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Nov 27, 2011    |       6 comments

Receiver instead of the Quarterback…Parenting 101

The last time you were at a Church service…were you challenged?  Did God speak to you about something you heard while at the service?  It happened to me today.  I was a 2nd time guest at a Church today.  The Church is New Creation Community Church in Anthem Arizona.  Eric Sass is the Lead Pastor and the Church is only about 7 months old.  I wanted to check this Church out because I met Eric and traveled with him throughout Uganda Africa.

Now, understand that I have been a preaching Pastor for the last 20 years and have been doing the preaching nearly every weekend in that same time frame.  I confess that I like the Quarterback side of preaching instead of the Receiver side of preaching.  You get that right?  I would much rather deliver the sermon than receive one.  So many times in the past 20 years of preaching I would have someone approach me and ask if I had a video camera or something in their house because the message that I spoke seemed completely directed at them.  I actually experienced this phenomenon today.  Personally, I don’t like it.  Its too personal.  But, God has his way doesn’t He?

I won’t go into the details of Eric’s 30 minute message today, because like any good preacher…and Eric is good…they will wrap the message up in a take away sentence that is easier to remember.  Eric’s take away sentence is this, “The purpose of parenting is to show the world the love of God in action.”

Dang it!  I had not thought of parenting that way before.  Maybe I’m a bit slow.  But that sentence really resonated with me.  It stirred me.  It ticked me off.  He’s right.  I have said many times that the older my kids get and the more interaction I have with them the more I understand my personal relationship with God.  You get that, right?  You and me…we are Children of God.  God is the ultimate Father.  Need some examples?

When my infant son threw a temper tantrum and pounded his head on the floor until he nearly bled…well…that’s like me as a grown adult going through a tough time and shaking my fist at God and shouting out that I don’t believe in Him anymore.  When my son was throwing his temper tantrum…as his father…I let him bang his head until he stopped and learned his lesson that the only one being hurt was himself.  Just like if you shake your fist and say God isn’t real anymore.  God will let you have your tantrum.  He loves you and will patiently let you learn that the only person you are hurting is yourself.

How about when one of your teenagers gets in your face and shouts you down, yelling with passionate anger; “I hate you!”  Does that action and those words change how much you love your teenager?  No.  So it is with God when our actions to dive into sin seem to shout out to God…”I hate you.”  He still loves us and never forces himself upon us.  Oh…he might punish us…but that is still love.

Or, on a positive note, when my daughter climbs up in my lap and falls asleep…man that is heart warming.  So it is with God when you are laying in bed and reading the Bible and you fall asleep while reading it.  You just fell asleep in your Father’s lap.  (Or are you of the old school that thinks you must feel guilty because you fell asleep while reading the Bible.)  I think that must be a special moment for God the Father.   Have you ever had your child fall asleep in your lap while reading a book together?  Did you punish that child for it?  If you did…you are evil.  Really.  You should go to bad parenting purgatory.

Back to point.  I wish there were a 3 point sermon that gave us all a formula for how to parent.  I wish we could all take a “good parenting pill.”  There is no such thing.  Most of us are trying to figure this parenting thing out as we go.  I personally find it really easy to make commitments to be a better parent…but the follow through thing is a whole different story.

So, I guess I want to leave it vague just like Eric did today.  He gave a sentence for me to remember. “The purpose of parenting is to show the world the love of God in action.”

I think if Eric would have given me 3 points and a “deeper” explanation, it would have left me in a fashion of not thinking about it much more.  But he left me with a haunting sentence that I can’t seem to get out of my head.  I am blogging about it.  I hope to do to you what Eric did to me.  Make me think about it more.  Make me stare in the face of my children and be reminded that my next sentence/action/discipline/facial expression/move, is a demonstration to my kids, my spouse and the rest of the world the very behavior of God in action.

I’ve got to guard this better.  You too?  My everyday parenting decisions and actions is a display of how God is.  That is the pressure of being a Christ follower.  There is no shortcut.  There is no cheat sheet.  There is no get out of jail free card.  This is the real deal.

As I sit at the kitchen table typing this out…I looked up and saw a Bible verse that my wife has written on her dry erase board.  I haven’t asked my wife’s purpose in writing the verse in the kitchen, but I think God had her write it for this very moment.  I think it is the solution to being a better parent, leader, work associate, athlete or just a better person…period.  I paused and took a picture of the dry erase board…see it below…


That picture really sums it up. Parenting…like anything…is a heart issue. Let’s do this. Let’s be a better representation of the Love of God. Let’s be better parents. I pray that one sentence haunts you like it haunts me. I want to show the world the Love of God. Don’t forget that Love is Justice and Mercy. Love is Grace and Discipline.
How I parent….demonstrates…to the world the love of God in action.
Let me be the quarterback at this moment….
Receive this…
The purpose of parenting is to show the world the love of God in action.

