Dear NEO Nazarenes,

We had a great turnout from NEO for the Pastor's Training Day at SNU last Monday. 39 pastors were challenged by Craig Groeschel, founding pastor of Life Church. We have 20 pastors signed up for the Strengths Summit on Sept. 22 - 23. I appreciate our pastors commitment to on-going development and growth.

Recent visits have taken Gloria and I to Mannford and Wagoner. Use the links below to see some of the beautiful people who are a part of these church families:

Mannford: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTEEA&emid=sharview&linkid=link5

Wagoner: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTD6A&emid=sharview&linkid=link5

Angie Bentley shared an outstanding report with me a few days ago from Bristow: Last week several of our Wednesday night youth were asking about baptism. Today I presented a very simple basic salvation message with visual aides. 16 KIDS ASKED JESUS INTO THEIR HEARTS! MOST OF THEM PLAN TO BE BAPTIZED IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ACTIVITIES!! Praise the Lord - 10 months of labor is seeing some harvest!

Pastor Brad Farnsworth reports a wonderful lauch Sunday at Connections Church. Keep praying for our NewStarts and for our Hispanic Coordinator, Otoniel Dannemann and his wife, Gloria. Gloria is still detained in Argentina. God is giving her strength and peace, but we are praying for her quick release.

I am excited to get to preach and be a part of a ground breaking cermony at Claremore this Sunday. I will take my umbrella!

You are loved,
Dave

Five Stages of Renewal
Every time a new reformation has come, five renewals have preceded it. The awakening and reformation of the global church will begin with local churches and with the same five renewals preceding this movement, says Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. [christianpost.com]
Personal Renewal: It starts with the heart. You might call it rededicating your life, being filled with the Spirit, or the "deeper life." The bottom line is to fall in love with Jesus again and, all of a sudden, it's not about religion and rituals; it's about a relationship with Jesus.
Relational Renewal: After you get right with God, you've got to get right with others. When you have relational renewal in your church, the gossip goes down and the joy goes up. People hang around longer after the service when a church has been through relational renewal because they want to spend time together.
Missional Renewal: This is when a church discovers what God wants it to do and happens when we focus our churches on the God-given purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism.
Cultural Renewal: In this stage, God renews the culture of the church. Many pastors have tried to change the culture of the church without going through the other three renewals. There's a word for that, says Pastor Warren: martyrdom. Only God can change the culture of the church.
Structural Renewal: After a church has been through the first four renewals, it's going to outgrow the current structure. The structure that works for a church of 100 won't work for a church of 250 and so on.