We need not only committed people, · Good Leaders have a proper attitude.It's your attitude not your aptitude that determines your altitude. People with proper attitude are not afraid

We live in a fast and changing world. Within the past few years, changes have taken placein the world which has affected not only society, but the Church at large. There's been achange when it comes to the values and commitment within the Church. If we, as aministry, are going to inherit the promises God has given to us and still remain relevantand effective in these fast changing times, then there are three things we must do.

World Conference 2005 Sermon by Pastor Sonny Arguinzoni

1. To Inherit the Nations We

Need To Reach Up. We must

recognize God is our source. We have a

calling and mission God has given us to

accomplish. If we're going to be successful,

relevant and effective, then we must first

focus on God.

We must never forget that God is "number

one" and we always need to put Him first.

He's the One who saved us. He's the One

who called us. As the scripture says in

Psalms, "Unless the Lord builds the house,they labor in vain, who build it."

The reason Victory Outreach has come this

far is because our dependency has been on

God. It hasn't been on the government, or

big corporations, people, or on anything else,

but our dependency has been on God.

In Psalms 23:1, David recognized that God

was his source of fulfilling all of his needs.

David said, "The Lord is my shepherd and Ishall not want." He didn't say, "The

government is my shepherd," or "Social

Security is my shepherd," nor "My job or my

bank account is my shepherd." Not even

people were his shepherd. But David said,

"The Lord is my shepherd!"

Sometimes we tend to depend on people.

Many times this happens to pastors. You’ll

find them praying, "God, send me a

millionaire.” They think, if only God would

send them a millionaire all their financial

worries would be over. I have come to

realize in pasturing a church, my dependency

is not on the people to meet my needs nor the

needs of the ministry. My dependency is on

God, "The Lord is my shepherd and I shall

not want."

There are several reasons why we struggle

with God being our source. Largly, because

of the "Do It Yourself" culture we live in.

We live in a secular society and sometimes it

creeps into the church. "I'll work it out and

solve this problem myself," … without ever

consulting God.

We are told "God helps those who help

themselves." No where in the Bible does it

say that. But what it does say is that God

helps those who depend upon Him, who look

to Him as their source.

Sometimes we confuse the channel with the

source. We tend to think the source of our

supply is our work. If we lose our job, we

panic. Others look to people, or their bank

account, or other things within their lives as

being their source.

How do you know if you're guilty of doing

this? If you start looking to something else

to meet your need instead of God. Worrying

about how you're going to pay your bills, or

how you're going to make things happen

within your ministry. Any time you worry it

should be a warning sign that you have

stopped looking to God as your source.

We need not only committed people,

but we need committed and effective

leaders. Our ministry will only grow

as large as our leadership. We need to

make leadership development a priority. In

evaluating your leadership development,

you need to ask yourself these questions.

Do I have passion to develop leaders? Am I

targeting a small group of individuals into

whom I can pour my time and energy into?

Do I model for this group the character and

skills I would like to see instilled in them?

Remember, leadership is caught not taught.

This is what my wife and I are doing in San

Diego. We have a passion to raise up this

"Now Generation." We're targeting people

in whom we can pour time and energy into.

We model character and skills so they can be

instilled within the lives of others.

There are several things we need to look for

in potential leaders. We have to look for

people with searching minds, who are

hungry for growth. People who are

inquisitive, always asking questions, "Why

did you do that?" When I see someone like

that I think to myself, "This person sure is

hungry to learn and grow." We need to look

for people with a humble heart who realize

they haven't arrived yet. We also need to

look for people who are gifted and help

them identify their gifting. Then, we need

to look for people with a faithful spirit,

people that are consistent.

Good leaders have certain qualities ... they

are good followers! If you're not a good

follower, you'll never be a good leader.

There are some people who just want to

have people under them, but they don't

follow those above them. They may desire

to be good leaders but they've never learned

to follow. Jesus taught that the way to

greatness is through humility. “Follow-ship,”

not fellowship, precedes leadership.

