Today is Halloween! Everybody seems to do something different for this holiday. Many folks take their kids trick-or-treating, all dressed up as Hannah Montana, Batman, Peyton Manning, or Sarah Palin. (That's a joke...)
Anyway, it seems alot of churches have taken the stand of being totally against celebrating Halloween by trick-or-treating, and they are instead having Trunk-or-Treat things at their church parking lots. While I applaud the attempts of churches to do cool stuff for kids and their parents, I wonder if there is a better way to love folks at this time of year?
I guess the big question is, how can God work through our culture's celebration of Halloween? (Yes, I know it is a pagan holiday at heart.) How can we represent Christ in such a way as to make the biggest possible positive impression on our neighbors on this night? How can we best take the Gospel to others and allow Christ to shine through us on Halloween? I think that's the most useful question, with the greatest possible result. I believe it's nice to invite people to your church building. But, I think it's always better to hang out with people in their neighborhoods and invite them right up to your front door!
Ryan Mobley of Delta Church in Springfield, Illinois has written a cool article about Halloween in his blog. Ryan is a fellow Acts29 Network pastor, and shares some good, simple wisdom about how God can use us to engage folks with love as Christ's representatives on Halloween.
You may be seeing more links to trusted pastors' blogs in the near future, as Emily and I hope to have a baby here real soon! She is scheduled for an amniocentesis (don't worry, it's a very safe procedure at 38 weeks) on Monday, with a possible C-section on Tuesday. We'll keep you informed and post pics, but for about a little while I may need the backup of other good bloggers while I figure this whole sleeping thing out!
Have a safe and fun night...
Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
RIdge Church Value #6: Fun
Well, we're finally to our final Ridge Church value! It may be the last one on our list, but it's pretty important, because it affects the way we approach our other values.
This weekend, when we held our first Ridge Church Pumpkin Carving, we had fun. When we meet in our small groups early in 2009, we will make sure to have fun. When we start our weekly worship services, we will have fun elements then as well.
It's evident that many churches have eliminated the concept of fun and enjoyment from their activities and programs. Step into many (but not all!) churches' Sunday worship services, weeknight activities, or whatever else is on the schedule, and you are likely to become bored and disinterested very quickly. This is so sad, because the Bible is a pretty exciting book, and the Gospel of Christ is the one thing that all Christians believe can completely transform a person's life!
Did you know that the Bible doesn't prohibit fun? Nope. Never. Does it say that you can't poke fun at things? No way. Smile and laugh? Nada. Does it have things to say about disrespect toward God and others? Yep. Cruel and biting sarcasm? Roger that. Dirty jokes? You betcha. So, we'll avoid those... They hurt God and others and therefore are not a good route to take.
That said, I like to think that Jesus and His 12 disciples didn't walk all over Israel in silence and with a frown on their faces. I like to think that maybe Jesus told them "the one about when the Father, the Spirit, and I were talking about making the platypus." Maybe Peter and the boys even played some games by the campfire, like the one where you assign a person to be "it" and they blink at people, and then other people have to figure out who is "it" before they get blinked at.
Anyway, I digress, but the point is that it's OK to have fun and talk about God or praise Him at the same time! Fun is just the polar opposite of boring, lame, and forgettable. David, the King of Israel, even had some fun worshiping God way back in the day. And, so will we! We are committed to doing things that are interesting, engaging, and fun, because they are cool to do as a group and result in enjoyable times of fellowship, learning, and worship. We believe the Bible is interesting and God is pretty engaging!
So, here's what Ridge Church has to say about our value of Fun, specifically in regard to our worship times:
"Worshiping our holy God should be an enjoyable activity. Although there must be serious times of repentance and spiritual challenge in the lives of all believers, the experience of meeting God in worship should be exciting, anticipated, interactive, and practical."
Some Bible passages that support our value of fun in worship and group life are Exodus 15:19-21, 2 Samuel 6:12-19, Nehemiah 8:10, and Matthew 26:17-20.
This weekend, when we held our first Ridge Church Pumpkin Carving, we had fun. When we meet in our small groups early in 2009, we will make sure to have fun. When we start our weekly worship services, we will have fun elements then as well.
It's evident that many churches have eliminated the concept of fun and enjoyment from their activities and programs. Step into many (but not all!) churches' Sunday worship services, weeknight activities, or whatever else is on the schedule, and you are likely to become bored and disinterested very quickly. This is so sad, because the Bible is a pretty exciting book, and the Gospel of Christ is the one thing that all Christians believe can completely transform a person's life!
Did you know that the Bible doesn't prohibit fun? Nope. Never. Does it say that you can't poke fun at things? No way. Smile and laugh? Nada. Does it have things to say about disrespect toward God and others? Yep. Cruel and biting sarcasm? Roger that. Dirty jokes? You betcha. So, we'll avoid those... They hurt God and others and therefore are not a good route to take.
That said, I like to think that Jesus and His 12 disciples didn't walk all over Israel in silence and with a frown on their faces. I like to think that maybe Jesus told them "the one about when the Father, the Spirit, and I were talking about making the platypus." Maybe Peter and the boys even played some games by the campfire, like the one where you assign a person to be "it" and they blink at people, and then other people have to figure out who is "it" before they get blinked at.
Anyway, I digress, but the point is that it's OK to have fun and talk about God or praise Him at the same time! Fun is just the polar opposite of boring, lame, and forgettable. David, the King of Israel, even had some fun worshiping God way back in the day. And, so will we! We are committed to doing things that are interesting, engaging, and fun, because they are cool to do as a group and result in enjoyable times of fellowship, learning, and worship. We believe the Bible is interesting and God is pretty engaging!
