The War Cry (ISSN 1550�5286) is published 14 times a year at
615 Slaters Lane, P.O. Box 269, Alexandria, VA 22313.
Single copies $1.00. Subscriptions $15 a year USA, $15.50
Canada, $16.50 overseas (U.S. currency). Periodical postage
paid at Alexandria, VA 22314 and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The War Cry,
615 Slaters Lane, P.O. Box 269, Alexandria, VA 22313.
To subscribe by credit card call 1�800�725�2769, or
send check to Circulation Manager, Publications Department,
615 Slaters Lane, Alexandria, VA 22314.
�The Salvation Army 2012.
Member � Evangelical Press Association
132ND YEAR
WITH ISSUE AVERAGE OVER 288,000 COPIES.
www.thewarcry.com
William Booth
FOUNDER
Linda Bond
GENERAL
William Roberts
NATIONAL COMMANDER
Paul R. Seiler
Central Territory Commander
Israel L. Gaither
Eastern Territory Commander
David Jeffrey
Southern Territory Commander
James M. Knaggs
Western Territory Commander
Allen Satterlee
Editor�In�Chief
Amy Reard
on
Assistant Editor-in-Chief
Jeffrey S. McDonald
Managing Editor
Henry Cao
Graphics Designer
Cynthia A. Edelen
Production Supervisor
Gloria A. Hull
Production Co ordinator
Judith L. Brown
Editorial Assistant
Esther M. Satterlee
Circulation Man ager
Sandy Dossey
Publications Officer
Rob Reardon
Publications Officer
National Publication of
T H E S A L V A T I O N A R M Y
December, 2012
Volume 132 | Number 22
Contact the Salvation Army National
Publications Department by email at:
O U R M I S S I O N
The Salvation Army, an international move-
ment, is an evangelical part of the universal
Christian church. Its message is based on the
Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of
God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His
name without discrimination.
Christmas means many things, but surely the most
significant must be that God is with us. The Name chosen
for Jesus even before His birth--Immanuel--testifies to
His purpose for coming. It is not that God is with us in
some mystical sense, but that it is in Jesus that God is with us.
The implications are staggering. We are not alone. God has
promised to walk with us right up the road through the middle of life.
In Jesus, God does not come to us as an enemy, nor as a punitive
parent, but as Immanuel.
God will care and attend to us, if that is our need. God has not
come to do something to us, but to do something for us in Christ
Jesus, to be with us, to be Immanuel. We can trust God to be with us
on the journey of life, allowing our fears to subside and His strength
to be ours. In all the experiences of life, God is there.
He is with us in our pain, our heartbreak, our disappointment, just
as He was with His Son, the one whose birth we celebrate. He was with
His Son when He was inhumanely and harshly treated at the hands of
cruel men, feeling His pain, loving Him, all the while completing His plan
to make the world better through Him. He was there.
And He is here with you and me. The good news of Christmas, of
this festive season, is that the blessed God has chosen to be with us.
Therefore we are not alone.
May this holy holiday season bring a fresh awareness for you that
in Jesus, God is here.
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Immanuel.
Printed on recycled paper by industry
leader that has achieved carbon neutral
status: www.futuremarkpaper.com
As Christmas approaches, we are mindful of the many
thousands of Superstorm Sandy victims who are not ex-
periencing a family Christmas as they anticipated. Cir-
cumstances have forced a new kind of Christmas but
not one outside the blessing of God, recalling that the Holy Family
ended up as displaced refugees in Egypt, bereft of home and comfort.
For the storm victims it will be less settled, perhaps show less abundance
as energies are directed elsewhere, funds normally used for gifts rerouted
to necessities instead.
As difficult as it is, there is a freshness in unusual circumstances.
Christmas is less cluttered and more to the point of what the holy
season means. Sometimes it is more moving to hear a solitary voice im-
perfectly sing the words of "Silent Night" then to hear a majestic
orchestral arrangement of Christmas carols. The lyrics of "Joy to the
World" sound different when sung by people who very well could sing,
"Joy to My World" because of the difference Christ has made since the
last Christmas. There is a quiet beauty in watching someone silently
studying a nativity scene, examining each piece, to focus finally on the
Christ child. The hush of a Christmas moment stills the soul even
though outside the world lay in twisted ruins. As Philip Brooks writes:
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL COMMANDER
4
The War Cry | DECEMBER 2012
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
WarCryDEC2012_01-04_final_Layout 1 11/19/12 5:38 PM Page 4