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!