Welcome to the Victory Blog

I just wanted to share with you about how my being a part of the Fusion ministry has seriously changed my life.

I recently went through Ancient Paths and it was an amazing experience. During one of our small group sessions, my facilitator asked if anyone had any issues in their soul that were causing them to not be in alignment with God. We took a few minutes to pray and ask God to reveal any areas in our lives that needed prayer and forgiveness. As the minutes passed, I realized God was being really silent even though other people in my group were having revelations, crying, repenting, etc.

I found myself getting nervous, really asking God why He wasn’t showing me any areas that I needed to fix. As I was praying again, God took me back to a Fusion service from 2009. He took me back to the Naked series, the message on healing from heart break. That was probably my third Fusion service ever attending and that was the same night I truly gave my heart back to Christ. I saw Pastor Johnson on the stage praying for the congregation and I saw myself at one of the crosses on either side of the stage. During that service, we were all given the chance to nail all of our sins, hurts and pain to the cross and leave them there. I saw myself nailing my sins to the cross and having the greatest feeling of freedom in that moment.

While in Ancient Paths that weekend, desperately asking God to reveal areas where my soul is not at rest, God took me back to that night and spoke the words, “Look at what I have already done for you. I have already set you free.” In that moment, I knew that when I made the decision to leave my old life and accept salvation, I was already set free. Sitting in that room with my other AP participants felt a little weird because I was filled with this joy and peace that was so overwhelming and amazing. All I could do is thank God for His amazing redeeming power.

The Fusion ministry played a phenomenal part in my healing, my transformation, my growth in my faith, and in allowing God to use me to bring others to Him. I had no clue that after coming to that first Fusion service in August 2009, I would be saved a couple of weeks later, baptized in November, become a service team apprentice in January 2010 and now stepping into a small group leader role this year.

Words really can’t express how honored I am to be a part of the Fusion ministry and helping to lead my generation back to Christ. The Fusion leadership is amazing and truly authentic. I don’t know how many testimonies or praise reports you get about how God is using Fusion to change the lives of those who are truly seeking God, but I am one of those testimonies. The life I let behind was filled with abuse, shame, guilt, hurt, abandonment, fear and pride. Now, I can say with all confidence and certainty that I have been set free and I know my identity and worth is rooted firmly in Christ.

