Red Buckets, Clanging Coins, and Ringing Bells (Part 1)

Talk about organizational growth. In 1867, General William Booth only had 10 workers. Seven years later he had 1,000 volunteers and 24 full-time evangelists. And today, there are more than 1.5 million bell ringers in the U.S. alone.

The General started out largely self-educated, penniless, and practically friendless. He had one fixed idea. The whole of his effort and talent would be directed to one purpose--saving the world. Like his predecessor Wesley, he took the whole world as his parish. He began with nothing--no money, no powerful friends, only his golden voice, his passion, and a vision of man reconciled to God.

Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among Booth's first converts to Christianity. His congregations were desperately poor. He preached hope and salvation. His aim was to lead them to Christ and link them to a church for continued spiritual guidance.

Even though Booth's followers were converted, churches did not accept them, because of what they had been. However, Booth gave their lives direction in both a spiritual and practical manner and put them to work to save others like themselves. They, too, preached and sang in the streets as a living testimony to the power of God's Holy Spirit.*

As the 20th century approached, General Booth was respected and admired by both the common folk and world leaders. Someone asked him what he thought were the chief dangers that lay ahead. His answer was six-fold:

    Religion without the Holy Ghost
    Christianity without Christ
    Forgiveness without repentance
    Salvation without regeneration
    Politics without God
    Heaven without hell

RELIGION WITHOUTH THE HOLY GHOST

When is the last time you heard a message series on the Holy Spirit? For that matter, when is the last time you could explain what happened in a church service apart from the powerful work of the Spirit? Have you sensed His overwhelming presence?

Was there evidence the Holy Spirit was at work last Sunday in your church? Is conviction of the Spirit something we pray for? Long for? Is it a desired outcome? Is evidence of the Spirit a key measurement of success? In the Monday morning evaluation meeting, do we ask the simple questions, "Did we sense God's Spirit in our services? If so, in what ways? Could our service be explained apart from His extraordinary work?"
 
As church leaders, if we were to calculate the amount of time we spend asking God to move through His Spirit upon our listeners, would it exceed the total amount of time we spend talking about creative and innovative ways to reach the audience? Or the amount of time we put into the programming aspect of our preaching?

I do not want to diminish the power of proper preparation and presentation, but only prioritize it by emphasizing the power of the Holy Spirit and what He can accomplish.

Allow me one personal example.

The first time I ever preached to adults, within the ministry context of Life Action, was in a small Pennsylvania town. Our founder, Del Fehsenfeld, was uncertain what God wanted him to do on the second Sunday evening of the summit. He asked if either of our other staff had anything on their heart.

Marty, our family instructor, suggested I do a session on Joseph and how God used the crisis of losing my favorite brother in Viet Nam. Specifically, Marty felt I should share how I was home when the two Army officers came to the door to tell my parents my brother was killed, and how God ended up using that experience, which the enemy meant for evil, in a powerfully redemptive way.

I vividly remember resisting the idea, since I did not consider myself a preacher. After saying "No way" three times (accompanied by Del getting on his knees to pray for confirmation three times), I could tell that the Holy Spirit was telling him differently. Del finally exclaimed, "I am now convinced that is what God's Spirit is saying; you need to do it!"

I crammed for two hours that afternoon. When I shared my story in the context of Genesis 38-50, I ended by sharing how I was home when the Army officers came to the door, and also how helpful it was to respond to the crisis with a biblical perspective.

Ten minutes after I was finished, two Navy officers walked in the back of the church to get a mother to tell her that her son had just been killed off the coast of Greece. She later shared how she could not have handled that tragedy had it not been for the truth of God I shared in that session.

This is not an isolated story in my journey in Life Action, where the ministry of the Holy Spirit is one of our core values. Nor is it one that occurs often enough, even within a ministry like Life Action.

I fear General Booth was right in his prediction for both the century past and the one present. So much of the good that has been done through our religious activity can be explained apart from the Holy Spirit. We don't need more good; it doesn't suffice. We need the extraordinary.

The bright red buckets will be ubiquitous again this season. The ching-a-ching of coins dropping onto hard metal and the ringing of the bell will be hard to miss.

AND I pray that every time I see them, or hear them, and when you do too, we simply ask the question, "How can I help?" Not just the millions who will be the recipients of the coins, but the masses who desperately need to see religion accompanied by the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit!

COME, HOLY SPIRIT

Come as a wisdom to children,
Come as new sight to the blind,
Come, Lord, as strength to my weakness,
Take me, soul, body and mind.

Refrain:
Come, Holy Spirit, I need You,
Come, sweet Spirit, I pray;
Come in Your strength and Your power,
Come in Your own gentle way.

Come as a rest to the weary,
Come as a balm for the sore,
Come as a dew to my dryness:
Fill me with joy evermore.

Come like a spring in the desert,
Come to the withered of soul;
Oh, let Your sweet healing power
Touch me and make me whole.

("Come, Holy Spirit," copyright © 1964 by William J. and Gloria Gaither)

*www.salvationarmysouth.org/about.htm

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