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
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.
- The Best Use of Life is Love.
- Life without love is really worthless.
- Love will last forever.
- We will be evaluated on our love.
- The Best Expression of Love Is Time.
- 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
April 20, 2009 • 12:47 pm
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
Craig Groeschel from Lifechurch.tv posted this blog about small groups. I am a firm believer in doing small groups in a church and this post is a great reminder on what not to do.
Tons of churches have attempted small groups only to abort shortly after takeoff. I’ll share the top 10 ways to ensure the failure of your group.
Today we’ll cover the first 5 and finish the others tomorrow.
1. Make sure the senior pastor isn’t in a group. If small groups aren’t modeled by the pastor, they won’t have much of a chance for success. (Amy and I host two small groups in our home.)
2. Make sure the senior pastor doesn’t talk about small groups. If small groups don’t ever find their way into a sermon, it will help reduce the likelihood of success.
3. Make sure small groups are not staffed or resourced properly. To guarantee your groups fail, don’t staff them, buy them curriculum, announce them, or get your best volunteers involved.
4. Make sure small group leaders aren’t trained. When you do get some small group leaders, don’t train them. Let them figure it out on their own.
5. Make sure the church doesn’t address childcare needs. Pretend like all small groups don’t have any child care needs. Don’t open the church one or two nights a week to provide child care. Don’t pay for childcare like I’ve heard North Point does. Ignore childcare needs completely.
Have you seen churches that are handling these issues effectively? If so, how?
Filed under: Leadership, Uncategorized , craig groeschel, lifechurch.tv, ministry, Relevant Church Charlotte, Religion, Small groups
February 22, 2009 • 10:52 pm
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
February 20, 2009 • 11:50 am
I am currently reading Andy Stanley’s book 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, and I just came across something that made me think. It was his idea of running “programs” or creating “steps” for ministry.
How many churches out there are measuring themselves on the amount of programs they are running? Are you too busy with the calendar that you are missing the mark of effective ministry? Andy states that many “churches have a reputation of doing ministry without an end in mind”. Having the goal in mind makes all the difference in effective ministry.
Being a church planter, I have read many books and studied many ways to do church. The one thing that I have concluded is that ministry is about being focused on what God called you to do. There are a ton of “good” things out there to do, but there are a few “God” things that each church is supposed to do. We can get wrapped up in doing the “good” things and miss the “God” things.
I am challenged to make sure that we are focused on what God is calling us to do.
How about you? Are there some things that need to be pruned at your church? Are there some things that need more focused attention? The process of focused ministry can be challenging if you are a well established church, but the effectivness that can come out of it can be greatly rewarding.
Filed under: Church Planting, Leadership , andy stanley, church, effective ministry, Leadership, ministry, Religion
February 13, 2009 • 10:23 am
I have been reading in the book of Acts for my daily devotions. Though I have read the book many times, this time some stood out to me.
This is the book where we find Jesus ascending to heaven and the Holy Spirit being poured out on the believers. This all happens in the first 2 chapters. But what caught my attention was what happened after the outpouring of the Spirit.
Not to long ago these were ordinary men that didn’t quite grasp what Jesus was trying to teach them. These were men that coward in the face of trials and at the thought of persecution. But we see a different group of people after Acts chapter 2. We see Peter, who once coward back at the question of knowing Jesus, now he is standing boldly in front of people proclaiming Jesus.
Wow, what a difference the Holy Spirit makes in our lives. He gives us the power and boldness to stand up in the face of persecution and trials. What would our lives be like if we allowed the Holy Spirit to invade our lives like the disciples did in the book of Acts? How exciting would our walk with Christ be?
I would love to hear how you have allowed the Holy Spirit to guide you through a trial.
Be blessed as you journey with Christ.
Filed under: My Journal, Uncategorized , being bold, Bible, devotions, Disciples, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Relevant Church Charlotte, Religion
January 13, 2009 • 12:17 pm
This week I am embarked on a 21 day Daniel Fast. The idea came from Pastor Stovall Weems and Celebration church. They do a fast at the beginning of every year and this year they opened up the fast to anyone in the country that wanted to participate. They are calling this time of prayer and fasting “Awake 21“.
