Australia Southern Territory
Effective 1 March 2007:
Captain Stephen Court
Assistant Secretary for Personnel - Territorial Education Secretary
Personnel Department
Territorial Headquarters
Captain Danielle Strickland
Territorial Social Justice Director
Social Programme Department
Territorial Headquarters
Welcome to the territory. We are grateful to God for you.
Romans 15:7 (MSG)
7 So reach out and welcome one another to God's glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!
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24 comments:
Wow! This is exciting!
I'm excited by this move Jim! I hear Stephen and Danielle are passionate, radical Salvationists and I look forward to the great influence they will have on our territory and in the lives of a generation of young people ready to sign on to a vision exceedingly more challenging than anything we've ever offered them before.
I AM VERRY VERRY VERRY VERRY VERRY EXCITED! These guys spoke at double impact a tri-territorial yth congress a few years ago and God used them to change my life and inspire me to be full on for Jesus!
Gods got some great things in line for this territory!!! Revival must be close!!! Infact i declare that its coming! Hallelujah!
May it be for a great blessing!
Ephesians 3:20a
"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!"
Just when I thought things couldn't get better - God proves it can!
What an answer to prayer - not the answer I was expecting - but WOW God knows best!!!!!!!!!!!
Once again I stand in awe of our amazing God!
and the Kingdom of God forcefully advances...
Hold on to your hat! Sweet!
From this day on the Salvation Army will be changed. The spirit of the Lord Jesus is flowing not from the top level of leadership from IHQ, THQ or DHQ but its happening right down to Corps work and Social centres. May The spirit lead us in the way God wants are army to be deployed and may god continue to bless you Jim and the leadership of the Army.
Bless you
Shaun
From what I have read on Stephen Court's blog in the past he is a strong believer in spiritual manifestations of all types, and appears to support such things as the Toronto Blessing and Brownsville Pensacola outpouring, during which all manner of bizarre 'spiritual' things took place. A simple google search will provide a huge amount of information on these events, with most seeing what occurred as being at best questionable and at worst demonic. Captain Court is also a leading figure in the 'Primitive Salvationism' movement, which seems to elevate the institution of the Salvation Army and the early pioneers of the movement to a very high status, bordering on worship. It appears that to some 'primitives' their Salvationism is at or near the same level of importance as their Christianity. Captain Court is obviously a very influential man, particularly amongst the young and impressionable, however I think a bit of discernment might be in order when it comes to his beliefs and teaching.
Always interesting when the anonymous leave comments. They always leave comments that seem to be putting a knife in your back while giving you a hug.
That is why we use phrases like, they are great leaders and godly but we should watch out for their discernment and teaching.
I have sat under and continue to sit under their discernment and leadership and you are only going to be blessed by their leadership.
coryharrison
No Cory, I didn't say anything about him being a great leader or godly - I don't whether he is or not in either case. What I know is what I read on his and other likeminded blogs. So I will ask you (and anyone else who would like to give an opinion) two questions -
- Toronto Blessing/Pensacola type of extreme pentecostalism - there are huge numbers of people across a wide spectrum of Christian denominations who have expressed serious concerns about the manifestations displayed in these and similar events. Are you completely happy for this form of expression to be a part of the Salvation Army?
- Do you think that in some elements of 'Primitive Salvationism' there is too much emphasis on the institution of the Salvation Army and adulation of the early pioneers, whereby being 'Army' is nearly as important as being 'Christian'?
From what I can gather I would answer no to the first and yes to the second, and given Stephen Court's apparent position on these matters and influence in the Army I believe it is worth questioning.
As for being an anonymous commenter, I would fully expect to be criticised for daring to be negative about Stephen Court, due to his obviously passionate group of followers. Hence I don't need the grief of being attacked by you and your peers. You may say that is being hypocritical given that I am levelling an attack of sorts on Captain Court - perhaps that's true, but this seems to be the best avenue to get my concerns across to people.
Anonymous: You are correct in estimating my answers to your questions.
I hope that one day you are able to hang out with them. In fact, it would well worth your time to seek out the opportunity.
