This is a very cool video from our Media team! Check it out and get ready for Victory Praise! We are expecting an even greater response than last concert!
Money In Your Mailbox
On January 2, of the New Year one of our team went to Victory’s Koshigaya building and checked the mailbox for mail. Looking in, there was a stack of spare coins. We were surprised to see someone had thrown money into the church mailbox. As I began to spend time in the presence of Yahweh, out of the blue He said, remember those coins in the mailbox? Yahweh proceeded to tell me what had happened.
In Japan, people go to the temple and throw money into the Buddhist/Shinto temple’s grated money box at the front of the temple when they ‘pray’. There is, many times, a thick rope hanging from the ceiling of the temple with a large ‘cow bell’ type of bell attached to it. They shake the rope from side to side to ring the bell, clap their hands together (to get their “god’s” attention) and hold their two hands below their chin while bowing their head and closing their eyes. As for what they pray, and how they.. you’re guess as is good as mine. In general, the people of Japan do not go to the temples and shrines much.
On New Year’s Day, hoards of Japanese line up at Yasukuni, Narita, Sensoji Meiji Jingu, and various other temples and throw their money in and get their annual blessing. An unsaved friend of mine, said he and his wife waited four hours to throw in their money at Yasukuni Jinja (shrine).
So what happened at Victory on 2 January (or most likely 1 January)? Well, actually Yahweh showed me that someone was praying to the Almighty God, Yahweh, for a blessing on their lives for the year through the ministry of our church. Praise God that they recognize the blessing on the church! However, believer or unbeliever it seems like everyone wants to be blessed. But God’s blessings is not just a new year thing.
If you want to be blessed, your everyday actions are what count. Do you spend time in the Word and in God’s presence each day? Do you work hard and work smart at your job? Are you giving every week or at least every month? Are you giving to the church is your tithes, your offerings, your time to help and encourage others, your effort at making your church a city-changing ministry to your nation?
We know from Deuteronomy 28, that God wants His people blessed. How is someone going to be blessed by God? Here are a few steps-
1) Spend time with God each day in prayer and in the Word. Get into His presence and get His wisdom for your life and the things you are dealing with.
2) Be a committed attendee at a Spirit-filled, Bible-believing church. Dead and boring churches will pull you down. Live, active, and God-loving churches will bring you up.
3) Be a committed tithe-giver at your home church. Don’t let it stop at the tithe. Join the worship team, volunteer to do the maintenance and cleaning at the church, be a church usher, be a greeter, be a camera man, volunteer to help with teaching the kids, help the church find new ways to reach out to the surrounding community,
4) Work hard and work smart on the job. He will promote you and enhance your career as He has promised to ‘bless the work of your hands’.
5) Be filled with joy of God in whatever you do. It is a happy day. You are alive! Rejoice (that means being filled with joy again and again) that you are Yahweh’s child and He is realizing a great plan for you.
The Word Brings Victory!
Seven Things That Bring Increase
God wants you to prosper. God wants you to increase. But to increase in this world according to God’s plan you have to keep a few things in mind. Seven things that bring increase are
1) Walking In Truth (Holiness)
The Word says to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things shall be added to you. You have to keep your life holy and right before God.
2) Faithfulness
Proverbs- A faithful man shall abound with blessings. If you are faithful to your church, faithful to spending time with God, faithful to the family of believers, then you are in a position to be blessed.
3) Diligence
About the Word of God. If you want to increase you have to be diligent. You have to be in the Word today. You can’t live off of what the energy, guidance, and revelations you got from Father God yesterday.
4) Tithing
The basis for financial breakthrough. I have never met a cheerful tither who wasn’t blessed. I have met many people not tithing who were in financial shipwreck. Honor God with the firstfruits of your income and He will honor you back.
5) Sowing
Give and it shall be given to you. God is the number one giver. For God so loved the World that He GAVE. If you want to be blessed you’ve got to remember you are tithing 10% of your income to your local church, but really all of what you have belongs to Him. Also, you can’t be afraid to give to others. Time, effort, money, love, care, a listening ear… people need to know that God cares and we are His human hands and feet on this earth right now.
