We are on Day 2 of a 21 Days of Prayer Fasting at Victory.  Many people are fasting many different things.  Everything from media to certain foods.  (some of our staff here wanted to fast some of our meetings … not a chance.) 

This is an exciting time, but it can also be very challenging as well.  So, let me just take a little time to explain WHY we are fasting at Victory Church.   During this season of prayer and fasting, we seek the Lord in these areas:

• Believing God for answered prayer to our specific needs.
• Declaring our dependence on God in every area of our lives.
• Asking God for clarity on our NEXT STEP as a church.  (land, building, another site?)
• Asking for forgiveness for our sins and the sins of our land.
• Praying for the completion of the Great Commission.
• Inviting the Presence of God in our church and our lives.
• Crying out to God for revival in our generation.

Also, here are a few resources:

• Daniel Plan
• Read The Circle Maker Fasting  (you can get a journal, DVD, the book, etc.)
  
• Pick up a “21 Day Devotional” or download it here (scroll to the bottom of the page)
• Also, go to facebook and tell us your story and keep up with my video blogs.  

Remember, ditch the whole idea of, “This is awesome, I can lose a few pounds AND be super spiritual too!”   Just deny the physical and crave the spiritual. 

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“Dad, why did they fire Joe Pa?  He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Let’s be honest, the firing of Joe Pa is insignificant when compared to the REAL tragedy at Penn State.  As I said yesterday, “My heart breaks for those boys and their families who have been victimized and have lived through a horrible nightmare of epic proportions.   If these charges on Jerry Sandusky are true, thank the Lord an monster has been removed from our society.  The context of Drew’s question came when they were talking about the firing of Joe Pa on ESPN.

So here’s what I told him.  It’s what we’ve always told our kids.  “It’s always right to do what’s right.”  Your emotions should not factor in to your decision to do the right thing.  Right emotions FOLLOW right action, not the other way around.   

Joe Paterno said it himself, “I wish I had done more.”  “With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”  

In the movie “A Few Good Men”, there a some great one-liners.  One of the most popular occurs when the crime is revealed and Jack Nicholson (Col. Jessup) screams at Tom Cruise (Officer Kaffey) and says, “You can’t handle the truth!!”  We all know and love that line.  But there was a bigger lesson in this story.  And I think that lesson applies here.

At the end, there is an amazing dialogue that takes place between the two men who were on trial named Dawson Downey.  When it was revealed that Col Jessup was the one who committed the crime, Dawson Downey expected to go free.  But when the charges were handed down, both men were dishonorably discharged. Watch this

Downey: “What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong.”

Dawson:  “Yeah, we did. We were supposed to fight for the people who couldn’t fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willie.”

Edwin Burke said it best when he stated, “All that’s necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

It’s ALWAYS right to do what’s right

It’s ALWAYS right to fight for the underdog.

It’s ALWAYS right to stand in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square.

It’s ALWAYS right to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves.

So, with all due respect, Coach Joe Paterno should’ve followed through on those claims and accusations.  He should’ve used his influence to make sure Sandusky was never around young boys again.  

“That’s why he was fired, Drew.   Coach Paterno was supposed to fight for the Willies of the world.  As a matter of fact, we all are.“

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If you haven’t heard what is happening at Penn State University and its legendary coach Joe Paterno, nice to see you crawling out from under your rock somewhere.  It is all over the news!  It’s crazy here in PA. 

As a dad of four, I am always looking at life through the lens of “teaching moments.”  This is a big one.  As we are watching TV and listening to the dialogue, I am wondering and asking the Lord to help me decipher the lessons I can glean from this situation.  Because people are already asking, tweeting, texting me, “What do you think?  Do you agree with how Joe Pa was treated?  What’s your stand on what has transpired?”

Let me say this, the charges brought against Jerry Sandusky for his alleged behavior are inexcusable, they are gross, they are disgusting.  My heart breaks for those boys and their families who have been victimized and have lived through a horrible nightmare of epic proportions.   If these charges on Jerry Sandusky are true, thank the Lord an monster has been removed from our society.

But last night (November 9, 2011) Joe Paterno, the head coach, was fired.   In the eyes of my teenage son,  1) Joe Pa didn’t do anything wrong, he is not even part of the investigation.   2) Jerry Sandusky was no longer on Joe Pa’s coaching staff when this was reported so why is Joe Pa being punished, and 3) Coach Paterno told the authorities above him.  Drew said, “Dad, I don’t understand why Joe Pa was fired. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

What would you say?   The lesson I taught him was eerily similar to a lesson I learned years ago from a classic 1992 movie called, “A Few Good Men.” 

