A Leadership Dilemma

One of the greatest threats to the future of the Army is the shortage of officers. The number of appointments requiring skilled and gifted leaders out numbers the officers available to fill those positions.

The problem could be seen as two-fold: The training of the leaders we already have and the recruitment of leaders we need. The Southern Territory is attempting to address the issue of training leaders through a leadership training school that (when functioning as they plan) has great potential.

However, the issue of recruitment still remains a challenge that must be addressed. The problem with recruitment is that the responsibility for recruiting new officers is laid almost solely on the Corps. That means that ultimately the future of the Army is the responsibility of the Corps. Leadership training is important, but if the Corps fails to recruit potential leaders then the leadership training program will have no one to train.

As I scan the landscape of the Corps I see the future of the Army. It seems to me that the leadership of the Army would be willing to do whatever it takes to breathe new life into the Army. The question is this: Are we simply praying that God will bless what the Army is doing or are we seeking to walk along side and be a part of what God is doing?

Do you see the future of the Army the Corps responsibility? What do you think?

Being the Church

Last week God gave me three opportunities to serve and reveled to me what it means to be the church in action.


The first opportunity came when a guy in his early 50’s and who is mentally disabled came to our church and showed me a citation for $1,050 because of garbage in his yard. He stated that if he didn’t clean up his yard they would throw him in jail. (Apparently they have been trying to get him to clean up his yard for quite some time).

Last Friday two guys from our church, a thrift truck driver and I went to his house with a John Deer (brush hog on wheels!), weed-eater, shovels, and a thrift store truck and cleaned up his yard.


Another opportunity came when a guy was unable to collect his SSI check from his payee. According to him, the payee stiffs him every month and only gives him money when she feels like it. I went with him and collected his remaining $100.

I am now his new payee. I’m working to get free from having a payee altogether.


The third opportunity came just last Sunday morning. God had given me a word that he wanted me to share with a lady in the hospital. So I dropped by the hospital before church to give her the word. Unfortunately the lady was sleeping (due to heavy medication) and I was unable to give her the word. Come to find out, God tricked me. He had something else for me to do.

On the way out of the hospital a guy stopped me and asked if I could help him. He had been living in a hotel and his wife left him because he could not find work. She took his car and left him stranded with no place to go.

I visited with him for about a half an hour, took him back to the hotel and paid for one night. His mother would come the next day and pick him up. I prayed with him and went to church.

On my way to church, God said to me: “Bret, through what other organization can you do all that?”


There’s no doubt that we face many challenges within our organization. But if we will just listen and obey the Spirit of God we can find incredible opportunities to carry out His mission and be the church. With all the restrictions, we still have incredible freedom.