General Paul A. Rader (ret.) & Commissioner Kay F. Rader with the leaders and delegates of the 2018 Holiness Symposium

Theme: Holiness and Mission
Special Guests:  General Paul A. Rader (ret.) and Commissioner Kay F Rader

I recently had the privilege to sit under the teaching and ministry of General Paul A. Rader and Commissioner Kay F. Rader at the Holiness and Mission: Holiness Symposium for Officers. I stepped back to my Commissioning day as I saw General Paul A. Rader and Commissioner Kay F. Rader step out of the elevator at the Crestview Conference Center, for our first evening together. As I looked at them I thought so much has happened in their lives in those 22 years and so much has happened in my life as well!

The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident at every gathering whether a meal, a cup of coffee, praise and worship or in the deep waters of teaching.

That first night felt like gathering around the family fireplace. The Patriarch of our Spiritual family opened up the family history books and reminded us of the fundamental truths found in the Word of God and imbedded in our Salvation Army Songbook. The songs in our Songbook enshrine Holiness Doctrinal Values that we need not and ought not to leave behind.

The General wasted no time and went deep right away!  He shared these ten thoughts to get us started. They are too good not to share.

10 Theses as to why HOLINESS- its Pursuit and Practice Must Hold Priority in our Salvation Army Agenda

• Holiness is critical to the credibility of our message and, indeed, our survival as an Army.
  
• Holiness is God’s desire and design for His people.
  
• We need to be as good a people think we are.
  
• Something better awaits those who seek until they find.
  
• It is a matter of accountability for the treasure entrusted to us in the Gospel of Holiness.
  
• It is essential to our mission.
  
• It is at the heart of our mission and message of full salvation from sinning and from sin.
  
• It is the holy heart that releases the aroma of Christ.
  
• Neglecting this truth has dire and potentially damning consequences.
  
• Is our salvation and the salvation of others at stake in our response to God’s call and command to be holy?

I was especially blessed by the testimony of Commissioner Kay Rader. To hear her speak of going through her own struggles of unsolved conflicts, unrest and uncertainty surrounding her calling, her circumstances, her situations. She could relate to the daughter of the great missionary C.T. Studd, who said of herself that she was “a reluctant Missionary” in her early days of serving in Korea.

The pivotal moment came when she realized the high price of emptying herself of self. In the words of Oswald Chambers “The breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus.” Commissioners words were,” Lord, this is it!”  Doubt, disbelief and disobedience were gone.Commissioner shared very personally that until the surrender took place God could not fully use her in that place. Once she did- He did!

Sustain and Surrender. These words encapsulated the message I received through the teaching and ministry of the General and the Commissioner. As a child of God and an Officer called by and covenanted with God, there is an intentionality necessary in sustaining, my holiness experience. There is intentionality necessary in maintaining holiness in the mission of The Salvation Army.  Keeping ourselves in the presence and pursuit of the Holy Spirit. A spirit of surrender in relationship to the Lord will extend through my Mission as I continue to give myself to God fully and completely.

My circumstances and situations in life may change but Holiness and the Mission is still the same- Save Souls and stay sanctified in the process!

I was challenged and encouraged. My calling and my covenant are just as relevant and sacred today as they were all those years ago. My circumstances and situations in life may change but Holiness and the Mission is still the same- Save Souls and stay sanctified in the process!

written by Major Valerie K. Kahn, Corps Officer, Trenton, NJ