October 9, 2009 • 2:43 pm 0
In just 2 days, I get to embark on a journey of a lifetime. Relevant Church opens its doors for our very first preview service on October 11th. This has been in the making for 5 years now. It has been an exciting journey, and I know that the fun is only beginning. We are looking forward to what God has in store for us at Relevant. Here is a little video promoting this weekend. We hope to see you there.
Filed under: Church Planting, My Journal, Uncategorized , Relevant Church Charlotte
September 24, 2009 • 2:32 pm 0
This is part 5 of my top 5 church planting lessons. This one is all too real to me. I have had to learn this lesson the hard way. Our vision for Relevant Church came to us over 5 years ago and we are now on the starting line of our launch.
The greatest thing that I have learned is that God will do things in His time, not mine. This does not only apply to church planting, but to everything in our lives. I had to release my time table to Him and allow God to work the process. This was not an easy thing to do since I like to be the one driving, but what I have come to learn is that when He is driving, I always get to where I need to be.
Are you waiting for something? Does it feel like God is taking His sweet old time? Just know that God is never late and never early, He is always right on time.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, Patience, relevant church
September 5, 2009 • 1:29 pm 0
Here is the third part of a top 5 list of lessons I have learned planting a church. For those that need a review…
#1. Church planting takes a calling.
#2 Church planting takes time.
#3 – Church planting takes God.
Now I know that most of you might think “well, isn’t that obvious?” But the reality of it is, God must be at every turn you make. I have seen this at work in the last few months especially. God has to be in the big things as well as the small things. I have often seen myself focusing on the tasks that need to be done and pulling God in on the big stuff. The one lesson that I take away from this is that God cares so much about the vision He has given me, that He wants to be involved in the smallest details of the work. To be truthful, it is His plan and we are the workers He has chosen to complete it. So the plans and details all come from Him anyway.
Don’t lose sight of the “plan maker”.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, God, Relevant Chruch
September 4, 2009 • 4:03 pm 1
Yesterday, I started my post on the top 5 things that I have learned planting Relevant Church.
Let’s review..
#1. – Church planting takes a calling.
And now #2 – Church planting takes time!
Now I know, everything takes time. But what I have learned is that planting a church takes an extraordinary amount of time. As a lead pastor your time is spent casting vision (the fun part), designing budgets, raising funds, recruiting a team, and the list continues. What I have learned is that if I don’t prioritize my time, then the things that suffer are usually my family and walk with God. Too many times have I found myself replacing the “being” with the “doing”. As a church planter it is vital that my walk with God stays the priority. The reality is, there is stuff that needs to get done. Learn to prioritize and delegate. The key to longevity.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, God, relevant church
September 3, 2009 • 4:02 pm 2
Over the next several days I am going to post my top 5 things that I have learned as I have been on the journey of planting Relevant Church. Now let me say that this is not in any particular order, nor is it an all encompassing list. There has been a ton of things that I have learned along the way, and there is a ton that I still need to learn. So, for the first installment…
#1. – Church planting takes a calling.
Not everyone is called to be a church planter. 6 years ago I would have said that I was not one of them. Hearing the call from God, we pursued the calling. Along the way there have been detours, bumps, and distractions that have caused us to go back to the calling that God gave to us. Knowing that we were called and given an assignment, gave us the foundation and the faith to keep moving forward. I really believe that if you are called to plant a church, God will give you the strength to go through anything. Know this, church planting is not for the faint of heart. It is hard, grueling, stressful, but very exciting and rewarding.
Stay tuned for the rest of the list.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership, My Journal , Church Planting, relevant church
July 29, 2009 • 10:53 am 0
We all have had one in our lives. Maybe some of us have had multiple moments. A defining moment is when the light bulb in your head goes off about the reality of a new, or old, truth. It is when you realized that the thing you have heard or seen all of your life is true. It may be unexplainable, but completely and undeniably true. The story in John 9 of the man born blind is a great story of a defining moment. This man was healed and had no explanation of how it happened, are really did not care. All that he knew was that he was blind and now he could see. It was his defining moment of where the unexplainable came head to head with the undeniable.
For us, we tend to focus in on the unexplainable happenings around us and forget the undeniable truths that surround us. The challenge is how will we respond to those defining moments in our lives? How will you embrace the moment that will change you forever? Will you sieze the moment of truth, or will you retreat back to what is natural to you?
What is natural to us is that which we can explain, but I think God wants us to move beyond our comfort zones of what we know and what we can explain to embrace the undeniable.
I believe that we do not have to understand everything in order to believe in something. There are many things about God that we cannot explain, but are undeniably true. The fact that He loves us so much that He chose to die for us is hard to explain or sometimes grasp, but the fact that it is true is undeniable.
