A Year One Update and Some Important Changes at The Ridge

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!

Awesome Child Dedication Last Sunday, Communion/Lord's Supper This Sunday!

Hey! We had a great time Sunday at our first Ridge Church child dedication. Our daughter Chloe and Kahlan Carter were dedicated to God by their parents. It was a great time of worshiping God for the gifts of our children. It was also a great time of community, as the Christ-followers in attendance all committed to pray for the children and their parents, and provide any assistance possible in helping the parents to raise their kids in a way that glorifies God.

As part of a Christian community, we all have a responsibility to each other. The Bible refers to us as all parts of the "body of Christ" with Him as the head. Paul talks about this alot... Check out 1 Corinthians 12 for one cool passage on the topic.

Here's a pic of our child dedication... My prayer is that there are many to follow!


The parents all thanked God publicly for their children, praising Him for His gift. They all also publicly committed to raising their kids in God's paths, teaching them about Him and Christ's gift for us on the cross. The parents' prayers are that their kids would some day make their parents faith their own, and will become Christ-followers who in turn will raise their children to follow God. Cool stuff!

This Sunday, we are enjoying another worshipful Sunday gathering. We are going to share Communion or the Lord's Supper together. At Ridge Church, all Christ-followers are welcome to share in Communion with us. Anyone who has placed their faith in Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and committed to follow Him all their days is welcome to participate. This is a wonderful time of community and sharing together the grace that God gave us in sending His son to die for us. This is a great time to teach your children about Jesus and His love for us, and an awesome time to praise God for Jesus' victory over death.

So, join us this Sunday at Panache at 10 a.m.! We look forward to seeing you there!

Mother's Day this Sunday!

Hey! Mother's Day is this Sunday. This is a cool holiday for Moms to be celebrated and encouraged for all the hard work they do. But, it's also a cool holiday to recognize our kids and what a huge responsibility we parents have toward them.

This week at our worship gathering, we'll be dedicating several children to God. What does that mean? It simply means that we recognize that our children are a blessing from God, and they belong to God entirely. If we are followers of Christ, then we want to raise our kids in a way that would honor God. But, that's no easy task!

Sunday is an opportunity for parents to dedicate themselves to raising their children God's way, with the dual gifts of Grace and Faith. Of course, parenting isn't easy, which is something Emily and I have already learned... and today is just Chloe's six-month "birthday!"

So, here's how it goes: On Sunday, our parents will acknowledge publicly that their children belong to God. They will commit to striving to honor God in their parenting, and ask for His help in doing that. We will pray for them, encourage them, and thank God for their children. Then, we will also, as a church, commit to encouraging and supporting the folks in our midst who are raising the kids. This is a great picture of the body of Christ working in harmony!

So, be sure to be there on Sunday and encourage our parents (Emily and I included!). It will be a great experience.

Of course, not everyone is a Mom, and not everyone has kids. And, that is OK! Emily and I didn't have kids for the first 10 years of our marriage; God just chose to bless us in other ways!

Because Moms are important, and because we value everyone at The Ridge, we want you to come even if you're not a parent. Get behind our parents and support them, and praise God for all the kids at Ridge Church. Again, it's a great picture of the Body of Christ!

Speaking of Chloe, she finally had ear tubes put in this morning! And, she seems to be feeling much better. Will this result in less crying on Sundays? Come this weekend and find out! Hahaha!

A Full Week!

Wow, what a busy week. I'm beginning to learn just how crazy life can be when you have just one kid, and two part-time jobs, and a spouse! I really feel for those of you out there who have 3+ kids and a job and still have your wits about you... Props to you if you're that person! I can only hope that I learn to manage my life a little better each day with God's help... Emily and I would like to have another child someday, Chloe isn't even old enough to crawl and get into stuff yet, and we're already feeling a little wave-tossed!

I want to keep you all updated on some things going on with us and Ridge Church... Here's a list of some things that went down lately.

• Sunday, we had a great final worship gathering at Marli's restaurant! We have been given a multimedia projector by a generous local church, Knox Life, and we used it in our gathering for the second time on Sunday. I really enjoy teaching God's Word using PowerPoint, and I think we all find it easier to have musical worship with the words on a screen instead of on a sheet of paper. For those who like paper, we still have a "handout" that has our weekly Psalms chapter that we're reading together, some announcements, and an area for you to take notes!

