Get ‘Em in the River—But How Do They Stay There? | Richard Jett

Get ‘Em in the River—But How Do They Stay There? | Richard Jett

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river-but-how-do-they-stay-there/ [https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river-but-how-do-they-stay-there/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] We say we want people to follow Jesus. But are our lives actually making them want Him? “You can guide a horse to a well, but you can’t force it to drink. However, you can add salt to its oats.” That line sits in my grandpa’s journal, and I keep coming back to one question: How salty is my life? Sometimes you don’t realize the weight of something until after the fact. I wrote the article “Get ‘Em in the River”  [https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river/]before leading our current seniors on a mission trip back to Puerto Rico. But it was on that trip that I actually saw what happens when people step into the river. Before going into a tourist area to pray with people, we gathered in the van. We took time to be still and ask God for a name, an image—anything that might help us know whom He wanted us to approach. What came to my mind was Hebrews 11:6 (NLT): “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Not exactly inspiring…more like convicting. I knew it was a gentle rebuke. God was about to expose my lack of faith in His power at work in these students. We say we want people to follow Jesus. But are our lives actually making them want Him? “You can guide a horse to a well, but you can’t force it to drink. However, you can add salt to its oats.” That line sits in my grandpa’s journal, and I keep coming back to one question: How salty is my life? Sometimes you don’t realize the weight of something until after the fact. I wrote the article “Get ‘Em in the River”  [https://renew.org/get-em-in-the-river/]before leading our current seniors on a mission trip back to Puerto Rico. But it was on that trip that I actually saw what happens when people step into the river. Before going into a tourist area to pray with people, we gathered in the van. We took time to be still and ask God for a name, an image—anything that might help us know whom He wanted us to approach. What came to my mind was Hebrews 11:6 (NLT): “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Not exactly inspiring…more like convicting. I knew it was a gentle rebuke. God was about to expose my lack of faith in His power at work in these students. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

There’s No Such Thing as Luck | David Young

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/theres-no-such-thing-as-luck/ [https://renew.org/theres-no-such-thing-as-luck/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] On Good Friday in 2009, I went for a run on the local greenway in Murfreesboro, Tennessee—my hometown. There were tornado watches that day, but in Murfreesboro tornado watches are common. It’s easy to ignore them. As I did that day. The first two miles along the wooded greenway were uneventful. But when I turned around to head back to the car, it began to rain. No worries, I thought. I was wearing a new rain jacket. I’d be fine. Then, halfway back to the car, lightning began to strike around me. I knew it was serious, but I assumed I could wait it out. I crouched down the slope beside the trail, near the river. After a moment or two, I heard a rumble in the distance. At first, I didn’t recognize it. It sounded like a train—but something about it was different. The hairs on my arms began to stand up. My gut churned with a sudden sense of dread, even as my mind tried to make sense of the deep, rolling sound. Whatever it was, it was getting louder—and it was moving fast. There’s no way that’s a tornado, my head said. But it was. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

Why the Church Needs Revitalization AND Planting in This Next Season | Paul Huyghebaert

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-church-needs-revitalization-and-planting/ [https://renew.org/the-church-needs-revitalization-and-planting/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] For the past several decades, church planting has arguably been one of the great success stories of the North American church. Entire networks have been built, leaders trained, funding pipelines established, and faithful mission fueled through the planting of new congregations. We should thank God for that. Many of us have a place we call our home congregation today because someone had the courage to plant a church where there wasn’t one before. And yet, as grateful as I am for the planting movement, I’m increasingly convinced that the next season of faithfulness for the Church will require a renewed imagination for revitalization alongside planting—not in competition with it, and not as a replacement for it, but as a complementary expression of the same gospel mission. This conviction hasn’t come to me primarily through research or theory, but through lived experience. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

Sons in Search of Answers | Steve Hinton

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/sons-in-search-of-answers/ [https://renew.org/sons-in-search-of-answers/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] It’s almost Father’s Day 2026. What rises in your mind as you bite into that thought? What visions erupt in your imagination? Where in the spaces between the proverbial good, bad, and the ugly does your heart land? How do we make sense of these heroes and ghosts in our lineage? What are we to do, and what can we do? The questions are valid and, in some cases, essential. So, let me invite you to step up to the plate and take a swing at understanding who “father” might be, who we might be because of the one who has gone before us, and what, if anything, we can do about the journey we are on. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew.org/app-download/ [https://renew.org/app-download/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]

If God Is Good, Where Is He? | Jacob Hartman

Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/if-god-is-good-where-is-he/ [https://renew.org/if-god-is-good-where-is-he/]  This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org * Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ [https://renew.org/articles/] Have you ever been asked, “If God is good, where is He?” This is something I have been thinking through lately. I have family and friends who have recently gone through cancer diagnoses and treatments, the loss of loved ones, and other hardships that can be encountered as one navigates life. Two of my friends are reflecting on Psalm 3:5 as they are navigating their difficult circumstances. A natural reaction to unexpected hardship is to ask the question, “If God is good, where is He when life isn’t good?” At its core, I understand this struggle. Watching someone you care about hurt is hard to reconcile with a belief in a God who claims to love. Seeing violence and disasters on the news makes it difficult to believe that God is in complete control. Even just the simple struggle of wondering why God doesn’t just appear in the sky to remove any doubt, instead of wanting us to search Him out in the ways He has already revealed Himself. It can all seem overwhelmingly difficult. I have heard it put this way: “If there is a God, either He isn’t all-powerful or He isn’t perfectly good.” This is something that a lot of people wrestle with and will continue to do so on this side of heaven. David’s response to his hardship with the reminder that God sustains him in his sleeping and his waking, I think, gives us a clue about the answer to these questions. I think we can approach an answer from two directions: dealing with pain and remembering who is in charge. Listen for more... Join RENEW.org's Newsletter: https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/ [https://renew.org/resources/newsletter-sign-up/] Join RENEW.org at one of our upcoming events: https://renew.org/resources/events/ [https://renew.org/resources/events/] Get the RENEW.org App -- https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/ [https://renew-app-page.bolt.host/]  Be sure to like, subscribe and follow on social media!  You can find us on: Instagram: @the.renew.network  Facebook: Renew.org  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork [https://www.youtube.com/@RENEWnetwork] Twitter: @therenewnetwork TikTok: the.renew.network  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/RENEW [https://rumble.com/c/RENEW]