Good Leaders have a proper attitude. It's

your attitude not your aptitude that

determines your altitude. People with

proper attitude are not afraid of hard work.

Good leaders are loyal. Not with conditional

loyalty or conditional commitment. There

are some people who are conditionally

committed or conditionally loyal. As long

as you don't rub them the wrong way they'll

be loyal to you. But as soon as something

happens they don’t like, they're no longer

loyal. All of a sudden they turn on you and

become your enemy.

There will be times when a leader has to

make some hard decisions. A person who is

loyal will accept those decisions. They won't

have conditional commitment or conditional

loyalty. They will be loyal to God, loyal to

the leadership and loyal to the ministry.

Good Leaders are enthusiastic. They think

excitement and talk excitement. Enthusiasm

is faith in action; and it's contagious.

We need to ask ourselves, are we

committed? What are we living for? For

money? For a better job? For a new car?

For a good time? For retirement? For a

meaningful relationship? Sad to say, most

people are living for themselves. Can you

imagine how different their lives would be if

they would apply themselves to God? What

an impact we could make for His Kingdom.


Need To Reach Out. That means

reaching out to the mission field. We need

to keep in mind that God is the Lord of the

Harvest. He decides which field will be

harvested and when it's time to go. He's the

one that sends forth the laborers into the

harvest. Revelations 3:7 says, "This is themessage from the One who is Holy, True.The one who has the key of David, when Heopens no man can close; when He closes noman can open." He opens the doors, and He

shuts the doors. And we must depend upon

God to open the doors so that we can go in.

When God opens up the door for the Gospel

to be preached, that door will remain open

until He decides to close it. And I declare to

you, today the doors are open for Victory

Outreach around the world more than ever

before. So why haven't we been reaching

more people worldwide?

First of all, people do not reach out because

of fear. Some are just plain scared. What

are they afraid of? They're afraid of the

unknown. They're afraid of failure. They're

afraid to be alone. They're afraid to exercise

faith. Any time you're going to do

something for God, there's always going to

be a sense of fear. You must remember God

is with you and He is your source.

Secondly, people fail to reach out because of

apathy. If we really believe the lost are

going to hell, then we sure don't show it

sometimes. We're so concerned about what

is happening in our own little world that we

can't even see the need around us and the

need around the rest of the world.

Lack of commitment will keep a person

from reaching out. We need to be consistent

in our faith and consistent in sharing the

Gospel, not up and down Christians.

Another reason is materialism. Many

people won't heed the call because they don't

want to give up the good life here in the

good old U.S.A. You have to be careful of

materialism, it will keep you from fulfilling

the call of God upon your life.

Others fail to reach out because of the lack

of self-confidence. Many people think they

can't do the job or be successful at what God

is calling them to do. Perhaps they're

inundated with problems or feeling

insufficient and wanting to quit. That's

when they have to put faith into action and

place their trust and confidence in God,

because God equips those He calls.

Then, to effectively reach out, we need to

shift from local thinking to global thinking.

God is a global God. He has always cared

about the entire world. John 3:15 says, "ForGod so loved the world." Most of the world

already thinks globally. The largest medias

and businesses conglomerates are multi-

national. Our lives are increasingly

intertwined with other nations. Most of the

clothes you wear and much of what you eat

today is produced in another country. We

are more connected globally than we realize.

World Class Leaders Pray for the World.

The first way to think globally is to begin

praying for specific countries. The Bible

says, "If you ask Me, I will give you thenations. All the people of the earth will beyours." This is what God is saying to

Victory Outreach, "Ask of Me and I will

give you the nations."

Prayer is the most important tool for world

missions. People may refuse our love or

reject our message, but they are defenseless

against our prayers. Like inter-continental

missiles, you can aim a prayer whether

you're ten feet away or ten thousand miles

away. What should we pray for? Pray for

opportunity to witness. Pray for courage to

speak. Pray for rapid spread of the Gospel.

