Re-VISION: the power of seeing things anew

“If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.”  Proverbs 1:23 (ESV)

Jesus first words – “Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).  Among so many today, that line has been abbreviated to “believe the gospel!” and repentance has been sequestered and categorized to “old order” thinking.   Repentance is both an old and new covenant concept that must be understood, appreciated and practiced by every believer in order to continue growing in the faith.

Though I reject the brimstone of the fire-breathing variety – the “turn or burn” messages that are more about fear than they are faith, I still recognize the importance of repentance.  The Bible definition is to “turn.”  The Greek word “metanoia” literally means to “change the mind.”  Obviously, turning is both positive and negative.  In turning to God, I turn away from my sin and my past.  I can’t turn to or from anything until I have my thinking changed – my mind renewed.  (Rom. 12:2)

Repentance shows me the entrance to the Kingdom of God.  It is present in my initial salvation.  Like two sides of the same coin, I must REPENT and BELIEVE in order to be saved.  But, it is also on-going in my walk with God in His conforming me to the image of Jesus Christ.  I have to regularly “repent” and change my mind from what the culture says about issues, ideas and lifestyles and renew my mind to what God’s Word says about those same things.  When I’m regularly willing to repent and believe, then all that the Kingdom of God offers  (at hand) becomes available to me!  With that said, do you need to repent?

Yesterday was yet another powerful family time in the presence of the Lord at Victory!

God is among us – in the house and doing a great work! 4 more brothers and sisters crossed the line of faith yesterday to declare Jesus Christ the Savior and Lord of their lives. It’s always exciting to be able to report things like that.

I feel like we are in the front edge of a “book of Acts” outpouring – already seeing “people saved and added to the church daily.” Your family and friends are trusting Jesus, receiving life transformation and their testimonies of change are bringing people in their networks/friendships. It just continues rolling. I look out over the crowd every Sunday and see so many new faces. Forgive me if it gets old hearing it, but I’m honestly overwhelmed at all that the Lord is doing in and through our lives right now.

Psalms 110:3 says, “Your people will be willing in the day of your power.” That day is here and like an intensifying “rising sun,” it is consistently emerging at Victory. Along with the outpouring of the power of the Holy Spirit, we are seeing so many “willing” to serve on this growing team to reap the Delta for Christ and advance the Kingdom of God. It was “way cool” seeing new members coming in at Victory yesterday and most of them wearing SERVE shirts. That is awesome! People are coming and aren’t waiting a long time before they decide to participate in teamwork.

Passion for Jesus is increasing as our worship experiences continue to grow in depth. The blend of both new and old music along with Greg’s originals provides the Victory congregation with something that is completely unique to this area. Greg’s new “Strong Tower” song blew me away yesterday.

The Spirit of God brings life and creativity. Each of us is called by God to take the seed of His word engrafted into our souls and produce a Kingdom expression, unique to us as individuals in our time, talent and treasure.
You may not be called to write music, but you are called to “translate Kingdom truth” into the everyday work world. That injection of God’s life can take the mundane and ordinary of our daily existence and set it on fire with His own presence!

The new expansion is almost finished – we’ll be using it to “train up” the next generation of Kingdom leaders in just a few days. Exciting! Again, it amazes me to think that in the last 12 months, because of the outpouring of the Sprit of God, Victory has literally doubled. It was only a few months ago that during worship, we had adults and children both in a sanctuary that wasn’t full. Now, we see the sanctuary at capacity with adults only and all our children’s ministry rooms spilling over. The Victory tribe is increasing!

Don’t forget our Fall Outreach – “Screen on the Green” this Saturday at 6:30p at Worthington Park in West Memphis. We’ll be showing “The Princess and the Frog,” a great Disney family movie and giving away refreshments. Invite your friends to this family event and call the church office if you can “put on a SERVE shirt” and help us at this event.

Expecting . . . . .

These were taken from my message yesterday – which can be downloaded FREE at http://www.victorywired.com under Media (messages or podcasts)

You might be a Pharisee if:

You see church as all about ministering to you and your personal needs.

You don’t really think you need grace – after all, you’re doing pretty good at this Christian thing.

You judge others by their actions, but are offended when people fail to judge you by your intentions.

You don’t really feel called to minister to “those” people.

You sure wish ole Jimbo or Earnestine had been here to hear this today – because God knows she sure does need to hear it.

