What is soteriology?

What is Soteriology? Soteriology is the study of salvation. This realm of theological study deals with the ins and outs of the work of God in bringing creation, and especially humans, to enjoy the divine purpose for existence (Grentz, et. al, 1999; p.108).

As a Salvation Army soteriology is important. Our name mentions it. Salvation and our understanding of it, is paramount.

The Salvation Army believes that to follow God you must have a relationship with Christ. The fact is we are sinners, and God is a holy God. Therefore, through the redemptive blood of Christ and the grace of God we are forgiven. We cannot water down the idea that we are sinners in need of repentance (turing away from our sin). Granted it is not necessarily a popular message in the consumer driven western world, but the truth is nonetheless the same. I'd be interested in your opinion on this.

Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. He also came to redeem creation back to its creator, which I believe would happen more and more as people become believers in Jesus, and begin to live their lives reflecting the values of the Kingdom of God.

Lets not underplay sin. But I challenge people to share in the absolute joy of redemption that is found in Christ.

We have a young lady in our Corps who became a follower of Jesus a few months ago. She now talks about Jesus on facebook, lifts her hands in passionate worship, she refuses to work on Sundays, she serves the Lord. This is a story The Salvation Army will continue to hear in the future. Its the practical outworking of this area of study we call soteriology.

5 Aspects of Missionary Movements - Christian Leaders Read this!

Steve Addison outlines 5 phases or rather 5 aspects of missionary movements. These five things relate strongly to what it means to be an entrepreneurial leader. They are:

• White Hot Faith - Well, any born again Christian should have a white hot faith. Any Salvationist should be known for their zeal for God. Addison refers to having a direct and personal encounter with the living God, which then stirs on the person to social activism, e.g. Mother Theresa, Luther, Francis, etc.
• Commitment to the cause - William Booth stirred up the beginnings of The Salvation Army with an amazing commitment to the cause. Are you a leader who is outlandishly committed to the cause?
• Contagious Relationships - Powerful ideas travel quickly. Movements have ideas that are passed rapidly amongst relationships. Entrepreneurial leaders have relationships that help revolutionary messages be transmitted.
• Rapid Mobilization - The leader of a movement needs to have the ability to communicate the cause, and have people buy into the cause so that the movement grows and expands and honours God in the process. Think of the rapid expansion of the Protestant Reformation, where people bought into the teachings of Luther and Calvin and others, and a movement was birthed.
• Dynamic Methods - Good leaders will use up-to-date methods and innovative ideas to spread the popularity of their movement. You've heard it before - what worked 20 years probaby won't work today, especially communicating in today's technological environment.
  (The Forgotten Ways: Hirsch, p. 105-106)

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Equipping Soldiers

Where would a Christian website be without some form of discipleship teaching. We must train up the soldiers.

I have this picture of Soldiers in the Army sitting in the trenches sipping Cups of Coffee and eating nice Biscuits. Its time to finish the coffee time, so to speak, and rise up and fight the fight against the enemy. We must move forward into battle, and seek first the Kingdom of God. We need fully equipped soldiers if we are to do this well.

Salvation Army Missiology

Missiology is the study of Mission. Salvation Army Missiology is looking at Mission within The Salvation Army! Are we meant to be incarnational or attractional, or both? What is the Mission of God? What does the book of Matthew say about Mission and how can that help within The Salvation Army?

There is much to unpack in the days ahead. By all means, if you have an article to give, send it to: peter.brookshaw@aus.salvationarmy.org

YOUR Social Context

Ministry is difficult if you don't understand the context in which you do ministry. Contextualisation is that big word which is really about learning the 'context' of your situation. Learn the demographics of where you live. Learn the spiritual footprint on the society. Learn the strongholds. Don't start a soup kitchen if no one is homeless. Don't build a tennis court, if what your people need is child-minding.

YOUR Social Context will attempt to help Salvationists understand a little about their context, by creating links to local sites, e.g. Australian Bureau of Statistics, etc so you can find more about where YOU live.