Pray for more workers.

Another way to develop global thinking is to

read and to watch the news with great

commission eyes. What do I mean by that?

Whenever there's a change or conflict taking

place in the world, you can be sure that God

will use it to bring people to Himself.

Because of the increasing changes in the

world today, most people are open to

hearing and receiving the Good News more

than ever before. Whenever there's crisis in

a nation or a country, that's an open door.

It's an opportunity for us to take the Gospel

of Jesus Christ. God has some open doors

for Victory Outreach and we must take

advantage of them.

The best way to switch from local to global

thinking is to get up and go on a short-term

mission project to another country. There is

no substitute to hands on, real life

experience in another nation or culture.

That's why we're going to Africa. What an

opportunity! We're taking Victory Outreach

teams in to invade that country with the

Gospel. I'm excited about going; and I'm

sure once we get there, we’ll come back

with a burden.

That’s how the ministry in England began.

Julie and I were in England and saw the

need. We came back with a burden, "We

have to reach Europe. We have to reach the

British Isles." It was the same for Holland

and for a lot of other countries we're now in.

It was because someone caught the vision,

someone felt the burden, someone came

back and said, "We have to do something."

We can always find excuses to keep us from

fulfilling the mission to global evangelism.

Sarah claimed she was too old; Jeremiah

claimed he was too young. God rejected

their excuses. In Jeremiah 1:7 the Lord said,

"Don't say I'm too young. For you must gowherever I send you and say whatever I tellyou. Don't be afraid of the people for I willbe with you and I will take care of you."

There are three things that can tempt you to

give up. First of all, problems. Every good

idea has problems; even the Promised Land

had problems. Secondly, pressure. Pressure

causes us to become discouraged and want

to quit, but don't let pressure hold you down.

People. People will disappoint you; people

will misunderstand you; people will criticize

you and have negative attitudes. But in

order to overcome - never give up! Put your

trust in God and in His dependability.

God has given us four promises to help us

accomplish the task. He promised us His

power. He promised Joshua, "I promise you

that no one will be able to stand against you

as long as you live. For I will be with you,

as I was with Moses, I will not fail you nor

abandon you." He's saying to us, "Nothing

will be able to stop you. If you trust Me, I

will put My power in you. I am with you."

Secondly, He offers us His protection. He

says, "Nothing can harm you. I will never

leave you nor forsake you." Not only will

we have His power but we'll also have His

protection.

Then God promises prosperity. If we follow

His instructions, "Don't let this Book of the

Law depart from your mouth, meditate on it

day and night. Be careful to obey

everything that is written therein and then

you will be prosperous and successful."

The most common thing that hinders us

from stepping out and taking our inheritance

is always the lack of faith. It hinders us

from being pleasing to God. Hebrews 11:6

says, "Without faith it is impossible to

please God." Do you know what faith is?

Faith is believing and trusting Him even

when you don't see it. Hebrews 11:1 says,

"Now being sure of what we hoped for and

certain of what we do not see."

Faith is obeying even when you don't

understand. Hebrews 11:8 says it was faith

that made Abraham obey when God called

him. He left his own country without

knowing where he was going.

Faith is giving when you don't have it. By

faith Abel was commended as a righteous

man when God spoke well of his offerings.

Faith is persisting when you don't feel good.

Hebrews 11:27, "It was by faith that Moses

left Egypt and was not afraid of the king's

anger. He held to the promise like a man

that could see the invisible."

Faith is thanking God before we receive it.

Hebrews 11:30, "By faith the walls of

Jericho came down and the people marched

around them for seven days." Mark 11:26,

"When you pray and ask for something,

believe that you receive it and it will be

given to you."

Faith is trusting if you don't get it. Hebrews

11:35-40, "They were all commended for

their faith yet none of them received what

had been promised. God had planned

something better."