This post is already too long … I’ll tell you tomorrow.

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Let me first give you a little (emphasis on ‘little’ meaning ‘short’) history of Halloween.  This will be the short-version.   It actually traces back to the ancient Celts wherein, every year they would celebrate “Samhain”  (pronounced “sow-en”) or  “Lord of the dead and evil spirits.”  They believed that on October 31^st, dead spirits would rise and look for their homes.  If they couldn’t find homes, they would possess innocent people.  The Druids (like the priests) convinced the people to give an offering to appease the gods.  They would offer sacrificed horses, cats, black sheep, and sometimes, human beings.  In order to protect themselves, the townspeople would leave fruits or nuts on porches (trying to appease the spirits)

No question in my mind … the origin of Halloween is nothing short of DEMONIC.  But many of us know that.  We don’t want to know if it is demonic or not, here’s what we are really asking:  “Can my friends and family dress up, go to friends and neighbors and still go to heaven?”  Absolutely.  But, let’s not stop there … let’s review the mission of Satan.  John 10:10 says that, “The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy.  He is a deceiver, the father of lies, there is no truth in him.  He will often takes what is EVIL and tries to make it look GOOD.

Try this little experiment:

Let’s try to be objective about this holiday.  Walk into any store (Party City, etc.) and pretend that you don’t know anything about the holiday at all.  Look at the costumes and ask yourself:  “Would you categorize it as “glorifying God, neutral or does it draw you to darkness, fear, evil and death?

My personal response is that it leads toward things that are not of God.  So, based on its HISTORY and based on what a view as an OBSERVER, we as a family (this goes against 95% of culture … I know) have chosen to NOT participate in Halloween.

You Have to See the Bigger Picture:

Can you trick or treat and still have a great Christian family?  ABSOLUTELY!  But here are our three reasons WHY we do not participate:

#1 – We are trying to teach our kids that we are different from the world.

1 Peter 1:14,15 – “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.”

This is a line in the sand for our family.  You may choose this, you may not choose this …the important question you have to answer is … ARE YOU CHOOSING SOMETHING?  Is there some place where you are saying, “We are different from the world.”

Bottom Line is this, : if you are not teaching your kids when they are little that they are different from the world, how can you expect them to be different as teens?  They’ll say, “All of our friends are doing this.”  All the while, we have not planted into them the fact that sometimes, we are different. 

No longer is it about Halloween, it is now about a PRINCIPLE.

#2 – We are teaching our kids that they will be persecuted.

2 Tim. 3:12 – “In fact, everyone who wants to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 

People are going to make fun of you.  We don’t let it crush us, we endure it.  It’s tough when you’re young, but it intensifies as you get older.  Here’s what I know, don’t worry if you’re being persecuted for Christ, worry if you’re not.  Because if you’re not be persecuted (AT SOME LEVEL) … should probably ask yourself, am I truly different?

 #3 – We are teaching our kids how to be different without judging.

Majority of our friends trick or treat … really it’s no big deal.  You need to understand, this is OUR FAMILY DECISION  Romans 14:1 – “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.”

You might still be wondering:

1. What do we do?

My advice to you is, pray and make a decision according to the PRINCIPLES of the Word of God that YOU want to raise your family by.  And don’t be swayed.

 2. What do we do on Halloween?

I think you should go in your house, shut off the lights and hid.  I Am Kidding!  Here’s a thought, the Bible says that you are the “Light of the World.” (Matt, 5:15)  Look for ways to LIGHT THE NIGHT.  We sit on our front porch and make it welcoming.  We have found it is a great way to get to know our neighbors.  EVERY YEAR, they ask us about our church and we get the opportunity to share about the community at Victory Church.  Many of them have visited, some have accepted Christ and we have even baptized some.  Pretty cool, huh? 

Stand for right principles.  It’s always right to do what’s right.

We’re not afraid to tackle some of those TABOO topics that most churches avoid.  You can purchase “Cow Tippin’: Tippin the Sacred Cows of Lancaster County” by contacting jturek@victorychurch.ws We tackle things like, drinking, white lies, dinosaurs, tattoos, etc. 

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Being a child of the late 70′s and 80′s … There are two things we all knew:  “The Fonz” and the killer band called “Chicago”.  C’mon people, am I talkin’ or what? 

To those ‘less priveleged’, there was a late 70′s TV sitcom called “Happy Days.”  (In our area, it aired on Tuesday nights … just before Laverne Shirley … in case you were wondering.)   One of the stars of the “Happy Days” show was “The Fonz.”  There was a later spin-off called “Cha-Chee Loves Joannie” which was flat out stupid.   Anyway, back to the original show.