So, here's what Ridge Church has to say about our value of Fun, specifically in regard to our worship times:
"Worshiping our holy God should be an enjoyable activity. Although there must be serious times of repentance and spiritual challenge in the lives of all believers, the experience of meeting God in worship should be exciting, anticipated, interactive, and practical."
Some Bible passages that support our value of fun in worship and group life are Exodus 15:19-21, 2 Samuel 6:12-19, Nehemiah 8:10, and Matthew 26:17-20.
Since you read the whole post, here's a link to a funny video that brings back memories from my youth pastor days! Enjoy!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Big Orange... Pumpkins!
Today was a fun day for Ridge Church! We held our first Pumpkin Carving at Fountain City Park today from 2 to 5 pm. A bunch of cool folks came out and brought a bunch of melons and creative attitudes as we shared the afternoon together carving away.
Congratulations to the winners, both kids and adults, in our three carving categories: Most Creative, Most Fun, and Best Craftsmanship!
The prizes for our winners came from 4 cool local sponsors from Fountain City:
There's some great pics from our Pumpkin Carving below for you to check out. We did have a couple of carved hands, so here's best wishes for those that left with band-aids to heal up fast.
If only the other Big Orange could have had a good day... But, there's always next Saturday!
Congratulations to the winners, both kids and adults, in our three carving categories: Most Creative, Most Fun, and Best Craftsmanship!
The prizes for our winners came from 4 cool local sponsors from Fountain City:
- Gift certificates for kids' ice cream cones from Baskin-Robbins at 5228 North Broadway.
- A $15 gift certificate from the Fountain City Creamery at 114 Hotel Road.
- A $20 gift certificate from Leo's Cafe at 3029 Tazewell Pike.
- A gift certificate for a free haircut from Christy Garrison at Panache Hair & Body at 3501 Tazewell Pike.
There's some great pics from our Pumpkin Carving below for you to check out. We did have a couple of carved hands, so here's best wishes for those that left with band-aids to heal up fast.
If only the other Big Orange could have had a good day... But, there's always next Saturday!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
"Battle for the Bible"
Tonight, I watched a show on PBS called "Battle for the Bible." It was a great show... for the first 30 minutes. The second half was a bit too much commentary and too little history, but that's PBS for ya. The topic of the show was the difficulty that English people went through to get a translation of the Bible in their own language.
Even as a church planter, I often forget just how much struggle, sacrifice, and even martyrdom precluded our modern English Bible translations. We have so many Bibles available to us today, from the Bibles for sale at Christian bookstores, to the Gideon Bible you can find in a hotel room, to the Bibles (dusty, maybe?) that most of us have in our homes.
But the truth is that for hundreds of years the Catholic Church (the only one in Europe until the 1500's) prohibited the common folk (like you and me) to possess a Bible. On top of that, the only Bible available to the priests in the Catholic churches was written in Latin. The Catholic worship service, called Mass, was recited in Latin. Only Catholic priests and a very few other elite, educated people were able to read Latin or understand spoken Latin. So, knowledge of what the Bible said was pretty much out of reach for almost all people who called themselves Christians.
In the 1380's, Englishman John Wycliffe took it upon himself to translate the Bible into English, so his countrymen could finally read it. He believed that only good things could come out of people having access to God's Word. The Catholic Church condemned Wycliffe and other Bible translators who attempted to render the Scriptures in English and other vernacular languages. The new translations threatened the power of the Catholic Church, because they called its leadership out on many teachings that were not found in Scripture.
Wycliffe and his assistants had to translate the Bible painstakingly by hand, since Gutenberg had yet to invent the printing press! Wycliffe died of natural causes, but for the next couple hundred years, the Catholic Church labeled those who attempted to translate the Bible into English as false teachers. They chased them around Europe and repeatedly burned them at the stake when they caught them.
Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation in 1517, when he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. During the struggles that followed this event, many men rose up to translate the Bible into the languages of the various people of Europe.
In 1525, William Tyndale was the first man to have his English New Testament translation mechanically printed. He was burned at the stake by Catholic authorities in 1536.
Myles Coverdale and John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers had worked with Tyndale on his New Testament. On October 4, 1535, they published the first complete Bible in English. This translation is known as the Coverdale Bible. In 1537, Rogers published the second complete English Bible, and the first to be translated from the original languages (Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament).
In 1539, the King of England finally allowed the Bible to be legally printed in English and read on English soil. Thus began the era of widely-available English Bible translations, although there were still periods of persecution of those who cherished the English Bible. For instance, during the reign of Catholic Queen "Bloody" Mary, hundreds of people (including John Rogers) were burned at the stake for being Protestants.
These days, hundreds of years after Wycliffe, we take our English Bibles for granted. Today, why not think about all that went into giving you the Bible you read today, and thank God for courageous men who would not give up until they made it possible for you to hold that priceless Word of God in English.
Even as a church planter, I often forget just how much struggle, sacrifice, and even martyrdom precluded our modern English Bible translations. We have so many Bibles available to us today, from the Bibles for sale at Christian bookstores, to the Gideon Bible you can find in a hotel room, to the Bibles (dusty, maybe?) that most of us have in our homes.
But the truth is that for hundreds of years the Catholic Church (the only one in Europe until the 1500's) prohibited the common folk (like you and me) to possess a Bible. On top of that, the only Bible available to the priests in the Catholic churches was written in Latin. The Catholic worship service, called Mass, was recited in Latin. Only Catholic priests and a very few other elite, educated people were able to read Latin or understand spoken Latin. So, knowledge of what the Bible said was pretty much out of reach for almost all people who called themselves Christians.
In the 1380's, Englishman John Wycliffe took it upon himself to translate the Bible into English, so his countrymen could finally read it. He believed that only good things could come out of people having access to God's Word. The Catholic Church condemned Wycliffe and other Bible translators who attempted to render the Scriptures in English and other vernacular languages. The new translations threatened the power of the Catholic Church, because they called its leadership out on many teachings that were not found in Scripture.
