Running with Scissors

What's in my IPOD?

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:04:00 +0000

My IPOD has been stocked full of new music lately......here's a short rundown of what I am currently jamming to....

Jesus Culture: Your Love Never Fails.
Andy Kirk: Hearts on Fire
David Crowder Band: Church Music
Building 429: Self Titled
Keith Urban: Defying Gravity
Van Morrison: Still on Top-Greatest Hits

Such an eclectic collection of tunes but that's just how I roll :)

Random Christmas Eve Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:17:00 +0000

I've had a great time the last few weeks hanging out with family. Something I haven't done much of for the last few years.
So thankful for the Christmas season. The fact that God became man, walked in my shoes, paid the price for my wrongs, and now I am reconciled with him. That's a great gift!!
Just realized I haven't picked up a guitar in three weeks. That's the longest I have gone in like 6 years. No band practice until after the new year so It's going to be a few more weeks on that too. My fingers are so going to kill me.
Thinking of two big things over the next few months: First I am considering getting PhD. With all the graduate level work I have now I only need like 17 classes to become Dr. Renner. My mom loves the idea (of course, right.) I am still thinking about it. I am fine with the course work. Not sure if I want to put myself through the dissertation process. We'll see how that turns out.
Second, I am really seriously thinking about writing a book on how God uses teachable moments in our lives to redirect our paths. We seem to coast along fine, content to do what we've always done until he gets our attention and redirects us back to his will. More on this later if I decide to move in that direction.
We are off to celebrate Christmas with April's family today.
Praying the weather cooperates so we can get our flights tomorrow without issue.

Have a blessed Christmas. Be sure to thank God for the gift of his Son.

What if Church was like Target...

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:20:00 +0000

I copied this post from Tony Morgans blog.....great insight as to why we in the church are so disconnected with the rest of the world...read and enjoy..

‘Tis the season to shop for Christmas gifts, so I recently made a trip to Target. I love Target because I don’t have to spend a lot of money, and I avoid going to Wal-Mart.

After spending a little bit of time in the store, it struck me how different Target is from most churches I’ve visited in the past. That led me to wondering how Target would be different if it operated like the typical church. So, with that in mind, here’s my initial list:

What if Target Operated Like a Church?

Instead of having men’s and women’s clothing departments, they would be called clever names like Impact and Embrace that are completely meaningless to new shoppers.
Each department in the store would have its own logo to go with their clever name. And, of course, all those logos would be different than the logo on the front of the store.
The workers in each department would all have their own t-shirts and flyers to promote what’s available in their departments. The youth clothing department would, of course, have the best flyers.
The store manager and his wife would be pictured on the front page of the website.
You wouldn’t actually be able to buy anything from the website, but each department would have its own page explaining why they are such a great department and the the information would be several months out-of-date.
If you are in the shoe department and have a question about flashlights, the shoe department employee has no idea how to help you because it doesn’t have anything to do with shoes.
Shoppers would be able to start their own departments so that they can buy the items that they want to buy. Don’t worry…that means there will certainly be a clothing department for singles.
Shoppers would also be able to appoint their own store manager and then serve on committees and boards to tell the store manager what to do.
The store would only be open one day a week between 9:00 a.m. and noon and on the first Wednesday evening of every month.

Hope this makes you laugh. (Emily and I did.) And, maybe it also challenges some preconceived notions. After all, churches are sort of notorious for worshiping methods and traditions whether or not they actually produce results.

What would you add to the list?

Burnout

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:59:00 +0000

Unless you were very close to me you wouldn't know that I was just plain burnt out from my time in ministry. It's one of the reasons April and I are taking a sabbatical from church and ministry. I needed some time away from it all to try and gain some perspective and clarity. Over the last year I had really developed a sense of apathy with respect to the work that God had called me to. You wouldn't have known it from my actions so much because I did and said the right things....It was an apathy in my heart.

My apathy was played out in my personal devotional life. It was played out in my personal prayer life. My apathy was played out in the relationships I choose to pursue. And Lastly, my apathy was played out in my motivation.

During my sabbatical I am reading a lot of books and spending extra time with God trying to regain my perspective and personal drive for God and people. One of the books I am currently reading is called Sunsets and Sushi. It's a book on the Psalms written by David Crowder. The other is a book called Mad Church Disease. It's a book on church burnout written by Anne Jackson....What a great read and it's hitting me hard on some stuff. One of the things that's hitting me hardest right now is the question of my motivation to serve God by serving others......Here is what Anne says about service and testing your motivation to serve.

