RAW

Enjoying the view...

I was traveling by bus today, on my way home from some "fun time" out at Loughhead Shopping Center. There was this man sitting across from me that kept staring my way as though he had never seen a person of the opposite sex before.
Not wanting to be the focus of his eye, I stood up and walked to the back of the bus since we were approaching my stop anyway. He then disturbingly continued to turn around and stare at me. Frustrated, I said "Excuse me, can I help you with anything?" He replied "I'm just enjoying the view."
I educated him in that I was not for his viewing pleasure and wound like to be respected.

This discusting concept fills the minds of so many men in our world. It's not true. Scripture says if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has committed adultery. Women are not for the purpose of fulfilling a lustful mans wondering eye. I've often heard cynical comment like "Good job God" come out of the mouths of men as an attractive female walks by.
Subjecting women by giving them this role only feeds into the demand that exists by men to have their supposed "needs" met by women. As this is apparently what they are meant to do.

Here is a basic economic lesson. A demand requires a supply. Generally, the higher the demand, the bigger the supply. The supply end playing out in much bigger ways. Take the trafficking in of persons for sexual exploitation. It happens, that's a fact. There are lots of reasons and things that feed into this happening. The two leading factor in human trafficking are extreme poverty and the sexual demand. It seems like such a big thing to stem from something as small as staring at a woman lustfully. However, it just feeds into something so much bigger than we know. Some might see it as a pretty bold statement in even connect the two. Such is truth...
I'd encourage you to take a closer look at the issue of trafficking in of persons and the connections might just surprise you.

*This isn't to say that women don't also have wondering eyes. In both ways, (quoting Donny) "This leads to a moral decline in our generation, people are not objects of affection...."

The War College - Chicago Style

Last weekend the War College was so blessed as to have four people attend Chicago's divisional youth councils. It's was a great time of fellowship and fun.

Ian Smith, Matt Armstrong, Nicole Brindel and I had a great time interacting with the Chicago youth and leading a few optional meeting that were - extra early in the morning and extra late at night called special ops. We had the blessing of lead a section in three of the meeting where we finished off a question starter and encouraged the delegates in sharing their testimonies as well. We were also able to be co-leaders/helpers in small groups that happened twice throughout the weekend. This was a time where we divided the 454 delegates in to smaller groups and got down to the tuff talk.

We were fortunate enough to have the wonderful hospitality of Eric and Cathleen Himes and Major Renea Smith as well as to hear the amazing God filled testimonies of two former gang members Luis and Maria Salazar from Los Angeles California

Ian Smith was undoubtedly happy to be surrounded by home. During one of the Special Ops meeting Ian gave a great word based around the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. He spoke of how what made the son prodigal was not that he left and came back but how wasteful and extravagant he was with his inheritance. He brought up the great point of how in turn the father was the real prodigal, as he was wasteful extravagant with his love and grace toward his son. Ian gave a difficult challenge for us all to be prodigals - extravagant with our love and our lives.

Matt Armstrong was very happy to have Chicago Style pizza and see the actual Rock and Roll McDonald's. (apparently there's a song about this place...) He did a great job at leading the delegates in a few question and answer periods. If you've ever met Matt you'll know he's a pretty quiet and mellow person, but put him behind a mic and the man has a gift. He's wonderful at engaging with the audience and correctly dividing the word of truth.

Nicole Brindle with her fun loving and attractive personality was great at making new friend and really connecting with the youth attending the event. Nicole did a remarkable job at leading a Morning of Special Ops, leading the delegates in a testimonial time with a question starter and joining a group performing for the "Lost Talent Show" - last minute. Nicole gave a great word as well about based around the story of the lost coin in Luke 15 about how sometimes people are lost not by there own ignorance - but by the carelessness of others.

One majorly encouraging thing that I brought back with me from this weekend was to see the unity within the youth of this division. They were very encouraging and loving toward each other. All ways lifting each other up and taking opportunities to pray and edify each other.
My prayer would be that our community would likely be clothed in such unity.

The Uniform

God has been really showing me that the old style uniform is cool and works. I was looking at some facebook photos and I really believe that people look their best when they wear their uniform. That is if they aren't dishevelled. Okay so it looks good not really a good point to be wearing it out much.

Here's a story from my past:

I was mad at hypocrisy in The Salvation Army and wanted to separate myself from empty religion as much as possible. So, I stopped wearing my uniform. Then the voice of the Lord came to me at church when I was looking at my wedding ring. He said, "Jonathan, why do you wear that ring?"
"Cause I love Carla, it is my symbol with her." I said.
"Why would you not wear your uniform then? Many people are unfaithful to their wedding vows and wear their wedding bands. That doesn't mean that you should get rid of your ring."
It hit me. Wearing the uniform is up to me and what I make it into. Where I wear it and how I use it as a witness. It isn't about misuse or lack of use. It was about me expressing my covenant with every other soldier and God.

So I started wearing it again, even when my friends took theirs off to go to Swiss Chalet after the meeting, mine would stay on. I loved how good of a witness it was.

Now, you might be of the group of people who hate how the uniform looks and wow, you're still reading! It is funny that the uniform can stir up such emotion with people in The Salvation Army. That is almost a point in itself. It shows we belong to each other and that their is meaning in donning the navy blue.

Some might say it is outdated. It doesn't work. It makes you look like a goof and people won't talk to you. My experience is the opposite. I also find that those people actually don't wear the uniform and thus, their experiment lacks sufficient sample sizes, controlled variables etc to make those statements valid.

Here is a story from an accepted Incendiary Sessions Tunic Tuesday [wear your Tunic today, even if it is just out to Tim Hortons... see what happens].

Wearing my tunic to school on Tuesday was amazing. Like, it kinda changes your demeanor, wearing something like that to a high school. It's not like wearing a cross necklace, or getting a fish tattooed to your forearm, it's definitely a lot more aggressive. I was blessed by it a lot. Just little comments throughout the day. From Nick Paisley asking me the difference between a soldiers uniform and a captains (and then defending me to his friends) to Mr. Poppy telling me stories about his father and grandfather, who were officers in the Army in Scotland and part of the Citadel band. The best part of the day was the last 3 hours of school. We had this huge grad assembly about drinking and driving, and a lady whose daughter had been killed in a car accident on prom night told her story of loss and mourning. Afterwards I thanked her and hugged her. She recognized the tunic and asked me to pray with her and begged me to keep my friends safe on prom night. She was crying while she was hugging me and she apologized for getting tears on my jacket. I said "No, it's okay. I'm fairly sure there's no article of clothing more suitable for tears to fall on."
Pretty much just incredible.
And though it still makes me kind of uncomfortable to be wearing a piece of uniform that displays a title that I do not have (last time I checked, I should definitely have blue epaulets with no stars, not red ones with 2) it was still a blessing to me and the people around me, and gave me several chances to share my faith and the SA's Doctrine with several people.

WOW!!! Now, don't tell me we shouldn't wear uniforms. When someone wears it equipped with The Holy Spirit God acts!