Repent, Be Baptized, Be Filled: What the Church Forgot About the Basics

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pastor Sol McQuay (00:00):
Foreign.

Pastor Brent McQuay (00:11):
Welcome to another episode of Between Sermons.
I'm your host, Brent McQuay. I get
to be the lead pastor here at
Disciples Church. And the whole point of
this podcast is to kind of turn
that monologue, you know, a person on
a stage is talking at a group
of people into a real conversation where
we can go a little bit deeper,
dig into some of the application and

(00:32):
maybe some of the things that we
didn't get a chance to say from
the stage that needs to be said.
And today is very special and unique
because for the last month we've just
been answering questions. Our episodes have been
like two hours long. It's been wild
in, in these between sermon streets. But
we are back to our regularly scheduled

(00:53):
broadcast and we are going to be
really digging into a new sermon series
that we just started on Sunday called
Beyond Salvation. And to help us with
that conversation is always the wonderful co
host, Tyisha. What's up?

Ti’heasha Beasley (01:08):
What's up? I am happy to be
here. Why do I always start like
coming to America? I am happy to
be here, man.

I haven't seen that movie.

I'm just glad to be here.

I am glad to be here. But
we are joined with the fabulous pastor.
So. Hi everybody who taught an amazing
message. I saw it, I watched it,
it was good.

Thank you.

How you feeling?

I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. I
was telling Brent, like, I feel too
much freedom. That's good because after, after
you actually deliver the message that you've
been working on and stuff, it's just
kind of like that relief.

Yeah.

So I'm like, I feel too free
and I shouldn't, like, I should be
thinking about what is next, what I
need to prepare next. But right now
I feel so free that it just
feels good. On vacation now, like I'm
on vacation for like two weeks, but
we're going to write it.

That's not good cuz you actually do
go on vacation in two weeks.

Yeah, that's right.

So you just checked out for the
next month?

I guess so. No, that's why we
need to have.

You preach like on a regular basis.

Then there's no freedom.

So I mean, staying in that vein.
First of all, your jacket is amazing.
I love it. So cute. So this
was a heavy, heavier message. Salvation, baptism,
like, how was it preparing for this
sermon?

It was wild because talking about repentance,
water baptism, and sprinkling the Holy Spirit,
you could have made a whole message
on each one of those topics. But
I was given the task to put
all three together and package them in
35 minutes. And it was hard. It

(02:47):
was hard. Cuz I was telling Bic,
I feel like I am building something
here. And then I had to stop
to build something here, and then I
had to stop to build something there.
And then I got to close it
all up. So it was a little.
It was a little crazy, but. But
it worked out.

I think Luke puts it all together
in one verse.

Well, yes, but you wanted me to
explain the verse and not just read
it.

Acts 2. 38.

I could have just read it.

Repent, be baptized, and you'll be filled
with the Holy Spirit. Yes, one verse,
2:30, and then.

Amen. You can go home now.

Yeah, come on. What's so hard about
that soul?

I mean, I can see how that
could be challenging. So give us a
little summary for those who didn't have
an opportunity to hear a message. What
was the overall, you know, wrap up
of this sermon? What was the, the
summary, the conclusion, all of those things.

So I think the, the. The main
thing that I was having the desire
to really bring into people is the
fact that repentance is not just feeling
bad. You know, it's not just feeling
sorry. It's not just being remorseful of
what you've done, but it's actually changing
because that's, that's the, the meaning of

(03:56):
it, right? Is the changing of one's
mind, heart and behavior. So it is
not repentance when you cry and you
weep and you're like, I'm so sorry
if you turn around and do the
same thing. You were not repentant. You
were sorry about it. You were sorry
for a number of reasons. You know,
you could have been, because you got
caught. You could have been sorry because

(04:19):
now your image is tinted, or you
could be sorry because the consequences of
your actions are not something that you
were taking into consideration when you were
doing whatever it was. So you can
be remorseful and not repentant. And I
think that that was, for me, the
main thing is helping people understand that

(04:39):
true repentance means that you are changing
your behavior, that you are changing your
mind, that you are doing something to
actually put those things behind so you
can follow God. So for me, that
was the main thing on repentance. The
main thing on water baptism is do
it, get baptized. Because Jesus said so.

(05:01):
So as disciples, we have to be
obedient. And if Jesus said, you know,
go and make disciples and baptize them,
that means that we all are supposed
to be baptized. If we are being
disciples, you know, we are supposed to
go everywhere and preach the gospel and
teach the word of God and then
baptizing those who come to Christ. So
that was the point on baptism and

(05:24):
then on the Holy Spirit is we
need the Holy Spirit. Right. Because all
of this other stuff without the empowerment
of the Holy Spirit is not possible.
Like we can try on our own
as much as we can. You know,
you can say, I am never going
to wherever blank. You know, again, like
I am not going to cuss anymore.

(05:46):
I'm not going to lose it anymore.
I'm not going to be drunk anymore.
I'm not going to wherever anymore. But
without the Holy Spirit at work in
you is strengthening you and giving you
the empowerment to actually stick in to
it and giving you the conviction of,
of, of change when you need is
just willpower and at some point you're

(06:06):
going to fall. So we need the
Holy Spirit. So those are my, my
three sermonettes put in one. Repent, Be
baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Yes.

Yeah, but I thought that the mic
drop moment for me was the statement
of repentance is not when you cry,
it's when you change. That was tough
to hear like, like that right there.
And I think it's because so many
people have been in a place where
they have cried.

Yes.

Because they feel really, really bad. And,
and, and I think maybe sometimes we've
got a lot of shame.

Yeah.

Over our sin, but not a lot
of conviction about our sin. So we're
sorry that we did it, but we're
not sorry enough to stop doing it.

Yeah, yeah. No, that's true. That's true.

That's good. So what for someone who
is just new to, you know, this
whole faith, like coming to Christ, being
a disciple, what is the difference between
repentance and just feeling guilty about something?
Or like if you had to explain
what repenting is, like, what would you
tell someone who's newer to the faith?

Is that the, the, the willingness to
change.

Yeah. So just wanting the desire to
change.

