Monthly Archives: March 2010

Some Clarifications on Renovation Church Part 2

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Our residency is coming to a close on June 1, and we were officially accepted as full members in the Acts 29 network about 2 weeks ago, you can read more about what we are trying to accomplish  here. The reason I share all of this is because since we were announced as full members I have noticed a dramatic increase in blog traffic, and if, like many of you have, someone goes to older post under the label “Renovation Church”  you will find some limited information about Renovation that is now outdated because of the partnership and time-line changes mentioned in Part 1. So I thought it important to make some clarifying remarks about where we are, what we need, and how you can partner with us in downtown(Grant Park).

Currently we are re-initiating  our gathering phase. We need people who love the city, live in the city or would pray about moving here, and want to serve the city and the church by becoming a partner in the building of this church. WE NEED ARCHITECTS! WE NEED PARTNERS! WE NEED PRAYER PARTNERS! So if you are interested please contact me. We are working with a time-line that goes as follows:

Milestones to launch(s)

  • February 1-May 2: Vision Casting/Recruiting Architects Team
  • April 25: Community bible study ends
  • May 16: First official Vision Cast/Architects team meeting
  • May 5: Begin weekly prayer gathering
  • May 16-November 28: Train Renovation Architects in: Gospel-Mission-Community-Vision-Values-Missionality-Incarnating-Culture Making-Hospitality-Mercy-Justice & How Gospel Communities and Fight Clubs will Function
  • August-December: Intentional and strategic missional engagement in our community through:
    • Weekly Parties
    • Back to School kickoff/concert and give away for our adopted schools
    • Community clean up
    • Cause initiatives to fight/raise awareness of sex trafficking crisis in Atlanta
    • Strategic and genuine serving through various social organizations
  • September 26-October 2: Launch Gospel Communities and Fight Clubs
  • October 3: Gathered Worship for Launch teams/Gospel Communities begin
  • November 14 & 28; December 12 & 26; January 9: Preview/Preparation Gatherings
  • December 1-January 15: Media build up/strategic story leaks surrounding our reason for launching on Dr. Kings birthday
  • January 16: Launch Renovation Church’s public worship Gathering

Give | Pray | Join for the Glory of Jesus, and for the sake of the city!

You can contact me at:

m 770.655.4822

e Leonce@RenovationChurch.net

Some Clarifications on Renovation Church Part 1

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With Renovation coming into full membership with the Acts 29 network recently, I felt I needed to write a clarifying blog post about a few things that may answer some questions you have about the church, our time line, partnerships, story, etc.

In the fall of 2008 after many conversations, and much prayer my wife Breanna and I left Tennessee to move to Atlanta in hopes of living as missionaries to the city, loving the city, and loving our neighbors as an implication of the gospel. We also hoped that through this time we would get a clear vision for planting a church here that would be in the city, for the city, and founded on the gospel.

Atlanta was not actually our first choice, but through untold “coincidences” and God speaking clearly in many ways this is where we have planted our hearts, family…our life, for the sake of Christ, His church, and this city.

In February of 2009 we were invited into candidacy with Acts 29, and began there to work towards building a community of architects that would help me, through God’s Spirit, build a viable, Spirit-led, gospel centered church community in downtown Atlanta. At this time we had no real contacts, no real financial support, or any real resources. We parachuted in with a dream and a vision, and prayed God send us people to help make it a reality.

About 2 weeks after becoming Acts 29 candidates, and through another seemingly endless maze of “coincidences” I met Bob Cargo, church planting director for Perimeter Church, which is a large PCA church located in the suburbs of metro Atlanta. After many long conversations and a government styled background check Bob offered Perimeters partnership and oversight to the work of Renovation Church, with one stipulation, we were required to do a one year residency with Perimeter to learn their best practices, and about their DNA. One year I thought, that was a long time to put of this plant, but after prayer, and counsel from my brothers in A29, and my father, we decided it was best for us and this church in the making, Renovation. At the time I was working about 70 hours a week, going to school, and trying to plant a church…not a good situation, and so I took the residency prayerfully, hoping not to lose the vision God had given me for Renovation in the process.

Because we were now putting off the starting of Renovation for over a year, we dismissed the team we’d already gathered, and transition who remained into an open community bible study, and we have functioned as that since August of 2009.

