Call to Action

“This is our Engage Conference. Why are we having an Engage Conference? Well, regrettably, it has become acceptable to sit in our corps week after week, do nothing and still call ourselves Salvationists. We need to re-engage. There is literally a world dying… and they’re not exactly beating our doors down. So I got this crazy idea… let’s go where they are. Let’s, I don’t know, ENGAGE them.”

“The Salvation Army makes space for the Spirit. And you make space for diversity. You make space for women. You serve people, you embody what Jesus is about. I see Jesus in you. You guys are really, really special. So here’s my question: why do you keep it for yourself?“

“I’m part of the Salvation Army because I believe that God is getting ready to use us for one of the greatest revivals this world has ever seen. Are we ready for it?”

“I think there’s a difference between ‘doing church’ and ‘being Army’. And I’m not sure what ‘doing church’ has done for us, but I’m ready to try ‘being Army’ and see what those results look like.”

“Friends, as Salvationists we can sit here and ask, ‘Why do I wear this uniform? Why do we have an autocratic structure? Why do we have a Handbook of Doctrine or Orders and Regulations? Why do officers move the way which they do?’ None of it make sense as long we’re Salvationists outside of our natural habitat. But if we step back into the natural environment of mission, if we get serious about the salvation of the world, every part of who we are makes complete sense. Because God has designed us to be a revival movement, so we have to come to terms that this is our identity… How about we truly embrace who God has called us to be? How about we be Salvationists?”

“You all have a mission. You’ve been hearing about this for the last year, your WHY. You have to know it, you have to know what you carry and what the Army carries. ‘I know what I can do and what the body can do.’ You have to carry both. The truth is, when you hold both of those, you are able to help serve people, love people. You know your mission, you know the mission you’re apart of and you’re engaging in the darkest, hardest places.”

“If we’re metaphorical soldiers, in a metaphorical army, are we in a metaphorical war, fighting against a metaphorical enemy, to save people from a metaphorical hell? Or is hell real, is the enemy real? Is he trying to capture this generation? If he is, the war is real and never before have we needed a real Salvation Army than today. Friends, we cannot have sham religion – we need real Salvationism. The world needs it.”

“I want to thank each of you for coming. But I want to thank you even more for – hopefully, prayerfully – what you are taking away with you. If this were a virus, I want you to infect others with what you’ve been given here. I don’t want there to be some inoculation against what you’ve got, what you’ve been exposed to. I want you to become, in the right sense – toxic, certainly to the enemy. I’d like you to go from here, and the minute you hit the outside, I would love for hell to tremble because, ‘oh no, they’re loose.’”

“The measure of our love for God is not determined by how passionately we sing our songs. The measure of our love for God isn’t how accurately we quote our doctrine. The measure of our love for God isn’t determined by how well we craft our prayers, it’s not about the things we do in our corps, in our citadels; it’s not about the programs we offer. The world really doesn’t see any of that, and honestly they don’t give a flip.”

“When it comes to burning passion for the Army’s mission and holy living, may you ignite it where it doesn’t exist, may you rekindle it where it has gone out and may you fan it hotter where you find it. For God’s power working through you is breathtaking and God’s potential working in you is unlimited; God’s love spilling over you knows no bounds at all.”

“Our usefulness, our appointments, our responsibilities and our privileges are not things that we earn, but are things that have been gifted to us by God’s grace, for us to be accountable for. We aren’t qualified by what we bring into a kingdom relationship but we are qualified by what we are willing to release. We aren’t qualified by what we work so hard to earn, but what we’re given that we really don’t deserve.”

“Jesus was not cautious but boy was he extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us, but to give us everything of himself. Love like that. Live like that. People are watching the way we act far more than they are listening to what we say. When our lives match our words, when they are one in the same, our impact can be massive.“

“Rescue the perishing! Snatch them in pity, from sin and the grave. My friends, each of you who carry the name of Christ, and all the more so if you call yourself a Salvationist, this is our call. What will you do. Whose name are you searching for. I wonder for whom you are the answer to prayer. If only we’ll turn on our lights and search. As Salvationists, this is the mission given us. Some of us like to consider ourselves worshipping communities… I’d rather we’d begin to have the reputation of being a search and rescue group, going where others don’t or won’t. It’s an old expression but you know it’s true, ‘if you want your light to shine brighter, take it to the places where the darkness is deepest’…let me just tell you, though this is the will of God, you – you have a role to play and you have a voice in this.”

“We don’t do what we do just so people can know The Salvation Army, but we do what we do so that people can know Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship with him. This is our WHY. What we as believers have been called to is not an easy assignment, but it will be so rewarding.”

“The Christian life isn’t one of isolation and insulation from people. It’s about going out into the muck and the yuck of the world and into our neighborhoods and into our workplaces and into our communities to spread the greatest news ever. We must defend others, seek justice, express generosity and participate in redemptive actions. We must be beyond reproach in treating all people with respect and compassion, remembering our mission to ‘meet human needs in Christ’s name without discrimination.’”

“You are God’s house. We don’t go to it, we take it with us. You are God’s house and anywhere you set your foot, the presence of God is to be known. And if we enter the world with that sort of a mindset – that anywhere I am there God is, and anywhere I am there is the compassion of God that has to be acted on – let me tell you something folks, the world will sit up and take notice of that. Every day.”

“We’ve been challenged. We’ve been inspired. We’ve been motivated. We’ve been compelled and we have been activated to now go and rescue the perishing. To save the lost and the dying, to bring them into fellowship with Christ and disciple them through their faith journey. We need to take action for the good we ought to do.“

“May we all get out of our seats, get out of our buildings, get out of our corps, our homes and go and fight and be The Salvation Army that God called us to be.“

“GO – and win the world for God!”

Friends, join the excitement! Next year is a Congress – which means Commissioning weekend will be bigger and better! Join us in Atlanta June 5-7, 2020 for an amazing weekend featuring special guests General Brian Peddle and Commissioner Rosalie Peddle, International Leaders of The Salvation Army! We can’t wait to see you there!