Incas, Aztecs, and Mayans! They did daily human sacrifices for eons of years all to honor the great snake, or Satan himself, convincing all that they were a ruling class of god people who descended from the heavens from the stars of Pilates, Orion, or elsewhere. What filthy murdering liars they were that met their fate with the Spaniards. And still the drug lords, mafias, gangs, and governments curse the land with their oppression producing horrible sad depression and poverty due to their Satanic practices and worship. Satan wants ‘God’ to be known as himself, in a reptile image, the ancient worship of all cultures is returning! Only Jesus can break the curse of Satan’s kingdoms!   

6. We see today the same pyramid structures in almost every government around the world, and secret societies perpetuate and maintain these structures from within with their demons controlling all by applying the Hegelian dialect of interjecting chaos to order so their synthesis of a ‘New World Order’ will be the outcome of the fight between the opposites. We never need evil promoted, allowed, feared, or fooling us to think it needs to balance things! 

The powers that be have evil men at the top, who got there either by birth, wealth accumulation, or demonic imposition. These powers suppress the lower classes below by feeding them the same ancient snake doctrines of deception of old: Just be a good person and support our system, and yes be distracted and entertained by all the perversions you want, while you try to climb the levels of the ladder thinking you will get to the top and become like a god! What a lie!

It never happens because common people to them are not creatures of value that God created, but they are just useful idiots supporting their perverted, usually murderous, empires. This is why I work for God’s Kingdom here in the Salvation Army, the people in every profession in the world seem to be affected by corruption and evil, and may God help you and me to strive for holiness, righteousness, freedom, and salvation for ourselves and others through Jesus! 

7. So where are these people so you can avoid coming under their thumb, under their machinery of exploitation by means of status quo which rules by their perverted establishment  of laws? The plan is to keep you shamed, condemned and going-to-hell over participating in their false doctrines or perversions and debauchery as they seduce you through your weaknesses and carnal appetites!

Be warned, Jesus exposed these devils as being preeminently present in the false religions! The world, or the apostacy church with its ‘fake Christians’, will poison you! Here is what Jesus warned of the evil self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees!  

Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Matthew 23:14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation :15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

We can compare this today not only to the false Zionists, but also to the false Christians, and other false religions, mostly the overtly occult ones, corrupting, exploiting, and seeking dominion through their hierarchy. After all, who with any common sense wants to be fleeced (totally robbed of your personhood and goods) by a leader requiring submission to a Satanic doctrine? These kinds will take you to hell, robbing you of your family and of all your money while putting on the front to be pious, vainly showing off  to be spiritual! 

8. Satan, the flying serpent, or dragon as he is worshipped in several cultures, does invoke fear to those who are not spiritually strong in Jesus’ Word. Mark 16:18 ‘They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.’ Jesus gave us dominion! Many Christians have done miracles by these very words of Jesus!

But many Christians are seduced by doctrines of serpents like the churches who have snake handling preachers who out of pride want to show off a power that is only for vanity and manipulation of the sheep congregants. Many times over you can read articles that recount how they were bitten and even killed by playing with snakes! This power will be for all when Jesus returns, and sometimes this ability happens now when God is protecting but we should never ‘tempt God’! 

In almost all occult and false religions you will see their love for Satan by having a snake wrapped around a stick, which is symbolic to Satan wrapped around the tree in the Garden of Eden. One Hebrew word for “serpent” was nachash, but this word could also be translated as “diviner” or “he who unveils secrets.”

(from: Wayne, Gary. The Genesis 6 Conspiracy: How Secret Societies and the Descendants of Giants Plan to Enslave Humankind (Kindle Locations 10858-10859). Trusted Books. Kindle Edition). Satan is a fallen, ex-communicated, evil being, there are no ‘secrets’ one should ever want to learn from him!

9. It is not just in the entertainment world that the music and movies have become so dark and Satanic, nor is it only in the world’s governments, it is the religions and modern day, even Christian churches as well! Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Warn others of what the serpent, the devil, is up to! It is in the slow incremental destruction of your soul by a poison leading you away from Jesus, and from worshipping God who reveals the truth (not secrets) through the Bible.

