Even though it was stinkin cold outside it was cookin inside!

Had a great time wrapping up our MapQuest Series!

I really sense that God is going to use the things we discovered about Him and about ourselves over this series that will be a strong catalyst for us to accomplish all that could be and should be in our lives... families... community!

I love having conversations with people who are really beginning to understand that God has them on mission where they work... play... live.

I think that God is really helping us to understand that "doing church" is just not going to be acceptable... we are going to have "to be the church"

if we are really going to discover His will and direction in our lives by living within the boundaries that our Heavenly Father has given us then we really are going to be in for a Wild Goose Chase! We will look, smell and be different! 

Can you imagine if many of us at renovation actually began to live this way... how different and significant our lives would begin to be? How our circles of influence and accountability would be impacted?

I would like to begin to hear what God is putting on the hearts and minds of others... what your preferred future looks like as it relates to your marriages... your singleness... your finances... your health... your education...

I am excited for us to begin to create environments and experiences that will allow us to hear from our community... those who call renovation home and those who have yet to hang out with us what vision they see by 2015 and 2020 in NW Buffalo! What Could Be and Should Be!

I loved Oral and Jeanine kicking it off this morning with I Can See Clearly Now! My pray is that we really can after the last 4 weeks!

Thanks Father God for all that You are and all that You allow us do and be!

I am always looking to find others who have been down the road a little further than I have... especially when it comes to serving our NW community and the city at Buffalo at large. 

I was perusing through some blogs and tweets and came across a great CCDA participant down in New Orleans called Desire Street Ministries. They have been serving the Upper Ninth Ward for many years and was hit really hard when Katrina moved through. On their website they had a few tips that they had gathered for fellow sojourners...

Things To Remember In Urban Ministry

1. Don’t just give money to anyone who asks. Your gift could make matters 

worse. Learn how to be a good steward of your gifts to the poor. 

2. Handouts can hurt. Work to empower people and respect the God-given 

dignity of each person. 

3. You have as much to learn as you have to give. 

4. Remember God is at work, and has invited us to join Him. He’s the main 

character in the story. 

5. We are all sinful, and there is only one Savior. 

6. God uses foolish things so don’t think that your education or privilege will 

result in success. God will use the broken people and circumstances of the 

inner-city to teach you the sweet truth of his word and his ways. 

7. There are a lot of highs and lows, peaks and valleys, so pray that God 

would give humility and grace. 

8. Don’t recreate the wheel. There are many saints who have trod the path 

of urban ministry for decades. Be teachable and learn from them.  

9. Be aware that dancing, good food, and laughing will be involved. 

10. God cares for the poor and commands that we should also. 

11. Remember that the inner city is in the condition it is today because of sin, 

both from within and outside the community. 

In my office right now... looking out my window it's pretty much a white-out. 

For my florida friends that's not sand in your eyes at the beach... 

nothing like spending an hour blowing snow off the sidewalks then go back outside 15 minutes later and see that the wind blew all the snow back on the sidewalk... *(#)@^!

Had a cool time hanging with some community advocates last night at the NW Community Center at the Good Neighbor Planning Association. We are trying to deepen our relationships here in NW Buffalo this year... spending time with our neighbors in this kind of context is always enlightening and beneficial for me.

I want Renovation to move from being a "new church" in the community to a partner and advocate for our community.

We are planning 3 NW Community meetings over the next 3 months... Feb/Mar/Apr

We want to create an opportunity to hear from our community what they see the needs are and what they would like to see happen in this community...

Also want to get those whose kids are coming to Peace of the City to know how we are going to minister to their kids and others next year as Peace of the CIty moves their headquarters back to the Westside. Most know that Peace originated from the Westside and that is where they feel called to serve. It has been a great experience for Renovation to observe what a strong after school program can really look like and how it functions and serves a community. We want to hear from the parents of the kids that are being impacted by the ministry of Peace... and let them share what they would like to see continue after Peace leaves. We don't want to lose the ground that was gained over these two years so we are thinking and planning now for next year... exciting stuff!

We are finishing up our MapQuest Series this week... I have so enjoyed this series... I think it has been a very practical series for many...

If you have not signed up for the 28 Day Marriage Challenge do it today! It starts Monday, Feb 1 even though we don't start the Fire Proof series till next Sunday.

