Welcome to the Victory Blog

For the last several weeks, we’ve been talking about how there’s a war going on, a War of the Worlds. It began at the very foundation of time. A war broke out in Heaven as Satan sought to exalt himself above God, and he was cast down from heaven to earth along with the angels who followed him. Since then, he has continued to make war against God and His creation.

Mankind’s first encounter with Satan was in the Garden of Eden, when he disguised himself as a serpent and deceived Eve so that she and Adam ate the forbidden fruit. In this, sin entered the world and the authority over the earth, which God had given to mankind, was handed over to the devil. For many millennia after that, Satan reigned in the earth and wreaking tremendous havoc until Jesus came, died on the cross, descended to Hell, defeated Satan, redeemed mankind, took the authority over the earth back from Satan and rose again. Then he gave His authority to the Church so that we could demonstrate His victory in the earth and bring it to full manifestation.

Despite being beaten, however, Satan has continued to wage war, trying to keep us from realizing Christ’s victory. And, we have learned over the preceding weeks, that if we want to walk in victory, we need to put on the whole Armor of God (Eph. 6:9-18): the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Shoes of Peace, the Shield of Faith and the Helmet of Salvation. And, we need to take up the weapons God has given us to bring the battle to the enemy: first, Prayer, which Johnson discussed last week, and then the final piece, which I’d like to talk about today, the Sword of the Spirit.

Simply put, the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, and not just the written Word, but specifically the spoken Word. This weapon is available to every person that understands who God is. It is sharp and powerful, more so than any other words we could ever speak.
We need to speak the Word out to every situation we’re in.
This is how we attack the enemy.

Why must we speak the Word? Well, the Bible says that:

1. Words have creative power. (Mark 11:23)
2. Words have the power to bless and curse. (James 3:9-10)
3. Our life is a reflection of how we handle words. (Proverbs 18:21)
4. God holds us accountable for our words. (Matthew 12:36-37)

Clearly, the words we speak are of great significance. In fact, the more we read what Scripture has to say about words, the more it becomes obvious that we need to get our tongues under control. Whenever we open our mouths and speak, we need to consider what kind of words we’re speaking. Are they just human words, i.e., everyday words used to communicate facts, feelings, etc.; demonic words, i.e., those which curse and destroy us and others; or God’s words, i.e., those that are powerful to bless, create and conquer?

It’s time that we stop looking at our circumstances and speaking demonic words about them. Instead, we need to start meditating on God’s Word and speaking His Word to our circumstances. It is more powerful that what we feel and think. It’s more powerful than any attack of our enemy. Let’s not just sit back anymore. Let’s rise up, take the Sword of the Spirit and do some major damage to our enemy! This is how we become overcomers, change our circumstances and win the War of the Worlds!

 

(Don’t forget to listen to or watch this message online!)

I’m so proud of Johnson (our Fusion Pastor) for the great job he did preaching while we were away in Africa. It brings me great satisfaction to know we have people who can bring the word and not miss a beat on the weekends with God. Here’s some of the word Johnson said:

There’s a War of the Worlds going on all around us. There’s more than meets the eye. Something is going on behind the scenes. As Paul says in Ephesians 6, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” There’s a battle going on, but it’s not with people. Rather, it’s against powers, principalities and dark spiritual forces of evil in the world. Those things really do exist. Satan and the demons are real. They are not our friends. They only come to steal, kill and destroy our lives. Our enemy is prowling around like a lion looking for someone to devour. We need to be alert and aware.

BUT we have power! Jesus told us that we need not fear. Yes, He said, we will have many troubles in this world, but He has overcome the world! We have power in God! Even though the battle is raging all around us, God is already victorious. The end is already determined. Jesus’ death and resurrection decided it. And, when Christ returns, He will bring the final fulfillment of that victory. In the meantime, however, the devil continues to war against the kingdom of God. That’s why we have to put on our spiritual armor, stand firm and fight. Do you want to just let the enemy run roughshod over you, or are you going to get in the battle and wage war against him?

We need to be in a constant state of readiness. Satan doesn’t play fair. He will attack at any point in which we let our guard down. We have to keep our armor on and our weapons ready. Yet, way too many of us have been getting beat up by the attacks of the enemy because we haven’t put our armor on. In addition, we need to take up the weapons God has given us. Do you only want to defend yourself against attack after attack, or do you want to go after our enemy, take the battle to him and take back territory in our lives?!