Yeah. Because. And not just having the
desire. Because you can have the desire
of stop doing many things but do
nothing about it. Like, you know, like
I desire to eat healthier, but yet
I would go to the restaurant and
instead of earning a salad, I order
all of the other stuff. Right. Or
I have the desire of drinking more
water, yet when I'm thirsty I go
for the Coke, you know, so, so

(07:36):
you can have a lot of desires
and do nothing with the desires. It
is the fact that you have to
actually put legs to your words.

Yeah.

Like you. If you say, okay, this
is what I want to do or
want to not do anymore, then you're
gonna start making plan of what you
actually want to do, how actually that
can happen. And then you lean on
the Holy Spirit to. To help you
stay the course. But if you don't.
If you don't make a plan, if
you don't have a true idea of

(08:06):
what a life without this thing should
look like, then. Then you're gonna fall
again. So I think that's. That's the
difference. Plus, I think this shame just
makes you hide.

Yeah. Yeah. And I do want to
get into more conversation about shame later.
Later. But I was just having this
conversation with David where I feel like
we're in a generation where people. Look.
They literally do not know what holiness
is or what's pleasing to God. Like,
it's almost like. So an example. We.

(08:39):
We follow a lot of young couples
because we work with that demographic, and
they're, like, taking trips together, like, going.
You know, staying in hotel rooms, and
we're like, oh, my God, but they
love Jesus. And I was like, are
they being taught, like, you can't, like,
sex before marriage is a sin? Like,
you know, like, they're not hearing in

(09:01):
this generation some of those things that
we grew up hearing about, like, sex
before sin is marriage. You know, all
of these things.

Sex before marriage is sin.

Sex. What did I say? Okay.

Sex before sin is marriage. Those are
very interesting.

I got you. I got you.

Sex before marriage.

Sex before sin is marriage.

Yeah.

I mean.

Always. Always. But you get what I'm
saying. Like, the rules that we. We
were almost scared to do anything growing
up.

It is true.

But I feel like now it's like,
you don't have those in front of
your face. And people. I don't know
if they really know that these things
are sin. So can they be held
accountable for something they did?

And. And not even just that, but
I think that you hear a lot
of, sadly, even preachers who just say
all kinds of things, right? Like, I
just. I was listening to a video
the other day about this guy. I
think it was actually last night about
this guy on the pulpit saying, the

(10:02):
fornication, it is not. It's not a
sin, basically. Like, it is not about
not having. Not having sex before marriage.
And I was like, wait, what?

So that one's actually sad.

He's setting people free, right?

That one's kind of sad and kind
of funny. So Ruslan highlighted it. But
before Ruslan highlighted it, there's Another guy
that I watch called the Honest Youth
Pastor, and he does, like, sermon reviews.
So he'll. He'll literally just watch a
sermon live and, like, pause it and
comment on it. And he did it,
like, a few days before, and I
think Ruslan saw his video, and that's

(10:36):
why he highlighted it. But, yeah, craziness.
And it's a church of, like, 10,000
people. Like, it's a mega church.

So it is not even just people
not knowing is people hearing the opposite.
So it is. It is very sad.
It is very sad because, like you
said, I think that back in my
day, we were put in front of
our faces the reality of sin constantly.

(11:03):
And when. When you went to do
whatever you chose to do, you did
it knowing I was not supposed to.

Right.

And I think that today, sadly, there's
a lot of people that are doing
stuff, and they don't even know that
they shouldn't. Not just because of the
lack of information, but because of the
disinformation that they are getting, saying it's
not a big deal.

Yeah.

Yeah. I think what happens is. And
we talk about this a lot, this
pendulum swing where it's like, when you
have a generation that's too far on
one side, the next generation tries to
compensate by going too far to the
other side, and then it takes the
third generation to, like, okay, let's bring
it back to the middle. Right, right.
Because, like, there was, like, when we
were kids, there was. There was probably
an unhealthy shame and guilt being thrust

(11:48):
on people where even things that the
Bible doesn't even call sin, all of
a sudden, people were saying, yeah, like,
the fact that I'm wearing a hat
in a church building, like, I'm literally
like, bro. And so, like, we took
things and we distorted them, and we
took things that weren't even scriptural, and
we. We tried to make it this,
like, heavy, heavy, heavy law. And then

(12:10):
people tried to break free from that.
And so it was basically okay. What
they did was wrong, which means nothing
is off the table. It's like, well,
that's not accurate either. And so we
actually need to rightly divide the word
of truth. We actually do need to
study Scripture and to be able to
what is right and what is wrong?
And that's why, you know, when we
talk about repentance, the first part of

(12:32):
it says it's a change of mind.
And what that means is we actually
have to look at things in our
lives that we enjoy, that are pleasurable,
that people in the world say are
no big deal. But if God's word
says that thing is sinful, I need
to change my mind on that thing.
And now no longer look at that
thing as good and beneficial and permissible

(12:53):
and fun and all that. Now I
need to look at it from the
lens of God that says, look, I
had to send Jesus to die for
that thing because of that thing, because
of what that thing is doing in
your life. Like, why are we being
entertained by things that Jesus died to
save us from? And so we have
to get to this point where we
change our mind on this. And I

(13:16):
think that ultimately that's going to come
through through good mentors, through good disciple
makers in our lives, and the power
of the Holy Spirit. And we can
talk about the power of the Holy
Spirit in a moment. But I just
want to highlight the human component of
that. Like when we talk about discipleship
and how disciples are made, I use

(13:37):
the M tech and it's like you
guys smile and laugh because it's so
not a fancy or pretty language for
it. But it just stands for model,
teach, encourage, correct and challenge. That's what
a disciple maker should be doing in
the life of a disciple. And that
correction part, it needs to. Basically, when

(13:58):
you are correcting somebody that's in error,
you first have to evaluate, do they
know? Because if they don't know, then
I need to bring grace and love
and I need to say, hey, you
know that this is wrong. You know
what you did was wrong and you
feel guilty about it. But let's do
something to actually change and not just
cry a bunch of tears and feel

(14:19):
bad. Let's actually do something. But when
I'm interacting with somebody that's like, no,
no, no, the thing that I'm doing
is great. Like now I've got to
come in a little bit stronger and
be like, okay, let's look at what
God's word says. Let's, let's actually, we've
got to change your mind about that
thing because as long as you think
it's okay, you're not going to change
your behavior. And so with that correcting

(14:39):
piece, it really depends on where their
level of knowledge is and their acceptance
of that sin.