Thank you all for answering the call to help lead our generation and growing more young leaders to help carry the Good News to others. Your tireless efforts are appreciated more than you will ever know.

~~~~~~~~~~~

We want to hear about what God has done in and through you at Victory. Whether long or short, complex or simple, your story is worth hearing, and there are others who need to hear it. Won’t you please consider sharing your story with us? If you’re willing to do so, please click the Share Your Story quicklink above, write your story, upload a nice photo (if you can) and click submit. It’s that simple. Now, don’t be shy. God’s given you a story for a reason! Share it today!

God is so much more than an idea. Do we really get that? I know we’re Christ followers and all, but do we truly believe that God is God—the Beginning and the End of everything? The prophet Elijah not only believed it, he also lived like he believed it.

There’s a divine mandate before each of us believers, and it’s the same that was presented to Israel in 1 Kings 18:21. “Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’”

Elijah provokes us to make a decision today—live for God or live for Satan. It’s that cut and dried. We can’t hang out in the middle and have some of both. It must be one or the other. This seems to be an obvious choice for those of us who proclaim the Lord as our Savior, but so many Christians are siding with Satan everyday because they give way more of themselves to the things of this world than they give to God. It’s not an outright denial of Christ, but it’s an absolute pull away from Him toward the other side.

Elijah’s charge to us is this: “If God is really God, then live for Him like He’s really God.”  How different would our lives be if we never lost perspective of who the Most High God is? Pastor Johnson’s message this week about the bold, no-nonsense Elijah is a gut check for us all. When you need a reminder of who God is to fire you up, get you straight, or just help you take command of your day, this is the message to do it! Click here to listen.

Victory @ Hamilton Mill welcomed home church members as services resumed in their newly renovated building on July 10, 2011.

An exhilarating feeling overcame you when you walked through the doors, and everyone appeared to have permanent smiles on their faces. Campus Pastors Johnson and Summer Bowie said Victory @ Hamilton Mill packed up and moved out of their building approximately seven months ago, and renovations were underway. In the meantime, services transpired at Mountain View High School, and for seven months faithfully, the designated areas at the high school were set up for every service. When services concluded, everything was once again packed up. Although the high school was a great temporary place for fellowship and growth, the campus pastors and their congregation were ecstatic about being back at home.

Evidence of excitement was expressed throughout the facility. Pastor Dennis and several pastors and leaders were present in support of VHM’s first service back home. Joy filled the lobby and the surrounding rooms as the sound of laughter and chatter echoed throughout the upstairs, as well as downstairs where kindergarten, 1^st – 5^th, and 212 fellowshipped. Just minutes prior to worship, the sanctuary was nearly full, as 212 joined us. Worship was led by Todd, Montell and the VHM band. Many hands were raised, people were clapping and everyone appeared to be rejoicing. Every song was relevant to the occasion.

After worship, Pastor Johnson led us into prayer and 212 ministries were dismissed.  Although some space became available, it wasn’t enough for everyone waiting to be seated. Pastors Johnson and Summer said they didn’t anticipate the attendance to be greater than it was at the high school. Pastor Johnson had even considered having just one service for the first week, because the 300-seat sanctuary was large enough to accommodate the 250 adults in attendance at the high school.

The quote “if you build it, they will come” immediately came to mind when Pastor Johnson disclosed that 322 were in attendance at the 9am service, and 548 attended the 11am service. Both services combined totaled numbers that nearly doubled the amount of people attending services at the high school.

The launch is surely making a huge impact in the surrounding communities and everyone is pumped up about the future of VHM. Pastors Johnson and Summer shared that a woman approached them at a local restaurant and inquired when VHM would be open for services. Also, while shopping at a local store after Vic Kid’s training early Saturday, one of the elementary teachers was approached by a woman who noticed his Victory shirt and expressed how excited she was about VHM. Vic Kid’s volunteers showed they too were ready for VHM’s first service back home. Thirty seven people RSVP’d for the training event and more than 50 attended!

Victory @ Hamilton Mill is definitely back in their building…and everyone is charged!

______________

We want to hear about what God has done in and through you at Victory. Whether long or short, complex or simple, your story is worth hearing, and there are others who need to hear it. Won’t you please consider sharing your story with us? If you’re willing to do so, please click the Share Your Story quicklink above, write your story, upload a nice photo (if you can) and click submit. It’s that simple. Now, don’t be shy. God’s given you a story for a reason! Share it today!

God didn’t put us here on this earth to doubt him. We’re here to fulfill His purpose for our lives, and that demands courage. What has God called you to do? Whatever it is, you can’t be soft about it. God needs you to be strong and not let criticism, opposition, the threat of failure or even danger hold you back from going after it. I learned early on that I had to get courageous if I was going to live my life based on what God says, not what the news reports say or any other voice that doesn’t line up with Him.

I admire Joshua as a man of great courage who took to heart this command from his God:  “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” That God who was with Joshua is the same God who is with us today.  We just have to have the guts like Joshua to believe in who He is and act on what He says.

There are reasons why we fail at this, but we can beat those reasons. In this week’s message, I cover some key points to help us get strong and courageous and start living like we’re fully convinced of the power of the True and Living God.  If you heard this message already, click here to remind yourself again of what courage requires of you!

I knew I had to get my spending under control, and I had to become responsible on how I spend my money because, after all, that’s what we’re supposed to do, right? The problem was not my willingness, but how to get it done. How do I actually find a way to become financially responsible and not give up my freedom of doing whatever I want with the money I earn?

I’ve heard of budgets before, but every time I heard that word, all I could think of was restriction. I could not imagine living with a budget and under the restriction of not being able to spend my money the way I wanted to spend it.

This was my mind-set going into Crown. During the weeks to come, God transformed the way I view money and my possessions. I learned that everything belongs to God—not just the tithe—and we are the stewards of the remaining 90 percent. It’s a very simple concept, yet so many Christians, like myself, don’t get it. I didn’t get it, and it took Crown to show me this.

I learned the difference between wants versus needs. God will always provide for my needs, but He will not always provide for my wants. Knowing this has allowed me to trust God even more because I know that no matter how tough life gets my needs will always be met. I learned that every spending decision is a spiritual decision. The way that I spend my money says a lot of where my relationship with Christ is. I learned what God says about debt. I only had one credit card and during the class I was able to pay it off. Now, I’m debt free and planning on staying that way for the rest of my life. God is faithful, when we are faithful, and taking responsibility over my finances is just another way to show faithfulness to God. It is not easy to do it, and it takes work and commitment, but it’s definitely worth it!

Now, I have a working budget. Budget no longer means restriction, but freedom. Every dollar that I make has a name to it. I have the freedom to go shopping when I want to and not feel guilty about it. Before having a budget, I would shop and feel bad on doing so because I would always think that with the economy the way it is, I should be saving more instead of shopping. With a budget, there is no guilt. A budget allowed me to have a specific amount of money for all of my expenses. I don’t have unlimited money to go shopping, and since I know the difference between my wants and needs, sometimes I buy what I need and other times I buy what I want because it’s still in my budget. It’s crazy to sayit, but a budget gives you so much freedom. To know that I’m a good steward of what God has given me brings me joy. I don’t live under the world’s economy. I live under God’s economy, and in His economy I can have money to go shopping and save every month because I’ve learned how to handle my money God’s way.

God tells us in Proverbs 29:18 that “where there’s no vision, the people perish.” As a result of taking Crown, now I have a vision for my finances. I understand the purpose for our possessions. God wants to bless us in every aspect of our lives, but only when we truly understand what it means to be a good steward of what God has given us will He be able to entrust us with greater riches, and I’m not talking about money. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?” (Luke 16:11). I desire to be spiritually rich more than anything, but God will only entrust me with those riches when I’m faithful with my worldly possessions. Crown gave me the tools to become financially faithful, and I’m very excited to see what God has in store for me as I seek to become spiritually rich.

Thank you VWC for giving us the tools that we need to grow in our walk with Christ in every aspect of our lives!

