Will GOD not act for the sake of HIS reputation?

Timeline

• November 7, 2004: Victory Fellowship’s first service with seven in attendance begins in Dallas, Texas
• April 1, 2007,: Victory Fellowship’s ministry office is moved to Mesquite, Texas, and the local church transitioned to  SIMPLE CHURCH, i.e. church services held from house to house, city to city  while occasionally renting hotels or other worship facilities as often as possible for evangelistic services.
• November 7, 2011, at Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Victory Fellowship was “let go” by the parent, in similar manner a parent would  ‘let go’ of their children as they become adults.  When a parent “let’s go” of a child, it means they no longer nurture and guard them physically, but are still concerned for their welfare. For the Christian family, “letting go” of a fellowship or a church means they are no longer treated as children; rather they are now our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we relate to them as we do our other friends in the Lord. In this new relation, the most thing we do is to pray for them; encourage them in their walk with God, offering advice when it is asked for; and offering help if it is needed and accepting their decision to receive it or reject it. This also require a parent to respect their privacy just as they would any other adult’s.
• February 23, 2012 at Orangeburg, South Carolina, the journey of Victory Fellowship became very personal and God confirmed to Erick & Joyce in a quite still voice that he is up to something in Dallas, Texas. That something will require a personal sacrifice and commitment with audacity to ask others to help as they are touched by the grace of God.
• March 25, 2012 at Forth-Worth, Texas, God in his unique way gives us this assurance that  he who began a good work in us, will bring it to accomplishment and challenges us to begin a movement called Easter Event for People Helping People. This we believe will be an ANNUAL event. We have faith that it is God who is leading us and we know that where God leads, he provides and that God cannot start something and leave it hanging for we hold Jesus accountable to his words thus;
  • “No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit … ” (Luke 9:62) or
  • “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?” (Luke 14:28) or
  •  “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” {Mathew 16:18}.
  • Will God surely leave us as orphans?  Will GOD not act for the sake of HIS reputation?
• On April 7, 2011 we are asking all friends with a heart to help a pastor’s family transition to the next chapter of their ministry. Our desire is to be used of God in his ministry where all people, from all races, tribes and backgrounds are welcomed to worship him as they serve God and help one another. For more information on how to help or directions, write to us vfsmc@juno.com. We have faith that God who began a good work at VICTORY FELLOWSHIP will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Salvation

TO RECEIVE SALVATION:

1. Admit you are a sinner.“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23)“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12)“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10)
2. Be willing to turn from sin (repent).Jesus said: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5)“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” (Acts 17:30)
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead.“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”(Romans 10:9)
4. Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Saviour.“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

PRAYER FOR SALVATION:

Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (John 1:12)

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

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AFTER EXPERIENCE OF SALVATION:

1. Read your Bible every day to get to know Christ better.“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105)
2. Talk to God in prayer every day.“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22)“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6)
3. Be baptized, worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached and the Bible is the final authority.“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19)“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16)
4. Tell others about Christ.“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”(1 Corinthians 9:16)“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”(Romans 1:16)

A sign of divine calling

Luke 9:62,

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

I Kings 19 introduces us to Elisha, a young man who makes a life-changing decision.We read in verse 19 & 21

“So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him” (v. 19).

Elisha knew exactly what Elijah meant. It was a sign of divine calling.  And where does Elijah find his man? In the field with twelve yoke of oxen (the sign of a wealthy family), with Elisha himself driving the twelfth pair. It wasn’t as if he was looking for a new job. Elisha had his hands full running the family farm. Ask anyone who grew up on a farm and they will tell you the work never ends. To tend to the animals, to keep the fields in shape, to be ready to plant and harvest, to deal with the changing weather and the problems of your workers, to juggle a thousand details every day, to keep on top of everything and do it all the time, you have to get up early and stay up late. Lazy men need not apply for the job. If you are a farmer, you live your work all day every day. And I doubt that Elisha had any thought that before sundown he would slaughter his oxen and burn his plow. I’m sure that was nowhere on his radar screen when the day began.