That's so good.

And, and I think that's where, where
what you were saying, like, is there
grace for that? I think that there
is grace always, because that's the God
that we serve. He's a gracious God.
However, I think that the Bible also
says to those who know the right
thing to do and don't do It.
It is count of sin. Like. Like,
if you know that you're not supposed

(15:08):
to do this and you still choose
to do it, that's your choice. Right.
You're making a choice right there. Like,
when you don't know, I think that
is different. When you don't. When you
truly don't have a parameter to say,
okay, I am being rebellious or I'm
going against something. You just did it
out of ignorance. I think that that's
a different. That's a different conversation.

Yeah.

That's where you come and you can
educate people, you can teach them, you
can show them, but when you already
know and still you choose to do
it, I think that that's. That's different.

Yep.

For sure. I would just clarify and
just say, like, are you still guilty
of breaking a law that you didn't
know was a law?

Sure.

And the answer is yes.

Yes.

In. In natural law, in supernatural law
and spiritual. Like, it's just like, if
I'm speeding, like, I'm going 80 in
a 45 and I don't know that
it's a 45, do I still get
the ticket? Yes. Cause I was speeding.
Like, I broke a law even if
I didn't know what it was. And

(16:09):
so the same is true in the
kingdom. Like, just because you're ignorant of
the law doesn't mean you're not guilty
of breaking it.

Ooh, that's tough.

I know, I know, I know.

So listen, you still may possibly go
to hell if you die tonight, even
though you didn't know that what you.

Were doing was a sin. So once.
So, and that's part of the whole
salvation conversation, like, you've put your faith
and your trust in Christ. It doesn't
matter how few sins you have or
how many sins you have. It doesn't
matter if. If you know of all
of the sins in your life, you're
trusting that Jesus's death and his resurrection

(16:46):
is sufficient, that his grace is sufficient.
Does that give us permission to willfully
continue in sin?

Yeah.

Paul would say, of course not.

Right.

Basically, that was his way of saying,
you idiot, like, no. And so, yes,
we are. We are judged according to
the law, not necessarily our knowledge of
the law, but thankfully, we are not
judged by our own ability to adhere
to the law. We're judged by Jesus's

(17:14):
ability to adhere to it.

Yeah.

So there's grace even in all this.
But again, does that mean free pass?
No, of course not. And so living
in sin really does have an effect
on our. Our walk with God. Our
ability to witness, our ability to be
the hands and feet of Jesus, to
have intimacy with God. So, yeah, we

(17:37):
absolutely need to be holy as I
am holy, as the scripture says. And
so we. We need to pursue that.
That level of holiness. But we also
don't have to be afraid of getting
hit by a bus tomorrow. And, oh,
no, I didn't even know that that
thing was a sin. And now I
got hit by a bus and now
I'm going to hell for all eternity
because of that one thing I didn't
even know about.

Yeah, Yeah. I think that our God
is gracious and our God is good.
And even the Bible says, you know,
I will have mercy on whom I
have mercy. So, like, I think that
there. I think that I truly believe
that we will be surprised whenever the
day comes and we all are in
heaven. I'm like, you made it, you
know, and I think that some people

(18:16):
are going to be surprised that we're
there, like, you made it, because I
think that there's so much more that
we could ever comprehend and in the
way that God works. So I think
that it's gonna be different. It's gonna
be different than what we could ever
even imagine.

So, yeah, that's good.

And I think something that maybe we
don't say enough, but, like, my desire
to not sin is not based on
my desire to go to heaven. It's
based on my desire to please my
heavenly Father. And so I don't want
sin in my life, not because I'm
afraid it's going to send me to
hell. I don't want sin in my
life because I know it grieves God.

Yeah, no, 100%. And. And I think
that the Bible is very clear, you
know, when it says, do not be
conformed to this world. Don't be so
used to it. Don't try so hard
to fit into it. But it says,
but renew change by. Renew your mind.
Like, we're supposed to change the way
we think. We're supposed to repent on
the. On the way that we see

(19:19):
things. And. And I think that difficult
sometimes, especially. And I think that in
the culture that we are living today,
where everybody is just trying to be
tolerant to everybody and everybody just wants
to be accepted, though, with whatever ideas
or desires or attitudes that they may

(19:42):
have, when we are all supposed to
be renewing our thinking, we are supposed
to change the way that we see
the world and like Brent said, model
the way that we see everything through
the lens of Scripture and not the
other way around. Not Trying to say,
well, but scripture. And I think that
that's why sometimes I have a lot

(20:03):
of trouble with people fighting, like, what
is it in the scripture? But like,
that could be interpreted a different way.
Like, let's not try to wiggle and
excuse our behavior into like. Well, in
the Greek, he could have said, just
so that you can have a green
right to keep on doing whatever you're
supposed to do. Like, I think that

(20:23):
we are supposed to live our life
in a way that give God's glory.
And if what you're doing is not
giving God glory, stop trying to excuse
it. Just change your mind. Don't try
to change God's mind.

That's good. I like how you said
in your sermon, repentance for unbelievers is
salvation, and repentance for believers is for
us to be restored to fellowship with
God. So I feel like, like, can
you elab. Can you explain that some
more? Like, where that statement came from?

Yeah, because I think that a lot
of. A lot of times, and what
I was trying to make sure with.
With that it was that people didn't
just dismiss me. You know, like, sometimes,
like you talk about repentance and people
just think, oh, you're preaching the gospel.
Like, like it's. It's for those unbelievers
that don't know Jesus, they need to
repent. Yeah, we all need to repent.

Yeah.

