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Salvation Army: The Rain Is Coming
by Captain Pete
Brookshaw
Salvationists have been praying.
Some are cranking it up with all-night prayer meetings. Other
are getting groups together and praying 24/7. Many around the
globe are praying every morning for The Salvation Army.
God is stirring something up. I feel like I'm in a large pot,
sitting on the stove, with the temperature gradually getting
hotter, and some of my Salvationist friends are becoming
heated up molecules that are starting to bounce off each other
and are starting to spread the anticipation. The pot is
getting ready to boil over. The gates of hell will not prevail
when that happens!
Let me side-track for a minute with a pertinent Scripture.
After Elijah's brave encounter with the prophets of Baal, he
went up Mount Carmel (see 1 Kings 18:41-46). He told Ahab that
there was the sound of heavy rain. What a second! What was
Elijah talking about?! There was no rain. The land was dry.
The vegetation was struggling. The Israelites had not seen
rain for some time.
But; Elijah could hear the sound of heavy rain.
He went up the mountain and put his face between his knees
(quite flexible) and prayed. He asked one of his servants to
go and look toward the sea. The servant came back and
mentioned to Elijah that nothing was there.
Elijah told the servant to go back and check.
Nothing.
No rain.
Zilch.
Elijah seemingly unwavering in his belief in the
'non-existent' rain, tells the servant to once again go back
and check. In fact the servant is asked of Elijah to go the
sea and check for rain seven times.
The seventh time the servant comes back with a different
report. He says to Elijah that he has seen a cloud as small as
a fist rising from the sea.
Not long later, the sky grew dark with clouds, the wind
stirred up and heavy rain started pounding down.
God sent the rain.
Elijah must have looked like a goose. He must have sounded
like a 'wacko'. Have a think about it for a minute. There IS
NO rain! Is this man out of his mind? What man, in their right
mind, would suggest even for a moment that heavy rain was
coming when there was not a cloud in sight?
Let me tell you Salvation Army - the rain
is coming. The pot is going to boil over. Amazing, passionate,
innovative, Spirit-filled ministry will permeate the entire
Salvation Army! Salvation of the lost with be the norm. New
initiatives to bind up the broken-hearted will increase. The
decision-making will speed up. The soldiership enrolment list
will be growing too quick to properly update. The PR
departments will preach the whole gospel. Salvation Army
publications will regularly print radical stories of people
finding hope and full salvation in Christ. The Salvation Army
will shift from machine to movement.
The rain is coming.
You may not be able to see it. You may not be able to sense
it. You may even doubt what I am writing in this article. But
for what it's worth, mark my words, the rain is coming.
If you are a Salvationist, it's time to understand the rain is
coming. You must pray. You must up the ante of prayer. You
must seek to characterise holiness in the footsteps of Jesus.
You need the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
The rain is coming.
Go out and have a look.
Can you see it yet?
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