A Final Goodbye to the Ridge Church Site

Hey! I just wanted to make a final post on the Ridge Church blog/website, and this is it.

Baby #2, Chloe, Emily and I will be moving to Charlotte on June 25, 2010 where I will be the new Student Pastor at LifePointe Christian Church. It's a five-year old church plant, and it will be a very challenging role for me. I would expect no less of the Lord! ;)

We are very excited about the new path that God has laid out for us, and ready to start serving in a new area of a town we loved living in!

This will never change the love that we have for the Ridge Church folks, those who supported us through prayer and finances while we planted The Ridge, and the fine staff of OneLife Church in Powell, who welcomed us with open arms. We care about you all and will miss each of you.

Please pray for us, and if God so leads you, consider financially supporting us in our 1/2 salary, 1/2 fundraised monetary situation in Charlotte. (You can learn more about all that in my personal blog, kevinlayne.blogspot.com.) I'm calling it "Life in the Fast Layne," but of course Emily thinks that's lame. The name of the blog is subject to change...

One final note: This blog will continue to exist as long as blogger lets it. I am planning to keep it as a record of our church plant, and my church planting thoughts and efforts, even before Ridge Church started meeting. To that end, I've imported my original blog posts from a couple years ago, so all the church planting stuff is on one blog. Doesn't mean a ton to most people, but it's a big deal for me... Feel free to read anything you want!

Until we see you again, God bless you and keep you!

Kevin

"New Baby" Layne's first picture...

A Ridge Church Update

Hey! Sunday was the first day of Ridge Church folks going to OneLife Church. I have to admit, this week has been a little weird for me.

Last Sunday, Emily and I shared with you all that Ridge Church would be folding into OneLife. It was our prayer (Emily and me) that everyone would see a couple things in this decision.

• First, we wanted people to know that Emily and I came back to Knoxville after 10 years of ministry in other places because God told us to and we plan to stay as long as He wants us to. We have been committed to and remain committed to God's plan for this city. We love Knox Vegas, we love the people here, and we want to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ bear great fruit and transform this place one life at a time.


• Second, we wanted people to know that Emily and I are committed to church planting. The Core Values of Ridge Church were Truth, Grace & Faith, Community, Serving Others, New Churches, and Fun. It just so happens, OneLife is all about those values and that shows that this is a great place for our people.


• Third, we believe that the Church (big "C", meaning all Christians throughout time and place) is Jesus's bride, as spoken about in Scripture. (This isn't creepy, it is a way of sharing just how much God loves us and how important we are to Him.) That means that God is the leader of the church (little "c", meaning individual churches everywhere). The Bible teaches that we are all one body as the worldwide Church, and we should answer to God. That means that if God wants to connect 2 churches (local manifestations of the worldwide Church) and make one, He has the right to do that. In many cases, as in ours, we can see the wisdom in it. In some cases, churches really need to combine, but we resist it, for whatever reason. I think church connections should occur more often, but that's another discussion! Anyway, we want to exhibit humility in our commitment to Christ. God is in charge here, and we know that we are obeying God and advancing the Kingdom of God by folding into OneLife. That's enough said right there. Any personal ambitions we have must be subordinated to the goal of getting the Gospel out to other folks.
  


• Fourth, by folding into OneLife, Ridge Church will cease to exist, but how we do this part is almost as important as how we started. Even during this transitional time, we have a great opportunity to share Jesus with folks. When people ask, "Why are you doing this?" you can tell them that God said for us to, we are all part of God's body, He can do more when we team up, we want to obey God... All of these reasons are true and any one of them is a great answer! But one thing you won't tell them (because it's not true!) is that we "failed" or God let us down, or there was "sin in the camp" (there's not) or that we gave up or that we didn't want to share the Gospel with other people. We are folding into OneLife so that we can accomplish the mission God gave us His way, as part of a team of people leaning on each other and God. That's simple and good! No "church splits" or "personality clashes" or "differences of opinion" or whatever other excuses people give for not living out the Christ-following life in harmony with other believers. Nope, we are making a healthy move to honor God; we're moving as one small healthy church plant into fellowship with another healthy church plant. It's a great example to those who don't follow Christ, and also a great example to churches out there that constantly fight and bicker over stuff.

In the end, God wins through what we are doing! I want you all to see that and believe that. I do. I love you all and pray that you will continue to explore what God has for you, be willing to try new and challenging things for Jesus, and obey with all your hearts!