We have 250 signed up to come to our first Movie Night as we watch Fire Proof... awesome

We will be capping off our 28 Day Challenge and Fire Proof Series with a very special MarriedLife Live. It is Friday, March 5 and it will be a very special evening as we renew our Wedding vows with great music... awesome food... some dancing... all with the idea of Finishing Together. So all you dudes get your act together and buy your ticket this Sunday and surprise your bride!

That's t for now... oh wow... sun is shinning! Got love living in beautiful Buffalo!

I have at times referenced the small but powerful readings of C.H. Spurgeon. I gave my dad a nice leather-bound copy a while back... yesterday he called leaving me a message wondering if I had read the evening section because it was pretty powerful. I had left my copy at the office so i am at the office this afternoon and I just read it and I thought it was so powerful that we all could take a minute or two to read it and then spend a life-time remembering it...

“Doth Job fear God for nought?”

Job 1:9

This was the wicked question of Satan concerning that upright man of old, but there are many in the present day concerning whom it might be asked with justice, for they love God after a fashion because he prospers them; but if things went ill with them, they would give up all their boasted faith in God. If they can clearly see that since the time of their supposed conversion the world has gone prosperously with them, then they will love God in their poor carnal way; but if they endure adversity, they rebel against the Lord. Their love is the love of the table, not of the host; a love to the cupboard, not to the master of the house. As for the true Christian, he expects to have his reward in the next life, and to endure hardness in this. The promise of the old covenant was prosperity, but the promise of the new covenant is adversity. Remember Christ’s words—“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit”—What? “He purgeth it, that it may bring forth fruit.” If you bring forth fruit, you will have to endure affliction. “Alas!” you say, “that is a terrible prospect.” But this affliction works out such precious results, that the Christian who is the subject of it must learn to rejoice in tribulations, because as his tribulations abound, so his consolations abound by Christ Jesus. Rest assured, if you are a child of God, you will be no stranger to the rod. Sooner or later every bar of gold must pass through the fire. Fear not, but rather rejoice that such fruitful times are in store for you, for in them you will be weaned from earth and made meet for heaven; you will be delivered from clinging to the present, and made to long for those eternal things which are so soon to be revealed to you. When you feel that as regards the present you do serve God for nought, you will then rejoice in the infinite reward of the future.

Wow today is sunny warm (36 degrees) Buffalo winter day!!

We had our first preliminary meeting yesterday with Ron and Sue at Victory Assembly for Riverside Family FunDay! Planning for summer is a fun process in when you live in Buffalo and its only January... especially when you get to see the sun.

My hope and pray for us as a leadership team at renovation is for us this year to deepen the relationships we have established in our first year... to continue to nurture these relationships. It is so easy to forget about others no matter what context we are working in. We normally just get at accomplishing our agendas but  if we are going to accomplish much of anything we are going to have to think with others in mind and carve out time to talk... listen... reflect... then respond.

CCDA has been such a great help for us as we develop a blueprint for doing ministry in our context... NW Buffalo. 

It is exciting to think about what God wants to accomplish and how He wants to do that in our community.

Had a great time talking with Mike Smith this morning... he is the  Director of the Buffalo City Mission... a part of Renovation and a great friend. Mike is HIGH capacity and always blows me away when he tells me what is happening at the mission both with the men and women. Hearing stories of people who are up against incredible odds and how they are trying to make a difference in these people's lives... even young kids who are living with their moms at Cornerstone.

Empowerment is a word that often comes up in discussions with people who are really doing the hard work of transformation in impoverished areas. We as churches and parachurch ministries must continue to fight the natural bent to simply help... it is much easier to give to the poor than to know the poor. Part of empowering is getting involved in the lives of those who most have given up on... or those who seem to have little "chance" of making it ( most of our kids in NW Buffalo) and investing long term into their lives knowing their are no short cuts... years of loving our neighbors... kids... adults... poor... marginalized...

So this summer we are planning on trying to partner even more with other churches... city officials... groups... block clubs... to make NW BUffalo all that it can be and should be... bringing some of "up-there... down-here!"

Once again it is the beginning of a new week which is always (usually) exciting. 

We had a great time in our staff meeting this morning!

