Connie and I are so very proud of Lacey.  To get to the top 12 is phenomenal!  As my son-in-law Brian Gibson said, “She beat over a hundred thousand contestants and lost to only eleven!”  There are no losers at that level.  Only winners!  Lacey is for sure a winner.  Her unique tones, voice, genre’, look and style are destined to take her far.  I believe in her.  Her interviews have revealed her intelligence, sweet disposition, charm and class.  Her appearance on David Letterman’s Late Show this week proved every point that needs to be proven to any out there who didn’t believe in her or appreciate her performances.

I believe in Lacey!  By the way, her goal has never been to be a Rock Star (although that is one of my nick names for her).  Her dream has been “influence”.  She wants to lift hearts, inspire good, bless listeners and yes, also be a living witness to God’s goodness whenever she is able.  We need Christians who will sing good news to the world.  I think Lacey is called to it!

Lacey has served in her local church all of her life, attended and graduated from Victory Bible Institute in addition to completing two years of college, fulfilled an intense one year ministry internship at Guts Church in Tulsa, has served in short term missionary work in Honduras, plus has ministered and taught as a leader at Victory Church.  Her heart is ministry!  No matter where God leads her in this world, her priority is going to be the impact of His love upon it!

So, her journey continues.  Time will reveal where she will go next in her quest to bless people. Please pray for God’s guidance in her life as she walks out her destiny.  Lacey, Connie and I really appreciate all of you who prayed, supported, believed, spread the word, voted….and voted and voted…and shared her journey!  Thank you.  We love you!

I want to thank some people who were on the bus with us in many different ways…but all powerfully contributing to Lacey’s success.  Thank you…

Ryan and Cassie Culwell

Rick and Kim Early

Brian and Jessi Gibson

Bodie, Nicki and Crosse Gregory

The Awesome Victory Church Pastors and Staff

The Generous Victory Church people, our spiritual family

Our Wonderful Pastor Friends accross the country

Jay Lemon

Wade and Princessa Hagler

Eric and Jennifer Narrell

Oscar and Eva Soto

Vicky Hibbs Tillman

Johnny and Teresa Hibbs

Sonny and Sandy Hibbs

Jay and Vicki Perdue

Areli Sanchez

(You guys have all been great.  Please forgive me if I’ve left any person or group of people out in my haste to post this blog.  Again, thank you for all your support.)

It’s true folks.  I don’t believe in ghosts.  Nor does any member of our pastoral staff…at least not as far as I know.  Why not?  Because the Bible doesn’t mention them…except to say that someone “thought” they saw one.

One day, Jesus came walking on the water to meet his disciples in the middle of the Sea.  (A strange place to board a boat!)  Surprised by his sudden maritime approach, the Bible says that the disciples began to scream because they thought they were seeing “a spirit” (That’s King Jimmy for “a ghost” See Mark 6:49).  But it wasn’t a ghost.  It was Jesus.  It was a case of mistaken identity.  And so it is with every ghost sighting.  What people take for ghosts are really something else…or someone else.  It could be the wind, or their eyes playing tricks on them, or even their fear.  Then again, it could be a real supernatural being called “a spirit”.

There are spirits!  God is a spirit.  Satan is a spirit.  Angels and demons are spirits and you are a spirit as well.  Every human is a spiritual being.  Being spiritual beings ourselves, spirits can at times, contact us, affect us, or even communicate with us.  But these spirits aren’t ghosts.  They are not the disembodied souls of dead people.  When a person dies he immediately goes to either heaven or hell.  There is no purgatory, no limbo and no lingering spirits of deceased people who need to finish something or set something straight before finding rest.

Can a demonic spirit pose as a ghost?  Sure.  I’m convinced that while most séances are total fakery, there is the possibility of modern day necromancers actually making contact with demon spirits.  These demons have been around for thousands of years, have observed humans and their families making it possible to mimic dead relatives and to know facts that we assume only our loved ones could know.  Demonic spirits can become familiar with people, thus the term “familiar spirits” mentioned in Scripture.

So what am I saying?  Ghosts are a sham.  While a seemingly innocent ghost story being told around the campfire or seeing a movie about ghosts can provide a little entertainment value…the truth is there are no ghosts, just demon posers…and a lot of human imagination.

Good news!  Jesus gave us power and authority over all demon spirits.  (See Luke 10:19)  If you actually ever do run up on a genuine, bona fide, demon spirit in ghostly manifestation, just quote God’s word (See Jesus’ satanic temptation in the wilderness) and use the Name of Jesus on him (Mark 16:17)!  He will run away from you.  (See Mark 16:17 and James 4:7)

Oh yeah…and about those vampires.  They’re not real either.

