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The War College isn't just a place
you 'go'
by
Heather Dolby
"I've come to realize that The War College isn't just a
place its a people
- and I'm taking The War College to everyone I meet!"
S. Tarter
I love this
quote, because in 2003 when I arrived in Vancouver, I
discovered that The War College really wasn't a place - in
fact, it's never had a food court, lecture halls, stadiums or
student societies - the campus was the street and that's where
I 'got schooled'. The faculty were brothers and sisters in
Christ who modeled maturity, devotion and love. I call them
family because we plowed the fields of the Downtown Eastside
shoulder to shoulder every day and every night.
No retreating, hell defeating! It was in those hours that we
learned Scriptural truths and what they mean in everyday life.
"The fellowship is in the fight!" we'd always say - and we
meant it. We loved one another deep-spiritedly. Holy Spirit
bound us together and we are still bound today. Holy
Hallelujah indeed.
We lived radically - as material minimalists, cash-poor, in
the sketchy side of town. Our doors were always open to the
stranger, the alien and the outcast, and we did not love our
lives so much as to shrink from death.
The War College isn't a place you can 'go' - It's a people
group you become. It's an Army. It's a family. It's a host of
enlisted women and men, bound to the Cross of Christ, finely
tuned to the timbre of Holy Spirit, committed to taking the
Narrow Way and soberly counting the cost of following the One
who saved our lives.
The War College is about Kingdom seeds being sown into the
fertile soil of the believer and producing a crop yielding a
hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown - over months and
especially years afterwards.
Even when my time at The War College was over - I never really
left, because all that has been planted in me is now mine, and
I'm taking it everywhere I go and letting that fruit spill
over into the lives of those I meet.
Emerging from this internal reservoir are these pearls of
practical wisdom that I gleaned from my time in The War
College:
People Are Rarely What They Seem
Labels are for the lazy. "That prostitute" is really my friend
Mary, "that drug dealer" is Juan, "that transvestite" is
Laurel and "that crazy guy that pees himself" is my friend
Michael. There are folks in your neighborhood that could be
your friends too. It's always easier to glance over a person's
appearance/behavior/circumstance and categorize them rather
than spending time learning names, drinking coffee together
and striking up conversation about your journey and their
journey and finding points of connection and commonality. It's
the harder thing (awkward, time-consuming, sacrificial) but
hey, it's what Jesus did, so there you go. Besides - when was
the last time you were labelled rather than get a chance to
share who you really are inside and what you're about? It
stinks, right? Look beyond the exterior. Give someone a chance
to reveal to you who they really are - the beauty and the
brokenness.
Remembering A Name Bestows Dignity (and makes friends)
I love meeting people. I also love remembering people. Early
on, as I met more people than I could reasonably remember
their names/locations/situations, I quickly began to ask God
for help as well as enlisting the 'post-it system'. Here's how
it played out. After arriving home from a day of being out and
about in the neighborhood and meeting people, I'd write their
name on a post-it note (Traci) along with where I had met them
(at the Stanley hotel) what came up in conversation (used to
live in Toronto) and a distinguishing feature to help her
stand out in my memory (has a pet rat living in her hoodie).
Pretty soon the wall of my room was covered in yellow sticky
paper, as I walked through my community I could greet folks by
name. I still use this tool to get to know people. To me,
remembering a name bestows dignity. It says "You are worth
remembering, and I value you." Friendship soon follows if you
keep at it. I can testify that on my most recent visit to
Vancouver, (6 years after graduating from The War College) the
first day I set foot in the neighborhood I recognized and
greeted "Roger. Corner of Main & Hastings. War Veteran. Has
one-arm and carries a fishing pole."
Comparisons Are Lethal (you'll shoot your eye out)
One of the foxiest schemes the devil uses in my life is
comparisons - My giftings to yours. My opportunities to yours.
My stuff to your stuff. My recognition and reputation to
yours. At the end of the day I start wishing I was more like
you! Falling into this slimy pit breeds inferiority,
self-doubt and eventually, I become paralyzed. I'm serious - I
can't accomplish anything because I'm so afraid to fail. So I
stop trying. At all. At that point, I'm no good to anyone and
I spend my time creeping on facebook all day constantly
refreshing my page to see what other people are doing and
saying. If I can nip that thinking in the bud and take those
wicked thoughts captive to Christ Jesus then I can appreciate
the good stuff in you and celebrate the good stuff in me and
not only live out the calling I have received but live up to
what I have already attained. Trust me - comparisons are
lethal - we waste time, energy and brainspace getting caught
up in measuring ourselves against one another (coming up short
every time). You'll poke your eye out. Please, don't learn the
hard way. Comparisons are lethal.
