It is incredible how many stories in the past week or so has come across the local and national radar screen... A Senator, King of Pop, a Young man, Pastor... when it comes to the idea of living our lives not how the unwise live but as wise it never ceases to amaze me how short sighted and easily duped "us peoples" can be!

How can smart, intelligent people, men and women be so stupid? 

It's always easy for us to see the piece of wood in other people's eyes all the while not noticing the LOG in our eye!

As I have heard about some of these stories I can't help but think about our series the Best Question Ever.

The thing about that question is how it uncovers... exposes are real intentions, agendas even though we would never admit it most of the time. We are willing to blow right by every barrier, guard rail that God puts in our lives in order to satisfy our desires, our agenda, regardless of what is BEST for us and those we love... 

the result?

A Senator and his wife, boys, devastated... because he kept saying "nothing is wrong with it" living right on the ledge until he crashed over it...

A 50 year old man's life is cut short and his full brilliance never completely expressed because of drug addiction and much more...

A young man is sentenced to 6 years for drinking and then driving... killing a young mom, a sister, a daughter...

A pastor saying one thing and living another... a marriage, kids, a congregation shocked, mad, sad, devastated, confused...

Satan comes... prowling like a lion seeking whom he may devour, kill, steal, destroy... we flirt with disaster even though our Father in Heaven warns us to not live this way... back away from the edge and the ledge... live a regret-free life... a fool-proof life!

Right or Wrong is not our queue but what is the WISE thing to do! 

Guess what? It's toDAY!

Not just any day but toDAY!

We only get one toDAY you know.

No other day like toDAY!

Really no such thing as just another toDAY.

As I look out my office window I see that it is raining, the grass is growing, cars are driving by on Hertel, people walking up and down the street, the mini-mart a little slow right now, listening to Hillsong United's new release.

Was reading some of Jesus conversation that he had with some folks on a hillside a while back... his buddy Matt took some great notes that day...  when I read them toDAY they are still extremely relevant to what is going on in my world... I would love to have been there that DAY.

I wonder if anybody that was sitting on the hillside that day had any idea what was really being said, who was really saying it and that millions and millions of people would be re-telling, re-living that day 2000 years later... I wonder if they thought that day was just "another day?"

Jesus is sharing with his following that day so much... he talks about who he is and why he is here, he talks about social justice and and how to be authentic and how to actually pray... not like everybody else does,   (would have loved to have seen his facial expressions, his humor, you know he had to be a very funny guy... he invented laughter/humor... right?) he says about praying...  

“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us toDAY the food we need,  and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.                                                                                                                

Have a great toDAY!

It's a beautiful morning here in Buffalo... not a cloud in sight and I believe we can safely say SUMMER IS HERE!

This is our first summer at 567 Hertel and school gets out this week so it will be interesting to see the dynamic of the neighborhood during the summer months.

We have been getting to know and partner with the great folks over at the NW Community Center (best in Buffalo) Larry and Tony are great guys and have a tremendous heart for this community. They have a summer program that starts next week. Some 500-700 kids a day will walk through their doors. 

For those who are not familiar the NW Center is just 2 blocks from us so it is literally around the corner. So instead of trying to implement some kind of summer program we are going to partner with them and what they are doing. So the Renovation staff will be spending some time volunteering during the week.  It's great... we want to meet and get to know the kids in our community and their families... we don't have to establish a program...time/money/energy/logistics... we just show up and help!

If you have some time or should I say would like to make some time in your summer schedule to help volunteer talk to Joshua and he can let you know how/when/where!

Just got through meeting with a good friend and an incredible pastor down on the Westside. He needs to finish the upstairs of his building (needs sheetrock and labor) so they can get a Certificate of Occupancy. They have been working to get it the certificate for 5 years! This pastor serves a very poor neighborhood... a lot of refugees, poor hispanic... most of the people in his church are on social services... $500 a MONTH! He serves 250 families every week as a food pantry out of his little church building that he bought 5 years ago on his credit card. They didn't even have electricity or gas for 2 years after they moved in. So little by little they have renovated this little building and now need to finish the third floor which is no easy task. This is a light house church in a spiritually/economically/relationally dark place and we need to pray for our brothers and sisters who are serving. But not just pray for but ask God what we can do to help them accomplish the mission that God has given to them in their circle of accountability.

It's not always about us Renovation... what can we do for others! 

So glad to hear from people...emails, notes saying that you are getting what we are talking about during this Series. The Church is for the world like the heart is for the body. If the heart is sick then the body will be sick... if the church is sick then it's community will be sick... no hope, no resourcefulness, no integrity... 

Getting ready today for our conversation this Sunday... another key value that is near and dear for us at Renovation.

Don't forget to put Riverside Family Fun Day in you schedule July18 and Summer Jam July 27 -30! 

What a great Father's Day!