Wycliffe and his assistants had to translate the Bible painstakingly by hand, since Gutenberg had yet to invent the printing press! Wycliffe died of natural causes, but for the next couple hundred years, the Catholic Church labeled those who attempted to translate the Bible into English as false teachers. They chased them around Europe and repeatedly burned them at the stake when they caught them.
Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation in 1517, when he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. During the struggles that followed this event, many men rose up to translate the Bible into the languages of the various people of Europe.
In 1525, William Tyndale was the first man to have his English New Testament translation mechanically printed. He was burned at the stake by Catholic authorities in 1536.
Myles Coverdale and John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers had worked with Tyndale on his New Testament. On October 4, 1535, they published the first complete Bible in English. This translation is known as the Coverdale Bible. In 1537, Rogers published the second complete English Bible, and the first to be translated from the original languages (Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament).
In 1539, the King of England finally allowed the Bible to be legally printed in English and read on English soil. Thus began the era of widely-available English Bible translations, although there were still periods of persecution of those who cherished the English Bible. For instance, during the reign of Catholic Queen "Bloody" Mary, hundreds of people (including John Rogers) were burned at the stake for being Protestants.
These days, hundreds of years after Wycliffe, we take our English Bibles for granted. Today, why not think about all that went into giving you the Bible you read today, and thank God for courageous men who would not give up until they made it possible for you to hold that priceless Word of God in English.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
A Great Night Together with Ridge Church
Hey, everybody! Emily and I had a great time with you tonight at our second Ridge Church gathering! It was great to see all of you folks that we've been talking to about The Ridge. We're so glad we were able to get together, share our hearts and get to know each other better. It was good to talk about our vision for Ridge Church, our values, and what those values will look like "lived out."
Toward the end of our meeting, we talked about our timeline for The Ridge for the next couple of months and how you can be involved in helping us launch our Sunday worship gatherings in the new year. That said, if you have any musical ability, like playing an instrument or singing, and you'd like to learn more about using that ability as part of the Ridge Church worship team, contact Emily. If you'd like to learn more about working with children and being part of our children's ministry team, contact Emily. You guessed it, Emily is the admin part of this couple... You can call her as well, just dial 704.579.2022. (Only 2 months before we are out of our North Carolina cell contract!)
For those of you who weren't able to make it, we missed you! I've posted our Ridge Church Vision and Values on our website for you; check out and download the PDF document here.
Our next Ridge Church gathering is scheduled for Sunday, November 9, from 5:30 to 7 pm at Panache hair salon at 3501 Tazewell Pike in Fountain City. It's a great location, and we're thankful to Christy Garrison yet again for sharing it! One of the things we'll be doing at the November and December gatherings is discussing the second chapter of the book of Acts. This chapter is the description of the first Christian church in Jerusalem in the early days after Christ returned to Heaven... It's a great passage to talk about when your new church is in the same situation!
The gathering schedule is November 9, November 16, December 7, and December 14 (all Sunday evenings). More info on our Sunday, November 23 service project will be posted soon, but you can mark the date.
We're excited about our next Ridge Church Event this week! We're having a Pumpkin Carving at Fountain City Park this Saturday, October 25th, from 2 to 5 pm. It's gonna be a great time for all ages... Who doesn't like using a knife on a defenseless late-season fruit of the vine?!
BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin), and have a great time carving up that big gourd with us. We'll have prizes for Most Creative, Best Craftsmanship, and Funniest categories. Kids can win, too! Our prizes are gift certificates from local businesses in the Fountain City area.
Note: This is an excellent event to bring your friends to who may be interested in The Ridge! It's a comfortable place to be (outside in the Fall) and a fun thing to do (chop up produce) with cool people (all you Ridgers!). So, bring a buddy or a neighbor family and make sure to introduce me to them so I can make new friends!
If you're on Facebook, join our group, and also check out the Pumpkin Carving event page. If you're not on Facebook, make sure we have your email address so we can keep you updated with Ridge Church happenings... Then think about Facebook... It's fun and safe!
See you Saturday!
Toward the end of our meeting, we talked about our timeline for The Ridge for the next couple of months and how you can be involved in helping us launch our Sunday worship gatherings in the new year. That said, if you have any musical ability, like playing an instrument or singing, and you'd like to learn more about using that ability as part of the Ridge Church worship team, contact Emily. If you'd like to learn more about working with children and being part of our children's ministry team, contact Emily. You guessed it, Emily is the admin part of this couple... You can call her as well, just dial 704.579.2022. (Only 2 months before we are out of our North Carolina cell contract!)
For those of you who weren't able to make it, we missed you! I've posted our Ridge Church Vision and Values on our website for you; check out and download the PDF document here.
Our next Ridge Church gathering is scheduled for Sunday, November 9, from 5:30 to 7 pm at Panache hair salon at 3501 Tazewell Pike in Fountain City. It's a great location, and we're thankful to Christy Garrison yet again for sharing it! One of the things we'll be doing at the November and December gatherings is discussing the second chapter of the book of Acts. This chapter is the description of the first Christian church in Jerusalem in the early days after Christ returned to Heaven... It's a great passage to talk about when your new church is in the same situation!
The gathering schedule is November 9, November 16, December 7, and December 14 (all Sunday evenings). More info on our Sunday, November 23 service project will be posted soon, but you can mark the date.
We're excited about our next Ridge Church Event this week! We're having a Pumpkin Carving at Fountain City Park this Saturday, October 25th, from 2 to 5 pm. It's gonna be a great time for all ages... Who doesn't like using a knife on a defenseless late-season fruit of the vine?!
BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin), and have a great time carving up that big gourd with us. We'll have prizes for Most Creative, Best Craftsmanship, and Funniest categories. Kids can win, too! Our prizes are gift certificates from local businesses in the Fountain City area.
Note: This is an excellent event to bring your friends to who may be interested in The Ridge! It's a comfortable place to be (outside in the Fall) and a fun thing to do (chop up produce) with cool people (all you Ridgers!). So, bring a buddy or a neighbor family and make sure to introduce me to them so I can make new friends!
If you're on Facebook, join our group, and also check out the Pumpkin Carving event page. If you're not on Facebook, make sure we have your email address so we can keep you updated with Ridge Church happenings... Then think about Facebook... It's fun and safe!
See you Saturday!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Important Ridge Church Gathering This Sunday!
Hey, everybody, just wanted to make sure you are all aware of the Ridge Church gathering this Sunday (the 19th) and are making plans to come! We're meeting at 5:30 pm at Panache salon in Fountain City. The address is 3501 Tazewell Pike. Kids are welcome, so bring 'em along. We'll be done by 7 pm, and Emily and I will be grabbing supper afterward; anyone who'd like to join us is welcome!
I want to thank Christy Garrison for generously allowing us to use her awesomely-located place of business for our gathering. When you're a new church, finding space to use for getting together can be tough... Thank you a ton for sharing what God has blessed you with!
As far as the meeting on Sunday goes, it's an important one. We wouldn't invite you if it weren't!
We'll be talking specifically about what you can expect from The Ridge for the next couple of months as we move toward the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. We'll talk about the ways that you can connect relationally with other Ridge Church folks in this foundational time as we plan for regular Sunday worship meetings. We'll talk about ways that you can be involved in ministry teams both within The Ridge and outside it in our community. We'll also share a little about how Ridge Church will look in the new year.
Of course, all of these things are crucial, but one thing is super-important: your involvement! We want everyone interested in Ridge Church to feel welcome at all our gatherings, feel like an important part of our group, and have the opportunity to serve and support The Ridge.
On Sunday evening, we'll talk about this and also give you time to ask specific (or not-so-specific) questions about our vision, values, beliefs, plans, structures, hopes, dreams, you name it. Just don't ask what our baby's name is gonna be... We may not quite be there yet! (She's not probably gonna be here for about 10 days... We'll get it figured out!)
So, see you Sunday! And, feel free to bring a friend or two. New things in life are much easier to try when you have a buddy with you.
If you have a Facebook account (if you don't, you should sign up!), check out our Ridge Church group page and our event page. This blog post is your invitation to join the group so you can stay updated! Also, let us know if you're coming on Sunday on our event page so we can plan ahead... Thanks and see you Sunday evening!
I want to thank Christy Garrison for generously allowing us to use her awesomely-located place of business for our gathering. When you're a new church, finding space to use for getting together can be tough... Thank you a ton for sharing what God has blessed you with!
As far as the meeting on Sunday goes, it's an important one. We wouldn't invite you if it weren't!
We'll be talking specifically about what you can expect from The Ridge for the next couple of months as we move toward the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. We'll talk about the ways that you can connect relationally with other Ridge Church folks in this foundational time as we plan for regular Sunday worship meetings. We'll talk about ways that you can be involved in ministry teams both within The Ridge and outside it in our community. We'll also share a little about how Ridge Church will look in the new year.
Of course, all of these things are crucial, but one thing is super-important: your involvement! We want everyone interested in Ridge Church to feel welcome at all our gatherings, feel like an important part of our group, and have the opportunity to serve and support The Ridge.
On Sunday evening, we'll talk about this and also give you time to ask specific (or not-so-specific) questions about our vision, values, beliefs, plans, structures, hopes, dreams, you name it. Just don't ask what our baby's name is gonna be... We may not quite be there yet! (She's not probably gonna be here for about 10 days... We'll get it figured out!)
So, see you Sunday! And, feel free to bring a friend or two. New things in life are much easier to try when you have a buddy with you.
If you have a Facebook account (if you don't, you should sign up!), check out our Ridge Church group page and our event page. This blog post is your invitation to join the group so you can stay updated! Also, let us know if you're coming on Sunday on our event page so we can plan ahead... Thanks and see you Sunday evening!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday, Monday
Yesterday was a long, but good day! I think the tiredness factor was due to my big trip this weekend to Georgia... But, sometimes you have to pile a bunch of stuff together and make a crazy week out of it. I'm sure you've all been there!
First, I went to work at my part-time job at the HoneyBaked Ham Store near Knoxville Center. I've worked there for about 6 weeks now selling holiday hams, turkeys, and gift certificates to local businesses and manufacturers. Having the job allows Emily and me to not take a salary at this time from the funds that we are raising for our new church's financial needs... We want to be good stewards of God's funds and provide for as much of our financial needs as possible, therefore freeing up money for some of God's other purposes.
My job at HoneyBaked is an interesting one that puts me in contact with a ton of people in the area, even though it's usually on the phone! I also deliver lunchtime catering to our customers on most days.
A cool thing about my job is that I work with some really nice people. Most of them don't go to church, and so I've had some cool opportunities to talk to them about The Ridge and its values, and how we're going about starting a church. I learn every day more and more about why folks around our area have chosen not to go to church, and I believe more and more each day that Ridge Church is "on target" for what Emily and I moved to Knoxville for: "to be a community of people transformed by Christ, reaching out to share Christ with others."
Monday afternoon, Emily and I met with Grant Standefer, the Executive Director of the Compassion Coalition. I was connected to Grant through Jim Thompson, the Executive Director of the Coalition. I was connected to Jim through Max Reddick, the Senior Minister at Fountain City Presbyterian Church here in Knoxville. Max is a great guy who gave up a couple hours one afternoon last week to share with us what he knows about the area (he knows alot!).
