12 April 2007
You Guys are amazing!
I know we have the right hearts here to see God do extraordinary things. All you have to do is read the comments after the “Is Our Faith Too Small” post to know that.
You can read them here, http://www.robsingleton.net/?p=227#comments
Let me update you all on where we are with some of your thoughts and ideas offered so that we don’t get going in a hundred different directions at once.
First, some have suggested starting new campuses. This has been in the works for sometime now, and we are right in the midst of planning for Southbrook Monroe and Southbrook Fort Mill. Both of these will be video campus extensions of Southbrook’s DNA. Southbrook Monroe should launch sometime between August and September of this year, and Southbrook Fort Mill should follow within 1–3 months.
In addition to this, we need to expand the original campus because our short history has already taught us that whatever we start fills up immediately and the relief brought is temporary at best.
Also, in order to do video campuses well, the original campus that you film from needs to have the best staging, lighting cameras, etc. Our current stage is far too small and the lighting and sound (and cameras) inadequate to the task. You don’t want to ‘project from a smaller, poorly lit setting to a larger, better lit setting. The reasons are obvious.
Also, gang what we really need now, before anything else, is just to seek the Lord and what He desires first. The prayer and fasting of this body is what I believe the Lord will honor. Please know that your pastors and staff have tried to do this every step of the way along this wonderful journey called Southbrook and we will continue to do so. Even so, there are a couple of things the Lord makes so obvious in His Word that we already have them established at SCC.
1. Man cannot serve two masters (God and money) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=6&verse=24&version=31;46;47;51;65
2. God calls all Christ followers to be good stewards of what He has given them http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012:41-44;&version=49;
3. Part of being a good steward is regular and faithful tithing to the local church, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=46&chapter=3&verse=8&version=31;49;65
Note: There are always a few people who love to push back on this one, doing exegetical gymnastics to try and show that God doesn’t care if we tithe or not. Listen, you can twist and bend words to agree with that position all day long (that’s the good news for God robbers everywhere) the bad news is, it won’t be the words of the Bible. Sorry, this is just too obvious in God’s Word to even be worth one more ounce of my energy arguing. Besides, 99.9999999999% of the time the people making this argument simply want to find a way to keep more of their stuff as their stuff, never coming to grips with the fact that it’s God’s stuff anyway. It’s not a tithe issue in these cases, it’s a throne issue, and if that’s your attitude, it’s a strong indication that the wrong God is on the throne of your life.
4. Those who give end up having their socks blessed off and those who don’t never seem to understand why they can’t get their head above water in their finances.
5. The most generous churches are also the most effective churches (all over the world). You’ll never find a selfish church doing jack squat for the kingdom!
Listen, the first couple years of Southbrook I didn’t talk about money, but now I talk about money without apology because I have experienced a journey over the past several years that has been incredible. Think about this, when we make decisions based on what Scripture says…we make the right decisions. I know what it is like to wonder where the next meal is coming from. I know what it is like to wonder where the money for the next bill, or groceries, or kid’s clothes is going to come from. I have been at rock bottom…but I repented…and God has brought me out bit by bit…and it has been an awesome journey.
Hear me on this, at Southbrook we don’t want ANYTHING from people…WE want something FOR them…I have a desire to see people set free. The most effective joy killing, adventure stopping, life draining, depressing journey you can be on is one where you live your life for YOURSELF! Part of my calling is to help people get this and get it quick, while they still have enough life in them to make a difference!
Just some thoughts…back to the delema at hand…
A lot of you have suggested events and fund-raisers. Let me first tell you why you don’t see many of these at Southbrook. Their affect is relatively small, their relief is always temporary, the community gets tired of them, the community is bombarded daily with fundraising efforts and causes from every imaginable source, and the transformation power on people’s hearts is zero. No, we need to continue with treating the disease rather than the symptoms. And when it comes to this disease, all churches have it, all believers have it (me included). Life is a never ending battle for who will be on the throne of our lives.
Remember what Clayton King said? “Take Up Your Cross.” But the Bible also says daily take up your cross.
What’s up wit the ‘daily’ part?
Well, that gets into a whole other post for another day…
basically we are called to be living sacrifices for Christ.
Know what the biggest problem is with living sacrifices?
They keep crawling off the alter!
6 Comments currently posted.
Dee Langley says:
JT says:
Take this post and preach it from the pulpit my friend. I believe that God is answering us by showing us the amount of people that will come out once this building is built!
We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church. Sorry, got a little historical on ya there. Jim had it dead on in his comments previous, we know what we need to do, we got to…here it comes…Just Do It!
I say preach until it can’t be preached anymore…1,000 people at $2,000 dollars each is $2,000,000.
Geoffrey says:
“Teach me to do thy will” Psalm 143:10
David understood something important. The question is not “What is God’s will?” Our problem is not that we don’t know God’s will, it is that we don’t DO God’s will.