If we are going to inherit the nations,

we need to be people of faith. The Word of God tells us in Hebrews 11:8,

By faith Abraham obeyed when God called

him to leave home and go to another land.

By faith Moses left the land of Egypt not

fearing the king's anger; he kept right on

going because he kept his eyes on the One

who was invisible.

By faith the children of Israel marched

around Jericho for seven days and the walls

came crashing down.

By faith Rahab the prostitute was not

destroyed with her city.

By faith Joshua claimed his inheritance and

conquered the land promised to him.

By faith God called an inner city

people who were no people and

promised them the treasures out of

darkness....By faith Ed Morales and his young wife

Mitzi were called of God to go to San Jose,

California and obediently went and believed

God for the impossible.

By faith Steve and Joesy went to Hayward

and conquered the city.

By faith Steve launched out into the

Philippines not knowing anyone, with only

two phone numbers in his pocket and

miraculously a church was built.

By faith Chuckie from Hayward and Barry

from Santa Rosa went to spy out the land in

Indonesia and within a year a hundred

Muslims declared Christ as Savior.

By faith Gerald and his family believed for

Israel and miraculously the Lord opened up

the doors and now Jews from all over the

world are coming to Christ.

By faith David Martinez in his sixties went

to Australia and New Zealand and planted

four churches and is now looking to plant

more works in Samoa and other parts of the

world.

By faith Sonny Arguinzoni, Jr. took over

pastoring the La Puente Mother Church.

By faith Al and Georgina went to drug

infested East Coast and opened up the first

Urban Training Center.

By faith Brother and Sister Masterson are

taking the city of Ontario, California in their

Golden Years.

By faith a team of workers are going into

Guatemala, even after the death and gun-

down shooting of two Victory Outreach

workers.

By faith this Conference there will be

hundreds of men and women launched out

to take the nations of the world.

Victory Outreach is once again in

church planting mode. We are

inheriting the nations of the world. We

are claiming all the land that God has

given to us as a people. Are you ready

for it? If you're willing to pay the

price, then step out and take the

nations of the world ... its Outreach

Time!

“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes, for you shall expand to the right and to the left and yourdecedents will inherit the nations amd make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” ~ Isaiah 54:2-3

A good example of this is found in I Kings

17:2-6 with the story of Elijah. There was a

famine in the land. God was leading His

servant Elijah by the brook and the ravens

came and fed him. Then, the brook ran dry.

All along God had been providing, but when

the brook dried up, Elijah took his eyes off

God and started complaining saying, "God,

You don't love me anymore. You were

providing for all my needs but now it's all

dried up. You must not love me anymore."

In other words, Elijah was having a "Pity

Party." Just like many of us have at times.

When everything is going good we say,

"God, You sure do love me." But as soon as

things aren’t going the way we expect, we

start to cry, "God, You don't love me

anymore."

As long as the brook kept running, Elijah

would have stayed. But God wanted him to

move on. Sometimes God works like that

with us. He dries up the brook in your life,

situations go sour, and problems come in, or

there’s a lack or shortage. It is because God

wants you to take your eyes off of the

channel and place your eyes on the source,

which is God. He wants you to trust Him.

“We need to remember God is our

source. The brook may dry up and the

channel may dry out but God, who is

our source, will never dry up.”

All along God had another channel to meet

the needs of His prophet. God took him

from channel to channel, meeting Elijah’s

needs, as long as he kept his eyes on Him.

In Matthew 6:31-33, the Word tells us,

"Why are you worrying? Don't worry about

having enough food, or clothing. Why be

like the heathens? They are deeply

concerned about these things, but your

Heavenly Father already knows. Even

before you know it, He knows you have

need of them and He will give them to you."

Remember, God is your source and He’ll

always take care of business. He said, "Seek

ye first the kingdom of God and His

righteousness and all these things, will be

given to you."