The Compassion Coalition is an awesome ministry connecting over 150 churches in the Knoxville area to local government and non-profit agencies for the purpose of serving our community. It's a great concept that is long overdue, and it sounds like every city in America would do well to copy it!
As you can see, networking when you're planting a church is a pretty cool thing... There are alot of people out there who want to help those in need and reach our community with Christ's love. Every day, Emily and I are more glad to be here and more excited about continuing to serve our city in the future.
To top off a great, but long day, we had a great time at our "Man Night" at Spicy's in Powell. Some of you guys out there mentioned that you couldn't make it, and we missed you. Stay tuned for our next guys' thing... We'll have another one sometime soon.
First, I went to work at my part-time job at the HoneyBaked Ham Store near Knoxville Center. I've worked there for about 6 weeks now selling holiday hams, turkeys, and gift certificates to local businesses and manufacturers. Having the job allows Emily and me to not take a salary at this time from the funds that we are raising for our new church's financial needs... We want to be good stewards of God's funds and provide for as much of our financial needs as possible, therefore freeing up money for some of God's other purposes.
My job at HoneyBaked is an interesting one that puts me in contact with a ton of people in the area, even though it's usually on the phone! I also deliver lunchtime catering to our customers on most days.
A cool thing about my job is that I work with some really nice people. Most of them don't go to church, and so I've had some cool opportunities to talk to them about The Ridge and its values, and how we're going about starting a church. I learn every day more and more about why folks around our area have chosen not to go to church, and I believe more and more each day that Ridge Church is "on target" for what Emily and I moved to Knoxville for: "to be a community of people transformed by Christ, reaching out to share Christ with others."
Monday afternoon, Emily and I met with Grant Standefer, the Executive Director of the Compassion Coalition. I was connected to Grant through Jim Thompson, the Executive Director of the Coalition. I was connected to Jim through Max Reddick, the Senior Minister at Fountain City Presbyterian Church here in Knoxville. Max is a great guy who gave up a couple hours one afternoon last week to share with us what he knows about the area (he knows alot!).
The Compassion Coalition is an awesome ministry connecting over 150 churches in the Knoxville area to local government and non-profit agencies for the purpose of serving our community. It's a great concept that is long overdue, and it sounds like every city in America would do well to copy it!
As you can see, networking when you're planting a church is a pretty cool thing... There are alot of people out there who want to help those in need and reach our community with Christ's love. Every day, Emily and I are more glad to be here and more excited about continuing to serve our city in the future.
To top off a great, but long day, we had a great time at our "Man Night" at Spicy's in Powell. Some of you guys out there mentioned that you couldn't make it, and we missed you. Stay tuned for our next guys' thing... We'll have another one sometime soon.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Another cool weekend on the road...
This weekend was a great experience. Except for having to leave my 8-months pregnant wife at home and spend 10 hours driving solo, it was a cool 36 hours.
Saturday, I drove to the Atlanta area to visit with Jason Martin, the Lead Pastor of Journey Church. He is doing some really cool stuff down there, although his celebration of the UGA victory over UT Saturday was a tough intro for me.
Journey is a "restart," which basically means taking an old church that is slowly dying and "restarting" the church in the same location, but with a new energy and focus. He's got a great thing going down there. Jason and I spent about 3 hours Saturday evening talking about church planting, connecting with those who don't follow Christ yet, and Acts29. He's a cool guy. If you're in the Austell/Mableton area, check out Journey Church!
Saturday night, I stayed at the Hyatt Place in Duluth, GA. You should check out that Hyatt Place decor. I don't know if people aren't traveling as much due to the cost of gasoline, or if everyone and their mom was staying in Athens for the UT/Georgia game (listened to it on the radio, very sad), or if there are too many hotel rooms in the Atlanta area...
All I know is that I got a 3-star hotel room in Duluth for $34 on Priceline. Sweet, sweet deal. I had honeydew and cantaloupe for breakfast, and some awesome Starbucks coffee. I love sugary melons and fruit big-time. And, having them already cut up and in a bowl for me to grab in the morning is super cool. Big check plus for the breakfast! Unfortunately, I found the room to be too New York/European/modern. I mean, I like a 42" plasma as much as any guy, but I like my hotel room to feel warm and inviting, not cold and feng shui or something.
Anhow, Sunday morning I visited Christ Community Church and hung out with their Teaching Pastor, Matt Adair. Matt is a 'Bama fan who leads a church down the road from Athens and has 100 UGA students in his crowd. Go figure on that one! Definitely cool to see so many 20-somethings excited about God.
Big thanks to Jared Bryant, Christ Community's Director of Ministry to Parents and Children, for showing me around the campus of the Christian school where they meet. I really enjoyed worship with Christ Community, especially Matt's comments at the time that we took Communion.
Matt mentioned something that really struck me... So often, when we share the Lord's Table, we Christians focus on ourselves and how unworthy we are to share in Christ's sacrifice for us. However, we should focus on Christ, because it's His sacrifice on the cross that makes us worthy. We can never ask forgiveness enough times of God to be worthy of having our sins forgiven. Christ has done all the work of being punished for our sins and making a way for us to connect to God. We should focus on Christ during Communion, not ourselves. Heavy stuff, and very full of grace. I think I will quote Matt when his sermon gets on the Internet.
You should definitely drop by Christ Community if you are ever in Watkinsville or you go to UGA to watch the Vols beat the Dawgs in 2010... Ha ha.
This weekend was another reminder of how cool the Acts29 Network is. I met with two guys from historically disconnected denominations who share a common theology and commitment to new churches. Worship and teaching styles may differ from church to church, but it's awesome to be part of such a focused group of guys who are impacting our world with God's love.
Saturday, I drove to the Atlanta area to visit with Jason Martin, the Lead Pastor of Journey Church. He is doing some really cool stuff down there, although his celebration of the UGA victory over UT Saturday was a tough intro for me.
