Articles for the Journal of Aggressive Christianity

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1. Friends don't let Friends go to Hell.

2. Vote for Jesus... a look at 1 Corinthians 15:1-34

3. Covenant: When God is Bound... a look at Genesis 15:7-21

4. Berit[h] (Covenant).

5. The Year of the Learning Child.

6. War has been Declared: the Invasion of Winnipeg

by Michael Ramsay

"Most of the people that I have heard extol the virtues of Friendship evangelism practice no evangelism at all".

I was speaking with Peter Unya today, a good friend of mine that I haven’t heard from in awhile. He was telling me that "a friendship evangelist is neither [a friend nor an evangelist]" and that they "may be Christians but they certainly aren’t Salvationists". Pete is a smart guy. I think he made some good points in our discussion. Let me try to communicate what he was saying in Mike language.

His argument was that the people he had come across in his life who were opposed to open evangelism often claimed that they preferred ’friendship evangelism’. I believe that he was in a discussion with a ’friendship evangelist’ before we talked today and that set him off with the wonderfully passionate quotes that opened this article.

The argument in favour of friendship evangelism goes like this: you make a friend. They see that you are happy being a Christian. They ask you how to be a Christian and you take them to Church. The problem is that the friendship evangelist is not out there intentionally seeking to serve God by extending the Kingdom. She hopes to fulfil the great commission by having the world come to her.

Don’t misunderstand me, or my friend Pete for that matter, no Christian can be opposed to someone who wants to lead all of their friends to Christ. The problem is that the term 'friendship evangelist’ seems to be a euphemism for someone who doesn’t care if anyone other than their friends go to hell or not - and their friends are usually already ’Christian’.

Hell is real. I believe in it just like I believe in Jesus. Hell is the most horrible thing there is. It is more than separation from God; It is more than your worst fears; It is worse than Guatanamo or Abu Garib; It is Hell! Jesus can save you from hell. Jesus can save your friends from hell. Jesus can save everyone from hell. All an evangelist has to do is introduce people to Jesus! We should all be evangelists.

If you believe in Hell and you believe in Jesus, then you will want to save everyone from Hell - not just your friends! If you saw a shipwreck and everyone was dying, would you only save your friends! If all you had to do was point them to the life raft (Jesus) and everyone could be saved if they swam there, would you only tell your friends? Would you let everyone else drown? What kind of a person would that make you? 

"In the best case scenario, that is what a friendship evangelist is... someone who, seeing that everyone is dying, only even tries to save his friends... and then only if he is sure that he won’t risk his personal feelings and friendships in the process...what kind of a friend is (P. 35) that?" (Pete Unya). What kind of a Christian is that? What kind of a person is that? People are dying and Jesus can save them. Can you imagine if William Booth was a mere ’friendship evangelist’? Can you imagine Wesley was only a ’friendship evangelist’? Or Paul? Or Jesus? ...Would any of us be here now?

I spend my Sunday evenings walking around the streets here in 20 below weather offering prayer, food, shelter, help and the love of God in the name of Jesus to any who need it. I don’t hide my light under a bushel and you know what? There are people in the Kingdom of Heaven tonight because of it. I am not ashamed of the gospel.

There is a parable of the sheep and the goats - both claim God - only the sheep make it into heaven. If Christ’s great commission to us was to tell everyone that he is the life raft out there and we don’t do it, are we sheep?

So that is what I was thinking after my discussion with my good friend Peter. If I am wrong, or have been led astray by Pete, and ’friendship evangelism’ is alive, well, and effectively winning the world for Jesus, please let me know. But as for me I will continue to be the best friend possible, by being an evangelist, to everyone the Lord sends in my path.

We watched a short film here a while ago whose central character was a seemingly friendless, middle-aged, pudgy, balding fellow with a bullhorn. He would print out tracts and yell to people through his bullhorn to accept Jesus. A slightly younger narrator was sitting on a bench telling the Christian audience what was wrong with this. This was a powerful anti-evangelism film. The implicit statement was that it is not worth it to be a fool for the Kingdom of God. Of course, this is wrong but was there another point?

Bullhorn Man was a Lone Ranger; one other point might be that evangelism works best within the context of authentic Christian community. When we are used by God to snatch people from the flames of hell, it is good to be able to have a safe place to send them so they don’t fall right back in as soon as we turn our heads. Christian support and teaching is very important. That being said, the lone evangelist can form that discipling relationship, himself, with the people he meets.

Bullhorn Man was annoying. One point could be that we have to be smart when we are evangelising. This is true. I am not saying that there is never a time for the bullhorn but maybe there are better methods. I ask God to lead people to me who He would like to meet when I walk the streets. I pay close attention to the prompting of the Holy Spirit with regards to who to approach. Much of the time I can let others open the (P. 36) conversation.

