I am SOOOO tired at the moment, but I just want to let all you avid readers know that I plan on blogging at some point tomorrow about the events of the weekend, so if any of y'all need a good laugh, be sure to come back and check it out...
grace,
H
The following are excerpts from a preach back in February of this year given by Pastor John Chacha
The Year of the Breakthrough -
How to Breakthrough into God's Will for Your Life
Myths and False Mindsets
Running the mile in under 4 minutes used to be a barrier, until someone broke through that barrier. At one time, no one thought it could be done, and now even kids in high school are running it.
As long as your mindset and mentality is programmed wrong, then it stands between you and your achievement, and the fullness of God's plan for your life.
Fear and the Chicken
When fear (especially fear of change) and intimidation ensnare us, we start acting like chickens.
If you're going to be a chicken, at least decide that you're not going to be a pie - that instead you're going to fly.
Try challenging your own ways of thinking and decision making. Rock your boat. Change things up. You've been timid, all tied up in yourself far too long and you will never be what you were born to be as long as you are pecking around on the ground, eyes always looking down in the dirt, with that itty bitty chicken perspective. Kick that chicken out of you! If you hold on to the chicken mentality you will end up in the oven.
Did you ever eat an eagle for Sunday dinner? No.
Have you ever had chicken?
Put your past behind you...
Allowing the past to contaminate your future is just bad programming. Reboot! Our backgrounds are designed to equip us for His calling, to bring experience in particular areas and to push us through difficult, 'tight' spots, so that when we pop out on the other side trials, we emerge with victory and authority in that area. God wants US to be the stronghold, so that when the devil looks at us he thinks; "I can't break through that."
Lack of knowledge
My people perish for lack of knowledge. What part of the newspaper do you read? What books are on your shelf? What channels do you watch on TV?
Educating yourself is key in today's world, so that you aren't brainwashed, led astray or just left behind.
In the same way, spiritually educate yourself by seeking out the will of God for your life, discovering who you are in Christ, and asking Him what He thinks about you. Have knowledge of these things, then, when anything contrary comes to you, then you can brush it off, readily disagreeing and dismissing it, because you'll know that it's not the heavenly truth about you.
Breakthrough the stronghold of ignorance. When we are ignorant of the truth about ourselves, we are poor, because the devil will come and steal what is rightfully ours, but we won't see it because we don't know what is ours.
Elisha was bound by lack of knowledge - he was a farmer and thought that was his destiny until Elijah stopped by and Elisha had a revelation - he stopped short and said 'what am I doing behind these cows?'
Immediately he began changing things in his life, because he had knowledge of his true destiny.
You know, I think that I could blog for weeks on quotes and events of weekly cell group...the young
people are so eager just to be together and have fun, it both energizes and encourages me!
Last night, Jesse and I had cell with 5 boys, aged 6-10. We ate pancakes and pudding, played games and had paper airplane launchings off the front porch. We laughed, we talked, we drank crazy, sugary, purple kool-aid.
We had a great time - which is good, because church should be a good time!
My highlight spiritually though, came out of the mouth (and heart) of Jimmie, right before we ate dinner. We were talking about why we would say 'grace' before we ate. The answers ranged from:
~God just likes it when we do that
~If we didn't it would just be rude
~We are saying thank you for the food we get to eat
~We are happy to be together
~To bless the food
But Jimmie topped them all with: 
~I think that when we pray we are meeting with God and with Jesus, and they like that.
Sounds about right to me.
grace,
Heather
At cell group on Saturday, while we were drawing pictures, one of the boys drew this (above).
He drew it because he was impacted by an event.
You see, earlier on in the afternoon, after we had shared lunch together he had been distracted by a stray cat laying outside our door in the grass. Since he loves cats, he wanted to check it out. So he and I crept carefully out the door, towards the cat.
He was the first to notice that the cat had blood coming out of its eyes, and as a sensitive little boy, he was greatly disturbed by this.
It was obvious that the cat had been in a fight with another cat, and that's where the bloody scratches had come from.
Now, to be honest, I don't love cats, (don't blame me, it's a generational thing!) but the poor little boy was distraught. Could we bring him in? Could we give him a band-aid? Could I pet him?
