Blog Title: RennerWorld

So much has happened in our ministry in the last week, and I have not taken the time to blog about it all.  Let me take a minute to relate some of the highlights.

•     The Kiev Good News celebrated its one year anniversary- over 2500 people in attendance!
•     Every Day, our new Russian-language worship album, is now available!
•     My wife Denise's new book, Do You Know What Time It Is?, is now available in Russian!
•     The editors of InVictory and the Christian Telegraph listed me as one of the most influential Christian leaders in the Russian-speaking world - a great honor.

Our ministries are reaching new people and growing ever stronger, I believe that our churches are really growing to the next level spiritually.   Please continue to pray for us, especially in regard to the Moscow Good News Church building project.  This month, we have to pay for the final round of permissions we need to begin construction, and we are believing God to provide for this.  Thank you for agreeing with us in prayer!

Yesterday we officially released the newest album from the Moscow Good News Church!  The album, called Every Day, is a collection of praise and worship songs all written and performed by our church.  Many of these songs were birthed through our all-night prayer meetings.  This is the finest album we have ever recorded.  I know that it will be a huge blessing for our church, so that they can worship to the music of the Good News Church while in their homes or cars.  Yesterday, our music department played many of the songs from the new album in our church service.  We had a great service praising and worshiping the Lord together!  As I looked at the stage, I realized what a great team of musicians, singers, workers, and worshipers God has brought to us. Denise and I  are praying that this album will touch lives, and draw people closer to the Father each time it is played. 

On Sunday, Denise and I were at Bishop Keith Butler's church in Detroit, a wonderful congregation of around 10,000 people.  Sunday evening we flew to Chicago to minister in my dear friend Robb Thompson's Family Harvest Church in Chicago.  On Monday, I ordained a Russian pastor in the state of Indiana, then traveled back to Michigan where Denise ministered at a women's meeting of Resurrection Life Church in Grandville. Tonight I'm ministering in Battle Creek, MI at Victory Life Church.  As you can see, we've had a busy trip.  Thank you for your prayers! 

On Sunday, our Moscow church was blessed by the teaching of Andrey Chebotarev, pastor of the Good News Church in Riga, Latvia.  Andrey is like a son to me, and he has served as pastor of the Riga church since I moved to Moscow almost 8 years ago. 

Ever since we started the Good News Church in Kiev, Denise and I have been spending less time in the US than we normally would.  We always enjoy reconnecting with our friends and supporters in America, and are sorry that we will not have the chance to visit more cities.  We want to encourage you to look at our itinerary, and if you can make it to one of our meetings, we'd love to see you!

Russia is a vast nation.  I don't often comment on some of the various elements of life in this great country, so I thought that today I'd post a link to a blog that does,  English Russia, which shows photos of past and contemporary Russian scenes categorized by topic.  They manage to capture the wonder, amusement, grandeur, sadness, and drama of Russia on their pages, and are a fun place to turn to if you'd like to hear something from Russia that is not political for a change.  Of course, if you'd rather read about Russian politics, the net is swarming with writers and bloggers all eager to share their opinions. I'll leave that to the political pundits.  But I would like to share this link to www.russianews.net, a great site which amalgamates all the different articles which appear on the major news wires (reuters, itar-tass, associated press, etc).  If it's newsworthy and in Russia, you can read about it there.   

I recently read a post from another Christian blogger who wondered aloud as to why some Christian blogs sound overly preachy in their style, and wondered "where are the Christian bloggers who make mistakes, sometimes give in to temptation, get angry, and admit they aren't perfect?"  This is an interesting question. I am certainly not perfect, there is no question about that. But a blog is a means of communication with the world.  What does the Bible say about how we are to relate to the world?  The Word calls us to be a light to the world, "so that men may see our good works and glorify the Father."  The Bible says that we say "should be good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."  Philippians 4:8 gives us very specific instruction as to what we are to think about.  Perhaps that's why I do not write about the struggles I face as I minister, or the times when my actions have not been in accordance with God's Word.  I'm far from perfect, friends.  But in Christ, I am more than a conquerer!  I can forget all these things which are behind and press on toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus!  We want to relate to our audience, to show that we understand their struggles, trials, and failings, and I know that sometimes ministers can sometimes seem as if they do not relate to where people are walking.  But I think we err if we focus on our failings, rather than on the victory that was bought and paid for by the  precious blood of the Lamb!  For my part, I want the words of my mouth, and the words on my blog, to glorify the Lord!