For the past few weeks, VOSD has felt the heartbeat of God to pour out His love over the city of San Diego. So far in the past 5 weeks, we have fed, prayed & ministered to over 1000 people. You would be amazed by the response of those people that we have touched with God’s love. As you can imagine, we have learned a few things about love.

1. Love is never self-serving. Loving others takes the focus off of us, and onto them. It is amazing how love expressed to others, is so fulfilling to ourselves.

2. Love is never too busy. I have learned that love is intentional and never by accident.

3. Love cost us something. Love is never expressed if it fits our convenience, comfort or is non-sacrificial. Love requires sacrifice. As I have mentioned before, “Love will call you out!”

4. Love doesn’t receive anything in return. It is completely unconditional. This is the challenging part. To love in the “Jesus Style”, we must be willing to move through God’s love and not our own. Our love will naturally expect love in return, call it the natural side of our love, but to love through Christ, we recognize that in the same way Jesus died for us, we are called to love others. It is completely self-less. Amazing.

5. Love will point us to love the most challenging personalities. Nobody ever said love would be easy. Maybe that is why so many distance themselves from others, but love will point us to the most difficult personalities we encounter every day. Even Peter said (paraphrased), “You don’t get credit for loving the easy ones, but the difficult ones.”

Coming to a close, think about the “new you”. You have learned that God loves you, You have learned to love yourself, & you are learning to love others. Forgive the opponents of your heart. Anyone who can forgive will always rise above their enemies. 2010 is going to be a year where love covers everything you do. Keep rising!

I (Heart) San Diego. Over the last few weeks @VOSD we have set out to put God’s love on display to our community. In order for that to happen, we have taken an examination of our hearts. The question is, Does compassion flow from your heart to others?

Compassion: in it’s Latin origin is “Compati” meaning to “suffer with”. This gives us a true look at what it means to be compassionate to a hurting & confused world. Compassionate people know what it’s like because they know what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoe. (To suffer with) When looking upon others we should say to ourselves:

• Just like me, people are seeking to walk in peace in their lives.

• Just like me, people are trying to avoid hardship & struggle.

• Just like me, this person knows what it feels like to be hurt & disappointed by life & lonely.

• Just like me, this person is trying to reach their full potential. They are striving just like me.

• Just like me, this person is learning in life. Just like me this person makes mistakes.

Our challenge during this holiday season is to walk in someone else’s shoes. Do you know someone who has had a tough year? Take a little time to think about what it is like to be in that person’s circumstance. It’s funny how small our problems seem when we learn to walk in others shoes. You will be amazed. Let’s compassion flow.

I (Heart) San Diego.

VOSD has stepped out together to display massive amounts of love on the City of San Diego. And even though San Diego stands as “America’s Finest City” it may not be our finest hour. People have had a tough year, foreclosures are at an all time high, people have lost jobs & families are confused. It’s our time to show the people of San Diego what love is all about. We are putting love into action. But remember love is not always easy. Love will call you out.

1. Love calls us out of our convenience. Love never moves on our time table. If we are going to display love effectively we must be willing to go beyond our schedule and beyond our normal daily agenda. I like to say, “Love lives in the extra mile.”

2. Love calls us out of our comfort zone. Love will challenge you. Love always requests for us to be stretched beyond what we are normally comfortable with. Here is what I mean. You may struggle talking to strangers, you may struggle with public speaking, you may struggle with giving, you may struggle with doing something that you do not normally do, but love will require it!

3. Love calls us out of casual Christianity. When it comes to displaying God’s love to others, we must recognize it as a radical endeavor. It cannot be done half-heartedly or reluctantly. Love is radical. Love is powerful. Love is committed. Love can never be casual. Casual never inspired anyone. War’s have never been won with a casual approach, hearts are never won with reluctancy, Jesus did not die a casual death.

Do your best this week to love someone for Jesus. I (Heart) San Diego

What a great year we have experienced here @VOSD. It has been one of our best, but reality is that there are many people who have struggled this year. Families have lost their homes, marriages have been stressed & children have really just sit back and watched it all with worry. That is why VOSD is stepping out to make a difference through our I (Heart) San Diego Campaign. God has given us a 5 point plan to touch the families of our community with God’s love:

• Provide a safe and healthy alternative to families during Halloween. A Christian alternative to the families of our community. We handed out candy to hundreds of children in our community. It was great to so many smiles.

• Provide a place of restoration to men & women with life controlling problems. We want to help young men & women to rebuild their lives. We want to house, clothe & feed men and women who are rebuilding their lives!

• Provide free health examinations to uninsured families in the community. We will be partnering with health professionals from the San Diego area along with the many Doctors, RN, Nurses assistants and health field workers in our church.

• Provide 500 turkeys to struggling families in our community. We want to make sure that families will have a great Thanksgiving. Through our canned food drive & turkey drive we aim to feed 500 families.

