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Hi guys.

For those who are asking, here’s some info for the efforts going towards SENDONG victims.

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We are all grieved by the tragedy that has befallen Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and other parts of Mindanao. From our congregation in Cagayan de Oro alone, more than fifty families have lost homes and possessions as a result of this calamity. We are all crying out for God’s comfort and mercy for all those who’ve lost their loved ones, and who need help to recover from this ordeal.

As a church, we immediately responded to help the city in practical ways. Victory Metro Manila has sent financial aid to help with their relief and rehabilitation efforts. We are also coordinating with Operation Blessing to assist in disaster response in the area.

Our churches in Mindanao have also taken part in this effort. Victory Cagayan de Oro has opened their center as a temporary shelter for those who lost their homes in the floods. Our leaders in Cagayan de Oro have also risen up to help their community by taking up a special offering to help their members with the relief efforts. Victory Pagadian, Victory Zamboanga, and Victory General Santos have sent financial aid as well.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=386411&id=565993075

How we can Help

Our senior pastor in Victory Cagayan de Oro, Pastor Janssen Torredes, is currently coordinating Victory’s relief efforts for Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. According to Pastor Janssen, the most practical way to help right now is to help fund the relief efforts. The immediate need is to provide food and water for the affected families. Our team in Cagayan de Oro will take care of purchasing, packaging, and deploying the goods to the affected families.

How to Give

Let’s do what we can to help our brothers and sisters in Mindanao. We are accepting cash donations for those afflicted by tropical storm Sendong.

Here are ways on how you can give to Sendong relief efforts:

1. Through BPI Express Online

Please select the “Others” church code.

NOTE: For more information on how to give online, please visit victory.org.ph/give.

2. Through your local congregation

Please indicate “Sendong Relief Efforts” on the “Others” field on the offering envelope

3. Through BPI.

We’ve set up an account just for Sendong Relief Efforts.

Bank of the Philippine Islands
Name of Account:  Victory Christian Fellowship
Account Number:  C/A 0821-0298-13

4. Relief Goods.

For donations in kind, we have been coordinating with Operation Blessing. You can drop off relief goods at their office at
CBN ASIA-The 700 Club office, 4th floor, Sagittarius Bldg, HV De la Costa, Salcedo Village, Makati City 

Thank you for your Christ-like compassion and service to our brothers and sisters in Mindanao. Let us continue praying for those who have lost loved ones, and for those who are participating in relief operations in the affected areas of Mindanao.

There are moments when God tests us with the very provision He’s given.

Take Abraham for example in Genesis 22.  God told Abraham to take his son, his only son, to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him up there.

Tests are necessary.  We don’t like it.  Some actually hate it.  But we need it.  It shows what’s really inside.

You want doctors tested and take their board exams.  You want cars tested for safety.  You want computers tested so they work well.

Tests are there to bring to surface what’s really inside.  For a medical student, the test shows what’s inside their brain.

Tests are not punishments but preparations.

They prepare us for future promotion. Grade 2 students take their final exams to get promoted to Grade 3.

For many of us, God tests to bring promotion – because He DOES have something HUGE in store for the future.

God tested Abraham with the very provision given.  The very thing that was promised was now the very thing being taken away? It didn’t make sense.  However, at the end, it all did.

When God tests us with the very provision He’s given, He wants to see if…

We’re so focused on the provision that we miss the Provider.
Or we seek His hand rather than His face.
or we pursue the blessing rather than the Blesser.

Tests bring up what’s really in there.

After everything, God’s verdict “NOW I KNOW…  that you fear God…”

“NOW I KNOW…”

When God looks inside our hearts, what will He find out?

This question has been asked time and time again.

It’s a valid question that deserves a valid answer.

Different people approach it in different ways.

… Getting an upgrade for their iPhone 4.
… Finding a relationship that would make them feel significant.
… Relaxing through a nice movie with people you enjoy being with.
… Eating chocolates and ice cream. (haha, that’s me!)
… Receiving a promotion at work.
… Finally conceiving and having their first baby.

The list goes on and on and on AND on.

The problem though, which I myself have discovered, is that it doesn’t last very long.

Soon, there’s a new upgrade
… the relationship you’ve longed for isn’t working out so well.
… the movie didn’t turn out as nice as rottentomatoes.com says.
… you feel bad because the chocolate and ice cream gained you a few more pounds (haha, that’s me again)
… the promotion was great but soon enough, you want a better job.

Satisfaction seems elusive. Contentment becomes noncommital.

I was reading Colossians 2 this morning and it all went back to the basics of life.

Sin has always and will continue to be the problem.
Greed. Pride. Lust. Selfishness. Doubt. Unbelief.
These will continue to plague us unless we deal with it.

“But how”, you may ask.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul says,

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15)

Key thoughts on this…

1. YOU WERE DEAD

Sin has a way of ending life.

2. BUT GOD MADE US ALIVE.

“BUT GOD…”

Two amazing words.

Only through Jesus can this happen. He is the resurrection and the life. Whatever is dead in your life, He is able to make it come back to life.

3. HE FORGAVE US ALL OUR SINS

The greatest need of man today is not more stuff, more friends, or more money.

The greatest need of man is to be forgiven.

We owed a debt we couldn’t pay.
He paid a debt He didn’t owe.

 4. HE CANCELLED THE CHARGES AGAINST US.

Imagine if you were in debt 20M pesos. Then the bank says, your debts have been cancelled.

How would you feel?

Our debt was more than 20M pesos. It was going to cost us our very life… life in hell for eternity.

5. HE NAILED OUR SINS ON THE CROSS.

The offended paying for the offense of the offender?
Unheard of.

But it was done.

 6. HE DISARMED THE POWERS AND AUTHORITIES.

There’s stuff we don’t see. There are those happening behind the scenes we don’t observe with our naked eyes.Jesus disarmed all these. No longer do these have power over us.

7. HE TRIUMPHED.

We are no longer victims but victors.
We are no longer whiners but winners.
We can now believe burdens to become blessings.
We are able to turn trials into triumphs.

All because of Jesus.

Jesus.
Yup, Jesus.

To feel good?

Well, that’s not the right question to ask.

Ride in the wave of His grace.
Nothing you can do but all about what He has done.

Feelings will just follow.