 There are a lot of drug dealers, panhandlers, prostitutes and other members of the underground economy here and they have no problem approaching people with their product. When they do, I respectfully decline and offer them God. At one point here when I declined the drugs and offered prayer instead, I was invited into a hot-boxed bus-shelter full of teenagers and was asked if I would ’rap’ a prayer. They took off their hats at the prompting of one of their number and I rapped out the only rap prayer I think that I have ever offered. When I left, we had all had a positive encounter with God. I have been honoured by praying with people on the street, been blessed when they prayed for me, and privileged to be there when the tears of repentance flowed and they accepted Jesus. Many times they opened the conversation by asking for money or trying to sell me something. We don’t need a bullhorn, we just need to listen to Jesus and take the opportunities He gives us. If that was the point of the movie it is a good one.

Bullhorn man didn’t seem to have any friends. We need to be friendly. We need to be friends. We need to all be friendship evangelists. Maybe there is a level of gifting involved in following Jesus out into the streets. We do all come in contact with people though and as we meet people we can tell them about Jesus. I compare it to being married. I don’t need to talk to someone very long before my wife and kids come into the conversation because they are such an important part of my life. Jesus is the same. He has been my closest companion forever so, reflexively, He comes into a conversation early on and often in a friendship.

So to all of you who, in His gifting, step out of your comfort zone and, following God, march the streets to win the world for Jesus, praise the Lord! And for all of you who just have your eyes and ears open in your daily life ready to tell your friends, new and old, about Jesus, praise the Lord!

I just caution us all however not to let an opportunity go to waste. A friend of mine told me once of how, at work, he felt the prompting to tell a friend about Jesus. He didn’t. That night his friend died...be a friend, tell someone about Jesus.

Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 57, October 2008 – November 2008 (pp. 27-39) 

Vote for Jesus: a look at 1 Corinthians 15:1-34

by Captain Michael Ramsay

www.sheepspeak.com 

In Canada we have an election coming up again – the third in four years. All the 'experts' admit without a doubt that this one will be... a 'waste of taxpayer money'. Even our Prime Minister, who wants the election, admits that it won't change the working dynamics of parliament but it's a contest; a game like any other and the competitors want to win it.

I have gotten to know a number of politicians around here lately and as I was listening to one speech from a recently elected MLA, it reminded me of 1 Corinthians 15:20ff. Here is a paraphrase of that passage as if by a contemporary provincial politician:

"Our party's leader has indeed been raised high. He is first of a new breed of Premier. You see devastation came to this province from the previous government but the resurrection of the economy comes through our new government. For as with the old leader all of us were as good as dead, so with our new leader all will be made alive.

But each in his own turn: first the Premier, then his party members and supporters, then, by the time of the next election, the whole province that belongs to him. Then the time will come for the next election when, of course, his majority will be so big that it is like he will be handing over the province of Saskatchewan to God himself.

For our leader will by that time have destroyed all dominion, authority, power of the former regime: indeed there will be no more problems in this province at all. And we'll re-elect our leader, our government, and our party again and again, for he will reign forever in order to put all our troubles and crush all our enemies under his feet..."

It is amazing how political speeches have started to sound like scripture or sermons these days. The more I listen to political speeches and the more I watch the news, the more I realise that the world really is crying out for a messiah. The USA – which is also in the midst of an election campaign - every 4 years parades out at least one possible new messiah. Look at how people talk about Obama (particularly before McCain announced his running mate); there is no mention of his past failures, only an almost messianic hope for a bright new future as if he is the One.

For all its strengths, this is one of the main downfalls of western democracies. Every election people are mistakenly looking to parties, politicians, ideologies, platitudes, and other such nonsense to solve our problems - as if that is where our salvation comes from.

You know what? If Obama or McCain wins the next US election, he is not going to withdraw their troops from the more than 100 countries that they are in. He is not going to beat their swords in the ploughshares (Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3). He will not be the 'Prince of Peace' (Isa 9:6). He will not end poverty (Matt 26:11, Mark 14:7). None of the presidential candidates can walk on water (Matt 14, Mark 6, John 6). Not one of them has been raised from the dead.

Likewise in Canada, regardless of who is elected, services will not improve so much that the blind will see and the lame will walk (Matt 15:31, Lk 7:22). A majority government by the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, or even the Greens, is not going to solve all of our problems. Not one of our federal leaders can walk on water – no matter what their ads tell us – not one of them has been raised from the dead.

There is a leader though who has and he's not running in the election. There is a leader who has done all that and he lived 2000 years ago. This leader did all these things and more. He even preached good news to the poor and meant it and they believed him and then, like all great leaders, he died. Jesus died but it didn't end there and this is important. The Apostle Paul says:

"Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the good news (gospel) I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this good news (gospel) you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...(1 Corinthians 15: 1-4)"

This is the most important part of the Christian faith: Paul says that it is because of the good news (gospel) that Christ died for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead that we can be saved. It was in this that He actually won the eternal election.

It is only because Jesus did win that election; it is only because of His death and resurrection that we have any hope at all because if Christ wasn't raised from the dead then what is the point of 'being a Christian'? If Jesus just died and, without defeating death, moved on to whatever is next, what's the big deal? Why then would he be different from Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Tommy Douglas, Mother Theresa, name your person... Why would he be so special? He wouldn't; he would just be another person.

