Regional Synod News April 27, 2015

This week I will be I am preparing to leave for Tampa, FL, to gather with over 5,000 church planting leaders for four days of inspiration, encouragement and equipping at the Exponential East 2015 Conference.  The theme that sparks this year’s conference are the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (II Timothy 1: 6-7).  Inside every follower of Jesus is the spark of multiplication and when that spark is “fanned into a flame,” it can ignite an entire culture of multiplication.  I believe every follower of Jesus has a gift that was meant to be multiplied as it is manifested in the heart of God seeking to restore and redeem this lost and broken world.  Do you believe that every follower of Jesus has a gift that is meant to be multiplied in others’ lives?  As I prepare to leave for Tampa I am so thankful for Jesus’ gift of joy – meant to be multiplied.  Max Lucado will be speaking at the conference.  Enjoy this article written by Max on “The Joy of Jesus”.

“No man had more reason to be miserable than this one – yet no man was more joyful.  His first home was a palace.  Servants were at His fingertips.  The snap of His fingers changed the course of history.  His name was known and loved.  He had everything – wealth, power, respect.  And then He had nothing.

Students of the event still ponder it.  Historians stumble as they attempt to explain it.  How could a king lose everything in one instant?  One moment He was royalty; the next He was poverty.

His bed became, at best, a borrowed pallet – usually the hard earth.  He never owned even the most basic mode of transportation and was dependent upon handouts for His income.  He was sometimes so hungry He would eat raw grain or pick fruit off a tree.  He knew what it was like to be rained on, to be cold.  He knew what it meant to have no home.

His palace grounds had been spotless; now He was exposed to filth.  He had never known disease, but was now surrounded by illness.  In His kingdom He had been revered; now He was ridiculed.  His neighbors tried to lynch Him.  Some called Him a lunatic.  His family tired to confine Him to their house.  Those who didn’t ridicule Him tried to use Him.  They wanted favors.  They wanted tricks.  He was a novelty.  They wanted to be seen with Him – that is, until being with Him was out of fashion.  Then they wanted to kill Him.

He was accused of a crime He never committed.  Witnesses were hired to lie.  The jury was rigged.  No lawyer was assigned to His defense.  A judge swayed by politics handed down the death penalty.  They killed Him.  He left as He came – penniless.  He was buried in a borrowed grave, His funeral financed by compassionate friends.  Though He once had everything, He died with nothing.

He should have been miserable.  He should have been bitter.  He had every right to be a pot of boiling anger.  But He wasn’t.  He was joyful.  Sourpusses don’t attract a following.  People followed Him wherever He went.  Children avoid soreheads.  Children scampered after this man.  Crowds don’t gather to listen to the woeful.  Crowds clamored to hear Him.

Why?  He was joyful.  He was joyful when He was poor.  He was joyful when He was abandoned.  He was joyful when He was betrayed.  He was even joyful as He hung on a tool of torture, His hands pierced with six-inch Roman spikes.  Jesus embodied a stubborn joy.  A joy that refused to bend in the wind of hard times.  A joy that held its ground against pain.  A joy whose roots extended deep into the bedrock of eternity.”

Looking forward to a joy-filled week of rich learning and growing deeper in experiencing the joy of Jesus.

– Wayne Van Regenmorter 

April Schedule:

27-30:  Exponential East 2015 Conference/Tampa, FL

31:  Travel Day

May Schedule:

1:  Office

2:  Off

3:  Sunday Worship

4:  Meeting/Glenwood, IL

5:  Ridder Church Renewal/Wisconsin Conference Call

6:  Office

7:  Next Steps Florida Conference Call

8:  Meeting/Orland Park, IL

9:  Off

10: Sunday Worship

Wayne’s contact information:

10088 Prairie Knoll Ct.

St. John, IN 46373

Mobile: (941) 302-1281

Email:  wregen@rsmam.org

Leadership Challenges in Church Revitalization – Ed Stetzer gives some hopeful yet eyes-wide-open thoughts about the challenges of church revitalization.

How the Gospel Comes to the City Through Community – Cities need both worship gatherings and missional communities to intersect the people and needs of the city. This article will focus on the need for missional communities in the city. The gospel shines brightly, speaks clearly, and welcomes sojourners with questions and doubts in the context of relationships.

5 Crucial Ways Churches Can Pursue Racial Reconciliation – In the last year the need for racial reconciliation in the United States and around the world has been highlighted in painful and obvious ways.  Here are five crucial ways the church can pursue racial reconciliation.  

April Schedule:

27: Office

28: Coaching

29: Coaching

30: Office

May Schedule:

1: Office

4: Office

5: Meeting/Faith Church, Dyer; RCR WI RIT Conference Call

6: Coaching

7: Thriving Churches/Thriving Leaders Conference Call

8: Office

Chad’s Contact Information:

2104 Campbell Street

Valparaiso, IN 46383

Office: (815) 464-9181

Mobile: (765) 237-7678

Email: chad@rsmam.org

Ben’s Contact Information:

765 Eastridge Dr. NE

Grand Rapids, MI 49525

Mobile: (616) 481-7566

Email: beningebretson@gmail.com