It is appalling how many false Christian doctrines and Kundalini messages are being taught to so many dumb sheep who never open their Bibles to learn God’s word for their selves.  2 Timothy 2:15 Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

Good and uncorrupted preachers and churches are becoming scarce and it is sad that many souls will go to hell for following ‘another Jesus’ not the real Jesus who makes His message clear in the Bible. People condemn their selves by not doing their homework on their own church, for blindly following the blind; for admiring (worshiping) and trusting in people who are Satanic hypocrites pretending to be holy!  The doctrine of Lucifer the snake is to get all to reject God’s salvation through Jesus’ grace as all you need! You do not need dependency on a man, or on an alternative light, knowledge, or program that they will try to sell you! 

Pray now in Jesus’ name for Him to free you from your sicknesses, the result of you being poisoned by his seductions blinding you spiritually and mentally. Never admire, make pledges, or give sacrifices to the people of Satan as it will be to your condemnation to satisfy their greed, lust, and power-trip for blasphemous God insulting purposes. Only Jesus can save you and me, and whosoever, from Satan’s deceptions! Expose Satan’s works and preach Jesus! Hell was created for unrepentant Satan and the demons and we do not want that for our souls!

Do You Have a Heart For Humans Trafficked?

Do You Have a Heart For Humans Trafficked?                  Kelly Durant       1-13-19

Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,

Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

2. When I was a kid I use to play cowboys and Indians. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters so I would get my grandmother to tie me up in a chair, like I was captured. I loved the challenge of getting free and I would get the ropes off many times only after a few minutes. So because she got tired of me needing to get tied up so often she started tying me up for good. After about an hour I would have to yell out to her, “Ok, you win, I give! Untie me, please!”

Have you ever been in a bound situation where you could do nothing to stop the dominion and oppression of someone? What a horrible feeling, right? It is nothing like the game I use to play, it is real fear and helplessness. I think many people have felt oppression and abuse from those of their own families. Abuse and control is done in many ways, but it is almost always done by someone who has an advantage over you, either with physical size, money, or by threats.

Maybe you have not had your hands tied, but possibly you have been abused by an employer who insulted you or never payed you correctly. Or maybe a violent abusive mate was in your past? And what about so-called friends who entrap you into some dirty business and you then have a big debt to pay?  Abuse is everywhere but due to embarrassment, people keep their secrets, and this is wrong and unjust. God’s solution is freedom in Jesus!

3. This month is human trafficking awareness month and the Salvation Army does its best to get the word out there that we are here to help free the oppressed! You should check out what our USA websites and YouTube clips inform, we are serious about helping people! Your brothers, sisters, and soldiers in the Lord will find safe houses for those escaping horrible situations! There not only exists the porn, drug, prostitution, slave labor exploitation world here, but in many other countries as well. We need to wake up and ‘Do Something!” as child prostitution and slave labor still persistingly exists, so what are you going to do to combat this evil?

Human trafficking is modern day slavery! It exists in many forms. We should all be shocked that there is more slavery today in the world than what ever has been! Here are some modern day slavery statistics that you probably didn’t know about. There are many websites but here is one I found at http://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/Modern_Day_Slavery_Statistics  Below are some quotes from the site…

‘There is an estimated 20 to 30 million slaves across the world today. It is hard to count the exact numbers of a hidden population.

90% of women and children who end up as Sex Slaves were victims of childhood sexual abuse before they were recruited.

You are in greater risk of being hit by a bolt of lightning than you are of going to jail, if you enslave a person in South Asia.

An estimated number of 800,000 people are illegally trafficked across international borders every year.

There are 161 countries affected by human trafficking.

The total yearly profit gained from human trafficking is a staggering $32 billion a year.

Majority of modern slavery victims are between the ages of 18 and 24 years old.

1.2 million children are enslaved through forced labor and exploited in the sexual industry each year.’      This is a lot to take in! How appalling and shocking, right?