Prayer is one of our two main offensive weapons. Prayer is not talking in King James English. It is not about using some kind of formula, or repetitious phrases, or religious terminology, or something you do once a day or week. Prayer is our connection point to God. It is exciting. It is how we take the battle to the devil. Paul says we need to pray, and not just pray, but pray in the Spirit…about all kinds of things…on all kinds of occasions…with all kinds of prayers. There’s no one-size-fits-all prayer.

We are called to be warriors in this life. No matter what our vocation is, we can be mighty warriors through prayer. We pray in Jesus’ name and authority and that is mighty power! It’s time we started using it. Why wait until things start getting bad to pray? Let’s get in the battle, out in the world, in our day-to-day lives. That’s what God is calling us to do boldly! It’s time to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might! Take a stand and when you’ve done everything else you know how to do, then stand. Then Satan has to flee. When we start getting hold of this, things are going to change; they have to. So, pray, pray, pray and pray some more!

Man, that’s a good word! And, there’s a lot more to this message than I have space to repeat here, and it’s definitely worth hearing. So, if you want to be a victorious warrior in this War of the Worlds, then I encourage you to listen to or watch the whole message here.  And, don’t miss next weekend as I close out this series with the Sword of the Spirit!

Hosted by Brian and Natalie from the CORE 30+ Singles Ministry, the White Party was a perfect opportunity to enjoy a good time and a nice ambiance. Soft and soothing music from the pianist and base guitarist filled the room at the beginning of the evening and continued during breaks from activities throughout the party.

On the menu were gourmet swirls (Pesto Chicken and Italian Antipasto), a generous portion of strawberries, cream puffs and three different flavors of cheesecake (Turtle, White Chocolate/Raspberry and New York). The cream puffs were especially tasty!!!

The first activity for the night was Karaoke. Elicia opened up the Karaoke session by gracing the room with her beautiful rendition of “Killing Me Softly”. Following her performance was Tavon, who performed to the famous lyrical piece “Rock with You.” Next on stage was a duo, Phyllis and Kim, who sang “I Will Survive” – perhaps as an encouragement of strength through the storm. After Brian summoned his fellow men to participate and provide representation, they responded by gathering amongst themselves a group of five performers and singing “Lean on me.”  After that inspiring piece from the men, a group of five women appeared on stage to close out the Karaoke segment to “We are Family.” It was indeed a heartfelt performance that filled the entire room with smiles and echoed the truth that we are indeed a family.

CORE Pastor Stephen Baldwin blessed the night and introduced the CORE ministry to the audience. He also prayed a blessing over everyone who was in attendance.

After a bit of comedy, it was: lights, camera, action!! Time to pose for the camera on the red carpet. The night ended with a bang as party goers danced the Electric Slide, the Cha Cha Slide and the Cupid Shuffle.

(Click on any of the photos to see entire photo gallery of this event.)

Once again, I was please to have one of our Executive Pastors, Olin Holly, speak in our services last weekend. As usual, he brought an encouraging and challenging word; this time, exploring the Helmet of Salvation, the next piece of spiritual armor that we need to put on in order to fight effectively in the War of the Worlds. Here’s some of what he said:

We’ve been getting a wake-up call over the last several weeks. Many of us need to be made aware of the battle that is going on all around us. As we talk about spiritual warfare, we often focus on our enemy the devil. And, while this is an important part of waging a successful battle, we also need to recognize the importance of controlling our minds and crucifying our flesh.

The purpose of the Helmet of Salvation is to protect our minds against the devil’s attacks. It does so in four ways:

1. Prevents us from having a divided mind. (James 1:5-8; I Peter 3:15-16)
2. Prevents a deceived mind. (II Corinthians 11:3-4)
3. Prevents a doubtful mind. (John 20:24-29)
4. Prevents a discouraged mind. (I Kings 19:1-4) Our enemy knows that if he can get us discouraged, he doesn’t have to do much to destroy us.