Disobedient Christians are what keeps God from using a group of people to accomplish His plan. Sure, God’s plan will be fulfilled–with or without us. But I’d rather be a part of it! I sure don’t want to be sitting in my rocking chair someday, looking back on my life, and saying “God sure could have used us, but we were disobedient as a gathering of believers. God sure got the job done with that other church though!”
Christopher Wall says:
This new building challenge is like the ultimate puzzle God has given us to solve. It has has over 3,000 pieces, those pieces are every person that calls Southbrook home. The great thing is God has given us all the pieces, there are none that have been lost but maybe a few that have yet to be found.
What we do not have is the top of the box to see exactly what the picture is, so the task he has given us will not be easy (nothing worth having ever is). But we can and will get it done!
There will be some that will form the outer edge (the defining pieces). What we need next is every person to step up and understand that they need to be a piece that falls into place. Some will be key pieces that help push us forward, other will not give us as much help but they are still very much needed.
Our weekly tithing is a very good thing, but all that is doing is maintaining. It is time to put off that yard project, keep that car one more year, look at every chunk of “unexpected” money (can some say TAX REFUND) that God tosses our way and put it towards the future God has planned for Southbrook.
If you call Southbrook your home because you are “Regular Attendee” or a “Church Member” is time to get committed to the long term growth and future of Southbrook! If we have some people walk away because they do not want to hear about the “money”, well maybe their heart was not in Southbrook. The reality is, it is going to take money to see Southbrook grow. That is just how this world works.
I say we go for another focused building campaign. The last one was just “OK”, (Sorry Pastor Rob, but if you think you have started to push the envelope on the subject of money, we need to chat…) We need to give our family at Southbrook a goal and then let God help us all make it happen. People today want to know what the goal is for everything, be it at work, home, school, whatever. You just wait and see, people will almost always meet or exceed the goal. In one service you talked about how small the special offering was for the new building compared to the need. Maybe it is time to drive that point home.
The number of services yourself and the worship team must devote time to are crazy. Those are just the up front things that people see and know about!!!!!
I am not just posting on this Blog and doing “lip service”. My wife and I have prayed about this and we know what we are going to do, and do it now….. There is no reason to wait for another “Pep-Rally” to do the right thing. Yea we have a lot of things we would “like” to do in this 22 year old home we bought, but those things are going to wait.
Kate says:
Some thoughts from my Bible reading today seemed relevant to the whole building topic.
The first verse that struck me was in 1 Chronicles 29:17, “I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously.” (NLT) This prayer of David from the building of the Temple can speak to us. I feel like it is a thought our pastors may have (sorry, Pastor, if I’m out of line). Our leaders have such good motives- to glorify God and bring more people into relationships with him…the best motives!! How awesome it has been to see people giving sacrificially in the past, and have God change their lives because of it (who can forget the Kovach’s story?) And I believe we will see more of that with continued prayer for the building and satellite churches.
Second thought was from the devotion that went with my reading in 2 Chronicles. It talked about how church buildings can be a testament to how great our God is, how worthy he is, and they can cry out to how great our God is. Well, I never want the building to cry out for us! And as the old song goes, “the church is not a building, the church is a people”! So, my question is, what are you doing to be the church now? Are you helping park in the crowded parking lot now? Do you offer your skills and abilities in the overwhelmed Children’s ministry at least once a month now? Are you stepping up to lead a virtual series small group now? We (desperately) need a bigger building to serve God better as Southbrook continues to reach out to people, but WE (Southbrook) need to also stay focused on serving where God has us now so we can keep reaching out. So as we all think of ways we can give more and inspire others with the vision for the new
Bob says:
Maybe God will call someone to preach the word form “Southbrook Monroe” and “Southbrook Fort Mill”. Maybe God will raise up more leaders for the worship ministry, youth ministry, volunteers and staff. Rob, who are you and your staff mentoring right now? Maybe the next leaders of the new Southbrooks!! Always exciting to see God work.
I have been focusing on the wrong things lately. But the great part about that is that it can change! So everyday I have a word that I have written just about everywhere, CONTENTMENT! I am content with what God has given me but is he content with whatI am giving him? Matthew and I have been focusing on Psalm 73:21-28 ever since Adam passed. The last verse is “But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do!” Rob you have said “not equal gifts but equal sacrafice”. I’m in! Lord lead me! I’m here! USE ME!! I know that I have used those words before. I pray that if I am stuck, MOVE ME, if I am not hearing, UNCLOG MY EARS, if I am not willing, KICK ME IN THE BUTT!! The desire is there Lord, but forgive me of myself. I get scared (even knowing how big you are) I get stuck. GET ME OUT OF THE WAY! BUT USE ME PLEASE!