• Two weeks ago, Emily and I met with Becky Warwick with the Fountain City Ministry Center. She's a really cool lady and loves the people of Fountain City! She and I have been trying to get together and chat about ministry since just before Chloe was born (it took about 4 months!). Emily and I finally got to visit the ministry center, and we saw that they are doing some great stuff in Jesus' name for the less fortunate and down on their luck folks in our community. We are looking forward to serving with the Ministry Center (it matches our value of Serving Others). Come join us there on Saturday, March 28 at 10 a.m.! Mark your calendar now and look for specifics about what we'll be doing and some things that you can bring with you soon.

• Many of you have been keeping up with Chloe's several infections and issues... A week or so ago, she had her second trip to Children's Hospital for a test on her bladder and kidneys. It was not fun! They strapped her down to a board to take X-rays of her after filling her bladder full of liquid. She made it, though, and after a visit to the urologist last week, she is over the infection she had and the doctor gave us a good report! Last night, Emily took Chloe to the UT Hospital after-hours kids' clinic and she got a new diagnosis: her first ear infection. Nothing that more meds can't solve! Thanks for praying for Chloe with us through all of her many, fortunately minor, health issues.

• I still work my part-time job at the HoneyBaked Ham Store, which is a blessing in this economy. It's hard work sometimes, but I'm making some good friends and meeting alot of people. Stop by and see me sometime at the store in front of Kohl's at Knoxville Center!

Enjoy your weekend, and since this is an "off Sunday" for us at the Ridge, why not visit another place to worship and see how other churches' Sunday mornings go? Feel free to bring ideas back and email them to me!

See you next Sunday the 22nd at our new meeting location, and on Saturday the 28th at the Fountain City Ministry Center!

Marli's, Becca, and My Friend Jason

Most of you probably have heard by now that Marli's Restaurant, where Ridge Church meets for our Sunday morning gatherings, is closing.  It's been difficult for many restaurants to stay afloat in our current economy as people stop eating out as much and stay home to save money.

In these times, it only takes one problem to be "the straw that breaks the camel's back."  For Marli's, it was a plumbing problem.  A plumbing issue forced them to close down temporarily; now the cost to repair the issue and to restock the food that Marli's was unable to prepare and sell is going to keep the restaurant from reopening.

So, we are losing a great place to eat in Fountain City...  But, God has provided for The Ridge's long-term and short-term future.  Leo Cooper, who runs Marli's, is going to allow us to continue to meet in his restuarant until he leases it out.  This is very generous!  Please pray for Leo and his family, as well as the Marli's employees who are now unemployed.  Like many people out there, the recession is changing their lives in some difficult ways.

Joe McTeer, who runs Frontier Pest Control on the second floor of the building across the street from Marli's, also rents the Conference Center located on the first floor of that building.  Not too long ago, we asked him about using his space as a meeting location for our adults, while our children's ministry would continue to use Marli's. The idea was to expand to two buildings as we grow numerically and prepare for weekly Sunday morning gatherings.  We would also increase our parking exponentially.

Joe, who is a Christ-follower and goes to Corryton Church (in Corryton!), quickly and graciously offered to let us use his facility on Sunday mornings!  That means that we will be moving there for our Ridge Church worship gathering on March 22.  We will still be at Marli's this Sunday, March 8...  So, come on out this weekend! (Make sure to set your clock FORWARD an hour Saturday night!)  We will discuss our "move" a little more on Sunday.

Please pray for our Children's Ministry Intern, Becca Thiele.  Her pickup "died" the other day, and she is without a way to drive to The Ridge on Sundays from Johnson Bible College.  That stinks!  Please pray for transportation to happen soon for her.  She loves Jesus and our children and really wants to serve on Sundays!  If you can help, let me know!

Please pray also for my friend and fellow Acts29 church planter Jason Martin of Journey Church in Austell, GA, west of Atlanta.  He has a passel of kids, loves Jesus very much, and is in difficult shape financially.  The short story is that he is "replanting" an existing church.  That means they have a building (and all the costs that go with it) but they are still numerically and financially small.  Jason is a carpenter and had been paying his bills by making cabinets, since his church can't pay him a salary yet.  Unfortunately, there is no work available in his area.  His family is really hurting financially.  Please pray that God would provide for him.

I could go on about how life can be hard even for those who love Jesus, but that's a different blog post for a different time.  The big thing to take out of this is to pray for Leo and his family, the folks who worked at Marli's and their families, Becca, and Jason and his family.  It's about people.  That's why Jesus dropped into Bethlehem in a stable with a bunch of furry critters.  Because it's about people.

See you and all the people God has blessed me to be the pastor of this Sunday at Marli's at 10 a.m.!

Hello!

Hey, everybody! Long time, no post. I apologize for my absence... It's been a wild ride these last 7 weeks since our daughter was born on November 7.