~~~~~~~

We want to hear about what God has done in and through you at Victory. Whether long or short, complex or simple, your story is worth hearing, and there are others who need to hear it. Won’t you please consider sharing your story with us? If you’re willing to do so, please click the Share Your Story quicklink above, write your story, upload a nice photo (if you can) and click submit. It’s that simple. Now, don’t be shy. God’s given you a story for a reason! Share it today!

The life of Rahab gives each of us hope! Yes, she was a prostitute, traitor, liar and more, but look deeper and you’ll see that she was a believer whose faith in God was faith in action, which is something we can all learn from. Rahab had only heard about God and His glorious works and that was enough for her to lay it all on the line for Him. At the moment she took in the spies for hiding, she began a new life for God (Joshua 2).

Pastor Colleen taught on this heroine of faith this past weekend and exhorted us to look at others through the lens of possibility and not the lens of scrutiny. While Rahab’s past was less than desirable, she didn’t let that cloud her vision for today. When the God opportunity showed up, she went with it regardless of the risks involved. She was brave to do it, but even more important than that, she was obedient.

This message is filled with hope for those who have been deceived in any way by the shame of their past. If Rahab came back to give us one piece of wisdom, she’d likely say, “You are just one choice and one action away from a different life.”

There’s more to learn from Rahab, the unlikely chosen one. If you’ve heard this message, it’s worth getting in your spirit again. Click here to listen and begin focusing on right-now moments.

Shanna and I were living an easy-going lifestyle with little to no financial planning, and little care as to where our money went. We were young and I was making excellent money for someone my age. I had just recently found my way back to God through this wonderful gift of a wife that He blessed me with. Unfortunately we were headed for disaster and I didn’t have the humility to see it coming.

I was changing fields to take a job better suited for our family, but it meant taking a pay cut. I felt we would be fine even though I had just financed a new car, had payments on the wife’s car, and had just bought a brand new 3 bedroom 3.5 bathroom house. Money was tight but we had credit cards for any expense we couldn’t afford. We could just pay for any unexpected expenses later. Of course stuff would come up, and we’d charge it until our cards were maxed out. We were paying the minimum on our credit cards and having a hard time just doing that much. Soon Shanna started to become concerned about where we were going financially. I was so wrapped up in living my lifestyle that I wasn’t going to change, regardless of our financial condition. I wanted my TV, my Internet, my cell phone, my shiny new car, and shiny new house…all of it.