How do these hit you?

Self righteous service comes through human effort it delights in plans and orginization-True service comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Energy is expended but it is not feverish.
Self righteous service is impressed with the big deal, it is worried about the outcome-True service doesn't distinguish big projects from small projects.
Self righteous service requires external rewards...It needs to be noticed (subject to Christian modesty of course) - True service is content in hiddeness. It doesn't seek attention but doesn't fear it either.
Self righteous service is concerned with results - True service is satisfied with the service.
Self righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve - True service is indiscriminate.
Self righteous service is moved and swayed by moods and whims (moved by the spirit as we say) - True service ministers simply and fully because there is a need.
Self righteous service is temporary and loves short term projects - True service is a lifestyle.
Self righteous service is insensitive. It forces itself in demands in the opportunity to help - True service listens with patience and tenderness before it acts.
Self righteous service fractures community. Once the religious trappings are removed it focuses mainly on self glorification - True service builds community. It is caring, quiet, and unpretentious.

Most of those apply to me over the last few years. How about you?

Sabbatical

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Since Real Life ended I have been taking a ministry sabbatical. That sabbatical is going to continue into the new year. At some point April and I are going to start trying to figure out where God want's us to be and what God wants us to do next.

To be honest. It's a scary time for us. for the last 13 years I have served at only 2 different churches. Those places were very different from each other and I find myself wanting to spend some time in a church that I wouldn't normally think about attending so I can get a better perspective of what God is doing in different ministries. Not sure how that will look but it's exciting and scary at the same time.

At some point God's going to move me into doing something ministry related at a new church. I think I have a much better picture of what that is than I would have had even as little as a year or two ago and that is a God thing :)

Odds and Ends and thoughts Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:12:00 +0000

How many times have you looked at your life or situation and thought "how in the world did I end up here?" I know there are plenty of times I have gotten myself into situations without the slightest inkling of how I got there.

I know on the surface this doesn't fit into the musing about humanity being fundamentally broken but bear with me I do have a point. 21 years ago I thought about a career as a pilot. Not many people know this anymore but I actually still have a pilot's license. For a number of reasons I decided that was not the career path for me. I do however still love airplanes :) Anyway, when you are flying any distance it's important to keep checking you instruments for accuracy. If they are off even a little you can find yourself very off course very quickly. Just look at the case of those pilots playing with their laptops just a month ago....before they new it they were hundred's of mile off course.

So, how does this come back to us as people. IF you accept the premise that we are fundamentally flawed, broken, and have a bent that wants to take us far from God it stands to reason that the second we take our eyes off him we change course. The moment we stop allowing him to lead us we loose our bearings. The longer we have our eyes off chasing him the farther off course we get. It happens so fast....

We go from being firmly in God's grip to in places where we have no idea how we got there. We end up in situations that we have no idea how we got ourselves into them. We have pain that God never intended for us to have. We pay a price that we shouldn't have paid.

Keep your eyes on him.

Odds and Ends and thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:56:00 +0000

I know that I have been posting to my blog less frequently since I left full-time ministry. You can pretty much expect that pattern will remain. I'll try to get things on here on a regular basis as God lays things on my heart :)

So, a couple of things:

First: April and I led worship last weekend at a friends church in Defiance. It was really, really weird for both of us. It felt so strange to be in someone elses church! Don't worry, we are still keeping our sabatical alive. We'd been promising my friend we were going to come and visit them. We wanted to go before the weather started turning so we had planned to make the trip Sunday. Saturday evening my friend texted me and saying perhaps we should reschedule as most of their musicians and singers were out of town for the holiday. So, I offered to bring a guitar and help them out.
Second: God has really been laying on my heart just how broken and backwards humanity is. Think about this for a second. Have you ever noticed you can develop bad habits without even trying? It literally takes zero effort and nothing will stand in your way when you're doing things that are destructive to your life. But if you want to make some positive changes, my word, it's like everything gets in your way!! If you think I am wrong about that pick a day...any day....and set that date as the one you are going to start an exercise program.....so how long it sticks :)

So why is that? I think it's because we are broken. Sin has changed us and we are not the creations God originally designed. We want what we shouldn't want. We do what we shouldn't do. We desire that which we know is bad for us. Again, if you think I am wrong try not to think about cookies. I just made you think about cookies didn't I? I bet you're still thinking about cookies. Cookies are good....

