Welcome to the Victory Blog

This past weekend, we were so pleased to have guest speaker Bishop Harry Jackson, Sr. Pastor of Hope Christian Church in Washington D.C. and founder of High Impact Leadership Coalition. He brought a stirring and timely message that I’d like to recap here.

In case you haven’t noticed, we seem to be having a meltdown - politically, economically, morally, etc. We’re in a real crisis time and we don’t like it. Most of us just want everything to be nice and easy. Some of us need to get off of easy street and join the battle that’s already raging. Something more important is at stake than our comfort zones.

You see, God wants to take us through a process of transformation…but it’s not easy. In fact, it usually requires some degree of struggle. Yet, when we get into a time of crisis, usually all we can think about is how badly we want out. We just cry out, “Oh, God! Get me out of this trouble!” But God is not about just getting us out of difficulty. He wants to use our crises to transformation us. Yes, God does want to bring us out of these problems, but he wants to do so by changing us, transforming us. He doesn’t want us to be defined by our “issues.” He wants to take us beyond them into the increasing glory of the purposes he has designed for us.

God has a prophetic destiny for every generation and every individual, but sometimes we miss these callings because we need to be transformed. We, the church in America, are in that place right now. We are so divided in so many ways - particularly along racial lines - and this hinders the accomplishment of God’s purposes for us. God wants to do something in the area of reconciliation - a real transformation, anextreme makeover, if you will. Think about it: if we were transformed and began strategically evangelizing, reaching across cultural barriers, we could end racism in America in one decade. (Let me note: The diversity that is represented at Victory is a prime example and is essential to the work of reconciliation that God wants to do through the church in America.)

So, we need to get an extreme makeover - to go through a major transformation process. In order to do this, there are four stages we go must go through, four types of grace that we need to rely on.

First, we need Survival Grace - This is for times of crisis, like when you only have enough time to say “Jesus” right before a car wreck…and you survive…and it’s amazing that you’re still alive. This is God demonstrating that his hand is on you. In these times, instead of despairing about what has been destroyed, we have to understand that God is doing something.

Next, there’s Visionary Grace. In this stage, God uses the crisis to tamper with our inner vision, desires, hopes and dreams. The old ones have to be dashed; they are often the flesh or the enemy. They are really false hopes and God has to break us free from these things because they limit our faith. He wants to take us beyond our limitations, to do above and beyond all that we have asked or imagined. So, he breaks us out of our current hopes, expectations and visions (ours are just not big enough for the abundance that he wants to pour out) and expands our capacity. He uses the season of trial to stretch our box.

Thirdly, we need Transitional Grace. Because old wine skins can’t take new wine, God has to make us ready. Sometimes, at the beginning of a transition things seem to be going the opposite of where their supposed to go. That’s because we don’t know how to operate in the new realm yet. We need a transitional time to learn how.

Finally, we need Establishment Grace. As we move into the new realm, God begins to say “touch this/don’t touch that.” It’s about getting our priorities straight. We have to ask ourselves, “Is God first?” and “Do I trust him?” God is going to give us a new way of operating in this new realm. As we step into the fullness of the new realm of transformation, this grace will produce the ability to bring tremendous reconciliation along racial and other lines and so impact our nation as never before.

I urge you, if you are going through a time of crisis, understand that it is an opportunity to get a hold these graces and be transformed by God as he moves you into a whole new realm. Don’t resist the process; embrace it and the One who is at work in the midst of it. Let him give you an Extreme Makeover.