By the way, God does move in weird ways! Last Sunday, all I knew was that I would show up at OneLife this Sunday and pitch in however I could. Today, I'm a part-time staff member, continuing to raise financial support so that God can use the gifts and talents I have to support the OneLife staff team. I'm honored and humbled and excited about what He has in store, all at the same time. For those who are supporting us financially, thanks so much! We will continue to rely on you so that we can serve in Knoxville. More info on how supporting us works out will be available soon.

See you this Sunday at OneLife! 11 a.m. at Powell High School... If you have questions or want to get involved (since that's part of my job!) email me!

The Letter We Sent to Our Prayer Partners

I didn't know exactly what to write here, so I'm posting the letter we sent to our many prayer partners. Here goes...

This prayer letter began when I asked Emily to help me with it... I have had a tough emotional ride of late. Just so all of you know that God uses Emily all the time to speak with, to, and even for me sometimes... - Kevin

After a very difficult yet very blessed 15 months, God has led us to join forces with another church plant in the Knoxville area. We have had quite a bit of time to pray, think, and talk with others about this, and we have come to a simple conclusion. We believe God led us to plant Ridge Church as a part of His sovereign plan. We have seen people who had given up on church become interested and involved again. Others had a renewed excitement about God and some were introduced to a God they had never met before, one that was not concerned with the rules and legalism that is so prevalent in this area. All of these things would not have happened if God hadn’t sent us here with the intent to plant. For whatever reason God has seen fit to greatly bless our efforts, protect us from any type of unhealthy, negative or “bad” situation, yet at the same time draw Ridge Church as we now know it to a close. This has been a very crazy time and we have sought very wise counsel and prayer from our outside advisory board, other pastors and other godly men and women.

In church planting, you never know what's going to happen... It's always a risk and success in God's eyes is not always the same as success in our eyes. Based on a ton of Scripture I've read lately, God sees human success as equal to obedience to Him. We have seen the next step God wants us to take and rather that fight for “our” plans and our own personal ambitions, we believe God wants us to obey His leading, continue serving in Knoxville as missionaries, and join the team of this new church plant. We have a network of well over a hundred “unchurched” people that we are still in contact with, still are interested in what we've been talking to them about (God), but will also take more time to be willing to check out God or understand what a relationship with Christ is.

We shared this information with our core group Sunday morning at our Prayer Gathering and were not sure what to expect. God gave me the words to say and had already prepared the people's hearts. They were sad on the one hand but excited about the future as well. Church plant core group members are typically risk-takers themselves. God has really blessed us with them and we are so thankful that this move will bring glory to Him.

Obviously, we have some massive prayer requests. First, that God will continue to give us wisdom and sensitivity as we draw our time as a Ridge Church body to a close. We want to honor those who support us financially and through prayer and ask that you continue in your support. Our work here is far from done and we plan to continue serving as missionaries in this area. Sadly, in the “Bible Belt” so many people think they know God but are just going through the motions. Then there are those that are so “righteous” they have made it incredibly hard for other committed Christ-followers to reach non-believers.

Second, pray for this transition time for God’s people. They will be walking into a new environment and a larger group. This will be exciting for some and difficult for others.

Thirdly, pray for Emily and me. It is hard to not struggle with the “success syndrome.” Pray we remember all that God has done and the amazing ways He has used us instead of focusing on what could be perceived by others as a failure. Please pray that He would guide us on the next phase of our church planting and missionary journey here in Knoxville.

A few weeks ago Emily and I went on a walk to pray in a local park. There was a really nice paved path around the entire park that we walked in silence as we were there to be quiet and seek God. When we neared the end of the paved path, there was a little beaten-down dirt path that took us off the paved path, but it was clearly a path. Most people would pass it by but we, of course, had to check it out. Emily noticed it first, quickly stepped onto it, and I noticed and followed her. It was beautiful and ran along the creek. Along the way we were poked by some thorns, but Emily saw where it ended up and we returned to the main paved path. I asked her where the dirt path led and she said, “It joins back up with the main path.”

A realization hit both of us like a ton of bricks: We are THOSE people. We are the people who will always get off the smooth, easy, well-traveled path, in search of those hidden treasures that require getting your arms and ankles scraped along the way. In the end, God brings us back to the smooth path. Some would say we’re the dumb people who don’t know how to follow directions. But we look back and know that we follow the dirt paths in life because of how God has wired us. He uses that wiring to accomplish His greater purpose in our lives. God has created us all differently and each one of us is a special and wonderful creation of His.

So, we are now continuing on the path God gave us over a year ago, planting a new church in Knoxville. We remain focused on missions, service, and evangelism, driven by the desire to reach this community for Christ, throwing aside anything that hinders us in that pursuit. We pray that you would continue to support us in this effort! We will continue to keep you updated.

We love you all!

Kevin and Emily

A Sick Kid...

