simply said, "Follow me." I believed down through my
service that if you seek God, His kingdom, His righteous-
ness, and follow Jesus, then it all comes together.
He helps coordinate and chairs the Commissioners'
Conference. He helps bring The Salvation Army of the
United States together, and helps move things forward
in unity. There are a number of other things, such as this
wonderful publication of the War Cry that comes out of
National Headquarters. The National Commander
helps stimulate efforts so resources for the field keep
flowing. For me, one of the most important things is
really what do we do to help the corps? If there's not
the corps, then there is nothing. I am reminded of the
speech that the late General Douglas Macarthur gave
at West Point. He said, "When I cross the river the last
thought in my mind will be of the Corps, the Corps, the
Corps, the Corps, the Corps." Of course he was talking
in a different context, but in The Salvation Army, there
is a lot we do at National Headquarters for the corps.
The War Cry is for the benefit of the corps. The develop-
ment of published materials is for the benefit of the
corps. Crest Books benefits the corps. We have the real
opportunity in all of these and other areas to put the
right resources in the hands of soldiers and officers.
kind in His name without discrimination. In Salvation
Army ministry, we ought to be serving people. We ought
to be reaching out to people and serving them in the name
of Christ. We ought to seek to win people to the King-
dom of God. That's our two-fold motivation. When it
works together, and is done right, God is glorified
and His kingdom grows.God has given us a splendid
mission. We need to do everything we can in order to
grow it forward so that we can honor Him and serve
people in His name.
clearly demonstrates what the Army is?
one of the up and outs. He had a lot of opportunities, had
gone to law school, became an attorney at a successful
practice and also had a construction company. But
because of a double addiction to alcohol and cocaine, he
eventually lost all of that. One day a member of his
family took him down to The Salvation Army and said,
"Go in there." He went in and went through the program
and came out and began, unfortunately, to slip back into
the old lifestyle. That happened a second time. Again he
went through the program and developed into the same
lifestyle. But the third time he went through he said to
me, "I really found what the secret was. It wasn't just
the program. It was meeting Jesus as my Savior." I was
talking to him the other night. For 22 years he has been
clean and sober, and he now ministers in one of our
major Salvation Army shelters in this country, helping
other people. He doesn't miss the life, or the success and
the glitter and the gold he had as an attorney. He feels
like what he's doing now is what God wants him to do.
wanted to the nation, what would it be?
in religion per se, but there's hope in a relationship with
Christ. God desires that we all have a relationship with
Him through His Son because He loves us. That's why
He sent the best gift that He could ever give, His Son,
Jesus Christ. And, He desires that we know Him. I think
the Presbyterians have it right in that the Westminster
confession says we are to love God and enjoy Him forever.
That's possible. A lot of the hurt that we have in the
world today is because people are searching and they're
thinking, "if I just earned enough money I'd be happy,"
or "If I do this I'll be happy," or "Maybe I just need to
drown it all out with drugs or alcohol to make the pain
go away." But the answer is Christ. We sing that old
song in the Salvation Army, "Christ is the Answer to My
Every Need." He's the answer to everyone's every need.