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Boundless - International Congress 2015
Lieut.Colonel
Eddie Hobgood
The Australia Southern Territory has produced a marvellous DVD
series based on the history, mission and theology of The
Salvation Army entitled,
Boundless Salvation.
In the opening moments of this series, John Cleary,
writer, producer and host says these words,
Boundless Salvation,
the anthem of an army, authored by its’ Founder:
It is a call that must be renewed for each generation.
I believe we have the opportunity, with the 2015 International
Congress, to renew the call and to rally the troops of
this generation,
with that anthem, and to remind ourselves that we, The
Salvation Army, believe today, as did those who came before
us, that God’s salvation is still available to the whole
world, and that all of humanity can be redeemed by the blood
of Jesus Christ.
Can’t you, in your mind’s eye, see those early Salvationists
marching through the streets and hear them singing:
We’re the soldiers of the Army of salvation that God is
raising now to save the world;
And we won’t lay down our arms till every nation shall have
seen the flag of blood and fire unfurled.
We’re the Army that shall conquer as we go to seek the lost
and to bring them back to God
And His salvation to every nation, we will carry with the Fire
and the Blood!
That first generation of Salvationists believed with every
fibre of their being that they
could and
would win the world
for God.
Our song book is
replete with anthems that declare it.
Just to name a few:
The World for
God! I’ll Give My Heart, I’ll Do My Part!
Christ for the World We Sing, The
World to Christ we bring.
Tell Them in the East and In the
West – Christ for the Whole Wide World!
Tell the World, O Tell the World!
Make Salvation’s Story Heard
The year was 1893 and General William Booth was found at 6AM
one morning, putting the final touches on a song he had stayed
up all night writing.
The song was called,
O Boundless Salvation,
and it was sung for the first time that year at the
Boundless Salvation
Campaign meetings in Exeter Hall.
When William Booth appeared for the last time in public
in May 1912, he used this song as part of his 83rd
birthday celebration.
From that point forward, it became known as
The Founder’s Song.
Boundless
means, having no
boundaries, without limits, and as such, speaks to us of
God’s boundless love,
grace, mercy and salvation.
That boundlessness which is as deep as an ocean is
available to every man, woman and child on the face of the
earth.
It was General Booth himself who said in 1878,
The Salvation Army –
what a strange name!
What does it mean?
Just what it says – a number of people joined together
after the fashion of an army; and an army for the purpose of
carrying salvation through the land…
Additionally, and of equal importance to Salvationists, the
Founder’s Song speaks, in the 3rd verse of the
ability to be set free from
tempers and
passions that
force me to wrong.
This describes
Full Salvation or Holiness.
We will also affirm, in this Congress, our belief in
the sanctifying work of God’s Boundless Salvation.
And it is for these reasons the theme for the International
Sesquicentennial Congress, the 150th anniversary of
the founding of The Salvation Army will be,
BOUNDLESS:
The Whole World Redeeming, featuring, Ephesians
3:8, Preach to the
nations the boundless riches of Christ.
It is the sincere prayer of the Congress Office, that at the
conclusion of our 5 days together in the East End of London,
that every Salvationist, regardless of what language they
speak or corner of the earth in which they serve, would make
the words of the Founder’s Song, their heart’s prayer and
their life’s anthem:
And now, hallelujah, the rest of
my days;
Shall gladly be spent in promoting
his praise.
Who opened his bosom to pour out
this sea;
Of Boundless salvation for you and
for me.
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