We meet every monday morning at 9.30... we spend a good amount of time looking back over the last week and telling each other stories that we have heard or seen that exemplify our mission or strategy... we call them "wins"

Wins can come in little or big ways but every win counts...

when we see teenage guys /girls getting up early on a Sunday morning and getting to Renovation Station to serve on the drama or worship team or a small group... that is a win

when we see men and women who get to an environment early to make it clean and welcoming... who get their early and pray for the day and the decisions that need to happen... those are wins.

when we see people who are bringing others with them for the first time... that is a win.

when we see people show up on a thursday night and rehearse in order to make our worship through singing and music the best it can be... worthy of the One we are worshiping... that is a win.

When we see adults both young and old, married and single give of their time to invest in the lives of young children...5th and 6th graders.... in our teenagers... that is a win.

when we see people spend an extra 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon to get incredible training so that they can be better at leading a group that is a win.

When we see people who barely know each other sitting at tables... laughing... talking... praying together that is a win.

when we see people give their money to support the mission and strategy at renovation and still give hundreds of dollars toward Haiti that is a win.

when we know of hurts, disappointments, sickness, divorce, loss of jobs, loss of opportunities and we get the privilege to pray for them... that is a win.

I love the leadership team that God has formed at renovation... we are an inter-dependent team... we need each other. None of us alone are as good as we are together. We depend on each other in so many ways... I would be in a world of hurt without each one of them... renovation would not be who we are or where we are without this incredible team... are we perfect? no... do we mess up? yes... do we know everything or everybody? no... do we care deeply? yes... do we work hard for each other/church/community? yes... can we get better? yes... do we love God and people? yes but we desire to do so more passionately in 2010 then in 2009.

Pray for this team... Joshua/Tina... Nick/Bethany... Michelle/Geoff... Scott/Michelle... Glenn... me/Gloria... we covet your prayers!

We do all of this before we talk about anything else... a great way to start a new week...

ps... worship was really strong yesterday... my prayer for us this year is that we would develop a culture at RC that allows for us to deeply and passionately worship in song/praise/thought... headed in the right direction i believe :)

Today has been one of those incredible days that God allows you to experience... 

Started out the morning with some of my favorite dudes... Men's Fraternity! We meet every Wednesday morning from 6.00 - 7.30 AM in the Renovation House. Loved the offline conversations that we had... blows me away to see these guys taking big steps in the understanding of who God is and how He has made us men and how He has called us to live!

Went with Joshua to get a quick workout in... i'm trying!

Finished getting everything ready for our joint monthly luncheon that we have for everybody that works in the Chapel Network... usually it is at Crosspoint but we hosted it this month. Had the Teen Challenge guys in yesterday to get the place cleaned up. We had a great time hanging together... fiesta day was the theme so we had some killer mexican food!!!

Bill Buyers and the Mayors Impact Team came by and ate with us which is always a pleasure... Bill and his team do a great and thankless job of keeping the city clean so this was our chance to love on them a little.

Also had a chance to thank Pastor Jerry and the Crosspoint Team... thank you from all of us at Renovation for their investment into what is happening here at Renovation... their generosity, help, heart for us is an incredible blessing!

We broke the tables down in the basement and got ready to do a "dry run" in the basement with our Students tonight...

Just came back from walking through the campus... we have adult mentoring going on upstairs on the 3rd floor with Renee Mapp... we have Club 56 in renovation station... walked downstairs into the basement to see 50 or so kids having a great time in their new environment... walked over to the house and there are a bunch of ladies having a great time "crafting"... they had snacks so i thought i would at least say high! 

Prayed with Mary and her daughter Molly Sunday because they are going with a group from Crosspoint on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic... she was "crafting" tonight and she said they were still going even with the earthquake in Haiti... I want us to take a crew on a Missions Trip this year if at all possible!

So it has been a full but an incredible day to see what God is doing at 567 Hertel Ave!

Thanks Father God... you are awesome!

Sunday night came and went so it's a Monday night rewind.

Looking back on our Sunday morning Gatherings... we launched the first series of the new year and the new decade by looking at how to discover God's direction or path for our lives in MapQuest!

Nick and the band lead us into great worship!

My prayer for us this year as it relates to worship is that we would continue to develop an appetite to sing about who God is, what He has done and what He is doing in and through our lives... to begin to put in the margin of our day... in our listening habits music that reflects the character of God... the activity of God... and our responses to Him. 

I know many at Renovation this very new to you... the songs that you hear on Sunday's are the only time you hear them... I would encourage you to take the time to invest in some "new music" to add to your ipod.

hear are a few possibilities...