I got to hang out with the family all day. I let them decide (I already had mexican twice this week) where to eat so of course it was Buffalo Wild WIngs. Then the boys and I went over to Regal to watch Night at the Museum. Fun movie... somebody ought to do a similar movie based on all the characters written throughout the Bible... A Night In the Bible!

Later we went down to Anderson's because they were giving away free ice cream to all the dads!

Got to talk with my dad who (with mom) is out in Oklahoma at a Cockrell family reunion...then headed to Kansas City for a week... going to get the best mexican food in the world at Los Coralas...downtown KC!

We had a great day at Renovation... Loved having Danny Nieves his new wife and little sister helping us lead worship today! How cool was it to hear them singing in Spanish while Nick was singing in English!! So grateful to God for how He is allowing us to meet and partner with other pastor's and churches in the city!

Our drama team did another great job today as we continued in our Simply Irresistible Series. Today we talked about another core value that we have at Renovation... creating relevant environments that allow people to connect with God and with others.

We know that for us humans that the right environment matters... we like what we like and we are drawn to our spaces and places!

We talked about creating these environments and experiences not just to be cool but to do today what Jesus did back in the culture that he walked in and that is to BUILD BRIDGES RELATIONALLY and to TURN ON LIGHTS SPIRITUALLY!

Building bridges... turning on lights...  Dad's that's what we have to do for our family.

Talked to a dad today that has recently given his life to Christ... is just now realizing his role... his responsibility to help build brIdges relationally with his teenage daughter if he wants to continue to have influence in her life as she gets older and to help turn on lights for her spiritually.

Dad's here is a little formula that I heard several years ago and it has been a guiding principle for me...

Rules without Relationship = Rebellion

For us in the church it is why so many people have pushed the Church to the margins...

Church/rules + No relationship/no relevance = rebellion/leaving the church

So we get to help reposition the Church in NW Buffalo from the margins of irrelevance back to a place of hope, relevance and transformation...

What a mission!

All hands on deck... everybody is wanted and everybody is needed

Speaking of all hands on deck... don't forget to sign up for Riverside FamilyFun Day and Summer Jam... two great environments/experiences that will help us build a bridge relationally and turn on lights spiritually to NW Buffalo!

Whoa... this week is blowing by fast and furious 'cause we have been busy developing new contacts, deepening already established relationships! 

First of all I was blown away to see that we had 40 first time guest on Sunday... way to go renovation, love seeing friends and family bringing friends and family!

I did get a yr older this week (Monday)... if you would have told me when I was 18 that I would live till yr 46 and where I would be at age 46 I would have told you that you were nuts! 

So grateful for the journey that God has and is taking me and my fam! I love Him and the journey!

We had the awesome privilege of having Noel Castellanos hang out with the renovation staff and Mark Cerbone and Toni Benjamin from Peace Wednesday morning. Noel is the CEO of CCDA (we are a member) and was in town to host a CCDA Cafe at the Buffalo CHristian Center Tuesday night. Noel is a great dude and had some great things to share with us as we continue down this path that God has called us to as it relates to really impacting the NW community and how we can do things (renovation/peace) together to have a greater impact than just supporting each others different events and experiences.

Noel has been a part of the Lawndale (Chicago) community for 21 years helping at the same time rise up a new generation of Kingdom Exposers as they serve and reach the urban centers of America. That would be like 2/3 of the population of Buffalo living in Riverside!

You can read and learn more about Lawndale Community Church and "Coach" Wayne Gordon who started in 1975...great story that is still being told...great inspiration for us!

A few take-aways from our conversation together...

• What do the people in NW Buffalo think we (renovation) care "most" about?
• The Church is the catalyst/fuel for CCDA principles to happen in a community
• Is what we are "selling" really Good News to this community?
• The mandate to love and serve the poor, the broken, the widow, the fatherless, the unprotected is the SAME for every Christ follower but how/where we do it will be different!
• Nehemiah called a percentage of "suburban dwellers" to come back into the city to help... not all but some... 
• There are Neighborhood servant/leaders and Outside servant/leaders that is needed and both have a valuable role in the Kingdom of God!
• Model the SOLUTION of the FAMILY (in the hood) while helping people to develop the skills for having healthy families.

Can a day be any more spectacular? What a great day in WNY!

We also had a great day at Renovation as we began a new series called Simply Irresistible. It is a 7 week series that will allow us to really look hard at who we are going to be and how we are going to have a real impact in the community that God has called and moved us to be in.

Today we simply asked ourselves... If God was going to do something in Buffalo (NW Buffalo specifically) what would it be and what would it LOOK like?

2 great questions that Dwight Smith asked a room-full of pastors from all different denominations a couple of years ago.

It is the two questions that has helped formulate our mission at Renovation more than anything else.

We have an opportunity this summer to have a real impact on our community and a chance to build some really strong relationships and hopefully trust!

Can't believe it is the last week of school... 