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)." We will all be resurrected so we can all be saved if we turn to or – drawing on our analogy of the election – if we vote for Christ.

Being born and raised on the west coast of Canada, I can remember watching the election returns on election night and it is always exciting but I can never remember a time when the election wasn't over before the polls were even closed on Vancouver Island. The Prime Minister's party had always already won the election before we even finished voting out west. He had already defeated his foe. This is the same with Christ. Even though we each have until the last polls close (until we breathe our last breath) to cast our vote, Christ has already won the election. The only question we have is whether we want to join Him in His victory party or not. The election results were counted on the cross and announced at the empty tomb. Christ has won the victory.

Christ has already been resurrected and he is coming back to celebrate his victory and when the eternal polls close we will be resurrected too; we will all be raised (cf. Doctrine 11) and at that point some of us will be raised to eternal salvation and some of us – those who reject the opportunity – will be outside where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Matthew 8:12, 22:13). But it is our choice. The victory has already been won. We have all already been invited to the victory party.

Salvation is there for any of us who want it and this is important: there is the resurrection, there is the judgement at the end of the day and any of us who call on the name of the Lord at anytime before our polls close here can be saved! Jesus died and rose again so that whosoever may, will be saved!

Christ is our salvation. We should remember this as we cast our votes very soon (in our temporal elections) that there really is no other name by which we may truly be saved. Christ is the leader who deserves our full support. He is both liberal in His love and conservative in His steadfastness. He is neither a small 'd' democrat nor a small 'r' republican. He is a capital 'M' Monarchist – He is a King and He is the Son of the King. Unlike all the others who are trying to get us to turn to them for our salvation, He has actually run the race and won the election already. We are just waiting for the polls to close, so if you haven't done so already then go out and vote for Christ today: there is no other name by which we may be saved. The Lord raises up mere earthly governments and He topples them but when the eternal polls close and he does come back, make sure that He has your vote so that we will all be a part of His victory party at the resurrection of the just.

Our salvation comes from Christ alone.

---

Captain Michael Ramsay

The Salvation Army

Nipawin and Tisdale

Mail to: ramsay@sheepspeak.com 

Home: www.sheepspeak.com 

Writings: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsays_opinion.htm 

Sermons: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/ 

Comic Liturgy: http://www.drwas.blogspot.com/ 

Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 52, December 2007 – January 2008 (pp. 5-10)

Covenant: When God is Bound...

a look at Genesis:15:7-21

by Captain Michael Ramsay

In our world today, people seem to be entering into covenants less and less and the ones that we are engaging in then are being taken less and less seriously. Of the 'till death do we part' vows that couples take before God, half are broken. Covenants are not being taken any more seriously by those in the church than they are by those in secular society. This is distressing. For the Salvationist this should be even more alarming. I have heard testimony of some soldiers drinking, smoking, gambling, and seen many who are obviously flirting with that 'which can enslave the mind and body.' I think we try to walk away from our vows too easily; I am not convinced that God actually lets the ties of covenant fall as easily as some might like. I am not convinced that simply declaring oneself 'un-wed' in the courts or renouncing our soldiership vows necessarily releases us from these covenants with God. There are no consequences for taking vows but there are consequences for breaking vows.

In NE Saskatchewan here, we are plunging into this very foundational topic of covenant.[1] If you open your Bible (on-line or hard copy) and look at Genesis 15:7 – 21, you'll see a covenant possibly even more extreme than our soldiership agreement. This agreement is a very significant one for us all in that it relates back to the good news of Chapter 12, where God has already promised Abraham that all nations of the earth will be blessed through him and, as well, it looks forward to Chapter 17 where the symbol of circumcision is introduced (17:11). This sign of the covenant may be less noticeable than wearing a uniform; however, it is no less extreme!

One thing that is interesting of this ceremony and of the earlier promise God made to Abram that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him is that the promise includes us here and now even though neither we nor our nation existed at the time of this agreement (cf. John 8, Mark 3, Luke 3, Romans 2). Genesis 12:3 is the first time that the Gospel, the 'good news' (that all the nations of the world will be blessed through Abraham) is presented in scripture and it is here in Chapter 15 that God ratifies the promises about inheriting the promised land with a contract (v.18) and a strange and significant, symbolic covenantal act.

Now before I go any further, I should probably take some time to explain exactly what a covenant is and was. The Hebrew word for covenant here, berit[h], is the most common term translated 'covenant' in the Hebrew Bible: it appears 286 times, making it quite an important word.[2] This word in all likelihood is also associated with the older Akkadian word 'biritu', which means literally "to fetter", "to shackle" or to "bind" and when it is used in the sense it is here, it designates the beginning or the end of a contract.[3] The image then is of two people being fettered or bound together by this covenant.[4]

This particular contract, in the text before us today, is only one of three in the entire Hebrew Bible where God himself is bound[5] - the others are with Noah, (Gen. 17, Num. 25:12) and the David (II Sam. 23:5, Pss. 89:3, 28-29; 110:4).