One thing I know is, when I try to focus in on the unexplainable and really try to figure it out, my faith tends to wither. But when I turn my focus on the undenialble truths of God, my faith skyrockets.
God may be challenging you to think outside the box you have placed Him in. You know, that box that says “This is how I want God to answer me”, or “In order for me to believe, God must do this”. Please don’t miss out on what God has for you because you don’t have all the answers. The fact is, we will never have all of this figured out, and the good part about it is, God has never said we needed to in order to believe.
Remember, we do not have to understand everything in order to believe in something.
Filed under: My Journal, Uncategorized , blind, defining moments, God, Jesus, unexplainable
June 20, 2009 • 5:20 pm 0
Over the last couple of weeks I have really seen how the enemy can really be a punk. I knew that going into the ministry was going to bring the heat, and I was kinda prepared for it. What I wasn’t prepared for was how sneaky and conniving Satan is.
Two weeks ago my family and some of our launch team leaders were going to prayer walk the area we are planting Relevant Church. We had it all planned out; we were going to have the kids play at the park while we prayed. As the kids began to play, it wasn’t 5 minutes and we heard crying a screaming. As I ran over to see what was happening, I saw my 7 year old daughter lying on the ground. She had fallen and broken her arm. Prayer walk was obviously cancelled.
Looking back on it, my wife and I were talking about the timing of it all. We both felt like the enemy used my daughter to break up what was going to be a great time of spiritual warfare.
The application to all of this is that we must be ready for whatever the enemy has for us. When we are doing the work of God, Satan is never happy. He will come after you and in my case my family. We are to put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6). This armor protects us, but we also need to be ready to be on the offensive and help protect those around us. The devil is a punk and he will come after you in whatever way he can.
The end of my story did not end at the hospital, I made a stand and went back to the same park the next day and did some warfare. Take that Satan.
Filed under: My Journal , God, Jesus, Relevant Church Charlotte, satan, spiritual warfare
June 19, 2009 • 11:50 pm 0
I just wanted to post something before I go off to bed. It has been a little while since my last post. As I sit here with my eyes closing from another long day, I am reflecting on what God is doing. I am so blessed. God has done so many great things in my life; too many to number.
I am completely overwhelmed at the fact that He has called me into His service. I have a chance to do one of the greatest jobs on the planet. No way do I feel like I deserve this call, but I know that He does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Boy do I need the qualifying.
We are only 112 days away from our first preview service at Relevant Church. We have a ton of things to do and very little time to do it in. I know that God is faithful and He will provide all that we need.
So tonight, I will be counting my blessings, not sheep.
Filed under: My Journal , God, god's calling, Jesus, relevant church, Relevant Church Charlotte, Religion, thanksgiving
April 20, 2009 • 12:47 pm 1
Yesterday, our pastor spoke a message based out of Gen 37:3-10 on the story of Joseph and his dreams.
The concept of the message was that everyone has a God-given dream, but some have either not realized it, or it is being hindered by something. How about you? Do you have a dream that God has given you? I am not talking solely about a dream at night, but rather something that God has placed in your heart. It could come from multiple ways; Dream, prophecy, God’s Word, your passions, etc.
The thing that we need to realize about our dreams is that God has placed them in us, and He is working them out. he does not give them to us for us to figure out on our own how to accomplish them. God is always true to His word.
Now the harsh reality that I have been living; the dream does not come true on our time, but on His. Our pastor made this statement “God has to develop the dreamer to live the dream.”
What is God developing in you to live out the dream He has given?
Filed under: My Journal, Uncategorized , Bible, dreams, God, Jesus, Religion
February 22, 2009 • 10:52 pm 0
John 1:12 – But as many as received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.
This Scripture has so much depth to it that it boggles my mind every time I read it. Think about this:
1. God wishes that we all become a part of His family.
2. We all have the same opportunity to receive our adoption.
3. All we have to do is to receive and believe in Him
Adoption into God’s family is completely different than being adopted into an earthly family. If you have been a part of trying to adopt a child, which I have not but know of several families that have tried, there are numerous tests, books of paperwork and many countless hours spent on determining if the child and the parents are a right fit for each other.
This is not the case with God’s family. He accepts all who desire to become part of His family. There are no tests, paperwork, or financial obligations to be called a child of God. There is only one requirement, to believe and accept Him as Lord.
How awesome is it to think that the creator of the universe, the One that sustains life, wishes for us to reach out to Him. When we do, He is there to accept us “as is”. By this acceptance, we immediately become His child.
Stay tuned for part 2 of becoming an heir.
Filed under: My Journal , adoption, child, God, heaven, Jesus, Religion
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