Luke 2:10-11

“It’s Christmas time in the city”…of God!  The city of God is the Church and Victory Church is abuzz with Christmas activity.  This month is filled with services, outreaches, practices, preparations, and equipment installations.  Our staff and volunteers are laying their lives down in sacrificial commitment.  Of course, in addition to their ministry involvement here at the church, they each have their own personal projects and preparations that surround the holidays as well!  It’s a busy time for our people…but they love it.  They consider it a privilege to serve the Savior who laid down his life for them!

I also consider it a wonderful privilege to serve the Lord.  I certainly enjoy being a pastor, especially around Christmas time.  It’s absolutely awesome to watch faith and love grow in people’s lives, as they worship and work together for a common cause.  Together, throughout this season, we will present Jesus and his love to thousands of people here in Amarillo.  This year though, Christmas is just half of our program to share the Good News!

Just as soon as Christmas is over, another preparation begins.  No, not for New Years!  We will begin to prepare for our largest ever Missionary Crusade to be held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras in February.  Our music ministry team will be preparing to lead praise and worship for three nights…in Spanish! (Most of them are gringos so this is no small challenge.)  They will have the opportunity to lead crowds of tens of thousands of people in praise and worship in for what is for most of them a foreign language…and get this.  They must make it good enough, power packed enough, Holy Spirit filled enough to inspire the audience to believe for miracles!

Of course, I will help all I can with my preaching and teaching. (smile!)  So, this is our assignment, given us by the Holy Spirit back in 1993, to proclaim Good News to All in Honduras…precisely what the angels announced that first Christmas night to the shepherds in Bethlehem.

Thus far, we have proclaimed the Good News to some million people in fifty-eight cities in Honduras.  What a privilege!  In February we return to reach city number fifty-nine, San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in the nation.  What a responsibility…what an opportunity…what a privilege!

We’re praying.  We’re preparing.  We’re depending on God.  We’re going….going into that part of the world to announce the Good News of Jesus the Savior to people who desperately need to know of His love, His sacrifice, His resurrection, His gift.

Again, I count this as the greatest privilege of my life!  It’s the privilege of leading thousands of people to Jesus by simply telling them the Good News of Jesus in the miracle working power of the Holy Spirit!

By the way, this particular kind of missionary campaign requires adequate funding in order to succeed.  Last I checked, we still needed around $90,000 to meet our budget.  If you’d like to help us impact people for Jesus you can learn more and/or give a financial gift through our web site at www.60cities.org.  Giving to the Good News is a privilege too!

David Brown Ministries

Fiesta de Milagros

6300 Arden Road

Amarillo, TX  79109

806-359-9463

info@evictorychurch.org

www.evictorychurch.org

Christmas can be a wonderful time.  Or, it can be grueling.  It just depends on your attitude, your friends and family, your schedule and the size of your pocketbook doesn’t it!  I’m praying that your Christmas turns out to be wonderful!

We’re working hard here at Victory Church to inject a lot of “wonderful” into people’s Christmas.  Victory members are shopping this week for hundreds and hundreds of toys to be given to our Victory Kids Mobile kids in the parks.  What a blessing to help children have a good Christmas.

The ladies are preparing for our annual Victory Ladies Christmas Tea which happens this coming Saturday morning, December 5^th.  Scores of “men in black” will serve during the event, helping to lift women’s hearts.

The Music, Media and Pastoral Teams are immersed in preparation for “GLO” our Christmas Concert scheduled for December 18-20.  There will be four big presentations…four opportunities to experience a little bit of the story and glory of Christmas in a totally post-modern, cutting edge and technologically advanced way!  Don’t miss it.  Don’t let your friends miss it either.

Finally, don’t miss this.  Remember that with everything you need to remember, schedule, do, attend, buy and plan…it really is all about Jesus.  He’s the greatest gift you’ve ever received!

He…is the “wonder” of Christmas!

If you want to know, I give this movie five stars.  It’s a great family film.  It comes out on DVD on November 10th.

To the point though.  Up is the direction we want to go.  We all have dreams, just like Carl.  We’ve all made mistakes and errors in judgment, just like when Carl hit the construction worker.  And, we’ve all felt forced to do something, go somewhere or be something that someone else decided for us.  That makes us want to escape…just “take off” as if thousands of balloons were taking us away to our dream.

