Dear friend,

If you grew up in the church like me you might have sung, “I’m in the Lord’s army.” It popped into my head the other day and goes like this: “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery, I may never shoot for the enemy, but I’m in the Lord’s army!” And of course, because it is a kid’s song, there were actions to go along with it—marching, riding, and shooting.

Now that I’ve planted this song in your head, let’s reflect on the idea of being in an army. In every army people have different roles. Among the soldiers there are tank crews, field artillery, and infantry to name a few.  

But not everyone in the army is front-line soldiers engaging in battle. There are many behind the lines supporting the soldiers. It takes an army to support the army!

There are cooks preparing food. There are drivers and pilots transporting people and supplies. There are doctors and nurses taking care of the wounded. And there are strategists and tacticians making plans. Each has a different specialty and responsibility and all are necessary to achieve the mission.

The church is like an army in that respect. Ephesians 4:11–13 tells us, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (NIV).

And 1 Corinthians 12 says all believers are given gifts and are to serve and use them “for the common good” (v.7). We’re in the Lord’s army with different abilities so that together we can accomplish our mission of taking the Gospel into the world and making disciples of Christ. We battle for the souls of men and women, boys and girls.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll has been given the gift of teaching so people can come to faith in Christ and grow in their understanding of God’s will for them. And Insight for Living Canada is here to distribute his teaching to people across Canada.

But like the army, we depend on those workers behind the lines, people like you doing the essential work of giving, praying, and encouraging. I know we can count on you to continue doing that. Together we will carry out the Lord’s mission of making disciples.

Soldiers of Christ arise,
From strength to strength go on;
  Wrestle, and fight, and pray;
Tread all the powers of darkness down,
  And win the well-fought day.

In His service,

Steve Johnson

Executive Director

PS By offering your prayers and sending your financial gift today you help equip us to soldier on in the Lord’s army.