The Helmet of Salvation is the hope of Salvation. It brings with it the following blessings:

1. Pardon from punishment. (Isaiah 55:6-7)
2. Overcome the power of sin. (I John 5:4-5)
3. Provision for healing. (I Peter 2:24)
4. Place to inherit (i.e., Heaven). (Colossians 3:4)

In addition to knowing the hope of Salvation, putting on the Helmet of Salvation means renewing our minds. How do we do that? Well, it’s all about what we let our minds and hearts dwell on. (See Proverbs 23:7 and II Corinthians 10:4-5) We need to heed Paul’s advice in his letter to the Philippians: “Finally, brothers, whatever is True, whatever is Noble, whatever is Right, whatever is Pure, whatever is Lovely, whatever is Admirable–if anything is Excellent or Praiseworthy–think about such things.” (Phil. 4:8 NIV) Or, if we rearrange those initials, as I like to do it to help me remember:

Pure (free from carnality or impurities of the flesh)

Right (approved or acceptable to God)

Excellent (of the highest quality)

Praiseworthy (worthy of the highest praise)

Lovely (pleasing; appealing to the emotions and the eye)

Admirable (inspiring; worthy of the highest honor)

Noble (honest; honorable)

True (truthful; without falsehood or deception)

Instead of just REACTING to negative thoughts as we experience them, we should begin each day with a PROACTIVE perspective and P.R.E.-P.L.A.N.T. patterns of godly thinking into our minds. When we do this, we will be able to join Paul in saying, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (II Timothy 4:7-8 NIV)

(If you missed this message, and want to be fully equipped to fight and win against our enemy, let me encourage you to listen to or watch it – or the previous messages in this series – here.)

By providing places of refuge and comfort, Victory’s transitional housing ministry serves as a bridge to a better life.

The morning began with a prayer of thanksgiving by Missions Pastor Dennis Russell.  He led the assembly of sixty volunteers in thanking God for this opportunity to be His hearts and hands extended and for the spirit of joy in serving Him.   This event on Victory’s busy outreach calendar focused on making preparations for some very special future residents in its apartment ministry.

Six groups of ten energetic volunteers were mobilized to fully furnish six new apartments being prepared for new graduates of the Mary Hall Freedom House.  Mary Hall Freedom House states as its mission “to improve the quality of life of women and women with children by empowering them to break the cycle of addiction, poverty and homelessness.”  In support of this powerful call, Victory World Church, in an outreach spearheaded by Art and Mary Martineau, lovingly and prayerfully prepared six additional units, bringing the total of these wonderful places of refuge to thirty six.  After a hectic week of preparation and anticipation, Mary Martineau took delight in the fact that the new graduates would soon occupy the lovely apartments and “have nothing to do but put their clothes in their closets.”

Art Martineau expressed his thanks to God for all of the volunteers and for the privilege of being a part of what is being accomplished through Victory’s embrace of the community around it. Art’s obvious passion was expressed as he recounted powerful testimonies connecting true life change to transitional housing provided by Victory.  He recalled one resident giving God glory and thanking Victory for its key role in the transformation of her life.  This Mary Hall Freedom House alum praised God for her deliverance, financial independence and for being established in a new level of victory.  She indicated that she didn’t know where she would be without the help of Victory’s transitional housing.

Volunteers expressed their joy in having this opportunity to serve others “Victory-style”:  “first class,” with a spirit of excellence and servant’s heart and “soaked in prayer.” ~Azira Kendall

I’ve been talking about the war that’s going on, that’s not in the natural, but in the spiritual, because there are so many people, even Christians, that don’t realize it. Our enemy seeks to destroy our lives and prevent us from experiencing God’s love and power and sharing that with others. Therefore, as Paul urges us in Ephesians 6, we must be strong, arm ourselves and stand against the wiles of our enemy.

Yet, too many of us aren’t strong, but weak, having given in to Satan’s deception. The truth is that Satan is a defeated foe. Jesus beat him at the Cross. The only authority Satan has in our lives is that which we yield to him. That’s why it’s essential that we are both aware of and prepared to do battle in this war.

The main battleground of this war is in our mind. Demon spirits have absolutely no power to bring about destruction unless they can find an open door into a person’s mind. That’s why we need to put on the armor of God, starting with Truth, and then Righteousness and Peace, which we’ve discussed previously. In addition, we need to take up the Shield of Faith, which is what I’m talking about today.

So many people are really stressed out about what’s going on in our world today – the economy, the government, unemployment, the housing market, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, etc, etc, etc. But we don’t have to be stressed out. We can walk in peace though faith in the One who is much greater than all these circumstances.

This is just what our enemy doesn’t want. So, he shoots “fiery darts” at us – suggestions of fear, doubt, anxiety and so on, that are intended to seize our minds, paralyze us with fear and flood us with allegations that are not true. Without the Shield of Faith, those arrows will catch us off guard and explode in our minds, causing us to lose sight of who God is in our lives: Provider, Healer, etc.