But everything changed when Elijah showed up. No one had to tell Elisha who he was. Everyone knew his name and his face. People couldn’t stop talking about how he called down fire from heaven and defeated the prophets of Baal. The whole nation knew about this strange, enigmatic, rough-hewn mountain man from Gilead who seemed to fear no one. He also seemed to appear and disappear without warning. No one knew where he was or what he was doing, and then Bam!, there he was again. Suddenly he shows up at Elisha’s family farm, 300 miles from the cave on Mt. Horeb.

It seems to have happened this way. Without a word Elijah strides up to Elisha, takes off his cloak and puts it on Elisha. And then he begins to walk away. Elisha knew what it meant. Elijah was offering him a job. Now the young man has a choice to make. He could stay with the oxen or he could follow the prophet’s call. The life of a farmer was hard but for Elisha it was also safe. He could stay with the oxen and keep plowing furrows, one after another, or he could walk away from all of it, into an unknown future which, if you consider the recent events on Mt. Carmel, might get him into some hot water.

Elisha chose the hard path of risk instead of playing it safe. It’s not like Elijah gave him a job description with fancy perks. We read in verse 20

“Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ’Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,” he said, ’and then I will come with you.’ ’Go back,’ Elijah replied. ’What have I done to you?’” (v. 20)

We learn several useful things from Elisha’s response. First, it is an immediate response. He leaves his oxen and runs after Elijah. Why did he run? Because Elijah wasn’t staying around to discuss the matter. He placed his cloak on Elisha and then started walking away. Elisha ran because if he didn’t, Elijah would soon have disappeared. Second, it is a humble response. While he accepts the call, he asks Elijah for permission to say farewell to his parents. Third, it is a human response. He does not wish to suddenly disappear and leave his parents to wonder where he went and why.

Elisha appears to have been a family man in the best sense of that word. Though God’s call will now lead him into a new arena of activity, that departure is not to be accomplished without taking time to say farewell. The purpose here is very clear. Elisha is not going back to ask his parents for permission. He is old enough to respond on his own. But because he is a faithful son, he will not leave them in the lurch. Elisha would miss his family, and they would miss him. Nothing would ever be the same again. Never again would Elisha stand behind oxen while they plowed the field. To paraphrase Jesus, now Elisha would be plowing for men.

“So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant” (v. 21).

Elisha had a few seconds to make a life-changing decision. Once he signed on to be Elijah’s apprentice, he had to burn his bridges so that when things got tough, he wouldn’t be tempted to go back to his old life. That’s why he slaughtered his oxen. That’s why he burned his plow. And he didn’t do it in secret either. He threw himself a going-away party and invited everyone he knew. He cooked the meat from the oxen and then gave it to the people. It was his way of saying,  “The old life is gone forever. A new day has come for me.”

When God calls, you have to make a decision

Results are Expected

Because the word has been spoken certain results are expected. As we hear the word let us move out to bring about God’s purposes involved in His word. He has chosen us to move and we must choose to move with him and for him. He won’t have it any other way. The prophet Isaiah makes this so clear when he wrote;

For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55)

We will never know the gospel until we live the gospel.

Grey Matter Research recently conducted a nationwide survey of Protestant pastors in America for Facts and Trends magazine. The survey asked a single question: “If your church received an unexpected windfall, where would you spend that extra money?”

• Thirty-one percent said they would update or expand their church facilities.
•  Sixteen percent would beef up church programs.
• Twelve percent would pay off debt. Ten percent would add staff.
• But only seven percent would give the money to evangelism or missions.

Transformation never comes from gaining more information. It doesn’t even come from inspiration. The fact that you get zealous about biblical truth, won’t transform you either. The truth is: we will never know the gospel until we live the gospel.