You know, and there's two different types
of repentance. Repentance for. For unbelievers is
to come to salvation like, like their
life before Christ. The way that you
thought before Christ, the. The way that
you thought about Jesus has to change.
Right. Like, if Jesus was not relevant
in your life, if, if what God
thought of the way that you were
living was irrelevant to you, if sin

(21:34):
was normal to you, if just doing
your own thing was okay for salvation,
you have to renew the way that
you think. You have to change your
mind and, and realize that Jesus came,
he died, he rose again, he bore
your sins, but your sins are separating
you from God. You have to change

(21:56):
the way that you see God. You
have to change the way that you
relate to God. And you have to
change the way that you even see
yourself. Like understanding that you are in
wrong standings with God and that you
need Him. So when you repent in
that moment, it is to come into
salvation. But for those of us who
have been walking with Jesus for a

(22:16):
very long time, you know, like, you
cannot say, I don't need repentance, I
need repentance every Day, like, it might
just be different, it might not. And
that's something that I was talking to
my group last night and I was
telling them, you know, like, there's times
that we just think of repentance as
the big sins. You know, like I
was saying, you know, we're not gonna
get drunk, we're not gon to have

(22:37):
sex out of. Of. Of marriage, or
we're not gonna do, like, the big
things.

Right.

But there's a lot of times that
as believers, on a daily basis, you
have to repent of little things.

Yeah.

You have to repent of the way
that. That, that you spoke to somebody.
You have to repent of. Of the
thoughts that you had about somebody. You
know, like, oh, like, I cannot believe
that they're coming here again. Like, oh,
no, wait, like, I'm not supposed to
think that way. Like, I'm supposed to
love people. So you have to repent
and change the way that you do
things. Like, there's not always just like,
big sinful things. Like, there's times depending

(23:08):
on how you use your time, like,
you're just wasting time instead of being
productive, instead of, you know, investing that
time in reading the Bible. Like, you
know, like, I have had to repent
of the. Of my usage of time.
Like, there's times that I go to
bed and I'm like, oh, man, I
was not reading the Bible today, but
I finished like four or five episodes
of Netflix. I have to repent about

(23:29):
the fact that I put my priority
on my entertainment and not in my
walk with God. Like, so stuff like
that, that I think that every single
day we have to change the way
that we. The way that we behave.
And. And that is what is going
to bring us closer to fellowship with
God. That is what we're going to
do on the daily basis so that
we can still close, stay close to

(23:52):
God. So that's why there's two different
types of repentance. And we cannot just
say, well, I am a Christian. I
don't need to repent. We all. We
all need to repent.

Yeah, that's good.

It's good Soul.

So I do want to go a
little personal, if that's okay.

I'm out, people. Now listen, listen.

Let's dig into all the things soul
does wrong.

I came here today and I said,
I am not crying today. Every time
I go to the podcast, I end
up crying. So is she gonna make
me cry today? I don't know.

I don't know.

Go ahead.

So I wanted to know what's the
moment in your life where repentance led
to real transformation for you?

H. I think that the very first
one like that, or one that was,
like, very monumental for me, I guess,
was my teenage years, you know, Like,
I grew up in a Christian home.
I grew up with parents that were
doing, you know, the will of God.
Like, they were pastoring. They were going
from house to house, doing. Doing, like,

(24:56):
small groups, basically, and, you know, preaching
the gospel. I was teaching kids since
I was, like, 12, 13. Like, I
was the one, like, teaching all of
the kids the memory verse and the
lesson, and we're doing the crafts and
all of that stuff. Yet when I
was maybe, like, 14, 15, I wanted
to live my life. And I will
go to church, and then after church,

(25:17):
I will go with my friends and
I will try to have fun. Even
though it didn't really feel like, like,
the right thing for me to do.
Like, I never felt like I belong
there, yet I push to be there,
you know? Like, I never like the
taste of alcohol, yet I will still
drink it because everybody else is doing

(25:37):
it, because I want to be a
part of something that it is not
what my parents are doing. And, like,
every single time, like, I didn't feel
like I was doing the right thing,
you know, like, my mom was saying,
don't go to the parties. I will
still go to the party. Stuff like
that. Right? But I remember I was
16. Yeah, 16. And it was about

(26:02):
a boy. It's always about a boy.
And it was about a boy. Excuse
me.

Before you.

Before you. Before you. Like, it was
in the bad days. In the bad
days. So it was. I had. I
had this boyfriend, and he cheated on
me. And I was devastated. So I
invited my friends to come over for
a sleepover. And honestly, they were not
good friendships or friendships that I should
have had, but those were the friends

(26:30):
I had, right? Or the friends I
chose at the moment. And they came
in and they brought alcohol, and we
finished a lot of alcohol. And I
was completely drunk in my house, crying
over this boy who had cheated on
me. And when you're drunk, you don't
know how loud you are. Because my

(26:50):
mother walked in the room. Because I
was always drunk aloud, right? I don't
need alcohol, people. This is just regular
soul.

Just loud.

Just loud. And my mom came in,
into the room. She took everything out.
And I remember the next morning, I
was ready for them to let me
have it. I was thinking, they're gonna
yell at me after my friends left
in the morning. Like, I was Just
thinking, they're gonna yell at me, they're
gonna ground me. They're gonna do all

(27:20):
of the things. And they didn't. My
mom and my dad will just look
at me and they will start crying.
They didn't yell at me. And I
was just like, just. Just spank me.
Like, just do something, like, so that
I feel like. Like you letting it
out. And they didn't. And I remember
that night as I was going to

(27:41):
bed, I finally, like, I. I remember.
Like, I remember to this day, like,
I kneeled outside my bed and I
said, God, this is.

This is.

This is not good. Like, this is
not okay. This is not where I'm
supposed to go. I never want to
see my parents suffer like that because
of me ever again. And I know
that I am trying to do all
of these things that. That don't please
you. And I'm not even enjoying it.
Like, this is not the life that
you made for me. And I remember
that day, I said, I am going
to give my life to you, and

(28:10):
if you call me to do whatever
you want me to do, I'm going
to do it. And from that moment
on, I didn't go out with my
friends anymore. Like, they will come. And
they were like, let's go. This. I
did not go back to those friendships.
I did not go back to. To
the parties. I did. Like, I was
at home or at church. Like, it
was like a complete transformation. I decided

(28:31):
to devote myself to. To God. And
that's what led me here. So. So,
like, it was a 180. Like, it
was like, I'm not gonna keep playing
anymore. I'm not gonna play church and
then do foolishness. Like, we're done.

