God Has More in Store for You!

March Teaching Letter from Rick Renner

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and greetings in Jesus’ precious name! Christ came into this world “in the fullness of time” to redeem mankind from sin and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father (Galatians 4:4,5). And what a great salvation it was and is that God wrought for us in Christ (see Hebrews 2:3-18)! Denise and I and our family wish you a warm and wonderful Christmas season and the best new year of your life in 2022.

Today I want to talk to you about opportunities and adversaries, but first I want to say thank you for being such a faithful partner with our ministry. As I told you in my letter last month, our ministry is bursting at the seams, and I am so humbled that God would use Denise and me, our family, and our team to minister to the many people who are reaching out to us every day.

Every soul is precious, and it is our heartfelt desire to convey that truth to every person God brings to us — that they are precious to Him and to us. And your gifts are so vital to our ability to touch every one of these treasured souls! So today I want to say a special thank you for all you do with us to take the trusted teaching of the Word of God to people in Russia and all over the world. From the depths of our hearts, Denise and I THANK YOU!

This month is the last month of the year — and I know you are probably preparing for Christmas and many different kinds of gatherings. But in addition to Christmas, it’s also almost 2022. As we come to the end of this year and to the beginning of a brand-new year, the Holy Spirit keeps telling me to “stay on track” with the assignments He has given us. I hear Him saying that even if we hit bumps along the way, everything will be all right if we’ll just stay on track and maintain our God-assigned territory — the many opportunities and assignments He has given us to inspire, strengthen, and equip believers with the sound teaching of the Bible.

But I’ve learned over the years that opportunities and adversaries usually go together — and today I want to encourage you to undergird yourself so that you can stay on track with what God has asked you to do this month and in the coming year.

Over the course of our ministry, we’ve had many great, effectual doors open to us to do the work of the Gospel. I’ll never forget when I received an opportunity to minister on television in the former Soviet Union. It was as if a great door had suddenly swung open to an entire vast territory — a door that had never before been opened for anyone else — and I knew I was experiencing something miraculous. By faith, Denise and I stepped through that door and began to preach the Word of God on television in this spiritually starved corner of the world.

Given the former socialist-communist campaigns against the Gospel in this particular region, this opportunity was as miraculous as the Jordan River dividing for Joshua and the children of Israel. But with this great open door also came a slew of adversaries, specifically dispatched by Satan to instill fear and doubt into my heart. The devil desperately wanted to prevent me from touching the lives of spiritually oppressed people, so he positioned evil people with insidious plans to try to block my view of what God had in store for our ministry.

I’m telling you that it was like the children of Israel looking at the Promised Land from the far side of the Jordan River. From that perspective, they saw only the fruitful land of blessing that lay before them. But once they entered the Promised Land, they had to fight giants of every kind before they could possess that land and enjoy the blessing. In much the same way, if Denise and I had taken our eyes off the Lord during that tumultuous period — or if we had focused only on the problems and forgotten about the fruit we were pursuing for God’s Kingdom — I’m sure we would have backpedaled to get out of the situation!

But we knew this was a God-given opportunity and worth the fight, so we fixed our gaze squarely on the Lord. Girded with the armor of God and the power of the Spirit, we pushed through every obstacle and possessed the ground that God called us to take. As a result, millions of souls began to hear the Gospel for the first time. We knew that only God could have opened this door!

In First Corinthians 16:9, the apostle Paul wrote about the strategic doors of opportunity that open for the Gospel and the adversaries that usually accompany them. He said, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” Notice that Paul used the words “great,” “door,” “effectual,” and “is opened” to describe the opportunity that had been set before him.

The word “great” in this verse is translated from the Greek word megale, which means gigantic. The word “door” is the Greek word thura, which typically refers to a door, but in this context, denotes a rare opportunity. The word “effectual” is the Greek word energes, and it depicts something that is powerful and ready to be set into motion. Finally, the phrase “is opened” is the Greek word anoigo, which describes something standing wide open. In other words, the door in question couldn’t be any more open! Thus, an alternate translation of Paul’s words in First Corinthians 16:9 could be rendered, “A gigantic, powerful opportunity is already set in motion and standing wide open….”

