Rick and Denise Renner, known for shepherding the Moscow Good News Church in Russia鈥檚 capital city, visited HBU to discuss God鈥檚 work in Russia and around the world. Rick Renner has firsthand practice discovering the will of God for his life, and shares insights gleaned from experience and biblical study in his latest book, 鈥淭he Will of God: The Key to Your Success.鈥�
鈥淔irst of all,鈥� Renner said, 鈥淭he will of God is in the Holy Spirit 鈥� He is the mind of God. The dreams and desires of people are often the will of God speaking from the inside. God鈥檚 voice in Scripture addresses most of the issues we face in life. I believe there鈥檚 nothing more important than the Word of God. When you鈥檙e in the will of God, there鈥檚 a different kind of grace that comes. And sometimes, knowing His will is a process. Abraham made every mistake. The good news is, if you鈥檝e made mistakes, you can still get where you鈥檙e supposed to be.鈥�
Like it is for others, Renner said discovering God鈥檚 will for his life has been a multistep process, in which one move of obedience led to discovering further directives. His journey to Russia began when he was invited to speak at a missions conference. As a pastor in the US, he wasn鈥檛 keen on becoming an international missionary. But beside him on the pew at the conference, he found a Russian Bible that captivated his attention. He discovered that, with the help of his Greek study, he could read the Russian language phonetically.
After studying the Russian language on his own, Renner was invited to speak in what was then the Soviet Union. 鈥淭here were bread lines and little food,鈥� he described. 鈥淚 ended up speaking in a school. The Holy Spirit spoke to me clearly and said, 鈥榃elcome to your new home.鈥� Then I heard the Holy Spirit say it again. In the next days that I was there, it all began to come together for me. God doesn鈥檛 always reveal the full will to you; sometimes He just gives you enough to keep you moving. I thought we were going for a year, and now we鈥檝e been there for 29 years.鈥�
With the backing of American churches, Renner began broadcasting the Gospel message on Russian television around the time the Soviet Union dissolved in late 1991. 鈥淐ommunism/atheism ruled for 70 years. It did a great thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n those 70 years, people鈥檚 hearts became vacant. Communism in a way cleaned the slate. People were so hungry for the word of God.鈥�
Early on, Renner offered for viewers to write him a letter with the promise of a response. The ministry was inundated with 800,000 letters. Thanks to television and in-person outreaches, people came to Christ in droves. The Renners began the Moscow Good News Church.
Denise Renner used her vocal gift to lead worship. 鈥淵ou just take one step and God opens another step and another step,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 singing all these words I鈥檝e never known in my life鈥he power of God would come as we worshipped Him. People would get saved and miracles would happen. We were just watching what God was doing. All we did was say 鈥榶es.鈥� When you say 鈥榶es鈥� in any area of your life, you open the door of heaven and His blessing, provision, power and peace. It opens the door to all of that and helps you do what you need to do.鈥�
Since the inception of their ministry, God has used the Renners to reach people throughout Russia and beyond. Their television ministry is broadcast in 13 languages around the world. They have enjoyed favor with the Russian people and even the government. 鈥淚 can never forget there were a generation of believers who prayed for freedom to come,鈥� Rick Renner said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in the will of God, I鈥檓 not going to tell you everything is going to go swell, but when you鈥檙e in the will of God, you do have a measure of protection. God is moving on every level of government and society; it鈥檚 marvelous.鈥�
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