Did you get baptized after that or
before that?

After that.

Okay.

Yeah.

So your repentance, you feel, like, led
you to wanting to be baptized and
live a public.

Yeah, so that. And the fact that
my church in Mexico, at least at
the time, and I cannot tell you
for sure because I don't remember. Like,
it's a long time. But I believe
that you had to be a teenager
in order to be able to get
baptized. So, like, even before that, I
was too young to be baptized. So

(29:20):
I think that it was kind of
perfect timing for everything. But, yeah, like,
it was. It was after that. It
was after that, once I started to
actually get into. Into the word of
God and actually start getting church friends
that were like, friends friends. Because I
remember the day that I got baptized.
My two other best friends at the
time, at the Church got baptized as

(29:42):
well. So it was kind of like
the three of us, like, we're. We're
serving Jesus and we're gonna get baptized
together and stuff. So it was, it
was. It was nice.

Awesome. Same question. No, just.

I mean, after that, just, you know,
powerful. Amazing story.

That was good. Like, yeah, no, yeah.

I, I. I've lived a life of
repentance, and I don't know that I
can pinpoint, like, one moment that was
bigger or more altering than others. I
think it's just God's constantly just kind
of poking at stuff. Or the Holy
Spirit's constantly, like, there's another one. Like,
the Holy Spirit spoke through soul, which
is usually how that happens for husbands.

(30:21):
The voice of the Holy Spirit for
most husbands is. It sounds a lot
like their wife. And so we're at
the store, and there's a random salesperson,
like, doesn't work for the store, is
trying to get you to, like, change
your electricity or something. You know the
people I'm talking about, right? They got
the clipboard. Yeah. And you're like, oh,
God, here they come. And, like, I

(30:42):
saw him coming, and I was like,
nope, we're good. And, like, I just,
like, cut him off, like, immediately. Didn't
make eye contact, just kept walking. Because
if there is one thing I hate
more than anything else, it's sales pitches.
Like, I don't. Don't try and sell
me anything. I. If I want it,
I'll find it. Yeah, don't sell me.
And so it's just. It's like, oh,

(31:03):
it's just. Oh, it gets under my
skins. It frustrates me so much. And
we. We got, like, maybe three feet
past him. And so I was like,
that was rude. It's like, quiet. He
was rude. And she was like. So
afterwards, I had to be like, all
right, you're right. I'm sorry.

I just looked at him and I
said, you know, he's doing his job,
right? Like. Like, he was not trying
to bother you. He's trying to do
his job.

His job is to bother me. So
both can be true at the same
time.

Like, listen, this happened last week. Or.

Yeah.

I was just playing. So this is.

That's what I wanted to get across
to people. Like, repentance is not a.
It's a lifestyle. Like, you live a
life of. Okay. When the Holy Spirit
points at something that you didn't do
well, like, repent. And. And sometimes we
think, well, the repentance is David and
Bathsheba. Like, he biggest sin you can
think of adultery, impregnated a woman, murdered

(32:05):
her husband, like, lied about it, manipulated
people. Like, I, I think I counted
one time and he broke like half
of the ten Commandments in that one
moment. Like, that's, that's a big mistake.
And so, like, sometimes we look at
that and we're like, that's the moment
you need to repent from. And yes,
you do, but you also need to
repent for being rude to the guy
that's trying to sell you a different
electrical company. Like, you need the repentance

(32:27):
in every area of your life.

So, yeah. And like, and even through
what you sometimes think said is a
good thing, you know, because I remember
that this was like maybe two, three
months ago. I had a bad day.
There were just things that were happening
at home that was just not good.
And I remember I was in the

(32:49):
kitchen, just everybody had gone to bed.
It was like 10 o' clock at
night. And I was just sobbing in
the kitchen. And I'm praying and I'm
saying, God, like, I can do this
anymore. And like, you have to do
something. And like, I don't know how
to do. I don't this, I, this,
I, that. And then I remember, like,
like that's the slaps of the Holy

(33:09):
Spirit. Like, they're just on point. They're
on point, on point. Like I was
praying and I thought, like, I'm doing
the right thing, right? I'm praying over
my circumstances. Like that's, you know. And
what, what I heard from the Holy
Spirit was I hear a lot of
I. And I was. And I got

(33:30):
quiet and it's like, you're praying over
all of this stuff because you're uncomfortable
with it. Have you thought about how
the person feels and what is happening
in their life? And I just got
quiet. Like, I couldn't even cry anymore
because I realized, yeah, I am praying

(33:51):
for the circumstances to change. Not because
at that moment, at this specific moment,
not because me thinking about the person.
It was because, like, I don't like
how it feels. I don't like what
I see. I don't like what, you
know, what is bringing out on me.
I can't do this, I can't handle
it. And God was like, it ain't

(34:12):
about you. And I had to repent
in that moment and say, I'm sorry
that I am making all of this
about me. Like, when it is not
so sometimes even in, in, in prayer,
like, you have to repent. And where
are you putting your focus on? Like,
it is in the. In. Even in
Prayer that God has to change your
heart so that your prayers can align

(34:32):
to his will and not to what
you want. So like, like sometimes we
just think repentance again is a big
sins and this is the big stuff,
is the bad stuff. But there's times
that God wants to change your mind
and your behavior. Even in the good
things, like you're praying, you're coming to
him, but he's like, but not about
that. Like, let's pray the prayers that
we're supposed to be praying right now.

(34:54):
Right. It's not just praying that you
will feel better. It's praying about people's
lives to be transformed. So what if
we focus on that? It's like, oh
man, that's like. It hurt. But it
was one of those things that made
me see things differently and made me
realize I'm making myself a victim when

(35:17):
it's not about me. So I think
that we all need to come to
that moment where we can accept the
conviction of the Holy Spirit and be
repentant even in moments that we think
that. But that wasn't even a bad
thing. I wasn't out doing crazy things.
I was in my kitchen praying. And

(35:38):
even in that moment, God was like,
no, repent, because you are just thinking
about you. You need to think about
other people. Yeah. Repentance is an everyday
everywhere. It is not isolated to sin.
It is not isolated to. To behaviors

(35:58):
or anything like that. It is.