You rush to judgment and meting out punishment first without ever considering the possibility of mercy when you hear of someone else’s failure.

You’re consumed with splinters and haven’t dealt with personal logs.

You actually acknowledge that you have sin, but know it’s nowhere near what other people are doing.

God will take care of “those people.”  You just worry about ministering to me and my family and keeping us happy pastor.

Phariseeism is a virus – contagious – the only way to treat it, to wash regularly with the water of the Word and apply grace generously.

Can’t stop praising Him! Yesterday, we saw 16 FRESH STARTS including 8 more new brothers and sisters who crossed the line of faith to enter the Kingdom of God. Words cannot describe the experience of seeing those hands go up in brokenness.

We saw 7 receive believer’s baptism yesterday. 4 children, 1 youth and 2 adults. Thanks Pastor Haley and Pastor Jeremy for helping me to administer baptism to those in your ministries.

Victory worship was saturated with the Holy Spirit yesterday. It’s exciting to see all of our praise team growing in their gifts. Thanks Greg for the great words to your original, “People, people!” Love the new rap part!

God is doing a deep work of the Spirit in our hearts, so we can get this Gospel right – not just mouthing words or understanding concepts, but living out grace and faith and having our lives in this community become an “on-ramp,” a connection point – to bring others to Jesus. May it be so Lord! We are His ambassadors!

Anticipating . . .

This year was my 7th trek to Atlanta for an experience that can be described as nothing less than remarkable. Every year, I’ve come home with indescribable inspiration and faith to see God do new and fresh things here in the delta. I’m thankful for my introduction to this experience with the very first conference for “next generation” leaders held at Andy Stanley’s North Point Church in Alpharetta, GA in 2000.

My dear friend Bruce McCarty, (then pastor of First Assembly of God) had invited me to ride with his pastoral staff to this cutting-edge conference. Friendships were deepened and faith in God’s ability to do the impossible grew. I missed the next few years due to limited conference budgets that were all spent on denominational meetings. Four years later I returned and was so impacted, I decided then I’d never miss it again. No conference anywhere, not even those of my own “tribe” touch me like Catalyst does. I think it’s the broad spectrum of theological voices that challenges me to think outside my current personal understanding of who God is – the worship always touches my heart deeply and the Words from the Lord coming from leaders like TD Jakes, Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley – to name just a few, annually hit me right in the gut. This gives me something to come home and wrestle with until God blesses me with the realization of what He was saying to me in those two amazing days in Atlanta.

The theme this year was “The Tension is Good.” How timely this was because this year was the very first where I’ve been able to take the whole Victory staff. Forgive me if these terms seem over the top, or too much in the superlative sense, but I’m truly overwhelmed at the goodness of God in answering my prayers for over 20 years to put together the kind of DreamTeam that we have at Victory.

For years, I came home and I’m sure appeared like a crazy man, “a man possessed” because I would struggle to communicate what I had seen and heard and experienced. My faith level was visibly charged. Yearly, I would be frustrated with trying to share that with people on our team who didn’t/couldn’t go.

Again, this year, there was a moment. I stood and wept, overwhelmed at the greatness of God’s love – except this time – not alone. As I was standing with my eyes closed and tears streaming down my cheeks, lost in the worship of our awesome God, I felt arms reach around me in embrace. That impacted me even more deeply – Jeremy Soto, Simona and Alex Blankenship, Haley Vest, Greg Lackey and my daughter Abbey were experiencing this same thing with me.

This year, I came home with the power of a shared experience. Our team grew together and bonded in the spirit. Because of the God we serve and what is taking place inside each of us individually and collectively as a team, I expect to see God move heaven and earth and shake the delta to fulfill the vision He has placed in our hearts. Everyday, I wake up with a new expectation and gratitude in my heart for God allowing me to lead such a fantastic church with people whom I love with my whole heart!

Anticipating . . .

I know that God will always blow our minds because He is infinite and we are definitely NOT! It’s still totally cool to see it happen, weekend after weekend. God’s blessings and favor on our teamwork to advance His Kingdom overwhelm me!

Every weekend, we are seeing multiple people make Fresh Starts – beginning the process for life transformation in Jesus Christ. This last weekend, was certainly no exception.