We Can Stop Young Black Men From Being Jail Bound-It Happened in Chicago

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Charter school in tough neighborhood gets all its seniors into college

Jubilation
Urban Prep Academy senior Keith Greer, along with his classmates, celebrates the news they will receive a free prom in Chicago because 100 percent of the graduating class was accepted into 4-year colleges or universities. (Tribune photo by Heather Charles / March 5, 2010)

The entire senior class at Chicago’s only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges. At last count, the 107 seniors had earned spots at 72 schools across the nation.

Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at an all-school assembly at Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Englewood this morning to congratulate them. It’s the first graduating class at Urban Prep since it opened its doors in 2006.

Huber man applauded the seniors for making CPS shine.

“All of you in the senior class have shown that what matters is perseverance, what matters is focus, what matters is having a dream and following that dream,” Huberman said.

The school enforces a strict uniform of black blazers, khaki pants and red ties — with one exception. After a student receives the news he was accepted into college, he swaps his red tie for a red and gold one at an assembly.

The last 13 students received their college ties today, to thunderous applause.

Ask Rayvaughn Hines what college he was accepted to and he’ll answer with a question.

“Do you want me to name them all?”

For the 18-year-old from Back of the Yards, college was merely a concept–never a goal–growing up. Even within the last three years, he questioned if school, let alone college, was for him. Now, the senior is headed to the prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. next fall.

Hines remembers the moment he put on his red and gold tie.

“I wanted to take my time because I was just so proud of myself,” he said. “I wanted everyone to see me put it on.”

The achievement might not merit a mayoral visit at one of the city’s elite, selective enrollment high schools. But Urban Prep, a charter school that enrolls using a lottery in one of the city’s more troubled neighborhoods, faced difficult odds. Only 4 percent of this year’s senior class read at grade level as freshmen, according to Tim King, the school’s CEO.

“I never had a doubt that we would achieve this goal,” King said. “Every single person we hired knew from the day one that this is what we do: We get our kids into college.”

College is omnipresent at the school. Before the students begin their freshman year, they take a field trip to Northwestern University. Every student is assigned a college counselor the day he steps foot in the school.

The school offers an extended day–170,000 more minutes over four years compared to its counterparts across the city–and more than double the number of English credits usually needed to graduate.

Even the school’s voicemail has a student declaring “I am college bound” before it asks callers to dial an extension.

Normally, it takes senior Jerry Hinds two buses and 45 minutes to get home from school. On Dec. 11, the day University of Illinois at Champaign- Urbana was to post his admission decisions online at 5 p.m., he asked a friend to drive him home.

He went into his bedroom, told his well-wishing mother this was something he had to do alone, closed the door and logged in.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” he remembers screaming. His mother, who didn’t dare stray far, burst in and began crying.

That night he made more than 30 phone calls, at times shouting “I got in” on his cell phone and home phone at the same time.

“We’re breaking barriers,” he said. “And that feels great.”

deldeib@tribune.com
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune

How Are they Sent of God?

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…Men who bring no men to God?

Prophets whose words are powerless

Sowers who’s seed all whithers

Fishers who take in no Fish

Soldiers who give no wounds

Are these God’s men?-C.H. Spurgeon

This gripped me…thought I would share it. If you are a minster of the gospel, I hope it grips you too

When Cheating On Your Spouse is a Good Thing

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This morning I was listening to one of my favorite radio shows, The Bert Show, based here in Atlanta. They did an interesting segment, that I am still reeling over just a little. The question posed was, “Have you ever committed adultery for the sake of your marriage?” What an odd question, but interesting none the less.

I would like to say that the calls coming in surprised me, but unfortunately, they didn’t. Men and women called in to tell stories of their infidelity, and how in doing so, they’d “saved” their marriage, because sex with another person showed them how much they actually loved their spouse. That statement sounds so ridiculous, that it is in desperate need of re-stating…sex, with another person, showed them how much they love their spouse.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, and it is a candid look into the human heart. We will convince ourselves of anything to have everything that we want…it is the human condition. We are self centered, depraved people, though every philosophical thought in society would try top convince us that we are basically good and giving. And the only thing that can solve the problem of the human condition is Christ and his gospel.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved

What an incredible description of all that humanity is (dead,disobedient, following the passions of the flesh, desires of the body)outside of Christ, but what powerful transition words(but God), and it ends with all that we are under His love and leading. Stop justifying your selfish passions, and turn and know life.