The word image for us here is clear. It is that of God, in this contract, actually shackling himself to a promise to Abram and in so doing, of course, not only is God bound to the promise but He is bound to the consequence of a broken covenant – which in this case, if we are correct in our understanding, is more extreme than either our wedding vows or our soldiership pledge – the consequence of breaching this covenant is possibly even death (cf. Jer 34:18-20).[6]

Now let's take a look at this whole contractual ceremony here because it is peculiar in Scripture. In verse 9, it is recorded that God asks Abram to bring him a number of different dead animals of varying (and mostly forgotten)[7] significance and has him cut many of them in half and Abram does.[8] And Abram stays by these bodies guarding them from other animals that want to eat them (v.11) and then he falls asleep into a 'deep and terrifying darkness (v.12).'

Abram is terrified as the Lord approaches him and says, verse 13, "know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. Wow, this is 'good news'! (sarcasm) – Abram is terrified (v. 12) and the Lord meets him with the comforting words of, 'your descendants will be slaves for 400 years.'

This is great (sarcasm) and there is even more: look at the contractual ceremony here. After God tells Abram that his family will be slaves - and then those who enslave them will be punished – and at the same time that all this is happening, another people will be allowed to run wild in the promised land until their sin reaches its absolute full measure (v. 16), there will be 400 years of sin and 400 years of slavery and now, verse 17, "when the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and walked between the pieces [of the dead animals]. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram… (vss. 17,18)"[9]

And this is interesting: the 400 years of sin and slavery are signs of the covenant or contract. They are not the contract itself. This section highlights a portion of the covenant and that portion states that Abram's descendants will eventually possess this land that he is on.[10] And what is the sign that they will possess this land? The sign is that they will be in slavery for 400 years and none of this sign will Abraham see ever actually see.[11]

Further, remember how we said that this is one of the few times in scripture where you will find that it is actually God who is bound by the covenant. Here it is ONLY God who is bound by the covenant. It is God (represented by a smoking firepot with a blazing torch[12]) who walks between the halves of the dead animals here – not Abram. This is interesting because in so doing, God says that he will pay the consequence for the broken covenant. He says that he is bound and that he will pay for it and - if our interpretation of the ceremony is correct – He will pay for it with His own life. This is quite the serious ceremony and this ceremony has parallels in ancient customs and literature but only in Jeremiah (34:18-20) in the Scriptures is this type of a ceremony mentioned and there it says:

"...all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth."

If the covenant fails after this ceremony, the one bound by it here, dies.[13] This is serious and this is like the ceremony that God is voluntarily taking upon Himself. And it says that Abram does believe Him (and the LORD reckoned it to him as righteousness, v.6) EVEN BEFORE the Lord goes to these great lengths to bind himself to His promise.

So then Abram believes God, even before God covenants up to even His own life. Abram believes God that he and Sarai will have children and that they will inherit the promised land, and then God makes this deal that may EVEN risk His own life, and then Abram, at his wife's insistence… has sexual relations with his wife's slave (16:3). And she becomes pregnant.

This is reminiscent of earlier in Genesis isn't it?[14] Back in Eden itself Adam takes matters into his own hands at his wife's prompting and she blames the serpent (Gen 3) and sin and death enter the world and here Abraham takes matters into his own hands and Sarah blames God (16:3) after God has just entered into this most serious covenant.

God has put a lot on the line. In the contract he may be bound, to die, if it is not kept…and instead of relying on God, Abram, a hero of Hebrews 11's walk of fame, takes matters into his own hands…just like Adam, just like the People of Babel a couple of Chapters previous (Gen 11:1ff), and just like too many of us, I fear.

Well, what about us? Are we any more faithful[15] to our covenants than Abram with God's life on the line? Do we really avoid all that may enslave the mind, body, and spirit, or do we rationalize that our indulgences are fine whereas other people's indulgences may or may not be? Do we keep our vows before God about forsaking all others UNTIL DEATH DO WE PART or do we pretend that God releases us from those vows as soon as we no longer wish to be bound?

Years ago, before I ever met my wife, I met a lady at a place I used to frequent. I felt the Lord prompting me to give her $500; she, I was led to believe, needed it to go up north and gain the custody of her infant son. I gave her the money – and that was a lot of money for me in those days –but I give this stranger the money at what I feel at the time is the Lord's prompting and she tells me she will meet me there again on a certain date with the money and – well – the time comes and goes and I continue to go to that place a few times over the next months still with faith but I confess each time this faith is intermingling with more doubts until it get to the point that I am thinking of calling friends of mine and tracking her down on my own, in my own strength, and retrieving the money. My thoughts drift from faith to frustration…

I also think of a friend of ours –he is a godly man and the Lord taught me a lot through him. Before I ever met him, he felt the Lord telling him to witness to one of his employees, to tell him the good news of Jesus Christ. He believes the Lord but he does not tell his employee and the next day, he hears that his employee is dead.