Well, Chloe got sick again this week! It's been several months since she's been under the weather, but this weekend has reminded us of just how often kids catch bugs. Emily took her to the doctor on Friday, and she got a shot of antibiotics and a prescription. It's a blessing that she started having a fever on Friday instead of before the long weekend... Especially for Mommy and Daddy!

Everyone who's been a parent has experienced sick kids and the stresses that they cause you... If you haven't been a parent, then you've been the sick kid! (I think we all have done that one!)

In our current Bible teaching series, we're talking about "Things I've learned from Chloe." Last Sunday, we discussed how I've learned some things about God and prayer from our daughter. The first thing I've learned: we need to pray BOLDLY and PERSISTENTLY. Babies have both of those things down... When they need something, they make sure you are aware of it. Jesus' teaching in Luke 11:5-8 shows us that we should communicate in similar ways to babies when we pray about our needs! God wants us to seek Him with boldness and persistence. How often do we fail to do that? Alot, in my case at least. The challenge: approach the "throne of grace" with boldness and persistence when you pray!

This Sunday, we'll be worshiping with the folks at the Catalyst service at Central Baptist Church of Fountain City. Snacks are available at 10:10, and worship starts at 10:30. Emily and I will be there for snacks... But Chloe is going to sit this one out with Grandma Sue to be on the safe side. See you there!

A Good Weekend

Yep, it was a good weekend... I had to work Saturday, but I talked to a couple of good friends, too. First, I talked to my friend and a former missionary with us in West Virginia, Malcolm. Malcolm lives in Ohio now... If you'd like to pray for something, you can pray for his part-time job situation and also pray for his wife Emily to find a new job. She and "my Emily" are good friends!

Later, I talked to my friend Andy Hughes, another Acts29 church planting buddy. Andy is the pastor of Journey Church of the Highlands in Boone, NC. The Ridge supports Andy, his family, and his church financially with 5% of our tithes and offerings... This is part of our commitment to one of our six core values: New Churches! Many of you got to meet Andy when he drove here one Sunday this spring to share about his family and their church plant in Western North Carolina. His church has a new website in the works... Check it out!

Today was a good day, too! I attended the second "preview service" of One Life Church with Emily, Chloe, and Becca Thiele, our children's ministry intern. Becca just got back for the fall semester at Johnson Bible College and is excited about being back and working with our kids! She'll be back in action on Sunday, August 30th at 10 a.m. at our next Ridge Church Worship Gathering at Panache Hair and Body in Fountain City. We'll again be having child care for kids age 0-5... Make sure to say "hey" to her!

Later on, Emily and I met some new friends for coffee at Starbuck's in Powell. It was cool... They just moved back to Knox Vegas from North Carolina (alot like us) and we have alot of things in common. That's cool... New friends are great! Chloe got tired on us at Starbuck's, but all in all, she did pretty good! She's such a "big girl."

If you'd like to pray for us this week, feel free to! Emily, Chlo Chlo and I are heading to Indianapolis, Indiana for a denominational church planter assessment Monday morning. We have been invited for some free training by a leader in that denomination... We'll be back on Saturday and look forward to seeing you Sunday!

Prayer and Pakistan

I had a great time Sunday at our monthly Ridge Church Prayer Gathering. I always enjoy getting together with you all, and Sunday was cool because we got together to pray!

Last month, we prayed through the ACTS process. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, ACTS is a "recipe" to follow in prayer so that your prayers make sure to honor God and "cover all the bases" that you want to pray about. This is way better than the random "beef stew" prayer that we often send up to God, full of all kinds of stuff that just gets added into our prayers willy-nilly. (Maybe this isn't a good analogy, but it's what I got right now.)

Anyhow, A stands for adoration; it's the time for adoring God for who He is. C stands for confession; it's the time for admitting our sins to God and requesting His strength to obey Him in our lives. T stands for thanksgiving; it's the time to thank God for all kinds of stuff. Finally, S stands for supplication; it's the time for praying for others and ourselves, and is at the end on purpose!

Anyway, this week we decided to pray through the Ridge Church values. In an hour, we got through the first 3: Truth, Grace & Faith, and Community. I had a great time, and I hope you all did, too. The Krispy Kremes that Sue Irving brought were a nice treat! At our next prayer gathering in September, we'll "pray through" our other 3 values.

On Sunday we also took up a special offering for our Pakistani brothers and sisters in Christ. You all shared more than $50 that will go directly to Pakistan to provide clothes and lodging for Christ-followers who have had their homes burned by angry Muslims. Thank you for sharing what God has trusted to you so that we can be an encouragement to others in Jesus' name!