Leeland ... Brandon Heath ... Lincoln Brewster ... Israel Houghton ... Johnny Lang ... of course my favorite Thad Cockrell (more about him later)

these are just a few... punch in these names to itunes and take a listen.

As we launch into a new year I feel compelled to help us all take a step deeper into our walk and relationship with our heavenly Father. We must always fight against our natural bent to rely on ourselves and to categorize God into an option... that keeps us at the center and Him on the margins which is exactly what we shouldn't do. Let's continue to push Him to the center of our lives.

This of course is a process... as we discovered Sunday as it relates to God's will and direction when we become more familiar with God's Providential will (what He is going to do no matter what) and more surrendered to His Moral will (what he wants all of us to do) then it is much easier for us to discover His Personal will for our lives! We said that God is more interested in us discovering and getting to know Him then for us to obtain more information...  what do I do, where do I go... it is in the process that we find how awesome and great our heavenly Father truly is!

I had a gentleman come up after and ask me... "you said that we could get to really know God, can you tell me how that is possible?" Of course I said sure! Got to introduce him to one of our pray partners and Michael got to help him discover "how" to meet God!

We had 29 first time guest! WOW that still blows me away. We had 10 in renovation station so that is awesome. We did not start last year saying lets see if we can bring over 1,100 first time guest thru our doors in 09 but that is what happened and I don't want to put a "number" out there this year. I just want us to continue to think about inVESTING and inVITING... inVESTING in people's lives... building bridges with love, compassion, kindness, justice... and one day inVITING them into a relationship with Jesus Christ!

Speaking of Thad (my youngest brother) he is opening up for Jars of Clay this week in 6 different cities... we are going to go see him Friday night in Times Square at B.B. Kings! pretty cool!

Well the sun is shinning as I look out the window of one my favorite hang-outs when I'm waiting for Carlee or Caleb's basketball practice to get over or some other school related event... the new Spot Coffee on Main St. (Gloria and Canon are skiing today)

My good buddy Dave just texted me from Tampa that he is also waiting for his son's baseball practice to be over and he is standing outside watching snow flurries fall... I love it! We gots to share the love to everybody... we don't want to hoard all the winter fun!

The first week of a new year is always fun (kinda) for me but with it also being the beginning of a new decade there is added excitement thinking about what will 2020 look like? 

This next decade is a huge transition for my family... Carlee will be 23... Caleb 20... Canon will be 16... I will be... (never no mind)

What will Renovation look like... feel like... how many church plants will we have launched... how will we have made an impact in NW Buffalo... for that matter how will our community that God has called us to look different?

What will your life and family look like in 2010?

Are you even thinking about it?

Are we thinking with the "end" in mind?

The end of a season... a year... a decade... a life

We know that good intentions lead us to no where...but the direction we point our lives.. our thoughts... our passions... our energy... our treasures will be where we land.

I got to spend thursday with my brother Jon and the Administration/Missions Pastor of their church (ScottsHill) Jimmy Suggs showing Jimmy around Buffalo and specifically the Westside and NW Buffalo so Jimmy can see better where they have invested and how they can continue to invest in Kingdom partnerships up here in Buffalo even thought they are in Willmington NC. God has done and is doing some amazing things in the heart of His people all over!

It is exciting to think what other relationships will be crafted and developed over this decade for the cause and expansion of the Kingdom of God?

I am really excited as we start the New Year at Renovation... we will be spending 4 weeks in a series called MapQuest... discovering God's direction in our lives. That's personally and collectively. We are not just going to talk about it as a church but we are going to actually take what we are learning and discovering to help us envision what 2010 and beyond will look like for us... can't wait so don't miss the journey!

Here is a shout out for anybody that wants to help a lending hand clearing snow on Sunday mornings... show up at 7.30 am... we have all the equipment just need hands and feet to make it happen so we don't get a ticket and so we create a safe and welcoming environment for our guest to come!

Have a great Saturday... see you tomorrow!

What a great way to bring in the new year... with a nice little Buffalo dusting... for you southerners out there that would be about 12-16 inches we got last night and mainly this morning... it probably snowed a 9-10"s just during our 2 gatherings!

Yet we still had 350 people brave the weather to make it to our 1 yr Celebration!

I love Buffalo!

I love Buffalonians!

Yes we had a great day today as we looked back on what God did in us and through us in 09.