Sometimes we have a preconceived

idea of how God will work. We think

He's going to work a certain way, then He

doesn't. Let Him choose the channel He will

use to fill your need. It may be different

than the one you would have chosen, but He

is a sovereign and all knowing God.

God works in different ways in our lives.

First, through divine intervention. He

reaches down into the difficult situation

we're in and works a miracle. We pray,

"Lord, 'I'm in this situation, You're a miracle

working God, work a miracle for me right

now!" Then He reaches down and not only

takes us out of the situation but He takes the

situation away.

We see God's divine intervention with the

children of Israel. He took them out of

Egypt by a string of miracles … plagues

turned the water into blood, the death of the

firstborn, the crossing of the Red Sea,

manna from heaven. Miracle after miracle

after miracle, God performed for them.

In the New Testament, there are many

accounts of God's miracle working power.

One situation in particular is when God

miraculously took Peter out of prison.

God is able to work through miracles.

Sometimes when we need a miracle, God

comes through with that miracle. But

sometimes we want miracle after miracle.

Then when we don't get it, we get

discouraged. I want you to know God also

works in other ways.

Secondly through the interaction of God.

That means He works in cooperation with

man. A good example of this is in the life of

Namaan. Namaan had a preconceived idea

of how he was going to get healed of

leprosy. His maid-servant told him, "There's

a prophet in Israel, just go to him. I'm sure

when he lays his hand on you his God will

heal you."

So what did Namaan do? Namaan was an

important individual. So Namaan went over

to the prophet's house. In his mind he knew

exactly how it was going to happen, "I'll go

to him and the prophet will come out and lay

his hand upon me and I will be healed." But

it didn't work that way. Instead the prophet

sent word, "Tell him to dip himself seven

times in the river and he'll receive his

healing." The prophet didn't even come out

to see him! This infuriated Namaan.

"Surely I thought he would at least come out

and meet me.” Namaan said, “But instead

he's telling me to jump in the river. Aren't

the rivers in my neigborhood better than all

the rivers over here? If I was going to take

a swim I would have stayed where I was."

Thank God for someone who had a little

wisdom. His servants said, "We've come so

far, you might as well do what he’s told you

to do, what do you have to lose?”

Namaan had to do something he did not

expect. God was saying to him, "Namaan,

you do this, and I'll do that." And because

he was obedient, he was healed.

What about the children of Israel? When

they were going into Jericho they had to

march around Jericho for seven days. Then

on the seventh day they had to go around

seven times around. God said, "I'll do My

part, but you have to do your part."

It’s the same with prosperity and God

blessing us financially. What does He say?

"You do your part in tithes and offerings and

I'll do My part. I will rebuke the devourer

and open up the windows of heaven and

bring blessing to you." He says, "You do

this, (be obedient), and I'll do that." There's

cooperation between God and man.

One area that it is important for us to

understand this concept is when it comes to

the evangelization of the world. God is God.

If He wanted to, He could easily save

everyone. He doesn’t need us, He’s God and

nothing is impossible for Him. Yet He chose

to use us in the evangelization of the world.

He chose to work in cooperation with man.

We're here because God chose to raise up an

army in Victory Outreach. He said, "Victory

Outreach, you do your part and I'll do my

part."

Romans 10:13 says, "But whosoever shallcall upon the name of the Lord shall besaved. But then how shall they call on Himin whom they have not believed. And howshall they believe in Him in whom they havenot heard?" Then notice what it says, "Andhow shall they hear without a preacher(Victory Outreach)?" Isn't that what God

has called us to do? We are called to work

in cooperation with God.

Thirdly, there's the inner working of God.

This is an area that many of us do not like.

It's through this growing process that God

doesn't take us out of the situation, but uses

the situation to produce His inner working

within our lives. God loves to work in this

way because it matures us and causes us to

grow ... it’s the inner working of God in us.

Just like the three Hebrew children, when

they were in the fiery furnace. God did not

take them out of the fire, but He was with

them in the midst of the fiery furnace.