This Sunday, we'll meet at One Life Church for worship. At our Prayer Gathering, I said we'd meet at 9:45 at Powell High School. The time for their worship gathering is 11 a.m., not 10 a.m. as I thought. So, we'll gather at 10:45 at Powell High School this Sunday the 23rd. Childcare is provided by OneLife, so kids are welcome! After worship, everyone is welcome to eat lunch with us as always!

See you at small group and on Sunday!

An Important Cause for The Ridge to Get Behind...

This Sunday is our monthly large group prayer gathering at Panache at 10 a.m. This is an important time for us to gather as Christ's community. We praise God, get right with God, thank God, and ask God to intervene in others' lives and also in our own lives.

It is a great time to get together. It's informal and anyone interested in praying with us is welcome. After we pray, we'll eat lunch together afterward! Child care is not provided, but kids are welcome and parents can always step out with them if they need to!

This week, we are going to pray especially for the Pakistani Christ-followers who have recently been viciously attacked by their Muslim neighbors. You can read a Washington Post article about the Muslim arson and murders here.

The Christians in Punjab are showing Christlike hearts by not retaliating and by publicly praying that those who perpetrated these attacks are changed by God. I pray that we would offer so much grace in the same situation!

The truth is that there are Christ-followers in many nations who, even in the 21st century, find themselves persecuted or killed for their faith. Voice of the Maryrs is a great organization that has much information and serving opportunities regarding persecuted Christ-followers.

Our friends and sister churches in the Acts29 Network have committed to provide food, clothing and shelter for 315 Pakistani Christ-followers whose homes have been burned. The cost is $47,250; American dollars go a long way in Pakistan. An Acts29 pastor friend of mine in Raleigh, North Carolina, Elliot Grudem, has put up a webpage on his church website with more information about this tragedy and some pictures here.

Because the need to help our brothers and sisters in Christ is urgent, we are going to have a special offering time at our Ridge Church prayer gathering on Sunday. All the funds that we collect in the offering will go directly to an Acts29 church in Washington State with direct wire capabilities to Pakistan. 100% of your offering will go to Pakistani believers to provide for their basic needs at this difficult time. We will pray for these families on Sunday as well.

If you'd like more information, please email me.

Have a great week, and thank God for the blessings you have... See you at small group this Wednesday at our home, or have fun at small group on Thursday at the Irving home!

Prayer and a Wedding

Well, I had a great time this Sunday at our first Ridge Church corporate prayer gathering. We have committed for the near future to have two gatherings each month at The Ridge. The first is a "regular" worship gathering, where we will enjoy musical worship, teaching from the Bible, and communion together. The second gathering is one devoted to prayer.

Jesus was God's Son, "God in a bod." And, He prayed alot. You could easily make the case that we should pray 24/7, since we're not perfect, as Jesus is! Fortunately, Jesus had alot to say about prayer and how to pray. We are told to pray constantly by the Apostle Paul.

So, prayer is important! And, I think you would probably agree that we don't pray enough, either as individuals, families, or churches. So, at Ridge Church, we are aiming to change that part of our lives and approach God more often in many different settings and styles. We will praise Him, repent of sin to Him, thank Him, and intercede for the needs of others and ourselves. It's good stuff for the Christ-following soul!

This Friday through Sunday, Emily and I are going to Charlotte, NC to participate in a wedding. One of our former student ministry members is tying the knot and we've been invited to be part of it. I'll be co-performing the wedding, and Emily will be reading Scripture as part of the ceremony. Speaking of prayer, please pray for the couple, Daniel and Vanessa. They are great "kids" (not anymore!) and we want God's blessing on their lives. Please also pray for our travel to be safe and for Chloe to hang in there during the drive and non-Mommy time... Thanks!

This Sunday, we are not having a gathering at The Ridge. Most weeks when we don't gather, we'll go to another local church together and then eat lunch at a local restaurant to fellowship. This week, since Emily and I are out of town, I want to encourage you to visit another local, Bible-believing church. If you learn anything interesting or "steal" any cool ideas, let me know!

Have a great rest of the week!

No Worship Gathering This Weekend...

Hey, everybody! Just wanted to remind you that we're not having a worship gathering this weekend. Emily and I are about to leave to go to Charlotte for a wedding today... It's a young man who I had the privilege to lead to Christ several years ago. It's very exciting for us to be part of it and see old friends!

It just so happens that it's also Memorial Day Weekend, so we made the decision to hold off on a worship gathering this week. That way, folks can travel, hang out, or visit another place of worship if they like. Enjoy your time! We'll be back at the same bat channel and same bat time next week, May 31, at 10 a.m. at Panache.

