"Living in sin"

I went and listend to "Franky Wants Out" (a friends band) play in a pub the other night. They sounded pretty good, had the Evelyn full and there was a pretty good atmosphere. It was great to see so many salvos there, one friend of mine said that we should have worn uniform and put it in for stats for something!

Anyway, thats one point. Church doesnt need to be done in a church building. It can be done anywhere. I think the salvos these days are struggling to reach the people outside of the church in the same way we use to. We use to be able to go into pubs, make a noise, sing some songs and lead people to Christ. Why is it different today? I think the culture in the pubs have changed, and the culture of Salvationists have changed.

Secondly, the band played a song called "Living in sin." The lead singer raised his glass to living in sin. The song may have been jovial, it was certainly catchy, but I believe this represents alot of Salvationists these days.

I need to clarify that Im not bagging Salvationists. Im not talking about Salvationists state of eternal salvation. What I am talking about is Entire Sanctification. Im my holiness intensive its been confirmed that we are generally no longer taught holiness. We're not taught practical holiness. I know there are some officers that do teach the subject, but generally speaking we dont teach it anymore. When it is taught its normally hidden, but I have not heard many sermons on entire sanctification as The Salvation Army believes.

This potentially means that alot of Salvationists are living in sin. If we're not being taught or encouraged to seek Entire Sanctification then not may will be entirely sanctified.

I believe there is a direct link between our holiness beliefs and our missional focus. Entire Sanctification means getting rid of your sin nature (not just committed sins) by the blood of Jesus and being filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, being filled with perfect love, so that we no longer follow the sinful nature but the loving nature. If all Salvationists had this Im sure we would look different. Im sure our mission would look different.

Anyways, thats my ramblings for the day!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25