Paul continued by saying, “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me….” You see, Paul knew that the particular door he was referring to had never been opened to anyone else, and he stood in awe of the unprecedented opportunity. Walking through these kinds of doors is impossible without divine assistance, and Paul was fully aware of God’s role in the matter. That is why he specified that this door had been opened “unto me.”

Paul’s prayer request in First Corinthians 16:9 was not for a door to open because it had already opened. His prayer request was to receive God’s wisdom to deal with the numerous adversaries who were trying to come against him. Paul used the Greek word antikeimenoi to describe the vast number of “adversaries” that were sent to attack him. This Greek word describes something that was piled high and lying all around him. In other words, he was dealing with more than a few minor opponents. On the contrary, it felt like opposition was stacked high on every side!

I’ve learned that the enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons. So know this: God will open doors for you — but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Spirit.

By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without His assistance. Now He beckons you to come, dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word — and proceed through that effectual door into new territory. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!

As I mentioned earlier, many great and effectual doors have been opened to us over the years to do the work of the Gospel. In each case, we knew these doors were unique to us and had never before been opened for anyone else. And just as Paul experienced opposition, there were plenty of enemies that came against us with each opportunity. But because we obeyed God, the devil was forced to move out of the way, and we walked right into the virgin territory that God had opened for our ministry.

Even if you think your situation looks threatening right now, I want to tell you that God is with you. He wants to supernaturally open new doors for you — doors that have never before been opened for you. He is not beckoning you to walk through these doors so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

Your open door may be an opportunity to shine the light of God’s Word and God’s love to your family or friends during this holiday season. It may be a door that will open to you in the new year. Regardless of when it is or what it is, the same God who opens doors will empower you to walk through them — and then He’ll be right with you to give you the wisdom and strength needed to overcome any giant that tries to meet you on the other side.

I know this is not a typical December, “Christmas-style” letter, but this is what was on my heart to share with you today. I want you to always know that if we can join you in prayer, we would be delighted to do so. To be honest, we are praying for you anyway, but when we are alerted to know exactly “how” to pray, it increases our effectiveness as we pray for you. So if you have a special need, please either call or write to let us know how we can get in agreement with you for God to show Himself mighty to you according to Jeremiah 33:3, which says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

And please pray for us as we continue marching forward by faith to push back darkness, to shine the light of God’s Word, and to take territory for the Kingdom of God. Together — as partners — we can make a difference in the lives of throngs of people who are crying out to God for help. They are waiting for God to respond to their prayers, and God wants to use us — you and us together — to bring them the answers they desperately need.

But before I close, I want to say we are specifically asking God to do something special for you this month and before the end of the year. I don’t know what it is, but that is what we are praying. We are asking God to do something special that will bless your life! And please, please pray for us as we continue pushing ahead to build our studio in Moscow, to finalize the purchase of our new headquarters in Tulsa, and to continue to minister effectually to every precious soul Jesus brings to us!

Merry Christmas!

We love you and thank God for you!

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families|

 

Dear Friends,

Here we are in the month of March with the first day of spring approaching. Depending on where you live, the weather will be turning warmer soon, and vegetation that has been browned by winter frost will be turning green and blooming once again. That’s what I love about spring! Although landscapes can appear dead in winter, they are usually only dormant — but when spring comes, the fruitfulness of grass, trees, flowers, gardens, and crops becomes apparent. I liken it to a “manifestation” of what wasn’t seen but is now very visible to the eye.

Something so similar is happening to RENNER Ministries that I want to share with you for a moment. I also want to THANK YOU for what you have done to help make this transformation from unseen to seen a living reality for us and for the many souls God has called us to partner with, to reach, and to teach and strengthen all over the world, especially in the former Soviet Union.