• Provide Christmas toys to children whose families have been affected by the economy. We will be partnering with Toys for Tots. Of all of the Toys for Tots sponsors, we are the only church that has stepped out represent our community! This is our opportunity to help people in a tough time of their lives.

If you would like to get involved in this great campaign or you can donate turkeys to help VOSD to love our community please contact Liz Portillo @ (619)262-0172. We would love to partner with you during this holiday season. You can make a difference!

I (Heart) San Diego!

Momentum is never an accident. It is always intentional, and it is always a product of our action. I believe this: Our decisions in this dimension of ministry will always determine our access to the next dimension of ministry. Sometimes those decisions are tough, but they almost always pay-off. Let’s just say, things have become flat, church has become routine, and the leaders look uninspired…What can we do? Here are a few things.

1. Pray. An organization can never rise higher than its commitment to prayer. Prayer lifts us. It causes us to see things through God’s eyes and not ours. Insert prayer into your staff meeting. Ministry meeting or cell group. Schedule a time for corporate prayer. Activate prayer anyway that you can. Your gonna need it for the next steps.

2. Prepare your team. What we are is often determined by who is around us. Have you ever felt so ignited personally for ministry to look around the room just to see people who were totally out of it? Look for body language. Do they pray? Do they seem happy? Do they laugh with you? Do they carry a positive spirit? Do they ever have ideas for someone else or for the team? Is everything about them? Are they just company guys/girls? How is their personal life going?  If you find that one of your team members falls into this category, it may be time for  a change.

3. Pick some new players. As tough as it may be to make changes at the top. Most of the time there is always someone who is ready to step into the roll. If someone doesn’t step up. Go and find that person who will produce for you. Look for people that reflect the next dimension, not the old dimension. Remember, you have been there. In some cases, you have been there too long. Other than the obvious character traits of leaders, look for people who will produce and not just talk.

4. Point to the New Dimension. So you have your team. Now what? Well, the vision is important. We all know the vision internationally, but what about locally? What is it going to take to accomplish our goals? How can people get involved in the vision locally? How will new staff/leaders practice their gifts & ideas? Here is a tip: Keep it simple! One great pastor said, the vision should able to be written on a table napkin.

Here is an example: “Victory Outreach Church of San Diego is called to Reach our community & to Raise up leaders for the vision. That’s it. Simple. Get on board.

As seasons change, people change. I’d like to believe that people get better, because things become different in our lives. Whether you have been serving the Lord with a desire to strive or you are re-engaging yourself because you have slipped away. It is your time for a new dimension.

Today I want to reveal some things that are in my mind about this new dimension that I believe that we are in.

1. People criticize what they do not understand. Here is the point. Our lives are going to challenge others when we grow. People who do not grow do not like people who are growing, because growth causes the average to take an evaluation. Disappointment sets in and then they start to attack. They say things like: I do not like their style. They do not have the vision. Wow, things have really changed. Is it that they really don’t like you? Well maybe in some cases, but in most cases it is because they are not happy with themselves.

2. Prepare for greater expectation. Sometimes life can be like a merry-go-round. The greatest expectation falls to those who are doing well. If you are having a great season, you can be sure that some responsibility is going to fall your way. Embrace it. People have a tendency to attach themselves to success, Nobody wants to connect with a person in a losing season. People want to be with winners. So what are we supposed to do? Here are a few things to consider:

• People can’t hurt your progress unless you allow them to. It’s your choice.
• Position yourself to help others in need. Be ready when they ask. Because they are going to ask.
• Prepare your mind for disappointment. Do not expect people to meet all of your expectations.

3. Partner with other winners. Relationships are so crucial to our life. A partner is someone who has a few important characteristics:

• People who get you. These are people who don’t give you the blank, “I don’t get it stare.” when you talk to them about your ideas. Sign that a person is not a partner: They are too busy texting or tweeting to give you their total attention. 
• People who give back to you. I’m all for helping people, but hey sometimes people should give back. Seriously.
• People who pray for you. You can feel it. You will know when people are with you on something. I have found that sometimes God will allow people to walk out of your life, so that new people can walk in.

Elevate.

To be perfectly honest, I am constantly asking God, “What is the next dimension for VOSD?” I am a firm believer that a growing church is a searching church. I am a firm believer that a growing church is a divinely dissatisfied church. The things that satisfy us, never satisfy God and it is our task to constantly keep our finger on the pulse of what God wants to do through our church. To me, prayer is the gateway. This week VOSD has cancelled it’s normally weekly program for a a time of corporate prayer & fasting. We have entitled this week, “REACH”. Our goal is to reach God’s heart for our lives. To reach God’s heart for our city. To reach our full-potential. I believe that this week will be a time of re-fueling, re-focus, re-fining & re-ignition. As a church we are accepting an invitation to a new dimension, all while saying goodbye to the old. If you are in the San Diego area, please feel free to join us any night this week from 7-9pm. One exciting event this week will be the recording of our very first worship album featuring the VOSD Music Ministry. You can join us on Wednesday night. Admission is free!

