Digety Dang... what a great day we had at Renovation! It was truly a CELEBRATION all day to day.

We started off with DJ Brandon Chase spinning a great mix on his tables as everybody walked in.

Of course it was funny watching people as they were handed noise makers when they entered the auditorium... 

I must say everybody did a great job of being "undignified" as we made loud clanging sounds!

We took a look back today... wow what a year it has been... did we really do and go through all that we watched on the video today?!

We had some Holy moments throughout our gathering today and I am so thankful for all that we got to experience and see.

Had a conversation during the 9.19 & 11.00... with a lady. She told me that her first time was the day we set up the aud with round tables and served a pancake breakfast for everybody. She said that she had given up on church. She had been to many and had basically said that if that is what it is all about then she was through. That day she said (after being invited by a friend) as she walked through the doors she was going to give church one more shot... she has been back ever since. We got a chance to help change one sweet lady's idea of church... that's awesome!

It was great have Renee and LaTonia with us today... helping us lead out in worship! It was also very cool to have a new friend, David singing and old Commodores tune... Jesus Is Love.

Great time of Communion while watching the stories of Renovated lives scrolling on the screen.

We will tally up those commitments tomorrow and let everybody know what that is.

I know there are many people who want and need to get baptized so can't wait to facilitate that over the next few weeks... if you have been thinking about it... just do it! Call the office and Michelle will hook you up with all of the details!

Had a great time this evening hanging out with some of real-life heros at Renovation... our Renovation Station Team. These folks rock! I can't tell you how appreciative I am of this team of workers both young and old. Renovation would not be all that we are w/o this devoted team of workers! I personally appreciate them because i am a parent of two boys in Renovation Station. I want to encourage many of you who call Renovation home to pray about and then respond by joining this Team. They have a great time serving the families at Renovation and there are many areas to get inVOLVED in this ministry!

Speaking of great people that have invested in Renovation Station... Earl Leatherland has been on the Renovation Leadership Team since we launched The Chapel at Elmwood and back then our children's ministry was King's World. Earl helped launch Elmwood and was specifically over the leadership of our children's ministry. He is also the brain and inspiration behind Renovation Station and the total look and design of the environment we have on the second floor in the Renovation Center just for kids. He and his wife Kendra and the kids have been a special part of Elmwood and now Renovation. As it happens at times God moves people in and out of ministries and so Earl is going to be transitioning off the Renovation Leadership Team over the next couple of weeks. We made this known to the Renovation Team last Sunday. Of course we will certainly miss Earl and the family but we want to celebrate and appreciate the huge investment that he has made in the lives of many boys and girls and in the lives of mom and dads. His thumb-print is all over our environments and his significant investemnt will live on for a long time. Please be sure to say thanks to him and the family if you see them walking the halls of Renovation. Also be praying for them as they seek out God's next assignment for their family. We love and appreciate them and know that God is going to continue to use them in the days and years to come where ever He leads them.

Once again it was a great day today... so thankful to God for His unfailing faithfulness. Can't wait to see what the next few weeks are going to look like as the summer closes out this week and everybody heads back into the fall season. 

Be praying for the Open House that Peace of the City is going to be having Sep 9,10. We are praying that we will see many kids form our community come and be a part of the ministry of Peace this year!

That's it for now!

Father God... thanks for all that You have done in us and through us this past year at Renovation... help us to continue to be Your hands and feet in the days to come!

Wow there has been so many things that have happened over the last couple of weeks that it is hard to believe... some good things, great things, tragic things, horrific/awful things...

We had a young man that is the boyfriend of a young lady that attends Renovation and is the father of of their two young kids who got in an argument with a guy over the paying back of $10... the boyfriend told the dude he did not have it so the guy pulls a gun out on him and starts firing shots... the boyfriend runs away and while trying to get away calls his younger brother to come get him... the younger brother (25 yrs old) walks out of the apt to go help his brother... walks around the corner... the gunman thinks it's the brother he's been shooting at - walks up behind him... shoots and kills him on the spot. Of course the older brother is absolutely distraught over it all... 

We have had a steady stream of folks who first visited us during SummerJam but have now come to hang out with us on Sunday morning. Very Cool!

We are realizing that if we are going to be able to have as much impact in the lives of the people that live in our community that we will have to create ENVIRONMENTS and EXPERIENCES that will allow that to happen beyond what we have on Sunday mornings.

We have observed that now when we open the doors up... kids come! Which is great... we do not want to shut the door on kids who want to come and hangout with us no matter the reason and there are many... food, fun, safety, love, encouragement... so we are really working hard to think through what we do... can't do it all but know we can do some things to help, bless, equip, empower, the folks who call NW Buffalo home and very specific the West Hertel area.

So we are strategizing about what Wednesday night could look like if we concentrated our efforts into one night ... as best we can right now... to reach as many men , women, boys and girls with the FULL redeeming power of the Gospel... parenting help, educational help, spiritual formation, social connectivity in a positive environment... for all seasons of life. Pretty big stuff but very exciting to create with a blank canvas to paint on all that we can do (in steps) to bless this community.