Soon we started missing a bill here and there…the cable bill, credit card bills, car payment. We met with a credit counseling service that helped us lower some of our payments and interest rates on credit cards so we could pay them off. In the end we still couldn’t make the payments because we were just spending too much money on all the stuff we had. Shanna wanted me to take over the bills, but I couldn’t bear to face the truth of our situation and refused to do it. Shanna asked me to meet with some people from the church to help us with our finances. James and Sharon Vincent were kind enough to get real with us about our finances. They used some strong words that I just didn’t care to hear. I wasn’t getting rid of my expensive new car. Sell the house and move into something smaller or older? No way. Drop our cable service? Not on your life. We left that meeting and I was the same person I was before the meeting. Or so I thought.

Not much time passed before things were out of my hands…

First I lost my job, and was unable to find a new one. Then unemployment ran out. I had a few temp jobs, but nothing worked out. Our cable was shut off and the bill moved to collections. Our credit cards went to collections and my car was repossessed from my work parking lot at one point during this mess. We had creditors calling every day.  I stopped answering the phone because I was afraid it was someone asking for us to pay up. Some family members helped us get the car back, and helped us pay off Shanna’s car, but it wasn’t enough. I just wasn’t going to give up all my stuff. It didn’t matter. Soon we were missing house payments, and then we received a notice from the bank saying that they were foreclosing on our house. Our house! It was ours, right? I wasn’t going to give it up, but I didn’t know what to do.   We tried to sell the house, but to no avail. Our house was foreclosed on and we had to move out.

We moved out of our nice, shiny new house into a rental property that some friends own. Our new residence became a house built in 1945—nothing nice, shiny and new in here. I hated it. No garage for my car.  Small bedrooms. One bathroom. This is not how I planned on living.  This is what our lack of obedience in our finances bought us, but I was blinded by my own desires, and being a fool, I felt I was right in my own eyes.

I was depressed and angry that this is where we were. I found a new job working with a startup IT company, which didn’t pay much, and looked like it wasn’t going to last. We were getting collections calls every day. I had no idea what to do.

Shanna and I enrolled in Crown classes to hopefully figure out what to do with our finances. We went through the whole course, and while I gained a lot of head knowledge, it still hadn’t made its way into my heart. My heart was still hardened by the loss of our house and feeling like God wasn’t there for me. How could He let us lose our house?  Then the cycle began to start up again. My car was repossessed again. This time another family member jumped in and helped us recover it and pay it off. Yet another debt to family incurred. Then the company I was working for closed their doors. I was doomed.

I went to small group one night and my small group leader, Steve Carlson, talked with me afterwards. He had some strong words to say about the way I was leading the home—words I didn’t care to hear, and I let him know that I was doing things my way and that was it.   One thing he mentioned is that I needed to take over the finances of the home and lead the home, remove the burden from my wife and take responsibility for it. I didn’t want any part of that.

Months went by. I was on unemployment again, and decided I would start a small IT company.  I began asking God for wisdom and direction on how to start out. I had never owned a business before and I had no idea what I was doing. He blessed me with a handful of customers…just enough to start getting by. Something in me felt that I needed to honor that, and to do so I needed to take charge of the home finances. I was afraid. I could see how little was coming in, and how much was going out, and how much we owed to so many. I was so terrified that it forced me to my knees. Before God I begged for provision.

He opened my eyes.

Over the years that we struggled, did we ever go without clothing?  No. Did we ever go without food? Even when we couldn’t afford it, it was gifted to us by sources unknown. Did we ever go without shelter? Even when we thought we wouldn’t have a place to live, He provided.  He never left me. He had never forsaken me. He just let me make my own way if that’s what I wanted to do. I had to change.  I had to put everything in His hands. It was all His. Everything we thought we had, it was all His and He was just letting us be stewards over it. It started to make sense. We were not being good stewards, so God did not bless what we had. Suddenly those strong words spoken to me so long ago in a Red Lobster on Holcomb Bridge Road by James and Sharon Vincent came back to me with such force and such clarity. Those words that I thought made no change in me had, through the grace of God, penetrated my hardened heart, and now were accessible to me. Those words that I thought Steve Carlson had spoken so harshly after small group about needing to “man up” and “take charge” of our finances started to change my thought processes. I wasn’t going to let my family suffer anymore because of the fool I had been, looking at the world through my own eyes and neglecting the wise council that had been given to me.

