Welcome to the Victory Blog

For the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about How to Think About & Handle Money. Thus far, we’ve talked about shifting our values, having the right vision and seeking wisdom. The idea is that we need to make the shift from being consumers to being stewards.

If you’ve been coming to Victory for a while, you know that one of our core values has always been to steward the money that we receive in such a way that we can give outside this church to make a difference in the world.

It’s clear in Jesus’ teachings on money that He wants us to capture the essence of having a giving heart. I realize we all come from different backgrounds concerning money, and much of our thinking has been formed by our circumstances. However, at some point, when one decides to become a true Christian, one of the greatest signs is in the area of giving. So. as a means of encouragement, and to help anyone who is struggling in this area, I want to share from my heart seven reasons Why I Give:

1. I give because I want to demonstrate a THANKFUL HEART to God at all times. When I began to study the Bible, I noticed how the Israelites were constantly forgetting what God had done for them; turning to idols because of ungrateful hearts. From this, I realized that my heart is affected by what I do with money!
2. I give because I want to demonstrate a FULL SURRENDER to the God I serve. I’ve made my decision, I want to give full control to Christ.
3. I give because I made a COVENANT with God and the people of this LOCAL CHURCH. I learned a long time ago that God functions with a covenant mentality. Rather than be a covenant breaker, I decided to live with a covenant mentality; and this is true in marriage, serving. giving, etc.
4. I give in order to POSITION myself for God’s BLESSINGS AND PROTECTION. I’m very mindful of the promise of scripture. Read Malachi 3:8-10. Regardless of how tough times may get, I’m fully convinced that as long as I remain faithful to God in giving, He will take care of me – and not just financially, but also in health, protection, favor, etc.
5. I give because I really believe in the VISION of our CHURCH. From time to time, Colleen and I will ride past the daycare where we first met as a church and reflect. I love the fact that:
   • We are doing things to bless the community (Norcross Co-Op, transitional housing, paying people’s bills, etc.)
   • Marriages heading for divorce get turned around
   • People are set free from drugs, alcohol and depression
   • People with serious illnesses are healed
   • Young people are inspired to live for God
   • Entire families are transformed
   • Over 100 nations gather every week
   • New churches are planted
   • We support missions projects all over the world
   • Every week something is happening with the money I give that makes a difference in eternity!
6. I give because I want to be an EXAMPLE to my CHILD. Over the years, my daughter Lauren has been able to share in our giving model.
7. I give so that someday I will hear the COMMENDATION of the one I love: “WELL DONE!” I’ve had to sort out over my life what I’m living for.

If you’re one who already tithes and gives faithfully, I congratulate you. You’re operating under the blessing and promises of God. If you’re someone who has struggled in this area, let me challenge you to put your full trust in God and put him to the test in this, even as he has invited us to do. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Listen to or watch this message online here.

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of welcoming Pastor Jeff Hidden from Victory North in Kennesaw to speak in our services. His message was dynamic, encouraging and empowering, and challenged us all to make a switch in the way we think about money from the world’s way of thinking to Kingdom Thinking. If you were there, you know what I’m talking about when I say that he took us through a major paradigm shift from anxiety to hope. If you missed it (or even if you didn’t), and you want to be encouraged and learn how to experience God’s provision, you should listen to or watch this message online today! For now, here are a few of the key things Jeff said to whet your appetite:

Read Matthew 6:31-33

There’s a world’s way of thinking about things – it’s all about going after more things, more money. God says, instead, to think about going after his kingdom first and his righteousness – then all you need will be given taken care of.

We don’t seek God in order to get the things. Rather, we seek his way of doing things, which means we will renew our minds, and begin making new decisions based on God’s kingdom. If we want to live long and prosper in kingdom success, we have to think and operate within the kingdom way of doing things. To the degree we have kingdom thinking we will have God’s kind of Kingdom success. We’ve got to start thinking different.

God wants to give us wisdom in order for us to walk in His provision and success.

If God provides wisdom and the power to obtain wealth and have good success, why do we pray for the money, or the job, or other things?

God provides for us as we grow in the wisdom and power he gives us.

We should be praying for wisdom, not the treasure.

God is not going to cancel our debts; he’s going to give us the wisdom and ability to cancel our own debt. We get into debt by not acting wisely…we get out of debt by acting wisely.