A little update: Chloe is fine, finally putting on some weight. She's still a little thing, but healthier and getting happier. Her trip home from the hospital was followed by an eye infection, major gas issues, and then acid reflux. We've had two different eye medications, changed formulas, found out the value of those gas drops everyone uses, experienced projectile vomiting, and received a prescription for her acid reflux. Now, she's kinda colicky! But, things are improving for Chloe.

Mom is doing well, too, but she's had her own issues. Emily had a nasty case of mastitis (mentioned in a previous post) and finally started getting over that, only to have some serious bleeding the week before Thanksgiving. We spent an afternoon in the Emergency Room at Ft. Sanders Hospital downtown, where Chloe was born. In the end, they chalked up Emily's issues to "abnormal bleeding" and sent her home. She has a prescription for iron supplement pills since she lost to much blood through all of that.

Finally, right after all that fun stuff, the holiday rush started at the HoneyBaked Ham Store, where I've been working a seasonal job since August selling hams and turkeys to business customers. Things just died down the day after Christmas, but boy is that place wild from the week before Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas! I worked 34 hours on my feet, "slinging hams" outside in the cold from December 22 through 24. I was a tired puppy after that.

Throw in all the visits of family and friends, having some issues with our former mission organization, and a few other surprises, and we are all three worn out. But, that's how life goes sometimes! There are seasons of rest and seasons of business. Hopefully we are entering a season of rest for a bit!

Just wanted to let you know what's been going on with us. I hope your holiday season has been great, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and you have a great and safe New Year. There's some great Ridge Church stuff coming up after January 1, including opportunities to be involved in our new small group gatherings and Sunday large-group gatherings... So, be ready for more info soon!

Our Little Girl is Here!

Yep! This morning at 10:29 am, Chloe Fionna Layne was born at Ft. Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. We thank God for her! She is and will always be a blessing to us.

Chloe weighs 6.0 pounds and is 19 1/4 inches long. She's got all her fingers and toes... Mother and baby are doing just fine.

We were also blessed to have Emily's parents, Bill and Sue, along with Emily's aunt Rosie come and stay the day with us. They live here in Knoxville and are a wonderful support to us.

My parents, Roy and Frances, also came to see us. They drove in from Chilhowie, Virginia and spent most of the day before driving home. I'm sure Chloe will see a lot of all her grandparents!

Here is a link to video I think you'll like, it's on Google Video and can be downloaded there... (Sorry the video disappeared earlier.) Links to pics are in the next blog post.

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).

An important request...

Hey, everybody. I'd like to deviate from the values discussion we've had lately and focus on something that's much different. I want to ask you to pray for my brother's wife Tina.

She just gave birth last week to their third child, and had been dealing with some type of mass in her nasal cavity for awhile during the pregnancy. She's been having horrible headaches. Doctors ran a scan on her this week soon after delivery and are very concerned about the nasal cavity mass and another one they found in different location in her brain.

My brother Keith is in the Army, so Tina's doctor is attempting to help them get a referral outside the Army system, in the expert civilian hospital community. Whatever is done as a treatment, it will be difficult, since surgery in the facial and brain area is never easy.

My brother is stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX (a long way from our family already) and is due to ship overseas to Kuwait early next year for 12 months. So, there is even more drama in this whole thing.

Please join me, Emily, and the rest of my family in praying for Tina, my brother Keith, and their kids Jeremiah, Aiden, and little Isobel. This is a super-trying time for them and they need God to show up in their lives on this!

Please pray that this issue turns out to be something small and easily-fixable or that God provides healing outright for Tina. Please pray that God would comfort Tina and Keith, and help them to comfort the kids. Please pray that God would give them strength to face this difficult time and that He would show His grace to them and draw them close to Him.

Thank you for praying! I will keep you updated.

Ridge Church Value #3: Community

As I said recently, Ridge Church has six core values. These are the core beliefs that guide our new church, both now and in the future. They are the concepts we stand behind and the hills that we will fight on, the things that make The Ridge unique!

Our third value is "Community." Here's what our Launch Proposal says about Community:

"We believe that all people need healthy, growing relationships based on biblical ideals. These relationships are best found in the Christ-centered family and in a small groups of Christians meeting regularly to encourage and support each other as part of a larger local church community."

It's pretty simple, really! We believe that everyone was created by God to live in community with other humans. We also believe that every Christ-follower needs relationships with other Christians in order to grow to be more like Christ. We believe that God created us that way, and that community is a deep emotional need of all humans. Regardless of how modern and post-modern Western philosophy and culture tend to individualize life, we need each other to be all God wants us to be.

