Others

Hello, well this is a first, I am actually writing this blog post on my I Pad sat on a train on the way to my Girlfriends for a weeks holiday. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to use the bluetooth keyboard I bought months and months ago, but have yet to really use! So if this blog comes out in a funny format you now know why!

This week I have been reading a book called "The Common Peoples Gospel" By a Salvationist man called Gunpei Yamamuro. He was a Salvation Army Officer who wanted to spread the gospel to his native Japanese people. So who wrote this book which aims to introduce people to the Gospel. Its a very good book and has sold millions of copies since it was released in 1899. 

Its still a great book over 100 years later and is well worth a read. One thing I read in it this week has really stuck in my mind and made me think. So here is a quote from the book:

"If we stop dealing with other people's sins and start examining ourselves we will know how sinful we really are. The purest person is the one who fully and sorrowfully acknowledges the sin in his heart"

 Now I find that quite hard to take in, not because its wrong, I think it is 100% true. Its because it means quite often the way I act and my outlook on life is often totally wrong!

This quote is also extremely Biblical, as we read in Matthew 7:3-5 that Jesus said;

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

I had to go for the King James Version there as it is the only version I have available offline. But the verse basically says how can you comment on the sin of others, when your vision is blurred by your own sin! 

Now again I find that really hard teaching. Its so much easier to comment on others and anything we may perceive as sin in their lives or actions. However perhaps we should instead be looking at the sin in our lives.

Imagine how much of a difference we could make if we concentrated more on banishing sin from our own lives rather than trying to comment and have digs at others about the sin in their life.

I think that is something we should all aim to do, and certainly something I aim to try and do this week.

The Sailing Salvationist 

Alone?

Hello again. This morning I stood at the side of a grave in my Naval uniform as an 89 year old ex sailor was buried. I only found out about this man because my Corps Officer messaged me last night and asked if I would be able to attend.

At this mans funeral there were very few people; in fact there was only my Corps Officers leading the service, a handful of carers who had looked after him and myself. No friends, No family.

The same kind of thing happened a few days a go to a man up country. After an internet appeal lots and lots of people turned up for his funeral: it even made the national news. Now I think its great that so many people turned up to his funeral to pay their respects to a veteran, however what did it actually achieve?

When I was at the funeral today I just could not help feeling how sad it was that he had no friends and family there. But worse than that I could not stand the thought that this poor man had no friends and family to visit him when he was alive. However it also made me wonder how many people there were in my local area who are shut in and lonely.

Imagine if all of the people who attended the mans funeral on the news chose to spend that hour visiting someone who was shut in their house and alone. Surely that would have been a more productive way to spend that hour than at the funeral of someone who has already died.

It made me wonder what does the Bible say about loneliness and what does it call us to do?

Well firstly right at the start of the Bible we are told that man is not meant to live alone, we are called to live with others in community. God did not make us to be on our own:

Genesis 2:18 NIV

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

But the Bible also tells us who we should care for:

1 Timothy 5:8 ESV         

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

It is quite clear we should care for those related to us. However there are many of us who live far from their family, or those who have no lonely relatives alive. But that's not an excuse, because the Bible further defines who our relatives are:

1 Timothy 5:1-2 ESV  
       
Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

So the Bible tells us that we should treat all people as if they were our family. Surely then, this means we have a responsibility to care for those around us who are alone.

So perhaps this week, everyone who reads this blog could take the time out of their busy lives, even just 30 minutes, to go and visit someone. It could be a family member, a neighbour, someone who used to go to church but now is not well enough to get there, the list of possibilities is endless as there are lonely people everywhere.

30 minutes is not long really, but it could break the boredom and loneliness suffered by someone and might just make some ones week.

The Sailing Salvationist

Rememberance

Hello :)

Well its been quite a busy week, I have started back at work on my camp again. But for a change I have been sent somewhere nice to work. I requested to work at the Naval Chaplaincy in my time off the ship and that is where I have been sent! Its very rare for things like that to work out so easily!

As I should imagine just about everyone here in the UK already knows its Remembrance Sunday tomorrow. (I think its called veterans day in the US and held on Monday).

I have to admit, I really don't like Remembrance Sunday. People may think that's strange, but just hear me out. I am glad there is such a day as Remembrance Sunday, I am glad there is a special marked day for people to remember those who have fought and died in many different wars.