An example from the Bible again: remember the Israelites with Moses on the edge of this land promised to them by God. Ten of 12 spies come back saying that they are afraid; they don't have faith and they won't receive the land (Deut 1; Num 14). The Lord is angry and tells them that because they did not act in faith their generation will not inhabit the land; so the people get up early the next morning and say, "We know we have sinned, we'll go do it now"…but it is too late…God is not with them…and they are defeated by their enemies. There are consequences.

And Abram, righteous Abram, now has chosen to act on his own instead of trusting God. God pledged his life so that we may have faith and faithfulness (Romans 1-3) but we are faithless many times over and what is the consequence of our faithlessness? God dies. God dies.

God is fettered and bound in this covenant for Abram. As a consequence of Israel's sin in the dessert a whole generation dies outside of the promise and as a consequence of our sin today, God dies: Jesus dies on the cross.

We didn't need to make our covenants before and with God and God didn't need to make His promises to us. He didn't need to make this promise to Abram. Abram believed Him before He put his life on the line. But God did make this promise and the thing about God is that, even if we are unfaithful to our promises, He remains faithful (Romans 3:3,4).[16]

And look ahead in our text from Genesis with me, God is not unfaithful, and in Chapter 21, verse 2, it says, "Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him." So now here it is- even though Abram may not have acted in a manner consistent with faith, ONLY God was bound here and as the covenant is fulfilled, God lives!

God promised children to Abraham and God provided children to Abraham. God promised that his decedents would inhabit Canaan after 400 years of slavery, and God provided that they inhabited the land after 400 years of slavery. Like the Apostle Paul says emphatically, centuries later, in his letter to the Romans, "What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all!… ( Romans 3:3,4)" No way. No! No! No! God is faithful even and especially when we are not!

God promised Israel that they would inhabit the land and, even though they were faithless at the border, God still fulfilled his promise a generation later. My friend who did not pray with his employee the night before he died, went on to be a pastor and never forgot the lessons the Lord taught him that night in the whole time I knew him anyway. And my other friend, the lady I met, just when I had almost given up hope that she would ever find me and return the $500, she did and that's not the end of the story. Years later I almost came to tears. I came out of my house and there she was with her son. He was now 5 or 6. She knew our tenants and was visiting them. The Lord let me meet her son – the Lord let me see how He used His $500 to help a child be raised by his mother. She, in her excitement at seeing me, grabbed her now school-aged son and said, "This is the man from the story I told you…" THIS child KNOWS the stories of the MIRACLES of GOD. Even though, after I believed I had my doubts, The Lord used even me to do His will. And he rewarded me in such a way that day that I will never forget it.

And isn't that the same for all of us? Jesus died on the cross because of our sin. Jesus died because of our faithlessness but God is faithful to His promises and Jesus is alive. Jesus rose from the dead! Jesus defeated death. He died for us and he rose again. Nothing we do can change that! Now all we need to do is not reject him; we can do that by remaining faithful and holy and by upholding our covenants.

So then let's not be like that generation of Israelites who rejected his invitation to the promised land and died in outside of the promise. Let's not be like those who confess 'Lord, Lord' with their mouths but do not live up to their obligations. Covenants are important and God will hold us to our vows so instead of being faithless, let us be thankful to God for his sacrifice, respect our covenants, and inherit the promise of eternal life.

www.sheepspeak.com   

[1] Michael Ramsay's sermons on these topics are available on-line at www.sheepspeak.com

[2] G.E. Mendenhall. "Covenant." In The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, edited by George Arthur Buttrick. (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1962), 715.

[3] G.E. Mendenhall, P. 715.

[4] Michael Ramsay, "Berit[h]." In the Journal of Aggressive Christianity.

[5] G.E. Mendenhall, P. 718.

[6] Death is the penalty meted out to those who violate this ceremony the only other time it is recorded as being enacted in the scriptures: Jeremiah 34:18-29. See Sarna, Genesis, PP. 114-115, Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, 446. cf also, Anet, p.532 and John H. Sailhamer Abraham and the covenant (15:1-21).

[7] Terence E. Fretheim, NIB, P. 446.

[8] John H. Sailhamer Abraham and the covenant (15:1-21)

[9] The fire and the smoke are interesting symbols here. They cast the reader's mind ahead to the fire and smoke with which God leads the Israelites out of Egypt and to this same promised land. Those who have been studying Acts along with us in NE Saskatchewan or online (www.sheepspeak.com) will also note the pillars of fire that settled above the people's heads in Acts II, which may or may not be making reference to the Exodus and by extension this earlier passage as well.