Journey is a "restart," which basically means taking an old church that is slowly dying and "restarting" the church in the same location, but with a new energy and focus. He's got a great thing going down there. Jason and I spent about 3 hours Saturday evening talking about church planting, connecting with those who don't follow Christ yet, and Acts29. He's a cool guy. If you're in the Austell/Mableton area, check out Journey Church!
Saturday night, I stayed at the Hyatt Place in Duluth, GA. You should check out that Hyatt Place decor. I don't know if people aren't traveling as much due to the cost of gasoline, or if everyone and their mom was staying in Athens for the UT/Georgia game (listened to it on the radio, very sad), or if there are too many hotel rooms in the Atlanta area...
All I know is that I got a 3-star hotel room in Duluth for $34 on Priceline. Sweet, sweet deal. I had honeydew and cantaloupe for breakfast, and some awesome Starbucks coffee. I love sugary melons and fruit big-time. And, having them already cut up and in a bowl for me to grab in the morning is super cool. Big check plus for the breakfast! Unfortunately, I found the room to be too New York/European/modern. I mean, I like a 42" plasma as much as any guy, but I like my hotel room to feel warm and inviting, not cold and feng shui or something.
Anhow, Sunday morning I visited Christ Community Church and hung out with their Teaching Pastor, Matt Adair. Matt is a 'Bama fan who leads a church down the road from Athens and has 100 UGA students in his crowd. Go figure on that one! Definitely cool to see so many 20-somethings excited about God.
Big thanks to Jared Bryant, Christ Community's Director of Ministry to Parents and Children, for showing me around the campus of the Christian school where they meet. I really enjoyed worship with Christ Community, especially Matt's comments at the time that we took Communion.
Matt mentioned something that really struck me... So often, when we share the Lord's Table, we Christians focus on ourselves and how unworthy we are to share in Christ's sacrifice for us. However, we should focus on Christ, because it's His sacrifice on the cross that makes us worthy. We can never ask forgiveness enough times of God to be worthy of having our sins forgiven. Christ has done all the work of being punished for our sins and making a way for us to connect to God. We should focus on Christ during Communion, not ourselves. Heavy stuff, and very full of grace. I think I will quote Matt when his sermon gets on the Internet.
You should definitely drop by Christ Community if you are ever in Watkinsville or you go to UGA to watch the Vols beat the Dawgs in 2010... Ha ha.
This weekend was another reminder of how cool the Acts29 Network is. I met with two guys from historically disconnected denominations who share a common theology and commitment to new churches. Worship and teaching styles may differ from church to church, but it's awesome to be part of such a focused group of guys who are impacting our world with God's love.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Ridge Church Value #5: New Churches
People ask me all the time: "Why are you starting a new church? Why are you "planting" a church in Knoxville, Tennessee? Aren't there a million churches there? Isn't church planting something you do in Africa or Asia?"
These are great questions! And, if I didn't have an answer for them, you might assume I'm a little nutty. But, I do have good answers for those questions...
The first answer is that planting churches is a biblical idea. Here's what Ridge Church has to say about New Churches:
"We believe that beginning and supporting new churches is a healthy, noble, and God-honoring activity. New churches are the most effective means for Christians to reach to others with the grace and love of Christ; all Christians should support the planting of new churches."
Some Bible passages that support our value of New Churches are Acts 16:6-15, Titus 1:5, Romans 15:19-24.
Planting churches is also a logical and intelligent thing for those who want to share God's love with others and spread the truth of Jesus Christ in our country (as well as the rest of the world). Here are some interesting stats:
These are great questions! And, if I didn't have an answer for them, you might assume I'm a little nutty. But, I do have good answers for those questions...
The first answer is that planting churches is a biblical idea. Here's what Ridge Church has to say about New Churches:
"We believe that beginning and supporting new churches is a healthy, noble, and God-honoring activity. New churches are the most effective means for Christians to reach to others with the grace and love of Christ; all Christians should support the planting of new churches."
Some Bible passages that support our value of New Churches are Acts 16:6-15, Titus 1:5, Romans 15:19-24.
Planting churches is also a logical and intelligent thing for those who want to share God's love with others and spread the truth of Jesus Christ in our country (as well as the rest of the world). Here are some interesting stats:
- There are 120 million secular people in the US.
- The number of "unchurched" people in the US nearly doubled from 1991 to 2004.
- In 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans. In 2004, that number had fallen to 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans.
- 3,500 to 4,000 churches close each year in the US.
- New churches are 6-8 times more likely to bring people into God's family as new believers in Christ than older churches.
In short, church planting is a biblical, wise, logical and loving way to engage our culture and bring the truth of the Gospel to the toughest audience: people who do not go to church and are not interested in God. That's why we're planting Ridge Church in Knoxville and why Ridge Church is part of the Acts29 Network.
Because we are a church plant that believes in church planting, we're "putting our money where our mouth is." Ridge Church is committed to giving 10% of all the finances that we receive once we start meeting regularly toward supporting new churches. We believe that is a worthy way to share the money God gives us with other churches who are seeking to share Christ with thier communities.
I can talk for a long time about church planting! Feel free to email me if you'd like to talk about Ridge Church or why church planting is so important.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Man Night next Monday
Hey, all you guys out there... I've been looking for a good place for guys to hang out. It had to be a place that had good food, stuff to do, and plenty of TV's. Last night, Emily and I went to Spicy's in Powell for a "date night." It's a cool place! They've got pool tables, a bunch of TV's, and a friendly staff.
Mondays at Spicy's are 30-cent wing nights. You can get all the wings you want and just chill, you can shoot some pool, and you can watch Monday Night Football with your buds.