4. Considering we are free from having a horrible monster over us controlling our every move making us do horrible things, (we are blessed by God!) we should feel conviction to help those who are suffering under this increasing plague of evil. The good thing is you are a part of this Army who does come through with Salvation. When someone speaks up, there are connections and ways to help people get into a safe and new situation.

One example, I personally took a Colombian lady one time to a safe-house in Georgia. She was escaping a violent ex-husband who had beat her badly in the past. The information about these victims is private, but I can tell you this, that it is true, anyone escaping prostitution, exploitive pimps, or exploitive bosses can get a new start by just stepping out to ask!

That is the big problem, those intimidated in these situations do not know others can and will help them!  What I love is Jesus took on this abuse in the very first sermon of His ministry!  He said: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives.”

5. So here is my question to you, “Will you be like Jesus to announce to others that they can have liberty from their oppressors?” Would you call the police, or call someone if you saw an abusive situation, if you saw an underage prostitute or victim of a bad work situation? If you don’t care, watch out, you one day may need help away from an evil person and not find a way!

I often get upset when I see minorities, Hispanics or blacks, who see a bad situation daily and do nothing about it to help their own. Well, I get mad at whites too!  It’s just that for the past 40 years I have worked in communities of minorities! We have had friends that have told us that the ladies (immigrants often without papers) will take their 14 year old daughters to the beauty salon so they can make them pretty so they can prostitute them!?  If any young person here has ever been forced, we would like to know about! Forced sex leaves a scar but the good news is Jesus can heal those scars.  But you must be willing to be God’s instrument and voice!

Listen to this again: “He (God) has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives.” It is Jesus who heals and frees, but Jesus has no hands but your hands! Jesus depends on you and me to make that phone call, and to do our part and “do something” so that we bring healing and freedom to a person bound in suffering. Never fear the evil ones! God knows and God protects you from evil people when you denounce a criminal, illegal, horrible oppressive act being done on an innocent one!

6. The problem with the world today is too many people accept evil! Too many people are asleep, indifferent, or afraid to confront evil and call it for what it is! Be like Jesus, denounce evil! How was it with all of those want-to-be Hollywood actors and actresses? Those of the #metoo movement? To get to have a part in a movie they were forced sexually and then intimidated, threatened, and bullied so that they would not denounce the violators. Hundreds and hundreds kept silent until just last year! Abuse has always been rampant with those in power, with dictators and political leaders in high places. But it is all coming out to the light! And still there are rebellious horrible people like atheists who reject God’s command such as ”thou shall not commit adultery’, God had in mind to execute people who were exploiters.

These damaged folks have to live with all of that bottled up stress of oppression (which was killing them inside as they used drugs to cope) and the abuse often lasted for years! And these are only a few! There are mega millions still out there! And in the porn and prostitution industry they are controlled by pimps giving them addictive drugs and their entire bodies feel extreme pain when they don’t get their fix. All their money goes to the pimp for drugs! So modern day slavery is the same as torture, and all I can say is that those who manipulate, torture, and destroy children, youth, women, and the poor have to answer to God who will send their soul to a place of perpetual torture, hell! That is unless they repent!  

Here’s what Jesus said: Mark 9: 42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched.   You must proclaim Isaiah 61:2, “the day of vengeance of our God;”

7. So be thankful you are not being exploited (speak up if you are being exploited!) and be thankful you are not one who is exploiting! The ones being exploited live lives in hell everyday doing things that is making them old before their time! To not care about this is to deny the faith, what use is a so-called Christian who will not help another abused and in need?

The Salvation Army is animate about serving the poor and helping those in need, and helping someone away from a life of drugs or alcohol, away from a life of prostitution, away from a life of being used and abused is what a Salvationist does! Have you read our history? Who have you helped lately? Who will you help in the future? You might discover a friend of yours is being abused or exploited, so what will you do?

I am very proud that around the world the Salvation Army can help others. We are the ones who must do this mission: “To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, If you have never helped a person find Jesus and His liberating comforting love, you are failing to do as He did and commanded.