Yikes. Umm no, no and definetely (shudder - pet a bloody outside cat?) no.
We settled on bringing the cat a dish of milk so that it wouldn't be hungry. It was SOO funny/cute, because the little boy just would not leave that cat alone, in fact he dragged a lawn chair over so that he could sit right next to the cat and watch it eat, chatting to it in a high-pitched little boy voice.
The cat was SO not into it, and soon fled, little boy running close behind, his chubby little legs pumping as fast as they could go.
Needless to say, the cat got away.
The boy came inside to draw a picture of it all. He drew the cat. He drew the blood and he drew the dish. All self-explanatory.
Then he drew the cross.
I also noticed that he put Rob's name at the top of the paper.
"Great picture," I said, "but what does it mean?"
"That's the cross and it means love, and I love this cat and want it to get better, and I love Rob too, he's my best friend."
Theology from a 6 year old (thanks Rob)...sounds bang-on to me.
First off, props to Fiona M for being the first to comment on her chosen fast from yesterday's post...check the comments section and then why not leave your own input as well...
This morning my husband called me a grace-monger.
He meant it in a good way, so I'm pretty sure it was a compliment.
I have to admit, that the more I think about it, the more the title grows on me.
I might just put it on my business card.
(!)
grace - noun; the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God; the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them; moral strength as in, the grace to perform a duty.
monger - noun; Chiefly British; a dealer in or trader of a commodity
GraceMonger signing off...
There are a lot of jokes in the Army about the fact that we are definetely an 'eating' Army...so the idea of fasting can be a bit foreign for us on some fronts.
Except, the deal with fasting is that it's not just about not eating, it's about denying ourselves in other ways as well.
I came across this excerpt from a sermon from St. John Crysostom that challenged me, so naturally I thought I'd share it.
Read through, and hey, just for the fun of it, why not pick one (eyes, ears, hands, feet and so on) and just give it a go and fast for a day? You never know what you're capable of until you try...then drop us a comment and let us know how it went.
Do you fast?
Give me proof of it by your works.
If you see a poor man, take pity on him.
If you see a friend being honoured, do not envy her.
Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye and the ear
and the feet and the hands
and all the members of our bodies.
Let the hands fast, by being
free of avarice (definition - insatiable greed for riches; inordinate, miserly desire to gain and hoard wealth)
Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin.
Let the eyes fast, by discipling them not to glare at that
which is sinful.
Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and
gossip.
Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism.
For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fishes,
but bite and devour our brothers
and sisters?
May He who came to the world to save sinners,
strengthen us to complete the fast with humility,
have mercy on us and save us."
You don't witness pain and not share the cure
You don't behold poverty and not become poor
You don't say 'I'll pray for you' and not cry out each day
You don't say 'be a hero' without showing the way
You don't see injustice and not fight to defeatYou don't preach 'love your neighbour' without compassion on the street
You don't proclaim spiritual war and neglect the front row
You don't ask 'Whom shall He send' without saying 'I will go'
You don't exhort humility and not wash another's feet
You don't move as His body without a heart to His beat
You see their tears, you shed your own, for four full years, You've shown us Home...thank you Jesus
~A.W.W
My friend Mia, not her real name, was writing in her journal on my porch and I asked her what she liked to write about. She told me it was her journal and that she liked to write about her life. She is a recruit in one of our cell groups and one of the most talented teen-agers I have met. Her journal entry was about how she is now homeless 'cause her Mom smoked too much crack and could not pay the rent-man. She told me she keeps asking her Mom why she chooses Crack over her kids, but never gets an answer. She told me it would just be easier if she was never born, then she wouldn't be homeless and unloved. Mia is 15 and in grade 10, a straight A student and in love with animals, her dream is to be a Vet. Today when she went to her Mothers boyfriends house she just got yelled at, she was told that she was a s--t and that she was pregnant, that she was going to end up just like her Mom. She sat there crying saying, Im not, I do not do those things, Im even a virgin, but no one will believe me.
Mia has been staying partly with her Aunt and partly at our girls War College dorm, where she is being discipled and loved, and I know that's enough, that Jesus is enough, but what scars are put there by a mother who curses her daughter with death. Mia is saved, she is in love with Godly community and worship and Jesus. And that is amazing.
