Where are you LORD

I have been broken lately.

I am having trouble trying to find God at church. I see him everyday in the dark places, he crys out to me from behind hungry eyes, he sings to me through the crys of the dying and forgotten; but in searching for him upon the decorated platforms and padded pews I have found only traces and memories. There are people there, they know him, they love him, they say they want him there, but I don't know how to believe them anymore. Christ has become offensive to them and Father religion gives them security and posterity. There is more of a concern that someone may lean on a mercy seat than there is for their soul.

I was saved in filth

I was discipled in the filth

I have tried to bring others from the filth ... But no one wants them, at church.

I will return to the filth were Jesus sits waiting. He isn't welcome in the buildings of man I have recently visited, he isn't really wanted. The cost of welcoming him in is too great, too risky.

God is not dead, are you ?

Do everything without grumbling or complaining.

I attended a conference months ago, and took scrupulous notes. Those of you who know me will be shocked, I'm sure.

Funny thing about my note-taking though, is that I go to such lengths to get it all down, and then I close my notebook and forget to look at it again. Haha. So, in order to remind myself of what the Lord has been teaching me over these last months, I've been digging back into the HeatherWrighteous gold mine. Enough drama. Here's what I came up with:

"One of the most effective lies of the enemy towards the leaders of the Church today is this, that you, as you are right now you are really not acceptable, Jesus is only really tolerating you because somewhere along the way you might change but in His heart of hearts He is profoundly disappointed in you.

Lord, we need to feel Your Holy Spirit bring upon us the reality of Your affection for us - despite immaturity, weakness and sin. Let us feel Your affection for us, Just As We Are."

~Jack Deere

Worth writing down, eh?

~Heather

God is good. Indeed.

The last few days have been a time of sabbath for those of us kickin' around here. We farewelled our summer service corps missioners at the end of July, and our Australian comrades flew back to finish the home stretch at The War College in Vancouver on Monday. So at the moment, it's Travis, Jaime, Rob and me.

Fr me it has definetely been a season of schooling. Not only is God teaching me stuff, but I am learning from those around me as well. Particularly, that God can soften any hard place in my heart. Guaranteed, if He wants too.

So here's the deal - there's a blog back in early March where I alluded to an incident of us calling 911 because one of our neighbourhood boys was being beaten by his stepfather. It was really traumatic for me, because these kids are all really dear and I feel very protective over them, especially since they're usually the ones getting a raw deal.

Anyways, there was a bit of a showdown, we've spent a lot of time with these kids and I have developed very strong opinions of this 'stepfather'. Violent. Crack-smoking. Prostite-employing. Stealing. Intimidating. Lying. Cheating. Aaargh.

Has anything about this guy's behaviour changed in the past 6 months?

Nooo...

So what's the difference? Relationship. Due to a strange twist of circumstances, we ended up taking care of this guy's dog. She's a great dog, don't get me wrong, but this is definetely not how I saw this whole story panning out. This guy comes to visit the dog. Helps me out any way he can. Calls me Miss Heather. If anyone in the neighbourhood gives me a hard time - even looks at me sideways, and this guy will 'take care of it'. He often speaks with tears and regret over his life and his circumstances. Homeless. Broke. Full-on AIDS. Estranged family. No dog. Today, through tears, he called Rob and I his brother and his sister - the only family that he's got.

That all made me very uncomfortable. I had already figured this guy out. I had decided that I didn't like him, and due to his actions (especially towards my little friends) and didn't have to like him.

Yet, look what God has gone and done...He has made relationship.

"...WHOSOEVER will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17b

Do you want a REVOLUTION?

The War College - Revolution session begins September 2006. Consider handing over twelve months of your life to the Living God, serving his closest friends, the poor, deep in the ghetto...

Applications are available online for the 2006/07 session of The War College and I challenge you to apply NOW while you have the chance.

In Charlotte, the trappings of luxury are eerily juxtaposed with homelessness, cycles of social poverty, victimhood and violence. What an excellent location to invest a year of your life in training and fighting the Holy War!


You'll spend nine months in the class room and on the street, before a three month deployment elsewhere in North America.



check it out - www.thewarcollege.com, apply today!

A friend of ours was surfing the net and came across this interesting tool, check it out at: http://bangor.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm

Basically, it compares crime rates in America's cities.

Did you know that Charlotte outranks New York city for crimes per capita?
http://bangor.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=Charlotte&s1=NC&c2=New+York&s2=NY

hmm...

grace,
Heather