To mark the TENTH anniversary of the very first GttA podcast in July 2013 this is the first of a very special 4-part series of podcasts featuring music from each decade of the Army's existence right up to the present day. The Salvation Army began - as The Christian MIssion - in 1865 when William Booth preached outside The Blind Beggar pub in Whitec…

'The Salvation Meeting' makes its return this Sunday after my summer break. It returns with something, by necessity, a little different from a 'normal' meeting. The 90 minute 'special' has been specially written and recorded to be broadcast the evening before the funeral of our late Queen Elizabeth II and takes the form of a 'Heavenward-looking Vig…

For the last meeting prepared before I take my summer break (I'll be back in September!) I found my inspiration after seeing a question asked in a Salvation Army forum online: What is a Salvation Meeting? In these days when most corps only have one service on a Sunday it seems strange to some to imagine we once had at least 3 indoor meetings, Sunda…

"Send the Fire!" What must it have been like to have been in that room...that day...on that occasion when the sound of a mighty wind brought tongues of flame to settle on each person's head? And then to have gone out into the streets with the followers of Jesus as each man heard the message in his own language - as the sheer POWER of the Holy Spiri…

"I've had enough!!" "Stop the world, I wanna get off!" Heard these expressions? Maybe you've said them? Life can sometimes seem like a trial - one thing after another, problems piling up... Peter gives us reassurance in his first epistle: "So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here." Of cour…

Never has there been a more maligned animal than the poor old donkey! Forever seen as slow, grumpy and - in the words of GK Chesterton "The devil's walking parody of all four-footed things." But, as the general once wrote "In the service of Jesus there's a place for all" and oh yes, our donkey had his day! There's a lot more to the story than you m…

While in every way this is a 'traditional' Salvation Meeting in every other way I decided to use exclusively the music of General John Larsson, recently Promoted to Glory. While choosing the music for meeting - songs, choruses, band piece, songster and singing company songs - I tried to keep away from the many songs the General wrote for the many m…

The meeting is titled "A Prayer for Peace" and we will be lifting up the situation in Ukraine to God in the very best Salvation Army way. Music from the International Staff Band and Songsters, Sunbury Junior Singers, Canadian Staff Band, Portsmouth Citadel Songsters and much more... Music from composers including Eric Ball, Ray Steadman-Allen, Kenn…

There can be no doubt about it! God HAS blessed The Salvation Army over the 157 years of its existence. He still blesses our ministry today - in well over 130 countries all around the world. Hallelujah! But, there can be no denying it, the membership/soldiery of the Army has declined to numbers well below those we remember in years gone by. Should …

To mark St David's Day there is a distinctly Welsh flavour to the meeting this evening. Some of the very greatest hymn tunes ever and some beautiful traditional Welsh melodies including 'David of the White Rock', Suo Gan and Gwahoddiad. Musical items from Cardiff Canton Band and Singing Company, Morriston Corps and soprano soloist Joy Naylor. All w…

When David wrote Psalm 51 he seemed to be asking for a New Testament forgiveness - hundreds of years before it became a 'thing'! Ashamed and horrified by his sinful behaviour he opened his heart to God and begged to be given another chance. According to Jewish Law, the only way he could achieve this was through making a sacrifice, a burnt offering …

This week's meeting is based on a 2 word phrase that God spoke to me a few years ago - so clearly it may as well have been though my hi-fi speakers: TRUST ME Simple? Well, not as simple as it sounds...but great advice all the same! But it's a message not just for us as individuals - I BELIEVE IT'S ALSO A MESSAGE FOR THE CHURCH - as we step out into…

This week's Meeting for Fortress Radio - the 52nd in my series - has a very special guest speaker - Capt Nicholas J. Samuel - CO at the London (Ontario) Corps in Canada. You may know his name also as a well-known SA composer of band and songster music. He reads from and speaks about Judges 2 - with insight about a wandering people and their relatio…

Tired of the same old promises to change? Still biting your nails? Not losing weight...again? The world needs more from Christians than trivial changes like these - it needs us to create a REVOLUTION! If ever this world needed the knowledge of its loving Saviour, Jesus Christ then it needs is right now - it needs the PEACE of Christ, the LOVE of Ch…

The theme for the meeting tonight proclaims Jesus as 'The Light of the World'. At this time of Advent I am always made acutely aware of the aptness of Joy Webb';s beautiful song 'Come Into Our World'. Yes, of course it is really HIS world but, as the song alludes 'men have forgotten Him and how to pray'. Certainly, if EVER this dark world needed a …

"Going to the Army!" is a podcast series featuring Salvation Army music. This 39th Episode is for November 2021 and continues the "Going to the Army!" ministry, which is now in its 8th year of broadcasting. This time we have the first part of a 2 episode 'special' using the music of American composers and recognizing the wonderful contribution they…

A theme question for the meeting tonight may well be something along the lines of ‘Are You Weary’? It’s that time of year again, isn’t it? Half way between our summer holidays and Christmas, the weather - in the UK, at least, is turning colder and most of us have resorted to putting our heating on - at home and in our Army Halls, the trees have tur…

