Blog: Jesus & Justice Voices
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.]
God’s Love for Everyone
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does...
read moreCreation Care… a Gospel Issue
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] A Salvationist’s theology of creation care is like a three-legged stool. The legs representing our relationship with God, with each...
read moreBRINGING HOPE to Modern Slaves
On behalf of the 2018 Annual Day of Prayer for Human Trafficking Victims approaching us, we are republishing articles of the Revive Magazine July-September 2018 publication with the theme: Restore Broken Dreams: Facing up to the global challenges of modern slavery....
read morePray, Speak Out and Act
On behalf of the 2018 Annual Day of Prayer for Human Trafficking Victims approaching us, we are republishing articles of the Revive Magazine July-September 2018 publication with the theme: Restore Broken Dreams: Facing up to the global challenges of modern slavery....
read moreJesus, Justice and Fair Trade
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] The first thing we need to do is to describe what is Fair Trade. Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency...
read moreJUST Thinking…Is God Biased?
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] Is God Biased? Author and pastor Rick Warren has stated that there are over 2,000 verses concerning the poor in the bible. The sheer...
read moreA Deeper Look Into Poverty
What a wonderful opportunity it is for me to represent the Salvation Army at the United Nations. In this capacity, I hear first-hand about poverty around the world and extreme poverty and what is being done to alleviate it. I also get the opportunity to see what the...
read moreAdultCon Wakes Darkest England
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] Since its origin it seems there are few places The Salvation Army has been unwilling to go. Woven within the fiber of our very being...
read moreNo One is Good
Why do we need grace? “No one is good except God alone“. Luke 18:19 No one? No one. But what about……? No one. Even me? Even you. Let me put it this way. Let’s draw a circle. Inside that circle write “God”. Now title the circle “Everyone who is good”. Now title the...
read moreSalvationist Thoughts: God’s Message Of Love Is Clear
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] This love is how they’ll know—some of Jesus’ final, resounding words to his twelve disciples the night before he was to be crucified....
read moreSalvationist Thoughts: Embracing The Tension
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] It was my first day as a professional in the field of social work. I was so excited and so clueless about what was to come. My first...
read moreSalvationist Thoughts: Acknowledging Privilege, History and Moving Forward
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] This morning at 8:05 am, I dropped my son Daniel off for his first day of YMCA Day Camp. I’ve spent the past week prepping him for...
read moreSalvationist Thoughts: Responding to the Humanitarian Crisis on the Border
[DISCLAIMER: These blog posts do not necessarily reflect The Salvation Army. Opinions and thoughts do not reflect all Salvationists.] When the United States first started separating children from their parents at the border, I was devastated. Not just because I find...
read moreWith Liberty and [Food] Justice For All
When you think of social justice, what comes to mind? For me, it’s usually something related to human trafficking, racism, or poverty. Enter food justice: a topic that is not normally discussed, and yet which relates to, and encompasses a variety of social justice...
read moreThe Empowerment of Girls
The Salvation Army is actively involved with the United Nations Working Group on Girls. The purpose of this group is to promote and empower girls to take a stand and speak out for themselves. This past October 11th was International Day of the Girl. This day was...
read moreLooking Beyond Appearance
She’s here. The lady who eats in the Soup Kitchen. She looks nice today. Her hair is freshly done and her nails are well-manicured. She sat down next to another lady who has worn the same clothes for the past three days and smells like whisky and cigarette smoke. What...
read moreA21 Walk for Freedom
I had the privilege to participate in the A21 Walk for Freedom in Pittsburgh, PA, in October. I thought this would be a great opportunity to share with my three teenage daughters in order to give them a glimpse into the world of Human Trafficking. A21 Walk for Freedom...
read moreGender Inequality and Being One in Christ
The temperature in the room 'turned cold.' All eyes were on me as he quoted 1 Timothy, chapter 2. I was the only woman in the room. I was the only woman minister in a room full of male pastors. “Not with braided hair…But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp...
read moreInterview with Shea Rhodes on FOSTA/SESTA
The following is an interview done by The Southern Territory, Territorial Services Coordinator against Human and Sex Trafficking, Hillary DeJarnett, and The Eastern Territorial Anti Human Trafficking Specialist, Jamie Manirakiza. After attending the National Center on...
read moreWhen is a foreigner no longer a foreigner?
