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YOU ARE AN OVERCOMER

(Snippets from Carol Mkize’s message at the Every Nation World Conference 2016 Day 3)

Ukunqoba is a word that means overcomer.

You are an overcomer because God abides in you.

Intimacy with God will drive you to continue when you are no longer with other people.

You will overcome because God’s word abides in you.

Chaos is fertile ground for Christians.

Everything we learned we can now apply in the campus.

1 Samuel 17:38-40: Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

To (Spiritual) Fathers:
What God used for you to overcome, it might be time to put it down.

The armor you used may not be the armor the next generation will use.

To the Next Generation.
Try it on first.

Don’t deny it right away.

Obedience and submission are not out of the question.

Don’t assume first that it will not work.

We have to walk with this God our fathers walked with.

WALKING TOGETHER

(This was a message given by Pastor Brett Fuller of Every Nation Virginia at Every Nation World Conference 2016, Day 2.)

Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Amos 3:3

Walking together has many benefits. It may have challenges but the fruit we produce is so much better. We can do things much better than if we do them all by ourselves.

Walking together requires CONVICTION, CONSISTENCY and COMMITMENT.

1. CONVICTION

Conviction to walk together in the midst of diversity.
Acts 13 shows us picture of diversity. The leaders were Barnabas who was Jewish, Simeon who was also called Niger (word when translated is black), Menaen who was a friend of Herod, Lucius from Cyrene and Saul who was a Jew who loved Gentiles.

Walking together requires a conviction to walk with each other no matter the differences.

2. CONSISTENCY

Walking together also requires consistency.
There ought to be a rhythm.
We are with one another enough that we have lots of opportunities to offend each other. But that is not the issue. We are walking together in the rhythm of the same beat – to go and make disciples of all nations.

We walk together towards a specific direction.
Direction is necessary to get to where we need to go. Going the same direction means confining myself to a navigable route. One of the highlights being in an Every Nation Conference is being in the sessions. But equally amazing is walking through the lobby meeting with the people we can call family.

“We may not know each other – I don’t know you and you don’t know me but I like being with you because we’re going the same direction.”

3. COMMITMENT

And finally, walking together requires commitment.
We are with each other enough, we will give more than enough reason to stop walking with each other. We will say things that may offend. We will give each other dozens of opportunity to say goodbye. But we are here for the long haul. And it is a privilege to walk together for the long haul for the purposes of God.

This is miraculous.
But while it’s miraculous, it doesn’t happen by serendipitous moments.
It is because we make a commitment.
Coming to a conference like this maybe inconvenient and expensive but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re walking together for the long term purposes of God.

WHEN VALUES ARE CLEAR, DECISIONS ARE SIMPLER.

When values are clear, decisions are simpler.

Now, simpler doesn’t mean easier for many decisions we need to make are difficult. But when priorities are clear cut, choices are simpler.

I read a recent article by Sports Illustrated on Jermaine O’Neal, a six-time NBA All-Star, Most Improved Player in 2002. He helped Indiana Pacers reach the NBA Playoffs 6 times but never got a championship ring.

In 2013, he signed with the Golden State Warriors to play through 2014. But after a year with the Warriors, he decided to call it a career. The year after that, the Warriors went on to win their first championship after a 40-year drought.

When his former team won the championship, he was watching the game back at his house in Southlake, Texas. His 15-year-old daughter, Asjia watched her dad watch the game and asked, “Are you OK?”

O’Neal didn’t say a word.

She knew he was pondering on what might have been if he stayed another year.

But for years, he told his family that they were his priority. His daughter just recovered from an open heart surgery. And while contemplating on signing with the Warriors for another year (the year they won the championship), his son told him, “Hey dad, I need you.”

“Physically, I could have done it. Mentally, no. My son and my family asked me not to, and that was the trump card. That did something to me. I was seeing changes in my son, he became more angry. And for a guy who didn’t meet his dad until seven years ago myself, I understood what it meant not to have a dad there,” O’Neal mentions in his interview with Sports Illustrated.

After she asked her dad if he was ok, Asjia walks up to her room.

A few minutes later, she sends him a text telling him about how happy she was that he was home. After recovering from her open heart surgery, she made it to volleyball team in her school and is now a rising star.

Asjia tells her dad how she appreciates him not only being home but also being able to travel with her to watch her play her volleyball games.

“Dad, you being home is like you being a champion.”

This text made what he gave up all worth it.

“It made me so emotional. When she wrote the text, how much it meant to her, to get that, it cleared up everything. All the emotions I had, missing out on the championship. That did it and I knew right away that my time was over,” O’Neal said.

“Sometimes you can’t be a champion. That doesn’t determine who you are,” he says. “But you can be a champion father, and that means everything. That means everything.”

When values are clear, decisions are simpler.

To read the full article from Sports Illustrated, click here.

BUILD THE A.R.R.O.W.