It's been a while, friends. It is only now I am feeling so much better that I can look back and appreciate quite how poorly I had become in the late spring/early summer this year. It is WONDERFUL to feel better and also to be back producing these meetings. This meeting I described as a 'Salvation Army Extravaganza' - and it's theme is the Universal…

Welcome to a very special Praise and Testimony meeting prepared for Fortress Radio. This is the 47th meeting prepared and presented by Marc Harry since the Covid pandemic began over a year ago. Some great hymns and songs, Salvation Army choruses, band, songster and singing company items and even more - including words of personal witness, bible rea…

Ascension! For the 46th in my series of Salvation Meetings for Fortress Radio. I am delighted to welcome my old friend Lt Col. Ced Hills who speaks on the subject of the Ascension. The meeting is a bit of a 'Portsmouth Citadel Reunion'. Ced sat next to me on the euphonium section at Portsmouth when he was our CO a decade or so ago and we became goo…

The 45th in the series of Salvation Meetings I have prepared for Fortress Radio sees a rare (for me) departure into the Old Testament and one of the great prophets - Ezekiel and his vision of the Mega-Temple. I was led to quote earlier in my preparations: "Discussing Ezekiel's everso vivid prophecies with burning chariots and spinning wheels and dr…

Dare To Be a........Thomas? The disciple Thomas sometimes gets a bit of a rough ride, I think. His reputation and legacy seems to be based on nothing but his 'doubting' - and hence his name has been used for millennia as the epitome of scepticism! Join me for the Salvation Meeting on Fortress Radio where we look at so much more that we can learn fr…

This Easter Day Salvation Meeting is very much a celebration of the Risen Christ - and it's great to be able to welcome Colonel Phil Maxwell (who delivers the sermon), his wife Deslea who also speaks and my friend Matt Woods as well. When Col Maxwell sent a vocal solo to accompany his message he got Matt's name slightly wrong (Mark instead of Matt)…

'Meditative Music and Readings for a Holy Day' There is, for today, a BRAND NEW episode of the "Going to the Army!" podcast - especially for Good Friday. This is not a 'normal' GttA episode but a complete 'act of worship' - subtitled a: 'Meditative Music and Readings for a Holy Day' the 2 hour programme I have prepared with the help of the wonderfu…

STRESS...WORRY...CARES....ANXIETIES... Symptoms of life that we just have to live with in 2021? Or is there a solution? Peter gives us the answer in the last Chapter of his First Epistle - and comes up with 'one of the best verses in the whole bible'! This week's Salvation Meeting - the 42nd meeting I have produced since the start of the pandemic a…

'Suffering for being a Christian' This week's meeting is the the 41st Salvation Meeting in the current series on Fortress Radio We continue our look at the first epistle of Peter, reaching chapter 4 and the portion headed 'Suffering for being a Christian'. Our guest speaker for the meeting is Major Estelle Blake - who has worked extensively for The…

This week's SALVATION MEETING for Fortress Radio is the 40th in the series I have prepared since the first lockdown almost a year ago. This time we take a look at part of 1 Peter ch 3 and try to apply the advice there to our lives at this specific time. Major Estelle Blake opens in prayer, there is a fine testimony from SL Paul Dale (one of my olde…

"My time, matey, not yours!" - is what God told me very clearly earlier this week as I was growing impatient for inspiration! This is the 39th meeting I have prepared for FORTRESS RADIO since the Covid lockdowns began in March 2020 This meeting is the third in the series based on the 1st Epistle of Peter - this time -chapter 2. How can we best be '…

BE HOLY (but you don't have to be a hero) Welcome to another hour of Salvation Army worship - featuring the International Staff Band and Songsters, Santa Ana Singing Company, Barbara Allen, and even my old friend Roger Marsh! This is the 2nd meeting in the series in which we examine the 1st Epistle of Peter... We are told to 'BE HOLY'. God doesn't …

Doom and Gloom If a month has five Sundays then the 5th will always be a good old Salvation Army praise meeting - yes the kind you might remember from your childhood and younger days - often accompanied, if you recall, with indigestion caused by rushing down a full roast dinner in the hour you might have managed to get at home between morning and a…

"Which Way are YOU Going?" This Salvation Meeting - the 35th in the series I have produced for Fortress Radio since the Covid-19 Pandemic struck in March 2020 - is all about walking our life's pathways with Jesus. Do you walk with Him? Talk with Him? There are many times when it is difficult for all of us - and many of us have been directly affecte…

Salvation Meeting (34) for Fortress Radio "Jesus - our Foundation" This meeting, the 34th in the series I have prepared for Fortress Radio since March 2020, the start of the Covid pandemic, is centred around i Corinthians ch 3 - in which the Apostle Paul exhorts the younf church in Corinth to stop bickering about trivialities and ensure they build …

