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by Lourdes Griffith Captain –
The United Children’s Choir dressed in the colors of the Army flag perform. |
More than 1,000 officers, soldiers and Salvation Army friends gathered at the Los Angeles Central Corps for the second territorial Latino Rally. In attendance were special guests General John Larsson and Commissioner Freda Larsson, along with Commissioners W. Todd and Carol Bassett, Commissioner Linda Bond, and Lt. Colonels Donald and Debora Bell.
The meeting opened with music from the United Band, conducted by Divisional Music Director Kevin Larsson and with praise and worship led by the team from the Santa Ana, Calif., Temple. The audience was surprised and pleased when Commissioner Freda Larsson greeted them in Spanish.
Next the United Children’s Choir marched in—the line seemed endless as a total of 102 children occupied the stage.
During the offertory, the General delighted the audience with his piano playing of variations of the chorus, “This is the Day.”
When she introduced Larsson, Bond remarked that there was no better place to end a tour of the West than the Latino Rally.
The General shared his message in Spanish, having learned the language in his youth in Chile and Argentina and having served in Chile for several years. He called it “the language of heaven,” and encouraged his fellow officers to learn it, “just in case.”
Stating, “It’s good to see that there is a revival here,” Larsson reminded his listeners of the motto on the Army flag—Blood and Fire—calling all to live in the fire of the Holy Spirit. He said, “If the fire is not burning in our lives, it won’t purify, or cleanse us.”
How can we rekindle the fire? Larsson recalled an early experience, when, as a lieutenant, he had to turn on the fire in a temple chimney. His first try produced only smoke. Then he noticed the chimney was full of ashes. When he removed the ashes, the fire burned beautifully. This is what we need to do in our lives—we need to remove the ashes of bad relationships, remembering that how we treat others is how we treat Jesus. And we need to remove the ashes of disobedience, like when we sing, “yes, Lord,” but our heart continues to say “no, Lord,” or when God gives us spiritual gifts but we don’t use them.
The General gave his altar call with the question: “How can the fire burn when we are saying, ‘no, Lord’?” There are ashes that we must remove in order for the fire of the Spirit to burn strongly within us. More than 100 people responded to the call. Larsson prayed and led worship singing while people were at the altar.
The Latino Rally concluded with music by the Latino Divisional Choir and a grand finale by the United Children’s Choir, who wore Army colors of red and yellow.