Yeah.

It is about what God wants to
do in your life and how he
wants you to just align to his
will.

Yeah, no, that's good. That's good. So
what about some scriptures before we. We're
not. I'm not going to say end
is playing, but what's one of the
passages you taught from in this message
that you think will be just a
good reflection point for those who are
watching and just want to make sure
that they are living a life that
is daily repentance.

Well, there's a lot of verses that
I was talking about that I was
like, oh, that's like, you know, like
the proverbs. Like who. Those who conceal
their sin will not prosper. You know,
like what if you repent and if
you confess to God, you will find
mercy. I love that. But I also,

(36:50):
it's. It's kind of like a hit
in the gut. Like if you, if
you are trying to keep stuff in
the dark.

Yeah.

You are not gonna, you're gonna. Not
gonna prosper, you're not gonna get better,
you're not gonna find joy. You're not
gonna find fulfillment and peace. And all
of the things that you are looking
for, even when you are looking for
those things into the sinful behaviors or
the sinful moments. You know, I think
that every single person that has really
been attached to some sort of sin,

(37:21):
they are trying to fill a void.
But if you are concealing that because
you feel like this is the only
way that I'm going to be able
to. To feel the void that is
in my heart, you're not going to
prosper. You're not going to find the
peace and the joy that you're looking
for there. But if you confess, if
you come to God and you turn
to him, you will find mercy.

Yeah.

But I think that for me, the
Bible verse that, that. That I want
to leave with everybody is the one
that I ended up with, you know,
that God is not slow. But it
says in that verse in Peter that,
oh, see, and I lost it. I
had it and then I started speaking
and it went away. But it says

(38:03):
that God is not slow, as some
of us think of slowness, you know,
but he is being patient with us
because he doesn't want anybody to perish,
but everybody to come to repentance. So
I think that what I would like
for to live with people is the
fact that God is not mad at
you. God is not just sitting there

(38:24):
ready to punish you. He is not
just waiting for you to mess up
so that he can, you know, give
you the worst case scenario of whatever
it is that you're feeling or that
he is not just putting his hand
out so that you can stay at
a distance. For the contrary, you know,
he's being patient with you because he
loves you.

Yeah.

And he wants to make sure that
you have enough time so that you
don't die and you don't perish, but
that you will find his love. So
that you can repent.

Yeah.

So that you can change your ways.

So why would you encourage someone to
get baptized? I know that was, it
wasn't a little part of your message,
but I feel like the stabbing part
was the repentance. And it was like,
oh, and when you die, get baptized
and follow the Holy Spirit.

And. And that thing, that baptism is
a huge thing. It's a huge thing.
And I don't think that we talk
about the command to be baptized enough.
Like, I think that we encourage people
to get baptized, but I don't know
that we make it such a big
deal. And we should, because it is.
And why I would tell people to

(39:33):
get baptized because Jesus told us to.
And if you want to be a
disciple, that means that you want to
be obedient to God. And the first
step of obedience is repent and be
baptized. So, so if you, if you
come to Christ and you don't get
baptized, you are already failing and being
obedient. And the very first things that
you're supposed to do.

Yeah, the. The day of Pentecost that
we're going to be celebrating a couple
weeks. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,
goes out, preaches the first sermon. 3,000
people get saved. But before they get
saved, they ask. They're like, hey, so
what do we have to do to
be saved? And he says, repent and
be baptized.

And you will be filled with the.

Holy Spirit, and you'll be filled with
the Holy Spirit. And so, yeah, like,
it's, it is an act of obedience.
Jesus said to be baptized. In our
instruction as disciple makers, we're supposed to
baptize people. Like, it's, it's part of
this whole process. And so, yeah, an
element of that is, is just pure
obedience. Right? Like, what's stopping you? In
fact, I love the, the verse that

(40:33):
you pulled out of the Ethiopian eunuch
saying, you know, there's. Here's some water.
What's. What's stopping me from being baptized
right now? And it's like a hypothetical
question, because they immediately get down and
they. They baptize, which. I don't know
if I've shared this story on the
podcast before, maybe I did. But when
we were in Turkey here recently, there

(40:54):
was a guy on the. On the
campgrounds that wasn't a Christian. We were
putting on a youth camp, and this
guy, like, basically ran the kitchen, but
he was a Muslim that had been
searching for answers. He was kind of
leaving Islam, but he was trying to
figure out what. And so he'd been
looking into all kinds of religions stuff.
And he told us that the love

(41:16):
that he felt when our group came,
he's like, this is God, like, the
God that I've been looking for. Like,
I see him in you, so tell
me more. And so one of. One
of the guys, one of the pastors
that was at the camp preached the
gospel to him in Turkish. He got
saved. And there was literally like this

(41:37):
little creek, like, tiny little stream of
water running through the campground. Like, you
literally had to cross a bridge to
go from the kitchen to the. The
dorms. And he said, let's. Let's baptize
you. And so right there on the
spot, he gave his life to Christ.
We celebrated, we pray over him and.
And then he walks down into this
little riverbank with the pastor and he
gets baptized on the spot. And it

(41:59):
was like, that's like, that's the Book
of Acts. Like, that's, that's the beauty
of the gospel. And then we translate
that to the US And Christians are
like, well, I got saved, you know,
in 1984, but I'm not really sure
if I want to do the whole
baptism thing. And, you know, I don't
want to get my hair wet. And,
you know, I don't. I got to
wear the right clothes. And so. And

(42:20):
this guy was like, he had no
change of clothes. He was not like.
Like he was just walked around wet
the rest of the day. But he
was like, so happy and so excited.
And it was like, I got to
do the thing that.

And the thing is that baptism, water,
baptism is symbolic of what Jesus did,
right? Like, when you go down into
the water, like, you're getting. You're being
dead to sin, buried and coming back
to life, to a new life in
Christ. So it's like, even in that
moment, you are joining with the sacrifice

(42:52):
of Jesus. So it is not just
a random thing that Jesus thought of,
like, what can I make them do
when they get baptized? Like, you know,
like, this is a secret handshake. No,
it is not random. It is a
symbolic part of our faith to saying,

(43:13):
I am dying with Christ and I
will be brought back to life in
him. So it is important for us
to. For us to do it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, as we land the plane, what
is. Let's do our takeaways for the
message. So everyone do a takeaway. We
won't rate them, but. But we will
share our.

