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Editorial Introduction
by anonymous
This is a short epistle to folk who call
ourselves salvationists
(you might want to pray your way
through this article).
1 Salvonations
1
1To the multitude of soldiers
fighting the good fight of faith all over the world: Grace,
mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
2By the blood of the everlasting
covenant He has called you into fellowship with the multitude
of saints who have gone before you, the scores of thousands of
Salvationists who now bow before Him in glory. 3To
you it has been granted to walk in the continued path of these
pioneers, your current reality being the fruit of their
faith—that same daring bravery that calls you also to rise up
and live faithfully into the high and glorious calling to win
the world for Jesus.
4This work—your work through
faith in Him and in the power of His presence in which you now
and continually abide—is bearing fruit all over the world…
5though some have crept into your fellowship who
are not Salvationists (but would have you believe they are).
6They wear a uniform, but we know that an outward
sign without a changed heart is a worthless garment: at best a
costume and at worst the uniform of a double agent. 7They
attempt to change your doctrine or water down the gospel, the
goodness of God available to all who repent and believe.
8They speak of exclusion and inclusion in words as
worthless as the wind on which they are carried. 9They
confuse simpleminded people with doublespeak, and the lives
they live betray the bitterness and hardness of their hearts.
Their sins will find them out. 10God knows who are
His.
11But you are not like them. Your
hearts and your bodies are washed in the precious blood of the
Lamb; your hands are clean as you serve God,
12“Doing all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
2
1You work for Him who has saved
you for His glorious purposes. 2Keep your eyes
fixed on the prize, and don’t get distracted by those who have
no interest in the things of the kingdom but are instead
invested in power on earth, according to the systems and
patterns of this world. 3These have forgotten the
utter otherness of the power of God: He does not operate
according to the same principles and timeframes as those who
have deceived themselves into thinking they are in control.
4We know who has power and our hope is in Him and
in the advancement of His kingdom according to His means and
on His timeline. 5He fights—the Captain of our
Army—and we follow on in His might, clothed with all of His
armor.
6This is the glorious fight of
love. It is not a love as the world sees it or names it.
Instead, it is a love unlike the world has ever seen or known
in its own futile thinking. 7Love that seeks the
highest good of others, as God defines good—8not
like Adam and Eve, who sought to define it on their own terms
when they took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
when they knew not to, 9but like the Man Jesus
Christ, who listened to His Father’s voice, trusting Him, and
gave His life on the tree of curses: in doing so He became for
us the Tree of Life forever. 10My friends… THIS is
love. Not love that fades. Not love that seeks it own. Love
that listens to Love Himself and lays its own life down for
others. 11Remember what Jesus said, “Whoever loses
His life for My sake will find it.”
3
1What do you seek in this life?
What are you living for, now that you have found what is real,
now that you have discovered the emptiness of everything you
used to live for? 2What is there that this world
could possible offer you that will not utterly vanish at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the light of His
glorious kingdom? 3What are you holding in your
hands that has not been shown to be worthless in the light of
the wounds of our Savior?
4“Rich wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified”
5He wears the wounds of our
freedom! 6So, too, will any of the wounds you are
now bearing be made beautiful in glory. 7Let go of
all that is failing. Hold on to Him who never fails. He is
worth it all!
8If anyone is hurting because of
another’s actions, remind him that in the end it is much more
painful not to forgive than it is to hold on to bitterness and
unforgiveness. 9Remember the words of our brother
who said, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover
that the prisoner was you.”
10Hallelujah. He sets the captive
free. He came to do so. 11Let us hold onto the One
who is holding onto us. He is so faithful.
12There are others not yet free.
How amazing that our God can turn our inward-looking minds up
to Him and outward to others. 13Others. When your
hope is in Him, when your heart is being filled with His love
day by day, “others” becomes your rallying cry. 14It
is a joy to be spent in the work of the kingdom of His love.
15His kingdom come, and all the power of darkness
become as a long distant memory.
16Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Preserve Your Army. Preserve Your Church. Amen.
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