We focused on the 6 main series that we did this year highlighting what we learned or discovered about ourselves and about God.

Here is a quick look

Wild Goose Chase

We discovered that life with Christ should be a little more like a wild goose chase . . . mysterious, unpredictable, and even dangerous.

Breaking out of the cages that keeps us from “Chasing the Wild Goose”

The Cage of Responsibility …of Routine… of Assumptions… of Guilt… of Failure… of Fear

It’s Personal

This series helped those of us who had genuine questions, doubts, and concerns about becoming followers of Christ. We realized that not all of those questions will get answered. In most instances, something happens that shrinks those questions. And that something is always personal.

For many of us our relationship with God went from being a category to being very personal!

Best Question Ever

We said we never planned to mess up our lives… but unfortunately, we never plan not to. When making decisions, we learned to always ask ourselves, “In light of my past experiences, my current circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do?”

Simply Irresistible

This was our longest series of the year. We took the time to discover our core values that will help us in our spiritual development as individuals and as a collective Community of Faith to be all that God intends us to be!

taking steps… in our growing relationship with Jesus Christ.… in understanding and telling our Grace Story… in knowing/understanding our Spiritual Gifts and then using them in the World we are called to serve… in our interpersonal relationships that reflect the One who indwells us… in stewarding all of our assets for the expansion of the Kingdom of God… in seeing and experiencing the reduction of “lost-ness” in our community.

Love Revolution

Year two for us at Renovation… we launched into year two with a look back at all that God did in us and through us. We recommitted collectively to not only serve each other but to serve and resource what God is doing in other churches and ministries in our city, region, state and world.

We had close to $30,000 of new commitments from those who wanted to experience first hand what happens when we trust God with all of “our stuff.”

Love Revolution income paid for the renovations in the basement of the RC Center for our Students… it will be opening soon! THANK YOU!

Leaving Lust Vegas

This was our most controversial series and most difficult to deal with because of the nature of the content and the effect it is having on us. We decided to drag what is usually kept in the dark into the light… for many of us we found freedom in the light of God’s Word, in talking about it, in exposing what had been a secret for so long!

Leaving Lust Vegas… BEHIND was what we desired and what we asked God to help each of us to do!

One lady came up and talked with Gloria telling her that she had been coming all year and had been putting off crossing over the line of Faith… but not today! She decided the first major decision of the year would be to make It Personal! What a great way to kick of the year! I pray we will see hundreds of people both young and old do the same in 2010!

I was blown away this week when MS emailed me the stats for the year…

Since we opened our doors for our Grand Opening January 4 - 09

We had 1164 (who filled out cards) people walk through the Renovation doors for the first time to hang out with us!

That’s 23 first time guest ea week

We averaged 451 each Sunday counting kids!

We had dozens of people come into a personal relationship with Christ in 09!

My prayer is that we will see many of those people take their next step by being baptized on 2010!

A lot to be THANKFUL for!

Not to us… but to Your Name be the GLORY!

Hello 2010... nice to see you!

I thought the 90's went by fast... i had no idea how fast a decade could go by.

We ushered in the year/decade last night with our family and friends... what we do w/o wii? 

This week has been a great week to get caught up on stuff like magazine articles... blogs... books... looking back... looking ahead.

I tweaked my blog roll on the left of this column... I have been following some other people lately so I thought I would offer us some new thoughts and perspectives for the New Year!

I jumped into 5 new books this week...

leaders are readers... as soon as we stop growing and learning we are toast... my dad is still reading books and trying to learn after 40 plus years in ministry and I want to do the same

I just got Mark Batterson’s new book… Primal, looking forward to jumping into it… remember Mark wrote Wild Goose Chase that we started the year off with.

Reading a Coach K’s book Beyond Basketball… Keywords for Success

along with Francis Chan’s Forgotten God

Also reading finishing a great CCDA book called Communities First which will be a great resource for us this year at Renovation.

Reading through some Oswald Chambers…

Reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell who wrote Tipping Point… this is a great book for parents…

 I have books strategically located at work… car… home so I can always read a little no matter where I am at and if I have some free time.

It has been a great year… seeing all that God has done has been amazing!

Great… we are in a winter storm warning until 6 pm tomorrow night…

You got love it… so pumped about our 1 year Celebration… maybe the storm want be as bad or maybe miss us a little!

See you tomorrow Renovation!