We have got to have real faith – seeing in the spiritual and not in the natural – to deal effectively with the devil’s attacks. We need to keep our shield up. What does that look like? Well, the Lord showed me three simple yet profound statements that are components of the Shield of Faith:

1. God’s Word is true. We say we believe this, and we do, generally, until it comes in conflict with the way we feel. Think about what God’s Word says about being sex outside of marriage, tithing and other such “challenging” issues. The devil will question God’s Word – “Has God really said that?” Every time we argue with God’s Word, we give authority to the enemy, making us open targets.
2. God’s is Word His will. Faith begins where the will of God is known. We need to know God’s Word – that means actually opening it up and reading it…regularly and often! When we know the Word, we can pray according to it and, by faith, KNOW that what we pray will happen! (John 15:7)
3. God’s Word cannot fail. It is surer than the existence of Earth itself.

If we can get these three statements in our minds, making them a part of our life, then we’ll begin to operate by faith rather than by sight. We’ll see that there is nothing that God cannot do in our lives. The fiery darts of the enemy have no hope of success against such faith. So, start using your faith. Get God’s Word in your minds and hearts. Believe it. Get that old devil under your feet, where he belongs, and away from your ears. Stand strong, raise your shield, fight and see the victory that God has already won!

(Listen to or watch last weekend’s message by clicking here.)

KING OF GLORY, HAVE YOUR GLORY!

This was the theme that played out on July 26th, at Thirst, a special service dedicated to seeking the Lord through powerful prayer and purposeful praise and worship.

Even before the service began, the atmosphere was positively charged with excitement and anticipation. People young and old from all walks of life made their way into the sanctuary. This was not going to be a normal service – evidenced by the lively and talkative crowd. Expectation was in the air!

The service began with praise and worship. Voices and hands were lifted high, praising the Lord for His glory. As we worshiped in song, many followed the example of David and worshiped in dance. “David danced before the Lord with all his might…” (2 Samuel 6:14 NRSV).

We took time to send up special prayers to the Lord. Prayers for our children, teens and teachers. God is certainly raising up a generation that is on fire for Him, to prepare the world for His return! Praise the Lord!

We prayed over marriages, and Pastor Colleen prayed specifically for the wives – that they would take their place as women in their marriages and submit to their husbands.

Those called to the mission field were prayed for, as well as all of us as missionaries in our everyday lives – to our neighbor’s, co-workers and everyone with whom we come into contact.

A final prayer was given for all of the unemployed, specifically that they would receive jobs within the week ahead.

Through all of this praise, worship and prayer, we gathered as the body of Christ to seek the Lord. This was our thirst for the Lord, and we know that He is the only one who is able to quench our thirst!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6 NRSV).

- Alex Hogan

(Click on photos to see entire gallery.)

iCare is about…

Creating opportunities for others to encounter Christ…

Reaching beyond ourselves to spread the gospel and help those in need around the world…so that young lives are changed and hunger, sickness and disease are conquered.

Throughout the month of August, iCare is focusing on projects in three different countries:

In India, we are partnering with Larry Derstine, founder of Supreme Task International, to help rebuild up to 300 homes for some of the thousands of believers in the State of Orissa who were driven from their homes into the forest because of vicious false rumors spread among the majority Hindu population last year. Countless homes, churches and even orphanages were ransacked, torched and leveled by crazed and angry mobs roaming village to village. (Click here for a more detailed report. Click here for a chronological listing of incidents.)

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In Liberia, West Africa, where thousands have died, the economy is devastated and the children have suffered incredibly as a result of a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003, we are partnering with John Yeedia, founder of Hope Christian International Ministries and long-time member of Victory from Liberia, to drill a well that will bring much-needed clean drinking water to more than 1,000 people in the area of Timbo Village, where he also plans to build a school in the near future. (Click here for a listing of articles about the child victims of Liberia.)

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Finally, in Benin, West Africa, we are partnering with Jace Rabe and his non-profit organization, Projects for Progress, to drill a well to bring clean drinking water to between 15,000 and 25,000 people in need. Benin is one of the poorest nations in the world and has one of the highest infant mortality rates – largely due to preventable, waterborne diseases. Child labor and sex trafficking have become huge industries and have recently seen a surge in activity.

Projects for Progress is a non-profit ministry that focuses on community development, believing that by meeting the physical needs of impoverished communities, a door is open to meet their emotional and spiritual needs as well. Digging wells is one of the first steps in this process. (Projects for Progress is also on Facebook.)

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(Click here to make an iCare donation online. Be sure to select iCare in the “Add a gift to:” drop down box.)

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