Hey everybody! I just wanted to take some time and put out here on the blog some important changes that are taking place at The Ridge. It's hard to believe, but it's been nearly a year since Emily and I moved back to Knoxville (June 30 of last year)!
The last year has been a tough one for Emily, Chloe, and me. Emily's pregnancy was stressful, but Chloe was our "little" miracle child when she was born in November. There's too much to share about that here, but Emily will if you want!
Chloe has had a disposition toward giving us first-time parents little scares by being sick a lot. Fortunately, after getting ear tubes about a month ago, Chloe has only had one infection of any kind! That's kinda nice, because since leaving the hospital in November, three month-long ear infections (requiring 3 different meds and two shots), and five other infections. Chloe's went to the doctor more than 20 times this year from January to April... And to Children's Hospital for tests twice.
We are by no means complaining, since we have a healthy child! Many other parents care for chronically ill children with major health issues. We have been very blessed to have Chloe and have all her "issues" be minor. But, as a first-time Dad, this has not been something I could have been ready for, that's for sure!
Talking about numbers, Emily and I have driven more than 4,500 miles since our church planting journey began, visiting churches to raise support for our plant, meeting other pastors, and being the subject of prayer from entire churches (thanks alot for those prayers!). Chloe has already been to 7 states outside Tennessee!
So, it's been a wild year in several ways, incuding being a church planter and first-time dad while also working full-time at a retail establishment (HoneyBaked Ham Store) and watching our old townhouse in Charlotte sit on the market while we have been unable to make payments on it.
To be completely honest, much of our human "planning" for our church plant has been completely tossed asunder over the last 12 months by God. I have come to realize over the past year that the church planting experience is a wonderful tool that the Lord uses to enact major remodeling in the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social world of the church planter and his wife and family. I have found that this "remodeling" has to occur before the church planter and the church plant can be effectively used by God to lead others to Christ and to spiritual growth.
Relatively little has gone "according to plan", from the recession affecting the lives of so many of our Ridge Church folks and our personal fundraising efforts, to Chloe's doctors' visits, to needing to work full-time at a non-church job to support our little family.
I was once pretty upset at all the stuff that didn't go the way I wanted it to over the last year. However, God has changed my mind about all of it. I have been supremely humbled by the Lord since June 30, 2008. He has grown me in many, many ways. I have seen Him at work, come to a new realization of His Sovereignty in my life, and finally given the totality of my life over to His control and guidance. This is tough for a Type A kinda guy and Type A kinda girl (Emily).
Anyway, with regard to our important Ridge Church changes: We've found that we are a little "ahead of ourselves" in acting our age as a church plant. Just like Chloe should be expected to act like a 7-month old, our church should act its age as well. We want to offer God a Sunday worship gathering that is worthy of His greatness. We want other people as the Body of Christ at Ridge Church to be involved in serving and leading. We want to be a healthy church planting family and make sure that we have healthy time and involvement boundaries. This way, Emily, Chloe and I have our priorities in order and enjoy the family God has blessed us with.
Last Sunday at The Ridge, we shared that our church is going to move to meeting twice monthly on Sundays. We are seeking to "act our age" and strive to be a place of spiritual health for the planter, God's people, and our city as we remember our focus must be upward on God and outward on others, not inward on ourselves.
I have created a PDF document from my PowerPoint slides that we talked about last Sunday. I'd love for you to read it if you'd like to learn more about our re-commitment to our Ridge Church Vision and Values and also to the Lord, each other, and our community. Feel free to check it out here, and also feel free to email me any comments or questions you may have.
Emily, Chloe and I continue to be committed to this great adventure that God has called us to, and we want to encourage you to stay the course with us as we move forward under a renewed sense of the Holy Spirit's leadership.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Great Small Group Opportunities This Week!
We have two small groups at Ridge Church. They are our first small groups, and they've been meeting for about a month... They're awesome!
One thing that we believe is very important as part of our small group concept is "knowing and being known." They idea is that when you participate in a small group, and really buy into the concept of living as part of a community of Christ-followers, you will know others, and you will be known by them as well.
It's a cyclical, building-on-itself process. As you share about yourself, you show you trust others, and they get to know you. As others share about themselves, they show that they trust you and you get to know them. All the time that this sharing is going on, you are building community.
As trust is built in Christian community, people allow others to be God's "broken tools" that He uses to help us fix our brokenness. As wild as it sounds, God is glorified when we help each other, even though none of us are anywhere near perfect. This is part of God's plan of helping us to grow spiritually. It is part of the "discipleship process" which means that you are becoming a more devoted follower (disciple) of Christ.
