Joe and Leslie

I'm sure it was a surprise to most of our congregation as I announced on Sunday that Joe and Leslie Barbacci were headed back to the mission field on October 1st. Let me share my thoughts with you about this.

Joe has been a great help to me. He is the first paid associate pastor to help me here at Victory. Joe came on staff in July of 2003 at a time that I was in desperate need of help. Joe has taken so much of the administrative load off me! Joe has the heart of a servant and has done a admirable job of assiting me. He has never sought to promote himself, and has been satisfied to work behind the scenes to serve our congregation. Joe is a wonderful example of a servant leader, and I'm going to miss him a lot.

Some months ago thee came a knowing in me that Joe had a real heart call to missions, and ever so often I would ask him if he was fulfilled in his role as associate pastor with me. He graciously acknowledged that he loved what he did in serving our congregation, and I would tell him how much of a blessing he was to me. I told him that I wanted him to remain here as long as he wanted to be, but that if he had a heart tug to missions to feel free to pursue it!

God's call on all of us is a heart thing. And the Lord usually takes us down a path of training and developing before He launches us out into His ultimate plan for our lives. He places us in positions to prove ourselves faithful, and eventually sends us where we belong.

It seems that Shalom Hospital near Flores, Guatemala is a culmination of years of faithful plodding by Joe and Leslie. I beleive that the Lord has used all of Joe's past experiences as a training ground for what he will be doing there.

Joe is simply following his heart's desire in going back to minister in Latin America. Psalms 37:4 tells us that when we put God first in our lives, He places desires within us that He wants us to fulfill. If you're wondering what the Father has called you to do, just ask yourself what is your deepest heart's desire. The Holy Spirit places in us a real heart-felt desire to do what the Father is calling us to do. And when you pursue that desire, it is not a struggle, it's a delight.

I love what I do as pastor because it's in my heart. If you want to be trully fulfilled as a believer, follow the deepest yearning of your heart. That will be the place of ultimate personal satisfaction, peace, and joy for you.

Though we as a church will miss Joe and Leslie greatly, I have the satisfaction of knowing that they are pursuing their heart dreams. And that they are pursuing the will of God for their lives. Having said that, transitions are a challenge for us all. Human nature resists change. But we must remain willing to obey God when He speaks. That's what keep His blessing on our lives. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land!

Please believe God with us during these two months of transition for Joe and Leslie. And believe with me for God's best in choosing a person to assume Joe's duties here.

Our relationship with Joe and Leslie will continue, and we'll go visit them in Guatemala, and they will come back to see us from time to time. Let's beleive for the best that God has for Joe and Leslie, for Victory Fellowship, and for God's choice in our associate pastor!

A Glorious Entrance

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Susan’s aunt, Elma Gore, went to be with Jesus last night. She had just turned 84 years old. We knew that the time of her home going was close, and her family had to make the decision to let her go.

The advent of modern medicine and the ability to keep the body alive for extended periods of time when it would otherwise expire have opened up so many questions as to what is best for a person and a family. And it takes cautious wisdom as we deal with these sensitive family issues.

It takes faith to live, and faith to die! Though God has promised us long life, if Jesus delays His coming, we all will experience physical death. Death is the last enemy to be defeated. The good news is that Jesus has taken the sting out of death.

It takes prayerful wisdom from the Father to know how to pray when a family member approaches the time of their death. Yes, we believe in the healing power of God, and we should believe for healing. But when a person has lived out their life and are satisfied, we must be willing to let them go on to glory.

Sometimes, we a hold a person here with our faith when they are older and it’s time for their home going. God has promised us that we can live until we are satisfied. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation (Psalm 91:16). But we must be willing to let family members go when we discern it’s the best thing for them at this time of their life, and they are satisfied.

We should pray for those who are satisfied with a long life and are ready to go to heaven, that they have an easy transition from this life to the next. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:11). Pray for an abundant entrance into heaven for them!

Let’s believe God to live the long life that He has promised us, and let’s ask Him for wisdom as we deal with family issues and family members who have lived out their lives and are ready to go home to heaven. Let’s believe for them for a glorious entrance into Glory!

