I think Christmas can now begin. I used to be determined that December 1st and no earlier is the beginning of Christmas, when Carols can be sung and trees decorated. But now that I have done my first Salvation Army Kettle shift I have caved and decided the new start to Christmas will from now on be when Kettle's kick off.

Speaking of The War College. (great segway there eh)
We are recruiting students to come spend a year in Canada's infamous Downtown Eastside. I just accepted 4 students to our 2009-2010 year - The War Cry session - and I think we have a few spots left, apply today! www.thewarcollege.com

Speaking of War College applicants. (come on - that was a much better segway)
We have had many applicants from developing countries who are not able to afford full tuition. Perhaps you are in a position to offer assistance. Canadian donars can receive a tax receipt upon request. If you are up for establishing full or partial scholarships or would like more information, fire me off an email, nicole@thewarcollege.com.

Speaking of War College Scholarships (i am really perfecting this segway thing)
We have an Session vs. Session Alumni Scholarship Challenge going on right now. Over the next three months we Alumni have been encouraged to send some funds to establish a scholarship or two. The winning session gets the scholarship named after them.

In Frist place - Revolution Session - Grad '07
In Second place - Death and Glory - Grad '04
Tied for third - Martyrs - Grad '05, Holy ____ - Grad '06 and Incendiary - Grad '08

Stay tuned for the session vs. faculty Scholarship Challenge soon coming.

Love until it hurts - and love some more, because LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Have you ever loved some body so much it made you cry?
Okay - corny boy band songs aside, really - have you ever?

This summer I remember one of those times. I was counselling at a teen camp and one of the girls was upset. My heart was filled with compassion at her brokenness. I went over to talk to her, ask her about it, I went over to love her - and she turned around, walked away and told me to leave. My heart broke. I had so much love in me, I wanted to love on her so bad - and it was rejected.

This then intensified as we were in a full camp meeting and there the Lord revealed to me how many of his children reject him and his love. The question we were asked is, How does God see you? I wept as I would look around the room and know that God sees him as His son, and Her as His daughter and them as His Children - and see how His Children didn't know that, how it was being rejected. How the pain I felt from my friend rejecting the love I wanted to lavishly pour out, is a snippet of pain Christ must feel.

And as I wept the tears kept coming and the pain wouldn't stop. It was so painful. Yet as painful and hard as this rejection felt - it was a good place, as I felt so close to The Father's Heart, and feeling/being that close is safe and secure. I encourage you to love someone so much that it makes you cry.

Today I am wrestling through the same thing. How deep my love for someone is. And do know, that love only comes from Christ - I couldn't love and care about people the way I do on my own. And when I want to talk to her and surround her and pour into her and lift her up and love her - I am denied. And it hurts, and I want to give up, stop loving, but I can't. I can't stop. Nothing can make me stop.

And again, this is only a snippet. A molecule. Christ's love is far beyond that. His love is deep, and I pray together with all of the saints that we might be able to grasp how LONG and how HIGH and how DEEP and how WIDE His love really is. And to know that nothing, NOTHING can separate us from His love. Death cant. Life Cant. Angels cant. Demons Cant. Not powers or rulers or principalities.

Love until it hurts - and love some more, because LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Today was a chaotic day. It began at 2:30 this morning and will not end until 8am tomorrow morning. Chaotic, yet awesome. An old Corps Officer of mine wrote a book called Chaotic Order, and she opens it with this:

"Chaos is essential for establishing Divine Order. This book explores the origins, nature and implications of chaos in the world and in the Bible. Chaos is defined as an unordered state that is neither good nor bad in and of itself, but an essential pre-ingredient of creation. Chaos is a gift because it is often used by God for the overthrow of human control to establish His Divine Order in our lives and the world. What looks like chaos to us can be an element from which God chooses to create. God’s Order is distinct from human order. What looks like Chaos to us is often God’s order being established. In light of this revelation, chaos is an essential part of the creative process."

When I think of Chaotic days, I think of Danielle's book, and I don't feel as stressed out as I did, and do feel more ordered, in a chaotic sorta way.