However after spending so much time in Iraq, having lost quite a few friends over the years out there and seen some really horrible stuff, I don't need a special day to remember. I remember it all daily; and quite often all the TV coverage and talk about it brings back too many things I just want to forget.

But then as I say I am glad there is a day set aside when the whole Country can remember, and people should remember, as we would not have so much freedom in so many ways if it were not for the sacrifices people have made through the past 100 years.

This week here in the UK the Salvationist magazine did an article where 4 members of the Royal Navy (either serving or having served) wrote about life as a Christian in the Navy. I was asked to contribute and as I know a vast majority of readers of this Blog come from places other than the UK I thought I would post the section of the article I wrote.

I hope you all enjoy it:

While serving on a warship in the Indian Ocean, Steve Callister writes about the challenges and opportunities he faces as a Salvationist sailor.

I grew up going to Falmouth Corps, but when I was 16 I turned my back on God. I joined the Navy and spent many years working in the Iraqi desert. In 2009 I was on an 18-month promotion course in Portsmouth. One afternoon I decided to look up ‘Christians in the Armed Forces’ on the Internet. It’s amazing how one Google search can change the path of your life. I discovered the Naval Christian Fellowship and subsequently met a group of Christian sailors. I started hanging out with them and going to church. When I was drafted to RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, I decided to go back to Falmouth Corps. It felt like I had returned home.

In January 2012 I became a soldier. It wasn’t an easy decision to make. I was not sure if being a soldier in The Salvation Army was compatible with life in the Armed Forces, but I soon had the opportunity to find out; just a few months later I was drafted to a ship on anti-piracy patrols in the Indian Ocean. I have been on the ship for almost five months on my current rotation.

Life at sea can be very challenging. I am the only Christian on my ship out of a crew of nearly 200 people, so maintaining my Christian integrity is a daily struggle.
In every situation people are always watching to see how I react. It is like walking a tightrope; wobble too far one way and you will be branded a ‘Bible basher’, but if you act the same as everyone else, people will not even know you are a Christian. I have found this balancing act very tough and there have been many times when I have wobbled one way or the other.

A particular challenge is the drinking culture. The bar area is the only space to relax and socialise, so there is often a lot of pressure to drink alcohol, but by standing my ground, people have learnt to respect my decision. My reasons for not drinking are also a good conversation starter.
Another aspect I struggle with on the ship is isolation. I have spent 11 months out of the past 13 here at sea which puts a lot of strain and pressure on almost all of my relationships at home. However, being a Salvationist also allows me to develop relationships on the ship. Many people come into my office to chat about home, work, hopes and fears for the future, faith – just about everything! If all I have achieved in the past 11 months is helping a few people with their problems then I feel as though my service has been worthwhile.
Obviously one of the biggest challenges is maintaining my faith. I am so far away from other Salvationists and I don’t have a church that I can attend each week. To keep strong in my faith I immerse myself in Bible study and prayer. I am also taking part in the New Testament Bible Challenge and write in my prayer diary every day. Fortunately, I have occasionally been able to attend some Salvation Army meetings in Dubai and have made many new friends there.

The Internet is also extremely beneficial in maintaining my faith. I created a Facebook group called Salvationist Armed Forces Fellowship. There are about 30 members. Most are bandsmen in various regiments, and some serve in the Navy and RAF. We are able to support each other, and some of us have even been able to meet. This kind of support is essential when away from home and the Army for such a long time. I also write a weekly blog on being a Christian in the Navy.

Being a Salvationist in the Armed Forces is not easy. It takes a lot of integrity and you have to earn the trust of those around you, but if you stick with it the rewards and satisfaction are worth the effort and sacrifice.

The Sailing Salvationist

David and Goliath

Hello again. 
Well this morning I led my first ever SA Meeting, which I really enjoyed doing, although I was a bit nervous at first! Anyway as promised here was my sermon.

Sermon Fighting your giants

Today's bible reading came from the book of first Samuel, and it contains what I see as one of the most exciting action stories of the Old Testament.

In it we see two armies lined up and ready for battle, on one side the Philistines and on the other side the Israelites, Gods chosen people, led by King Saul. 

In old testament times very few countries had established armies like we have today, armies were often made of all the men of a fighting age; very few were professional soldiers and most had normal every day jobs. Yet when their country was threatened their king would call upon all men of fighting age to assemble for battle. 
However this was not that practical, even if a country was to win a battle or a war they could lose a large amount of their workforce which would be economically bad for a country. 
Therefore it was common for armies to line up and the whole battle could be decided by a single fight between each armies champion. 

