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Five Wise
Words of Encouragement and Counsel for Newly Commissioned
Officers of The Salvation Army.
By Lieut.-Colonel David Hammond
I am writing a personal letter to Ephraim, my dear friend and
fellow-worker, something like Paul wrote to his son, Timothy
centuries ago. I want to say a word of encouragement to you as
you set sail on the high seas of officership in The Salvation
Army. I have just passed my eightieth birthday, so you
understand I have more to say than can be written in one
letter – forty-three years as an active officer and sixteen as
a retired officer.
This is not about personal boasting. I do not believe in
self-proclamation. Believe me, I do not want to talk
about myself – only what Christ has done for me and through
me, and what, by the grace of God, he is able to do through
you.
Looking
Back
As I look back over eight decades, Ephraim, I am overflowing with
thanksgiving for every appointment I have had and every person
who has contributed to making me the person I am. My
life has been held fast in the hands of God. As General
Arnold Brown wrote on his retirement: “My life is like Laden
caravans of privilege.” I like what David Livingstone
wrote, after travelling through Africa for a life time of
sacrificial service: “speak not speak to me of
sacrifice; speak to me only of privilege.”
Let tell you of five great privileges God has bestowed upon my
pilgrimage.
1.
The privilege of being born into a
good family.
From a human point of view, there was little that was special about my
family. They were of all people quite ordinary.
The thing that most people said about my parents, was that
they were good people. It was the kind of goodness that
shone out in everything they did and in every situation of
life. There was kind of transparency that was winsome.
Remembering my father and mother, it seems to me that the sum total of
their goodness far outweighed any world possessions they have
missed. My father was hard working, compassionate, honest and
loving. My mother was nurturing, natural (she did not
know what it was to put on “airs”) and artistic. She loved to
play the concertina on the street corner and in the hospitals.
My parents were passionate about two things: first, the
Army, and secondly about dedicating their children to God for
service.
I owe everything I am and have to my good parents. Their influence hovers
over me every day and makes me feel that of all men, I am rich
in the things that really matter. I have two sisters and
one brother – all of whom surrounded me with life abundantly.
2. The
privilege of knowing God’s call to be an officer.
I heard the call to be an officer when I was twelve years old. A
visiting officer looked at me in a crowded room in our home
one Sunday night and planted words I never forgot:
“David, I think that someday you are going to become a
Salvation Army officer” For nine of my teen years, I
kept the secret to myself and never told a soul as, these
words repetitiously rang in my ears like a broken record.
When I was twenty, one month from my twenty-first birthday, I knew it was
decision time. I had to make up my mind and chose
between the broad way (that leads to destruction) and the
narrow way (which leads to life) In a youth meeting,
January 28th, l951, at about 8:30 p.m. I stood up from where I
was sitting in the trombone section of a small band and made
my way to the Mercy Seat – a practice that was rare in my
experience. When I knelt at a very plain chair, a kind lady
came and put her arms around me saying “Is there something I
can do to help you, David? I replied, “I think something
has already happened to me.” Half way between my place
in the band and the Mercy Seat, I felt the hand of God
accepting the sacrifice of my life to be a servant of Jesus
Christ as an officer. It was a defining moment that
changed the course of my life, and opened the door to more
than sixty years of covenant service under the flag of The
Salvation Army.
I would be impossible for to tell you how much spiritual fruit has come
into my life through sixty years of officership. I do not
think a large book could capture everything God has done
through me. When I was twenty I thought long and hard
about committing my whole life to an unknown path, controlled
by an unknown authority, leaping into and unknown future. Now
that I am over eighty, more than sixty years later, in the
light of what I have come to understand what Jesus has done
for me, it seems, as Paul writes to the Romans “Only the
reasonable thing to do” (Rom.12:1,2).
I feel that if I had taken the opportunity of writing my own life-course,
I could not have done it better. I learned to trust God
and let things work out for good – and they did. I never
once asked for an appointment, nor refused to go where the
Army sent me.
3. The
privilege of a magnificent life-partner.
After fifty-three years with my life-partner,
unexpectantly and without warning, she went home to be with
Jesus. I owe her a debt I cannot pay. She loved me
with an unconditional compassion, as she did everyone around
her. She was a role model par excellent.
Ephraim: I write this only to point out the importance of choosing well
your life partner. Take time to pray about it with
patience and obedience and God will give you the right person
at the right time. To be unequally yoke with an unsuitable
partner, will severely handicap your ministry. God has
someone good for you, believe me.
4. The
privilege of children and grandchildren.
After a bumpy start, the Lord gave us two children, along with their
spouses. In addition, we have eight grandchildren. They are an
unending source of joy delight in a thousand way which only
grandparents can comprehend.
But with the gift of new life, also come sacred responsibilities, to
raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
Never underestimate the subtle power of world influences which
come to our children in a thousand ways, many beyond our
control. Nurturing and training our children in the way
of the Lord demands close attention, careful guidance and
prayerful supervision. It will take the cooperative
efforts of both parents, using patience and compassion.
5. The
privilege of serving in the Army.