We had 24 guys go with us up to Spring River to camp Friday night. In addition to some great food, fellowship and fun float down the river on Saturday, we saw the Spirit of God move among us with at least 12 decisions for Jesus including new salvations, recommitments and baptisms in the Spring River. These guys came back home fired up for God and thankful for the bonds that were forged among us because of the Spirit of Christ. Special thanks to Jack Murphy, Jerome Alford and Darrin Johnson who were the “three mighty men” who made this weekend come off without a hitch.

The presence of God, which is the most critical thing in our lives and ministries is growing in intensity in our services. Yesterday was over the top – at the close of the service, 6 brand new Fresh Starts brought us that many new brothers and sisters in the family of God. YESSSS!!!

All of this was just the “icing on the cake” for an amazing week prior. I’m so proud of our staff – honestly, it’s a Dream Team! With Greg Lackey back in the saddle as worship leader and Haley Vest and Jeremy Soto as our new children’s and youth ministers, we are off and running! Both of these ministries are visibly growing every week! Please! Please! Lift us up in your prayers regularly!

In every meeting this last week, we’ve seen the Spirit of God move in major ways, breaking down past barriers that have previously hindered our efforts for ministry. Things I have prayed for and “seen in the Spirit” over the last 20 years are happening all around us regularly! All glory to God!

Guard your hearts! We don’t see this kind of fruit without the enemy making an attempt to stop it. Stay in prayer and in the Word and keep the “Armor of God” (Ephesians 6) on you! If the enemy can’t successfully attack from the outside on any of the four directional fronts, he’ll attempt the “5th column” – an invasion from the inside. He’ll infect someone with a bad attitude or a root of bitterness – this is usually someone who is easily offended who hasn’t learned the right way to handle offense (Matthew 18:15-20). We must realize that stuff happens and we have to learn how to deal with it as mature saints and not like a bunch of self-centered junior high kids.

We must “with all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another in love, (BE) eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Since Dawn and I planted Victory in 1989, there has never been a greater sense of unity and the presence of the tangible peace of Christ in Victory Church than there is RIGHT NOW! I’m convinced this is a factor in the fruit we are seeing! Guard your hearts and each other!

Equipping You to Advance His Kingdom!

Pastor Michael

Watch this and you will understand why I struggle to make the changes in Victory that we’ve been making in order to bear the fruit we’ve been bearing.

This last week has been nothing less than overwhelming! Here are a few thoughts of thankfulness!

* Over 40 volunteers came together and planned and executed the
best VBS that Victory has ever had.

* They all showed up on time with amazing attitudes and willing
hearts to SERVE!

* For three days we broke records of previous VBS’s.

* The last night of our VBS, 36 children walked forward to confess Jesus Christ
as the Lord of their lives.

* This morning, we had 2 Fresh Starts in Christ (new conversions) – that will
never get old!

* We had scheduled 3 people to be water baptized. It became 6
this morning. Hallelujah!

* Perry Reginelli has already taken this Usher’s Team to a whole new level
of excellence.

* Lori Busby has done an absolutely amazing job building our children’s
ministry. As she retires, we welcome Haley Vest into that position. Pray
for God’s blessing on Haley’s ministry.

* Last Monday night, we had 23 attending Purple Book Group. That was
with several regulars out.

* All of our children’s ministries have set capacity records this Summer.

* Youth had 17 attend last week. God is putting together a fantastic
team to develop our next generation leaders.

* In the midst of summer, we have continued to grow and see attendance
and offerings increase.

* God is moving in the hearts of the men of our congregation – perhaps
the beginning of true Biblical revival in the delta.

* There is a refreshing of the Spirit of God among us! Praise Him!

I love the people of Victory and the new spirit that’s in the house. Honestly, we’ve seen God do more in the last 12 months than we have in the last 10 years. It’s a new day! “Arise! Shine! For your light is come. And the glory of the Lord is risen up on you.” (Isaiah 60:1)

Equipping You to Advance His Kingdom!

Pastor Michael

Nothing can give you a fresh look at your life and work like getting away from its geography for a few days.  A change in scenery can bring a change in outlook.  We all need times of refocus.

For me :

*it’s the daily devotional time in the Word and the weekly worship with the saints to keep my spiritual life on track;

*the family dinners to stay in tune with what’s going on with the most important people in my life;

*the weekly date nights to recalibrate the romance with the love of my life and

*it’s the occasional get-away (sometimes full vacation like this week) that helps me to relish the gift that God has given to me in the people and         ministries of Victory Church.