Okay…back to reality.  One of these days, we will escape to eternity with God in the new heavens and the new earth.  Bank on it.  But meantime, we’re living life.  Life is a place where mistakes are made, wives die before we do everything we want to do and little boys, or girls, or maybe big boys and girls come into our lives unexpectedly, messing up our plans.  It’s a crazy, confusing, conflicting life we live on this planet.  But through faith in God, we can go “up”.

Heaven is our future.  So, life goes “up” from here!  Yeah!  We may have down days, down times, downward turns in our circumstances, but we also know that “the Lord will lift us up”!

The Psalmists wrote lines like this.  “He is the lifter of our heads.”  “He lifts the needy out of the dunghill.”   And, “I will extol thee. O Lord; for you have lifted me up…”

Jesus cast a demon out of a little boy one day, took him by the hand and “lifted him up”!

I still believe in the “rapture” when Jesus comes in the air and catches “up” all who believe in him…and so will we ever be with the Lord!

God loves to lift people “up”

Do you need to be lifted up?  He’ll do it.  Trust him.

You’re life is lifting off and going “up”.

“Up’ is the direction of God.

PD

So, we shoot for amazing!  We want our music to be amazing.  We want our ministry departments to be amazing.  We want our experiences, our blessings, our results and our testimonies to be amazing.  I want my teaching to be amazing…hmm, well at least have an amazing point or two!  I should strike gold at least once or twice on a Sunday…  right?  By the anointing of the Spirit and the power of God’s word, amazement is possible in everything we do for Jesus!

So, how about you?  Are you ready to be amazing?  We all have goals, projects and aspirations in life.  How can we achieve them in an amazing way?  I think the following keys will help.  Whether your goals are personal, corporate, or ministerial, you can be amazing!

“Can Do” Attitude

Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me”.  Get the “can do” attitude.  It’s faith.  Believe that you can do what Jesus has commanded or led you to do.  If you don’t think your goal is possible, then you are premature in attempting to accomplish it.  Negativity never breeds amazement.

Commitment to Teamwork

Jesus didn’t act alone.  He recruited, trained and utilized a team.  He sent teams of two to preach and witness.  After Jesus’ ascension, the Apostles carried on this practice and always prayed and ministered in teams.  We’re not in this alone.  You can never accomplish alone what you can accomplish with the help of a good team.  Recruit and train a team.  Respect your team.  Be committed to the success of your team.  Share your success with others.  Staff team members toward your weaknesses.  Why be limited by…you?

Creativity

Unless you tap into your God given creativity, you are doomed to only produce what others have produced…and that will be less than amazing.  Don’t be a trend follower but a trend setter!  Your spiritual gifts and special talents are your catalysts for creativity.  Dig deep down into you and pull up what is distinctly and uniquely you.  God made you to be amazing.

Comprehensive Planning

How many of our attempts at achievement have ended in less than amazing ways?  And, how many times have we exclaimed, “Oh, I didn’t think about that!”? Or, “Wow, I never realized that could happen”!  What was the problem?  We didn’t have the big picture.  We didn’t think of everything.  Our observations simply were not wide enough in scope.  (Here is where a team gets really valuable.)  Why be limited to one brain or one experience?  Spend the time necessary to properly plan.  Remember, proper prior planning prevents pitifully poor performance.

Crucial Execution

It’s crucial, vital and necessary.  You have to eventually “pull the trigger”.  “Failure to launch” was a funny movie, but it won’t be funny when it embarrasses you.  You have to be able to execute to accomplish and achieve.  There comes a time to just “do it”, like Nike says!  Planning is important, but don’t be guilty of the paralysis of analysis.

Complete Follow-Through

You can’t finish amazing if you leave things undone.  You have to follow-through on your strategic plan.  You can’t just “blow off” the vital steps to your success.  You must check things off of your “to do list”…and you do it by actually fulfilling the items on that list, not just erasing them!  They say that “rules are made to be broken”.  In actuality, rules are made to be kept and lists are made to be done!  There are no short cuts to amazing!

Careful Inspection

Surprises happen.  They happen every time and in every project.  Military minds say that the battle plan always changes after the battle begins.  It’s true.  Nothing goes exactly as planned.  Systems fail.  Humans err.  Change occurs.  That’s why constant inspection has to happen in order to stay on top of things.  It has often been said, “People don’t do what you expect, they do what you inspect”.  When you delegate, be careful not to abdicate.  Those you have delegated to do not own the delegated responsibility.  They are the managers of it.  You are the owner.  You have to own your project.  You must own your own possibilities.  Trust others to help you, but never trust them to carry you!   Be a good steward of the life and opportunity that God has given you!

Go for it Christian.  Greater (more amazing) is He that is in you than he that is in the world!