[10] The Holiness Code in Leviticus (esp. Lev 25), as well as the prophecy of Amos (esp. 3-4) and numerous other portions of scripture testify that yes indeed the Lord was faithful in fulfilling this agreement but as the covenantal talks are re-opened with future generations who are looking for a permanent territorial blessing for their offspring, it is granted to them albeit with conditions (pertaining to caring for the poor and the land) which they did not fulfill (cf. Gen 18:19; 26:5; Amos 3:1-2; Lev 25:2; 26:34-35; cf. also N.T. Wright, "Romans and the Theology of Paul," Pauline Theology, Volume III, ed. David M. Hay & E. Elizabeth Johnson, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995): 37.) The blessing to the nations (12:3) that was offered through Abraham stands fulfilled to this day. Remember also that the messianic prophecies to David are not tied to the physical land (2 Samuel 7) in that, of course, they are ultimately also fulfilled in Christ. Also pertaining to the descendants of Abraham, we should neither forget that God that he can raise up decedents of Abraham from stones if need be (cf. John 8:31-41; Hebrews 11:8-12) and indeed he does graft all the nations into the promises of Abraham (cf. Matthew 3:9, Luke 3:8, John 8, Romans 11). There is also a certain irony in this covenant in that ultimately, of course, the promise is fulfilled that all nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham (12:3) is ultimately fulfilled when God (Jesus) dies.

[11] Compare this to Moses' sign that the LORD is speaking to him (Exod 3:11-12) and the sign of the Lord's faithfulness re: the provision of his people around the Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:19-20).

[12] This does cast our minds tangentially ahead to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire with which God will later lead the Israelites around the desert.

[13] Jeremiah 34:18-20

[14] Cf. Chapter 11. This is the chapter where Abram is introduced. He is introduced - ironically enough - after the people from the city of Babel are dispersed for (pridefully) taking matters into their own hands.

[15] I am using the term 'faith' in the rest of this document in a manner that is consistent with the so called 'New Perspective on Paul'

[16] Cf. N.T. Wright, "Romans and the Theology of Paul," p. 37. See also NT Wright, "The Law in Romans 2."

Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 40, December 2005 – January 2006  pp (16-17)

Berit[h] (Covenant)

by Cadet Michael Ramsay

Covenant is obviously an important concept in Salvation Army with full membership requiring a signing of the Soldier’s Covenant. It is also a very important idea in the Old Testament. The word 'testament' itself can be translated as covenant! berit[h] is the most common term translated as ’covenant’ in the Hebrew Bible: it appears 286 times thus proving it an extremely important word.[1]

The origin of this word is not entirely conclusive. It is a form of the word brh, which refers to the meal that accompanies the covenantal ceremony [2].brh, however, is not the usual verb to indicate eating so this origin is not the most likely [3]. berith is identical to the Akkadian word birit which means "between" or "among" so that is a possible origin.[4] Most probably though, berith comes from the Akkadian word biritu, which means "to fetter". This term designates the establishment or breach of a contract.[5]

As this root, biritu, suggests the original Hebrew meaning of the word would imply more of an "imposition" of terms rather than an "agreement or settlement between two parties"[6]. Covenants are commanded (Ps. 111:9; Jgs. 2:20) and can be seen as the same as a law or commandment (cf.; e.g., Dt. 4:13; 33:9; Isa. 24:5; Ps. 50:16;103:18).[7] The "covenant at Sinai in Ex. 24 is in its essence an imposition of laws and obligations upon the people (vv. 3-8)"[8].

There are a number of classifications of the various types of OT covenants that can be made: secular (where God is not one of the parties involved), covenants in which God IS bound, and covenants in which Israel is bound. 

Covenants where God is not one of the parties involved can be further classified as suzerainty, where a superior binds an inferior to terms the superior sets (I Sam 11:1; Hos. 12:1; Job 41:4, 5:23.)[9]; parity, where each party is bound by oath (Gen 21:25-32, 26:27-31, 31:44-50; Josh. 9:3-27; I Kings 5:12, 20:34)[10]; patron, where a superior binds himself for the benefit of an inferior (Isa.: 28:15); promissory, which guarantees future performance of stipulated obligations (II Kings 11:4-12,17; II Kings 23:3; Jeremiah 34:8; Ezra 10:3; Nehemiah 5:11-13, 9:38, 10:28-29)[11].  

Covenants where God, himself, is bound include the covenant with Noah (Gen. 17, Num. 25:12), the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 15, 17:1-14), and the Davidic covenant (II Sam. 23:5, Pss. 89:3, 28-29; 110:4).[12]

The covenants where Israel is bound include the Mosaic covenant (cf.; e.g., the ten commandments, Deut 27-28), the covenant of Joshua (Jos. 24), the reform of Josiah (II Kings 23), and the covenant of Ezra (Neh. 9-10).[13]

Covenants then can be made voluntarily or involuntarily, with or without obligation, and between equals, or superiors and inferiors; berith’s origin is uncertain but it is probably derived from biritu, which means "to fetter". (17)

So, who cares? Well, the Salvationist, I suppose, or more importantly the person contemplating a ’covenant’ relationship with God. When you sign your covenant, you are fettered, shackled, and bound. This chain cannot easily be broken. If it is, there are repercussions. So for potential Salvationists, they should ask, "Is this the star to which God has asked me to hitch my wagon?" and for the Salvationist who tends to take the terms of the covenant lightly, remember that it is difficult to move when the one you are yoked together with is going in the other direction...BUT when you are following in a proper covenant, His yoke is easy! And really what could you accomplish on your own that wouldn’t be accomplished much more easily and effectively if you were shackled to the LORD!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] G.E. Mendenhall. "Covenant." In The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, edited by George Arthur Buttrick. (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1962), 715.