The hard part is that Mia may only be around for a short time, weeks or months. Can there be enough seeds planted in 6 months to carry her through the next 6 years ?
Yes God can, he has imperishable seeds, ones that last forever ! It still hurts watching them grow through thorns of death. I hate what God hates more and more.
Come LORD Jesus come.
This has been a great week for me, I have been able to hang out with folks from all different facets of The Salvation Army in Charlotte - DHQ, Area Command, the Corps and our 'hood and it's been great. We're all building the Kingdom together - we're winning the world for Jesus starting in Charlotte, NC.
We've also had many opportunities around our community to help others and encourage them. It's not rocket science, trust me. You can do stuff like this wherever you're at, too. It's like Mother Teresa said:
"If you cannot feed 100 people, then feed just one."
So for real, it's not rocket science. It's an overflow. This whole love in action thing is pretty easy to do once you get started and then, before you know it, you're looking for opportunities to give your stuff away, and share whatever's left with the people around you.
It's ministry, but there's more to it - we're captivated. We're preoccupied with loving others. We're committed to praying for them and being active in their lives, even when it's messy.
"I will rise now, and go about the city; In the streets and in the squares,I will seek the one I love.” Song of Songs 3:2 KJV
We're searching for Jesus in the face of every snotty-nosed,dirty faced, potty-mouthed, hungry, hurting little kid and adult.
He's here. Come and see for yourself...
Last night we had a bunch of folks over at our house to study the Word, hang out and share about how our day went. We were just getting into the groove of things when we heard three shots fired outside. It's been a while since we'd heard any gunfire action, so it caused a bit of a stir among us. Even more so when we realized that Jaime was out there by herself so Travis and I walked over to the cluster of houses to locate Jaime and make sure that she was safe. It was an eerie atmosphere, with people creeping about all over the place, sticking to the shadows or predatorily moving across lawns, passing under the streetlights. Something was going on, somebody was settling up with someone else about who knows what.
I stopped when we got to Jaime and Jesse's house, Travis crossed the road to the community house, to check for Jaime there. When no one answered my knock, I turned around to survey the situation. Next door, the neighbors had had their car windows shot out. The owner of the vehicle was pretty ticked off, he didn't live at the house, his sister and her son did. I heard his sister's voice from within the house, yelling at her son to hurry up and get his shoes on before 'they' come back around. I sat down on the porch to see what would happen next. Four people came bustin' out of the house at a frantic pace. the little boy was hurrying to keep up with his mom and aunties. They were leaving quick, off to find a safer place to pass the night. I asked the woman, Is there anything we can do? Do you need us to take him (the boy) for the night? She said no, that he was fine with his auntie, and that there was nothing we could do...it was a helpless feeling for me indeed.
At that point, Travis returned from the community house where Jaime was - she had assumed that the shots were firecrackers and hadn't paid them no mind.
As Travis and I were standing there, assessing the damage, we heard sirens, and before we could disappear ourselves, two patrol cars came screeching onto the court. One slowed down and began a steady search with the searchlight through the bushes while the other sped to the end of the court to begin his search there. We felt that was a good time to take off, lest we be stopped for questioning...
This morning, on my way to class at the community house, I stopped to get a good look at the shot-out car. Bullets had passed through the side and rear windows of the vehicle. Anyone who had been in the driver's seat or rear of the vehicle would have been hit, likely fatally. I could see where the bullet exited the rear of the vehicle, and, I'm sure if I'd had the time I could've poked around on the ground and found the casings, or maybe even the bullets.
Now, none of this is news to me. I get that bullets are fired, stuff gets hit, damage is done. And yet, for some reason, the reality of the situation hit home to me. The gunman had to have been standing in the shadows between the two houses because of the bullet's angles of entry and exit through the vehicle. He wouldn't have hit anyone in the house, but he could've hit either of the neighbor's houses.
We have all sorts of kids wandering around in little packs throughout the neighborhood after dark - anywhere from age 8-15. He could've hit kids. I've often heard of kids being victims of drive-by shootings, gang warfare, etc. but never really understood how a kid would get in the way of live gunfire. After giving the events of last night some thought, I realized that the kid doesn't even have to be IN the way, because people shoot guns off in all sorts of random directions.
