The Missing Link to Your Church Growth Strategy

For the last 8 days Victory Outreach Church of San Diego has been positioned under the windows of revival. Mario Murillo Ministries & VOSD have partnered to win souls and declare healing over hundreds of people. The faith of our church and the surrounding areas have been elevated to a brand new dimension. What is amazing to me is God’s ability to speak to a pastor about the direction and pathway of the church. What has become overwhelmingly true in our churches direction, is that we can never get away from the supernatural. For a church that has been in existence for 25 years, it is impossible to get away from the power of God. That power has made itself known once again and our direction will never be the same.

What is the missing link to your church growth strategy? Without a doubt. It is the power of God. Every Sunday Morning is a priceless opportunity to touch the hurts of your city. God’s power is the only way. Here are a few things that I have learned over these past few days.

1. Doctors have no medicine for the people we minister to. The day of supernatural anointing is upon us. God is looking for a church that will stand in the miracle working power of His word. Methods, strategies, systems work wonderfully to attract a certain component of society, but there is a certain windfall of growth for VO churches. No matter what we do, we will always attract the marginalized people of society. This is why God raised up Victory Outreach. What will you do, when your cell group system, your follow-up plan and christian ed. classes are lacking the power of God in the face of people who are suffering and without hope? The only remedy is the power of God.

2. God wants to give us miracles more than we want to see them. There may be a possibility that you have not even expected miracles. But that has not detoured God from giving them. The only thing is that God is not giving them in your church. Winky Pratney, a famous pastor from New Zealand in his research for a newly released Revival Bible, noticed that since the days of Pentecost, there has not been one place on earth that has not experienced an ongoing revival. The days of pentecost have continued because revival is God’s will and not ours. Revival takes place where people gather to pray in diligence for God to shake the ground underneath them. The upper room was that place where prayer set a fire that has not been quenched sinced.

3. You will have your rhema moment. If you are a teacher of the Bible you will definitely know the difference between the “logos” & the “rhema”. A rhema moment is when something comes to powerful light in our hearts and minds. A new understanding. A revelation of sorts. Something of an illumination that will bring change to your life and to your ministry.

In conclusion, I believe that we can have both. We can have innovative and creative churches all while experiencing the power of God. Miracles work from God’s creative side. Our job is to tap into that creativity and for our people to experience what cannot be fabricated or imitated. However, we cannot have mass appeal & miracles. We must make the choice.

Elevate.

Top Searches @ Elevate Blog

I want to take this opportunity to share with you some of the top search terms at the Elevate Blog. I think you will find it interesting. Gives me some insight to what people are look for. Enjoy. I also rejoice that we hit over 3000 hits so far this month.

Searches include:

victory outreach sandiego

empowering members for church growth

alcance victoria east los angeles (this is a big one, always at the top)

pastor sonny arguinzoni

changing seasons of our lives

pastor tom vasquez

breaking barriers in the church

pastor mitchell petersen

how to deal with tough personalities

georgina valdez

what to do when you want to quit

nick walker

changing your mentality

what is twitter?

mega church growth

how to develop cell groups in your church

developing leaders

assimilating newcomers

Have a great week.

ELEVATE

Legacy Leaders

legacy |ˈlegəsē|

noun ( pl. -cies)an amount of money or property left to someone in a will.• a thing handed down by a predecessor

As I was doing a word search I was kind of surprised to find out what the word legacy really meant. I did not know that it was in direct regard to money. I have been doing a great amount of study on financial breakthrough because I believe that God has set up VOSD for a powerful financial promotion. We have done our part and now we are asking God to do his part. However, our financial blessing is not for us. We believe that it will be for the next generation. Every seed that we sow into God’s kingdom will be felt in the next generation to come. Our children & our children’s children will feel the vibration of our giving. The Bible is clear. In Proverbs 13:22, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children” Our aim is to be those leaders that leave a legacy. An inheritance to those who are behind us.

Legacy Leaders are people who have the ability to do 3 things:

1. Legacy Leaders can see beyond others. They look past their own future to the generations that follow. They are not caught up in the temporal but they have a heart for the eternal. They know that their giving goes to the furtherance of God’s agenda in the earth and that the great benefit will fall to the next generation. This is my hearts desire. I want to not only impact my generation but I want to impact the next generation. They will be the greatest generation!

2. Legacy Leaders can see before others. They see what must happen long before others are ready to see it. I thank God for a father who saw something different for his family. Being the first amongst his family to move out of East LA, was a big step for a young man with a small family. His vision was so that his family would have a better opportunity that he did when he was young. None of it would be possible without sacrifice. Physical, emotional, spiritual, financial sacrifice. Your sacrifice makes a difference.

3. Legacy Leaders can see bigger than others They have a larger than usual vision of what can happen. They can just see what others cannot see, when it comes to the size and magnitude of God’s plan. These types of leaders have rescued and envisioned a generation for greatness. Their sacrifice has always had the bigness of God’s plan in mind. Their attitude is: The bigger the vision, the bigger the sacrifice. They have been willing to pay that price. My pastor is my greatest example of that sacrifice. His life will forever be linked to our generation and those to come because he saw it before anyone else did. God gave him that honor.