6) Believing
Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. If you do not believe the good news God has planned for you, don’t expect much to happen. But if you believe, you release the power of God to act in your life. What? That’s right, when you believed that Jesus the Messiah was your Savior and accepted Him, and believed the work he did for you then you were saved.
7) Saying
This is probably where most believers blow it. They believe initially but then what they say after wards changes what they have said. I believe God is going to get me free from this credit card debt. But after praying that and believing that in church, they start saying things like I don’t know how God is going to get us out of this debt… Faith is saying what you expect not what you have. Everyone knows what you have. But you want to set your expectation according to God’s Word and walk in the increase He has for you.
Posted on 25 July, 2007
Revival In Japan- The Word of Faith
Japan is an island nation made up multiple islands. The largest island holds the two major cities Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo is the largest city spread out over 50 miles with 28 million people.
The geographical location of the Japanese islands has provided physical separation and maybe even isolation from the Asian continent.
The Japanese people are distinct and very strong as a group. Japanese corporations are extensions of that group mentality. As groups, Japanese are excellent at studying products and processes and perfecting them. The Japanese were demoralized by the loss of World War II to the Allies but quickly rebuilt thanks to help from the US and the great sense of teamwork. This group mentality is a strong. It is both a positive and a negative.
The first missionaries came to Japan in 1549. They were well received and many people came to know Jesus as their Lord. Even Japanese leaders were born from above and baptized into the kingdom. By the end of the 1500s insecurity in leadership arose and missionaries were expelled and many Japanese believers were tortured, persecuted, and in many cases murdered. This was something that happened on and off through Japanese history and forced many Japanese believers underground. The much famed Japanese tea ceremony was actually an covert way of celebrating communion.
Due to much persecution for the Word, many modern-day Japanese came to associate the historical persecution with what one has to be like to serve God. Worse yet, many Japanese Christians associate this lifestyle of not enough and sickness as something from God. These two factors have been successful in keeping many people out of church.
Most Japanese churches are under 30 people and the average age is somewhere around fifty. The pastors are old and suffering. They teach their flocks to go and do like-wise. Due to the small sizes of the churches and the insecure leadership, there is almost a dictatorial rule of pastors of the people. Much friction between pastors arises from members switching churches, or the fear thereof.
Many missionary groups have come to Japan with limited success in reaching the lost for Jesus. Every year, experts say 8,000 Japanese nationals return to Japan after being saved in the United States. Most apparently stop attending church within a few months of their return.
October 1997, after a week of intercession for Japan, Patrick Wolfe got an answer to why the church was failing. He saw a vision of a Japanese church while riding into Tokyo on a commuter train. The church was full of about 20 or 30 folding chairs. There was a cold tile floor. The pastor was not preaching but holding and eye-dropper over the front of the pulpit. In front of the pulpit were five or six Japanese members. They were skinny, bony and looked somewhat like the hungering people of Africa. They were starving, but giving the best to catch even a drop of the water coming over the pulpit.
The Lord spoke and said that the water represented to Word of God. He said the reason why the church was failing is because the leadership was not preaching the Word.
In 2001, after serving 3.5 years in a Japanese church, Spencer & Mariko Patrick left their church. It was a difficult step, but God spoke to Mr. Patrick that He had a great plan for Japan but was waiting for people to step into those plans. With this word from God, Victory Word Church was founded and plans were made on how to reach Japan for Jesus.
If spiritual things were considered in business points Japan should be thought of as a market of market of great potential. Less than 1% of the population is “Christian”. The Japanese are avid readers and are quick to pick up on something once it is understood properly. Japan is the world’s second largest economy behind that of the United States. This is even after the formation of the European Union.
Keys for success in Japan-
1) Create a committed prayer team of people willing to interceded for Japan
2) Build a team of people hungry for God and His Word. People willing to go all-out with God and work well together towards increasing the citizens of The Kingdom. This team will come together with people in Japan and families coming from the US.