"Epiphany" One of my friends posted this week that he likes to 'linger a little longer at the manger' at Christmas each year. Well, today is only '10 Lords a Leaping' day, I think - so our first Salvation Meeting of 2021 this evening has a distinctly 'Epiphany' theme - and the terms 'Worship and Adoration' would make a suitable title for the meetin…

Welcome to the Fortress Radio/Going to the Army Carol Service 2020 I am delighted to invite you to join with the listeners from Fortress Radio to tonight's 'meeting' - the 32nd Sunday Evening Service I have been privileged to record and share with you since March 2020. The world this year has changed so very much - but God's Love for the world He m…

Salvation Meeting (31) - 13th December 2020 (Advent 3) This meeting, the 31st in the series produced for Fortress Radio in 2020, marks the 3rd Sunday of Advent. In a world that needs Jesus more than ever before Christians are praying for the world to turn to its Saviour as we prepare to celebrate His birth. The meeting has some great Salvation Army…

Praise and Salvation Meeting (29) - 29th November 2020 This is my latest meeting produced for Fortress Radio - the 29th such meeting I've been privileged to make this year. This week's PRAISE and TESTIMONY meeting includes an enjoyable mix of band, songster and singing company music, some grand songs and a quite remarkable testimony and solo from K…

Tonight's Salvation Meeting for Fortress Radio is all about TRUST. This, the 28th meeting in the series that I have prepared most weeks since lockdown began in March 2020. God is using this online ministry in ways I - and many others - could never have imagined and I count it both a great privilege and responsibility to have this opportunity and to…

Remembrance Sunday - Prayer Tonight's meeting for Fortress Radio has a dual focus - Praying, particularly for Peace in the world and we also mark Remembrance Day, of course. As usual, plenty of great songs/hymns and items from the ISB, Portsmouth Citade Songsters, Worthing Singing Company and the Southern Territorial Songsters as well as the voices…

I Want to Live Right! This week's Salvation Meeting (the 26th in the series!) for Fortress Radio is largely based on the old chorus 'I Want to Live Right'. Some great Army and church songs & hymns; Kettering Citadel Band and Hendon Songsters, the East London Youth Chorus, Jude Gotrich and US (South) contemporary group 'Transmission' priovide musica…

Gowans and Larsson Special This week's Salvation Meeting - the 25th in the series of meetings prepared since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic - uses songs and other music written by (or based on songs by) Generals John Gowans and John Larsson. Young composer/officer John Larsson was teamed with another poet/officer John Gowans in the 1960s to …

"Going to the Army!" is a podcast series featuring Salvation Army music. This 37th Episode is for October 2020 and continues the "Going to the Army!" ministry, which is now in its 7th year of broadcasting. My sincere apologies to any listeners who may think the GttA podcast has taken a bit of a 'back seat' this year as I have found and been develop…

Always Shine For Him This week's Salvation Meeting - the 24th in the series of meetings prepared since the start of the Caronavirus Pandemic - has a rather 'celebratory' feel about it. we are celebrating LOVE - not just the wonderful, life-changing love of God for us but also various aspects of our own 'human love'. This week our family has marked …

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 4th October, 2020. It's the SIMPLEST thing in the whole world! Receiving Salvation! Just say to Jesus "I love You. I trust you." Objective achieved. Yet, we seem to overcomplicate everything...the old acronym was K I S S - Keep It Simple, St…

Harvest Festival - Songs of Praise Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 20th September, 2020. This week's service is part of a day of celebration on Fortress Radio marking the Harvest Festival - as we thank God for all His goodness to us throughout the year It features music by…

CONQUERING DEATH! Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 13th September, 2020. This week's service continues the short series of meetings based on the miracles of Jesus - this week - Conquering Death (The Widow of Nain) It features music by the International Staff Band, The Inter…

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 6th September, 2020. This week's service continues the short series of meetings based on the miracles of Jesus - this week - Stilling the Storm It features music by the Wellington Citadel Band, The Amsterdam Staff Band, The International Sta…

This week's 19th Salvation Meeting for Fortress Radio. Continuing the series on Jesus' miracles tonight we look at the healing of the leper and 2 blind men - and at what may seem a strange instruction to the healed men! As usual, the chance to hear some great SA music and sing along with some great hymns/songs!…

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 9th August, 2020. This week's service marks the start of a short series of meetings based on the miracles of Jesus - this week - Water into Wine It features music by the Mont Clair, and The Bristol Easton Band, The International Staff Songst…

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, PRAISE, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 2nd August, 2020. This week - in response to requests from listeners we are enjoying a good Salvation Army Praise Meeting - such as we used to enjoy on a Sunday between our roast dinners and granny's great Sunday tea! It features mus…

Welcome to another hour of fellowship, worship, music and bible teaching as heard on Fortress Radio - Sunday 26th July, 2020. The theme of this week's service is 'Banners Floating High! It features music by the Melbourne Staff Band, and The Norfolk Fellowship Band, The Agincourt Temple Songsters and The Hammond Family Band, The Boscombe Singing Com…