Bring on the Pentecostal fire of the Holy Spirit. Bless you Jesus.
These comments are all good. If you have a question about a person, it seems the best place to go is to the person. We're grateful to God that these Salvationists are becoming Salvos.
How sad when the Holy Spirit's moving is questioned to the point of distraction. From within, no less. Manifestations of the Spirit were a part of TSA from the beginning. We have truly lost much by shunning such.
I have never seen any evidence of TSA involvement being more important than Christianty in Steve & Danielle's ministry. Excitement about our particular church- yes (and that is well founded based on some of the songs in our songbook anyway). I was totally dumbfounded to read of such concern. Incredible what we can imagine without direct connection to the source.
Our territory's loss is your gain! Hallelujah. God gives and takes away. Blessed be His name. May he bless us in return.
I have fought along Steve and Danielle for 5 years in Vancouver and have never a hint of questionable spirituality or idolizing The Salvation Army.
I'm not questioning the movement of the Holy Spirit, I'm trying to be discerning about whether spiritual manifestations are of God, of man or of Satan. As I have said previously, these are thousands of people around the world deeply disturbed by manifestations displayed in 'Toronto Blessing' type events. I share those concerns, and as I see that Stephen Court (as I read on his blog) apparently is a supporter of such things, then yes I will be concerned about the mindset that be brings to leadership in Australia.
As far as Salvationism being as important as Christianity, perhaps I was not clear enough in my previous comments. No I have not read direct evidence of this line of thought from Stephen, rather on a couple of other blogs of "Primitive Salvationists". As Stephen is a leading figure in that movement I was questioning whether he did or didn't align himself with those thoughts, and did not intend to directly accuse him of having that opinion. My apologies for that.
Finally, the comments section of the TC's blog does not seem to be the ideal place to engage in these discussions. I have also been engaged in discussions about holiness on the blog of Andrew Bale, who seems quite linked in with Stephen Court and other "Primitive Salvationists" - beyondthebrook.blogspot.com (entry 28/1/07). People seemed to have largely stopped engaging with myself and one other on that blog on the subject - perhaps some of you can suggest somewhere else where I can have these discussions with people such as yourselves, or are we happy to continue in these comment sections?
to Anonymous;
It seems to me, reading your comments, that instead of meeting Stephen and discussing what concerns you may have, you would rather simply judge and attack him and his teachings based solely on reading his blog. A man's blogs are only a part of who he is. You may better be served by having coffee sith him. I am sure you will come to respect him as so many others have.
sincerely,
Shane MacDonald
(not young. Not impressionable. A follower of Cpt. Stephen Court)
Shane, do you believe that I should have any concerns at all regarding 'Toronto Blessing' type of spiritual manifestations? If so, should I not then be wary of someone who appears to support such things? Is there any validity in my concerns about the importance placed upon Salvationism by some who identify themselves as 'Primitive Salvationists'? If so, should I not raise some concerns regarding one of the leading figures in this movement?
Sincerely,
Anonymous.
Not young, not impressionable, follower of Jesus Christ.
The search for truth continues.
wow. and they haven't even arrived yet.
(geographically.)
(spiritually.)
Shalom on Australia, in the Name of Yeshua.
Hd
"To better the future we must disturb the present!"
Catherine Booth
(Alias Lt. Dave Collinson)
So do we question how the present is being disturbed Dave? As the new TYS, do you support and encourage the seeking of spiritual manifestations along the lines of the Toronto Blessing? Do you have any concerns about 'Primitive Salvationism' as I have outlined earlier?
Dear Anon,
I think let it rest. I'm trad B&F* (read song book, bands, my grandmother went to Home League)and appreciate your concerns. The TC's blog is not the forum for this discussion. I'm not into the general 'How Great I Am' feel of most bloggers, but the TCs is a great avenue to share the exciting things associated with his leadership and ministry across the Territory. Out of respect, I don't think his blog should be used to banter between ourselves.
Love to the Prez :-)
I'll do the Anon thing too.
* B&F = Blood & Fire
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