In light of an incredible Vision Campaign, called OCC 2012, (details at occ.org) my buddy Chris sent me these thoughts as an encouragement. Please be encouraged by them as well! Thank you, Chris, and thank you friends, for being on the journey, praying and joining us in Changing the World by Degrees!!!! Chris’s email follows:
“The word kosmokrateros (“rulers of the darkness of this world”) is a military term that has to do with discipline, organization, and commitment. The devil is so serious about doing damage to humanity that he deals with demon spirits as though they are troops! He puts them in rank and file and organizes them to the hilt. Meanwhile, the average Spirit-filled believer often doesn’t stay in one church for more than one year at a time!
“Yes, we do have more authority than the devil has; we do have more power than the devil has; and we do have the Greater One living in us. The Church of Jesus Christ is loaded with heaps and heaps of raw power. But at this particular time, that power is disconnected and disjointed by a Body that lacks discipline, organization, and commitment!
“As Christians, we have no power shortage, nor are we short of God-given authority. We simply have a great lack of discipline, organization, and commitment. In order to change this, we must buckle down in the local church and begin to view ourselves as the troops of the Lord! Once we match the discipline, organization, and commitment that the enemy possesses in his camp, we will begin to move into the awesome demonstration of God’s power!” -From the book “Dressed to Kill” by Rick Renner, p. 238
This section jumped out at me as it related to the OCC 2012 Vision campaign. What this vision is providing is direction, organization and calling us to a commitment as a church to bring all our individual focus together as ONE body and directing it towards a God honoring set of initiatives. As we succeed at this, I am super excited to see what God is going to do through it.
I appreciate the leadership that you, the elders and staff are bringing to this campaign and to our church. Continue to mobilize our “army” at OCC to come against the devil’s schemes and we WILL prevail!
5 comments:
Great Vision, Great Message, Great to Connect, Great Night, Great is Our God! Good job tonight, Pastor.
Loved the message, Mike. Since leaving Washington we searched diligently for a new church home. While we've finally found a new home here in Bend, we love that we can still worship with Overlake over the net. Your congregation reaches beyond the bounds of Redmond! Thank you for your leadership and vision.
We chose to be the one degree of separation.
Jan & Larry Wood
It REALLY saddens me to see what Overlake has become and what you accept for a pastor here. This church was originally a conservative, BIBLE TEACHING, BIBLE BELIEVING church, and the pews were full. Look at what you have become. There is a reason the pews are empty. The ones that come are the ones who want to get their ears tickled. This is extremely sad. It's a sign of the end times. But I praise God and pray He returns soon. Even the churches are becoming like sodom and gomorrha. No wonder the pastor thinks someone who has gone there for 5 years is a long term memeber lol. There probably isn't a single member left from the original, Bible believers that once filled your pews.
I am definitely not at OCC to get my ears tickled. Yes, the church has gone through some changes.. Yes, there are still people there that were part of the original founding members, Yes, it is still a Bible believing / bible teaching church, and Yes, this may not be the vision or church for all believers, but it is the church and vision for some believers. Don't judge the ministry, love them and pray that God guide them; leave the judgement to Him.
Dear Pastor Mike,
Thank you very much for your sermon every time. I have to say that we are not crazy about the contemporary band music. We prefer quiet music, but I read the lyrics carefully and God has spoken with me through it. But your sermon challenges us to think like Jesus, who never thinks ordinarily like an average person. My sister who visited from Hong Kong commented on how lucky we are to have you. She said, "what a extraordinary pastor!" She is a deacon from a Alliance Church in HK. She listens to your sermon online there to get "feed and nourished". THANK YOU!
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