8. 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, (This means helping spiritual Zion, the believers in God) What do you do to make others feel better? When someone is suffering, are you there for  them? And, “To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning”, in this case what does it mean? The ashes represent a total loss! We have helped people whose houses have burned down and if you were in their shoes it would be awful to need clothing, tooth paste, and everything! Being homeless is like losing it all to ashes!

But having your life in ashes also implies the spiritual, that you lost everything inside, it was burned up or taken by sin in conjunction with some evil person; you lost your innocence, your freedom, your dignity, your desire to live! So what is meant by this part, ‘The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness’? People who have been used and abused and lost it all have a heavy or shockingly dry somber spirit that makes you feel depressed just to see their faces! And what is our role that Jesus gave the example of? To bring them a garment of praise!

This means we are putting clothes back on them and giving them a new life! We are giving them a reason to live and a reason to praise God that there is hope and that there are people out there loving them no matter what, helping them obtain their respect and joy again. You must look past their sin, you must love them as a creation of God damaged by sin, Satan, and evil people!

9. One last thing, I have been very mad, yes, very upset at my fellow Christians, when I or someone have brought into the church a visitor who obviously appeared to be a prostitute, a sinner, or an uneducated exploited farm worker and they were treated with disrespect. Why? Because some ‘perfect one’ was rude to get them to never come back to the church because they were undesirable! I’m sure this makes Jesus furious as He came to save the lost souls! Our mission is to save the “lost and the worst”! Abused suffering people do not need more shunning and abuse from comfortable Christians! One day God will reveal to these so-called Christians, that these exploited ones may have rejected church and Jesus because of their unloving shameful attitude towards them! I do not want to be in their shoes on judgement day.

So if you are doing your part, if you help only one soul in your life (but why not help 10 or even 100?) then you will have the blessings of God! You will be strong! You will be compared to a tree that brings shade and fruit! 3. “That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Every time you or I do something to help another, we are establishing (planting) the ‘kingdom of God’ Jesus taught about! We are glorifying God when we do what Jesus taught us, to proclaim to others His Salvation by acts and deeds of kindness to who are in deplorable conditions! Get educated, learn the signs of people who are abused and for the love of Jesus, help them get free and be able to start a new life! Prayer!

2019 The Goal: Personal Spiritual Growth

          2019  The Goal: Personal Spiritual Growth      1-6-19    Kelly Durant

“Where there is no vision, the people perish”

“Sin profecía el Pueblo se desenfrena” (Prov. 29:18)

2 Peter 3:18

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

2. This year 2019, the Goal of our Corps is: personal, and especially spiritual growth!

Each of us must grow in maturity to be more obedient the Lord and becoming more like Jesus! Each person becoming strong in faith means a strong mature church as well!

How many of you have been coming to the Bible studies? If you read, pray, do your own Bible study and obey and practice it you will grow in faith by the Holy Spirit! Put what you read into practice and it is  for sure you will grow in the Lord! You will then feel good about yourself!

I want you to put your emphasis on spiritual growth and for that, like with a diet, you need discipline, grace, and the knowledge of Jesus! Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; You must do it!

How do we acquire growth? By God’s Word!  NT:837 In the Greek grow means…

auzano (owx-an'-o); a prolonged form of a primary verb; to grow ("wax"), i.e. enlarge (literal or figurative, active or passive):

KJV - grow (up) mature, (give the) increase, or like a healthy plant, produce fruit.

3. Many people start the year with the goal they will get smaller in body size with diet and exercise, only to discover one year later they are actually larger! When I propose personal growth I am not talking about the waist size! Spiritual growth comes only with effort as does the physical!

John the Baptist stated in John 3:30

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

The situation is that as time goes on you are either growing in Jesus, or growing more in our own proud, self-righteous evil self (ego-centrismo o ser maligno)!