What about Paul's thorn in the flesh? Three

times he pleaded with God to take it away.

yet God responded, "No, I'm not going totake it away. My grace is sufficient. Forwhen you are weak, then you are strong."

There are many others we read about within

the Word of God ... Moses was on the back

side of the desert for forty years, yet God

was with him; Joseph remained in prison

with the blessing and grace of God.

“You must go through the process.

God knows what He's doing within

your life. If He hasn't worked a

miracle in your life, you need to

know that God's grace is sufficient.”

James said, "The trying of your faithworketh patience, perseverance, endurance,stability." Some of you have been looking

for a miracle but you might not even get it.

God is saying to you today, "My grace is

sufficient. Put your trust in Me."

Remember, God alone is the source of your

supply. Paul was one who labored and

ministered with God as his power source.

He said, "With this end I labor, struggling

with all His energy that so powerfully works

in me." That’s why Paul was so powerful,

he wasn't doing it himself. He didn’t do it

with the energy of man, but with God's.

Regularly, we have to put gas in our car or it

stops running, doesn't it? Perhaps you've

experienced running out of gas from driving

your car too much. There are some

Christians like that, they drive hard and run

out of gas spiritually! By forgetting to "fill

the tank" they stop functioning. There may

be some of you who have "run out of gas."

In your heart you say, "I've been running on

empty and I need to be filled by God."

That's just what happened to the Israelites

when they were going to take the land they

had inherited. In Numbers 13 they cried,

"We can't attack; they’re stronger than we

are. Their cities are fortified and very large.

There’s giants in the land and we seem like

grasshoppers in our own eyes." They saw

themselves as being unable, insignificant,

too weak to accomplish the task. What’s

amazing is all along, while they were feeling

that way, God was just standing by saying,

"Why don't you let me take over now?"

They forgot how God had delivered them

out of Egypt. How He opened up the Red

Sea and led them by fire by night and by the

cloud by day. They forgot how God

miraculously fed them with manna from

heaven. They forgot all God had done for

them because they took their eyes off God.

We must never forget what God has done

within our lives. The children of Israel

failed to Reach Up and to trust God. There

are many of you who possibly looked for

different ways of meeting your needs and

you've taken your eyes off God. Today, you

need to reach up and connect with the main

connection. Remember God is your source.


Need To Reach In. Reaching in has

to do with the building process that takes

place inside of us. Joshua's generation knew

that if they were going to inherit the land

God promised to them, they needed to grow.

They needed to reach in before they could

reach out. They had to learn from mistakes

of the previous generation, and there were

three mistakes the previous generation made

that was important for them not to repeat.

First, they forgot the past. They forgot

everything God had done for them. All

those miracles and they still forgot.

Secondly, they became satisfied with the

present. We should never be satisfied with

the present, but always strive to be more and

do more for God. Thirdly, they were fearful

of the future. The previous generation was

afraid to step into all God had for them.

They were afraid of opposition, of the

giants, and if they had what it takes to go in

and possess the land God had given to them.

Joshua's generation had a different

mentality. They learned from the past. They

remembered what God had done for them.

They were not satisfied with the present, nor

were they fearful of the future. They were

willing to take their inheritance and step out

into new territory.

“If we are going to inherit the promises

God has given to us, then just like

Joshua, we need to remember who we

are as a ministry.”

First of all we are a vision driven ministry.

What differentiates us from other ministries

is that we have a common vision that has

kept us together all these years, reaching the

treasures out of darkness. As the years have

gone by, the ministry has evolved. Before it

was so simple … just look for a dope fiend

or for a gang member.

Now we have a new generation God has

raised up. A generation that has never been

on drugs; many of who have grown up in

church. It's this "Now Generation" that

God's going to be using. Even now, and in

the coming years, they will be occupying

some of our pulpits. Are they going to

continue with the original vision? Or will

the vision change?

