Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” (1 Samuel 4:1-3)
This is a very well known excerpt from the book of 1 Samuel. Here, the Israelites at a time of great unrighteousness go to war against the Philistines and suffer a terrible defeat. When the soldiers return to the camp, the elders ask, “Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines?” Sadly, instead of going to the Word of God for answers, they seek a superficial and cosmetic solution which leads to a second and even worse defeat. As the Israelites would soon learn, bringing the ark physically into battle did not mean that God was pleased with them or that they were doing things according to God’s will.
As Christians, we have the incredible blessing and mercy of having complete access to the Bible at all times! We know that it is filled with God’s instruction and that by following it, we can have victory in our lives. The elders of Israel did not know why defeat had come upon them. However, through the Scriptures we are able to discern powerful convictions that can bring victory in our lives, in our ministries and in our Movement! What are the convictions and promises of God that can give us victory in our mission to evangelize the world in our day? If we do not build our lives and ministries with conviction and on the promises of God, then how are we building? Will we follow our feelings? Will we follow our own opinions? No! We know that no matter how much enthusiasm and optimism we have we will ultimately lose if we do not do things God’s way. That is why we must discover the convictions in the Scriptures and preach them into existence with power! “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5)
Here are 12 convictions and promises of God that I hope encourage you as you win the good fight in your ministries, your families and your Christian lives.
1: Be Totally Committed to the Cause
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
God was willing to give everything for the most important cause in history – the salvation of mankind. Time and time again we have seen people who are completely committed to a legitimate cause, defeat all odds and be victorious. The United States began when American farmers and settlers defeated the British Empire with a burning desire for freedom. 300 Spartan warriors overcame countless Persians at the “Hot Gates” in the battle of Thermopylae with nothing but their love for Greece. Kit Carson and John Fremont conquered the entire state of California with only a couple hundred militiamen and a love for country. David beat Goliath with nothing but faith and a few stones. Twelve apostles turned the whole world upside down in the book of Acts with nothing more than the clothes on their back and obedience to their Lord. As disciples, we must never forget that our complete and total commitment to the salvation of the world is one of our greatest strengths. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
2: Be Unified
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)
With cohesion, harmony and solidarity we have become a force to be reckoned with. According to this Scripture, when people see our unity as a Movement worldwide they say: “Those guys are truly disciples of Jesus!” Our unity is not limited to our nationality, our skin color or our language, but rather we are unified by the very blood of Christ that makes us one family.
3: Be Prepared
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Christ Himself instituted leadership in the church to equip and train His people for work. Without leaders instructing and arming us we cannot win. The “First Principles,” the “Five Core Convictions,” and the “Count The Cost Study” all equip us for the battle, to seek and save the lost. Every disciple in our Movement is empowered and able to make disciples, who make other disciples!
4: Be Sacrificial
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:17-19)
As my father-in-law once said when it comes to missions: “Go and grow or stay and pay.” In our movement, it’s better put: “Go and pay and grow or stay and pay and grow.” Everyone pays and everyone grows! If we are to be successful and not defeated, then we must be sacrificial with our financial resources. Evangelizing the world costs money. Sacrificial giving is not a suggestion but a command. We must use our money for the ultimate purpose of seeking and saving the lost. “Money is the answer for everything” (Ecclesiastes 10:19) and it is the answer to how we can evangelize the world in our generation!
5: Be Protective
“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” (Titus 1:9)
We must protect our ministries with sound doctrine, or our ministries will no longer exist. It takes courage to stand up and refute false doctrine, and we must stand up for what we believe. Satan can turn the church into very unspiritual and destructive place if we allow him. I am so proud of the Shepherds-in-Training program which we have named “The Home Guards” who are providing a powerful protective presence in every region, making sure the back door is shut and Satan does not steal precious souls. I strongly urge every disciple to read and pray over the “Fallaway Defeat Plan.” Some Regions have already achieved very low fall away rates, but we must get every Region there. A safe and healthy Region is a Region that can devote its energy outward!
6: Be Prayerful in the Selection of Goals
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:1-3)
We must set our goals before God and ensure that they are holy. “Goals save souls” when they are from God! We must be prayerful in setting our goals and tenacious in accomplishing them. Our ministry goals should not be like worldly New Year’s resolutions. People often set goals and make excuses about problems. There are no problems in hitting our goals, only costs. Jesus said “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24) The cost to bear fruit is death to self! Let us set Godly goals that we are serious about, pay the price to hit them and see God’s Kingdom grow! How many times do you want to be fruitful this year?
7: Be Simple and Economic
“This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.” (Exodus 12:11)
At the very first Passover, God commanded the people to eat the flesh of lamb in haste, ready to go and having packed light. They were “high speed, low drag.” Just like the Israelites when we take communion we are ready to go on the mission! We pack light, move fast, live simple so that we always have time to jump in a Bible study or to take care of a friend. Disciples that start to build expensive lifestyles and have little time for ministry find that before long they aren’t disciples at all. Live ready-to-go!
