Soldier Enrollment

Well, out of fear of getting cut from Jeff's blog, I decided to do a post. Although, as I pointed out to him, I have did like 3 this week. At any rate, just to keep those who may not know up-to-date, I'm going to post about my recent Soldier enrollment with The Salvation Army.

To put it in context, a Soldier is a member of The Salvation Army church. It's a little different because officers/pastors of the church and some church members wear uniforms. I don't know how much I'll were mine, but that remains to be seen. Here is a little history behind the uniform. Soldiers also sign what is know as the Articles of War. The Articles of War is just basically our doctrines of what we belief and what we will do (or not do in some cases).

I enjoy the church because it is very similar to my church from back home in theory and practice for the most part. In fact, the founder of The Salvation Army was a Methodist minister before forming The Salvation Army. Here is some history about us. I guess what I like most about the Salvation Army is the whole theory of actually "helping" people. I mean, what an extreme idea...churches that actually help people. At some point, I read something or saw a video where William Booth, or his wife Katherine, said something to the effect of, "you must take care of man's physical needs before you can meet his spiritual needs." That just seems so simple and just makes so much sense, yet, it doesn't happen a lot. And I'm not saying The Salvation Army is perfect in that sense, but at least that basis and background of wanting to do it is there. Unfortunately, most people don't realize that it is a church. They just think of the thrift store or homeless shelters, etc.... But with that said, I guess it's the first church I've been to that I really felt at home in. That I just felt close to God and that it was real. It's not a large church (our church anyway), but the people who go there are committed to it. And most importantly, it's the only church, other than my old church, that I've truely and honestly believed in what they believed and what they were doing. It's the only church I've ever wanted to become an official member of. And it was my decision. I made the decision to be part of that church. It wasn't like being 12 or 13 and joining my church at home because that's where I went to church. I got to decide what my beliefs were and where I was going to choose to practice them in worship. So yeah, it's only the 2nd of two churches that I've ever called "my church." That's a pretty awesome feeling.

Anyway, you should really read up on it if you don't know much about them. At the very least, it is a great organization that I'm lucky to be part of and that does a lot of good for their communities.

If you are lucky, I may post some pictures of me in my uniform after it comes in. But yeah, I just wanted to share with everyone what I did over this past weekend.