That's why we have to repeat it; we have to

tell this new generation what we are all

about. Even though they were never a gang

member or dope fiend, they must know and

remember that there's a uniqueness God has

given to our ministry. He has given us a

vision to reach treasures out of darkness in

every inner city of the world.

Secondly, we are a family oriented ministry.

There's a relationship we have with one

another. There's a respect we have among

each other. We are committed and loyal to

each other, to our church, to our leaders, and

to all those who are part of the family.

Thirdly, we are a value based ministry.

There's an emphasis on discipleship, not just

converts. We don't believe in just having a

rehabilitation program. But we believe in

getting people saved, then reproducing

ourselves in them by sharing and

transmitting the vision to them.

We instill in others a sense of dignity. It

bothers me to see other ministries selling

candies out on the street corners. We should

be a people of dignity. We're not street

hustlers anymore and our rehab people are

not street hustlers. But God has given to us

a sense of dignity not only as a ministry but

for our personal lives as well. This is why

we're always striving to improve; quality

within our churches, quality within our

literature, quality within everything we do.

Fourthly, we are a self-sustaining ministry.

We are an indigenous ministry; a self-

sustaining ministry through the principles of

tithes and offerings, "United We Can."

Many inner city pastors think the inner city

church cannot support itself. We've been

doing it by ourselves for over thirty-eight

years, through God's people committing

their finances in tithes and offerings.

Lastly, Victory Outreach is an inner city

focused ministry. We go where the need is.

We go where others fear to go. Victory

Outreach has an international scope. Our

vision is the inner cities of the world. That's

why we have works in Australia, Africa,

Israel, Latin America, the Philippines and

many other countries of the world.

“As we continue to reach out into new

lands and inherit nations, we need to be

continually willing to grow from

within; because a leader's growth is

what will determine the growth of not

only that individual but the church and

organization as well.”

It wasn't too long ago that we had to make a

self-evaluation; we had to Reach In and

make some necessary changes in order for

us to continue to effectively reach out.

One of the things we recognized was

if we were going to grow without

then we first needed to grow within.We realized that we were at a crossroads in

our ministry. Our vision had to enlarge and

grow and mature if we were going to be

effective, successful and relevant. What did

we do? We began to raise the standard

within every area of our ministry.

We began to require our ministers to

complete academic training in V.E.T.I. Bible

School. We began to build the technical

capacity of leadership staff. We realigned

our public image by building quality control

and strengthening our programs

effectiveness through the implementation of

new policies and standards. We set

standards for every Victory Outreach

recovery home and we created uniformity

within our ministry through policy manuals,

so that each church could follow the same

quality standards.

“We had to make some really tough

decisions, because we recognized

that in order to guarantee the vision

and claim our inheritance, drastic

changes needed to take place and we

needed to grow from within.”We knew we needed to raise up and equip a

radical new generation with a cutting edge

mentality; who would make an impact not

only in their local communities but make an

impact all over the world.

What kind of people do we need to

be if we are going to inherit the

nations?

First of all, God is looking for surrenderedand submitted people. Sadly, a lot of

churches today will not teach or preach on

being submitted and committed. They want

to "service" their people. But in Victory

Outreach we want to grow and develop you.

We don't want you to get spiritually fat and

just sit somewhere and do nothing.

The Bible word for "surrendered" is the

word, "broke or brokenness." Someone

once said, "A surrendered life in thehands of God is a fearful thing." God

uses broken things; He uses broken vessels.

Because brokenness represents someone

totally surrendered to God.

Throughout the Word of God we see this. In

Psalms 51:17, David said, "A broken and a

contrite heart God will not ignore." Peter,

before God was able to use him had to be

fully surrendered. Samson's greatest victory

came after his brokenness. And we need

people in Victory Outreach who are broken

and fully surrendered because God uses

broken and fully surrendered people.

There's another word that the church at large

doesn't like … we need committed people.

The Bible says that nothing affects your life

more than the commitment that you choose

to make. The commitment you make will

have three profound effects upon your life.

