Defining Moments

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

Leading Like Jesus

I just started a new book and study entitled “Lead Like Jesus” you can check out the study here. As a pastor I know that one of the most important things is to love the people. Jesus gives us a great example in the life that He led on earth. He was the forerunner and model for servant leadership.

[youversion]Matthew 20:25-28[/youversion] states that Jesus came into this world to serve and not to be served. What a powerful statement!

How are you being a servant in the areas that you lead?

What will you do today to model your leadership style after Jesus?

Filed under: Leadership , God, Jesus, Leadership, Relevant Church Charlotte

Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. One of the greatest joys in my life is be the dad of 3 awesome kids. They are truly a blessing in my life.

Dads, God has given us the great responsibility of raising up a generation of men and women that will follow after Him. We should never take lightly the call of fatherhood. Whether you had a great father figure in your life or not, remember the best example we have is our Heavenly Father. He loves us unconditionally and shows us how we can do that with out kids.

I know that this is your day, but take some time to spend it with the people that matter most to us, our family.

Filed under: Uncategorized , dads, Father's day, God, Jesus

Satan Is A Punk

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

Counting Blessings, Not Sheep

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

Get Connected Pt. 2

In my last post I told you about our financial campaign we were beginning. We are calling this campaign the “Get Connected” campaign. The thought was to allow anyone to be a part of what is happening with Relevant Church.

This post is to give a quick update on the progress. We started this just this past Monday 5-12-09 and already we have 9 people committed for $100 each. God is awesome and He continues to blow me away with His provisions.

With that being said, we still need your help. You can be part of advancing the Kingdom of God from wherever you are. We have a start-up equipment budget of $40,000 that we need to meet. Our need is not just dollars, it is also equipment. If you have the ability to donate any equipment on our list, that would go to help us reach our goal.

Some of the major items we are in need of are:

1. A sound system
2. Enclosed 20′-24′ trailer
3. Computer and video projector
4. Printing (we are in need of getting biz card, brochures, fliers, banners, and signs)

Would you consider becoming a partner? Help Relevant Church connect people to Jesus.

Filed under: Church Planting , budget, church, Church Planting, donations, finances, God, Jesus, partners, relevant church, Relevant Church Charlotte

Get Connected

Relevant Church is a new, exciting, and diverse community of people that are dedicated to seeing the people of Charlotte NC connected to Jesus. Charlotte, NC is one of the fastest growing cities on the East Coast. The growth numbers are staggering. Our commitment is to the people of this great city. Our desire and passion is to give ourselves fully to the mission of reaching the lost for Jesus. Our hearts are big, Our dreams are bigger, but we know that Our God is the biggest. With all of this being said, we still need YOUR help.

We have 2 goals that you could help us attain. We are calling this financial campaign “Get Connected.” We want you to have an opportunity to partner with us as we connect people to Jesus.

Our first goal is to raise $40,000 for all of the equipment we need to have to launch. You can download a copy of our equipment list to see what we need. Our prayer with this goal is to see 400 people donate $100 each to help us raise the funds. We know that starting a church in the middle of a recession isn’t the smartest thing to do by the world’s standards, but God is calling us to raise up to His standards and to trust in Him.

Our second goal is gather monthly partners. These partners would donate help support Relevant Church in maitaining our monthly budget. Our prayer is to raise $100,000 in yearly support for the first 2 years. Our goal is to be self supporting by year 3. You can download a copy of our first years budget here.

Financial donations are always a blessing, but there may be items on the equipment list that you, your business, or church could donate. Not only will the cash equivalent of these donations count toward our grand total of $40,000, but these donations are also tax deductible.

If you would like to know more about who Relevant Church is you may email us at or you can download a copy of our vision proposal here.

Remember, all of your financial donations are tax deductable. Please send your financial support to

Grace Covenant Church c/o Relevant Church Plant

17301 Statesville Rd

Cornelius, NC 28031

“Please mark all payments for Relevant Church Plant.”

Feel Free to check us out on Twitter and you can check out Pastor Kalum’s Facebook and Twitter pages here.

Filed under: Church Planting, Uncategorized , church, connected, finances, fund raising, God, Jesus, relevant church, support, Vision

All You Need Is Love

The Beatles wrote a song entitled “All You Need Is Love.” Now, I am not sure that they were necessarily pulling their lyrics from Scripture, but what they sang was biblical. Right now I am re-reading Rick Warren’s book Purpose Driven Life. This book is full of mini sermons and life changing thoughts. Mainly because he is pulling all of the concepts right from the Word of God.

I have been reading the chapter entitled “What Matters Most”.  This chapter is dealing with love. He opens the chapter with this statement, “Life is all about love.”  How true this statement is! I, like many of you, are challenged with the concept of loving all people and seeing them as Christ sees them. There are time when people get under your skin and make it difficult for us to love them. But the reality is, we can be that person as well.

Rick makes this statements in his book have really challenged me today. I am sharing them with you that they may do the same for you.

1. The Best Use of Life is Love.
2. Life without love is really worthless.
3. Love will last forever.
4. We will be evaluated on our love.
5. The Best Expression of Love Is Time.
6. The Best Time to Love Is Now.

I believe that how we love others shows the quality of our relationships, and the quality of our relationships shows the quality of our lives.

Quality Relationships=Quality Lives.

Be Blessed and love others as Christ loves you.

Filed under: Uncategorized , Bible, God, Jesus, love, Purpose Driven Life, relationships, Religion, Rick Warren

Preparing The Dreamer

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

Your Help Is Needed.

Right now I am putting together a yearly sermon calendar and I have hit a creative block. I am looking for some creative ideas to help fuel the fire. I have the following series themes without the meat to go with them

1. Community (4 weeks)
2. Family series (4 weeks)

I would love to hear your feedback on what these two series could look like.

Thanks

Filed under: Uncategorized , Bible, God, Jesus, preaching, relevant church, sermon, sermons