Top 5 Books I Have Read This Year

Here is a list of the top 5 books I have read this year. Some great resources.

1. It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It. – Craig Groeschel
2. Doing Church As A Team – Wayne Corderio
3. Planting Missional Churches – Ed Stetzer
4. The Divine Mentor – Wayne Corderio
5. Making Vision Stick – Andy Stanley

I hope you enjoy.

Pastor Kalum

Filed under: Uncategorized , andy stanley, books, craig groeschel, ed stetzer, lifechurch, wayne corderio

Waiting on God

Tonight I had the opportunity to speak at the Wednesday night service at our church. This was the first time I have spoken in this manner in about 4 years. I was pretty nervous.

I spoke on the topic of waiting on God out of the book of Isaiah. This topic was very prevalent to where God has brought me and my family.

Through the message I pointed out 3 myths that I believe that our culture has trained us to believe. I believe that we have been so trained to see the idea of waiting as being indecisive and weak. We have also taken ahold of the idea that by not making decisions, we loose out on the blessings that God has for us. It is truly unfortunate that instead of the Bible clearly defining our views, that we have allowed our culture to define them.

The myth of being weak is counteracted by Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

I see that we are strengthened as we wait on His answer to our prayers. What are you waiting for? Keep contending and praying and your spirit will be strengthened.

The other myth of waiting is when we don’t get the answers that we are looking for, then God is not working. This myth is such a lie from the enemy. This is what the enemy wants us to think to keep us from pressing forward. The truth is that God is always at work. He is always doing something on our behalf. No matter what we feel or hear, God is up to something. It is usually during the times that He seems far away is when He is working the most. many times He is working on us before He can work through us. So when you don’t hear any answers, don’t give up.

Lastly our culture has trained us to think that it is up to us to take action. We are to make our our paths and do it on our own. There is a famous saying that states, “you should look out for #1″. I believe that God is looking out for us. I believe that God blesses us when we wait for His answers. It is usually during the waiting period that the blessings are able to given. Saul learned this tough lesson when he did not wait for Samuel to return before setting up the altar. The kingdom was stripped from him because he did not wait.

What are you contending for? What I know is that God uses the times of waiting to form our character, test our faith, and shape us to look like Him. God blesses our waiting and in those times is when the blessings are released.

Remember this, it is in the midst of our waiting that we give God the opportunity to work. Keep pressing in to see the outcome of what you are looking

Filed under: My Journal, Uncategorized , Bible, blessing, God, waiting

Leadership Axioms

I just ran across this website and found some great videos from Wayne Corderio. He is talking to a bunch of church planters.

Check it out here.

Filed under: Church Planting , axioms, church, Church Planting, Leadership, planting, wayne corderio

A Learning Expeirence

Over the past 3 days I have had the privilege of leading a team of volunteers during our District Conference. I was placed in charge of the hospitality piece of the event as my first official duties of pastoralship. Not knowing how or what to do gave me the feeling of being lost in the woods without a compass. The great thing about it all was the people that made themselves available to me for information. In thinking about this I really saw the value of how “team” is supposed to work. We are all there to make the project run efficiently no matter our role. So from the beginning many of our staff came to my aid. I was able to identify key leaders to help with the design and set-up of the hospitality event.

Once the conference was in full swing I was amazed at the volunteers that stepped up and gave their time sacrificially. Many of them pulled two or more shifts to get us through. I was overwhelmed that they would step up and serve with me when many of them didn’t even know me. Talk about feeling humbled.

Lastly, there were some valuable lessons learned through this experience.

1. Never do anything alone. You always need a good team to back you up.
2. Always find a point person. You should always have a great key person on your team.
3. Staff your weaknesses. Find what you are not good at and find those that are.
4. Let your people work in there strengths.

Overall it was a great time and very exhausting. The team of volunteers made all it happen without a hitch.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Leadership, leading, pastoring, team building, volunteers