Sure - my own questions dealt with sacraments, and the like.<br><br>Basically - the Salvation Army doesn't do things like baptism or communion and such within the confines of church ceremony. This can be seen as odd to many who are used to this type of commitment. <br><br>Basically, communion was avoided because it used to be given with wine, and as the Army was dealing with alcoholism - it became a stumbling block. That was one angle that was wrong with it. Also, communion was interpreted by the Army as any time we eat food together, that we should remember Jesus' life and talk about it together. <br><br>Of course, the Jewish Passover Meal and Communion are closely tied in my way of thinking, but even so, I don't mind their use of what Jesus was saying. I think it would even add to it if the passover was brought into discussion during those times.<br><br><br>Okay - other oddities is baptism. Baptism by water is very important to many people, but the Salvation Army shies away from the practice, believing in the New Testament idea that being baptized by the Holy Spirit is enough.<br><br>I think the common theme is to stay away from focusing on ceremony in and of itself - which is empty if the spirit of the remembrance is in any way distorted through misinterpretation. <br><br>As the Salvation Army fights down in the lower trenches, where confusion over many points like this could seperate members in the church who are trying to get out of poverty, etc... I see that this is a good thing. <br><br>The Salvation Army view towards other churches, such as the Catholic Church, Protestants, etc - is that we are one body as believers in Christ. However, we view that only the Old and New Testaments can be the canon to which Christians can turn to for guidance, and so churches like the Mormon Church are not specifically within that view.<br><br>The Salvation Army believes it was called by God to serve those that other churches weren't actively approaching. Those cast out. <br><br>It called itself an Army, and used ranks to keep the growing church organized and effective. <br><br>I hope this gives you answers to some of your questions. There's a lot of material going over these issues, so that the Army can take a firm stance as a whole. If you have more questions, I can do some research and see what comes.<br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=
http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Personally, my ministry is simple. In my own life, I have no means whatsoever of helping anybody, my work-life has no purpose for me, and the only thing I know with any kind of surety is my Christian faith. I want to feed somebody who is hungry. I want to reach out my hand and say, "What can I do for you?" when some body is just about burned out.<br><br>I know that I can serve a number of different Christian bodies and do this, but I also know that I want to make sure there are no distractions between me and this purpose. The Salvation Army holds a position that I can take up, and my daily cross is on my back. <br><br>There is a truth that is within all of us, for I truly do believe we were created in the image of God Himself - His spirit *is* within us, so when we see it and can recognize it . . . it moves us. Yet there are times I know I have become distracted by everything that goes on in the world today; so I need to join into a body of Christians so that we can support each other, and look again at what the Truth of things are. <br><br>Many of you all have your own opinions on these matters, and I know your convictions are rooted in a searching for the Truth, or Reality, of things. I also have worked very hard to know what I believe.<br><br>I could memorize the entire Bible, know every word in my head - but these kinds of things take more than such thinking. I had to live it out, test it, use it as a model for my approach to living, and see if the results matched my theories. This is sweating out the details, IMHO. <br><br>Yet after all of that, I also learned something. Every man and woman in the Bible - all those heroes - were faulted save one. There is only one hero in all that work of years and lives that is shown as such. And these are the kind of folks if I met one, I would say something along the lines of, "Wow."<br><br>I knew before I started to test out the words in this book, that I would not be able to complete the entire test. I was going to fail. I mean, its the odds! There's no way I can meet up to this stuff 100% of the time, or even near to it. But I can do my best, and thank the Lord that He is forgiving me the rest, and teaching me through my failures how to do even better and *gasp* warn folks "Uhh, doing that? Is no good."<br><br>I mean, it seems pretty "DUH" to say, "If you are batting, use both hands on the bat." --- Yet there are days, I am so frustrated or something, I just start swinging that thing around like some caveman with a club. So I strike out, and its pretty obvious to everybody, "Uhh, doing that? Is no good."<br><br>Heh - so, I had to join something, where me and some folks could get together and powow and setup a gameplan for helping each other out, and empowering each other to reach out even to those who don't know why we are knocking on the door, or talking to them, or selling them stuff from a thrift store, etc...<br><br>Face it, I am under an impossible task. That is why I just put on the armor, wield the sword of the spirit, and let God handle the tough part. I pray all the time that my spirit is the right one, the one that God wants me to have. That is the key to the whole shebang, no matter what steeple is over our heads.<br><br>Boy I start yacking!! LOL <p>"Death is not the end."-Ravok</p><i></i>