A Yielded Will

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it (Matthew 16:24-25).

The soul is comprised of the mind, the emotions, and the human will. The soul also has the capacity for imagination. Of these three elements, the will is the king of the soul. The mind, emotions, will, and imagination follows the paths the will allows.

The will is sacred. The Father will never violate the will of a person. He allows us to make our own choices, and then we must live with the results of those choices. Jesus said if any man will let him come unto Me and drink (John 7:37). If you be willing and obedient you eat the good of the land (Isaiah 1:19). Choose this day whom you will serve, life or death blessing or cursing…(Deuteronomy 30:19).

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gave a test of will to Adam. He failed the test. Since then, the will of man has generally been opposed to the will of God. The will has been tainted by sin and is largely self-centered.

In every gospel, Jesus admonishes believers to subdue the will. He tells us that if we’re going to follow Him we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Jesus spoke these words addressing the will.

Every believer receives a summons from the Holy Spirit to yield the will daily to the Father by yielding it to the Lordship of the Word. No believer can walk closely with the Master until he or she has submitted their will to him in humble faith.

Let’s take time daily to willingly give ourselves to the Father. He will not coerce or force us. We must be willing to daily humble ourselves to and to obedience to the Word and to the inward promptings of the Holy Spirit.

We receive the best that God has according to the yieldedness of our will to Him. May we be able to say what Paul said as he addressed the giving of his will daily to the Father: Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:10-11).

Lifting the Limits

Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel (Psalm 78:41). …But with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). …If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23).

The children of Israel limited God with their disobedience and their unbelief. Though He had miraculously delivered them from Egyptian bondage and met their needs in supernatural ways, they continued to whine and complain when difficulties came.

God is limitless. He is Almighty! He has all power. He is the source of all that exists. He is eternal, with no beginning and no end. He knows everything! The angels in revelation sang out, The Lord God omnipotent reigns!

This being true, it’s time for us to take the limits off of our lives. God has taken His “Almightiness” and has pointed it towards our need by reminding us that with God all things are possible, and with all things are possible to Him who believes! It’s possible to for your prayers to be answered. It’s possible to overcome that weakness of the flesh. It’s possible to overcome that inability and do what’s in your heart! It’s possible to overcome the problem in your marriage. It’s possible for your children to turn around and obey God. It’s possible to be healed of that chronic illness.

The first step is repentance for our disobedience. The second step is a positive exercising of our faith. God is not a man that He should lie! If He says it He will do it, if He’s spoken it, He will make it good! His word will not return to Him void! It produces results!

Let’s refuse to limit God with our unbelief. Let’s act on the Word in every circumstance. Let’s believe we receive God’s best in every area of life. Let’s speak God’s Word and agree with what He says about or past, our present, our future, our health, our finances, our marriage and families, our children, our jobs, and our relationships. Let’s expect answers to our prayers. Speak to the mountain looming in your way and expect it to be removed as Jesus said it would. Believe in your heart that what you say will come to pass! God cannot lie!

We lift the limits by acting in obedient faith in the faces of great difficulty.

The Power of United Purpose

And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them (Genesis 11:6). How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had surrendered them? (Deuteronomy 32:30)Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Unity is a powerful force spiritually and naturally. People who unite in a common purpose far exceed the ability of a single individual. The devil knows this, so he works incessantly to stifle vision that unites purpose, and works to sow division between believers.

It time now for the body of Christ to rise up and fulfill its’ God planned destiny. In John 17, Jesus prayed that we would be one so the world would know Him.

Regardless of what church you attend, get behind the vision of your pastor and church leaders. Find ways to assist them in reaching your community for Jesus, and in helping disciple fellow believers.

The Father wants to use you today to bless, to encourage, and to inspire others to greater spiritual maturity. Recognize that we believers, like the individual parts of the human body, are dependent on one another. The health of the body is determined by the combined efforts of each part. If one part suffers, the other parts bear that pain too. And when one part is functioning properly, it aids in the function of every other part. If one part lags behind, the other parts have to work even harder!

