When I was in medical school, I got to spend two months training in a French hospital. Every weekend, Marla and I (newly married) would take a road trip in our rented Citroen Saxo. It would barely make it up the hills. We became experts at locating the best pains au raisins, and all kinds of other French delicacies, and saw some very beautiful places. It was one of the best times of my life.
Over the long Thanksgiving weekend (no, the French don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but we duly informed them that WE do, and that we would be needing a four day weekend), we visited Normandy, and particularly the famous beaches where the D-day invasion occurred.
The story of the invasion is truly fascinating. It’s a story of great courage, sacrifice, and teamwork. Inspiring stuff. There were so many heroes in those days of the summer of 1944. Some came home, many didn’t (as the American cemetery at Omaha beach illustrates above). Today, Veterans Day, we honor their sacrifice.
My strongest memory from the trip is my visit to the Airborne Museum in St. Mere Eglise. As I left the museum, a couple of French young men yelled to me from across the parking lot, “Thank you, Americans!”
Humbled, I smiled and waved. I was painfully aware that I didn’t pay a price for France’s freedom. Or America’s. So today, I give credit where credit is truly due.
Thank you, veterans!
All our ministry should be ordered in such a way that if God doesn’t show up, we will fall flat on our face.
Wait!? What about planning?
Planning is great. But too often the plan we choose cuts God right out of the equation. It feels safer that way. But what we end up with is a goal that we can accomplish in our own strength.
That’s not a good enough goal – not for someone who follows Jesus. I’ve seen enough of what people can accomplish for God. I want to see more of what we can do with God.
We should expect God to show up, when we’re stepping out in accordance with His will. When we know what His will is, we can go forward into even an impossible situation with complete confidence. Faith is knowing that God will do what He has said He will do.
So make a plan, but make sure your plan is big enough that you will fail… without God. Then, work your plan as best as you can… and invite God to do what only He can…. like heal that broken heart, bring the lost person to repentance, or intervene with a real miracle.
Yes, God still does those things. I’m completely convinced He’d like to do them a lot more. He’s waiting for us to take the risk of leaving room for Him to do what only He can do. It’s not really a risk, when you truly know Him. It’s an act of faith.
Renaissance Church was hopping today. Bouncing all over the place. Going bananas.
Yes, I’m talking about our day at Monkey Joe’s.
The children we sponsored all had a great time. Thanks to those of you who made it possible through your generosity of time and resources (including the folks at Monkey Joe’s).
Just another day of expressing our faith through love!
For lots more pictures (on Facebook), Click here
It’s that time of the month again! Time for all-night prayer.
Renaissance Church is fueled by prayer. Why?
– Because we are interested in what GOD can do, not what we can do in our own strength.
– Because we believe God wants to work though us, so we need to be intimate with Him and fully yielded to Him.
– Because we minister out of the overflow of what God is doing in our own lives.
– Because God answers prayer!
– Because we can’t think of a better way to spend 7 hours than in God’s presence, helping to change the world for the better.
– Because this world is hungry for the Real Love, Real Power, and Real Change – that only God can provide.
“What has gone wrong is… that over time Christianity became something to be practiced inside a building, instead of being a pulsating, life-transforming encounter with the living God that spills over and impacts the world.”
- Chinese minister Brother Yun (in his book Living Water)
That pretty much nails it. That’s why we are starting Renaissance Church.
I get asked all the time, “Where is your church?”
Usually I say, “Well, if you mean a building, we don’t have one yet.”
The truth is, you don’t need a building to have a church. There’s nothing wrong with buildings. We hope to have one someday. But Christianity is not about going to a building to observe a service.
Christianity, in Brother Yun’s words, should be a pulsating, life-transforming encounter with the living God.
And when it becomes that, you can’t contain it in a building of any size. Rather, it spills over and impacts the world.
That’s when the church becomes the Church – the Body of Christ, the earthly representative of our Lord Jesus.
Do you want to make a difference in the world? Start with your own relationship with God. Be totally filled up with Him, and then take the overflow to your community.
The fun and excitement of our first Mega Sports Camp is over. What a week! God’s love touched 45 children and their parents. Several made decisions to follow Jesus Christ. And everyone had a lot of fun!
We received so much great feedback from the children and parents. This was just the beginning of what God wants to do in our neighborhoods in south Charlotte.
Thanks again to our wonderful friends at the Vietnamese Christian Assembly of God who helped us so much. And to our wonderful volunteers – Katie, Rod, Cindy, Chuck, and Gloria. This camp simply would not have happened without all of you.
Notice the double rainbow in the picture above? It seems almost every day of camp, the skies threatened rain. People would call every evening asking, “Are we having camp? It looks like it’s going to rain.” We were determine to have camp, even if it poured. But it never did. A couple of nights it sprinkled briefly, but each time we prayed that God would hold back the rain – at least over Archdale park. And every night camp went off without a hitch. The double rainbow seems like a visual confirmation of God’s blessing on our efforts. After all, Jesus told us, “Whoever welcomes a little child in my name, welcomes me.”
Click the link below to see all the photos from camp on our Renaissance Church facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=91017415714&view=user#/photo_search.php?oid=91017415714&view=all
Last night was a great start to the MEGA Sports Camp. Basketball, soccer, and cheerleading were big hits with the kids.
4 more big nights!
Renaissance Church has been sending out teams into neighborhoods, hanging fliers door-by-door. We’re inviting children to our Mega Sports Camp outreach next week. It’s a sports-themed VBS which we are offering free of charge.
{Email us if you want volunteer to help out. If you want to register your child, there are fliers and sign-up forms here.}
We think the best way to build a church is by reaching out to people, helping them as much as we can, building relationships, and helping them take steps towards God. We want to let entire neighborhoods know that Renaissance Church cares – and that we want to help in every way we can. We do it for Jesus, we do it in the name of Jesus, and we do it in the power of Jesus. Our prayer is that He will transform entire neighborhoods.
Jesus said, whoever welcomes a little child in His name, welcomes Him.
That thought makes the whole thing more than worthwhile.
We’re looking forward to our monthly all-night prayer meeting tonight. We’re going to have some youth from the Vietnamese Christian Assembly of God visiting tonight. They are partnering with Renaissance to do a sports-themed VBS in August as an outreach to the community.
We’re going to pray for the VBS, and then Saturday, the youth will help us spread the word for the VBS by passing out fliers in strategic neighborhoods.
Check it out… www.RenChurchCharlotte.com
Many thanks to Shannon and Matt at Factor 1 for a job well done.
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