William Booth began The Salvation Army in July 1865. Preaching to a small street congregation in the slums of London, his spirit was as militant as that of a professional soldier while battling an almost overwhelming enemy.
Thieves,
prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among Booth's first converts to
Christianity. His congregations were desperately poor. He preached hope and
salvation. His aim was to lead them to Christ and link them to a church for
continued spiritual guidance.
Even though Booth's followers were converted, churches did not accept them because of what they had been. However, Booth gave their lives direction in both a spiritual and practical manner and put them to work to save others who were like themselves. They, too, preached and sang in the streets as a living testimony to the power of God.
In 1867, Booth had only 10 full-time workers. By 1874, the numbers had grown to 1,000 volunteers and 42 evangelists. They served under the name "The Christian Mission" and Booth assumed the title of General Superintendent, although his followers called him "General." Known as the "Hallelujah Army," the converts spread out of the east end of London into neighboring areas and then to other cities.
In 1878, Booth was reading a printer's proof of the organization's annual report when he noticed the statement, "the Christian Mission under the [sic] Superintendent's of the Rev. William Booth is a volunteer army." He crossed out the words "volunteer army" and penned in "Salvation Army." From those words came the basis of the foundation deed of The Salvation Army which was adopted in August of that same year.
The Salvation Army gained a foothold in the United States by the work of Lieutenant Eliza Shirley, who had left England to join her parents. She held the first meeting of The Salvation Army in America in Philadelphia in 1879. In 1880, General Booth sent a party of eight Salvationists, led by George Scott Railton, to officially begin the work of The Salvation Army in the United States.
In 1886, President Grover Cleveland received a delegation of Salvation Army officers and gave the organization a warm personal endorsement. This was the first recognition from the White House and was followed by similar receptions from succeeding presidents of the United States. The Salvation Army expanded rapidly to Canada, Australia, France, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Iceland, Germany, and many other countries.
General Booth's death in 1912 was a great loss to The Salvation Army. However, he had laid a firm foundation for the organization. Today, The Salvation Army serves people in 103 countries.
Life is all about soulwinning! What does it profit a man if you feed him, give him a few dollars, maybe even give him a place to stay for the night...if he dies in his sins and goes to burn in hell for all eternity. Jerry Lewis did a wonderful thing in trying to raise money for research to benefit sickly children with muscular dystrophy, but what about their souls? There are thousands of charitable organizations all across America and the world that are helping people in many wonderful ways, but what about their souls? The Salvation Army which had once aggressively preached the gospel to lost sinners has sadly lost much of that zeal. When General William Booth founded the Salvation Army, his main purpose was to go out preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. Today, the organization is NOT known for aggressively trying to win souls to Christ, but rather as a humanitarian outreach. Regrettably, you won't find the plan of salvation on their website unless you go digging for it. The Salvation Army's priorities clearly have changed since the days of William Booth. Where is the aggressive soul-winning?
The Salvation Army was not readily accepted in the 19th century. Their rivals were known as the "Skeleton Army" who persecuted them fiercely. Those Christians were persecuted because they were aggressively trying to spread the gospel.
Things have deteriorated since then. What's with the Santa Clauses? I've yet to meet a Salvation Army Santa Claus who has tried to witness to me concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. Instead, he just wants my money. Unfortunately, the Salvation Army has left their first love (Revelation 2:4). I hear of all the wonderful things they are doing today to help other people, but what about the souls of men? I'm not trying to be critical of anyone, I'm simply asking the life-and-death question, "What about the souls of lost sinners?"
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" -Mark 8:36
The purpose of
this article I'm writing is not to criticize the Salvation Army or it's members,
but to call them back to their original purpose of winning lost souls to Jesus
Christ. I've read that 90 cents out of every dollar donated to the Salvation Army goes directly to help the less fortunate. That is truly
admirable. Helping the less fortunate is a wonderful deed, but what about
their souls? Providing hot-chocolate for fire-fighters is a great deed,
but what about their souls? Hell is real friend!
Hell is a place of fire and
horrible torment! America is going to hell in the midst of the most
charitable country on the face of this earth. How can this be? Most
so-called "Christian" organizations (including churches) have their priorities
backward. ...