Above all, I feel of all people most privileged to
have served the whole life in the Army. If life could be
lived all over again, I would sign up without hesitation,
except, I would hope to serve better with more zeal, more
compassion and more fidelity.
The Salvation Army has its weakness and failings, as any organization
does, but then we know that not one of us can claim to
be perfect. I believe the Army is part of the body of
Christ, and when we kick and destructively criticize the Army,
we injure the very body of Christ. Jesus feel the pain for
misdirected, loveless words.
Looking
forward
I want to turn my eye in a forward direction and think about you and your
future in the Army, Ephraim. What can I say that will
encourage you, prepare you, strengthen you for the ministry?
1. Prayer
is pivotal.
The best advice I can give you is the make prayer heart and soul of
everything you do every day, every year, every decade.
It may be that this is where the Devil will seek to deflect
you attention and live a prayerless life.
You do not need anything more than the example of Jesus. His life,
from the very beginning was saturated in prayer. Mary
and Joseph worship regularly at the synagogue and saw Jesus
was steeped in the Hebrew faith. Jesus made a habit of
spending whole nights in prayer, often after long and draining
days of teaching and preaching. He prayed in every
critical moment of his short years of ministry; the garden of
Gethsemane he prayed “Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me;” and he prayed to his Father during his
six hours on the cross – seven magnificent words that
Christians, for centuries has been exploring.
Jesus spent much of his time teaching his disciples to pray.
Without prayer our lives will be fruitless for the Kingdom.
Find time to enter your closet, closing the door, and pray to your
father. He promises to reward us richly well beyond our
expectations and our imagination. Make your prayer life
and most important activity of your daily schedule.
2. Time
is precious.
The most precious possession any officer has is time. Time is a
priceless gift which does not last forever. Time moves
imperceptibly from birth to death and no power on earth can
stop it. “Time like an every moving stream, bears all it sons
away.” When you are young, it is not easy to grasp that life
has limits and nothing is more final than death, man’s last
enemy,
Looking ahead it may seem like an eternity; but looking back, it is moves
faster than a weaver shuttle – quicker than the twinkling of
the eye.
Make the most of the time you have. Do not waste it or think
carelessly of it. Take Tennyson’s advice: “fill
the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distant
run.”
Learn to discipline your time every day. That does not mean that
you have no time to relax and smell the roses, or the pursue
your favorite game of golf. Organize and prioritize your
time so that you put the first things, first.
Remember that someday you will have to stand before your Master and give
an account of how you have invested your time.
3. The
Bible is priceless.
I read of a survey which was taken among ministers, indicating that
eighty-five percent of clergy had no devotional life.
I hope it does not apply to Salvation Army officers. I
hope it will not apply to you - Too busy to pray; too busy to
read the Bible and think deeply about the gospel message.
Benjamin Franklin wrote: “he was the master of all things:
master of one (not “none” as his story has recorded.
Many minister are, in fact, dabblers in many things, but every
minister of the gospel should be a master of one, the Bible.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the World War 2 hero, wrote: “Everyday for me
is lost that that I have not penetrated deeper into the
understanding of God in scripture.”
Think of it carefully,
Study it prayerfully,
Deep in thy heart,
Let its oracles dwell.
Ponder it mysteries,
Slight not its histories,
None can
love it too fondly or well.
4. Ministry
is personal.
In studying the ministry of Jesus, one learns that ministry is always
personal. It was individuals like Nicodemus, the unnamed women
at the well, Zacheaus, Peter, James and John. Who
captured Jesus’ eye? The lost, the lonely and the least.
Follow the example of your leader – go and do likewise.
It does not mean that crowds are unimportant, but crowds are made up of
individuals. Crowds are only of value, so long as one thinks
that every crowd is a compilation of individuals.
The good shepherd who, when counting his flock, found one absent, left
the ninety and nine and went out looking one lost sheep.
What a lesson He taught us. Every person counts:
every person has a name. Jesus died for every lost soul.
Beware that although prayer is important to our ministry, people or more
important that people. Our business is people.
5.
Our
destiny is promised.
Finally, keep your eyes on the prize. Look
beyond this present world of time and spaced and material
things. Look to Jesus and his kingdom – the new
Jerusalem, “coming down from God out of heaven.” From
the cross Jesus gave the dying thief the greatest promise of
all –“Today you shall be with me in paradise.” It is a
promise he also give to us. “Jesus said: “I go to
prepare a place for you so that where I am you maybe also.”
It one of greatest and surest promises of the Bible.
Five ideas with which you can invest your ministry and never be
defeated.
My witness to you: Ephraim:
“I feel that the last drop of my life are beingn poured out
for God. The glorious fight that God gave me I have fought,
the course I was set I have finished, and I have kept the
faith. The future holds for me a crown of righteousness
which God, the righteous judge, will give me in that day (11
Tim. 4:6-8).
My charge to you:
I charge you, to live in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus... to
preach the word of God. Never loose your sense of urgency, in
and out of season. Prove, correct, and encourage, using
the utmost of patience in your teaching. Go on steadily
preaching the gospel and carry out the full the commission
that God gave you.” 2 Timothy 4:l,,5 – J.B. Phillips
God bless you, my friend, Ephraim. As often as I think of you I will pray
for you.
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