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The Killer of Comparison

Comparison is a killer!

Well Easter Sunday has come and gone. As a new church planter, I was looking forward to Easter. It’s the christian Super Bowl… it’s the big number day! But as the big day came and went I did what every church planter should not do on Sunday afternoon. I went on social media. As I scrolled through my various feeds, I found myself feeling bad. When I should’ve been rejoicing for the Kingdom wins I was seeing, I was actually feeling insecure and not that great about myself.

Where the heck was this coming from? We’re only 10 weeks old as a church and in church planting standards we are crushing it! We have great numbers but why was I feeling so bad? Oh I get it… comparison. I was comparing myself to churches and leaders who were a lot older than us and had a lot more experience than I do. I was reminded by the Holy Spirit with this scripture.

John 21:21-22 NKJV
Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

This struck me hard because even the first disciples dealt with comparison. Peter had just been told about the gruesome death he would experience in the earlier verses of this passage and immediately he wants John to have a similar experience. BUT Jesus… Jesus says in essence, If I want him to live forever… that’s my business! We must understand Jesus is building His church and He is the one doing the work. Our feelings and expectations have nothing to do with it. Our job is to follow Him.

Don’t compare someone’s highlight reel with your behind-the-scenes.

Comparison will always be a temptation, but don’t take the bait. Make sure to compare yourself to no one but yourself. This isn’t a competition, it’s a kingdom.

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Don’t Go Looking

Don’t go looking but be on the lookout!

I remember my friend Kevin told me one time, “Ashley, you need to stop looking and be on the lookout!”

After that, it wasn’t long until Stephanie came into my life and I was on the lookout.

Sometimes we are so busy looking for the next thing that we don’t look up and be on the look out for what God has right in front of us. Sometimes we are looking for some far-off external solution when maybe the solution we need is in reach of our current sphere.

Instead of hopin’ and wishin’ we’d win the lottery, maybe we need to be faithful with the finances God has given us in order to build wealth. Maybe instead of envying the marriage our neighbors have maybe we take our spouse by the hand and passionately express our love to them. Instead of looking at what someone else has, maybe it’s time to be on the lookout of what we already have.

Being on the lookout is much harder than going looking because we want to make it happen but the bible is clear about what happens when we endure.

Romans 5:3-4 NLT
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

Don’t give up and go looking but be on the lookout!

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Victorious Church UPDATE!

We launched Victorious Church on February 16th and it was awesome!

In three weeks we’ve seen 22 salvations and over 160 people attend the church! We also launched small groups with 34 people in men and women’s groups! Praise God!

The worship has been amazing and God has been drawing people from all across the valley to find us. It’s truly been supernatural to watch the Lord build His church!

I want to ask you to help us in moving forward as we build a culture of generosity. Please pray for a moment and ask God what you can do to give your best gift. We believe some of you can partner with us for next 6 or 12 months and help us financially as we gather more people to help us finance this great dream of Victorious Church.

We have changed our online giving option to make things much more simple than before, so please take a moment and try it out!

Thank you so much for your faithfulness!

 

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Experiencing Positive Pressure

“What’s in you will come out of you when the pressure is applied.”

2 Corinthians 4:8
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Have you ever squeezed the last bit of toothpaste out of the tube? That’s what I feel like right now… 48 hours before the launch of Victorious Church. We feel that everything in us has been squeezed out of us but it is for a good reason. Like squeezing that last bit of toothpaste out is for a good reason… whiter teeth and better breath (all the coffee drinkers said, “AMEN!”) But for us it is like the verse says… we aren’t in despair, we aren’t empty, we aren’t really even fearful. We are hopeful. We’ve run the gamete of emotions that we were supposed to feel but at this moment we feel peaceful, as we all should in every moment. We’ve done our part and now we get to watch God do His part. We get to watch Him build His church. This is what it means to be a co-laborer with Christ.

So when you experience pressure don’t allow the negative emotions to overwhelm you. We don’t live by emotion. We live by the Spirit. Instead, learn to rest in the peace of God and allow the work God has done in you to be expressed in the great work He wants to do through you. This is how we experience pressure in a positive way. You and I were born for this moment. And like my good friend Troy told me… don’t screw it up! 🙂

I want to ask you to help us continue to launch strong this weekend. Please pray for a moment and ask God what you can do to give your best gift. We believe some of you can partner with us for next 6 or 12 months and help us move forward as we gather more people to help us finance this great dream of Victorious Church.

We have been fasting and praying for the last 21 days and believing God for a great harvest for His kingdom this weekend. Please be praying for us as we make a huge impact this historic weekend! Thank you so much and I can’t wait to update you about how the launch went!!

 

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