Not only do we believe in community, we believe that community starts in the home. For too long, churches have been willing to take on the responsibilities of the parents in spiritually educating our children. Churches have said, "Here, drop your kid off on Sunday for an hour, and we'll handle all the teaching about God that they need." This is both insufficient in providing a quality spiritual education for children and also unbiblical.

Check out Deuteronomy chapter 6. The Bible clearly teaches here and in multiple other passages that the spiritual guidance of our children should start in the home. We believe that at Ridge Church and are committed to it. Because we are committed to the concept of parents teaching their kids about God, we are also committed to helping parents learn how to spiritually educate their kids.

The bonus prize is that when parents answer their kids' questions about God, it motivates them to learn and apply spiritual concepts in their own lives... Isn't God smart in planning things that way?! (The answer is "YES!")

Ridge Church is committed to providing small group environments for parents (and all those who call The Ridge home) to grow to be more like Christ. We look forward to a not-too-distant future in which Ridge Church has small groups for all age groups. We see groups where mature believers in Christ help both new believers and non-believers to interact with the Bible and life experience in ways that draw them toward faith and surround them with grace.

Finally, we believe that folks at The Ridge should look out for each other. This means that small groups will serve their group members. During tough times like illnesses in the family, small group leaders will provide "triage" care. When new babies come home, small group members will bring food to new parents. When small group members' kids make poor life choices, other members will rally around the family in crisis and provide support and encouragement. When a bread-winner loses a job, small groups will be the at the "front lines" in battling for the family and helping them through hard days.

The list can go on... And it will! Community is a crucial value at The Ridge. And, it leads to another one: Serving Others. Stay tuned for a discussion of that value soon!

There are several verses in the Bible that support our value of Community. Check these out: Proverbs 27:17, Acts 2:42-47, Matthew 18:19-20. If you want to chat about our value of Community, email kevin@ridgechurchknoxville.com.

Another wild week...

Well, I made a big mistake in my last post. I pretty much promised to post a couple times last weekend, and obviously, that didn't happen. So, I apologize. Life intervened last weekend, and my schedule didn't go as I planned. Maybe I should apply James 4:13-16 in my life next time! I guess the lesson to be learned is that life is always apt to change your plans and schedule.

Anyway, this weekend was a strange mixture of fun and difficult. Our friends Josh and Maria, and their son "little Josh" drove up from Jacksonville on Thursday and stayed until Monday. We stayed up far too late each night talking about old times. Friday, we explored the area and ate at Zaxby's on Cumberland. On Saturday, the five of us spent the day at Cades Cove and pretty much wore ourselves out. On Sunday, we visited a local church and had lunch with Emily's parents, Bill and Sue Irving.

At lunch, I got one of those calls that you hate to think about. My mom called to tell me that my grandmother (who lives in West Knoxville) had a stroke. So, Emily and I left lunch and drove to the hospital to visit her and my grandfather. It was a pretty stressful time. We arrived and saw my grandmother in the emergency room, unable to speak.

Praise God that His grace was present in abundance, and my grandmother has improved steadily since Sunday. She's moved from the ER to the critical care unit, and finally to a "regular" hospital room.

I'm going to share a little more about what happened to my grandparents here. I hope they will forgive me if it's too personal, but there's a reason for it.

My grandfather had to make a momentous decision on Sunday. He had to choose whether or not to have the doctor at the ER give my grandmother an IV medication that could break up the clot in her brain and help her condition. The problem is that my grandmother is already on blood thinners, and too much thinning of the blood can cause hemorrhaging and even more problems than a blood clot.

My grandfather, mom, and dad all chatted with the doctor, and it finally came down to a crucial question. My family asked the doctor, "Would you give your own mother this medication?" The doctor said that he would, because there was a 60% chance that the medication would help my grandmother and a 40% chance that it would cause more problems. My family had to choose between the advice of their expert adviser and their own gut. Fortunately for everyone, they took the wise advice of the expert and my grandmother is steadily improving.

The point is this: How often do we trust our own "gut" about what is best for us in life, and reject the "advice" of God that is found in the Bible? Pretty much daily, with repeated negative consequences. We struggle so much in life because we think we have the answers to our own spiritual, social, emotional, and family problems and we choose to live outside God's best plans for us.

In truth, God gives us a 100% guarantee that if we operate in the truth that He presents to us in His Word, our lives will be lived to our fullest potential. This doesn't mean we will have a life devoid of pain and difficulty, but it does mean we'll live a life that is deeply meaningful and fulfilling.

So, when faced with difficult life decisions, we need only look to the examples laid out for us in the Bible. When we trust God's Word and place our faith in Him, we are free to let go of worry and allow Him to guide our paths.