Woody's Words

A LETTER FROM PETER 1 Peter 1 – Part 1     Greetings from Peter 1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace. The pastoral letters from the Apostle Peter were written probably around 60 AD during his time as the Bishop of Rome. It may well have been that these churches were facing persecution and Peter is wanting them to hold on and remain firm in their belief in Jesus and his redeeming death and resurrection. That Peter has taken time to write this letter is indicative of his deep, personal care and concern for these new Christians, scattered throughout the fledgling chur...

Focusing our mindset on Salvation Army Music By David Woodbury As a mission-focused organisation, the early Salvation Army effectively utilised its own particular style of distinctive and unique music, to drive its missional focus. Perhaps of all our early mission officers, William Pearson stands out as one who had a clear and focused missional mindset: We're an Army fighting for a glorious King; We will make the world with hallelujahs ring; With victorious voices we will ever sing: There's salvation for the world. For the world, for the world, Jesus died, Jesus died, For the world, for the world, there is room in Jesus' side. All the world to save, to battle we will go, And we ever will our colors boldly show, With a trumpet voice we'll let the millions know There's salvation for the world. (Song 940 – The Song Book of The Salvation Army ) During my active years as an officer, I was required by the then Territorial Commander, Com...

THE VISION SPLENDID Introductory notes on Peter’s letters As we will discover Peter is writing to non-Jews scattered across the world to pastor, encourage and correct them in living a kingdom lifestyle. It appears they are under persecution and false teachers are impacting their faith. As well, some are questioning the second coming of Jesus. He wants them to embrace an anchor for their new found way of life and we find it in 1 Peter 2:4-10. If they can grasp the sheer magnitude and majesty of the new, holy nation and how they will live as royal priests in what will be a kingdom lifestyle, they will survive, grow as a God’s special people, and change the world. “You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual ...

A LETTER FROM JAMES Chapter 5 – Part 3 The Power of Prayer 13 Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14 Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18 Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. James now moves on to a very heavy part of his message which has tended to create re-...

THE SECRET TO INTIMACY WITH GOD  Part 2 By David Woodbury When we have come to the place of knowing just how welcome we are in God’s intimate presence, we need to address our own perception of inner-reality. One of the most obvious questions will be our perception of whether or not we feel worthy to be in this intimate relationship? If we go back to our key verse we can understand that not only is this activity in the spiritual realm, it is also an activity of complete and absolute honesty. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24 - NLT) . In our desire for comprehensive intimacy with God, there can be no subterfuge or deception; we must come in an attitude of complete and total honesty. That creates a real challenge for us, for deep inside us we know that there are things in our lives that are decidedly unchristlike and we feel uncomfortable in this intimate relationship knowing they are there. However, if ...

THE SECRET TO INTIMACY WITH GOD Part 1 By David Woodbury For a Christian, the sense of an intimate relationship with God is the pinnacle of our pilgrimage. To know how to make that intimate connection with God is one of the great challenges of the Christian life. Humanly speaking it is a gigantic mental and physical leap to have a relationship where there is no tangible, physical presence, or awareness. If we are to have some sort of meaningful and intimate relationship with God, we need to address this situation. I guess in this day and age it is possible to have a relationship where there is no tangible physical presence such as on the Internet. However, even there, there is some degree of physical and/or emotional awareness. What we are seeking here goes into a realm in which most of us have little knowledge, experience or awareness; the world of the human spirit. At some level, we acknowledge it exists and that it has some sort of dimension that is far outside our phy...

Smithtown Salvos??? By David Woodbury I gotta confess it: I cringe every time I hear the Army using the term ‘Salvos’ to describe itself. We used to be: The Salvation Army, Smithtown Corps But now we are referred to, by ourselves as: Smithtown Salvos. I readily acknowledge that the terminology ‘corps’ is not easily comprehended by today’s generations and probably needs to be replaced. I would suggest that we look back into our earliest history and resurrect the term ‘mission’ which I believe, would be more easily understood and clearly describe our purpose. Hence we would be known as: The Salvation Army, Smithtown Mission. The dictionary defines salvo as: a simultaneous discharge of artillery or other guns in a battle. While we are certainly in a war against sin and suffering I’m not sure we want such an aggressive persona attached to our image. I have no problem with the general population using ‘Salvo’ as a term of endearment, which probably found its g...

A LETTER FROM JAMES Chapter 5 – part 2 Patience and Endurance 7 Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.8 You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door! 10 For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. 12 But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes o...

A LETTER FROM JAMES Chapter 5 – part 1 Warning to the Rich 5 Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. 2 Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This corroded treasure you have hoarded will testify against you on the day of judgment.   (James 5:1-3 – NLT) Once again James is pulling no punches; telling it like it really is. He uses a practically derogatory expression to commence this section: Look here, you rich people:   - he wants to grab their attention, urgently, as if by the throat. There is virtually a sense of desperation in his tone as he tries to get the members of his fledgeling church to focus on what is Christlike and eternal. He is acutely aware of what lies ahead of those who put their trust and confidence in possessio...