The key to living in God’s provision is listening to Jesus and following His wisdom.

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the future, but with God, there’s a real certainty. We really have to learn to trust God completely with every area of our lives, especially our finances. Granted, with everything that’s going on, it’s not the easiest thing to do these days. For most of us, our culture and our circumstances are screaming for us to take matters into our own hands and try to take care of ourselves and our future. In our society, that means getting more stuff. Everywhere we look, we get the message of the world’s materialism.

Yet, Jesus taught us not to let our lives be consumed with getting more stuff or storing up earthly treasures, but rather, to work toward storing up treasure in Heaven. (Read Matthew 6:19-24) This teaching is the very centerpiece of Jesus’ most famous and important teaching, called The Sermon on the Mount.

It’s interesting that right in the middle of teaching about money, Jesus starts talking about our eyes, or in other words, our vision. Some have been confused by this seemingly out of place interjection of an entirely different subject, but the truth is that Jesus never stopped talking about money. You see, vision is such an important part of understanding how to handle your finances. Our entire life is affected by our vision – how we see the future, our treasures, our family, our job, etc.

Many of us, especially when we’re young, tend to get distracted by seeking after more money…then we get off onto the wrong track, not God’s track for our lives, and it brings a lot of hardship and pain. So many people are struggling along the wrong path because they don’t know that God has a path for them – and they stay in the dark for the rest of their lives.

God wants to care for us, to provide for all our needs, to give us everything we need to fulfill the purpose for which he created us. God wants us to get out of the cycle of poverty and debt – and to the place where you don’t have to have the help of others, but are able to help others. We have to get to the place of vision. God never intended for us to pursue money.

So, how do we get from the place of always pursuing money to where money is always there when we need it? We need to understand these three principles of living by a vision from God:

1. The Principle of First – We have to make the shift from earning a living to receiving a living. In God’s economy, if we put him first in everything we do, HE WILL take care of us! That means in EVERY area – in our relationships, in our time and in our finances.
2. The Principle of Goals – The reason a lot of people never succeed in life is because they have no goals. If we have no goals, we’ll surely hit them. Just remember, success is not measured by what we have, but by the goals we achieve.
3. The Principle of Focus – Once we start down the path of giving and getting debt free, it is so important that we stay focused in order to stay on target.

Want to learn more about living by this Vision? Listen to or watch the message I gave this past weekend here.

Of all the subjects to talk about in church that make people get all tightened up inside, money has got to be at the top. But, God has quite a bit to say about it in the Bible. In fact, it’s one of the most frequently mentioned topics. So, for the next few weeks, I want to talk about money, not from the world’s view, but from God’s, that is, from the viewpoint of stewardship.

We live in an incredibly materialistic culture. Our economy is steeped in a cycle of fear, worry, greed, spending, debt, wanting, envy and selfishness…anything but the peace God has offered us. Clearly, something is wrong with the world’s economy that we’ve been operating under. As we read the Bible, we find that God has an economy that’s altogether different from the world’s economy. His economy is based on trust…trust in him and his word…that what he says he will do is what we will do. But learning to trust God completely is one of the biggest challenges we face. It goes against our culture, and it goes against our old sinful nature. God wants to bless us and provide for us, but we’ve got to make a value shift from the materialism of the world’s economy to the faith and trust of God’s.

You’ll know if you’ve made this value shift when:

1. You shift from worry to peace. Although we typically struggle a lot with peace during hard economic times, God never intended for us to worry over finances. The bottom line is that we worry way too much. When we worry, we’re practicing atheism. We need to get to the place where we trust him, believing that He’ll take care of us and our family. We put too much stock in our own human abilities to provide for ourselves rather than trusting God to do it. God wants us to trust him. The Lord is our provider. He will provide for you! God can bring water out of rocks, bread out of heaven, IF we just stop worrying and trust him.
2. You shift from wanting more to contentment. We need to simplify our lives more than we do. We don’t need everything, the latest, the best, etc. We need to stop believing the blaring messages of our culture that tell us what we “have to have” and that we need more, more, more, and we need it yesterday. We must learn to be content, trusting that God will give us good gifts and everything we need.
3. You shift from selfishness to generosity. A person under control of money has no joy in giving. In America today, the biggest givers by percentage are those who make the least. If you read the New Testament carefully, you’ll see that every time Jesus addresses rich people, it’s with a warning or a challenge – not because he disapproved of wealth, but because wealth can be a huge stumbling block to trusting God. It’s not the amount of money you give, but rather, the percentage. It’s all about sacrifice. King David said he would never give anything to God that didn’t cost him something.