5 “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for...
read moreA prayer by a weary servant…
I'm sorry I just can't. Not any more. I can't keep trying. I can't keep fighting. I don't have the strength. I wish I was capable of more, but I just don't have anything left to give. I wish I could be strong like you, but I'm not. You died on the cross, willingly,...
read moreResponding to the global migration crisis
The Salvation Army sits on the Committee for Migration, a committee aimed to encourage the protection and promotion of migrants’ human rights in accordance with the United Nations Charter. This goes along with our Salvation Army Mission Statement, which promotes the...
read moreAll lives matter, when black lives matter
All lives matter, when black lives matter. When I sat down to write this, I thought to myself “I want to write about racism”. Instantly my next thought was “but I’m ‘white’, I can’t write about that”. And that is why I decided to write about it. Therein lies the...
read moreWho Is My Neighbor?
The kids were so excited to start programs back up in September. On the first day of pick-ups, my husband and I both laughed when the adorable 7-year-old boy's face appeared in the window. I hadn’t seen him all summer, and he was so excited to be back at the corps. ...
read moreGrowing in Empathy for Some of the Least of These Among Us
Empathy has been on my mind the last few weeks. I have the opportunity to speak and train pretty often on different topics. One of them being how to holistically serve and understand vulnerable populations. I often start off with how empathy is an essential...
read moreYour words are powerful
Some time ago, I received a call from my university asking me, as a recent grad, to join the alumni association (aka, donate money). I love my alma mater. It is a beautiful campus and I am so grateful for the time spent with friends, the hours wracking my brain to...
read moreAn Officer’s Reflection After Charlottesville
By Captain Lisa Barnes We live in a world that is hurting and broken. This isn’t new. We live in a world that is full of people who have tried to elevate ourselves over others whenever we have a chance. This isn’t new. We live in a world that is up in arms, and unsure...
read moreIf Your Hotel Stay Fair?
Most likely you know what Fair Trade is. If, by chance, Fair Trade is a new concept, the definition from Dictionary.com explains it, “trade in which fair prices are paid to producers in developing countries.” In order for the producers to receive fair wages, it is...
read moreJustice From The Couch
by Jen Arens For 25 years of my ministry I epitomized the “Dangerous Women” poem from Lynn Hybels’ book Nice Girls Don’t Change the World. I acknowledged my power to change, grow, and be radically alive for God. I was the healer of wounds and righter of wrongs. I wept...
read moreDisabled means their cause should matter to us all
Some time ago, my fianceé and I watched a production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the La Mirada Theatre. Though this could have been just another stop on a journey for the two of us to become more cultured, we were excited to see this particular production...
read moreLearning to be with those who are broken
In 2007, my husband Chris and I, worked and lived in the International District of Downtown Seattle. We were sent out to re-establish the more “in the trenches” work of the Army amongst the homeless, transient, impoverished, and substance-addicted. We'd seen it done...
read moreVigilant Justice
Marvel Studios has been producing a lot of movies over the past decade. One of my favorites? Captain America. For those who don’t know much about Cap’s backstory, Cadet Steve Rogers was a short and weak individual who wanted nothing more than to serve his country...
read moreDoes decriminalization of the Sex-Trade Lead to Women’s Empowerment? NO! Here are 5 Reasons Why
This past week, I was able to attend the UN Commission on the Status of Women (UN CSW) in connection with the Salvation Army International Social Justice Commission. This was a week where we got to connect with Salvation Army friends from around the world (England,...
read moreHANGRY (adjective)
Irritable as a result of feeling hungry (Dictionary.com) We all know someone who gets “hangry”, that blend of hungry and angry resulting in the apologetic comment, “I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry.” The cure: eat a piece of string cheese, an apple, a...
read more12 Action Steps Your Church Can Take to Fight Human Trafficking
Since the beginning of humanity, people have bought, sold, and enslaved by other people. But one of the great collective triumphs of our world has been our ability to end slavery. Slaves themselves, along with people of faith were at the forefront of challenging this...
read more