Legacy of Death, Destiny of Faith

On 9th March 1966 The Blind Beggar pub in East London witnessed a brutal murder of gangster George Cornell in a gangland shooting by the now infamous Ronnie Kray, one half of the notorious Kray Twins, both violent criminals who terrorised London during the 1960's.

In 1968 both were sentenced to life imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 30 years for the murders of Cornell and Jack McVitie (another gangster) this  was the longest sentence ever passed at the Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court, London) for murder

Over 50 years later this pub is still famous as the site of this brutal murder, but there is another lesser known claim to fame of this pub.

William Booth founder of the Salvation Army preached his first open-air sermon 101 years before this murder outside the pub in 1865, which led to him forming the East London Christian Mission, which later became the Salvation Army. A statue of Booth still stands on this spot in memory of this man who was unafraid to stand out from the crowd, to dedicate his life to serving and rescuing his fellow man.

So we have two men, two defining events separated by 100 years; one an act of hate, the other an act of faith...but both events defined each man in their own ways. The Krays sunk deeper into violence and criminal activities and as above paid for it with 30 years in prison. Booth however, when faced with the poverty and need of London's East End found inspiration.
In his own words:

'When I saw those masses of poor people, so many of them evidently without God or hope in the world, and found that they so readily and eagerly listened to me, following from Open-Air Meeting to tent, and accepting, in many instances, my invitation to kneel at the Saviour’s feet there and then, my whole heart went out to them. I walked back to our West-End home and said to my wife:

‘O Kate, I have found my destiny! These are the people for whose Salvation I have been longing all these years. As I passed by the doors of the flaming gin-palaces tonight I seemed to hear a voice sounding in my ears, “Where can you go and find such heathen as these, and where is there so great a need for your labours?”

And there and then in my soul I offered myself and you and the children up to this great work. Those people shall be our people, and they shall have our God for their God.’

I suppose all this is the point... What kind of legacy do you want to leave on the World?
Do you want to be like the Kray Twins...leaving an infamous legacy of violent crimes and cruelty.
Or be like Booth and leave a legacy of service and faith that now spans over 150 years and 127 countries.

Most of us will never know the effect our actions will have the long run, or the lasting legacy we will leave. But it is incredible to think how far the gospel has travelled, how many have been reached directly on indirectly by men and women who listen to God and give their lives to serve Him. People like Booth, Billy Graham, Joyce Meyer, John & Charles Wesley...the list goes on, and each of these people simply serve others and preach/preached God's word, safe in the knowledge that He will take their ministries and their efforts and use them as He sees fit.

All we can do is make the most of the time given to us, and decide wether we want to serve or be served. To search and struggle for our own selfish ends, or serve God and each other.

We are part of an ongoing legacy, going all the way back to Jesus Himself... We are walking in His footsteps by spreading His Word and Love, by passing on what we have learned. Let's not be the ones to drop the ball here, let's keep this legacy rolling on, who knows what fruit our small simple acts of faith and obedience will bear, who will be reached that without us may not be. A simple act of faith and kindness could inspire the next William Booth or Billy Graham without us ever knowing.




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Disclaimer: the opinions and comments expressed in this blog are personal and do not necessarily represent the views and policies of the Salvation Army

Is the Church damaged beyond repair?

This post is perhaps a little heavy... But unfortunately we, the Church, the entire Church, in almost all of its expressions, are facing some very serious challenges, particularly traditional western denominations. I have been thinking about this subject for a while and hopefully you'll appreciate my thoughts and opinion on this issue... I would love to hear others opinions on this, it's only by talking about and discovering our faults that we can face them and truly heal.

We are an ancient institution, founded 2000 years ago, as I'm sure we all know, since those early days we have picked up some strange traditions and quirks, divided ourselves into factions and in some cases become bitter enemies. We are fractured and hurting. The church today is so different to it's beginnings...and yet I suppose somehow very much the same..l

We have become social activists, moral guardians and sometimes politicians; of course these can all be great and positive things; which have made us more diverse and effective. But have we, as the secular world would tell us, become irrelevant? Some would say we've passed our prime, that we're showing our age and perhaps it's time to put the old horse down... Not a chance! I say we're here because God ordained that we should be here, perhaps we have lost something of our identity, our place in the world, but don't dismiss that as irrelevancy or uselessness.

We are damaged, there is no getting away from that. we often fail, sometimes through genuine mistakes; sometimes through more sinister and deliberate actions. Sometimes we are stuck in the past; held back by intolerance and prejudice. Whatever it is, and in whichever way we fail, whether that be a large issue or seemingly inconsequential, we still fall short of God's glorious standard. We still risk damaging prospective disciples and, by our actions turn them away from Christ.

The unfortunate truth is that the Church (meaning us as individual Christians) Probably spend just as much time (if not more) fighting amongst ourselves than we do fighting injustice, and intolerance, spreading the gospel, loving and supporting each other. Just take a few moments to visit a Christian forum, Facebook discussion page/thread and you'll see exactly what I mean.

how do we overcome the fears, failures and challenges that currently (and probably always have) plagued the Church? How do we reach the lost without compromising our integrity or mission? How do we minister to a hurting world without diluting the gospel or pandering to societies 'don't ask, don't tell' attitude to religion?
Well I can't really answer that, or come up with some new secret formula or groundbreaking idea...my opinion; if it counts for anything is that our success lies in doing a really hard thing, perhaps too hard...we must learn to LISTEN;
listen to the gospel, to the cries of a world in need, listen and learn from each other and most importantly listen to the heartbeat of God. Then everything else will become clear; maybe some will say that is a nonsense statement or impractical or just words, but I stand by it.

Are we damaged? Have we fallen short, and worse fallen asleep? Do we fail? Are we fractured and wasting time fighting each other? Unfortunately the answer to all those, is yes!

But are we finished? Are we beyond repair? Are we past our best? Should we just give up and disappear into the night?
Never! We believe in a God of second and third chances, a God of redemption, a God of healing and a God who takes the damaged and the broken and the hurting and calls us His friends... but we can no longer afford to stay asleep, or to keep our heads firmly in the sand. 

I would love to hear your feedback and comments on this blog, and of course feel free to sign up with your email address to avoid missing new posts (if viewing on a mobile device you may need to click on 'view web version')

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Disclaimer: the opinions and comments expressed in this blog are personal and do not necessarily represent the views and policies of the Salvation Army