This is the position we find the Israelites in; each day the philistine champion Goliath would come out and basically shout "come and have a go if you think your hard enough!" 

Now Goliath was a massive man, 3 meters tall, armed to the teeth and wearing thick armour. Goliath literally was the tank of the Old Testament battlefield. And the problem was none of the Israelites actually thought they were hard enough to fight him! Well none of King Saul's army anyway! 
But a young Sheppard boy visiting his brothers in the army heard Goliaths challenge and was not afraid. This young boy David accepted Goliaths challenge. And not only did he go out and face this giant. He won! 

It's a great story, but how does it relate to us today? What can we learn from this story? And how can we use what it tells us to help us in our everyday life?
I mean we don't see giants walking around the streets every day do we? Yes we might see the odd really tall person, but we certainly don't end up trying to fight them! 
But I think in reality we do see giants, not human giants, but giant obstacles in our lives. We all have giants we need to fight in our lives, battles we can either hide away from like the Israelite army, or stand up and fight like David.

What kind of giants do I mean? There are many things which can be giants in our lives; personality traits such as anger, spitefulness, hatred can all be giants that effect how we act. There can be things we are addicted to such as alcohol or cigarettes which can be giants in our lives. Habits in the way we act can also be classed as giants in our lives, are we short tempered, are we unforgiving or do we talk about people behind their backs? We can think we have these things under control when really they control us. And when we do try to stop doing or feeling these things they can basically turn around and shout "come and have a go if you think your hard enough" And to be honest, often when we try to defeat them on our own, like the Israelite army we will fail. 
But we do not want to be like the Israelite army and cower and hide away from these giants, letting them rule and ruin our lives, we want to be brave and meet them in battle head on. 

But how do we do that? how did a young Sheppard boy not just take on this giant, but win? And what can we learn from this to help us defeat our own giants? 

Firstly David took strength from the battles he had won against different enemies in the past. In verses 34 to 37 he explains how protecting his father's sheep he fought both lions and bears. He states that if he defeated these wild animals, despite his age and his size, why should he be afraid of any man! 
We can adapt this in our own lives and our own battles. It's hard to change massive things overnight, change often takes time, and I know that is certainly true in my own life. Yet over time, taking strength through each small victory, we can see and change massive things in our lives. 

Secondly David did not let himself be weighed down by others. Earlier in our Bible reading we heard how King Saul tried to dress David up in his own royal armour. Yet although many would think this would aid David, he knew this armour and weight would be a hindrance rather than a help to him. He did not feel pressured to put trust in the things of man rather than in God. 

Likewise we should not put our trust in the things of the world to aid us in battle against our giants. No earthly armour can aid us in these battles, however Pauls letter to the Ephesians tells us about the armour which God can provide us with, it is the same armour which David protected himself with. Not earthly physical armour, but the Spiritual Armour of God. We need to arm ourselves with the Belt Of truth, Brest plate of righteousness, Feet fitted with peace, Shield of faith, Helmet of salvation and the Sword of the spirit. 

Thirdly David did not listen to the taunts of the enemy, Goliath said all kinds of things to both intimidate David and make him look small and stupid. The world often treats us that way, believe me, as the only Christian on a ship I know all about the things people say to taunt and intimidate you. But like David it is important not to let this effect the way we feel and the way we fight our giants. How we react to these taunts and comments can have massive consequences, if we react badly, rather than fighting our giants we can actually be feeding giants such as anger and hatred. 
We must also remember that people who taunt us are also often just looking to see how we react. If we react badly it just gives them more ammunition to use against us. However we never know how God plans to use us in the lives of these people. Remember God turned one of the most vicious persecutors of the early church Saul into one of the most passionate and successful spreaders of the Gospel. 

Lastly and most importantly David put his entire trust in God. David states many times that God will protect him from his enemies, whether they be lions, bears or massive Philistine warriors. In the same way we must have the same amount and depth of trust in God as David had. We need to be confident that God can help us fight our giants, more than that we need to know that God can, will and does help us win. 
In the New Testament In Matthew chapter 17 verse 20 Jesus tells us "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." 

This is a promise of God that we need to trust and be certain of, even before Jesus had come to the earth, David had this much faith in God, he was certain that God would be with him and would help him defeat this mountain of a man. 