Part of my Chaotic day, involved a very chaotic re:cre8 - yet a very great re:cre8 at that.
Re:cre8, in general, is pretty chaotic, in and of itself. In addition, though, we had a youth group from Burnaby, and a school from Edmonton join us tonight. It was loud, crowded, overwhelming, and did I mention loud?

Yet in all this chaos, and noise I was able to find peace. I reckon it was because we had an additional 18 people who bore the witness of Christ, the Prince of Peace himself. We also had people upstairs in our Prayer Room interceding for us and breaking some hard ground - that I credit the Chaotic Order too.

So while all this was happening I turned around and one of the girls from the youth group was sketching a portrait of this guy who I only know as 'Skid'. Skid is one of the harder guys who comes to re:cre8, he has natural dreads from the inability to bathe, society has written him off and he carries a spirit of rejection around with him. But when I saw her sketch him - I saw someone new and beautiful. A sense of honor, dignity and identity begot Skid. I watched as Skid saw himself being created so to speak on paper. I think he was just as amazed as I was. Imperfections were wiped out as she drew his skin so delicately and his eyes so deep. There was character and emotion in this portrait. Through this portrait, I saw Skid how The Father sees him - as His beautiful child.

more truthful then a mirror is lead
eyes on paper
like lead
are the Fathers eyes
truth in lead. lies.
a mirror produces those.
convincing it is
that reflective glass
convincing sure, but not
convincing enough.
lies. the truth will overcome
the truth will
overcome
the truth will
set you free
freedom.
lead brings freedom.
lead brings identity
like lead
are the Fathers eyes
beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I should utilize this video option more often. There will be more coming I'm sure.

This is an interview between myself and Noah White.

Also don't forget to check out the updated blogroll to the right.

I think I'm going to blog on favor and grace next - because that's one of the things the Lord's teaching me about these days.

Inspired by Sally's post from The War College blog, www.thewarcollege.blogpsot.com, I've decided to elaborate. But still read the War College blog - there is always such good things there.

She quotes "-I'm frustrated with incarnational living...my heart is screaming inside to make more connections with people- it is simply not enough to exist in this community, there's so much death outside but yet theres so much life in my heart that I need to start screaming it out!!"

It's true, it is simply NOT ENOUGH to exist in this community. I think it is good to exist in this community. I think a righteous presence is better then no presence at all. I think walking from class to home, or from home to work, or from the empress to the corner store with beautiful feet (ht: Isaiah) does something. But the fullness of incarnation comes from living and not just existing.

I found this particularly hard when I moved out of a slum hotel to where I live now. Where I live now isn't all that far from The Empress where I lived this time last year. Two blocks to be exact. I am still existing, as Sally put it, in the thick of the fight. I am still walking to and from work, and to and from the command center. Living incarnationally is something I have learned is something we need to be intentional about. I've often thought that intentional means that it is not authentic - but through authenticity found out that's not so, but rather they (the intentional things) bring accountability, availability and coverage.

Living incarnationally might look like bringing your laptop to Carnegie rather then using it at home - better yet, using the computer room. Living incarnationally might look like working out at the Carnegie's gym (which has improved since I remember it - they even have a digital treadmill so I hear) as opposed to and uptown gym. It might look like changing family doctors to one in the area, that your neighbours go to. Whatever it looks like, be intentional about it.

There's really no how to manual on living incarnationally. But it is simple. Just live. Jesus, master of this incarnational thing didn't do anything fancy, or out there, he just lived. Left the comfort of Heaven and put of flesh and dwelt among men. Christ dwelt - that's the prerequisites of incarnation I think. Dwell. Dwell in whatever front you are fighting on.

Dwelling means remaining. (ht: Miriam-Webster)

I think another prerequisite of incarnation might be leaving one place to go to another. Can you be incarnational organically? I suppose, but I think "incarnational organically" is just a 10 syllable way of saying "living fully". My friend Noah White, he's 4, I don't think is living incarnationally as much as he is living. He was born into this community, this is all he knows. I think he has the fullness of this whole thing, because he knows nothing else. But I am just processing that still. Your thoughts are encouraged, as they help me process.