Listen to or watch the message on this topic online here.

In this final message of  our Parables Series, my wife, Colleen, brought a powerful and stirring message about preparedness taken from Jesus’ parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 25. In this parable we meet five wise and five foolish virgins, all with lamps filled with oil awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. Unfortunately for the foolish, who didn’t bring extra oil for their lamps, the bridegroom’s arrival is delayed. As the evening progresses into night, the five wise virgins continue to await the arrival of the bridegroom with eager anticipation while the foolish fall asleep. Inevitably, the bridegroom arrives and all ten rise to trim their lamps and prepare to light his way, but only five have enough oil. As the foolish head off to purchase more oil, the wise accompany the bridegroom into the wedding feast. When the foolish arrive back to the feast, they are not let in and the bridegroom responds to their pleas with, “…I don’t know you.” What a tragic ending for the foolish virgins, if only they’d prepared themselves.

What about you and I? Are we ready for the midnight call? On the day that the Lord arrives, will we find ourselves prepared and accompanying Him into the wedding feast, or pleading with Him to let us in even though our lamps were without oil? 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 shines a light on where many believers are in this hour, “You know very well that then the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people say, “Everything is safe and sound!” destruction will suddenly strike them. It will be as sudden as labor pains come to a pregnant woman. They won’t be able to escape.” Many today are living in a false state of security, comfortable with ‘grace’, relying on someone else’s faith to ‘get them by’, and generally believing that the gates of heaven are wide enough to let everyone in – forgetting that Jesus warned that the way is narrow and few will enter through it.

Are you prepared for the Lord’s return? Is your life one of faithful, pure devotion or are you relying on someone else’s faith and just hoping it’s enough to ‘get you by’? We have to evaluate our lives and our relationships with Jesus, asking ourselves the hard question – are we more like the foolish or are we more like the wise? The wise were prepared for the darkness, kept enough oil to last in the event of the bridegroom’s delay and refused to get complacent and sleep because the recognized that His arrival was imminent and didn’t want to be caught off guard.

I encourage you, if you’ve not listened to this message, do so now. You can’t afford not to.

To view on video click HERE.

To listen only, click HERE.

This past weekend, it was great to have one of our Executive Pastors, Olin Holly, give the message in our services. He brought a profound word on wisdom based on the first parable Jesus ever gave us: The Wise and Foolish Builders. Jesus shows us the basic principle we are to live by in this parable to make certain we are living wise. Here’s the way Olin broke it down:

Jesus’ early ministry was characterized by teaching, preaching and healing of all kinds of diseases and performing incredible miracles. Multitudes followed him, and so he went on a mountain and taught them. An important thing to note was that when Jesus finished teaching, He gave us his very first parable:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Luke 6:47-49 ESV)

Why did Jesus choose this particular illustration? To relate and connect with the people. They understood heavy winds and rains and knew that anyone would be foolish to build their house on the sand. Basically Jesus was saying, “Yes, you are right. And by the way—you would be just as foolish as that man who built his house upon the sand if you do not obey my words.”

The best thing I can do is obey what Jesus says; the most foolish thing I can do is ignore what Jesus says! So then, the people had to go back and think about what He said when he taught them.

In his message, Olin went on to discuss how some of Jesus key points are relevant to us today, including the topics of anger and murder, lust and adultery, loving our enemies and storing up treasures. His words were challenging and right on. If you haven’t already, let me encourage you to listen to or watch this message here. It will definitely build up your spirit and challenge you in your walk with Christ!

This past weekend, my wife Colleen brought a very moving word about God’s unrelenting love, forgiveness and reconciliation. If you missed it, you’ve got to hear it – listen to or watch it here. For now, here’s a bit of what she said to whet your appetite:

We all have a craving that goes much deeper than cravings for simpler things like food…it’s to be wanted, to be liked by someone else. We crave the sense of being wanted – I don’t mean in a sexual sense, but in the sense of knowing that we’re loved, accepted and valued for who we are. That’s something we all need, yet most of us didn’t grow up with it.

