You might remember from your last toothache that it
mattered little to you that 99% of your body was pain free.
Your thoughts and energies were spent trying to alleviate
the throbbing that made each moment miserable. When
the body sounds the alarm that something is wrong, it is
foolish to pretend otherwise. The pain will hearken you
back to the reality, as with a toothache.
But there are other times when there is not an ache,
a pain, a hint of anything wrong. But lurking in our body is something that is
deadly. People with diabetes, hypertension and even cancer can feel perfectly
healthy while being desperately sick. It takes someone with knowledge to probe,
review the lab results, to diagnose those symptoms hidden from our view.
Spiritually it is no different. There are times when our conscience cries
in protest against the wrong we have done and we immediately focus on it.
Like the toothache, the sin revealed demands our action. Witness King David's
plaintive cries in Psalm 51 after his sin with Bathsheba is revealed.
But there are other times when we have committed sin in our hearts
and have successfully hidden it from others--and ourselves as well. With no
immediate consequence, we think we have gotten clean away or that maybe
the danger was exaggerated. But the disease lingers until the effects of sin's
abcess becomes deadly. Outside intervention is needed. That is why we call
out in prayer, we seek God through His Word, we listen to the counsel of godly
teachers and friends.
We invite you to a spiritual exam. Check your pulse. Measure your breathing.
Gauge what raises your blood pressure. Let the Great Physician diagnose what
ails you. Spiritual health is more vital than physical health. The body eventually
wastes away. A soul is forever.
4
The War Cry | FEBRUARY 2013
William Booth FOUNDER
Linda Bond GENERAL
William Roberts NATIONAL COMMANDER
Paul R. Seiler Central Territory Commander
Barry Swanson Eastern Territory Commander
David Jeffrey Southern Territory Commander
James M. Knaggs Western Territory Commander
Allen Satterlee Editor�In�Chief
Amy Reardon Assistant Editor-in-Chief
Jeffrey S. McDonald Managing Editor
Roger Selvage Art Director
Henry Cao Graphics Designer
Cynthia A. Edelen Production Supervisor
Gloria A. Hull Production Co ordinator
Charles Piercey Electronic Comm. Co ordinator
Judith L. Brown Editorial Assistant
Esther M. Satterlee Circulation Man ager
Sandy Dossey Publications Officer
Rob Reardon Publications Officer
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
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To subscribe by credit card call 1�800�725�2769, or
send check to Circulation Manager, Publications Department,
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�The Salvation Army 2013.
Member � Evangelical Press Association
133ND YEAR
WITH ISSUE AVERAGE OVER 288,000 COPIES.
www.thewarcry.org
National Publication of
T H E S A L V A T I O N A R M Y
February, 2013
Volume 133 | Number 2
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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.
The theme of this issue of the War Cry is "spiritual health,"
a timely emphasis indeed, for what can be more important
than our continuing, growing and developing relationship
with God?
One's spiritual health implies and requires spiritual
growth, growth which is not random, accidental or
arbitrary. As we seek to know God and realize His
purpose for our life, there must be some intentionality to
the process. Growth means change, which is constructive and formed. The form
of our growth, which is different for all who are seeking after God, comes from
God. We are being formed spiritually.
A helpful definition of spiritual formation is "the progressive patterning of a
person's inner and outer life according to the image of Christ through intentional
means of spiritual growth." John Wesley suggested those "intentional means"
include things like the recognition of a need for spiritual growth, fellowship with
other believers and careful attention to the Word of God, the Bible itself.
Just as with our growth in other areas, we do not all grow spiritually the
same way, or at the same pace or by the same events and experiences. But it
is the same God who is crafting us all to His design for our lives, as we willingly
open ourselves to Him for that purpose.
And as we watch our own life become more and more like Christ, by
the grace of God, we can do nothing other than give Him great thanks as He
accomplishes His purposes for us, in us.
May your reading of what follows in this edition of the War Cry be one of
those steps which brings us all closer to God and contributes to our spiritual
health. As the Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians so we pray for ourselves,
that "we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full
stature" (Eph. 4.13 GNB).
A MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL COMMANDER
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
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