One of my favorite episodes was when the Fonz was wrong and Potsie (a red-haired character in the show) was right and the Fonz had to apologize. If you know anything about the Fonz, the Fonz is never wrong, the  Fonz doesn’t ever say, “I was wrong” or “I’m sorry.” And so this episode was funny watching the Fonz try to even say those things to the worst person imaginable – Potsie! He literally could not get the words out. He couldn’t form them.

Then the 80′s came.  One of the greatest bands (besides Journey, the Cars, Rush and 38 Special) was a band called CHICAGO.  They are all old now, but back in the day, they recored this one tune called “Hard For Me To Say I’m Sorry” (kick back and check out the big hair in this video)

What these two have in common is, there is a little bit of that song and a little bit of the Fonz inside us. It can be so hard to say, “I was wrong,” “I’m sorry,” or “Please forgive me.”  These are all good phrases to practice and be ready to speak as soon as they are needed. 

This week at Victory, we are going to unpack this whole idea of “How Do I Say I’m Sorry?”  Bottom line is, our ignorance (or lack of self-awareness) gets in the way of knowing when we are in the wrong.  Then, our pride gets in the way of offering sincere apologies when we know we are wrong. 

Listen:

-        When you are wrong, admit it… quickly.

-        When you are wrong, apologize… sincerely.

-        When you have hurt someone, own up to it and make it right … immediately and sincerely.

This is just an healthy thing to do.

Here’s a little project for you to do. Do an all-out searching of your heart.  Try to remember the people you have hurt and to whom you never apologized and said, “I’m sorry,” “Please forgive me.”  Make your list of people, and start to offer some sincere apologies.  

But keep this in mind, not EVERY wrong deserves an apology. Don’t re-open old wounds if in doing so, you damage the other person more than help them with your apology.   We’ll talk more about this, this week at Victory. 

After you apologize, email me ( cseaburg@victorychurch.ws ) and tell me how it went. 

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When the flood waters came, one young, single mom with four children lost everything.  FLOOD I mean EVERYTHING!  Homeless, car-less, and no where to go … until one person said, “I CAN HELP!”  Then another person stepped forward and said, “I can help!”  And then another and another.   I am so proud of our church and the people that make up our community.  This is a note I received from the organizer of the “Courageous film Fundraising Event for Alicia.”

WOW! When I ask you all to pass it on, you all PASS IT ON! I want to thank everyone for forwarding my email! What started as an email to about 20 friends in the hope of having a small event to raise enough money for a downpayment on a used car for Alicia ended up in a huge event with over 720 people showing up to watch Courageous, meet Alicia and her children and show their support. I received countless e-mails and phone calls from people as far away as York, Northern Lebanon, NY, and Washington DC wanting to help. (Victory) Church bought Alicia a car and a lot of kind people stepped forward to help me keep Alicia in hotels until the fund raiser last night. She is on a lot of waiting lists, but all the shelters are at capacity. Homelessness is a real problem in our community!
With the money we raised last night and all the donations that people have been sending me in the mail, Penn and I should be able to pay Alicia’s rent and utilities for a whole year!! Alicia is a very strong, motivated woman and has already found work for herself, and Mary Kay replaced her lost start-up kit and her sales manager is helping her get back into Mary Kay sales.  A very kind woman, named _ is helping Alicia with childcare and she is slowly getting her life back together after a string of very unfortunate events!
Last nights event was very heart-warming. Thanks to everyone who attended, made baked goods, sent donations and spread the word! All the cheerleaders from pixies to varsity cancelled their practices last night and came out to our event. The girls helped at the bake sale, then organized a cheer for the firefighters. We went into each of the four packed theaters, asked all the firefighters to stand, everyone applauded and the cheerleaders did a cheer for them. A really fun tribute!
Alicia and I are meeting with someone from the Transitional Living Center about housing today, as well as some realtors. YAY!
This whole experience has been very eye opening. I am happy that we live in such a supportive community, but I am also shocked that there are so many people experiencing homelessness. As a board member of the Lancaster Project for the Needy, I am embarrassed to admit that I  had no idea how hard it is for someone to find a place to sleep at night once they are homeless! Alicia spent a few nights in a mold infested abandoned house with her children before we put her in the hotel and that is because the homeless shelters are all full.
The Project for the Needy also supports the Community Homeless Outreach Center in Lancaster and we are having a fundraising Gala for them on Friday November 4th at Lime Springs Farm. If anyone is interested, please let me know.
Thank you again for spreading the word!!
Peace,
_______

All it takes is ONE!  Not 500, not 1000, just one.  But when that one starts, it spurs others and another, and before you know it, there is an avalanche!  BE THE ONE!!!!