Things work really well in relationships when we consider others as more important than ourselves (Philipppians 2:1-11), when we "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16), when we don't make assumptions about folks and try to fix their problems while ours are obviously hindering us (Matthew 7:1-5), and we truly submit to the useful assistance others can provide us in our lives (Proverbs 27:17).
In Ridge Church small groups, we love the verses above (and other verses), because they guide our behavior and attitudes in our small groups, and they show us how God wants to work in our lives.
Of course, part of "knowing and being known" is having fun together! Fun is even one of our Ridge Church core values! So, each of our small groups has a "fun night" each month.
This week, the Alice Bell small group, (led by Bill and Sue Irving) is meeting at Bill and Sue Irving's house at 6:30 pm on Thursday night. Everyone is welcome! You can click here for directions to the house. Their small group's fun night is coming up soon, and I've heard something about a watermelon slicing!
The Gibbs small group (led by Kevin and Emily Layne) is having a night of Lunar Golf at Knoxville Center Mall this Wednesday night at 7 pm. Anyone is welcome to come to this group, as well. Click here for more info on Lunar Golf.
If you're not involved in a small group, this week is a great time to jump in! It's also a great time to bring a friend to check out your group and make some new friends.
Have a great week!
One thing that we believe is very important as part of our small group concept is "knowing and being known." They idea is that when you participate in a small group, and really buy into the concept of living as part of a community of Christ-followers, you will know others, and you will be known by them as well.
It's a cyclical, building-on-itself process. As you share about yourself, you show you trust others, and they get to know you. As others share about themselves, they show that they trust you and you get to know them. All the time that this sharing is going on, you are building community.
As trust is built in Christian community, people allow others to be God's "broken tools" that He uses to help us fix our brokenness. As wild as it sounds, God is glorified when we help each other, even though none of us are anywhere near perfect. This is part of God's plan of helping us to grow spiritually. It is part of the "discipleship process" which means that you are becoming a more devoted follower (disciple) of Christ.
Things work really well in relationships when we consider others as more important than ourselves (Philipppians 2:1-11), when we "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16), when we don't make assumptions about folks and try to fix their problems while ours are obviously hindering us (Matthew 7:1-5), and we truly submit to the useful assistance others can provide us in our lives (Proverbs 27:17).
In Ridge Church small groups, we love the verses above (and other verses), because they guide our behavior and attitudes in our small groups, and they show us how God wants to work in our lives.
Of course, part of "knowing and being known" is having fun together! Fun is even one of our Ridge Church core values! So, each of our small groups has a "fun night" each month.
This week, the Alice Bell small group, (led by Bill and Sue Irving) is meeting at Bill and Sue Irving's house at 6:30 pm on Thursday night. Everyone is welcome! You can click here for directions to the house. Their small group's fun night is coming up soon, and I've heard something about a watermelon slicing!
The Gibbs small group (led by Kevin and Emily Layne) is having a night of Lunar Golf at Knoxville Center Mall this Wednesday night at 7 pm. Anyone is welcome to come to this group, as well. Click here for more info on Lunar Golf.
If you're not involved in a small group, this week is a great time to jump in! It's also a great time to bring a friend to check out your group and make some new friends.
Have a great week!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!
Sunday Sunday Sunday! See the alcohol-burning funny cars at the Bristol WinterNationals! Tickets go on sale Friday! Your ticket gets you the whole seat, but you'll only need the edge!
I've always wanted to be that guy that does the drag racing commercials... Maybe someday I'll get scouted to do that and make the big bucks!
Seriously though, we have a big weekend coming up for Ridge Church! Saturday, we are having a picnic in the park at Adair Park in Fountain City. It's a laid-back, bring-your-own-food type thing, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can come and go as you like, and feel free to bring food, football, a frisbee and a friend to have some fun!
We'll be gathering together at the parking lot near the playground. Please join us for a time to hang out and enjoy each other's company!
Sunday, we're going to be talking about our Ridge Church core values and what you can expect for the next few months at The Ridge. We'll talk some about our plans for the future, share about a cool summer event coming up, and put something cool in your hands. It's going to be a great time to be there on Sunday at 10 a.m. at Panache!
See you this weekend!
I've always wanted to be that guy that does the drag racing commercials... Maybe someday I'll get scouted to do that and make the big bucks!
Seriously though, we have a big weekend coming up for Ridge Church! Saturday, we are having a picnic in the park at Adair Park in Fountain City. It's a laid-back, bring-your-own-food type thing, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can come and go as you like, and feel free to bring food, football, a frisbee and a friend to have some fun!
