A Culture of Change

A Culture of Change

One of the first things I bought when I was a newly commissioned officer was a microwave.  The thing was the size of a large table and weighed a ton.  It had a dial on it that you would turn to a variety of settings depending on what item it was being cooked.  If I had moved the timer too much, the potatoes I was cooking would explode into bits.  The machine was powerful and truly a marvelous invention of its time.  Compared to the microwaves that are now being made, this thing was truly a beast.

From the moment I walked across the platform to receive my first appointment as a Salvation Army officer to this point in time now, I am amazed at all of the things that have been invented and have come to impact all of our lives.  

A brief list could include the invention of the facsimile machine, the answering machine, music moving from vinyl to mp3 format, intermittent windshield wipers,  to name just a few.  The development of these items and much more continues to floor me.  My daily life has been affected by their creation.  Culture has changed with their birth.  

We are more comfortable with sending text, email or instant message instead of picking up the phone, writing a letter or having an actual face to face conversation.  Our attention spans have become shorter.  We attempt to multi task only finding ourselves doing a have hearted job which often goes unfinished.

The call of the redeemed is to be agents who will bring about change.   The call of love the unlovely, to feed the poor, to bring water to the thirty, to visit the sick, dying and lonely, transcends time.  We need a constant reinvention of addressing these needs as long as we have breath.

We may have all our ‘gizmo’s and gadgets a plenty’ (to quote Ariel from The Little Mermaid), but if we let them change us from being what God wants us to be in this world, then we have missed the boat.

Continue to seek ways God will stretch your soul and make you the agent of change you need to be.  Put the gadgets on the shelf for the time being and engage your heart in listening to what the Spirit is calling you to do.  Starting now until its all said and done.

Major Tim Foley

January 22, 2012

The year that was...

Its been a while since I made a post and of course I am kicking myself for not writing much here. No promises but I need to get out some of these random thoughts on my mind and out there in cyber land. Why...I have no clue. Maybe the reader is my thearpist or maybe the reader is healed by some words shared...

The start of 2012 is well under way. I reflect back on my life this past year it seems like a whirl wind. Why?

...evening worship service on the first Sunday of January 2011, I was holding the door for the TC who stopped to ask me if I have been told I was moving yet...er, no sir...'I will get back to you this week' was the comment...by Thursday of that week I was told of my new appointment as Training Principal for the Western Territory...

...March 1 would begin my new role at TP. We were in the office for all but two hours when we boarded a bus for a trip of a lifetime to Greece and Turkey. Cindy and myself did a biblical lands tour with the SA. It was a terrific trip.

Alex graduated from high school and was admitted to SF State.

Laura finished up her junior year at Cal Poly Pomona and got engaged to be married this coming July.

Victoria graduated from the 8th grade.

We started to live in the same town for the first time past five years....I can get used to a long stay acutally.

The girls went down under with the TAB songsters and I had the privilege to teach at Brengle Institute in Chicago.

We started the academmic year with 105 Cadets, the largest sessions of Cadets in the world. We lost a few staff members and continue to work short handed. I love this staff for their committment to mission, the Lord and to each other. Many people think that its a cake walk here but its farther from the truth.

I got pretty sick late August with a gall stone the size of a golf ball. I had surgery and really my energy hasn't been the same nor has my system. I really have to watch what I eat.

I had my share of ups and downs. I found myself drifiting emotionally to places I shouldn't been going. I had a nice series of stoog slaps from both the Holy Spirit and the Nathan's God has brought into my life.

I had to repent of some poor attitudes, pride, and getting my eyes off what God really wanted me to focus on.

We had a terrific holiday, one of the best really. It was great to have all my children here. Each are completely different with their personalities and their talents and moods and likes.

I realize that these sorts of days really are short. A time is coming where we all won't be together like this. I am grateful to God for my wife of 26 years, my children, my ministry that is in its 30th year, for my friends and the wonderful opportunties I have had to this point to proclaim the gospel.

What's ahead?

A trip to Hawaii in a couple of weeks to see the beautiful Kroc Center near Ewa Beach get dedicated. Everytime one of these centers open I smile and thank God that we had a wee little part with this wonderful ministry that is spreading.

A trip to India. Along with my good friend Steve Bradley, I will be traveling to Southeast Territory in India to teach at a Brengle Institute. I am very very excited about that journey and teaching in that setting. My life will not be the same.

A trip to NHQ to meet with my fellow principals in March to plan for Brengle and for the NTS next July in the East.

The big step for me is to begin my doctrate studies at Gordon Conwell Seminary in Spiritual Formation. I attend classes begining in May and will be working very hard for the next three years on this. I am sure my blog here will blow up with lots of things that the Lord will be placing on my heart.

Norman Maclean writes: "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." My life is flowing. I am past the half way point. I know the time of my end on paper with my service in the SA. Almost 14 years to go. I feel like I am a leaf floating, spiraling and whirling down this river. I am making the most of what is in front of me today.

Failing, yes. But failing forward. I will not let a thing, a person, a situation, a sin - anything - stop me from what God wants to accomplish through me.

Happy 2012 to all you my friends who take a moment to read my ramblings...

More to come....