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At 2am one Friday morning, I woke up with intense pain in my abdomen. I was up and down from 2-6. I was at work by 6:30. I still had some pain in my stomach, but it had subsided for a while. I started the day as normal and had a meeting from 7:30-10am. But, by 10:30, I could tell I had started to run a fever and had begun violently shaking and convulsing uncontrollably. I begin to throw up yellow bile stuff and finally told my dad I needed to go to the hospital – something was obviously wrong.

Dad took me to one of those urgent care places where I continued to throw up the same stuff with the pain increasing in my abdomen. I was taken to the ER part of the urgent care place, put in a bed and hooked up to an IV. They took an x-ray of my stomach, and the doctor said, “This isn’t good.” He went on to tell me that the x-ray revealed that I had a blockage in my bowel and/or that my bowel had twisted. He went on to tell me that my bowel was dangerously enlarged and he was sending me to a big hospital for a cat scan and to meet with a surgeon, as I would need surgery and would be in the hospital for 2-3 days.

At this point I was in intense pain – a 10 on a scale of 10. The ambulance took me to Emory Hospital at John’s Creek, and I was admitted to the ER. The doctor came in and felt around and ordered a CAT scan. I was so thirsty but wasn’t allowed to drink, as I was potentially being prepped for surgery. The pain was so intense that they went to get morphine.

But then, my wife Sarah and I begin to pray, read scripture and declare healing over my body in the name of Jesus. Almost immediately, the pain started to subside, and I told Sarah that I really thought the doctor was going to come back, once he had the CAT scan, and tell us that the blockage was gone and I was fine. By the time the nurse came back with the morphine, the pain was gone. But, even though I told her I didn’t need the morphine anymore, she didn’t listen and gave it to me anyway. Then I was taken away for the CAT scan.

About an hour later the doctor came back and said, “Well, I have good news. Umm, the CAT scan shows no blockage and your bowel is clear. We see a little irritation, but that is it. I can give you some nausea meds and cramp meds if you want, but other than that, you are free to go.” Within minutes, the nurse came in with discharge papers, removed IV, and I was walking out the hospital. God healed me and completely removed the blockage!

The first x-ray revealed a blockage, and I had immense pain, but the next showed no blockage with zero pain. My faith has increased exponentially. What amazes me is how the God of this universe knew exactly where I was and healed me. I know many that might read this will try to use their natural minds to rationalize this, but this was supernatural. I prayed that God would use this healing as a testimony to his power and authority. Just thought I would share how incredible our savior Jesus Christ is. For those that don’t know Jesus, please, please, please don’t dismiss this testimony of healing. Use this as an opportunity to investigate who Jesus. If God loves me this much, He loves you just the same. ~ Jace R.

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Hey, while you’re here, don’t forget to take a few moments to Share Your Story about what God has done in your life as a part of Victory! There are so many people who need to be encouraged by what God has done in and through your life. Even seemingly simple things can make a huge difference. Just click the Share Your Story link to get started!

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been collecting your toughest questions during our services and online.  We’ve gotten a lot of really great questions about marriage, divorce, infidelity, being single and parenting. (In fact, they’re still pouring in, and you’re welcome to submit more online here.)

And this past weekend, during our services, my wife Colleen and I addressed the several of the questions you asked most frequently:

• What does a biblical dating relationship look like? How “far” is too “far” physically?
• What are the consequences vs. the blessings of being married on paper, married only on paper or just living together?
• What are the parameters that allow divorce? Can a person remarry if divorced? How long should I wait after being divorced before marrying again?
• How can a marriage be restored when one or both parties have been unfaithful?
• What are the top qualities that make a marriage strong and/or make a family work?

As we thought about these questions and prepared to address them, we dove into the scriptures to see what God had to say about these issues – and there’s quite a bit. And, we thought a lot about our own lives and the lives of many people we’ve ministered to over the years – some good, and some…well, not so good. As we did so, the wisdom and goodness of God’s answers to these questions was clear. Not surprisingly, his ways always lead us to greater joy and blessings.

So, if you want hear the answers to these FAQ’s of Family Life, watch the video of our services this past weekend by clicking here. Whether you’re married or single, there’s something that will help you grow.

For the next few weeks, I want to talk about one of the most challenging areas of life that we deal with every day – marriage and family. People – including singles, marrieds, with kids & without – have a lot of tough questions about family life, so I thought we should try to answer some of the toughest ones. In fact, we want to hear your toughest questions. And, we’d like to address as many as possible – either in our weekend messages or online (e.g., on our Facebook page). If you’ve got a tough question about marriage or parenting, I invite you to click here to submit it online. Then, be on the lookout for the answer in the coming weeks.

This week, we’re tackling one of the biggest questions that hangs out there in society:

WHY SHOULD I GET MARRIED?

A good question to be sure, what with prominent news outlets Newsweek and TIME running articles that give the impression that the institution of marriage will soon be a thing of the past. And, honestly, the statistics are showing a definite downward trend in the number of marriages since the 1960′s. These days, our society is telling us that family cannot be defined by God, but rather that family is whatever our flesh wants it to be.

Why is the institution of marriage under such attack? Because the enemy knows that marriage was at the very foundation of how God designed society to work! God created a man and a woman to reflect the completeness of who He was. God’s intention was for man to rule the earth from the template of marriage – a man and a woman coming together and working together to reflect the image of God in the earth. That’s why Satan hates marriage and everything it stands for!

We all know the story from there: Adam and Eve decided to act independently from God and listen to the enemy. From there we see sin enter life, and relationships have been under attack ever since then.

But the good news is that God is in the redemption business! He came to heal and restore relationships – between man and himself, yes, but also between men and women.