So, if you're checking out Ridge Church and you're a guy, come on out to Spicy's and join me for some Monday night wings and football next week! If wings aren't your thing, they've got sandwiches, burgers, and even salads, and their Ranch Fries are pretty awesome. Bring along any of your buds that you want and hang with us.
Spicy's is at 950 E Emory Road in Powell, right off of the Emory Road exit off I-75, and not far from Halls. We'll get together at 7 for dinner. Then, anybody who wants to can stay and see Peyton's little brother and the Giants try to stay undefeated against the Browns starting at 8:30.
Just drop in and have some fun hanging out! Could be lots of touchdowns in Cleveland for Eli...
Mondays at Spicy's are 30-cent wing nights. You can get all the wings you want and just chill, you can shoot some pool, and you can watch Monday Night Football with your buds.
So, if you're checking out Ridge Church and you're a guy, come on out to Spicy's and join me for some Monday night wings and football next week! If wings aren't your thing, they've got sandwiches, burgers, and even salads, and their Ranch Fries are pretty awesome. Bring along any of your buds that you want and hang with us.
Spicy's is at 950 E Emory Road in Powell, right off of the Emory Road exit off I-75, and not far from Halls. We'll get together at 7 for dinner. Then, anybody who wants to can stay and see Peyton's little brother and the Giants try to stay undefeated against the Browns starting at 8:30.
Just drop in and have some fun hanging out! Could be lots of touchdowns in Cleveland for Eli...
Friday, October 3, 2008
Two opportunities for you to help Ridge Church
Well, Emily and I have been back in Knoxville for 3 full months now. We've got settled into our rental house in Gibbs, and we're getting ready for the birth of our daughter in about 4 weeks. We've reconnected with a bunch of people we haven't seen in years, and we've met a ton of new people as well.
Now, there are two very important ways that you can help The Ridge as we continue to add interested people to our group and prepare to someday soon meet on Sundays!
First, we are looking for people who are interested in serving as part of a band. We are excited about having a worship team to lead us in music on Sundays at our weekly worship times. If you play an instrument or sing, or you know someone who does that might be interested in The Ridge, just let Emily know! She loves singing and knows way more about music than I do... She's excited about being part of a fun Sunday worship Team.
Second, we are looking for a place to have worship once we start meeting on Sundays. There are a ton of options out there, from movie theaters to schools to who knows what! There are probably alot more places that we don't know about that would work for a Sunday worship gathering. Since kids are really important to us, we want a place that ideally will allow us to have an area for young children while we are having a worship gathering for "big kids." So, just email me if you have any ideas... And remember, there are no bad ideas!
One note about locations... We want to extend a big thanks to the Christy Garrison for allowing us to use her hair salon, Panache, for our next Ridge Church gathering on Sunday, October 19, from 5:30 to 7 pm. Panache is a great meeting spot, at 3501 Tazewell Pike in Fountain City.
Everyone (including children) is welcome for our gathering! We'll be talking about what The Ridge will look like, what we will be about on a weekly basis, and also some things that we won't look like and be about. There will be time for your questions, so join us in a couple weeks and get them answered... Feel free to bring a friend!
Now, there are two very important ways that you can help The Ridge as we continue to add interested people to our group and prepare to someday soon meet on Sundays!
First, we are looking for people who are interested in serving as part of a band. We are excited about having a worship team to lead us in music on Sundays at our weekly worship times. If you play an instrument or sing, or you know someone who does that might be interested in The Ridge, just let Emily know! She loves singing and knows way more about music than I do... She's excited about being part of a fun Sunday worship Team.
Second, we are looking for a place to have worship once we start meeting on Sundays. There are a ton of options out there, from movie theaters to schools to who knows what! There are probably alot more places that we don't know about that would work for a Sunday worship gathering. Since kids are really important to us, we want a place that ideally will allow us to have an area for young children while we are having a worship gathering for "big kids." So, just email me if you have any ideas... And remember, there are no bad ideas!
One note about locations... We want to extend a big thanks to the Christy Garrison for allowing us to use her hair salon, Panache, for our next Ridge Church gathering on Sunday, October 19, from 5:30 to 7 pm. Panache is a great meeting spot, at 3501 Tazewell Pike in Fountain City.
Everyone (including children) is welcome for our gathering! We'll be talking about what The Ridge will look like, what we will be about on a weekly basis, and also some things that we won't look like and be about. There will be time for your questions, so join us in a couple weeks and get them answered... Feel free to bring a friend!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Serving together Saturday was cool
This past weekend, before the glory that was the UT/Auburn game (very sad sarcasm there), we had our first Ridge Church service project.
KARM (Knox Area Rescue Ministries) is a great ministry here in Knoxville. Their mission is "to seek to rescue the poor and needy of the Knox Area by providing services in Jesus' name." They do great work with the needy and homeless folks in our area. To give you just a glimpse of the scope of KARM's ministry, they served 371,876 meals last year (that's over 1,000 per day!). To get some other cool facts about KARM, check out this page.
Saturday, a group of Ridge Church peeps served at the new KARM thrift store on Merchants Drive, helping to sort the clothing donations they've received. The store will be open soon (if it's not already!) so check it out! KARM's thrift store operations pay for about 25% of the meals they serve at their ministry center. The other 75% is paid for by the donations of "viewers like you."
The Ridge is looking for "a few good ministries" to partner with as we move forward with our church plant. We are committed to seeking the welfare of the city we live in. (See Jeremiah 29:3-7--but rest assured Emily and I do not feel "exiled" to Knoxville!) We also want to follow Jesus' last directive to his followers: take His Gospel to all the nations/peoples of the world. (Acts 1:6-11) Since we're in Knoxville right now, Knoxville is where we'll start!