Can I give something that's not a
takeaway, but it's something we didn't really
cover?

Yeah.

Or is that a different thing? Am
I just dragging the podcast out?

No, go ahead.

Am I missing the two hour podcast?

And I'm like, this is so you.
He says that I am the talker,
but.

No, no, I agree. He is a
talker.

Baloney and cheese.

It's going to be 30 minutes. Brace
yourself. No, just. Wow.

Grab popcorn, everybody.

No, it's. It's just I've been thinking
about this for a bit and, you
know, we, we talked earlier about how,
you know, repentance for the unbeliever is
that salvation moment. But then for the
believer, it's about restoring that relationship with
God. And I think scripture bears that
out, but I think that there's Also
a component that we didn't really talk
about that that maybe needs to be

(44:27):
addressed, and that's in the Book of
James. It talks about you confess to
one another to be healed. And so
there's something about this and that confession,
repentance, they're kind of interchangeable ideas there.
And so I think that there's an
element of repentance. Like the first time
you repent, it's to become part of
the family of God. It's that salvation

(44:47):
moment. But then there's this ongoing repentance
of getting your life to line up
with what God is wanting to do.
It's restoring that relationship. You know, the
Bible talks about, you know, if you
don't forgive, you're not going to be
forgiven. And if you're mistreating your. Your
spouse, God's not even going to hear
your prayer. So, like, there, there's clearly
the relationship between you and God is
damaged by sin in your life, and

(45:08):
that's why we need to repent. But
this verse in James where he talks
about confessing to one another to be
healed, I think that there's even a
component of this that sometimes we do
wrong another person and repentance needs to
be a part of our Christian walk
in restoring relationship with each other. That
there's a healing that happens relationally, the

(45:29):
unity that we're supposed to have. Like,
nothing damages that unity more than when
I sin against a fellow Christian in
some way. And so that, that repentance,
that confession to one another actually brings
the unity back. And so I just,
I didn't want to move off of
this conversation without addressing that issue. That

(45:49):
sometimes we. We get the repentance with
God. Right. But then we kind of
ignore the person that we actually wronged.

That is a whole nother podcast. I
have commentary.

Oh, I have so many questions. I
got so many.

Please, let's not.

It's not. That's not easy, though.

That is not easy.

I mean, none of this is easy.

No. But especially when the other person.
Person doesn't necessarily take accountability for their
part. Or there's a. What do I
like to say? They're. They're. I don't
know. I can't remember the term. But
when a person just wants to make
you like, the aggressor in the situation,
you're like, well, what about what you

(46:32):
did? You know, it's hard to repent
to that person and then for them
to even accept it because it's like
they're not holding themselves accountable.

You're only responsible for you. So whether
they accept it or reject it or.
Look, if it's 99% them and 1%
you, do you think God's okay with
you being like, well, they got the
majority of the issue, so I'm excused?
No. Right. I think that even in

(47:00):
those moments where clearly they were the
aggressor, clearly they were the one that
wronged, and I just reacted. I don't
think that that's an excuse to not
repent.

But how do you get reconciliation from
that situation?

Reconciliation only works when both parties agree.
And so. And so this. I don't
even know that this is really addressing
the reconciliation side. Like, I think that
we. We are instructed to do our
part. It's kind of like what we
talk about a lot with, like, husbands
and wives and Ephesians and these different
things. It's like, look, guys, you don't
need to be worried about the wife
doing her part. Wives, you don't need

(47:35):
to be worried about the husband doing
his part. You need to be worried
about you doing your part. And I
think that carries on to this idea
of repentance, that I can go some
to somebody and repent to them without
them repenting back to me or them
even owning their stuff. And I've. I've
told that story before here of the
guy that went to. To Seoul and

(47:55):
was like, you shouldn't be with Brent
and all this stuff and like, attacked
my character and my.

I did not know this story.

Yeah, we've told this story before. I'm
pretty sure we've told that on the
podcast.

I don't know. I don't know.

I think I heard that story, but
maybe.

Maybe I left out some details to
try and protect the other person. Okay,
so, long story short, there was a
guy when we were dating that went
to my wife privately and basically said,
hey, you're only dating him because he's
the only American around, and he's not
the right fit for you, and he's
not actually a very good person. You
shouldn't. You shouldn't be with him. And
so Seoul immediately came to me. I

(48:29):
was like, hey, do you know this
guy?

Right?

Because, like, it was somebody from the
program, but from Colorado. So, like, they.
They were just in Mexico for a.
For a visit.

Okay.

So it was like, what's happening? It
wasn't one of my, like, my close
friends or. Or like somebody in Mexico.
It was somebody that would have known
him before. So.

So the only thing that. That saved.
So I, like, I had to force
Soul to explain to Me, like, what
happened? She was like, do you know
that guy? And I'm like, I mean,
yeah. Like, we're not friends or anything,
but, yeah, I know him. And she's
like, oh, okay. I'm like, well, that
was a weird question to ask. Like,
I need more details. And so she.
She finally confessed. Everyone not confessed, but
she finally told me all the details.

I snitched.

She snitched. And it was. It was
at breakfast, and I remember I wanted
to take his head off. Like, I
mean, we're. We're. We're early on in
our relationship, but we're already at the
stage where I'm like, this is. I'm
gonna. Proposing to this. This person and
all this. And so it was just
one of those where I was like,
this. I was ready to. Yeah. Fight

(49:33):
or flight. There was no flight happening.
And so the only thing that saved
him and me probably is we went
straight from breakfast into a chapel service.
And so we went into a large
room where we're all praying and there's
worship music. And in that, I'm just.
I'm on the opposite side of the
room from him. There's probably a hundred

(49:55):
of us or so in this place,
and I'm just locked on this. This
guy, and I'm just thinking through all
the. What I'm gonna say to him,
and if I. If I provoke him
in this way, then he'll take a
swing at me, and then I don't
have to be the aggressor, and I
can. Like, I'm. I mean, I'm literally,
like, going through all. Listening to this
right now is like, oh, yeah, I
know exactly what you're talking about. But

(50:16):
while I was in that moment, Holy
Spirit was like, you need to go
apologize to him.