I have just been reflecting on the Apostle Paul talking about always seeming to do those things he doesn't want to do....and not being able to do what he really wants and knows he should do and it hits me clearer than ever that it's because we are fundamentally flawed.

I know for many that seems like Christianity 101 simple stuff. But is it really? Do any of us really understand just how off base we are? Do you have a grasp of how off base you can be?

More on this later :)

Looking Back

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Been doing some reflecting on some of the things that I think we could have and perhaps should have done differently at Real Life. I can think of two decisions I would like to have back (There are way more than that but right now there are 2 things I am wrestling with.) Both decisions were my call and I wish I had approached them differently. I am not going to write what the specific decisions were (at risk of hurting people that I care about's feelings) rather I will explain why I regret them.

Decision #1: A few years ago I felt lead to make a directional change at church. I floated the idea and was met with resistance. At the time, and to this day I felt that God was leading in that direction, Had we gone down that path over the long haul we'd have had the support we needed, and been in a much better position to weather the storm we'd been in over the last few months. I am not saying this single decision was ultimately our undoing as a church rather I am saying I believe (at least right now) we'd have been in a stronger place. Short term, it would have cost us, no doubt about that, but long term I believe we would have been much stronger.
The lesson for me (and perhaps all of you) is that I needed to pay closer attention to what I believed God was saying to me than listen to the people in the church. Whether it's your family, your job, your ministry, in in this case even your church, no one has the stake in it you do. If you go for the fence and you strike out so be it....at least you went for it. On this one, I bunted and it cost us.
Decision #2: I filled a position out of need and not out of inspiration. Early on in the life of our church I allowed someone to serve in leadership because I needed what they could offer. Looking at what they offered in a sense blinded me to the fact that they had so much baggage we would spend endless hours dealing with that baggage instead of ministering to hurting people. Now some might argue couldn't this person have been someone you were supposed to minister to? I would say yes, without a doubt. But, had I taken a step back and trusted God for this position I would have never placed them into a position of leadership. If I had listened to God I would have helped them find a place to be served instead of trying to serve on empty.
The lesson here is that all of us need to trust God as our provider. Had I not moved so fast and gotten way ahead of God, I would have seen that God had someone else I already knew ready, willing, and able to do the needed work. In the end it would have been better, by far for everyone involved. There would have been less heartache and our energies early on in the life of the church would have been better focused at reaching those God called us to reach.

Just some things I have been thinking about as I prepared the lasagna dinner for tonight!

Praise God

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:41:00 +0000

To say that the last few months have been personally depressing for me would be an understatement at the least. They've been tough. On top of that, I have been dealing with some health problems over the last few years that have taken their toll on me. From Gall Bladder disease (Thankfully, surgery cleared up!) To Insomnia, to arthritis it's been tough.

The arthritis has probably been the toughest for me. It's in my spine and causes me to have aches and pains at a time when most people are getting refreshed. When they are sleeping. For the last few years I haven't been able to sleep at all without pain and anti inflamitory meds. Even with those I usually wake up after 5-6 hours because I can't physically lie down for any longer without enough pain to wake me up.

I have been praying for God to take this from me for years and honestly I'd given up on praying about it. I know that is sad coming from a pastor type, but I am human and frustration got the best of me!! Anyway, yesterday I slept for 7 hours and woke up without pain or stiffness for the first time in about 5 years. I spent yesterday praising God quietly for that. I woke up again today the same way....completely pain free. I am praising God again for this blessing.

Am I willing to say I have been healed completely from it? Not yet....maybe soon... But I am willing to praise God that he saw fit to give me hope and relief that I had begun to think I would never again see.

Thank you to the God that still heals.

Sunday Morning Reflections

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:51:00 +0000

The last couple of weeks have been bittersweet in many ways. I've been trying to process all of what went down over the last 4 years at RL. Some really good things, some not so good things, and a whole bunch of stuff in between! In all things, God has always provided. It's interesting that even at the choice for us to close the church down we were facing a lawsuit for breech of our lease and other bills that we were not able to pay.

