On Sunday evening the 7th of February, the Cadets of the Ambassadors of Holiness session received their appointments for the period of Out-Training to begin on the 19th of February (for a period of 12 weeks).
Please continue to support these Cadets while they are away from day-to-day college life.
On a related note, if you aren’t already, consider how you might support the college through being a College Friend or being a part of the Training College Book Plan.
The placements are as follows;
Sean Attard – Eastcare + Healesville
Monty Bhardwaj & Manikya Mera – Brunswick + All Nations Fellowship
Russell Butcher - Brunswick
Robert Champion – Corps 614
Erica Cossington – Cadet in Appointment Mandurah
Jonathan & Katherine Dent – Red Shield Hostel + Palmerston
Sarah Eldridge – Horsham
Matt Kean – Moreland
Darren & Sue Lamotte – Crossroads + Craigieburn
Paul & Robyn Lorimer – Morwell
Adam & Catherine Mackenroth – Preston
Simon Mapleback – Harry Hunter Centre + Gosnells
Kathleen Pearce – Moonah
Adam Peterson – Collingwood
Rachel Peterson – Launceston
Cheryl Pryor – Ingle Farm
Michael Shanks – Cadet in Appointment Noble Park
Andrew & Kirsty Stringer – Crossroads + Greensborough + Ashburton
James & Sarah Thompson – Noarlunga
Also Published in the OnFire Magazine in April 2009.
Deny yourselves
I found that I often live to please myself. I can be selfish, working for my own personal achievements, pleasure and fulfilment. To deny ourselves we must live through Jesus, in Him, with Him and for Him only. We are called then to abandon all the things of this world so that we can possess God. Sacrificial living is not natural to me, but coming to college has helped me deal with my pride, selfishness and indulgence through a life of Prayer and communion with God.
Take up your cross daily
We know Jesus suffered and died. As members of Christ’s body we too are destined share this fate, it is part of our daily bread. I’ve found that the hard times- death, disease, destruction- are a necessary part of the training that we must undergo so that we might become more obedient and more willing to accept the Will of God.
By accepting my cross, I’m becoming more humble, able to be more patient, acknowledge my weaknesses and recognise the strength of God. Whatever He wills is perfect and will mould us to His liking. The cross is not a punishment; it is a gift of God to make us holy, a price for our reward and the Throne of our King.
Follow me
I know that as I follow the Lord, I must imitate his life of love and compassion, to God and our neighbour. I must be prepared to share with others my time, my love, my faith and my belongings if necessary.
In a way I’ve accepted the cross, I’m prepared to follow the Lord to Calvary, I’ve allowed my sinfulness, passions, pride, wickedness, and temptations from the world, the devil and the flesh, to be crucified. Hallelujah!
There is nothing that beats doing the thing God wants you to do. Is the Lord is calling you to deny yourself, to take up the cross and follow him? Respond today and talk to your CO about exploring your calling.
Every leadership book ever written talks about the need for vision – it’s nothing I haven’t heard before. I’m going through a devotional book about Leadership at the moment (aptly named Leadership by John C Maxwell), and earlier this week I read about that very need for vision.
Ever have that problem where something is so often repeated that is doesn’t even sink in anymore? I had a case of it bad!
But I started thinking about vision. If vision is so important for success, what is the vision for my time here at Training College? Obviously, to be trained into a Salvation Army Officer!
But what would ‘fullness’ look like during my time here? What would it look like to suck the marrow out of training? To get the absolute most out of this time?
That question has occupied my thoughts and prayers over the past week. I want to catch the vision. I want a glimpse of what could be. What would it look like?
Here’s some things that I have come up with – they are personal to me, but I share them in the hope that you, too, might find them helpful.
Here’s the vision:
I want to go deeper with God. I want to live up to what I’ve already attained in terms of intimacy with God, spiritual disciplines, study of the Word, prayer, worship, freedom, abiding, gifting, passion, fire, holiness, encouragement, sacrifice, selflessness, humility.
I want my placements to be times of meaningful and significant advance in the Salvation war. I want to exemplify the spirit of Salvationism. I want to get people saved and into discipling relationships. I want to be a blessing to my sessionmates, to the cadets in the sessions above and below mine, and to the staff and Officers at the College. I want to encounter God in the College community.
I want to start assignments more than a week before they’re due. I want to be organized and efficient. I want to be a good, faithful and disciplined steward of my time. I want to study hard. I want to read more around my subjects – not just for assignments, but to learn how to be the best Officer I can be.