For what?

Exactly. That's what I said. I was
like, holy Spirit, I'm. I'm. Brent. You
need to be. You're looking for. And
actually, his name started with a B,
too, so it was like, you got
the wrong B. Like, you need to
go. You need to go tell him
that he needs to repent to me.
And he was like. The Holy Spirit
was like, no, no, this is. This
is you. You need. You need to
apologize. And I'm just. I'm. Now I'm

(50:45):
mad at the Holy Spirit now. I'm
like, man, everybody's ganging up on Brent.
What's up with this? But I did
finally just kind of sit there and
think and flashback to a year or
two before that. There was a moment
when it was just me this kid
and one other kid. There was just
three of us, and me and the
other kid were really good friends, and
so we spent all of our time
talking and hanging out, and we didn't

(51:06):
intentionally ignore him, but unintentionally, we. We
kind of. There was three of us,
but there was really. Yeah, he was
the third wheel, and he felt it,
and I could. I could kind of.
I was. I don't know if it
was the Holy Spirit bringing things to
my remembrance, which the Bible says he
will do.

Yeah.

And so I just started seeing all
these moments where I just didn't reach
out to him. I wasn't there for
him. I didn't talk with him. I
wasn't kind to him. I wasn't rude
to him, but I wasn't. I wasn't
bringing him a part of everything. And
so I literally. The end of that
prayer time, I just walked. Towards the
end of that prayer time, I just
walked over to him. I said, hey,

(51:43):
man, I haven't seen you a while.
We haven't talked in a while, but
I just want to apologize for two
years ago. You know, we were in
Mexico together, and I really just kind
of ignored you, and that wasn't right,
and I apologize. And he was like,
oh, wow, man. I. I really appreciate
that. And it's no big deal. You
know, I don't even think about those
moments.

It's all clearly.

And I know. Right? And so we
left at that. Gave him. Gave him
a hug, and walked away. And later
that day, at some point, he went
to Seoul and said, you know what?
I think I was wrong about Brent.

You know what?

Yeah, it did happen.

But did he.

It did happen.

Did he ever repent to me? Did
he ever apologize to me? Did he
ever admit that he had just tried
to get my girlfriend to break up
with me? No.

Wow.

Did he have to? No. I needed
to own my part of the issue.
It was 90% him, but I had
that 10%, so let me repent for
the 10%.

That's intense.

Yeah, I know. We have. We have
juicy stories for days.

We got all the stories.

All the stories.

Well, there you have it. That was.
That was definitely.

Yeah. So back to what you really
wanted to talk about. I still think
Soul's mic drop moment was, repentance is
not when you cry. It's when you
change. And so if you only take
one thing away from that message, it's
where is God telling you you need
to change?

Yeah. That's good.

And I think that, for me, my
takeaway is don't just go on your
own. Lean into the Holy Spirit. We
can't change on our own. We can't
maintain a life that pleases God on
our own, because our natural instincts will
always pull us away from. From God.

(53:23):
So if we are not in step
with the Holy Spirit, we're gonna end
up where we don't want to be.
So, like Brent was saying, you know,
like, the Holy Spirit brought this to
my remembrance. Like. Like when I was
talking about, you know, being in the
kitchen and I'm praying, like, it's the
Holy Spirit that is bringing these things
that says, hey, over here. This is
what we need to focus on. So

(53:44):
if you are not pursuing that, that
connection to the Holy Spirit, it is
gonna be easy for you to fall.
Or you're not even gonna notice that
you fall because you have forsaken the
voice of the Holy Spirit in your
life. So you need the Holy Spirit.
You need the Holy Spirit. So don't
think that you can do it on
your own. Don't think that you have.

(54:05):
I am very disciplined. I am very,
you know, I have willpower. All of
that will fail without the Holy Spirit
at work in you.

What did you say? On Sunday? Your
willpower gets you till Wednesday.

Yeah, like, I can do this. And,
like, no, I cannot do that. I'm.
I'm out.

That's so true. So that's good. Those
were good takeaways.

Your takeaway.

Clearly, I need to repent daily. That's
my takeaway. No, I think just living
a lifestyle of, just like you said,
just being open to what the Holy
Spirit may be telling you, even as
a believer. Like, repentance is not just
for unbelievers. It's for us. And it
really helps us to grow in Christ,

(54:48):
become better disciples and leaders and the
light in this world. When we just
living a submitted life. I feel like
repentance, like, as a believer, it's just
living a submitted life. Okay, God, what
areas do you want me to grow
in? Or those blind spots? Like, even
Brent said that. And I'm like, God,
who do I need to go back
to apologize to? Oh, gosh.

But, yeah, it's probably going to be
the person that you think owes you
an apology.

That's craziness. But the Lord is working
daily.

Yes.

I'll let you know how that go.

Yes.

But, yeah, no, I think this was
a good conversation, and I think it.
It's a foundational conversation.

Yeah.

Like, we don't hear a lot of
people talking about repentance, and I think
it's something good to always keep at
the top of your head like yeah,
especially as a disciple of Jesus, Jesus
Christ, like repent, be baptized if you
have not been baptized or if you
like Brent, get baptized several times just
to make sure.

Sometimes you just gotta make sure.

Sometimes it doesn't stick.

But I just think it's a good
foundational thing to keep at the top
of our mind as believers. And so
if you did not have a chance
to watch the message or be in
service for the message that pastor so
preached on Sunday, I advise you to
to go watch the message. And we
did hear back from some people. They
want to do the Q and A.

(56:14):
So we are going to figure out
how to include that in our segments
coming up. So thank you for your
responses and if you have anything you
want to know about this particular conversation,
let us know and we will love
to answer you. So until next time.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

True Crime Tonight

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Repent, Be Baptized, Be Filled: What the Church Forgot About the Basics

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}True Crime Tonight

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

All Episodes

Repent, Be Baptized, Be Filled: What the Church Forgot About the Basics

True Crime Tonight