Building a tree house was one of the most challenging yet fulfilling endeavors I accomplished with my father.
He had a house in the province that had a huge backyard. Right in the middle of the yard was a massive tree that was shouting to have a tree house on top of it. I asked my dad if he was up to it. He agreed and without wasting any time, we got the materials that were suitable for the project.
Now it wasn’t a sophisticated piece of work but it was work indeed. Aside from the effort and time we poured in, we needed to have the appropriate materials to build our “mansion” in the sky.

As in any building, structure and undertaking, it is important to have the right raw materials. In building a family, there are “raw materials” we need to fashion in the lives of our children.

The Bible says in Psalm 127:1 that “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”

First and foremost, God is the Builder of any household. We cannot hallucinate and think we are the master builders.

Furthermore, in verses 3 and 4, the psalmist says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.”

This verse compares children to arrows that we can fashion. Arrows were made not to merely stay in the quiver. They were made to be released. But while they are with us, here are a few things we can build in them.

A – ttentiveness

R – elationship

R – esponsibility

O – bedience

W – isdom

In the next few weekends, I will expound on each “raw material.”

But before I talk about the arrows, I want to make one important statement:

“Arrows can only be successfully launched if the bows are reliable.”

As parents, we need the grace of God to prepare and equip us to raise the next generation of world changers. And it starts with a relationship with the Master Builder, God. Any progress or gain will never have a lasting impact apart from God’s involvement, intervention and influence through His Word.

The only way we can fulfill all that God has designed for us as parents is if we allow Him to fashion us and equip us by His Word.

You’ll be surprised how the principles from this antiquated book are still so relevant to 21st century parenting.

Till next weekend’s post.

APEC TAKEAWAYS 2014

As a member of the Every Nation family, Victory gathers together with other churches in the region for our version of APEC – Asian Pastors Equipping Conference.

This year’s theme was “100 Years From Now” held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was a fresh take on the core values we have as a church movement.

1. Lordship
2. Evangelism
3. Discipleship
4. Leadership
5. Family

The following are the tweets I posted this week while Jenn and I were in APEC. These were some of the myriad of take-aways we had.

The starting point of everything is the honor of God. – Steve Murrell

Follow the pattern. Guard the good deposit. – Steve Murrell on 2 Timothy 1:13-14

Jesus is my Lord not because I have no choice but because it is a logical choice for He is in absolute control. – Timothy Lo.

Prayer is important because where there’s great opportunity comes great opposition. – Manny Carlos

Mission draws us together.
Relationship keeps us together.
Doctrine is worked out together.
Experience is judged together. – Steve Murrell

No to entitlement. Just be thankful you are part of the game. – Jun Escosar

Our sons don’t need our lessons but our presence. – Rod Plummer

On building teams: Some activities are too dangerous to do alone like law enforcement, scuba diving and ministry! Build a team. – Steve Murrell

To be a leader, you need to build a team, lead the team and trust the team. – Steve Murrell

You’re the leader not necessarily because you’re the smartest. Maybe it’s just because you got there first. Stay humble. – Steve Murrell

Character is built by grace and faith but greatly in the midst of suffering.. – Joey Bonifacio

Your wife will be the heart of the home when she is in the heart of her husband. – Eddie Asato

Build your family to honor God and His word. – Eddie Asato

God is more at work in our children’s lives more than we could ever be. He loves them more than we could ever love them. – Eddie Asato

WHAT DO YOU VALUE AS A FAMILY?

No clue.
No idea.
Oblivious.

Getting married and having kids didn’t come with a manual.

Because I grew up without a father, being a husband and a dad didn’t come easy. But one thing’s for sure – this was one endeavor I wanted to succeed in.

“Refuse to sacrifice family on the altar of success.”

This rang in my head since the first time I heard this statement.

During one semestral break, we took the kids out of town. With us were the Sy’s (Dennis, Thammie and kids), Marge, Teri and Bruce.

As a family, we often take the opportunity to take off when we can because schedules have been crazy these days. Even our kids are now ‘busy’ – from basketball to musical theater, Friday Night Youth services to piano lessons.

During one of our conversations over breakfast, Thammie asked me a question, “What are your core values as a family?” I really didn’t have a nice, carved out answer. I guess all these years Jenn and I have operated on instincts and never really wrote down our ‘core values’.

I know many have written books these type of stuff like Patrick Lencioni who wrote a book entitled “Three Big Questions For A Frantic Family”. I know that James Dobson have written a few books on these too.

While driving home, I thought about that question again and I began listing down guiding principles we worked with through the years as a family.

1. LOVE GOD.

If we can teach our kids to do this, then I feel we’re on the right direction. We desire to help them develop a relationship with God. We feel that that is the most important task we have as parents – to connect them with God.

We won’t be there for them all the time, but if they have a relationship with their Heavenly Father, then we know that they’ll be just fine.

2. LOVE FAMILY.

Respect. Compassion. Love for family.
I guess that’s why we invest (not spend) on family vacations though we have an old, ugly, clunky Crosswind.

Memories have been a priority for us. We may not have a lot to leave them in terms of inheritance, but memories through times together is definitely on the top of our list. Seeing my kids love each other and look out for each other is definitely another important one for us.