So, back to the question: Why should I get or be married? Well, I’m glad you asked. Actually, there are some very interesting and good answers. And, although I’ll list them in brief here, you’ll really have to watch or listen to the message I preached this past weekend to get the full explanation. But for now…

1. Marriage creates a healthier society
2. Marriage creates an environment to mature
3. Marriage reflects the nature of God

Marriage is a countercultural institution. Everything about it was designed to bring people back into a God-ordained order, to restore what was broken in the garden. That’s why it’s such a fight, and why so many have a hard time with it.

Earlier today I was riding in the car with a family I hang out with every now and again. I was expressing to them how I have had problems with my memory for as long as I can remember, but it has gotten worse as I get older. I had never asked God to restore my memory. I guess I just kinda grew to accept it.

A number of things have happened since I got saved 10 years ago. When I first met Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I was on fire! I could not get enough. When I joined the praise team at my former church, I was dedicated. I was at rehearsal and service early. During rehearsal I would record it so I could master the material. I did not want something like not remembering the words or a shift in the song to cause me to not be totally available for the Holy Spirit to work through me.

My memory or inability to retain information started to become painfully obvious and increasingly worse as I got older and took on more responsibilities/activities/ventures. I was in a state of unrest. I had a lot of “stuff” going on and felt like I was going mad. But then, a few weeks ago, while Montell was praying after praise and worship, he prayed that God would heal illness of the mind. I received that, but upon wrapping up, it was like the Holy Spirit tapped Montell and reminded him to say, “RESTORE MEMORIES.” I fell out. I was live streaming the service online, so I did not have anyone to turn to ask, “Did you hear that?! That was for me!” I could not contain myself. It was like the floodgates were opened.

God use to speak to me in dreams and it would be confirmed in prayer or in the message, and I would know it was for me because my spirit would agree. So I know how to recognize God’s voice. Well, I just want to thank Montell for being obedient and allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through him to my spirit. God is so good and dynamic that he would speak to me about this issue I have had for so long that I just accepted it. I feel restoration coming!

Although it’s hard to believe, this past weekend, we celebrated Victory’s 21st anniversary. In some ways, it’s hard to believe it’s really been that long. In other ways, it’s hard to believe how far we’ve come as a church since that first meeting of six people in a little daycare center. As I look around at what Victory has become – more than 10,000 people of all ages, from more than 100 nations, attending weekly at our various services and campuses; small groups meeting all over the city; millions of dollars going out to transform our community and reach the poor and lost around the world…God has truly blessed us as a church! We’re so honored to be a part of it with you!

And, our services this week were no exception as our dear friend and executive board member, Dr. Sam Chand, brought a powerfully uplifting and challenging message. There’s no way I can do his message justice here, though I will highlight a few of his points, so I want to strongly encourage you to watch the video of this message here to get the full impact. Sam is an excellent speaker and inspired by the Holy Spirit. If you need a breakthrough in your life, you need to watch this message!

Here are a few things that really stood out to me:

• We have been given a new name, a new identity…BREAKTHROUGH…”I am Breakthrough”, not “I will breakthrough.” This is our identity – it’s who we are, not what we do.
• So many people are very close to breaking through, but they’re waiting to do something, or for someone else to do something, not realizing that breakthrough not something we do, but something we are.
• It doesn’t matter what anyone says about me. There’s a big YES over my head. No one can take my YES away from me; it never turns into a maybe, or a possibility…it’s always there, no matter how ugly life is.

Now, go watch this message. It could really change your whole outlook on life!

Hello. My name is Chris. This is my story…

Hey, while you’re here, don’t forget to take a few moments to Share Your Story about what God has done in your life as a part of Victory! There are so many people who need to be encouraged by what God has done in and through your life. Even seemingly simple things can make a huge difference. Just click the Share Your Story link to get started!

This past weekend, it was great to have Johnson Bowie (Fusion Pastor and Hamilton Mill Campus Pastor) speak in our services. He brought a dynamic message that was incredibly relevant and challenging – a great way to close out our Passion series! If you missed it, you should really take a little time and listen to or watch it online here! In fact, even if you were there, you might want to listen to it again…it was just that good a word! Let me see if I can whet your appetite a little bit with some of what he said…

I think if we were all really honest, we would all say that we want to be passionate people. We want to care. We want to have first things first. We definitely don’t want to be boring people. We want to be people on fire for the things that really matter. I’m not talking about being passionate about Facebook, TV or some hobby, but being passionate about the high things of life. We want to be a people who are on fire for God!

And that’s what we’re after…that we would be passionate people; that we wouldn’t be cold or lukewarm for God, but that we would be on fire! The question is, “How do we get passion for God?” People are asking me all the time, “How do I grow in my love for God?”

And my answer is always, “How would you grow in love for your wife? Or your husband?” And, usually, their answer is something along the lines of, “Well, we’d spend time together. And we’d probably go out together. And we’d probably do something the other person liked doing.” DING DING DING!

Yup, it’s really not complicated at all. If you want your relationship with your spouse to grow…if you want a new passion in your marriage…a greater love, find something your spouse likes doing…and then GO DO IT! In any relationship, the best way to grow in love is to get involved in the things that the other person loves. One of the best ways for me to show you that I love you is to learn to love the things you love.

And, in the same way, if my love for God is ever going to grow…if I’m ever going to get passionate about Jesus and His Kingdom… if I’m ever going to have a love for God that is bigger than singing a few songs on a Sunday morning… I’ve got to get to know the things He loves and go do those things with Him.

So, the obvious next question is: What does God love doing?

And, for the answers to that question, you’ll have to go watch or listen to Johnson’s message. You’ll find it here. Now, go get passionate!