I love you guys SO very much!  I thank God for you and all that I see the Lord doing in your lives.  I can’t stop praising God for the overwhelming favor of the Lord that has been on our church for the last year.  Every Sunday I’m amazed to see people commit their lives to Jesus Christ.  It never gets old being able to pray for folks who are by faith receiving a Fresh Start in Christ.  Our church is growing – for that I am thankful – not merely in its breadth – numbers, but also in its depth – spiritual life and walk with Christ.

This week, I’ve had lots of reading and prayer and think time – more than usual.  So many of the saints at Victory have come up before me – it’s been a joy to think about you and all that you mean to Dawn and me and how much we love seeing the Lord work in your life and pour out His blessings on you.  This has been a fantastic week, but honestly, I can’t wait to get back home and worship with you this Sunday!

Christopher Hitchens is a great writer.  Earlier this year, I read his book, god is not great. It’s subtitled, “How Religion Poisons Everything.”  Most of the book consisted of the same tired, old, worn-out, perennial arguments that are regularly cited by atheists regarding the existence of God and the effects religion has had on society.  However, along with those, he makes some salient points that any thinking Christian must wrestle with and “be ready to give an answer” (1 Peter 3:15).  Today’s blog isn’t written to identify or speak to those specific issues.  More about those later.

Upon discovering I had read this book, some asked why I would waste my time.  Honestly, I was a little shocked at the comment.  I’m convinced that Christians are supposed to be fully engaged “thinkers” – completely aware of the culture and spiritual climate in which we live and occupy.  After all, aren’t we supposed to “love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, MIND and strength?” (Mt 22:37; Mk 12:30; Lk. 10:27) Apparently, the opposite is true among some Christian groups – literally ignorance is celebrated.  This is shameful.  Walking with Christ in faith NEVER means having to check my mind at the door.

In the mid-20th century, the question was “God. . . to believe or not to believe?”  It was an issue of Theism or (A)Theism.  Does God exist or not?  By the late 20th century, the confluence of several cultural events as well as a world-wide outpouring of the Spirit of God began to cause people globally to change the question to, “In which God do you believe?  It was no longer a question of atheism, but it became a question of polytheism. Which god do you follow?  That’s the spiritual climate where God shows out!  It’s the one that was in the air during the time of the establishment of the early church.

This “fresh wind” has atheists on full alert in their camp.  The determination to turn back this rising spiritual tide has produced several culturally influential atheist writers.  Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens would probably make up this primary trinity of “unGodly” (said tongue in cheek) scribes.  These guys are good.  They are sharp and articulate thinkers who are very well educated and aren’t playing.  They are “in it to win it” in their goal of a completely secular society and won’t rest until it’s all been scrubbed clean of any mention of God.

With all that said, I’m delighted to bring this event to your attention.  Christopher Hitchens (god is not great) was interviewed by Marilyn Sewell, Unitarian minister who asked the following question:

Maryiln Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and [sic] distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud in amazement as I read the copy of the transcript and actually listened to his answer.  You may view the transcript and listen to the actual interview (mp3) at this website. http://www.atheistmedia.com/2010/02/christopher-hitchens-interviewed-by.html

Below is Christopher Hitchens’ response:

Christopher Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Listen to the interview and you can hear how Ms. Sewell fumbled to change the direction of the conversation!

So, what’s the point?  Here goes!  Watch this – it is amazing to me when an avowed atheist has a better handle on the real meaning and implications of the Gospel than a “so-called” minister who is supposed to believe and preach that same gospel.  Several lessons are learned here:

• Even atheists know that the Gospel has some “irreducible minimums.”  If you don’t believe those, then “you’re NOT in any meaningful sense a Christian.” (Hitchens’ own words)

• “Believers” of this type have no issues with the atheist, or secular humanist ideology or Satan (yep, I believe he exists) or the world-system and because of this are powerless to bring any lasting transformation to individual’s lives, much less larger society.

• If your pastor sounds like the Sewell variety, I don’t care how many generations of your family have been in your First_______ Church, RUN – FAST to the nearest Christ-centered, Bible-believing church and jump in with your full commitment.

• Quit taking everyone else’s word for it.  Read the Bible for yourself.  See what it says.  Choose to practice and live it.

• Christians must stop celebrating their ignorance and “study in order to rightly handle the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15) and they must “be prepared  to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15)

• You can’t handle the Word rightly and give a reason if you don’t spend any time in God’s Word!  Dig in and THINK!