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Philippians 2 is a chapter I return to again and again. It causes me to
marvel unceasingly at what God has done for me through Jesus Christ. He reaches
down, down, and down again in order to rescue me and then he calls me to live a
life of reaching out to others in his name.
Because we are thinking a lot this morning about the children and their
promises to God, I will share with you all a story which illustrates how
precious we are to God. Actually, it is my husband’s story or, to be even more
accurate, it is his father’s story. So I will ask him now to share it with you.
It is the story of Albert and the lost coin. Albert’s Dad was pretty
strict. One day he said to Albert, aged then about ten years, ‘Your Mother
needs you to run down to the shop on the corner and buy some family groceries.
Here is the money. It is the last coin in the house until payday in ten days’
time. It is a two-shilling piece, so don’t lose it whatever you do! You are to
bring back bread, sugar, tea and milk.’
So Albert set out with the shining coin held tightly in his hand. The
day was bright and sunny, and as he glanced at the coin it seemed to shine and
shimmer in the sunlight. Fascinated by its brilliance in the sun, Albert began
to turn the coin over and over in the palm of his hand. As he walked along, he
grew more daring and began to spin the ‘florin’ (for that was its proper name)
up into the air, catching it neatly as it descended. Suddenly he tripped! The
coin was in mid-air! He tried to look up and catch it, but to no avail, for
down it came into the gutter. It rolled and bounced for several feet, and
suddenly was gone! The grating covering a drain-hole had swallowed it up! Only
very faintly did Albert hear the ‘Splat!’ as the coin hit the soggy mess at the
bottom of the drain!
This was devastating! What was to be done? His Dad had told him clearly
it was the only money in the house. Peering helplessly into the dim recesses of
the drain-hole, Albert’s heart sank and his legs began to shake. He would have
to return home and tell what had happened, taking the consequences!
Forcing one foot in front of the other, he trudged homeward, head down,
dejected. His Dad opened the door and saw at once that all was not well. ‘What
is it?’ he asked. ‘I… I…I’ve lost the coin. It dropped into a drain-hole. I…
I’m so sorry. I was being stupid and spinning it in the air.’
14 comments:
Helen was a wonderfully gifted officer; a model of grace and compassion that is sorely needed and absent in many SA leaders.
London
Anonymous, could you not have more graciously remembered this great lady if you had not used her virtues as a springboard for yet more disparaging remarks about 'current TSA leadership'? And just WHICH leadership, by the way, since there remain many faithful and gifted servants of God in Army leadership. We might ourselves grow more in grace if we took as much time meditating on Phil. 4:8 as we do meditating on the faults of others.
Former 'Ambassador' - USA South
To 'Ambassador' - I would think, given the nature of the articles on this blog over the last weeks, 'anonymous' is referring to the leadership involved in the Howard Hospital tragedy - a small nucleus, but a powerful nucleus nevertheless, whose ill-considered decisions and actions have caused much harm to many people, and have left some of the soldiership in turmoil, because church leaders are supposed to set a high spiritual and moral example to us all.
If I'm mistaken in my thoughts regarding 'anonymous', then maybe he or she would enlighten both of us.
To 'Former Ambassador' - there is a growing groundswell of dissatisfaction with the top leadership of the Army. There is no avenue for soldiers to challenge anything that troubles them, and even 'questioning' questions are not allowed to reach the leaders. Any questions which TSA doesn't like are airbrushed out of existence. This isn't healthy. All Army websites are full of 'positive' (Army) spin, and everything in the Army garden is rosy.
Life isn't like that, and no Christian institution worth its salt is exempt from persecution. Why is TSA one of the best-loved charities in the world? If it were really standing up for the gospel of Christ, it would be vilified by all and sundry in this increasingly secular world. I know it does much good on a worldwide scale as far as social services activities are concerned, and this is to be commended. But the ‘church’ wing of the Army is, to my mind, fading in evangelical zeal. As a longstanding member, I am very uneasy about what is happening within the top ranks. The days of total acquiescence by the membership are long gone, but Army leaders are still living in the Victorian era where when they snapped their fingers, everyone jumped to attention and obeyed.
The leadership style needs to change and change quickly, if credibility in leaders is to be restored. SA members who have followed the events at Howard Hospital have been appalled that our Christian leaders could have made those decisions which have had far-reaching tragic consequences for everyone concerned. You quote Philippians 4 verse 8 - but this isn't a finger-pointing exercise - I'm sure we all try to follow the direction laid out in these words, but we each have to ask ourselves if what we do day in day out is Christlike, and that applies to leaders as well. I sin every day, and every day I ask the Lord for forgiveness - I repent. There has been no acknowledgement by IHQ that any wrongdoing has occurred, and even despite the widespread incredulity that has greeted their inconsistent statements no such acknowledgement has occurred. The subsequent article in All the World has done nothing to stem the tide of disbelief and the growing disrespect for the leadership.
It’s not about meditating on the faults of others – bad decisions have been made in the name of TSA, and they have been made on your behalf and mine, as we belong to the whole. The wrong person was dismissed in pursuit of blind allegiance to the great Salvation Army, regardless of the human misery caused to many. It’s about honesty and integrity, which I can’t see much of in this sad event. We need someone at the top with courage to speak up for the people who have suffered in this tragedy. Until they do, this will just continue.
Ambassador US South seems that you too 'are meditating on the faults of others', mine?!
Just home from the TC's welcome to the Cadets. A truly fine and inspiring leader.
London
I am so glad that it is settled then, once and for all! It is only a very small nucleus of top leaders and then only those who are associated with the HH affair. The rest are fine............ I now have my faith restored and can sleep more easily.
Have a great Sunday in worship and praise wherever you chose to do so.
How is it that some people come over as ultra sanctimonious and holier than thou when they put fingers to keyboard? Is it to impress? One really wonders.
On the other hand, maybe they are.
I'm not sure which entry is considered to be ultra sanctimonious, but to the person who wrote 'The rest are fine............ I now have my faith restored and can sleep more easily'.
I say, 'it only takes one bad apple to ruin the rest'.
'an apple that is infested with mold will contaminate other fruit it's stored with as the mold seeks additional food sources and spreads. In both cases, it actually does take just one single apple to start a domino chain that ruins the rest of the bunch'.
No, everything is not fine in the good ol' SA. Those bad apples need to be removed for the rest to flourish. Even in the secular world people resign - for the greater good. We have people in leadership for whom 'truth' is both expedient and expendable. That can't be right.
And your point is?
It's plain enough.
Is it? Where would you start and, more importantly where and when would you stop hounding people out of office?
After all, it only takes a slightly blemished apple to start the rotting process in the basket. Are you suggesting that anything or anyone blemished should be banished and disposed off in order to stop the process in order to keep the basket pure and Godly?
Erratum....delete second 'in order'
I am not capable of hounding anyone out of office, nor would I wish to do so. But good leaders should not appease those who are not all they should be - there has been no evidence of any spiritual discipline having been applied at Army leadership level over their handling of the HH issue. All they have done is shuffle a few TCs around different territories and sack a doctor/officer for doing his job, as well as raising much-needed direct funds for his hospital - something he was forced to do because of TSA's inability to control its territorial funding- where is the justice in that? If one of them had done no wrong, then why was she moved? None of it hangs together - and in this the leaders have not shown the Christian characteristics typical of church leaders.
You certainly have got a very simplistic understanding of and possible solutions to very intricate personnel, financial and general hospital management issues.
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