It makes me really really angry. One of my little friends shot at,injured, killed over drugs, territory, cheating spouses, money...one less little face at the corps on Sunday. One less little face asking for a freezie or jumping up for a hug.
Not only that, but when I think about the little boy, 8 years old, in his pyjamas hurrying away from his house at 8:30 at night, fleeing in the dark because someone is shooting at them, i could go right off the chain - because that same little boy should be in bed. He should feel safe. He should be getting rested up for school tomorrow. But he's not. Yet this morning he was still expected to be at school like the other kids, focused like the other kids, prepared like the other kids. But how can he?
How does he stand a chance at having a normal, healthy life when he's never experienced anything remotely like that?
Yesterday at church the Lord gave me a very special gift.
You see, we've had the opportunity to bring young people (2yrs-15yrs) to one of the corps here for youth church every Sunday morning. Yesterday we arrived a bit early, and the kids got to play outside on the practically brand new superduper playground next to building. This was a really big deal, because in our neighborhood, there are no parks, no climbers, no swings or anywhere that's designed just for kids to play safely.
ANYways, the most popular playground piece was the monkeybar climber, and there was a long line of kids wating for their turn to swing from rung to rung. It's fun to watch each one maneouvre across, but the blessing was in Geoffrey. He started at the far end, but, obviously only a novice to monkeybar climber immediately committed monkeybar climber suicide - he stopped on his second rung in and just hung there. Now, anyone who has ever attempted this gymnastic feat KNOWS that as soon as you stop, all the strength seeps from your arms, your body feels like it weighs a ton and your hands get all sweaty and threaten to let go. The probability of starting up again from that point and completing the event sways devastatingly low. Geoffrey hung in the balance.
All of his peers were watching him, ready to judge his coolness and acceptance based on this performance.
His face fell.
Then, someone from the crowd yelled out
"c'mon Geoffrey! You can do it!"Others followed with similar cheers, and before I knew it, Geoffrey, buoyed by the cries from his friends kicked back into gear. He made it two rings further when his endurance began to flag. His inital standstill had taken its toll and his face showed the strain and the anguish. Travis came up behind him and began to speak words of confidence and perspective
"You're almost there! You're so close, keep going Geoffrey!"His face was actually contorted now. Travis had two arms around his legs absorbing some of his body weight, sharing his burden in order that he might attain his goal. The crowd was absolutely frenetic at this point - was he going to make it? Would he give up and let go?
Check out
ififtyeight.com
They are focusing on The invisible Children this month. They are a group of young people from around the Salvation Army world who have resolved to push against injustice, lets push with them.
In recent days we are seeing peace and reconciliation prevail more than ever in North Uganda and Sudan. We must press in and pray. God surely does not require our prayers but he will use them. In Uganda the LRA ( Lords Resistance Army ) has kidnapped 20,000 children who face an initiation of murdering their parents and then going to war. Their sisters are brought along as sex slaves and when they are considered undesirable then they are given guns to fight too. It is not possible to be there in the physical right now but if you pray for the children of Uganda every day some will be saved from death and rape.
Go to ififtyeight.com and do something.
Check out this link from BBCWorldservice on Night Commuters,
who the Church calls invisable Children
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_night_commuters/html/1.stm
Our first two War College students have arrived and are acclamating well. Many ask, " what is The War College about? "
You may have heard of The Salvation Army's bold foray into radical battle schooling. The War College has been created to train this generation's warriors to win the world for Jesus. Why should you invest a year of your life at The War College, in Charlotte, North Carolina? Reasons abound:
Teaching. You will learn from some of the best leaders in The Salvation Army. People like General Eva Burrows, Michael Collins, Captain Danielle Strickland, Colonel Earl Robinson and Major Jamie Braund bring proven expertise to Salvation Army warfare.
Content. You will be immersed in essential subjects for warfare success, such as extreme holiness, warfare operations, spiritual disciplines, extreme prophetic, spiritual accountability, social justice, and apostolic leadership. You will receive the course content required for success in the future wars to which God appoints you.
Training. You will be trained by successful Salvation Army leaders in evangelism, discipleship, intercession, the prophetic and other spiritual gifts, servanthood, cell multiplication, preaching, warfare worship and more. You will find yourself in the thick of the fight, right on front lines. You will also be deployed for four months to another Salvation Army unit for further experience.