Likewise if we have such faith and put our trust in him, with God's help we will defeat our own giants. 
These giants in our lives can take so many forms, I know, I have had to fight many of them over the past few years, and if I am honest there are many I am still fighting today. 
There is nothing to be ashamed about having these giants in our lives, there is nothing wrong with admitting there are things we find hard and things we struggle with. 
The fact is I would say almost everyone in here today has at least one of these giants in their lives, but it does not matter if we have 1 or 100 of them, the most important thing is that we put our trust in God and decide today right here and now that we will be more like David and less like the Israelite Army. 

We need to identify these giants in our lives, admit them, firstly to ourselves and then perhaps to someone we trust for support and then decide to go and face them, head on like David, un-afraid, un-intimidated by them and safe in the knowledge that God does and will help us defeat them. 
See the thing our lives are much like the battle in this story, the devil can send out his giants to tempt and hurt us. 
Although at times it may seem we are on our own and it can seem we have to fight these giants by ourselves the truth could not be further away. We do not have to fight these giants on our own.

Much like David went and fought the giant for King Saul, Jesus will fight our giants, in fact he already has! He died on the cross, for our sins, for the way our giants cause us to act when we give into them, he has already fought them and he has already won! 
His victory does not mean that accepting these giants, or choosing to stand up and fight them will be easy, but it does mean we can face them safe in the knowledge that no matter how tough the fight may get at times, ultimately, just like David facing Goliath, helped by God we will win. 

Response 

We are going to now enter into a time of reflection, mark is going to come up and we are going to sing the song "Our God" prayerfully. 

It may seem like a strange song to sing as a reflection song, however the chorus states the truth that "if our God is for us, then what can stand against" and that’s the whole point and message of this meeting and sermon, no matter what the giants that stand against us, if we ask him to stand with us, God will, and then victory is assured, we cannot be beaten. 

As we sing this song there should be a paper pebble, which was on your seat before the meeting, just like the pebble David used to slay his giant. As we sing this song I would like you to write on this pebble the areas in your life where you have giants to fight, and then if you would like to, you can come to the mercy seat and place your paper pebble, asking God to help you in these areas, and asking him to stand with you and help you fight them. 

Then you can take one of the real pebbles from one of the bowls. 
Keep it with you all week, perhaps in a pocket, or in your handbag, then at the times when you feel giants trying to tempt or fight you, you can feel it and be reminded that you are not alone in this fight, and that just like David, God will help you defeat your giants.

Getting back to normal!

Hello everyone, well the day after my last post I travelled back home to Cornwall. I was really excited about this, as I could not wait to see my family after being away for so long.

I also got to go back to my home Corps for a meeting on Sunday which was great. Especially as I am leading the meeting this Sunday! I cant give the whole thing away, but I will probably post my sermon at some point after I have done the meeting on Sunday. But my blog post will be slightly short this week, as writing the meeting and sermon is taking up most of my time.

Its been a very busy week, and I am almost looking forward to going to work next week for a rest!

Its hard to imagine, unless you are in the situation, but sometimes, coming home can be just as hard as getting used to being away. That might not make sense, but trust me it is often the case.

Things and people change, in fact, in the space of six months things and people can change massively. One of the main places this is evident is in children, they grow extremely fast and its very strange to go away with them in prams and coming back and them being able to walk and talk!

But as well as physical changes, relationships also change. People don't just sit at home waiting for you to come back and their lives move rapidly. After months with no contact sometimes its hard to fit back into peoples lives.

Often it takes time to get to know people again, re-build friendships and catch up with all that has been going on over the past few months.

The problem I have is I have spent so much time away in the past 14 months, I came home earlier in the year after six and a half months at sea, but was home for less than 3 months before I went back to sea again.

But one thing through this time,  the time adjusting to being back at home and just generally all the time at sea, which has remained constant has been God and his love. Don't get me wrong, there have been times when it has been hard to see it, or it has not felt like it, but it has always been there, never changing, constantly remaining.

How do I know this? Well firstly I can feel it, I live it and I know it. But I am also re assured by what the Bible tells me;

Psalm 117:2 (NIV)

² For great is his love toward us,
  and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

  

This verse from the Psalms is just one of many which reassures us of Gods constant love. 

So next time you feel far from God, or you are doubting your relationship with Him, why not open your Bible and have a read of some of Gods promises to you.

 

The evidence is there for you to see. Gods love is here, constant and un changing, no matter who you are, or where you are.

 

The Sailing Salvationist