 Reach for the sky.

As I await my wife (she is packing). We are preparing for a week long trip and a time for a little R&R. This personal trip is probably long overdue and I must admit, lately I have longed to just be alone with her. Throughout the years, I have always heard that ministry can be taxing. I have often thought of the first line of the The Tail of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times and the worst of times.” In many ways life can be just like that. Ministry is a place where we live between those two realities. Everything is great in the ministry, but what is happening at home? (vice-versa) If you have ever felt like this was you? I want you to know that you are not alone. Our generation of leader is facing it together. Here are a few things that I am learning about this particular battle:

1. God’s promises will always prevail. His word is true. I have spent hours reading the Bible for guidance. I want you to know that God’s word is powerful.

2. Great models.We have been given great models. I thank God for those who have defeated those giants in their personal lives. Divorce, raising godly children, financial pressure, bankruptcy. If they could do it, we can do it too.

3. Greater strength. God wants us to endure these challenges for ourselves. A personal battle is just that. Personal. Our job is to overcome it with the help of the Lord. What we gain is worth its weight in gold. You will become stronger. 

4. Great opportunity. What is on the other side of your struggle? There are just too many cliches to quote that will speak to that truth in our lives. The important thing to know is that it is true. There are going to be greater opportunities on the other side of your struggle.

You can do it.

Al

Here is the second part of my article from earlier in the week about the Mega-Church trends. I would like to start out this article with this question: Is Victory Outreach International ready for a mega church? You might be surprised to know a few things about mega-churches, their pastors & their organizational needs.

1. Mega-churches are led by large personalities in virtually every case. According to John H. Armstrong, “These churches are pastor centered and work like corporations led by CEO’s.” It is true. Not that these churches are personality driven, in my opinion only a few leaders can build a church on their personality, but their teams allow these pastors to be free to be the prevailing personality of the church. These teams do not feel uncomfortable working under this type of leader as long as their goals are met. The question is: Can a denomination deal with an emergent personality without feeling the burden to curb their enthusiasm?

2. Mega-churches are largely non-denominational. With the exception of the SBC Case in point: Many people may not know that the largest church in Southern California is a denominational church. They call it Saddleback Community Church  in Lake Forest, CA, led by a pastor named Rick Warren, who authored a best selling book entitled, The Purpose Driven Life. Here is a fact: Many years ago Rick & his lovely wife were sent and financed from Texas by the Southern Baptist Convention. This church was planted and has made history. However, would you be able to identify this church as a SBC church today? Is this church faithful to the SBC agenda? What role does this church play in the convention? A Pastors.com article recently read, “Southern Baptists Elect New President. The question is does anybody even care?”—Wow.

3. Those who attend mega-churches are relatively young & economically diverse. An important thing to know is that this growth is not by accident. Often it is by design. These churches are positioned for this type of harvest through their music, atmosphere, decor, teaching style, dress code, promotion, etc. Recent statistics show that the average mega-church attender is 40 years old. However, many might be shocked to know that most mega-churches have reported a 45% volunteer ratio. This is based on people who give more than 5 hours a week in volunteer time to the church & the community. Not a bad number.

Elevate.

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions about team ministry. I have been personally involved in team ministry for over 15 years. I have been on different types of teams, good teams, bad teams, productive teams & unproductive teams. I am still convinced that the team concept prevails in regards to raising an effective church or organization. Here is what I have learned.

1. A team’s motivation comes from a compelling vision. Here is what I have learned. Teams do not respond well to needs and problems. We can leave the needs and problems to a committee for note taking and analysis. Teams are looking to respond to a vision that is life giving and exciting. Needs don’t move a team. Vision moves a team.

2. A team needs an active and exciting leader that has continued to demonstrate success. Here is what I have learned. Successful teams are usually led by a leader who is doing a number of things–learning new concepts, producing results today, having personal victory, etc. The mistakes I see many leaders make is that they stop producing personally. They rest upon past victories, while the war keeps waging. Teams respond to leaders who can demonstrate current and timely results.

3. A an effective team is built for short-term goals that build a long-term vision. What gives a team great confidence? One win at a time. Every team needs a project that has a beginning & a definitive end. I have learned that teams respond best to 90 day goals. Every 90 days we set goals that will help to build our long-term vision.

4. A person cannot be held accountable for unspoken expectations. It amazing to me how many leaders expect their team to read their minds, under the guise of “knowing my heart brother/sister”. To me that is a cop-out for bad communication. As a team leader I cannot expect my team to be accountable for my unspoken desires or the things that I have not communicated directly to them myself. A major mistake leaders make is to assign a personal connector to a team in order to fulfill a vision. I have spent 6 years under one of our world greatest leaders and I have never seen him call someone to call someone.

5. Ask questions. One of the biggest mistakes a team leader can make is to think that they have all of the answers. Believe me when I say, “Nobody is that good.” Information is power to a team. A team sits in circles and not in rows.