3) Preach the uncompromised Word of God
4) Provide Word of Faith materials in Japanese. This is crucial for once the Word gets out, we need to have materials ready that people can access.
Posted on 28 November, 2006
Protect Your Heart! It will affect your whole life.
Prov 4:23
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
NKJV
When we say protect your heart, most people in the world today would think of physical exercise to strengthen the heart. Or possibly eating lots of greens that help keep the body pure and the heart pumping well and unhampered. The New Living Translation says,
Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.
What is it about the heart? Is the Word of God (the Bible) talking about the physical organ that pumps blood in your chest throughout your body? Actually, the Bible is talking about the center of your being. Your heart is you. We know we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body from 1 Thessalonians 5:23. But the book of Proverbs, and the rest of the Bible talks about the heart all the time. Why? Because the heart is the center of our being; the center of us.. our implicit self. If someone is ‘heart-sick’, they can end up physically sick and possibly even die.
The spiritual entrances to our heart are our eyes, ears, and senses. That is why we really need to be so careful about what we see, hear, and read. I remember seeing something scary on TV as a kid and it was as if those images were burned into me. When the lights went out, I would fear that whatever I saw on the TV was actually real and happen to me. It took years for me to forget those horrible images.
Someone once said you are what you eat. I would like to expand that. You are what you think. In Japan, we’ll often see people practicing their golf grip, swing, and follow through, all on the station platform as they are waiting for the train. They are consumed by golf as that is what they think about. They read golf magazines, talk about golf with their friends, watch gold programs, and rather than spending time with their family on the weekend that are out on the golf course. Golf has consumed them.
Others take a look at something they shouldn’t be looking at. Just one look and it is hard to erase that mental picture they have taken. The imagination is a powerful tool that the Bible tells us to keep in control. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5
2 Cor 10:5
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
NASU
We must protect our heart if we want to have success in life. We cannot allow ourselves to look at things or spend time doing things that take us away from the abundance that God has planned for us. In the end, it all leads to death. If you go after God, 100% you will have more than you can ever imagine, spiritually, physically, financially. Everything comes together.
God wants to know you, but you have to want to know Him as well. If you allow your world to be crowded by the cares of this world, hobbies, sports, or things; you are missing the perfect plan God has for you.
Don’t be satisfied with what things are like now. God has more for you, but the key is keeping your heart clear and free so that you can be led by the Holy Spirit.
Posted on 21 November, 2006
Finding a Good Church
Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. NLT
In this world of volatile world of human relationships, people come and go in our lives. Some people are acquaintances, people we know for a time, while others are true friends for a lifetime. Friends are people who stick with us through the thick and the thin issues of life. They don’t trash the friendship just because of something someone else says, they don’t get something financial out of the relationship, or they have to spend time getting to know you. Friends are people who care for us because of who we are.
Well, in our country the best friends we have should be born again or more accurately, ‘born from above’ (John 3:16 NAS) believers who love God. To be friends, we have to spend time talking, caring, and sharing. When Jesus won back the authority we lost in the Garden with His resurrection from the dead the first thing he did was talk, care, and share with those who loved him and followed Him. That was the beginning of the church. What is the church? The church is the family of God on this earth.
What is the purpose of the church? To allow God’s family to talk, share, and care for others and the people around them. It is the basis for the community. That is why Hebrews exhorts us never to forsake the gathering together of the family of God. If we withdraw and pull back from our community, we lose track of what is going on with other people, our community, our world.
In this earth are many people; just as there are many people, there are many families. But which families are the ones that know God, and encourage us to develop our relationship and go deeper with God? Let’s look at the key points for choosing your church family.
Charisma In Leadership
Humble Seekers of God
Unmoved by people, moved by the Word
Reaching people
Consistent
Holy Before God
Charisma In Leadership
I remember as a high schooler going to church thinking that I was going to church for the people and the fellowship. That is so true. But someone once said, “You can only go as spiritually high as your pastor”. Those words changed my perpective on church leadership and especially the importance of having a good pastor who has a living, active relationship with the Almighty God.
