Over the last year or so, the Lord has been teaching me a lot about the difference between “if” and “when.” American evangelicalism is very familiar with the philosophy of, “if,” but not so familiar with the “when.”

Do you know the difference?

Let’s talk briefly about each by taking a look at a couple of spiritual disciplines in God’s Word:

• Prayer
• Tithing
• Fasting

We could look at a whole host of others, but these are at least recognizable (“if” not practiced) by most.

What does the Bible say about our options regarding these three things? Is it, “iffy” or pretty clear?

First Prayer:

 

“In those days when you pray, I will listen.” Jer. 29:12

 

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others…” Matt. 6:5

 

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen…” Matt. 6:6

Now Tithing (giving):

 

“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.  .. Duet. 14:22

 

“…Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams…” Malachi 3

 

“For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him…” Hebrews 7:10

 

“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” 1 Cor. 16:2

And what about Fasting?

 

“so you are to go, and on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the LORD’s house you shall read the words of the LORD from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities…” Jer. 36:6

 

“Announce a time of fasting; call the people together for a solemn meeting. Bring the leaders and all the people of the land into the Temple of the LORD your God, and cry out to him there…” Joel 1:14

 

“Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights…” Matthew 4:1-3

 

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting…” Matthew 6:16

Not much wiggle room I would say. Seems like God expects His children to be living lives of prayer, fasting and yes, giving back to Him—commonly referred to as ‘tithing.’ He doesn’t do this to be oppressive, but to teach us to be more like Him. Think of the example Christ gave us when He walked among us.

• He constantly prayed though He himself is God and the argument could have been made that He wouldn’t need to as much as the rest of us (Matthew 11:25, Luke 23:34-35, Matthew 26:44, Matthew 14:23, etc.)
• He GAVE the ultimate gift in giving His own life for our sins!
• He himself fasted before kicking off (officially) His earthly ministry (Luke 4)

If this was the pattern set by Jesus, who are we to think we can do an end around the most basic foundational disciplines of the Christian life?

Of course, we can’t—not if we truly desire to live victoriously and experience God’s power in our lives.

So why did I pick these three?

Because these are the disciplines that precede power—if we’re not fired up about prayer, tithing, and fasting, then we should not wonder why we never seem to experience God’s power and provision in our lives.

Another reason I chose these three is because they also seem to be the ones most believers constantly struggle with —a true conundrum since this is the road we must travel to experience the abundant life Jesus came to bring (John 10:10).

Soooooo, want to know a secret I’ve discovered?

If you struggle with all three of these, start with just one—Fasting.

Why? Because fasting brings focus, power, a deepening love for the Savior, a greater reliance on Him, a deeper love for others (that makes us less selfish and more “giving”), a more humble attitude, plus a longing for Him that can only begin to be fulfilled through talking to Him (prayer)…

That is why the entire staff at Southbrook Church is smack dab in the middle of the 21 day Daniel Fast. We desperately need Jesus and we long to see Him do greater and greater things in our midst. So we’re positioning ourselves to be His instruments of change—to be the vehicles through which He marks the body of Southbrook, the community around us, the world, and ultimately, the future!

We’re expecting great things from our great big God!

As promised–here are pictures of the dad and boyfriend who got in the water with family (although fully dressed)! Enjoy!

• We wrapped up our, “Upgrade” series today with the message, “Upgrade Complete.” I’m thrilled at how many people at Southbrook seem ready and willing to take their Christian walk to the next level for God!
• Today was my second favorite kind of day. Today—after making a last minute decision to have a baptism service and only getting about 8 people signed up—18 more joined them spontaneously to identify with Christ His way—through water baptism! It was a great celebration!

• Another full house in our services today! God is growing His church! I love it when we need more chairs!
• Love our Children’s ministry @Southbrook! Today was one of those rare occasions (i.e. “rare” because I didn’t go too long in my message!) I got to go look in on the kids shortly before our 11:00 service. Can I make a prediction? Our children’s ministry is about to go through the roof! And I for one want to give them all the resources they need to build into the little people of Southbrook Church. By March I would love to say, “They Are Fully Resourced!  Southbrook Church has been making a shift to invest heavily in our children’s and student’s ministry!  I don’t believe they are “the church of tomorrow,” I believe they are the church of TODAY!  I believe they matter right now!!  Listen, if we invest in them TODAY and teach them about Jesus TODAY and help them grow up with a favorable view of church right now (not “when they’re old enough” – whatever that means) then their tomorrow will bring great joy! What’s the alternative, really? As a pastor friend once said, “A church that refuses to spend money on reaching the next generation has basically told them they can go to hell!  Disney spends money on them!  The Cartoon Network spends money on them!  The church should spend money on them!” I couldn’t agree more. Join me in praying for the entire Southbrook Family to commit to equal sacrifice so that we can see this become a reality very soon!
• Next week begins a series I’m chomping at the bit to do—“Genome!” I can’t tell you too much of what it’s about—the trailer should have been a pretty powerful hint. I will; however, repeat this one thing—it truly contains one secret that alone has the power to change your life. That’s why I want you to plan on being there all three weeks of it and bring a friend. You’ll be glad you did!