I didn’t know what to do, but I knew what I had learned in Crown class—get my budget figured out. So I did that, and it was ugly. We already didn’t have cell phones anymore. We didn’t have TV service, so where do we cut back? No more fancy foods or eating out.  Groceries would be bare minimum. God is our provider and He will not forsake us. I believed that. I started making sure we were tithing. I wasn’t good at it. I wasn’t good at being faithful all the time or being consistent, but I was trying. I was still afraid.

God began to show His faithfulness by increasing my business, and my company started growing slowly. Soon I was getting referrals from clients, and I was becoming busier. Money was starting to come in, and the fear of not being able to pay the bills started to drop away.  That, however, did not keep the collectors at bay. They still rightfully wanted their money. I started paying off what I could. Payment plans were set up with a few to pay them off. Some ended up being written off. A few years went by and I felt things were going well. We still didn’t have much of anything in the bank, living just a bit above paycheck to paycheck, but God was faithful. Then I received legal papers from a collector who was taking me to court to sue me over a debt we had. It was thousands of dollars that we didn’t have. God came through again. Business was increasing, and before we got too close to a court date, we had the money that we owed. We contacted the creditor and paid it all off without having to go to court. God is good.

After paying that debt, we were still sitting pretty low on funds but making it without having to ask for handouts or bailouts. Unfortunately I also noticed that my IT business was slowing down. Fear started to creep in again and I found it hard to tithe consistently, let alone give above that. A dark cloud seemed to settle over me as I began to wonder if I could even find a job out there if I needed to. If I could, would it offset the cost of childcare (as I was now a work from home/stay at home dad)?  I had to trust in God and stick to HIS plan for my finances.

Then I became ill.

I had no health insurance and suddenly I was dealing with hives, random cases of anaphylactic shock, and abdominal pains that would hurt so badly I would be confined to bed 8 hours a day. I could barely move at times because of the severe pain. I would be in tears curled up in a ball in agony. Doctor after doctor could not find the cause. Test after test and there were no leads to the problem. I ended up being given narcotic pain killers to just deal with the pain. This was not helping my business or family finances. It was hard to market my business or even work just because the pain was so great.

At some point God reminded me of an event from my childhood. I was 8 years old, lying in my bed watching TV and my abdomen started to hurt. Then the pain came quickly and severely. I was doubled over crying for my mom. She came in to check on me and panicked as she ran to the phone to call the doctor. In that moment, the pain was so fierce that the only thing I could think of was to pray for help. I don’t remember what I said but it was something along the lines of, “God please take this pain away.” Nothing fancy. By the time my mom came back into my room, the pain had been removed. Now here I lay a grown adult, and the same thing was happening again. I wasn’t going to doubt God. I believed in His healing of my daily hives and this mysterious abdominal pain. Months went by and I was still fighting the pain. Business was hurting. Income levels were dropping. I wasn’t adding any new customers or marketing my business. But I still believed. I was not going to consider giving in. My God is more powerful than this. Then, 3 years ago on the first Saturday in December, I went to church. Pastor Colleen had just prayed for healing and restoration over the congregation and afterwards she said she felt a word from God that someone in the room was dealing with an abdominal pain of some type, and that tonight that person would be set free. That night the pain left; God set me free. I still dealt with the hives for years afterwards, but His restoration of my body had begun.

Now I was trying to figure out how to put my business back together.  I was down to just a handful of clients, and it was barely paying the bills. Where do I go from here? I didn’t know where God was taking me. I just knew I needed to follow…that I needed to stay on that narrow path and not let my eyes look left or right.

During this time, this season, I became involved in a hobby playing Airsoft (something similar to paintball). I thought it’d be cool to get in on the whole blogging thing, so I began reviewing Airsoft equipment that I already had and posting it on my blog. Soon retailers and manufacturers were sending me prototypes and final products to test and review! I thought that was pretty cool. At this time I also learned how to make a part to upgrade my equipment using some simple electronics I learned back when I was an electrical engineering major in college. Figuring I’d botch it all up, I made several. They all worked.  Not only did they work, but a guy I met online on a message board about Airsoft wanted to buy the extras off of me. Now these were crude at best. I was almost embarrassed to sell them, but he insisted and I sold them to him. Now, this guy wasn’t from the USA. He was from the UK, and I had never met him before, nor had I ever really talked with him or messaged him online before. He just heard about the part I made and wanted one. He contacted me again after trying out the parts and wanted 10 more of them! I built 10 more (much less crude this time), and sent them to him. He told his friends, and word spread in the online community. Soon his friends wanted them, and their friends, and people all over the world.