Humble Seekers of God
In these last days it seems many people focus on programs in the church more than the relationship with God. Youth groups, Kids church, orchestra, cell groups, the list of various things to keep people involved goes on and on. However, more than anything our church leadership has to be humble seekers of God. The strength of the Brownsville Revival of the 1990s was the prayer and intercession of the church before and during the revival.
We have to always be hungry for more of good. Jesus said, “I Am the bread of life…” When we are hungry for God, what we got yesterday is not enough for today. We need to feed constantly on His Word and wait on Him.
Unmoved by people, moved by the Word
Any good church you visit is a good church because it has good leaders. Good leaders listen to people. But not everything the people bring to the pastor is God’s will. A good church family always has a pastor that listens to his church, but more importantly seeks God’s Word for His church.
I remember when we got our first facility, I had resistance from some people in leadership within the church. But I knew that God’s will was for us to minister to the people of our neighborhood. Well, those people are gone but we had God’s Word for our church and many more have come.
Reaching people
The church is a family of Believers. More important than anything else, we have to remember that the church is there to minister to the needs of people and the city. When a church because focused on internal issues, church growth is stunted. When a church is overflowing in the neighborhood and reaching out to the people of the city, there is life and there is growth.
Consistent
If there is any favorite word of the day, being consistent would have to be it. So many people fail for being inconsistent. Just as they are coming to the end of the race they just give up. Many times it is like they have just run 25 kilometers and are just 10 meters from the finish line, all the sudden they throw up their hands and say, “I am finished, I have had enough” and stop running. IF they would have only kept on the race of our spiritual life and continued for a few more steps and they would gained the prize for all the hard work. Consistency is the key to success. Churches also have to be consistent to be successful and meet the needs of the people.
Holy Before God
Holiness seems to be the forgotten ingredient in so many churches. Everyone visits their church on Sunday but many are thinking about lunch than the message God is speaking. Some places can become overcome by a spirit of lethargy.
As we are growing in Him, we desire more of a relationship with Him. If we are holy before Him, it is so easy to turn off that television, secular music, movie, or anything else that desensitizes us to the move of the Almighty God.
I will never forget attending revival meetings in Florida. As we worshipped the Father I had a vision of Him on the throne. I had to get myself to the floor because I could not stand in His Presence.
Whether you are looking for a good church family or are attending the church that your family has been attending for years. Keep the real meaning of what a church is in your heart. To gauge a good church you will see a church that is;
Charisma In Leadership
Humble Seekers of God
Unmoved by people, moved by the Word
Reaching people
Consistent
Holy Before God
Posted on 17 October, 2006
The Christian and Giving- First Fruits
Firstfruit and Our Finances
Prov 3:9-10
9 Honor the LORD from your wealth
And from the first of all your produce;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty
And your vats will overflow with new wine.
In my early days of ministry, I remember serving in my denominational church in Japan. We served there three plus years and during that time we prayed for the sick, cast out demons, and saw many miracles. You would think that seeing all the great things that God does, people would want to go deeper with God and tap into that authority He won back for us. However, we found that most people are always looking at their wallet. If they are “blessed”, that isn’t some spiritual thing. It means they have all the provision (money, food, and things) that they could possibly need.
In the Japanese church, I found that the most common question was how do I walk in financial prosperity that the Bible preaches? Being a good student of law in my University days, I answered their question with a question. I always asked them, do you tithe regularly? The answer was always, one-hundred percent of the time, yes that’s 100% of the time, a big NO.
After a handful of people responded to the same question in the same way, we got smart and started a course on Sunday after church called God’s Financial Plan. In that way we were able to teach the whole church how God’s Word works in the financial area. To tap into God’s Financial Plan one of the very basic things is you have to be a giver. But that is not just a giver, but a regular giver. What is a regular giver? Well, Proverbs 3:9,10 lays that right out for us. If we are believer in God, then we need to honor Him with our Firstfruits. What are the Firstfruits? We are to give of the Firstfruits of our income. In the Old Testament, that was usually the first fruits of our crops. That is the top ten percent of what we produce was given to God in thanksgiving for all that He has given us.