Reality Is Rewarding But Escapism Is Easier
You know what? Ministry is hard work. Even when I'm anointed
and walking in my calling - really getting to know people, and
allowing others to get to know me, it can be heartbreaking,
exhausting, frustrating and discouraging. Building the Kingdom
brings beauty along with brokenness. There is a strong
temptation to "check out" at the end of a day, to come home
and watch tv, hang out online, read meaningless novels, and
take facebook quizzes like "what 80's rock band are you?" All
of these activities numb my brain and lock the activities,
conversations and drama of the day on the outside of my
conscious mind. I escape. What's wrong with that? Welllll...when
I engage in escapism I fail to acknowledge how all of the
brokenness and stress, etc. are weighing on my mind and heart
and spirit. Instead, it builds up like ice on my windshield in
Winnipeg in winter. Have you ever tried to chip that off? Lord
Jesus have mercy. If I just let that stuff pile up, I'll start
feeling heavy all the time, depressed and next thing you know,
I'm having breakdowns and maybe even on medication or leaving
ministry altogether. No...turn off laptop Heather, I need to
get with my Father and download where I'm at on my insides. I
consider it 'daily maintenance', and it's a process and a
discipline. Pray it out. Weep. Ask questions. Intercede and
unload. God loves that stuff. It doesn't mean that I never go
see movies or surf online - but when I do, I'm not avoiding
stuff that needs to be dealt with.
Busy, busy, busy till He Comes Back! (yikes)
It's easy to unwittingly adopt an life of 'busyness' if I'm
not careful. A schedule that is heavy on meetings, programs,
and planning with family time, housework and facebook (!)
plugged into all the spare moments leaves me running around
like a chicken with its head cut off. What gets choked out in
a life like that? I'll tell you - it's quality solitude time
with The Word, the Trinity, myself. My strategy? I need to be
ruthless with my time, and jealously guard what I have
intentionally set aside for the Lord. In those moments, I'm
listening to what He has to say (both the rhema and the logos
Word) and what His expectations are. Then I'll know what I
ought to be doing the rest of the time-the activities that I
was created to do, that fulfill my calling and bring about
Kingdom Advance. I also know what I can say a firm "No" to -
because maybe it's someone else's calling, not the 'God
timing' for it, or doesn't amount to a hill of beans in the
Heavenlies. So the bottom line? I believe in hard work, puttin'
my hand to the plow and not turning back, but I also want to
be about my Father's business. Don't you?
At The End Of The Day, Jesus Will Always Know (and so will
I)
I esteem to set the bar high and just be holy. Not because I'm
trying to win a holiness contest, but because it Just. Feels.
Good. When I'm with Jesus and the Father and the whole host of
Heaven on the Day of Judgement and we're going over the
details of my life and how I handled myself and treated
others, how I spent my time and my talents and how I brought
the Good News into the world around me, I want there to be as
few instances as possible where I missed the mark. I'm talking
about the times when my thoughts about people or decisions are
just plain miserable. The words that I've spread about others
that were gossipy, petty or just plain untrue. When I've made
others feel small or betrayed. Then there are my actions in
the Name of Jesus Christ - am I powered by love, gratitude and
a passion for souls? Or am I running on guilt, obligation,
what others will think of me and building my own reputation?
Sometimes, I just have to stop myself and say "girl, don't you
dare let Love leak out".
In the end, "everything is uncovered and laid bare before the
eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:13) At
the end of the day, Jesus will always know the truth and He
will judge the thoughts and intentions of my heart. I want to
be filled to the brim with Love.
"The Army is so thoroughly organized and disciplined, so
wrought into the life of nations, so fortified with valuable
properties, and on such a sound financial basis, that it is
not likely to perish as an organization, but it will become a
spiritually dead thing if love leaks out. Love is the life of
the Army." Samuel Logan Brengle
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