God was opening yet another door for me.

Here I was, pretty fresh to the community of Airsoft players, and my name was circling the globe as people wanted this product I made in my home workshop. I began making a few here and there for people, shipping them around the USA, over to the UK, France, Sweden, Norway, Argentina, New Zealand, even Indonesia!  What started out as something so crude became a well-polished product and a hit across the world. Business was growing. The gap between what I no longer made in IT was being filled; but not just with any form of income. This was something I liked doing. I began doing what I did for fun as my job! That was just the start, though.

Here we are, about 2 years after I made the first prototypes, and I’ve sold these the world over. People throughout the industry know my blog and my products. Someone once referred to me on a message board as “legendary.” I couldn’t believe it. I prayed to God to show me the next step. Where did He want me to go? I sought council and this time I listened. I started developing the website for my new company, Infected Armory. My site went live and now I not only build this great product, but I became a full service repair and upgrade shop; all from home (so I can still be a stay-at-home dad), while still providing for my family! The gap in our finances was overcome! One of the largest Airsoft retailers in the world is here in Atlanta. Over time I became good friends with them. When they heard that I was starting up a service center, they invited me to put my promotional stuff and business cards in their store. Hundreds of people a week can go through that store. Thousands of people every year buy products from them. Now when people call them and ask where to take their equipment for service, it’s my company they recommend! God is so good!

Recently, I was thanking God for giving us enough to meet our needs.  I was thanking Him for showing us how to be faithful in the little things. I prayed that He would begin to show me how to be faithful in more. He answered back with a stern rebuke. He reminded me of the parable of the widow’s mite. She gave all she had. Everything. What am I giving? Now I started thinking. Well, I’m trying to save up for a van for the family. We also have a trip to Colorado we want to take, as it might be the last time we see Shanna’s grandmother who has had some health complications. I also wanted to put some money in savings so that we would have extra. God was clear with me. She gave it all; what was I willing to give? Just my tithe? No, that’s not enough. If the widow could sacrifice all she had, I could stretch myself more. Out of obedience I started to give more. Not a set amount, but whatever I felt led to give when I tithed. Then God blessed us again.  We were trying to make this trip to Colorado happen. I knew that even if I couldn’t get the whole family out there, I had to at least send my wife to see her grandmother. God had blessed my business enough that we could afford to fly her out there and back with a bit of spending cash and she could stay with relatives. But God wasn’t done. A family member, who we rarely talk with and are geographically removed from by thousands of miles, sent us enough money to make the trip happen for the whole family. Not only did the entire family get to visit Shanna’s grandmother, but the trip gave the kids an experience of a life time—a road trip across most of America. We even managed some very nice hotels for what you’d spend for budget hotels! God blessed us with a wonderful trip, an amazing experience, and a great reunion with family some of us had never met. It was a blessing beyond words.

Here we are six years from our Crown class graduation almost to the date.

Are we where we want to be? Not yet. We still owe family members money, and we are working to pay that debt. Are we in need? No, we never had been. God is our Jehovah Jireh. He is our provider. We never went without food, shelter or clothing. My business is growing; my wife is now director at her job and has received several raises. My kids are happy, our bank account is growing, our debt is shrinking, and we are giving more into God’s kingdom than ever before.