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Our Four Core Values, those things our church was founded on 10 years ago, are:

#1 – God Deserves Our Best

#2 – Everyone Has Purpose

#3 – Jesus Christ is Relevant

#4 – Grace Wins

Those four values are the “secret sauce” at Victory.  It’s one thing to HEAR ABOUT our core values, it’s another thing to APPLY what we learned.  Our key verse through this series is Daniel 6:3.  

Here’s the final devotion.

In the Old Testament the Priest was the only person who could go behind the “veil” the curtain into the “Holy of Holies”, the place where God came to listen and talk with Israel ONLY through the Priests.  In Corinthians it says that when we turn to Jesus “the veil is lifted” II Corinthians 3:16  to “turn” is to “repent” literally to turn around.  So if we turn to look at Jesus apparently our back was previously towards him.  But when we turn to face Him we are no longer avoiding Him, no longer avoiding the truth that sets us free.  When we turn to face Jesus and we seek His Presence, we are no longer focusing on ourselves, our desires, what want or what we don’t have.  When we turn to face Jesus we are looking at Him.  Isaiah says we are changed when we are in His Presence !!!

READ:  John 7:37-38 If any man is thirsty let him come to me and drink.  He who believes in Me who cleaves to, and trusts in and relies on Me as the Scripture says from his innermost being shall flow continuous springs of living water.     John 8:12 I am the Light of the World.  He who follows me will not walk in the dark, but will have the light which is Life.  John 17:3  This is eternal life that might know Thee and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Isaiah 40:31 “… they that wait for, look for and hope for the Lord shall change… !!!”  (Amplified  Bible)

PRAYER:    Jesus I turn to you now and I thank you for Your word for the hope I find in Your Word.  help me Jesus, remind me when my focus is on me.  Remind me when the evil one comes to condemn me and accuse me and tell me that I am not good enough.  Thank You that I can know you in this life.  Thank you for Your presence here and now.  Jesus You died to set me free.  I turn to you now and I nail to the cross my hardness of heart, the brokenness that causes me to protect myself and attempt to control my life.  I give You my fears, my disappointments, my dreams, my tomorrow and my today.   

Do you like to write devotionals?   Email me at cseaburg@victorychurch.ws 

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Finally, after wandering for 40 years, Joshua shows up at the banks of the Jordan River and is preparing to cross it.  Admittedly, he is nervous.  God, like He does, assures Joshua that he will go with His people but His people have to promise to not forsake the ways of the Lord and the words of the Lord.

All 12 tribes were given a portion of land that would be theirs in the Promised Land.  Manasseh (one of the tribes descended from Joseph) was given land on the east and on the west side of the Jordan.  (This was done to fulfill the promise that Joseph gave his son, Manasseh that he would receive a double portion since he was the oldest of Joseph’s sons.)  Here is the distribution of all 12 tribes.

Here’s Our Focus

I want to focus on the tribes on the east of the Jordan River.  There were three.  Reuben, Gad and the ½ tribe of Manasseh (or East Manasseh).

Joshua 1:12 – “To the Reubanites, the Gadites half tribe of Manasseh,  … the Lord your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land … “

This is saying that the Lord is including these tribes in the blessing.  

Interesting that most of the warring and fighting was going to take place on the WEST of the Jordan.  In Joshua 1, everyone is probably standing on the land that would later be occupied and owned by Gad.  God tells these three tribes that their families can occupy the land and begin to make that land their own.   But He says a BIG BUT.

THE BIG BUTT

God tells them that even though this is a resting place for you and your family, you MUST come alongside the others and fight alongside of them.

“… but you are to help your brothers until the Lord gives them rest …”  Joshua 1:12-15

Here’s The Temptation …

When we work, serve the Lord, there is within all of us (especially the core) a point where we feel:

-       “We’ve done our part.”

-       “We have put in our time.”

-       “We are entitled to rest.”

-       “The others need to step up and I need to step down.”

Here’s The Word …

Though all those things might be true, God has NOT CALLED US TO REST!   More poignantly, God has not called YOU to rest.  We have labored beside each other in good, trying and difficult times.  Your DNA is all over the “tribe.”   Now we are making steps and strides.  You may need to seek Him again for this new season of ministry He has for you.  But now is not the time to rest.  Now is the time to re-load.  Now is the time to re-focus.  Now is the time to seek Him.

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