Looks like the Lakers are new the new NBA champs :(

Had a great time camping this weekend at Letchworth...can't wait till next years "one night of fresh air" camping... don't want to get used to the "good-life"

All right so it's not Sunday night... I have been fighting a spring cold thing all weekend so I was toast last night. 

It was great having Dwight Smith with us... I always learn a ton when I get to hear him download some of the thoughts that he has gathered over 40 years of traveling around the world seeing true God orchestrated movements!

I love to be around people who make you think and Dwight is one of those guys. 

Just so you know he gave two completely different messages between the 9.19 and the 11.00 gatherings. 

Both were great!

We had 27 first time guest ... never get tired of seeing those hands go up and hearing everybody welcome them!

We hit today running... summer is coming and that means some great opportunities for us at Renovation to get inVOLVED! We will be talking about it this week.

Speaking of this week se are starting a new series called Simply Irresistible!

We will be unpacking the core values that we feel God has called us to live out at Renovation over the next 7 weeks... we will be doing some new things over the next few weeks should be a lot of fun... did I just say fun and church in the same sentence?

Yes but don't tell anybody!

Wow... I can't believe I have posted some 400 times. I have never been any good at journaling... but when we launched Elmwood I knew I wanted to journal the journey so I started to blog in Feb of 07 now it's June of 09 and Elmwood doesn't even exist anymore and there have been a ton of things happen big and small that I can now look back and see what God has done since we started this adventure... the Wild Goose Chase!

This past Wednesday is one of those great next steps for us at Renovation. We combined our Middle School and High School environments under the leadership of Joshua Dean. We had about 40 and it was just a great sight to see! We have had some great help in leading our Middle school environments from ANdy and Janelle, Hanna and Joe, Sean, and several others along the way. Now with a combined effort I am believing that God is going to really blow us away at how many teenagers we can reach with the full - loving - transforming message of Jesus Christ in NW Buffalo!

If you haven't noticed we put up a basketball goal in the parking lot and it has been a BIG hit already. We have met many neighborhood kids... teens... young adults in just a week!

Got to hang with some great leaders this past thursday from all over NY as we try to strategize on how to reach some 20 million un-reached... not yet convinced people...of their need for God and His place in their life. 

We have an unexpected surprise in the morning... can't wait!

WoW! What an incredible weekend we had at Renovation!

We had Stuart Hall come in for this weekend to help us in three different environments.

The first was our reTHINK-Tank that we had at the Renovation House Saturday morning. We had True Remanent and Victory Assembly's youth worker's along with our crew and a church from Dunkirk spend the whole morning rethinking...re-visioning... what - how - to have a greater impact in the lives of students so that they become passionate Christ followers! 

Stuart gave us some great things to think about and to consider... I will be sharing some of those thoughts this Sunday.

We then got ready for the WALK... we had no idea what to expect... we were blown away!

We set up everything on the front lawn and kids just started showing up. 

We had at our peak around 250... we had games, food, music, great hip hop dancers, and great volunteers!

We moved everybody inside and still had about 175 come in for the main event!

Stuart brought a great message... some 10 kids/students got up from their seats and went and talked/prayed with a counselor to receive Christ!

It was so cool to see and to partner with Danny Nieves and his kids... they did a great music-mime with their dance team... we had such a diverse group of kids... it looked just like the neighborhood!

Karen from Victory had to make 3 trips to get all of the kids to the event.

We had some 20 kids/adults from Dunkirk!

Prince of Peace had kids come up from the West Side... they had two girls do a great dance for us!

Kulu and D-Will were also a part of the evening!

Did I say how proud I was of our volunteers? You guys are incredible! THANK YOU!

Then we had CHURCH this morning at renovation! 

We got things started by having our first baptisms in our new portable baptistry! That was such a special time... we baptized 2 at each gathering...loved each of their stories!

We then had some of the best worship I have experienced ever! 

Stuart told me it was one of the most amazing worship experiences he had ever participated in... he goes all over the country speaking so...

We had Renee, Toni, Julius, and for the first time Shanon Carter worship with us... oh my goodness when they got it going during Never Would Have Made it... I bout didn't make it! The band was smokin hot! WOW... I was so glad we had two gatherings!

We had people sitting in the balcony today for the first time at 9.19!

So thankful to God for what HE IS DOING... so blown away to be able to get a front row seat!

Hey Renovation did you know that...

ONE day will be like no other... one hour be like no other... one moment will be like no other...

We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever... Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.  Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk.  But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.  Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.

This is part of the letter that Paul wrote to the Church at Thessalonica concerning a very important event that will take place and as believers we need to be aware and looking for this event to happen... what is it? Christ Return for His bride the Church... The Rapture! 

In a nut shell the events will be...

1 Christ return with a commanding shout!

2. AN unmistakable call from and angel?

3. Believers in Christ who are dead will rise from their graves.

4. Believers who are alive will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord

5.The rapture is imminent; it could take place at any moment

Sometimes we forget... TODAY may be that day are you ready?

I Thessalonians 4:15-18,5:1-9 NLT