That’s my vision for fullness during training. I’m not going to lie to you, for me that’s going to take application, determination and hard work. And it relies solely on God’s grace. Apart from Him I can do nothing.
So what about you? I believe God has fullness for you, whatever season you are in. Fellow Cadets, Candidates, Officers, Soldiers and anyone else reading this: how can you maximise the impact of this part of your life for God and His Kingdom? Certainly worth spending some time in prayer over.
I’ll leave you with this video – a presentation of a poem by Peter Greig called The Vision.
(The author stands to the left in the picture above.)
Also Published in the OnFire Magazine in March 2009.
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33 NLT
I’m learning the more I look to God’s sure and faithful provision, I don’t worry as much. Since being accepted as a Cadet, the Lord has seen to increase his blessing for my husband and me. We may not have much money or material possessions, but we’re not hungry, thirsty or naked. Praise God!
God’s provision in my life has nothing to do status, looks, ability or intellect. It’s when I seek.
It has been said, ‘The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.’ The main thing is God and His Kingdom. To seek it is to pursue it, to crave it, to go after it with all your might. When we seek, we think about it, talk about it and willing to pay the price to have it.
We must not seek in order to get. We must seek God’s face and not His hand. In must seek his “presence” not his “presents.” Seek him for who he is, not what he can do. There is nothing wrong with have nice things, but He wants first place in our lives.
When I put Him first, keep Him in top priority and set about doing things his way, I’m showing that I delight in Him. Then He will give us the desire of our heart. Ps37:4
If the Lord is calling you to Officership, do not let the pursuit of money or material possessions keep you from pursuing the treasures of God’s Kingdom, which have far greater worth and eternal value than anything on earth.
People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Matthew 6:33 MSG
Also Published in the OnFire Magazine in February 2009.
Why would anybody in their right mind give up a great job and sell nearly every earthly possession, so they can wear the same clothes everyday and have no money?
Actually I love my job as a primary school teacher, I love my church, I like my cat Hamlet (much to my husband’s horror) and until it was recently sold, I really liked my house.
These, and much more, I’m willing to forsake for Jesus.
The Founder said ‘if you are called to be an officer then an officer you must be, an officer you will be, or it will be so much the worse for you both here and hereafter’.
I’m not going to college because I’ve run out of options. I’m going because I cannot think of anything else I’d rather do. I’m going because Jesus has called me.
I am aware that the road I’m travelling is not a path of ease, and that following the Lord requires sacrifice and denial; trials and tribulations; unpopularity; simplicity of life; patience; self control; righteousness; holiness and godliness.
For me, heading to college and becoming an Officer is not a one time action, but a way of life. And this has taken a lot of faith in God!
God has allowed my husband and me, to go through a rough few years of trial to lead us to the point where we can think of no greater thing than to serve the Lord, together and forever!
I’m in love with a king who became a slave
I’m in love with a God who is humble
You gotta go down if you wanna go up
And You’ve gotta go lower if you wanna go higher and higher
Well you’ve gotta hide and do it in secret if you wanna be seen by God
Cause it’s the inside outside upside down kingdom
Where you lose to gain and you die to live
Also Published in the OnFire Magazine in July 2009.
For me one of the highlights of college so far has been spending a week learning about holiness. It’s been a beautiful and powerful time.
I have often perceived holiness to be an unobtainable attribute of God, which we as Christians should be striving for. For me, holy living in the 21st Century has been about what I do and don’t do. Truly no holy Salvationist would go to a wild party or play card games or even look at a beer add.
In seeking wholeheartedly to be a holy salvo, I’ve rid my house of pagan images, substituted my coffee brand for a fair trade alternative and not conformed to the commercialism surrounding Christmas and Easter. I’ve even become a Cadet!
However, I have been reminded once again that holiness is an attitude not just behaviour- what I am, not just what I do. Our holiness is a state of being, which naturally exhibits out of our character when we allow God’s spirit to reside in every nook and cranny of our lives.
To be like Jesus
O that the world should see all that I am
See something different
See Christ in me
The holy God.
When I think over Jesus’ life- who He was and is, what He did and what He said- He ate with sinners and sat with the sick. According to the law He was unclean, and yet He was holy. Be holy as Christ is Holy. If that is the case, then for me to Christlike I should have dirty hands but a clean heart. To be holy I need to spend time with the lost, lonely and lest. Not because they need me- it’s Christ’s love and compassion they need. I’m but a willing earthly vessel going about the Father’s work.