The question is: What will we do about the future. Will we leave a brand new legacy for those who are depending on our sacrifice? 

 

Enduring the Financial Crunch

It is difficult to overlook the financial crisis that has hit our country. What is hopeful for us is that it seems to be turning for the better. The country should be back on its feet soon, but what about us? What about the church? Here is a question, how is your church doing financially? Have you made any adjustments in your monthly budget? What steps are you taking to encourage givers in your church? What is your stance on tithes & offerings? Here is a few steps you can take to endure & build in a time of financial uncertainty.

1. Evaluate your giving. As leaders we must be the greatest example of giving. A person who does not practice personal integrity in regards to giving cannot challenge others with conviction. How can we challenge others to do what we do not believe ourselves? Why do we give? Is it because we are going to be blessed? Listen we give for 2 reasons:

First, our love for God creates an overflow of giving in our lives. We give because our character becomes just like God’s. God was a giver, therefore we have become givers. As our love grows, we give even more. 

Secondly, our obedience is a reflection of our priorities. Whether you admit it or not, our heart strings are attached to our wallet strings. When we put God first in tithe & offering, we are telling God a story about our heart. We are saying God my heart is fully trusting you.

It is important to keep the subject of finances in front of the church on a consistent basis. Develop a financial strategy for your church. Never approach your church in a frustrated manner. Keeping in mind the subject of finances doesn’t always have to be about tithes & offering, it can be about faith, consistency, trust, kingdom building, etc. It is important to be creative when bringing the message.

2. Evaluate your budget. Here is a question. What can I cut from my budget that is more of a luxury than a necessity. Now I know what you are thinking, “Everything on my budget is a necessity!” Ok, so what can you cut personally? The main idea is to stop the bleeding. Even if its just a small drip, it will add up, and the good news is we can always go back to it once we get back on our feet.

3. Evaluate your spending. A famous cliche comes to mind when one speaks about business, “You have to spend money, to make money”. And it might be true when it comes to church. Our job is to present the gospel in the greatest times of need. If we are going to be effective, it is our job to continue to reach out in the most troubling of times. I kinda get the feeling that God will allow the world to face a famine in order to re-examine their priorities. In other words, these are the times when people are more open to God. People are looking for churches to run to. Especially the ones that are set up to receive them. Guess what? That costs money.

So how can we evaluate? Are we being effective in the money we are spending? Can we say that our dollars are being effective at reaching new & ripe souls that are running to the Lord? Now is not the time to experiment, now is the time to experiment, now is the time to maximize our dollars.

Elevate.

Re:Church

What would happen to us if we could rediscover God’s wonderful plan for our lives? There are numerous seasons in our lives when we must revisit the potter’s wheel. God is never done with us. We may struggle at times, we may battle God’s plan in our lives, and we may go on spiritual vacations that last way too long, we may lose focus in our leadership from time to time, but it is never too late. It is never to late for revival. I have found that older leaders & churches seem to struggle with this at times. Somewhere along the lines there may be a struggle when it comes to the direction of God in our lives.

The word re: is a prefix defined as: “once more, afresh, anew, re-accustomed”. re: also had a negative connotation. re: spoke of “relic” meaning “behind, after, remain”.

How can we see revival in our church?

1. Re:turn to your first love. The Book of Revelations speaks a powerful indictment against a church that had lost its first love. Lukewarmness was a repulsive thing to the Lord. For any of God’s promises to be resurrected, we must come back into contact with our maker. Our first love. The one who first revealed his plan to us. If you can remember, there was a time when you and God were in partnership. The results were mighty. But sometimes we lose contact. When we reconnect, we begin the journey again.

2. Re:discover your original vision. Studies show that the longer a ministry exists, there is a stronger probability that a church will lose track of the original vision. In 2008, Georgina & and I took the lead of a church that was 23 years old. In those years, they had launched out over 20 churches. And in turn, those churches launched out churches and made a powerful impact in Latin America. The vision has not changed. I had to rediscover the vision. AS we continue to grow I believe that churches will be planted out of overflow. God begins to choose those whom He has called. Right now we are birthing and growing a powerful Spanish ministry and many other leaders in our midst. I cannot wait to see what God is going to do.

3. Re:parent your people. Ask yourself, “Who is salvageable?” Who has not abandoned me yet? The longer a church drifts from the original vision the more people tend to drift themselves. However, there are those who are waiting for you. They love their church, they love their pastors, they love their God. Take hold of those people and share the new direction that God is leading you to. And carry it out. Take time giving them the vision once again, knowing that even though the original vision is back, there may be some new methods that have emerged in order for your church to grow.

4. Re:ignite your leadership team. The best way for re-ignition is to allow them to see it in you. A leader must always lead from the front. A hidden leader is an ineffective leader. As your leaders see a new step in you, they will ignited to respond to God’s purpose in their lives.

5. Re:examine your financial situation. Know this. The whole world is reexamining their finances. Don’t be presumptuous. faith is not presuming that we are just a part of “God’s economy”. Faith & reason work together. Are there some things on your budget that can be adjusted. Do you really need everything on your budget in this season or are there some things that you can change that will remove a little pressure from your life so that you can really step back into your original vision? believe me when I say, “If you did it before. You can do it again.”

Revival is on its way to you.

Elevate.