Nov 21, 2011    |      Comments Off on Just another day? Really?

Just another day? Really?


This photo is riveting to me. Haunting. It evokes powerful emotions in me. It creates a squeeze inside of me that could only come from the part of my body that is called soul.

I am just one week from my return from Uganda Africa where I met thousands of people just like the child in this picture.

Every time I see this picture I swear I hear God saying to me all kinds of things. Here are a few things that I think God has spoken to me in the multiple times I have viewed this picture; “This world is not about you and your plans.” “You are back home with everything you need, she is still there praying for many things to happen in her life.” “She just wants to crawl up in your lap and be held.” “Its not stuff she wants…she wants to know if she matters.” “She is wondering if she’ll be thought about again.” “She is wondering if you’ll ever come back to see her again.” “I’m not the answer to her prayers, you are.”

So here’s my questions for you and me today…
“Can you lay your life down, so a stranger can live?”
“Can you take want you need and take less than you give?”

Here’s the deal with this little girl in Uganda Africa and the millions of other children around the world in circumstances like hers.

She didn’t choose to be born where she was born. You didn’t choose to be born where you were born. I sometimes wonder if I got the lucky sided flip of the coin that allowed me to be born in a place with ample food, clean water, education and conveniences; “Heads!” And the young girl,in the picture, got the unlucky side as the coin spun on the floor and came to its final rest. “Tails!”

The fact is that I know better. There is no coin toss in matters such as these. God chose me to be born where I was born and to have the things that I have. It doesn’t make me better or you better. It actually puts more pressure on you and me. “To whom much is given, much is required.” I will be held more accountable because of the material I’ve been given and will have to give an account for how I used God’s material that He loaned to me. Will I have used it all on my self? Will I take what I need and take less than I give?

During my life, I suppose that I want to give as much as this little girl gives. When I showed up, she smiled and waved and crawled up into my lap and gave of her love and friendship and affection, her trust. She gave me everything she had. It was a gift for Kings. I felt like a king in her presence. Accepting the presents of her self.

So…now…I’m back home. Her wave goodbye haunts me. I don’t know how you will respond and how you will give and what “sacrifices” you will make to contribute back to the life of this little girl and the millions like her that weren’t born here. All I can do is speak for myself.

I, until God makes it clear to stop, will spend the rest of my life being an advocate for these little ones and big ones who are just like this little girl. I will be asking for your help. Your gift. Your time. Your service. I will ask you to never stop thinking about these. The people Jesus calls, “the least of these.” The people that Jesus says if we invest in their lives we are actually and personally investing in Jesus’ life. “That which you do for the least of these, you do unto me.”

She’s waving at you. You hold the choice to make that wave a wave of Hello or Goodbye.
Stay tuned.
I will ask you someday to respond to the wave of this child. Respond with your money, your time, your talents, your prayers and your heart.

Trent

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Nov 19, 2011    |       5 comments

“What should I do God?”

What’s your dream? Don’t hold me to this, but I think the very last scene in the movie “Pretty Woman,” there is a homeless man crossing the street moderately shouting out as he passes by, “What’s your dream!?”

Have you really answered that question for yourself?

What’s your dream?

Makes me wonder, right now, what’s going on inside your brain as I cause you to think about your dream/goals/vision/plan? Are you the type A person right now just thinking to yourself… “Ya…Ya…I’ve got my dreams…come on Renner…get to the point.” Or are you someone who has been bashed by life’s circumstances just enough that you have become cynical and you don’t believe your dreams are possible for you anymore and you’ve given up on “childish” dreams?

I saw this picture the other day on a friend’s website. Its a street corner in Anthem AZ. "The Ultimate Crossroads."
I’m giving a testimonial for just 10 minutes at a Church Service in Anthem this weekend and when I’m up there I want to find this street corner and take a family picture in front of this sign. This sign on that street corner is truly a crossroads that everyone of us face, sometimes daily, in our lives.

How do you decide which way to go? I’ve just closed down an era of my life of being a Sr. Pastor for more than 14 years straight. I’ve been a preacher, preaching nearly every weekend for 20 years now. But now what? I’m staring the next 20 years of my life in the face and its blurry. I can’t get a good look into what its going to look like. And here’s the deal. I think God likes it that way. Does that make Him cruel? No. Maybe I’m too playful…I like to think its a form of the game called “Blindfold.” You’ve played it, right? Where one person puts on the blindfold and has to trust the directions of the teammate and hope not to be led into a wall or hit their Shin bone on a coffee table or fall off a cliff. If God is our guide and He chooses to “blindfold” us…aren’t we still in great hands that we can trust?