8: Be Cooperative
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12)
A body working together is stronger than its parts. A Bible Talk working together can achieve what a single disciple cannot. A House Church can achieve what a single Bible Talk can not. A Sector can achieve what a single House Church cannot. A Region can achieve what a single Sector cannot. A Super Region can achieve what a single Region cannot. A Congregation can achieve what a single Super Region cannot. A Geographic Sector can achieve what a single Congregation cannot. A World Sector can achieve what a single Geographic Sector cannot. The Movement can achieve what a single World Sector cannot. We are stronger when we pool our talents, energy, time, finances, and love together. The teaching of church autonomy is one of Satan’s greatest false doctrines and it will never evangelize the world. We must not be divided but rather united in our desire to see everyone fulfill their purpose and to work together to seek and save the lost.
9: Be Opportunistic
“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 4:3-5)
If we had a cure for cancer, would we be sharing our faith differently than we do right now? Are we thinking out of the box and using every opportunity to advance the gospel? Let us fully utilize social media, the gym, the PTA, cooking classes, the town hall meetings, and any other channel to communicate the gospel!
10: Be Urgent and Effective
“Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others… For Christ’s love compels us… All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5: 11-21 ~ Abridged)
Sharing our faith is not something we have on our checklist, it needs to be our life. (Colossians 3:4) Everywhere we go, we are sharing our faith with the lost. When we have free time, it is consumed with evangelism because this is why we’re here: to preach the Word of God and turn many from darkness to the light! Every day people are perishing and need the message of salvation.
This area has been my greatest failure in leading the CAICC. I have focused too much on all of the other factors of victory and too little on simply calling every disciple to spend significant time in evangelism and conversion studies.
We must clearly sound the call for every disciple to spend time every day, dedicated to sharing our faith and studying the Bible with people urgently and effectively. Everything else we do is useless, if we do not urgently and effectively rescue this lost and hurting world. You can have commitment, unity, training, sacrifice, protection, goals, simplicity and economy of effort, cooperation, and be using every tool at your disposal; but if you do not reach out to the lost consistently, it is all for nothing.
Two disciples can be trained, equipped, and supported in the exact same way and yet one baptizes and the other does not. One is energetic, vigorous and focused on the goal while the other is just checking a box. At this hour, we need many heroes to emerge who use what Jason Dimitry calls “their X Factor” to move Bible studies and Bible talks. The “X Factor” are the gifts and talents that God has given to you. The Armor Bearers Fellowship and Shield Maidens of Christ, the future Evangelists and Women’s Ministry Leaders of the Movement, are the vanguard of our efforts to build a truly evangelistic church where every member is at least fruitful every year.
11: Be Persistent
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)
Perseverance exists when God is refining us in the fires of trouble, pressure, and pain. Hardship is God’s gift so we can develop perseverance. All of the preceding factors and principles require perseverance to come to fruition. There are no weekend warriors in the Kingdom of God. Let us not give up in the face of trials but persevere daily all the way to victory!
12: Be Renewed
“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” (Mark 6:31-32)
On a daily basis, we disciples need to take time to renew our souls and connect with God to prepare for all of the difficulties that lay ahead of us. Even with daily quiet times, there comes a point when it’s time to withdraw from the daily grind and connect with God. Sometimes we need to go to the beach or go to our favorite hiking spot for a day or even a weekend. Sometimes ministries are not effective simply because they have grown weary and need to reset and be renewed.
“Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines?” Like the elders of Israel, we have asked God how to attain victory, and he has generously shown us through the Scriptures how to take hold of it. As a family, God wants to give us victory and march in unison with Him.
Last week God granted us an incredible victory in hitting 113% of our missions goal! This is an incredible feat of generosity and sacrifice that clearly shows the hearts of our brothers and sisters in the CAICC. It says that the spirit of the CAICC which was planted by Kip and Elena McKean 11 years ago, is still burning brightly! It is an honor to call you family.
In the first five months of 2018 we have sent leaders to: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Manila, Philippines; Bogota, Colombia; Sydney, Australia; Hong Kong, China; Mexico City, Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago, Illinois; San Francisco, California; Dubai, UAE and Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. At this year’s GLC we are also excited to send out the following leaders: reinforcements to Guam; three leaders to help plant Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the precious Sobolevs to Moscow; and 13 incredible disciples under the valiant leadership of Coltin and Mandee Rohn to plant Columbus, Ohio! We are truly a family and a sacrificial church!
Our next goal before us is to hit 1,000 for the Lord! We are at 971 members with only 29 remaining to hit this important milestone. When we reach our goal of 1,000 we will go on to 2,000 – all for the glory of the Lord. Let us fight together as one family with a determination to achieve a victory for God and continue the legend of the SoldOut Movement in this generation!
To God be all of the glory!