4. People’s lives are like a flower garden and they over time get overgrown with weeds! Maybe you did a few things for the Lord at one time, maybe you or someone here tried to go to church faithfully, but unless you are in the light of God’s word maintaining your study and prayer daily, you are condemned to allow grow your own offensive characteristics of the flesh to grow, and their fruit is, according to Jesus in Mark 7:21-23

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

We all observe people usually grow in God’s ways very slowly! The problem is we usually focus on others and not ourselves! It seems year after year each person is not dedicating enough time for the Lord each day in prayer and study of the Word! Sadly, some people remain proud and fruitless; and they are not learning fast enough how to respect Jesus Christ and His ways and love others serving in the community winning souls for Him! With the support of our Salvation Army church, much can get done!

5. Let’s compare something. If you want to be a professional soccer player the recruiters expect you have had 10,000 hours of training. Let’s compare that to our spiritual life. If you only come to church every Sunday that would mean you would get 2 hours of Bible per week and that is about 100 hours per year. So to have 10,000 you would need to come for 100 years!

Now if you study the Bible, at least 30min a day, then you are adding an extra 300 hours per year to your growth, or 400 hours per year. In other words, you could become very knowledgeable of Christ in 25 years! To become a spiritual professional spend 4 hours a day for 7 years and you would be very knowledgeable by then!

The reality is the disciples had fewer hours than that and they matured and obeyed to the point they lived and preached the gospel and even died as martyrs! You must obey what you know to be able to advance.

6. In John chapter 15 it talks about Jesus being the one who causes you to mature, and if you don’t grow and mature the price you pay is a fruitless life destined to be dried up and burned. This explains why some people live depressed and sad because they are not doing what Jesus told them to do, to connect with Him, and heal yourself and others!

John 15:4-7

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

So what is clear is that if you grow in Jesus, you will bring good fruit, you will be closely connected to him! He wants you and me to be denying our self and our feelings, passions, and thoughts that focus on the faults of others so we will grow in Him and obtain the beautiful character and spirit of Christ serving others through us!

If you grow in holiness with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit what character will you gain?

Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

7. Those who are not working hard to study God’s word, those who are not recognizing their own faults and getting conviction from the Holy Spirit, those who think it doesn’t matter your worship and growth in church but that it is a social club where you take advantage of the institution and others, need to recognize this: you will grow to be like the opposite of Jesus despite your attendance.  We know the good fruit of the spirit, but the opposite of Gal. 5:22 would be this…

The fruit of your self is hate, sadness, distress, impatience, aggressiveness, maliciousness, doubt, pride, intolerance, and for this the law of God will condemn you.

In this life there will always be those who are condemning their selves, and producing bad fruit amongst the Christian family in the church because they are immature. Some people borrow money and do not repay it. Some say stupid comments that offend others and don’t ask forgiveness. Some people are unfriendly and indifferent to new people and visitors and that is not of God’s love! Some people are indifferent to someone in the church who is in pain and suffering. There are many people who come to church who offend God and true worshippers because they do not come to love God and to love their neighbor their self!

8. This church is a place where others should get a glimpse of heaven because here is where they experience the love of God through loving Christian brothers! Everyone who comes here must be treated with love and respect! We have a new year, a new start!

Each one of us must be desperate to do our part to love, encourage, and teach others, but this level of maturity only comes from a personal study of the Bible and books for spiritual growth and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!  It’s 2019!

If each person here, and I mean you, and you, does not mature and grow in God’s ways, then each one is condemned to self-destruct, dry up, and face the wrath of God!!

9. We are the Captains and pastors and we are responsible to God to teach you, giving you the books and tools you need in order to help you to grow and warn you that your maturity and love for God is a serious thing! Remember, you alone answer to God for your own actions! I want you accountable, so write down your goals. Be accountable!

In just 1 1/2 years here we have seen some people’s world’s be turned upside down and they have lost a lot due to living without God and His values! With God you do not sit still, you are either progressing or you backslide and dry up. If today, at the beginning of a New Year, and everyday you study and grow then just like a plant, you will have good fruit in a few months or years and God and everyone will be proud of you!

It is a New Year! Start it right with the goal to grow personally so you are a light and inspiration to others; to become more holy, to love God and others more, and to be more broken for the lost souls that need you to show Jesus love to them!