We'll be gathering together at the parking lot near the playground. Please join us for a time to hang out and enjoy each other's company!
Sunday, we're going to be talking about our Ridge Church core values and what you can expect for the next few months at The Ridge. We'll talk some about our plans for the future, share about a cool summer event coming up, and put something cool in your hands. It's going to be a great time to be there on Sunday at 10 a.m. at Panache!
See you this weekend!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Cleaning Up First Creek, Stewardship, and Sovereignty
Hey! A big public thanks to all the folks who came out on Saturday and helped us to clean up First Creek as one of our Ridge Church service projects! Thank you for sharing your love for our city with others who enjoy nature!
First Creek is one of the city's major tributaries that runs through Fountain City area (apparently it starts up near Parkdale Road where it traverses Black Oak Ridge) all the way to the Tennessee River. It is a historic part of Knoxville's very existence! In 1786, James White built White's Fort right near where First Creek runs into the river. And White's Fort became Knoxville, and Knoxville is where we live!
For you history nuts out there: In 1863 during the Civil War, First Creek became a strong part of the Union defense line during the siege of Knoxville. The Yankees damned it to flood the area and keep the Confederates from attacking on that side of town. You can read about Knoxville Civil War battles here. (It's a cool driving tour. OK, at least I think it's cool...)
Anyway, why do we do stuff like cleaning up First Creek? Because we believe that God has called us to be stewards not only of our funds but of the planet He made for us to enjoy. That means we are supposed to manage it well, and it means that the Earth is God's and it is good. We should take care of it; it is not merely ours to abuse as we see fit.
All in all, it's an issue of Sovereignty. We believe God is our King, and our world is part of His Kingdom. As members of God's family due to our faith in Christ, we have a responsibility to take care of His stuff and set an example for others to follow. So, that's why we cleaned up First Creek! (Incidentally, that's why the Layne family recycles everything Knox County will accept. It's not hard and it keeps nasty stuff out of First Creek!)
To be very clear... At Ridge Church we are not "Tree Huggers" who worship nature, we are "God Lovers" who believe that His trees and flowers and mountains and "critters" are awesome and give us a small glimpse of God's majesty and glory.
As Romans 1:19-20 notes, nature points Christ-followers and even those who have yet to place their faith in Christ to our Creator and Lord and Father. So, we should enjoy and maintain it with care, as this was God's command to Adam and Eve. That's our approach, and it's really pretty simple. Besides, who wants bikes and monster truck tires and road signs in First Creek? Those aren't good for the ducks and who wants to wade in that? Haha!
Anyway, thanks again to those who served, and have a great week! See you Sunday at Panache at 10 a.m.!
First Creek is one of the city's major tributaries that runs through Fountain City area (apparently it starts up near Parkdale Road where it traverses Black Oak Ridge) all the way to the Tennessee River. It is a historic part of Knoxville's very existence! In 1786, James White built White's Fort right near where First Creek runs into the river. And White's Fort became Knoxville, and Knoxville is where we live!
For you history nuts out there: In 1863 during the Civil War, First Creek became a strong part of the Union defense line during the siege of Knoxville. The Yankees damned it to flood the area and keep the Confederates from attacking on that side of town. You can read about Knoxville Civil War battles here. (It's a cool driving tour. OK, at least I think it's cool...)
Anyway, why do we do stuff like cleaning up First Creek? Because we believe that God has called us to be stewards not only of our funds but of the planet He made for us to enjoy. That means we are supposed to manage it well, and it means that the Earth is God's and it is good. We should take care of it; it is not merely ours to abuse as we see fit.
All in all, it's an issue of Sovereignty. We believe God is our King, and our world is part of His Kingdom. As members of God's family due to our faith in Christ, we have a responsibility to take care of His stuff and set an example for others to follow. So, that's why we cleaned up First Creek! (Incidentally, that's why the Layne family recycles everything Knox County will accept. It's not hard and it keeps nasty stuff out of First Creek!)
To be very clear... At Ridge Church we are not "Tree Huggers" who worship nature, we are "God Lovers" who believe that His trees and flowers and mountains and "critters" are awesome and give us a small glimpse of God's majesty and glory.
As Romans 1:19-20 notes, nature points Christ-followers and even those who have yet to place their faith in Christ to our Creator and Lord and Father. So, we should enjoy and maintain it with care, as this was God's command to Adam and Eve. That's our approach, and it's really pretty simple. Besides, who wants bikes and monster truck tires and road signs in First Creek? Those aren't good for the ducks and who wants to wade in that? Haha!
Anyway, thanks again to those who served, and have a great week! See you Sunday at Panache at 10 a.m.!
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