An Adventure in Ministry

  Last weekend was a big weekend in my life and ministry. After studying at The Salvation Army’s William Booth training college for a year as a distance learning Territorial Envoy Cadet, I was commissioned and ordained as a minister with the rank of Lieutenant. On Sunday 14th July at The Salvation Army’s together 21 congress, I, along with 12 others who were in the ‘Defenders of Justice’ session were prayed over, affirmed, commissioned and sent out to spread the gospel. This day was a culmination of a time of preparation which included a retreat day, covenant day, reflections, learning the 11 doctrines of The Salvation Army and lots of rehearsals! The Sunday before we were commissioned, we went on a beautiful retreat day at The Royal foundation of St. Katherine, and at the end of the day we shared some of the things God had been speaking to us about. One of the cadets shared some verses from 1 Kings 19:11-12 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the L...

As part of my college course, training to become a Salvation Army Officer, I have been studying a module on biblical interpretation and preaching. In my studying and reading one thing that all the scholars agreed on is that preachers need to live their sermon out before they preach it. Timothy Keller in his book on preaching (you can buy it here: ) says that as preachers:  “You must be something like a clear glass, through which people can see a broken but gospel changed soul in such a way that they want it for themselves.”  This is something I have found to be true in my own life and in the last week or so God reminded me of this in a beautiful way. Over the last few months in our church we have been following a sermon series on Trusting in God. We have been looking at different characters who have trusted in God and how we can apply those truths to our lives today. We have been considering in which situations in our life do we need to resolve to trust in God. I have been enc...

In the past week I have heard some beautiful stories while in conversation with people. Each of these powerful conversations has one common theme, an encounter with Jesus. For some they encountered him for the first time, for others it was meeting with him once again and for others still, it was one of many regular encounters.  Over the weekend around the dinner a friend shared about how his life had been completely transformed. The things that once had such great power simply don’t anymore. He was a different man….and the difference was Jesus.  Last week, I had the privilege of hearing another friend talking about how she has recently returned to her faith and how she realised God has been with her all along. She talked about a happiness she now felt and how different everything was…and the difference was Jesus. While away at officers councils and eating the most amazing chocolate fondue, I sat with colleague ministers of the gospel and we shared the good news going on within...

This week I, along with many other ministers within The UK and Ireland territory of The Salvation Army met together for three days of worship and the word at our ‘Officer’s councils’. I have to admit that in the midst of an incredibly busy season, I was most looking forward to a couple of days away with my husband where I didn’t have to cook, clean or do the washing! However, as God often does, he completely surprised me and I had the most powerful time away.  The theme of the three days was ‘Lifting our eyes to the king’ and from the moment our time began I had a real sense that God was doing something. On the first afternoon, our Territorial Commander, shared with us about Peter walking on water and how we need to lift our eyes to the king, especially when we are in the waves and think we may be sinking. He shared with us some verses from Hebrews 12:1-3 and throughout the three days they kept playing through my mind. Five little words even kept me up in the middle of the night, a...

This week I have been thinking about double portions. It is a concept spoken about directly six times in scripture, but happens to appear in two of my favourite passages. In the story of Hannah, a women who walked through infertility, we read:    But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 1 Samuel 1:5 In order to show love to his wife in the midst of a difficult season, he gave her a double portion of the sacrificial meat.  We also read about a double portion in Isaiah 61. This is part of a scripture that has been spoken over me prophetically and one that I often return to. Verse 7 says:  Instead of your shame  you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace  you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,  and everlasting joy will be yours. I love the fact that in this scripture the double portion gets a double mention!! So what is a double por...

  This week we had the absolute joy of going on retreat and sharing with other ministers in the Salvation Army working across the North West of England. For us it was a wonderful time of affirmation and allowed time for the spirit to minister to us through teaching, challenge and healing.  While at breakfast one morning, we were sharing with someone about some of the challenges we have faced in the past couple of years and how God has been faithful throughout it all, and they made a comment that has been percolating in my spirit ever since. They said that in times of difficulty “God has a way of directing the disruption” The phrase hit me like a ton of bricks! The more I thought of it, the more I could see this principle at work in my life.  The retreat we were attending was due to have a guest speaker who had to pull out three days before the event due to ill health. I can only imagine the disruption that ensued as our leaders tried to bring it all together. However we s...