It's important that a church be about both helping the needy and sharing the truth of Christ's life, death, and resurrection with them. Many churches have created an imbalance there. Either they only help the needy and never share the story of Christ's love with them, or they only preach to them and never help them with thier problems.
The Ridge firmly believes in ministering to the poor as a way to "earn the right" to tell them about Jesus and help them in their suffering. We also believe in telling the poor about Jesus so that our ministry can have a spiritual impact as well as physical, social, and emotional impact. It's kind of like the old "chicken and egg" riddle...
Deuteronomy 15:11 is one Bible verse (of a great many) that supports helping those who are in need. However, Christ also strongly commanded us in the Great Commission to "make disciples" (followers of Christ) in the whole world.
Perhaps the Great Commandment sums it up best in Mark 12:28-31: "And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, 'Which commandment is the most important of all?' Jesus answered, 'The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.'"
So, in short, we're going to be all about loving God and loving people at Ridge Church. And serving our community's ministries, schools, and neighborhoods is one way we're going to show that love. Join us and see God do some awesome stuff!
KARM (Knox Area Rescue Ministries) is a great ministry here in Knoxville. Their mission is "to seek to rescue the poor and needy of the Knox Area by providing services in Jesus' name." They do great work with the needy and homeless folks in our area. To give you just a glimpse of the scope of KARM's ministry, they served 371,876 meals last year (that's over 1,000 per day!). To get some other cool facts about KARM, check out this page.
Saturday, a group of Ridge Church peeps served at the new KARM thrift store on Merchants Drive, helping to sort the clothing donations they've received. The store will be open soon (if it's not already!) so check it out! KARM's thrift store operations pay for about 25% of the meals they serve at their ministry center. The other 75% is paid for by the donations of "viewers like you."
The Ridge is looking for "a few good ministries" to partner with as we move forward with our church plant. We are committed to seeking the welfare of the city we live in. (See Jeremiah 29:3-7--but rest assured Emily and I do not feel "exiled" to Knoxville!) We also want to follow Jesus' last directive to his followers: take His Gospel to all the nations/peoples of the world. (Acts 1:6-11) Since we're in Knoxville right now, Knoxville is where we'll start!
It's important that a church be about both helping the needy and sharing the truth of Christ's life, death, and resurrection with them. Many churches have created an imbalance there. Either they only help the needy and never share the story of Christ's love with them, or they only preach to them and never help them with thier problems.
The Ridge firmly believes in ministering to the poor as a way to "earn the right" to tell them about Jesus and help them in their suffering. We also believe in telling the poor about Jesus so that our ministry can have a spiritual impact as well as physical, social, and emotional impact. It's kind of like the old "chicken and egg" riddle...
Deuteronomy 15:11 is one Bible verse (of a great many) that supports helping those who are in need. However, Christ also strongly commanded us in the Great Commission to "make disciples" (followers of Christ) in the whole world.
Perhaps the Great Commandment sums it up best in Mark 12:28-31: "And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, 'Which commandment is the most important of all?' Jesus answered, 'The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.'"
So, in short, we're going to be all about loving God and loving people at Ridge Church. And serving our community's ministries, schools, and neighborhoods is one way we're going to show that love. Join us and see God do some awesome stuff!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
An update on my sister-in-law, Tina
My mom, Frances, emailed me this info today about Tina, my sister-in-law. I mentioned an important prayer request for her a couple days ago.
My mom and dad, Roy and Frances (you can pray for them too, if you want!) heard from my brother Keith last night. He and Tina "learned that the nasal tumor was indeed a pregnancy - related thing that just happened to end up in her nose. Apparently the spot in front of her ear has gone down some. She still has headaches, too, but maybe they are better. The great news is that the situaion seems a lot better than we originally thought. Praise the Lord! It sounds like she is seeing a group in El Paso who will decide Friday about when to do the surgery."
The quotes contain most of the email from my mom. Below is the final sentence of the email:
"Kevin, someone misunderstood the info earlier and there is apparently no spot in her brain, so that needs to be clarified on your website."
So, I guess that clarifies it! Such awesome news! No "spot on the brain." (Wow, isn't it hard to pass along information that doctors share? Who knows where that misinformation/overreaction occurred, but who cares. Ever try to play "telephone" with about 5 friends? You get the point.)
Please join me in praying that Tina's nasal tumor and other spot can be removed easily and harmlessly.
I choose to see God at work here in Tina's life! I have no problem believing that He can heal anyone, anytime, anyplace.
On a continued happy note, here are some pics Keith sent me of their new little girl, Isobel! The last two are pics of Aiden (their middle kid) and Jeremiah (the oldest).
My mom and dad, Roy and Frances (you can pray for them too, if you want!) heard from my brother Keith last night. He and Tina "learned that the nasal tumor was indeed a pregnancy - related thing that just happened to end up in her nose. Apparently the spot in front of her ear has gone down some. She still has headaches, too, but maybe they are better. The great news is that the situaion seems a lot better than we originally thought. Praise the Lord! It sounds like she is seeing a group in El Paso who will decide Friday about when to do the surgery."
The quotes contain most of the email from my mom. Below is the final sentence of the email:
"Kevin, someone misunderstood the info earlier and there is apparently no spot in her brain, so that needs to be clarified on your website."
So, I guess that clarifies it! Such awesome news! No "spot on the brain." (Wow, isn't it hard to pass along information that doctors share? Who knows where that misinformation/overreaction occurred, but who cares. Ever try to play "telephone" with about 5 friends? You get the point.)
Please join me in praying that Tina's nasal tumor and other spot can be removed easily and harmlessly.
I choose to see God at work here in Tina's life! I have no problem believing that He can heal anyone, anytime, anyplace.
On a continued happy note, here are some pics Keith sent me of their new little girl, Isobel! The last two are pics of Aiden (their middle kid) and Jeremiah (the oldest).
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