[2] M. Weinfeld. "berith." In Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, edited by G. Johannes Botterweck. (Stuttgart, W.Germany: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975), 253.

[3] Ibid., 254.

[4] Ibid.

[5] G.E. Mendenhall, 715.

[6] M. Weinfeld, 255.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] G.E. Mendenhall, 716.

[10] Ibid., 717.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid., 718.

[13] Ibid., 721.

Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 37, June 2005 – July 2005 (75-77)

Year of the Learning Child
by Michael Ramsay

The Salvation Army has always helped people with their physical as well as spiritual needs. This year is the year of children and youth in The Salvation Army; and education is one of the most significant areas of need these days. We can meet this need and in the process make ourselves ever ready and useful to God for His eternal purposes.

The current sociological thought at the universities across Canada and Europe points to knowledge as the most important commodity of the future. Canada has fallen behind much of the world and we are desperately trying to catch up. Parents and teachers are noticing the decline and are turning to tutoring more and more, so that their students can "catch-up, keep-up and get ahead". The strongest scholars in a class, too, are now turning to tutors to receive the challenge and extra work that the classroom does not provide. Tutoring is a wonderful industry: it grows each year as more students achieve a great feeling of success through academic accomplishment and admitting "I can do it!"

Education is the wave of the present as well as the future. The world is changing quickly. The need to be able to ’keep up’ in order to ’get ahead’ is more apparent everyday. More and more parents are home schooling, paying for private instruction, and enrolling their children in remedial and enrichment classes. Tutoring is no longer exclusive to the struggling student. The Renew Network’s 3 R Tutoring* instructs students who are at the top, middle, or bottom of their respective classes. Education, be it in the form of remediation or enrichment, can only grow as an industry. In Canada, more people are losing faith in public education each day, and this can also only help to encourage the development of a good, solid environment for private education.

A number of stats reflecting specific needs are listed below.

Statistics from the Ministry of Education’s Annual Report (1998-1999):
· 19 per cent of grade four students did not meet expectations.
· 16 per cent of Grade 7 students did not meet expectations.
· 17 per cent of Grade 10 students did not meet expectations.
· Students’ proficiency has dropped.
· In Writing, 13 percent of Grade 4 students did not meet expectations.

Aboriginal students scored particularly low.
· In numeracy
· 13 per cent of Grade 4 did not meet expectations.
· 28 per cent of Grade 7 students did not meet expectations.
· 24 per cent of Grade 10 students did not meet expectations.

 (76)

· In general, the proportion of all Grade 8 students who do not continue and complete their secondary school education by receiving a Dogwood Diploma was as high as 25 per cent in 1998/99.

The following data was compiled from the B.C. Ministry of Education’s Annual Report (1997/1998):
· Student performance on the provincial examinations is not improving but getting worse. Only 63% of boys (73% of girls) took and passed English 12 in 1997 -1998.
· Students from other educational systems with English as a second language score consistently higher on Eng. 12 Provincial Exams (Chinese as a first language, 81%; Korean, 76% Punjabi, 68%) than students who have been educated in BC their entire lives.
· The difference is even more pronounced in mathematics: 24% of English-speaking students born in Canada passed grade 12 math; Chinese, 63%; Korean, 60%, Punjabi, 30%, Tagolog, 27%.
· Grade four and seventh graders average marks are dropping.
· Over 20% of grade 10 students do not meet the minimum expected level of performance.
· Less than 50% of students feel that the government is helping them with their problem-solving skills.

Statistics from B.C. School District 61’s 1997/1998 Annual Report:
· SD 61’s students performed below Provincial average in both reading and writing.
· Greater Victoria scored below the provincial average in Biology, Mandarin, Communications, Japanese, and significantly below average in Technical Communications (12% less on average).
· Almost 1/3rd of the teaching staff are dissatisfied with the senior English programme.
· Sixty-five percent of staff are dissatisfied with the public Mathematics programme.

Statistics from ‘How are we doing 2003-2004?’ (Oct. 27, 2004)
· The percentage of aboriginal students enrolled in English 12 was only 41 per cent in 2002/03.
· In 2002/03, the high school completion rate for aboriginal students was only 46 per cent - up four per cent from the year before and nine per cent since 1998/99.
· In 2003/04, the percentage of grade 7 aboriginal students meeting or exceeding expectations in numeracy on the FSA was only 63 per cent.

Statistics from the BC Government Annual Report 2001 -2002:
· In our advanced education system, British Columbia remains approximately 20 per cent below the national average in degree achievement per capita.
 (77)
· Cuts to the number of training positions in nursing and medical technology schools created a serious shortage of nurses and medical technologists.
· From 1993 to 2000, the number of nursing school graduates plummeted by 27 per cent.

One element that we can highlight is that the need for educational support transcends social and economic and status lines. There is a genuine need for educational support.