Here at Victory Fellowship, let’s unite to live without limits! Let’s give God out best today. Passionately express your heart to Him in private prayer. Lift the limits and expect answers! Allow the water of His Word to quench your spiritual thirst and to wash the effects of living in a fallen world off of you. Expect the Word to empower you today and to produce change in you.

Refuse to allow your thoughts and words to be used by the enemy to sow strife or division. Refuse to listen to words of gossip and dissention. Sow words of blessing, love, and encouragement. Look for ways to help others. Put the laws of sowing and reaping to work in your life and in the life of your church family.

Become unity minded. Become others minded. All things are possible to the group of individual who will unite under a common purpose. Let’s go after it with everything within us today!

Do it Scared!

If you’re going to be used by God, prepare to be stretched! God has an uncanny way of asking us to do what we think is impossible. His call to us is often in a realm way beyond what we think of ourselves and our own ability. Don’t forget, He’s able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think!

When I was 25 years old, I was a maintenance man (ok, a janitor!) in a large local church. I had attended two Bible Schools and knew that I was called to preach. I studied and prayed constantly. The pastor of the church saw an anointing on my life and would allow me to preach on Wednesday nights on occasion.

I received a call one summer day that blew me away. It was the pastor of the large church. He wanted me to assume a pastoral staff position as counseling director for this very large church. To say that I was overwhelmed is an understatement. I was floored! I wanted to give the classic “scaredy cat” answer, “well, let me pray about it!” But I knew intuitively that this was God’s will, so I said, “Yes, I’ll do it.” That’s when the internal fight began.

God had asked me to do something so far beyond me. I had just assumed a job where I had to oversee and train 120 people, and I didn’t know what I was doing myself! I made a decision to do it scared! I knew that if God called me, He would give me the ability to accomplish the overwhelming task before me.

Then one day not long after that the Lord gave me a scripture in during my personal devotions that empowered me and changed my life. It’s 1 Timothy 1:12, and it reads: And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry. I read other translations of this scripture that gripped me. Here are a few: Grateful am I to Him that empowered me (Rotherham); I give thanks to Him who puts strength in me (Henry Alford); I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, the source of all my strength (Knox). But the one that struck me the most was from the New English Bible: And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me equal to the task!

That went off like a bomb in me. Suddenly I was awed by God’s thoughts about me. When He calls us, He sees what we can’t see in ourselves, and He leads us in a way that will pull out of us what He has put in us when He formed us. He helped me succeed in what I thought was an impossible situation. He did make me equal to the task.

So when an opportunity comes for you to do something that seems impossible to you, do it scared! The Father will give you the ability you need if you’ll walk by faith and believe Him. He will make you equal to the task.

Working Together

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12).

I’ve had some very positive feedback from people about this weekend. I met with my staff Tuesday morning and we discussed things that we can do to make Victory Fellowship better in terms of serving the congregation.

A local church is really an incubator for spiritual nourishment. God equips the pastor with a ministry anointing to feed the flock the Word to enhance spiritual growth. The goal is for each member of the body of Christ to be involved in a local church, and as they are faithful to obey God, act on the Word and serve others in some way, they grow spiritually.

As believers mature, they should take on the responsibility of assisting the pastor in caring for the members of the family of God. We are called to not just make converts, but to make disciples of all nations. And that means we are to led new believers into maturity.

That is not the job of the pastor alone. For the pastor to be effective, he needs the aid of other believers who become mature enough to be willing to “shoulder” some spiritual responsibility. Instead of needing a lot of maintenance, these believers help with the care of younger, less mature believers.

In the weeks to come, I’m going to be looking for those who will be willing to help me in the spiritual care of the family. Our church has grown to the point that I need those that help me care for others. I simply can’t do it alone.

As we all work together, the anointing that the Father placed on me as pastor will flow down to each person who steps up to the plate to help. Please contact me if you are reading this blog and have a heart to help others grow into maturity.

Remember that one can put a thousand to flight, and two can put ten thousand to flight. We multiply our impact in God’s kingdom when we work together. Let’s get after it!