Over the last few weeks we've seen God provide for us again which further cements in my mind that it was time for us to close. We've had people write checks to help cover the expenses, it's been two weeks and we've managed to sell everything RL owned, with 90% of the stuff going to other churches!! We've been offered a settlement on our lease that is very reasonable and really what we had agreed to in the first place. All that said, we now have enough cash to close out the last of the churches obligations and we can settle them without ever falling behind in a single account!

God always provides for his people. For the last six months we prayed for something different. But in the end God had a plan and he took care of his people. It's not always pretty, it's not always neat, it doesn't always take the shape that we dream up, but he's a good God!

Sunday Moring Movies: A Lesson From Nixon

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:33:00 +0000

So, this is the first Sunday morning I haven't had anything to do in like 12 years. I woke up this morning at 7 am which is actually sort of sleeping in for me. I was flipping through the channels and looking for something to watch. Anyway, I was trying to decide between watching some thing churchy (it is Sunday!) or watching news or a movie or something along those line. I ended up watching the movie Frost/Nixon.

Now, being a history guy I have always been fascinated by Nixon. I mean a guy with so much going for him and everything to loose. Why would he participate in a cover up and all the stuff that went along with Watergate? So, I am watching this movie and the whole premise of it centers around a series of interviews between British Journalist David Frost and Richard Nixon. Frost is trying to get Nixon to admit his wrong doing. For Frost, it's really all about the scoop that no one else had gotten. Nixon is being typically Nixonian in that he is controlling the interview and controlling how he is seen by people. After all if Nixon can control the story he has the ability to allow people to see him, not as he really is, but as who he desires to be seen as.

It's not until the very end of the interview, which historically, took several days to shoot does Nixon start to drop the image and just be a real person. There were so many spiritual truths that I saw in this movie I was jut blown away....So let me give you some:

Nixon needed to come clean with himself: He was living a lonely life and spent all his energy trying to keep up the lies he had lived. Coming clean was important for several reasons. First, Nixon needed to come clean so he could stop living the lie....Biblical principle Number 1: We need to stop living lies and come clean with the truth about our own lives. We'll never be free if we are willing to live life without truth about ourselves.
Nixon needed to come clean with America: People were hurting because someone they trusted let them down. Until Nixon came clean healing couldn't begin. Biblical Truth #2: Come clean with those you've wronged. They know what you've done and until you do they cannot trust you again. Not only that, many times your confession is really the starting point for their healing. America didn't really begin the healing process until the confession from Nixon. It still took years but when Nixon finally admitted his wrongs, that's when it started.
Nixon didn't confess until Frost tossed his clipboard to the ground and spoke from his heart. By getting off the beaten path and just speaking his heart Nixon got off his game and started speaking as a person in pain and not as someone who was trying to keep up the front. Which leads to Biblical Principle #3: If you want to make progress with people you have to get off the beaten path and speak to them from your heart. If you're going to have a canned conversation with someone you can expect canned answers. If you're willing to get real and be a real person you might just get a real person back.

Who'd have thunk Nixon would have brought all that out? I could have listed the Biblical passages I was referring to in my principles but that would mean I am spoon feeding you. If this post struck up a nerve do a little research in the word and check it out for yourself!

Week one - Odds and ends

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:41:00 +0000

So this is our first weekend where we basically have nothing to do. It's really very strange. For years the weekend was a build up towards whatever was going on sunday morning....either the message, music, or whatever. This weekend I strangely feel none of that.

Tomorrow we are taking some of our flat screen TV's to another church so they can test run them and see if they'll work in their place. I hope they do, I really wanted our stuff to go to other churches who needed things rather than just sell it to the rest of the world. If this works out, about 90% of Real Life's stuff we were able to funnel into other ministries!

We also got a offer to settle up on our lease today. We don't quite have the cash for it yet but we are praying that we'll have it soon. For April and I that's the last big hurdle we feel like we need to address before we can put everything behind us and start moving forward with whatever it is that God is going to do next in our lives.

Had a nice conversation and dinner with Ralph Thompson tonight. We are looking at putting together a band to play some stuff out at clubs. We want to be able to take some Christian crossover music and some clean fun classic rock stuff and go entertain people with a good message. Hope to get going on that soon!

A whole new phase.

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:13:00 +0000

For the last 4 years I served as Pastor of a great church. I loved the relationships, the people, and honestly the job of pastoring. As of Saturday, that was all gone. I have been asked by a ton of different people how I am doing and how I feel about Real Life closing and honestly it's hard to give an honest answer that would make sense to them.