As you know, we began to seriously outgrow our ministry offices in Tulsa in the last couple of years, and we’ve had to be very creative in the way we’ve utilized our space. Some team members have found themselves working in unusual spots to perform their tasks, and after places in our hallways were utilized to the max for storage, we’ve had to rent on-site storage to be able to keep up with the volume of ministry that God is allowing to take place from our U.S. headquarters. So we recently acquired a new building in the Tulsa area, fully furnished to meet our ministry needs!

Also, as the online participation in our Internet Good News Church exploded exponentially from 30,000 members to more than 200,000 — along with millions of new viewers we have onboard since our acquisition of the CNL-GNC (Good News Channel) satellite network — Denise and I and our team are filming up to seven programs every day in Moscow! Our current studio space has become too small to accommodate all this growth, and we knew we needed to build a new studio where we could perform the functions of TV, Internet, and satellite ministry with greater effectiveness and expediency.

We are in the middle of this miracle right now! We’re seeing the “temperatures warming” and signs of new growth appearing — we are blossoming and flourishing in this new season at RENNER Ministries! God gives the increase and brings forth the promise of His Word — but this has largely happened because our partners believed in the vision He gave us and continued to water the seed we boldly planted in His name. Denise and I and our team thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

I want to let you know that we’ll be moving the entire ministry in Tulsa soon, and the entire exterior of the Moscow studio is completely in place, including the roof, walls, windows, and doors. We are now in PHASE 2 of the Moscow project, as we need to finish the interior with flooring, drywall, paint, and everything else necessary to equip the studio for our rigorous filming schedule. If you’re not already a part of this expansion-project giving team and you feel led to join us, please participate with us so, together, we can finish PHASE 2 of this project.

Finally, PHASE 3 will entail paying off our new U.S. facility, which we are believing God we’ll be able to do quickly. He is truly building this “ministry house” (see Psalm 127:1). We know He has entrusted this assignment to us, and He is working with us to see it through to its full manifestation — “…first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” (see Mark 4:28). We are thankful to Him and to all our friends and partners who have prayed for us and have sown finances into this work. Your seed is producing something bigger than any one of us can do on his or her own. THANK YOU!

And now to the part of this letter that I study to produce for you each month, which I believe will be a blessing to you today. Just as a farmer examines the productivity of his crops at harvesttime, every once in a while, Denise and I take time to seriously and thoughtfully review what we are accomplishing and what we are not accomplishing in our lives and ministry. We do our best to be very honest with ourselves and with each other about these questions as we dive deep for solid answers.

Taking this kind of look at ourselves and our work is not always pleasant. Sometimes we find areas of glaring failure or areas where we know the Lord expected more of us. But in order to see the truth about our lives the way God sees it, He requires us to lay down our pride and be honest with ourselves. In the end, we’re always glad we did the review because it helps us repent — turn ourselves around — for the times we failed; rejoice over what God helped us successfully accomplish; and make sure we’re on the right course now, where we will be the most focused and effective in the future.

When other people say, “Wow, you accomplish so much!” we are always glad that they can see fruit and growth in our lives. God is always on the move, and He is indeed the God of increase. However, the most important question to us is not what other people think, but what the Lord thinks of us and our accomplishments. Maybe it’s true that we accomplished a lot compared to what others have done. But how we compare to other people and ministries is not the measuring stick any of us should use to determine how we are doing.

When Denise and I do an honest evaluation of where we are in our obedience, we remind ourselves of Second Corinthians 10:12 (AMPC), where the apostle Paul wrote that when people “…measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they…behave unwisely.”

This means our measuring stick should never be how we measure up to other human beings or to other ministries. The real issue is how we “measure up” to the vision and goals the Lord gave us. When we stand before Jesus, He isn’t going to judge us by how we did in comparison to others. He will judge us for how we did with the assignments He gave us to do.

Therefore, we have learned to ask ourselves on a regular basis:

Learning to be honest about ourselves — including our successes and our failures — is important. We can learn from our past mistakes. If we see we have not done something as well as it should have been done, we ask the Lord to forgive us and then we turn our eyes to the present to make corrections — recalibrate — and start doing better!