The Basement renovations are steadily progressing... trying to have this space renovated within the next two weeks so that our Renovation Students can have a place they can call home to come and hang and experience all that their heavenly Father desire for them... right now. We still need some volunteers time and sweat... need some additional funds to help make into a place that will be special... appreciate several who have given toward this project!

It was so cool to have my dad speak at Renovation this past week! What a great message and one that I needed to hear. I told the 11.00 crew after he spoke that I was thankful for the incredible heritage and gift that I have because of the strong character and integrity that my dad has provided for me and my two other brothers... and that what I wished that every young man and women would have that but I realize most don't. But I also said that that reality can change! That men you can and must break the generation chain of being a cultural man verses a godly man. I am going to really focus my attention this year in helping and equipping men to be all that God has designed us to be. 

I will share more about that in the days to come.

I have a lot in my heart and head that I will share over the next few weeks... the main reason I blog is to journal this journey that God has me but for now I gotta go to a meeting!

Always wanted to use that phrase... not that anybody will care!

Well we got back officially Friday afternoon... we were only 35 minutes away so that was good... very good!

A few observations about our vacation....

• it takes work to have fun!
• it takes work to stay nice to the ones you love!
• Don't take a bigger dog with you when you are in a smaller space and place!
• Make sure that all the windows aren't painted shut when it's hot and you have no AC!
• When staying around water make sure everything is zipped up or you could lose a few things...
• You really don't need phones, game-boys, camera's (all things that are now on the bottom of the lake)

I am on vacation with the family so I am going on a blogation ... be back in the flow in a week or so!

The week started to snowball and it was sun-up to sundown and beyond so I wasn't able to keep up with updates so I thought I would capture some of the moments while they are still fresh in my heart and mind.

Wednesday morning found us hitting the streets of the Westside early as we met the Mayor for one his weekly "Clean-Sweeps." This happens every Wednesday morning somewhere in our city. There will be 21 of these during the year... it is incredible to see all of the city agencies coming together in a concentrated place to "clean-sweep" the area. 

We started at 15th and New Hampshire pulling out all trash and various items to the curb or in bags... the entire SJ team worked with great enthusiasm mixed with hard earned sweat! We swept all the way up to 19th street then over to Massuchssetts up about 6 blocks then back to where we started. 4 hours of hard, dirty, nasty, smelly work that most of us adults would never out our hand toward... it was inspiring to see!

We then took them to LaSalle Park on the water and had lunch... great spot.

We headed back to Renovation... took a quick break and then got ready for SJ.

It started raining about 4.30... would anybody come?

We had 68 new people come that night - in the rain... teenagers walking in the rain to come to SJ!

We ended up having a great night even though our numbers were down the energy was up... we had at total of 270!

Thursday morning was a beautiful and after we gathered for our morning devos the crew got after it in a ridiculous way!

I have never seen a group work as hard this group did... especially on the final day! We finished painting all over the campus... we put some beautiful flowers and plants in out front... trees were taken down... stumps grounded down... things fixed... new tolliets installed... then everybody made a last dash effort to clean everything up to get ready for the final night of SJ.

It was very cool to have Pastor Phil fly in from NC... the pastor of Scottshill Baptist Church to celebrate the last night with all of the students... the kids loved it when he walked in during their afternoon Prep/Pep Talk!

We then got ready to rumble and rumble we did... we had 150 NEW people register on the final night! 

The energy and excitement were off the hook! Crazy to see kids, teenagers yelling and screaming, running into the auditorium excited to be in a "church building" for crying out loud!

We had over 430 the last night.

Had over 600 different people register for SJ during the week.

I gave a simple Gospel presentation... I led them in a simple prayer to God if they wanted to begin a personal relationship with Him and if they wanted to receive the gift that His Son has offered to every man, woman and child...

It was pretty cool (awesome) to hear hundreds in unison pray out loud with me... only God knows what was started in the hearts and minds of men, women, boys, girls... that is His business...

I do know that we over 600 decisions this week... over 600 people decided to walk onto our campus (that God has so graciously given to us) to  eat, laugh, talk, watch, think, listen, sing... what a week!

I told Jon (one of the greatest leaders I know... not just because he is my bro but because of what has done and is doing with some 400 students)  and his students from Scottshill last night before they went to bed in order to get up at 4.30 AM to drive back to NC... how much I and all of us at Renovation appreciated their incredible investment in us. They got a years worth of work done in a year... they did it everyday - all day with out a complaint but with great passion and attention to detail... we will not ever be the same because of them - not so much of what they did with their hands but what they did with their hearts!

On top of all they did physically... they also invested over $10,000 to put on SummerJam... bought us a new industrial strength ice-maker and so much more...

Renovation we have much to be thankful for!

What will we do with the investment... keep it for ourselves... my hope and prayer will be to receive, be grateful and then get ready to do the same for others as it has been done for us...

Can't wait to go to Renovation in the morning to see who shows up... I know God will meet all of us there... I am praying that some of our new friends will meet us there also!