PRAYER FOR MY FAMILY: to understand His radical grace in a greater measure each passing day.

3. LOVE OTHERS.

Service. Empathy. We want to teach our family not to just think about themselves, which we already are are very good at. Life is really not about us.

It’s about God and the people He loves.

4. LOVE LEARNING.

With the influx of information today, the accumulation of it is no longer the key to success.

Everything is now ‘googlable’.

However, processing and filtering of information is now the name of the game. Critical thinking has never been as critical. If we are successful in inputing love for learning, then I feel they will accomplish what God has designed them to be and do.

I was oblivious to being a husband and dad. But thankfully, by the grace of God, I have learned from His Word and have been surrounded by shining examples who are neither perfect nor flawless yet live under the shadow of God’s radical love and God’s radical grace. For that, I am forever grateful.

CHILDREN FOR SALE

A couple from Shanghai was charged with the possibility of going to jail for many years after allegedly selling their baby daughter to buy an iPhone and other luxury items as reported by Yahoo.

While this news article is indeed shocking, I so appreciated Ryan Tan’s comment when he posted the news article on his Instagram.

“Before you judge, ask yourself: Am I “selling” my own kids for success, money, fame, convenience?”

He is absolutely right.

While as a parent, I may not be literally selling my kids to a buyer, it is possible that in my pursuit of career, financial gain, or maybe even ministry, I am already sacrificing my children in the altar of success.

This thought pushes me to think about a few things…

1. TIME

Do I spend most of my time for personal gain or maybe even on something world changing while neglecting moments of building life with my kids?

2. WORDS

Do my words build up or do they tear my kids down?

Worse, I don’t even speak to my kids to connect with them.

3. AFFECTION

Do I spend moments to tell them that they are valuable to me?
As an indication of that value, do I physically express my affection by giving them a high five, pat in the back or hug?

I often hear Joey Bonifacio’s voice and his proverbial “Dying Breath” visualization.

“When you are catching your last few breaths in your death bed, the ones who will be around you will not be your golfing buddies. They will be there an hour, maybe 2. It will not be your officemates nor your high school friends. It will be your spouse who has stayed with you all these decades. It will be your children who have been your source of joy for years. It will be your family who will be holding your hand in those last few moments on earth. With this in mind, guess who you should be investing your most precious moments with?”

Just a thought. A good one at that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

From our family to yours, Happy New Year!

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

(Lamentations 3:22-24)

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS ON DVD

Christmas is just around the corner. And it is in this season when many of our families, friends and loved ones are most open to the gospel. Because of this, we’ve come up with a tool which you may use to share the love of Jesus during this season.

The Christmas Traditions video hopes to build lasting memories with family and at the same time an opportunity to share Jesus to others.

This video may be used in several ways:

1. Show it to your family to share how to start Christmas Traditions in your own homes.
2. Get together with your Victory Group to learn how to make Christmas more meaningful in your own families.
3. Use it as a tool to invite friends and family in your Victory Group as an outreach event.
4. You may even join up with other Victory Groups to have a mini-cluster of groups to invite people from the community or office.

The 3-part video teaching of Christmas Traditions will be available for download starting Saturday, November 24, 12:00 NN from http://victoryfort.org/christmastraditions.

If you are a Victory Group Leader, you may request for a DVD copy.
Click here to request a copy.

We pray that God will use us to share His love to many during this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

APEC-TIVE TAKEAWAYS

It was a privilege to be sitting in and listening to all the equipping sessions and reports from the different nations in Asia during our Asian Pastors Equipping Conference (APEC).

Here are a few things I got from it:

The most dangerous threat to to a strong successful fruitful mature ministry is pride in our own heart, not division, opposition and attack. (Steve Murrell)

The goal is that ministry should be taken out of the hands of the ‘experts’ and ‘pros’ and onto the hands of amateurs and volunteers. (Steve Murrell on Empowering Leadership)

Do you spend more time ministering to people or preparing people to minister? (Steve Murrell)

If you want to empower people to do ministry, mistakes are not optional. They are required! (Steve Murrell)

Who you are when you gather is who you are when you scatter. (Kevin York on the Church)

The goal in preaching is feed the sheep (John 21) and not give goat food but preach the Word that it makes sense to the unchurched. (Steve Murrell)

Biggest competitor of Lordship over us is finance, not even Satan. (Timothy Loh)

Without it, we will still go to heaven. But we might get there earlier than planned. (Rachel Ong teaching on the topic of having structures in an organization)

Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future. (Scott Douma)

“I want those who know me the most to repeat me the best.” – Rick Warren via Scott Douma

Success without relationships is miserable. (Steve Murrell on Absalom who built a monument to himself because he wasn’t able to build ‘sons’ and the next generation)

Campus ministry is not a department. It is a long-term investment. (Joseph Bonifacio)

(Find audio podcasts of the sessions here – http://apec2012.ph/messages/)

(Pictures here)

APEC 2012 Recap Video from APEC on Vimeo.