Allow me to explain:

Real Life was something that God breathed into me years ago. Now that it's no longer here it almost feels like I have lost a child. So there is a real and tangible sense of loss.
Real Life also took up most of my available energy (emotional and physical) so while, I have a sense of loss, there is also a part of me that feels that pressure has been lifted off my shoulders because I can take some time and catch my breath.
Real Life was the primary source for my relationships. Which was great and bad at the same time. I loved the people but my love for the people in many ways took me away from other friends and family that I should have spent more time with. Now that RL isn't there I am excited about reconnecting with some people that have been on my heart for a long time and I just couldn't get with.
I am taking some time to go over things we did right and things we did wrong so that I can learn from my mistakes and the mistakes of the church as a whole. That is a painful process to actually look at your actions and think I coulda, and shoulda done XYZ different.
I am sometimes happy as I think back and celebrate the good things that happened. Thinking about the people that stepped into ministry for the first time. Watching them stumble...then catch their feet and start to succeed. That was awesome to see and brings me joy even in the midst of feeling a sense of loss.

I could go on and on but to say that I have mixed emotions would be the understatement of the world!

We'll I need to get back to my day job. Those Papers will not write themselves!

Real Life, Blogging, and Me

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:36:00 +0000

Real Life: It's been a surreal kind of week since we have decided to close down Real Life. I have spoken to our folks about the details that made up that decision and why we had to end so abruptly. So I will save those details for our people and not posting them on my blog. Quite frankly, it's just so heart wrenching to keep writing them down. I want everyone who played a part in Real Life from it's inception to the end that I thank them for their service and you should know that I and many other people have been changed for the better because you allowed God to work through you!

Blogging: A few days ago I thought that I would close my blog down and move on. As I woke up this morning and have thought more about it I think that I am going to keep it open and rather than blogging about my thoughts and experiences as a pastor, church planter, and cheerleader of one of the coolest churches ever. I will write about my continuing spiritual journey. Over the next week I will share some of the emotions and struggles I have faced personally as a pastor, leader, and husband.

Me: Where will I go and what will I be doing next? Right now I don't know. April and I are going to take a few months and not go anywhere or do anything church related. After the start of the New Year we'll pick ourselves up, end our sabbatical and start the process of trying to figure out where we fit in the kingdom of God.

Will I be working in ministry again? Probably, but right now I need to step away and spend some time allowing God to fill me up, hence the need for stepping away for a season.

Sunday Mind Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:30:00 +0000

This weekend has been a weird one! Both April and I are in some kind of funk where we just feel like crap. There is nothing specific wrong...just not feeling like ourselves. So Let's dump:

We have one more Sunday service...then we are switching to Saturday evenings...maybe for a month...maybe longer. We'll see how things go and what everyone thinks about it.
Nice day at church today! Brett really stepped up and took over for his wife this morning. Nice job Brett!
Had a really long weekend! Hung out and played some outdoor games with my buddy Stu yesterday. Then April and I took off for Cleveland and the Cheesecake factory! She's been wanting Pumpkin cheesecake for the last few years and we never seem to get it. I made sure it happened for her this year.
Terrible day of football today. Not a good game on TV period :(
On the plus side my fantasy teams have done pretty well today!
See everyone out at the Funeral home for Deb's Dad tomorrow evening.

I am out!

Sunday Mind Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:51:00 +0000

For those of you who read my blog on a regular basis you'll notice I took a couple of weeks off froem blogging. Last weekend we didn't have an official church service so there was really nothing to mind dump about. I have also just been running around in a crazy busy kinda way. Hopefully, that dies down soon! So, let's dump:

Kinda liked that new song Sing to the Lord today. Has a nice swingy feel to it!
Announced today that Shelley Myers was taking over the kitchen manager duties. She'll be in charge of all things food, kitchen, and greeter related. So, from now all direct all your questions in her direction.
Looking forward to being able to help the hungry and needy in our area via Food For Thought. It's a cool ministry. You can check out their web site at www.freelunchtoledo.com
If you could take one thing out of today's message I hope it's this. Each of us are called to be servant leaders. Look at the needs right in front of you and do what you can to meet those needs.
Only two more weekends of Sunday services. Remember we are moving to Saturday evenings from 5:30 starting the first Saturday in Nov. Getting excited about the possibilities of that.
This weekends gathering is at our house. Looking forward to having everyone over once again. Remember, when I go for my PJ's that's your clue it's time to go home :)
Felt like crap all day today. Just one of those days where I am in a complete funk...not sure why other than hoping a good nights sleep will do the trick.