Community. You will live in close quarters with other slum brothers and sisters (the noble calling of many early Salvationists), manifesting a righteous standard and authentic Christian community to a hungry neighbourhood. This experience will prove to be a sanctifying process.
Location. Charlotte, is one of the world's most liveable cities. North Carolina's beauty is renowned.But that's not all. You will live in Charlotte's poorest zip code, right in the thick of the fight. This is our best answer to General Booth's dream of hanging cadets over hell for a fortnight.
Win The World. God is raising up The War College to train this generation's warriors to win the world for Jesus. The spiritual synergy of the experience will spin off dynamic ministries and warfare on fronts around the world. Warfare that will transform cities and people groups and nations. Compare that to your alternative of post-bachelor degree, entry-level office work or your fourth year undergrad.
Wagner Affiliation. The War College is affiliated with the Wagner Leadership Institute (WLI) and phase 2 students can qualify for post-secondary diplomas. This is a bonus to students wanting to continue their study beyond The War College toward associate, bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees.
Calling. God's call on your life is the best reason. Maybe you hear Him specifically calling you to come. Maybe you're not sure but you figure that you'll need some of this stuff for the calling you know He has given you. Check out thewarcollege.com pages for more information and an online application.
On Sunday we brought back some kids to find that their Mother was not in yet so decided to take them for the drive to return a 15 passenger van that we use on Sundays. On our way home we decided to stop at our local Pilot truck stop for a slurpee. I went in with two young kids and we grabbed our treats and went to cash out. While we were paying the cashier asked if I had adopted these little kids, obviously I wasn't their natural father due to skin colour, and one of the little boys said " nope, he's The Salvation Army, you know our pastor." The lady responded by mentioning how nice it was that I came and spent time with these kids here in this neighborhood. I did not respond with the whole explanation of incarnational ministry and how my wife and I actually live next door to these kids ect. I had my own personal blessing though, knowing that I was not going to just go drop off these kids, San Quan, Aleah and Cameron and go home but we were going home together.
Back in the 80's it was real popular to do " Parachute Ministry " where you would go drop in on a poor part of town and hang out for a little while, there just was not a big emphasis on staying. Jesus clearly models the "no ditch" rule, in fact he models the " ditch the rich " rule. He had no problem going for diner at a rich guys house, or sitting next to the Jones' at church, but he had it right see he would parachute in on the well off and then go home to his friends. Often he would recruit there, or teach and love, but we all know his explanation on how he did not come for those who were well etcetera.
Moral of the story. Kids love slurpie's.
Oh and don't sell everything you own and give the money to the poor; pack it up and move in with them.
Doing Justice don't always feel good.
The Judges that God appointed to rule over the Israelites really were protectors and shepherds with a great deal of responsibility. They took their job personally, they did not separate themselves from their mission. Seriously think of Deborah going to war or Gideon deciding to take on the Midianites after receiving confirmation through a dream. God actually commanded Gideon to cut back his troops to 300 (Judges 7) imagine 300 guys against an army of thousands. God told Gideon he did not want the men to take credit for the victory, God wanted the Glory. Hallelujah !
I wonder if we can apply this to our current situations, maybe God is asking us to take on the enemy even though we seemingly don't have enough resources to win. Maybe he wants it that way so that when victory comes we can only point to him as the reason for our accomplishments.
It is so easy to hold back with so many reasons ...
Not enough money.
Not enough soldiers.
Not enough volunteers.
But I wonder what God could do if we just stepped out even when it seems hopeless in the physical relying totally on the supernatural.
Now there is a key here. IM not saying to just run into everything ill prepared, the key is listening and discerning Gods timing. See Gideons victory was not just in stepping out in faith but doing so in the fullness of Gods timing. If he had of went too soon or too late he may have suffered a grave defeat. Gideon had ears to hear what " The Spirit " was saying. The other key was that he acted on it. He did not put the decision to a committee vote, he acted on Gods charge.
How do we hear God in these days ?
Are we open to hearing God through dreams and visions ?
Will you act on Gods charge even against natural opposition ?
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 ?
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