If we are a farmer, then that would be taking the best off the top and offering it to God. Some might ask, “But Pastor, God does not need our money…” Well, He doesn’t need our money in Heaven but He does use it to work on this earth to work through His servants. Just as Abraham gave a tithe to the priest-king Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20) to honor the Lord for His victory, we are to honor the Lord with the Firstfruits of our labor.
It is interesting that Abraham chose to give off the top ten percent (10%) of his income, hence the beginning of the word tithe, which means 1/10th. Personally, I don’t think we are limited to giving the first 1/10th of our income. The point is that we are needing to be a consistent and thankful givers. Rather than saying tithe, at our church family we like to call our tithes our Firstfruits as that is exactly what they are; the first fruits of our labor, the cream on the top of the milk we have skimmed off and offered to God. They can be whatever percentage of your income that you have faith to give for. For our family, the ten percent is a minimum as we are so thankful what God has done through our local church and we want Him to keep it up.
For the founder of a major US corporation, his goal was to give 90% and keep 10% for himself. And he did it, but not only did he do it but he built the best company in his field because God blessed him for honoring God first.
Well, what is God’s Financial Plan?
1) Give your Firstfruits to the church you are ministered to at and where you call home. Your offerings can go anywhere as these are above your regular giving.
2) Give consistently. If you are experiencing financial lack, it is most likely because you are not giving consistently. If you are on a salary, most people give the Sunday following the receipt of their paycheck.
3) Give with a cheerful heart. This is probably the most important point. If you are not happy and thankful about giving then you should keep your Firstfruits. God wants you to give because you love Him and want to do so.
One other guideline we follow is we give our Firstfruits to the church where we are being ministered to. Anything above that becomes the offering. Offerings can be given anywhere God leads you to give. We give offerings as God directs to orphanages, missionaries in other countries, intercity ministries… however you are led by God’s spirit. You can even give regular offerings to ministries that God really ministers to you through.
The amazing part is the connection you get as you tithe your Firstfruits and sow your offering seeds into ministries. We have seen a direct connection in our lives between where we give and how God provides for us. It is amazing how when we are giving into a ministry that is good ground we are blessed. What is a good ground ministry? A good ground ministry is one that is 1) Proclaiming God’s Kingdom 2) Healing the Sick (Matthew 4:23). When we began giving into good ground ministries as well, our income increased three-fold. What does that mean in monetary terms? Ten-thousand Japanese yen became thirty-thousand Yen. For those who operate in dollars, $100 became $300. Hallelujah!
Praise the Name of Jesus! God is SO good. He is the ultimate giver who gave His Son to die on our behalf.
Posted on 10 October, 2006
Thirsty For His Presence
Matt. 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
In these days of being so busy many people sometimes forget how our Father God wants to be involved in our lives. Just as a good earthly father wants to spend time with his children, our heavenly Father wants to spend time with us.
In the late nineties, I founded a company out of my bedroom. It was a lonely start as I had gone from building the business of America’s largest telecommunications company in Japan to a one-man show starting out of my home. However I knew in my heart that God had called me to this work. As I first started out, there could have been a lot of anxious anticipation as to how we would live. However by God’s Spirit I knew where I was going. I knew God had a plan of great success for us.
I remember my little children coming into my home-office just wanting to see their papa. They wanted to play on the floor in my office. They just wanted to be with their daddy. It was hard for me to say no and I enjoyed them coming in but I tried to focus on my business. Towards the end of the workday I would have more time to focus on them and I loved it.
God is clearly the same with His children. He loves it when we make time to fellowship with Him. Like little children we are anxiously waiting at the door to get into His presence. Make time daily to spend time with Him, the benefits are amazing.
Is. 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Posted on 5 September, 2006