I wonder if you’re aware with an acute sense how much God wants you? If we could get that down in our hearts, it would radically transform our lives. But so many of us don’t get that. So, instead, we seek to fill that deep craving with all kinds of other things – food, sex, pornography, drugs, alcohol, music, Internet, Facebook or any number of other things. We look to the things the world claims will fill that need…but they don’t. They only distract us from what we really need and then heap on shame and guilt to try to keep us running from God.

Jesus talked about this in a story that he told about a wealthy father and his two sons. This story is known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son and can be found in Luke 15:11-32.

In this story, the younger son is disrespectful and unloving to his father, rebellious, selfishly motivated, prideful, foolish and wasteful. Yet in the end, he is confident in his father’s heart to treat him kindly.

The older son, while giving the outward appearance of being the “good son” is actually hypocritical, cynical, selfish and prideful. He thought love was something that was earned. He had no more love for the father than did the younger son.

Neither son truly understood the love and acceptance of their father. They represent us, and our two main responses to God, before we begin to understand his love. They are flipsides of the same coin – rebellion or religion – both are mankind’s broken responses to our complete underestimation of God’s love and acceptance.

The father in Jesus’ story was out there looking for and expecting his son – when his son finally returned, he recognized him a long way off. He didn’t wait at the door, but ran to him (how undignified!), sparing his son further shame, refusing to banish him as would have been customary, but instead, welcoming him with an outpouring of affection and reconciliation…and then a huge party. What a response!

Yet, should we be so shocked by the Father’s overjoyed reception of his son, considering that is the way God views us – not as despicable heathens but lost sons? This level of celebration makes sense when you consider that the ultimate purpose for Jesus leaving Heaven to come to earth was that this restoration and millions more just like it occur throughout the earth on a regular basis.

This is how much God, our heavenly father, longs for us, looks for us to return. His first response is compassion – even beyond what is reasonable. He is selfless, humble, willing to do anything to get his children back, unrelenting in his love, so focused on restoration that nothing else matters. He doesn’t even question about the past, but forgives over and over again!

Our Fusion Pastor, Johnson Bowie, knocked it out of the park this weekend as he opened our new series, PARABLES, with a great message about forgiveness. This is something we all need to be reminded of regularly. It is one of the most essential parts of living a “kingdom” life. Why? Because we all have to deal with offense just about every day. Here’s a bit of what he said:

You are going to get offended! People will give you the opportunity to get offended all the time. That seems especially true in church…especially in Victory! We have way too many races and cultures and languages and funky people in here that you will not get offended. On any given Sunday there are thousands of people who don’t go to church because they are offended.

But we have to realize that a MAJOR plan of Satan is to get us offended at individuals in the church and then to react by breaking community, because then we’re all alone…easy to pick off…sitting ducks for sin and powerless in this life because there’s power in community. The trap of the enemy is isolation. When we refuse to forgive it breaks community with people, it gives a place for sickness in our lives and it breaks community with God.

But forgiveness isn’t easy. Where in the world does the power to forgive come from? The power to forgive comes from our own forgiveness. Those who have been forgiven much must go and forgive much. The forgiven must forgive because they’re forgiven. We had a debt that we absolutely could not pay. We were hopeless and we couldn’t reach out high enough to reach God, so He reached down to us. And Jesus came and He hung on a cross for us, forever dispelling the myth that forgiveness is cheap or easy. If you find yourself getting offended or judgmental towards others often…maybe it’s time you re-calculate your spiritual debt towards God.

Please listen; I’m not minimizing what has happened to some of you. Some of you have been through HORRIBLE things. People have done some absolutely horrible things to you. You have been through a lot. I’m not MINIMIZING that. But what I am MAXIMIZING is what you and I have done to God over and over again. And Jesus looks us square in the eyes and says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like this… and He forgives us… now go and do likewise.”

At last I understood: in the final analysis, forgiveness is an act of faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out. I leave in God’s hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy. – Phillip Yancey

Is there someone who you need to forgive? Is there someone who you haven’t talked to in a long time because of what they did? Is there someone who you avoid like the plague, you won’t sit beside, or get angry when you think about? Is there someone whom you are waiting for a confession from before you offer forgiveness? You must forgive them. You can start by praying this prayer:

God, I forgive _________ for what they did. I release them from any debt they owe me. I release any anger and any revenge in my heart… and (maybe the hardest part) I BLESS them in the name of Jesus.