I am out.

Ever Noticed?

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Ever noticed that some people just seem to cause problems every where they go? They blame it on others, they say things like "I just call things like I see them," and they just don't seem to fit in anywhere. I don't know why but this afternoon I was thinking about some people I know and have known that seem to fit this description.

Maybe it hit me as I was doing a little reading in the book of Proverbs today....here is what Proverbs 4:16 says: Evil people are restless unless they’re making trouble; They can’t get a good night’s sleep unless they’ve made life miserable for somebody.

We need to understand that there are some people that sow seeds of destruction pretty much every place they go. The go from spouse to spouse because the "other person" isn't meeting their needs, they go from job to job because they see incompetent leaders, they have a hard time keeping friends because we've all let them down, and they go from church to church in search of a pastor or church that does what they like.

Sadly, in church circles, sometimes this group of people are very talented which makes them desirable people to have in church. They are often gifted musicians and teachers (notice I didn't say leaders.) This group of people often comes into a church seeking leadership position and place of influence. All the while they fail to grasp the basic concepts and precepts of the church. They use talent to try and work their way to the top. They fail to understand that in God's model of leadership a person doesn't ascend into leadership they serve their way into leadership.

If you've got people like this in your church get them out of any type of leadership position as quickly as you can. If you don't you're asking for bigger problems down the line. If you have people like this as friends or family pray for them :)

Sunday Mind Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:33:00 +0000

Nice day today. So, let's dump:

Felt great to be back teaching after a two week break. This might be the toughest series I have ever taught but it's stuff we all need to hear.
Nice to have Big John back behind the drum kit today. Don't worry man, it'll all come back to you soon enough.
Next week is our second open mic night. I am hoping for a great turnout with lot's of talented people. The last one was a blast and this one should be too! Paul Wise is doing a CD release party as part of the festivities that night.
Next months open mic HallowVox is featured, so you know that'll be good :)
No Sunday service or Friday Small Groups. We have too much going on with open mic night and the harvest party. Come out and enjoy that!
Still looking for someone to take over our kitchen at church. If you're interested let me, April, or Tony know.
Some great things coming up. Really good opportunities to bring people to church.
I think we are going to change the mythbusters series around a little bit. I am taking some questions and for those that have already sent them my way I'll answer them. I think we are going to change the series and call it "Cow Tipping." I am going to take some shots are tipping some of the sacred cows in church today. Should be a hoot and I will only tick off a few people since most of our people don't have a long church history!

I am out. Looking forward to watching the San Diego Vs Pittsburgh game tonight!

I Wish We'd All Been Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:10:00 +0000

On Thursday I made a trip to Indiana to have lunch with my daughter. On the way out I drove through Neapolis. I had a little time to kill so I drove into this cemetery where my Dad's parents are laid to rest. It was a surreal experience in a few ways. First, I hadn't been to that spot since I was a senior in high school as that's when my grandfather died. So, I was driving around looking for their headstones. I had a general idea which part of the cemetery they were in. After a few minutes I found it.

A I looked at the headstones a few thoughts came to mind. First off, it was amazing to me how quickly time seems to have gone by. It's been 23 years since I graduated from high school. Time goes by way too fast and in a blink of an eye our lives are over. We don't have forever to get things straightened out with God.

Which brings me to my second thought. My grandmother accepted Christ very late in her life. I have no doubts that she is in heaven today. My grandfather never did, at least to my knowledge. I wonder what it would be like to live with someone for all those years and all of a sudden they are eternally separated from you? Love my wife, and I love my children. What would eternity be like if I was there without them or they without me?

Sadly, the Bible talks about the notion that the way to heaven is narrow and there would be few that find it. Which leads me to believe that all of us who are believers will at some day be eternally separated from those that we love. That hurts my heart and I wish we'd all been ready to go. Don't wait to share God's love with those you love. Tomorrow may be too late.

