the salvation army

had a good meeting at church tonight. we had quite an open forum time with many people speaking about what they had learnt over the last week at acc and what it would mean for them.

one thing i have been thinking about is that way that the salvation army uses miltary terms. this had never been an issue for me before. here in australia we have a 97% approval rate. now, we are also of course VERY widely know as the salvos. however, the idea was presented to me - and others of course - is that of whether we are an army (fighting in a spiritual battle) and if so do we really act like an army OR if we are an army metaphorically speaking, then are we able to, need to change our name? i haven't thought enough or delved into the matters or arguments either way to know exactly where i stand on the issue. i do believe we there are spiritual forces at war in the world - good versus evil - and the army i belong to fights with love and grace not guns and bombs and i also believe that there are many armies out there that have committed so much evil that the word army would conjour up a lot of bad feelings and hurt when they hear the word army, no matter what kind of army it is. but, not to fear, because in the meantime while i make up my mind on this issue, which might actually take a while, i will just keep on living and loving as God would want me to and i think, for me, that is more important that the rest. hmmmm.