First of all, the commitment you make

shows your values. It shows what you really

think and value, what's important to you and

what you really love. If you say you love

your husband or wife, yet you don't really

commit to them, that's not real love. There's

no such thing as love without commitment.

You may say something is important to you,

but the way you spend your time and money

shows what is really important to you.

The uncommitted life is a selfish life. The

only thing important to you is you. Some

people get saved and cleaned up. At first

they're on fire for God, He rescued them.

Then they get a job and their interest is

elsewhere; they start getting cold. They no

longer want to hear about vision,

commitment, surrender and sacrifice.

Usually they end up going to a "user

friendly" church where they don't have to

hear about commitment. They end up sitting

in a church wasting their life, when all along

God had a divine purpose for their life.

Why? Because they got cold spiritually.

That's why it's so important for us to keep

our commitment level strong. Don't let

yourself be influenced by others. We don't

have to copy others. God has given us

uniqueness. Let's not water down the

message He’s given to us. Once you start

compromising, it’s the beginning of losing

that sense of vision within your life.

Secondly your commitment shapes your life.

You become whatever you're committed to.

Whether it's making money or having fun

that's the most important thing in your life,

your life will be shaped that way. Tell me

what you're committed to right now and I'll

tell you where you're going to be tomorrow.

That's why your commitment is so very

important. Your life is the sum total of your

commitment.

Thirdly, your commitment is your destiny.

When you make a commitment you choose

how you're going to invest your life. You

choose how you're going to spend your time

and resources. The truth is that some don't

continue in the faith because of their lack of

commitment. Why does this happen?

Because their roots of commitment aren't

deep, when times get rough, they leave. I

warn you, there are two things that can

divert you in your commitment.

Mark 4:19 refers to how the attraction of the

world, the delights of wealth, the search of

success and the lure of nice things come in

and begin to crowd out God. The Lord says,

"Don't make those things the most important

thing in your life." When you do, you

automatically take God out of being first

place within your life.

Another area that diverts you in your

commitment is complacency. You become

complacent, when you start living off past

commitments and don't make new ones.

I want you to know that commitment

of five years or ten years ago is not

good enough to keep you for the rest

of your life. We always need to be

growing in our commitment or else we'll

become complacent. Julie and I try to model

this example. We could have taken the life

of ease and just traveled around to the

various Victory Outreach works. But

instead we chose to pioneer all over again;

we chose to make a fresh commitment to

God and to the work of God.

The children of Israel are a good example of

those who became complacent. They came

to a plateau in their experience with God.

We need to remember that plateaus

of achievement are not permanent

stopping places. They are stepping

stones or springboards to greater

accomplishment for God.

The Bible says, "The eyes of the Lord rangethroughout the earth to strengthen thosewhose hearts are fully committed to Him."God is looking for people to use in this

world. And the qualification has always

been a committed life. Committed people

possess an extraordinary spirit. Committed

people are faithful. They live according to

God's Word. They pray continually despite

circumstances. They live under God's hands

of protection. Because of their commitment

to God, the lives of others are affected and

people are transformed.


















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quality standards.













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situation away.



























heal you."



















































part."











































































































into new territory.





















the vision change?

















































































quality standards.













nations?






































































commitment.






























































focus on God.





























not want."







consulting God.











being their source.
































































become your enemy.
















































































































advantage of them.











with a burden.








































protection.




































given to you."





something better."








who was invisible.



came crashing down.






























world.








Golden Years.




workers.












Time!










focus on God.





























not want."







consulting God.











being their source.
































































become your enemy.
















































































































advantage of them.











with a burden.








































protection.




































given to you."





something better."








who was invisible.



came crashing down.






























world.








Golden Years.




workers.












Time!


Documents

We need not only committed people, · Good Leaders have a proper attitude.It's your attitude not your aptitude that determines your altitude. People with proper attitude are not afraid