{"id":1219,"date":"2014-12-11T01:34:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T01:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/2014\/12\/11\/red-kettles\/"},"modified":"2014-12-11T01:34:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-11T01:34:00","slug":"red-kettles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinshipradio.org\/home\/red-kettles\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Kettles"},"content":{"rendered":"

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All across America, one of the most common sights of the Christmas season is people standing next to red kettles ringing bells. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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I used to enjoy hearing my change clink in one of those kettles as I exited a store at Christmas time. But  <\/span>as we convert to a cashless society, I find my bank card doesn\u2019t generate loose change.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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We\u2019re all familiar with the Salvation Army, but a couple of paragraphs in David Jeremiah\u2019s book, \u201cSigns of Life\u201d <\/i>intrigued me into doing some research on this Christian organization that is so visible at Christmas.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Founded in 1865 in London, England, by William Booth and his wife, Catherine, it was originally called the East London Christian Mission. Booth was a Methodist minister but his insistence on preaching to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the destitute on the streets of London rather than from behind a pulpit led to disagreements with mainline church leaders and a split with the church.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Additionally, many churches did not accept Booth’s followers because of their past. Undeterred, Booth challenged those Jesus had pulled from the pit to save others like themselves. Soon, they too were preaching and singing in the streets as a living testimony to the power of God.<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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From its inception, the Salvation Army drew controversy. Pub owners, who found their business falling off as alcoholics and other \u201cfrequenters of public houses\u201d were converted, formed the \u201cSkeleton Army\u201d which disrupted Salvation Army meetings by throwing rocks, bones, rats, tar, and other debris  <\/span>at members.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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In fact, the bonnet designed for women by Catherine Booth in the early days of the Salvation Army was designed to deflect projectiles like these as the ladies ministered in high-risk areas of London.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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The familiar Salvation Army brass bands were originally formed by a father and his three sons to protect William Booth from attacks by hooligans. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Historian E. H. McKinley wrote that Booth\u2019s concept of the Salvation Army was for \u201cwife-beaters, cheats and bullies, prostitutes, boys who had stolen the family food money, unfaithful husbands, burglars, and teamsters who had been cruel to their horses.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Apparently, there was no shortage of \u201cthose people\u201d at the time as 250,000 came to Jesus through the Salvation Army between 1881 and 1885. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Today, the Salvation Army operates in over 125 countries and provides services in 175 different languages. It has over 1.1 million soldiers and 4.5 million volunteers. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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It is one the world\u2019s largest social aid organizations in the world with 2004 operating costs in excess of $2.6 billion. It is the second largest charity in the United States and helps more than 32 million people in the United States per year. (That\u2019s just over 10% of the population.)<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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The Salvation Army has been instrumental in relief and aid for both natural and man-made disasters for over a century. They are often the first organization on the scene of a disaster.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Since 1885, it has operated a tracing service to help find missing loved ones. It has missions to help veterans, prisoners, the elderly, the homeless, the hungry, to combat human trafficking, to offer youth camps, to help with Christmas gifts, and to free people from addictions.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Oh, and the tradition of those red kettles goes back to 1891 when Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee was at a loss as to how to fund a Christmas dinner for 1,000 of San Francisco\u2019s poor.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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I think Christmas might be just a little merrier if I were to stop by the bank and pick up a roll of quarters.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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Today\u2019s Praise<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

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God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things\u2014and the things that are not\u2014to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. I<\/span><\/span>t is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God\u2014that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: \u201cLet the one who boasts boast in the Lord.\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:28-31 NIV)<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

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