BREAKING CULTURAL NORMS
“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit …” Rom 12:2 TPT
When I first encountered Victory, 20 years ago, I was immediately impacted and challenged by what I experienced; life with Jesus was evident everywhere I looked. I heard passion and saw excitement for what God was doing, not in the distant past, or somewhere off in the future, but here and now. What I experienced in those early days was Victory’s revival DNA.
Every church says they want revival, but what many fail to note is that revival is uncomfortable. A move of God always bumps into cultural norms, and upsets the conventions of society. Consider what happened when Jesus walked the earth. The Son of God brought life and freedom, but He irritated the social norms and the religious constructs of His day. Jesus’ followers were accused of “turning the world upside down” Acts 17, and there is nothing culturally compliant about that description.
As we consider our present society, it’s clear that we are desperate for a move of God. The world is crying out for an answer. Sadly, the culturally acceptable response is tolerance, inclusion, medication, and social indoctrination. The church is told to be silent and to adapt. We are labeled bigots and we are told our beliefs are irrelevant, and our God, is imaginary.
“We have been handed an inheritance of revival fire and a generation that needs it”
How do we fight for this generation? How do we respond to a world that denies the very existence of God? It will take a move of the Spirit, and a church that’s willing to carry the fire. It will take people willing to do the unusual and embrace the unexpected. Revival DNA rarely leads down the path of easy or common, but “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Rom 8:31.
The early apostles lived revival DNA, and they modeled it for us. They lived lives of extreme faith and obedience. They healed the sick, cast out demons, and led untold thousands to Christ. . They knew their God, and they did great exploits. Dan 11:32
The first generation of Victory did the same, and now, a generation later it’s our turn. We have been handed an inheritance of revival fire and a generation that needs it. We must choose to live in that legacy.
Pastor Charlotte Quist
Victory Church On The Rock
Grande Prairie, AB
BEYOND ORDINARY | A HEART OF WISDOM
By Pastor Morris Watson
Chilliwack Victory Church, Chilliwack, BC
noperfectpeople.co
The Heart of Wisdom and Beyond Ordinary contain one day devotional teachings that have truths that can be applied to everyday living or can be expanded to become leadership teachings for staff meetings or other leadership venues. Each devotional has a corresponding note page that will enable you to journal your thoughts as you read each one.
Available now at the Victory Bookstore.
www.victorybookstore.org