All the time, it had been MY foolish pride that caused us such heartache and such pain. I wanted all this world had to give. I was ready to drink it all up and lounge in the world’s gifts. I can just imagine the look of sadness upon God’s face as He watched me destroy our finances, but now I know He’s smiling as I continue to give into His kingdom, pray for His direction, and obey His word. Sure, I still make mistakes and we still have a way to go, but this time we’re following God’s lead. Everything belongs to Him, and we will be stewards over it until that day we kneel before Him. I pray we will hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful servants.”

~~~~~~~

We want to hear about what God has done in and through you at Victory. Whether long or short, complex or simple, your story is worth hearing, and there are others who need to hear it. Won’t you please consider sharing your story with us? If you’re willing to do so, please click the Share Your Story quicklink above, write your story, upload a nice photo (if you can) and click submit. It’s that simple. Now, don’t be shy. God’s given you a story for a reason! Share it today!

You learn what you’re really made of when life’s pressures come down on you. I don’t know anyone who likes pain, grief or distress of any kind; that’s why it’s so easy to succumb to our emotions when we’re in the middle of it. We want relief, so we often let our feelings manipulate us into doing what we ultimately know isn’t right.

I imagine it had to be difficult for Jonathan to witness his father, King Saul, as he lived a life of disobedience, pride and fear. I’m also sure it couldn’t have been easy for Jonathan to choose his best friend David over his dad. But regardless of any feelings involved, Jonathan’s real loyalty was to God, so whoever or whatever didn’t line up with the Truths of his Creator had to get left behind.

Pastor Olin Holly taught this week on the courage of Jonathan, a giant who was able to discern the wise thing to do in many situations because he was sure of his place:  with God.

Is your loyalty with God, like Jonathan? Do pressures in your life prompt you to react like Saul or David? Pastor Olin points out Jonathan’s observations about the lives of Saul and David. Where do you line up? Click here to get the message.

In June, a team from the church traveled to Sierra Leone for a week of ministry and a celebration of the Joshua International Primary School in Grafton Village, known locally as “Joshua School.” The school, which officially opened on September 20, 2010, provides free education to children affected by Sierra Leone’s horrific 10 year war and who are involved in various forms of child labor.

June 2011 Sierra Leone Missions Team

In 2008, as a church, we came together with Joshua International to focus our iCare efforts on the purchasing of land and building of this school. The campaign raised $680,000 in just six months! The project was PAID IN FULL and allowed Joshua International to move forward on construction and completion.

Joshua International School Construction, October 2008

This beautiful country was embroiled in a devastating war that lasted more than a decade, leaving many of its citizens displaced, ill, injured and traumatized. Grafton Village was created by the Sierra Leonean government as a response to the over crowding in its capital, Freetown, by wounded and displaced refugees fleeing the rural areas during the course of the war. It is a community of 12,000+ Sierra Leoneans that is divided into four distinct camps: The Amputee Camp, The Polio Camp, the Internally Displaced Camp and The War-Wounded Camp.

The primary victims of the war were children with multiple thousands of them left orphaned, used as child soldiers, sex slaves, tortured and traumatized. Now these children exist on the streets and in villages throughout Sierra Leone, cared for by village elders or forced into child labor to survive. It is children just like this who benefit from a free education through Joshua International Primary School.

We are so proud of the work that Joshua International Ministries has done and want to say THANK YOU to all of you who gave so that this project could be completed. Here are just a few highlights of the trip:

There are currently more than 350 students served by Joshua School receiving a free education, Christ-based teaching and hot meal each day. This beautiful campus is set high upon a hill overlooking Grafton Village and can be seen from many far away provinces. On the lower side of the hill, in the shadow of Joshua School, sits one of the only former schools available in Grafton prior to Joshua School – an Islamic Education Center. Thank God for his favor in location and impact upon this community. Joshua School sits high and proud as the most beautiful and noticeable facility for miles around.

Upon arriving at the school, the children had prepared an opening ceremony to welcome our team and show their appreciation for our part in making the school available to them. This was a touching and fun time for the entire team.

While there, we also opened a medical clinic to allow the students and their families to receive free health check ups and needed medications. Over the course of our trip, we saw hundreds of patients and treated everything from minor scratches to malaria and serious wound infections. It is the goal of Joshua International to open the medical clinic on a regular basis within the next year.

Team members spent their days in the classrooms with the kids teaching them about Jesus and showing them His love:

Several of our team members taught midwife classes to women from the local community and we supplied them with child-birth kits to assist in healthy, sanitary births and their ability to help the mothers parent well and provide the right care for their babies:

In all, we spent the week loving on and being loved by the Grafton community and its precious kids.

We had spent the week trying to teach the kids about Jesus and His love, so we ended our time with them by displaying His love in the same act of service He himself used to care for the disciples – we washed over 300 children’s feet and the teachers, security guards, maintenance staff and Joshua International Sierra Leone team. It was a moment to touch each child and adult, pray over them and demonstrate the loving heart of Jesus – and, a moment that moved our team to tears.

Thank you, Victory, for your support of Joshua International Ministries and iCare. You truly are making a difference.

For the history of the project, visit these links:

Sierra Leone iCare Project Launch, April 2008

Project Update & Ground-breaking Photos, June 2008

Joshua International Primary School Complete Information

Psalm 100 exhorts us to “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands,” and that’s exactly what we did at the recent M90 Fuel event for the men.  The “joyful noise” included lots of car and motorcycle engines revving at high RPM; plenty of oohs and aahs at the cool vehicles on display; people cheering during the outdoor games and events; lots of munching and compliments for the outstanding Low country Barbeque; and plenty of laughter and hearty praise for the Lord once the event moved into the sanctuary to hear comedian Michael Jr perform.

Why would the church reach out to men through an event with cars, motorcycles, food, games and comedy?  How does that build the Kingdom?

“It’s the goal of the M90 movement to act as a springboard for men to have intentional conversations about life and the issues we deal with,” says Pastor Rich Mace. “Our long-term goal is to move these conversations to a coffee shop, the ball field or a small group so these guys can stay connected after the event and before the next one.”

In addition to great food and good company, cars and motorcycles that were on display by the event sponsors and attendees were a big draw. Atlanta Classic Cars had several Mercedes-Benz examples represented.  Hyosung Motors America, whose national distribution headquarters is nearby in Duluth, brought in a number of 250cc and 650cc V-twin cycles. When asked why a dealership would support an event like M90, beyond the obvious marketing value of “exposing people to the Mercedes-Benz brand,” Paula Locke, Marketing Manager for Atlanta Classic Cars, said that as a family-owned business, they are “all about supporting the community.” When contacted by the VWC events team, Hyosung was quick to respond, according to National Sales Manager Doug Whelan. “The motorcycle community in general is a very social community. There’s a lot of comradery and brotherhood,” he said.

M90 drew lots of VWC members, as well as plenty of participants from the community at large.  Buchi, a member that serves as a greeter, came out to support his first M90 event after hearing it announced in one of the worship services.  Aric, another participant, attends a different church, but joined us for his third M90 event. He said he keeps coming back because he enjoys the atmosphere at Victory. “It just seems to be the way church should be. It shouldn’t be that you go on Sunday and that’s it.” Long-time VWC member Andrew Harris showcased his 1973 Cadillac Coupe de Ville and competed for a $150 prize. These and other participants shared a common bond that evening as we all came together for a highly charged time of entertainment and Kingdom purpose.

When the festivities moved inside, three attendees who recovered small footballs from under their seats each won a $50 gas card. Then four teams of guys that did well in the outdoor games went head-to-head on stage for a Wii challenge event:  runners-up won toy cars; second-place winners received a team night at Andretti Indoor Karting and Games; and the first-place team won a night at a Braves game, complete with dinner and a limo ride.

Pastor Dennis called the house to order, led us in prayer, and acknowledged the single fathers in the audience, who were also blessed with gift cards.

After a brief crowd warm up by James Earls, Michael Jr took the stage.  He introduced us to his “seven ways” of looking at things, told us stories about George Wallace and Jay Leno, and made us laugh out loud in at least seven different ways.  He showed a trailer for his film, “Comedy:  The Road Less Traveled.”  For those not familiar with Michael Jr’s work, his film documents his comedy ministry to those in prison, the homeless, young folks in youth shelters—thus, the road less traveled.

At the end of the show, the funny Michael Jr exposed his serious side. He reached out to men in the audience that had not accepted Jesus, asked them to look him in the eye, raise their hands and come to the front.  It was amazing to see how many men came forward at this point, as he calmly talked them down to the stage.  Michael Jr announced that this is what it’s really all about for him.

“You don’t get to do this on Jay Leno’s show,” he said. “In fact, they kind of frown on it.”  He quietly left the stage as Pastor Dennis led the men down front in the believer’s prayer we often hear at the end of worship service. It was the perfect closing to a fantastic M90 event.

Make sure you don’t miss the next one!

______

We want to hear about what God has done in and through you at Victory. Whether long or short, complex or simple, your story is worth hearing, and there are others who need to hear it. Won’t you please consider sharing your story with us? If you’re willing to do so, please click the Share Your Story quicklink above, write your story, upload a nice photo (if you can) and click submit. It’s that simple. Now, don’t be shy. God’s given you a story for a reason! Share it today!