I have found that I am more of a control freak than I thought. And I’m actually deeply laid back. If I’m not liking my future being out of focus, then I’m pretty convinced you, maybe not as laid back as me, really don’t like it when your future is out of focus.

So…here’s what I know God says about all this. First look at this passage in Proverbs 16:9 “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” (NLT) The NASB version says, “The mind of man prepares the way, but the Lord determines his steps.”

That verse makes me squirm a bit. It makes me think of another game. Tug-O-War…but…Tug-O-War against God. And He’s bigger than me. I love Tug-O-War, but only when I win!

So when we’re at the crossroads of Vision and Opportunity Way…what shall we do? Is this Tug-O-War time? Or…Blindfold time?

I think the answer is found in one Story of the Bible. Its in the Book of Exodus. The key part of the story is in Exodus 14:15. Its up to this point that the Israelites have been led out of Egypt and have found themselves at a dead end. The name of the place is Baal-Zephon, which is literally translated, “God’s Cul-de-sac.” Sounds like a crossroads. A crossroads for so many can be a dead end because the choice to go left or right is too overwhelming so they freeze up and quit. Dead End. Many will fall to their knees and spend hours on end praying about which way they should go and they get frustrated when God doesn’t seem to answer. So…they pray more and nothing ever moves forward. Just lots of prayer. Prayer is good, but prayer only is tragic. Faith is Action. Forward movement. So in the passage I refer to above…God says, “Why are your praying right now.” (Not exact translation, but same thing…agree?)

I think God is saying…”You know me…I’ve earned your trust…I’ve shown you how to live…get off your knees this time and let’s practice praying without words…pray with your actions…I got your back.”

Isn’t it fair for me to say that at this point in the story of Moses…that Moses had already been told how to live and what to do by God? The answer is yes. (God gave Moses clarity at the Burning Bush.)

At this point, Moses found himself in a scary moment and he froze in his tracks and he did only what he knew to do. Pray and cry out to God. And…God told him to “knock it off and get going..just do what I told you to do when I met with you at the burning bush.” (TRVB…Trent Renner Version Bible LOL)

So Moses got up…shook the dust off his robe and held his staff high and put one foot in the Red Sea and experienced an unprecedented miracle.

So…here’s my challenge to you. What do you continually pray about but there seems to be no answer? Maybe God is saying…just move. Maybe God is saying to you…”Pick Opportunity or pick Vision. They both end up in a good place.”

Is it possible that God is not concerned as much as you think about what House you live in, who you marry, what job you do, what car you drive, etc?

And with some things people pray about…give me a break.
Do you really have to pray about leaving your spouse?
Do you really have to pray about cheating on your taxes?
Do you really have to pray about beating that guy up?

God has told us how to live in the Scriptures. We have a perfect road map(Bible) that God laid out in detail about how to arrive at one of two final destinations. Heaven…Hell.

The crossroads and fork in the roads and Cul-De-Sacs, and Dead-Ends are all part of the incredible journey to our final destinations.

What we should be praying about is our behavior, our heart, our thoughts, our purity, our integrity and character, our influence, etc.

When we get those issues worked out and we have our lives spiritually going the way God would have them going…THEN…when we arrive at the corner of Vision and Opportunity…does it really matter to God which way we turn and move forward as a person who is blindfolded and being led by the greatest leader of all time past, present and future?

So which will it be for you this time?
Vision or Opportunity?
Those are great choices!

Pick and then step forward in Trust.
It really will be okay…even if it doesn’t turn out like you think it would.

Trent

Nov 16, 2011    |       4 comments

“Hi, my name is Trent Renner, Who are you?”

So…you walk into a gathering of people who do the same thing you do. You are asked over and over, as you meet different people, “Who are you?” Sound familiar? Have you been in this situation before? Of course you have. You’ve been asked a thousand times…”who are you?” My question is, “How have you answered?” If I approached you right now and asked you, “who are you?” I know you would give me a smile and your name. The key question is, what would you answer next? I would answer; “my name is Trent Renner and I am the Lead and founding Pastor of Parkway Christian Church in Surprise Arizona.”
That answer seems like a good answer at first. However the problem is this; Parkway Christian Church no longer exists. I merged Parkway with Christ’s Church of the Valley in April of 2011. Parkway was completely absorbed and acquired by Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria AZ. Parkway Church doesn’t exist anymore. My leadership of her doesn’t exist anymore. So before Parkway was merged with Christ’s Church of the Valley, and somebody asked me who I was, and I answered by giving my name and Title…well…then looking back…was I giving a good description of who I was? If who I am is based on my name and Title only…then what happens to my identity when that titled is no longer truthful as to who I am? If who I am is based on something that no longer exists then I no longer exist. Who are you? Please don’t tell me your existence is founded on what you do as a job.  Check out this great video clip…it makes my point very well. Anger Management…\”Who are you?\”
If tomorrow you woke up and your job title no longer existed, who would you be? If tomorrow, all the people who followed you, no longer actually followed you, who would you be? If tomorrow you found out that 13 or 30 years of your life blood, sweat, sacrifice, time and energy, just evaporated, who would you be?