Remember this offer from the US government? The deal was that anyone could bring in their old, dilapidated, run down bucket of bolts and exchange it for  thousands off the purchase of a new car from General Motors—pretty much something for nothing.

Well God has a better offer for us.

Bring him all your junk (hurts, sins, shame, guilt, addictions, betrayal, lies, and whatever else haunts you) lay it at His feet and trust Him for salvation and He will wipe the slate clean and give you new life!

But there’s a catch.

“Oh brother, here it comes—there’s always a catch. What is it, pastor Rob? Do I have to go serve as a full time missionary in the deepest, darkest, dangerous place on earth? Maybe give away all my money to the church? Start my own charity? What is it?”

None of the above (unless you want to). The catch is simply this. We must bring ALL OUR BAGGAGE—not just some of it—All OF IT!

“Seriously? That’s it?”

Yep. You just need to come clean—rather than coming to impress. Don’t try to jump through spiritual hoops for God. He’s not dazzled by our spiritual resume—remember, He made you so He’s got a pretty good idea of what you’re really like. Instead He wants you to come to the end of all that nonsense—the end of trying to earn His favor, the end of working for salvation, the end of thinking we can be good enough—the end…period

Then it begins!

Once we’ve dumped our debris at the foot of the cross the great exchange takes place! In return for worthless junk we receive life everlasting.

“Just like that, Pastor Rob?!”

‘Yep, just like that.’

Truth is, He did all the heavy lifting for us.

I Timothy 2:4-6 says,

“He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. (The Message)

Knowing this, what should our response be to Him?

Mark 10:45 says, “Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” (The Message)

Recently hundreds of people did just that @ Southbrook’s Chirstmas Eve services and received new life in Christ. This Sunday there will be an opportunity to publicly thank Him by standing up and being counted a true follower of Jesus.

I’m talking about baptism. It’s the first step after salvation and the very thing Jesus wants every newly saved (or even not so ‘newly’ saved) person to do.

So why wait? If you’ve ever placed your trust in Jesus for salvation then it’s time to go public.

Hope to see many of you, your friends, family, and whoever else @ Southbrook Church this weekend to celebrate what God has done!

Southbrook Church – “Making an IMPACT for Christ

by marking the body, community, world,

and future with His love!”

In our church we are ending a series called, Upgrade. The series has emphasized moving from here to there—from wherever we are (“here”) in Christ (or that first step to know Him through salvation) to becoming more and more like Him (“there”). After all, that is what a walk with Jesus boils down to: a series of steps of obedience taken one after another. Any discussion of “upgrading” would not be complete without addressing baptism; even the Great Commission includes baptism as an integral part of being a disciple of Jesus.

The Great Commission is found in Matthew 28:18-20,

“¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Baptism is an outward act that represents an inward change in our hearts. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus trumped death and the curse of sin. No longer do we have to remain separated from God. No longer is eternal death inevitable. Jesus overcame those things and provided the atonement for the debt we could not pay. Baptism is our statement that we have accepted that payment through our repentance and God’s forgiveness

Mark 1:4 says just that, “ ⁴ John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Whether it is fear or pride—tradition or misunderstanding that holds them back, many people find it difficult to surrender to God and take the step of being baptized. Even Jesus Himself was baptized as a public declaration of faith before He began His public ministry

Mark 1:9-11 says, “⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;^[a] with you I am well pleased.”

I’ve met far too many Christians who never took this seriously and find themselves—sometimes years later, living a defeated spiritual life and not having the faintest idea why. For at least some, could it be that they received their salvation with glad hearts but failed to obey the very first command from Jesus to all new believers?

The bottom-line is that baptism means a lot to God. Shouldn’t it mean a lot to us?

This Sunday, at Southbrook Weddington and Southbrook Monroe, we will be wrapping up our series, Upgrade with a short message followed by a baptism celebration. You can find out more here, or you can just show up and everything you need will be provided for you.

If your next step is to publicly declare your faith in Jesus Christ, then baptism is the way!