I have never done anything like this before. Sure I have fasted a meal or even a few days, but not 21! So, I am going into this time with some very specific things that I would like God to do in me, for me, and for the new church that we are planting. We are literally 6 months away from our first preview service and things are getting exciting.
Over the next 3 weeks I am going to blog about what God is doing in the midst of this fast for me and for the church. Because I believe in giving Him the glory He deserves. I am in day 3 and I am reading through the book of John. There is some great stuff in this book, so I will post some thoughts of what God is revealing on a later date.
I believe that 2009 will be a year of breakthrough. Even in the midst of a financial crisis, God can still move in mighty ways if we turn our hearts to Him and seek Him with all we have.
I challenge you to do an evaluation of this year and ask God to do great things. Maybe you need to look into this fast and participate with me.
I would love to hear if you are participating and what God is doing in and through you.
Blessings
Pastor Kalum
Filed under: My Journal, Uncategorized , awake 21, daniel fast, fasting, God, life, personal, prayer, relevant church, Religion
September 4, 2008 • 1:27 pm
Well it is finally here. I finished my first 2 days on staff with Grace Covenant and let me tell you, I felt overwhelmed. I felt like a new kid at a new school. I already knew everyone, but being on the other side of the fence gives you a different perspective. We have been working on the church plant for over a year now with some of the vision and direction, but know that I have 3 full days to devote to it, I kinda felt lost. Weird huh?
Anyway, I love it. I will be there for the next 12 months working with the staff doing some projects, and building a team to launch the church. The fast tract has started. I would ask all my readers to pray for us. As we start this process we will need God’s direction and favor to open doors. Please also pray that we are strategic in the process, but also do not lose sight of the relationships during the process.
Filed under: Church Planting , Church Plant, Church Planting, direction, God, god's will, prayer, Relevant Church Charlotte, Religion, Vision
August 26, 2008 • 8:27 am
As the time draws near for one season of my life to end and the next season to begin, I am forced to reflect on what God has done along the way. Over the past 4 years I have served in a secular job while volunteering in different ministries at our church. I have seen God stretch me, teach me, and grow me into who I am today. My wife and I knew that when we moved down here in May of 2004, we were called to plant a church. Little did we know what that journey would look like. Throughout the last 4 years we have had several opportunities to move into pastoral roles in other churches, but God had a different plan. He shut all of those doors and kept us on the track of lead pastoring a new church plant.
God’s call has been confirmed in us in many ways. The most significant was just a few weeks ago. Now I am not one to wake up early. I like my sleep. But this particular Saturday morning I was awake at 6:30 am and could not go to sleep. As I laid there I heard the Lord say “get up I have something I want to show you”. Wrestling with the fact that I wanted to go back to bed, I knew that if I did not get up there was something major I was going to miss. So I got up and went downstairs with Bible and journal in hand. He pointed me to the reading that I had been going through and told me to continue reading where I left off. As I spent some time in the Word, He gave me some things to write down and record in my journal. I then prayed and closed my Bible. Yet again the Lord spoke to me. He said “get dressed and go outside for a walk, I have more for you.” I couldn’t believe it, I had already had a deep time with Him reading the Word and He had more? I quickly got dressed and walked outside. I began to walk around my neighborhood and said “here I am Lord”. He began to show me things and tell me things that completely confirmed what we were doing. I believe he gave the area of the plant and He gave me a new confidence that He was working His plan.
So, next week I begin a new journey, the journey to planting a church. The title of my blog is a church planter’s journey. And that is just what it has been, a journey. I know that this journey is only beginning and that God has great things in store for us. So I am writing this post to encourage all of you who are waiting patiently on the Lord for and answer, direction, and/or timing. My advice, dig in and don’t give up. God’s timing is perfect and He will work His plan. We must understand that God’s plan is the right plan, and His timing is perfect. We too often try to work our plan and then ask Him for help. We must ask Him for His plan and as He gives us the pieces, then work that part.
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Pr. 16:9
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Pr 19:21
Filed under: Church Planting, My Journal , Bible, Church Planting, God, god's calling, God's hand, God's Plan, god's will, Jesus, Relevant Church Charlotte, Religion
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