Where is your identity? By what do define yourself? Who are you?

I have learned the hard way that I must hold onto everything lightly. Nothing is really mine. You are just like me. So, nothing is really yours. You and me…we are not entitled to anything. Please base your identity on what your Creator calls you and by what He did for you. Everything else is temporal. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Who are you?
My name is Trent Renner…forgiven man of God, temporal husband, father, and spiritual leader. A man who loves the Lord and one who ultimately knows that nothing is permanent.

Who are you? How do you define yourself?

Nov 12, 2011    |      1 comment

Lions…Elephants…and Floods…Oh My!

Lions, Elephants and Floods…Oh My!

If you’ve been keeping up on this African Adventure that I’ve been blogging about, you noticed that I didn’t blog yesterday.  The reason is because is was a travel only day.  We drove 9 hours from Torroro to Fort Portal Uganda.   It was a long ride.  

We arrived in Fort Portal Uganda for our process of re-engaging into America.  We got into our rooms at the Mountains of the Moon Hotel.  All I can say is whoa!  This is an upscale place.  Incredible food.  Amazing rooms and the grounds are in perfect shape.  After spending the last 9 days in a place that didn’t have running water most of the time…this is a true delight.  Tonight will be our last night here and tomorrow we head for the airport and I will arrive  home at 6:30 pm at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on Monday.

But before we call this African Adventure a wrap…please let me tell you about a really cool and fun day.  

We got up this morning at 6am and had an amazing breakfast.  Then we headed for something I have only ever dreamed about doing.  An African Safari.  Unbelievable.   We drove 2 hours to the Queen Elizabeth National Park where we had a two hour boat ride where we saw wild hippos, cape buffalo, all kinds of wild birds and just had an amazing time in the middle of wild Africa.  After the boat ride we hit the land in our bus and we went on the lookout for two major animals that we wanted to find.  Elephants and of course…Lions!

We looked for hours driving through the Safari Refuge and then our guide spotted a Pride of Lions laying under the African bush in the shade.  They were about 200 yards out and you could barely see them.  The guide got on his phone and before we knew it we turned off the road and drove straight at the big cats.  They didn’t budge until we pulled up beside them…I kid you not…10 yards away!   The pictures I got with my iPhone are amazing.  There were 2 male lions…big manes and all that stood up….seemed to pose and then just looked at us and walked around a little bit.  I’ve never been that close.   There is something surreal about seeing a massive lion in the African wild.  I mean, the Phoenix Zoo is cool and all but…Africa?….wow!

After spending about 10 minutes next to the big cats…we started whining about how we hadn’t seen any Elephants.  So we drove around for about an hour more and then gave up and headed for our hotel.  On the way out of the park…we literally almost ran into a herd of Elephants.  They walked right at the bus…and then…walked around the bus.  I’ve got some decent shots with my iPhone of the big bull, but everybody in the bus was out of their seats trying to grab a great shot.  

After about 10 minutes of just watching the Elephants we headed home.  We made a quick stop at the Equator.  Pretty cool to stop and take a photo.   After everybody got their photos we took off and about 20 minutes into the drive it began to rain in the only way Africa seems to do anyting…BIG!

The road ahead of us began to flood out.  The water came rushing over the road and all the people from Uganda began to get out of their cars and it looked like a huge traffic jam . Our bus was just sitting on the highway and all these Ugandans were just walking around talking to each other.  So…we got out.  It looked like we were the only white people in the world.   I started talking to people around me and I had my iPhone and began to video people.  One guy got in my camera and yelled…”Its happening to us…this is a Ugandan Tsunami”…and he just began to laugh out loud.  

These are the friendliest people I have ever met. 
This trip is the most emotion evoking trip I have ever had.
I pray that you will go to Africa someday in your future.
When you go to Africa…you must go with Hope 4 Kids International…
God has something to tell you when you are there!

Thanks for reading this. 
I will be back in the USA on Monday.

Trent

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