You’ve got to hear the rest of this message, including practical and godly wisdom on how to handle offense when it comes; watch or listen to it online here.

Here’s a powerful video about forgiveness:

This past weekend, I invited our 212º Youth Pastor, Rolando Gonzalez, to close out our One Prayer: Unstoppable teaching series. As many of us have heard, God has really been pouring out his Spirit in the 212º services and I wanted him to share some of what’s been going on with the rest of the church. He did so with a great message about the Unstoppable Kingdom. Here are a few of his key points that we all need to hear and receive into our hearts:

• The Lord enjoys spending time with us; he wants to spend time with us.
• God has a plan and if we can get out of His way ‘great things’ will happen for His glory.
• God is a lot happier and more joyful than we usually think he is
• In his presence is joy
• A lot of the things of God are pretty simple; they start getting complex when we try to take them apart, try to explain them
• God has set things in place and in motion and nothing can stop him
• His kingdom is who he is – meaning that God is not standing away just watching, but he’s currently active in his kingdom – Jesus is involved with his kingdom
• We know that God is everywhere, but sometimes it’s like He is more in one place than others; this “more” of God is His glory or presence
• His presence is what makes the unusual usual
• We were made to function in God’s glory, in his presence
• The Holy Spirit loves to bring revelation of the Father’s love and reveal Jesus Christ to us
• When the Spirit comes, He brings the unstoppable kingdom

If you want to experience God’s amazing presence and power as a part of his unstoppable kingdom, I urge you to listen to or watch the rest of Rolando’s message and then surrender completely to the Holy Spirit. You will definitely be encouraged. And, don’t miss the powerful collection of testimonies on the video that he played during service. I’m going to include it here as well. God is on the move. As we unite together with him, we are and will be unstoppable!

A lot of people don’t understand the purpose of the church. They think it’s a place to go and visit on weekends. But actually, that has very little to do with it. Clearly, all the people who have suffered and/or died, even still today, because they were a part of the Church, did so for something much greater than a once a week religious obligation or spectacle! In fact, we see something that is so powerful, so unstoppable that every wave of persecution, even in the present, has not only failed to destroy it, but has instead strengthened it and caused unparalleled expansion.

God’s Church is unstoppable. It continues on and on, growing stronger and stronger every day. And, it is made up of many smaller bodies of believers – individual churches like Victory – that are unstoppable. What makes them that way? Well, every unstoppable church exhibits the following characteristics:

1. The people are fully committed to the mission of the church. What is the mission of the church? Some would say that it’s to feed Christians. Actually, the role of the Church is to equip believers for the work of the ministry. The unstoppable church isn’t about what makes each of us feel good, but about taking part in God’s mission. Despite what our culture would teach us to expect, the church is not about “me”; it’s about the mission – what we can do together with each of us doing our part (not just sitting in a chair). “Going to church” doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a ballgame makes you a player. It’s not about just hearing a good message. Rather, it’s what you do with what you hear. Are we takers only, or participants? We’re not supposed to be spectators, we’re all supposed to be players. When you get a group of people who are all out on the field, the church is unstoppable.

2. The people live under the authority of God’s Word. When we commit to the Word, our lives change. We begin to see that His Word works and ours does not. Read it before you pass judgment on it. When you get a group of people who elevate the Word over their own reasoning, they become unstoppable.

3. The people are willing to sacrifice for the sake of others. This is certainly counter-cultural. Almost everything we hear and see on TV, online, at the movies, etc., is all about getting more, having more fun, being more comfortable or “enjoying” life more fully…it’s all about us…self-focused. But, if we want to be unstoppable, we have to start looking out for the needs of others above our own comfort. You see, it is when the church is least like the world that it has the most power. Just as Jesus laid his rights, his glory, his riches, etc., so also must we. Let us also be willing to give of our time, our resources, our skills and our giftings for the sake of others. Imagine what it would be like if all of us started living that way – sacrificially? Truly, we would be unstoppable.

You can listen to, watch or download the message I preached about this last weekend here.