The Jesus and Charismatic movements of the ‘70’s hit the church like a hurricane. Within a handful of years the American Church was rocked with new music, new ways to fellowship, fresh insights from the scriptures and all sorts of doctrinal controversies and challenges.  The young and the “hungry for God” refused to be satisfied with what the “satisfied” and the complacent were living in as far as spirituality goes.  Some believers were praying for revolution while others were committed to tradition.  The battle lines were drawn, fresh thinkers were pushed out and away by traditionalism and the independent church movement flourished.

Now, independent churches of both Charismatic and Evangelical flavors have become such a huge segment of North American Christianity that they rival the largest denominations in size and largely surpass them in result.  While the “experience” of God has been paramount in their ministry focus, the “teaching” of Scripture has been their strength as well as their chief method.

During the last three decades, there has been a huge resurgence of teaching. Teaching has re-emerged in traditional and classical denominations as well.  It had to happen if they were to stop the hemorrhaging of members to the new savvy independent churches.  Ah…the American way in action.  Free enterprise is awesome isn’t it?

All well and good, except with all of this ministry development…there was still one thing very wrong.  Consider the following stats.

Nearly 74% of all Americans have no meaningful church relationship.
One half of all churches in America did not add one member though conversion last year.
No county in America has a greater percentage of churched people than a decade ago.
80% of American churches are either stagnant or declining in membership.
15% are growing because of transfer growth.
Only 5% are growing because of conversion growth.
North America is the only continent in the world where Christianity is not growing.

What does all this mean?  While we’ve been teaching…not too many of us have been reaching!

While teaching is vitally important to maintaining orthodoxy and healthy Christian experience, reaching is essential to fulfilling the Great Commission.  Reaching is necessary for saving people from the eternal darkness of separation from God.  Reaching people is the heart of God.

God had one son and he made him a reacher as well as a teacher!  To follow him we must be reachers!  A local church should be committed to reaching the lost.  Its efforts should be prayerful, scriptural and creative…but most of all compassionate.

Let’s stop boasting about local church growth until we have national church growth.  Any “savvy” church can grow through transfers.  It takes “heart” to grow by conversions!  Let’s win souls!

It happens every year.

It’s easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of summer and forget our most important priorities.  You know the ones I’m talking about.  Prayer and Bible reading. Oh yeah.  You had almost forgotten about them?  Well, I am here to give you your friendly pastoral reminder.  The Lord loves you.  He’s on your side.  It’s good not to forget about Him during your busy summer.  You need him when it’s hot just like you do when it’s cold.

From my own experience, I’ve found that nothing compares to a little early morning time with God.  In fact, if I don’t get up early to have time with Him before the events of the day begin to transpire; I very likely won’t find time for Him at all.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s summer, winter, spring or fall.  It just won’t happen.

When I put Him first however…the whole day just flows better.  I find the time to do what’s really important…and to disengage from what isn’t.  I really recommend a consistent, daily, alone-time with God during the summer.

Put God first and your summer can be the best one ever!

David

We should appreciate our freedom and protect it with the same dedication as those who died to secure it and pass it on to us.  Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of private ownership and the freedom to elect our own legislators and leaders are just a few of the wonderful liberties which God in his grace and providence has given us.  Let’s not fall into complacency and risk losing what has been entrusted to us.

During the past few days we have seen the people of Iran demonstrating in their streets, risking their lives and reaching out for the attention of the world as they struggle and cry out for a freedom that has been withheld from them.  They are oppressed and dictated over by their government.  They have discovered that their leaders are lying to them and oppressing them.  They long for freedom.

Just yesterday, the extreme left wing Honduras President Manuel Zelaya was arrested and removed from power by the Honduran Supreme Court, the Congress, the Military and members of his own political Liberal party…all true patriots.  Zevala was making moves to radically change the Honduran Constitution which would empower him to seek consecutive terms of office.  Honduras presidents are only allowed to serve one four year term.  It seems as though he was getting his guidance from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who did the same thing in his own country.

Chavez a radical Socialist, would love to establish socialist regimes throughout Latin America.  Chavez is presently threatening to invade Honduras and restore Zevala’s presidency.  Our president and government should take the side of the Honduran constitutionalists who removed Zelaya or they will find themselves fighting for socialism and against freedom itself.  Unbelievably, both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have thus far spoken against the correct action of the Honduras patriots.

I celebrate the freedom fighters who are boldly acting in both Iran and Honduras.  Let us be as brave as they!
It cost a lot to secure our nation’s freedom.  It may cost a lot to protect it.  It will surely cost us much if we ever lose it.

Let’s celebrate freedom…and work to advance it everywhere in the world!