Sunday Mind Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:18:00 +0000

What a great day today. So let's dump:

Really enjoyed having David and Billie with us. Hope they are able to come back and hang again soon.
Bad football day. No good games anywhere.
Enjoyed having me daughter in church again today even if she was dead tired.
This economy is really kicking our butts this was our worst month by a mile. Not good.
The Harvest party is coming in two weeks.
You get me teaching again next week. We are back to our series "Disciple."
Open mic in two weeks. Should be fun.
I think I need some dessert. April is really wearing off on me.
Loved David's reasons why we should support missions :)

I am out!

This weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:40:00 +0000

This weekend we're hosting David and Billie Blessing. David is Jeanie Blessings son and a missionary on Guinea. They have a great story about their lives in Africa. I encourage everyone to invite friends and family that have a heart for the hurting and broken in the world to come and hear their stories.

We are going to be taking up an offering to support their ministry. Rather than pick a single day and making a plea to help them here's what I'd like to do: You pray about it and if God lays something on your heart put it in the offering box by October 18th. We'll write one check to cover whatever was given by that date.

Sunday Mind Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 23:22:00 +0000

A nice day all around :)

So let's dump:

I decided a few days ago that we were not going to do a message today. That we would have a time of worship then release everyone to head out to the Out of the Darkness Walk. What a great day for it.
On that note, it was really great to see so many Real Lifers out there. Pretty much everyone showed up. How cool is that!
Next weekend David Blessing is coming by to talk about his life in Africa as a missionary. It will be a good time and very eye opening for many of us.

I am out. It's been a long weekend!

Touch Football and Worship

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:36:00 +0000

Ever played two hand touch football? It's fun but it's not really the same thing as full contact football. In full contact football you really need to go all out all the time or you risk being hurt. If you try and play it safe and protect yourself you find that your doing things that will actually put you in the position to get hurt. In football, the safest way to play is full on.

Now some of you are wondering why the title touch football and worship right?

Ok, now I am getting to that. Most of us worship God like we're playing touch football. We worship quietly and safely. We purposely worship God so as to not expose ourselves to him. I believe God is calling us to be full contact worshipers.

What exactly does that mean? It's actually simple. Pursue him with reckless abandonment. Forget about the things that this world has to offer and instead offer yourself up to God no holds barred. If you feel like dancing then dance. If you feel like raising your hands do it. Sing, dance, and give it all to him. The Bible says we should never be lukewarm because God would spit that out of his mouth.

We need to be full contact worshipers. Let it fly. Don't worry about getting hurt....let it all go for him.

Sunday Mind Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:05:00 +0000

What a great weekend!

So, let's dump:

Open Mic night was a big success. It was so much fun having so many new faces come into church to play their music. I cannot wait for the next one in Oct.
I finally felt comfortable playing guitar and leading worship again today. I've been out of it for a year and a half other than some fill in stuff and I was a little rusty :)
Tough message today. Here is the cliff notes version. As followers of Jesus we are to do what he did. Here's what he didn't do...spend all his time in church hanging out with people who where already convinced. Here's what he did do...spent his time with people no one else wanted around. That's what we need to do....spend time with those people no one wants around.
It's been my prayer since we started that as a church we'd see people come through our doors that no one else wants or can reach. Those are usually the outcasts. We are called to be a church of outcasts. I for one fit right in!
Have I mentioned how much I enjoyed open mic nights?
Split the kids classes up a little different today. Seems like it went well.
Love our volunteers. You guys are the best.....we couldn't do this without you!
Next week we are talking about something most people have some experience with....going fishing.
Got a nap today. Granted it was only a half hour or so....but, it was still a nap.
NFL back with a vengeance today. My fantasy teams are holding their own.
Going to Trezzo's to watch the Bears and the Packers. Question for Tony "Does it hurt less when the Bears loose in HD?"

I am out....have a blessed one :)

Sunday Mind Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Jeff Renner) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:34:00 +0000

Great weekend. How nice has this weather been? So let's dump:

Spares attendance today. Course we knew it woould be do to the holiday. Such is life! Enjoy your time away guys and gals.
Probably one of the most needed messages today. If you were not in church make sure you give it a listen on the web site.
Music felt good today.
Went to visit my daughter at college yesterday. Not homesick at all!
Open mic night coming up next weekend. Looking forward to that big time.
The new kids ministry set up starts next weekend. Should really work better for the kids.

I am out....it's too nice to sit on the computer :)