Education is, arguably, one of the most important needs of children that is still not being fully met. There is however, one need that is more important; namely - Salvation.

We are the SALVATION army. We were raised up to be used by God to serve and to save. We are called to help to meet people’s needs both now and forever. Education is a wonderful way to do this.

We have been invited into the public Schools. We have been invited into people’s homes. We have been privileged to be there when they’ve invited Jesus into their lives. We are not allowed to mention God in the public schools here - so we don’t. What we do, is invite the children and youth (and their parents) to our learning centres. What we do, is we accept invitations to instruct them in their homes. What we do, is tell them and their families about Jesus. God has really blessed this ministry.

In a world that is dying, the main need is salvation. God can help us with all of our difficulties here and prepare us for an eternity with him. For those of us who are saved, it is our responsibility to reach out to save as many others as possible. One wonderful way we have to do this, is through meeting one of the fastest growing needs today: a good solid education.

* The Salvation Army’s Renew Network runs out of Vancouver, BC.

Read more of Michael Ramsay's writing's in JAC

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Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 49, June 2005 – July 2005

“War has been declared…”

The Invasion of Winnipeg

By Michael Ramsay

Shortly after the Bombardment of Manitoba began, an explosive and successful invasion of the City of Winnipeg Began.

The Salvation Army began calling for its ‘Bombardment of Manitoba’ in the April 11^th, 1885 issue of the Canadian War Cry Magazine.[1] They ran this advertisement again on the 18^th and 25^th of April. Staff-Captain Young, Lieutenant Archer, Captain Hackett, Captain Harrison, and Cadets Teirney and Graham answered the call; so, “on the 10^th day of December, at –43⁰ below zero The Salvation Army opened fire in Winnipeg.” [2] This is how the War Cry reported the successful invasion:

ar has been declared, and not only declared but the battle has commenced… Although there was no public announcement on Saturday that there would be meetings on Sunday (in fact a notice to the contrary) as we did not know that we could have the hall until late on Saturday…there was a very fair attendance. Our faith ran high, and in the afternoon we had a big crowd, very deep in interest and intense curiosity. The night meeting fairly eclipsed the others. It seemed as if we could never close the meeting. The people poured in on every hand, and had the hall been large enough to hold hundreds more, it would have been packed. [3]

The Army was not the only one reporting its amazing beginnings in Winnipeg. The Manitoba Daily Free Press had this to say:

The same afternoon [as the Army arrived in town] the largest hall in the city (Victoria Hall) had been rented; and the agents were seen scattered along Main Street and industriously engaged in selling the War Cry.  Yesterday the campaign was begun in earnest, services being held in the hall morning, afternoon and evening, besides open-air meetings and street parade. Thus it will be seen that the soldiers cannot be denied credit for enterprise and activity, whatever may be thought of some other features of their work. By the time of the evening meeting the news had spread so widely that the hall was packed before the time announced for the service, hundreds having been waiting for fully half an hour….Announcement was made that services would be held every night during the week at 8 o’clock, and four times on Sunday next.[4]

Adults were not the only ones flocking to the Army’s meetings: A ‘little soldiers’’ meeting was to be held “regularly in the future on Saturday afternoons from 2 to 3 o’clock. This is a meeting for children and will no doubt meet the wants of those who have been excluded in the past for want of room. It is a common thing to see a group of boys standing at the outside door beseeching adults who are unaccompanied by children to take them into the service.”[5]

            The Lord used the Army to capture the hearts and minds of the people of this city. By March the Salvation Army reported that, though Victoria Hall could comfortably fit 800 people, somehow it fit 1200 people into the meetings and still was forced to turn many more people away.[6]

The Salvation Army was a praying Army and it certainly had its own style that appealed to Winnipeggers. The Free Press reported on December 27^th, 1886, a number of reasons why anyone might want to attend their meetings:

The Salvation Army has had considerable success during the two weeks of its campaign here, the number of members and recent converts being more than double that of the forces at the first muster. The attractions of the street parades have been increased by the beating of drums which are also used in the hall, together with the playing of a cornet and other instruments…The ‘War Cry ‘ appears to meet with an extensive patronage, and it is very industriously circulated. The spirited signing, with the music of the various instruments accompanying it, is a feature which many people confess to enjoying. A feature of the speaking and praying, which is favourably commented on, is that no one person takes up very much time. When testimonies are called for, every one of thirty or more people on the stage speaks; and the exercise, with a number of hymns interspersed, occupies probably less than half an hour.

The meetings were quick, lively, and appealed to the common person. They were entertaining. People wanted to come and see the Salvation Army. The plethora of testimonies was extremely important. And as the Reverend Silcox remarked, “it was impossible for any Christian to sit by and hear the converts one after another tell of what God had done for them without feeling that the Army was an institution of God, without feeling that they were doing God’s work.” [7] The Army was being blessed in its earnest endeavours to do the Lord’s work and these early successes were impressive indeed.

May this heritage be our future as well!

Michael

www.sheepspeak.com

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