I think of when Paul was imprisoned in Rome. He had a lot of time to think, so he reflected on his life and achievements. He thought about what he had done, what he hadn’t done, and what he still needed to do. I’m sure that, like all of us, Paul was tempted to look at his life in comparison to others. And compared to others, he had done a great deal.

Paul could have rightfully told himself, I’ve done more than most men will ever dream of doing. I’ve done more than anyone else I know! But rather than revel in his accomplishments, Paul used that time in prison to truthfully assess his life. Then he wrote these famous words in Philippians 3:13 and 14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Notice Paul said, “I count not myself to have apprehended.…”  The words “count not” give us insight into the way Paul looked at his life. Paul borrowed these words from the bookkeeping profession. It is the Greek word logidzomai, which originally meant to mathematically count, calculate, or tabulate or to make a conclusion. This word was primarily used in the bookkeeping world to portray the idea of a balance sheet or a profit-and-loss statement that a bookkeeper prepared at the end of the month or year.

For example, a business owner might assume his or her business is doing well, but when the bookkeeper adds up all the numbers and hands the owner the profit-and-loss statement to read, that’s the moment that person finds out how well his or her business is really doing. You wouldn’t have to guess anymore about your situation, because the numbers tell the real story.

So rather than guess about how well he had done, Paul decided to carefully review the original goals God had given him. It is almost as if Paul had written God’s plan for his life on one side of the page and what he had actually accomplished on the other side of the page. After looking at the original goal and truthfully assessing how much of that goal he had accomplished, he wrote, “I count not myself to have apprehended….”

Although Paul had accomplished a great deal in his ministry, he knew he hadn’t done everything he was supposed to do. That is one reason he knew it was not time for him to die. His prison situation was dreadful, and the legal prognosis didn’t look good. But Paul knew it wasn’t time for him to leave this world because he still had so much work to do.

I’m sure Paul was thankful for everything he had seen and all that God had already accomplished through him. This is why Paul went on to say, “…But this one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Philippians 3:13). But I want you to stop and think about what Paul was choosing to forget and put behind him.

Some say Paul was forgetting his past life of sin, but he had put that behind him long before that. Instead, he was choosing to put his past successes and accomplishments behind him. Stopping at past victories is what keeps most people from moving into future victories. Often people get so stuck on what they have already done that they lose sight of what they still need to do — and that keeps them from moving forward to possess new territory in God’s plan for their lives.

Paul knew there were still huge parts of his vision that were unfinished. Even though the past had been great and he was thankful to God for every victory he had experienced, it was now time for him to begin reaching forth unto those things which were still before him.

We all need to rejoice over what God has done in our lives, but we must continue to work with Him, focusing on what we haven’t seen fulfilled. Thinking of the past victories encourages and reminds us of God’s faithfulness, but eventually we have to leave the past behind and turn our eyes to the present and the future. We can’t go forward while constantly looking backward.

I want to tell you that all our futures are important, so we must look at our lives, appraise our status, and let the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts as we remain willing to keep moving forward by faith. Thank God for every victory, but keep your eyes fixed on the future so you can keep marching forward to fulfill every detail of the vision God has put into your heart!

I pray this letter has encouraged you as much as it has encouraged me to write it! God has so much more in store for you — and He wants to help you keep moving ahead by faith to fulfill the very good plan He has designed for your life. Don’t be satisfied to stop with past victories when new victories are awaiting you!

Oh, friend, please make time to let us know how we can pray with you. Denise and I, along with our anointed prayer team, seriously put our faith forward for every person who reaches out to us. But we can pray better when we’re alerted to your specific needs. And I promise that when you reach out to us by phone, by email, by letter, or online, we will really pray for you!

We truly love you and thank God for you.

We are your brother and sister, friends, and partners in Jesus Christ,

Rick and Denise Renner
along with Paul, Philip, and Joel and their families

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