I will never be perfect, but I’m going to try. God doesn’t ask me to be perfect; he wants my best that comes from a loving heart. How do I get a loving heart… stay close to Jesus, stay humble and stay at the foot of the cross.
The evidence of the Holy Spirit residing in me is a changed life. Purity not just power. Daily I pray that I may receive from Christ the power to be holy.
You’ll be interested to see Commissioner James Knaggs’ announcement of the Territory’s 210 in 2010 vision.
Visit www.isalvos.com to watch Tuesday night’s program (1/12/09), including a segment about Commissioning, specifically this particular part of the Appointment Service.
Are you after a double-album full of exciting, Christ-centered tunes, the proceeds of which go directly to a worthy cause overseas? I’m not talking about Bob Dylan’s Christmas In The Heart (although I’ll probably get that too) – no, I’m talking about FLOW/OVERFLOW, the latest musical gem out of the Australian Southern Territory College for Officer Training
On FLOW:
My opinion of FLOW/OVERFLOW could be pretty well summed up by the fact that I don’t even like worship music, but love this album.
FLOW/OVERFLOW is put out by the cadets of said Training College. They’re a talented bunch to be sure. Amongst their musical ranks are the likes of Cadets Nathan Rowe and Catherine Mackenroth, those well known and favoured worship leaders; their signature mind-blowing standard sets the tone and their perhaps lesser known peers boldly follow suit.
On FLOW:
“Silently” features the dulcet tones of former MSB soloist Rachel Peterson – this song is like a musical massage. Rachel is accompanied by some type of archangel on piano who lays down an ascending chord progression, each note of which is like an invitation to climb that steep slope to Heaven. Absolutely precious.
Kathleen Pearce gives us a fresh interpretation of the Gowans song, “Someone Cares”. I think someone just improved on perfect. Actually, every new arrangement sounds as if the words were written to be sung the way you hear it – the purists may disagree, but FLOW just may have provided us with new, definitive versions of each song on it.
If you aren’t listening too carefully, Pearce’s track transitions seamlessly to “Living Waters”. Listening to this is like learning to fly. A simple, soaring melody, and steady, driving beat, carried by an organ that would make Billy Preston proud. Fans of the immortal key change will also be well satisfied.
Speaking of iconic rock musicians, is that the pioneer of the New Sound, Brian May, dispensing those wailing guitar licks on “Return”? No! Turns out that it’s just the ineffably cool Captain Rowan Castle – thanks for stopping by.
I’ve merely described a couple of my favourite songs but the fact of the matter is that you won’t find a single weak track. In the words of that clock wearing lyrical mastermind, Flavor Flav, ‘it’s all good’.
OVERFLOW:
The children’s album opens with a crazy cute reading of some of Jesus’ own words: “Let the little children come to me…” The songs and prayers will certainly help you along the way. The Scriptural truths are proclaimed boldly; the prayers are uttered sincerely, like only a child can be sincere; and the songs on this side are just as mind-blowing as on the other. Listen to OVERFLOW and hear children, “every power and thought engaging”. This is exciting stuff.
Much thanks to the cadets for this inspiring project. The proceeds will go to facilitate the training of cadets overseas. God bless them all.
The 2009 CDs – Flow / Overflow produced by the Prayer Warriors & Ambassadors of Holiness has arrived!
For all information – visit this page. See the sidebar for Sample Tracks.
NB: Chord Charts will be available early in 2010 – watch this space!
“Ah, Flow and Overflow. The aptly named double album, hot off the press, straight out of your friendly neighbourhood Training College.
On one side, you’ve got the classic, lyrical mastery from Salvo legends of old revved up with fresh tunes. And then you’ve got some completely brand new material written by the most musically talented cadets you ever heard – some of them you know well, and the others are a surprise. I venture to guess your response to these new artists will be the same as the time you first had gelato: “where have you been all my life!?”
The general tone of the second side is set when it opens with a succinct, sincere reading of some of Jesus’ own words: ‘let the little children come to me, don’t send them away.’ These young ones sing, pray and declare amazing Scriptural truths like they mean it – just try and tell me the bold faith of children isn’t refreshing and contagious! Overflow is straight up exciting! Oh, and that first note on ‘No Retreating’ – make sure you’re sitting down. It’s a knock out.
This thing is better than Newton’s First Law of Motion: there is no absence of force.