By the way, feel free to pray for the young man and his new wife. They are Hugo Muraco and Emily (Newton) Muraco. Thanks!

A Prayer Request from Fountain City's Firemen

Hey! I hope you all are having a great day today... Hope you're staying dry in this rain!

I have a minute to post a blog update, and was reminded of a visit I had earlier this week with some guys at the Knoxville Fire Department's Station 15 in Fountain City. I've driven by the fire house at the corner of Jacksboro Pike and Essary Road alot lately. God put it on my heart more and more each time to stop by and ask the firemen (firepeople?) there if The Ridge could serve them in any way.

So, this week, after a visit to our dentist (praise report: "Look Ma, no cavities!"), I stopped by the fire house at about 4:30 in the afternoon. The guys in the kitchen were making Sloppy Joes for supper and just hanging out. I introduced myself, mentioned that we were a new church in the area, and asked if there was any way that we could support them in their dangerous work to protect our families and property from perhaps the most feared manmade scourge: fire.

The guys were a little surprised: 1) to see me enter the firehouse (I assume it's kinda rare for a civilian to roll up in there), 2) to have a local pastor ask if there was any way his church could pray for them.

This is sad, but beside the point, I guess. The main point is that the guys took a couple minutes to come up with an answer to my question, but when they did, they simply asked for prayer. They mentioned the dangers of their jobs, and that their families worry for their safety. I told them I would pray for them, which I have. I also told them I'd pass the request along and that they could ask for us to support them anytime.

This is a really simple thing to do, but it means alot to folks! So, next time God tells you to pray for someone or speak a kind word of encouragement to them, do so! The guys were curious where we met, and I told them. You never know, you may get to meet one of them some Sunday at Panache! Inviting the guys to our worship gathering was not the reason I went to visit the fire house, but God opened a door. He may do the same for you to present Jesus' love to someone in a special way.

People are curious when they hear of a new church where God is worshiped and the people are serious about serving others. So, keep all this in mind, pray for the fire"people" and have a great Saturday! See you tomorrow at 10 am!

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.!

Thankfulness Train Keeps Rollin'...

Well, while we're talking about Thankfulness here at the start of the New Year, it's only appropriate that we publicly thank all the folks who have supported the Layne family prayerfully and financially for the past six months while we have been planting Ridge Church.

There are many folks who have donated their hard-earned funds to provide a way for Emily and me to pay the bills as we have been meeting folks and gathering people into The Ridge. We can't thank them enough! Although I have a part-time job at the HoneyBaked Ham Store near Knoxville Center, and I work with some really great people, that job isn't designed to supply the pay, hours, or benefits to provide for a family.

Our church is associated with the Acts29 Network, a group of churches that plant churches and agree on a common theology. A29 churches connect for prayer, advice, support and encouragement. However, The Ridge is not connected with a specific denomination. We are "nondenominational" or independent.

There are certain benefits from being nondenominational, like not having an outside entity tell you how to do everything or being forced to give your money to a certain fund. But, being nondenominational also means Emily and I don't get a "paycheck" like most people think of it.

All the funds that Emily and I get from Ridge Church while our church is young and small are funds that have been donated to The Ridge for our support. The donations come from friends, family, and churches. When we grow larger, Ridge Church will become financially independent... But that takes a little time.

So, for making life possible for us, we thank our supporters! And, we thank God for creating a spirit of generosity in your hearts.

Although I don't think it's appropriate to share the names of all the individuals and families who are supporting us financially, I'd love to share the names of the churches! Some are part of the Acts29 Network, and some aren't. But, all of them are important to us and we thank them very much for committing to us as a couple and to the vision God has for The Ridge!

Christ Community Church - Watkinsville, Georiga
Discovery Church - Evansville, Indiana
Exmore Baptist Church - Exmore, Virginia
Redeemer Community Church - Johnson City, Tennessee
Sojourn Church - Huntsville, Alabama

Thanks again to all our prayer and financial supporters. You rock! By the way, if you're reading this and would like to join the list of our supporters, please do not hesitate to let me know... We can find a way for you to help The Ridge get financially on our feet!

Why This Sunday's Ridge Church Gathering is Cancelled...

Hey, everybody! I hope you're having an awesome week. Our little girl Chloe is a week old today... God has blessed us with a healthy baby girl.

We have two prayer requests this weekend that are sickness-related. First of all, Christy Garrison's grandmother Virginia ("Tootsie") is very ill. Christy has been spending nights at her grandmother's bedside at the hospital and is exhausted. I spoke to Christy's husband Ken this evening and he let me know that they will be unable to host our Sunday evening gathering at our announced location, Panache Salon in Fountain City. So, we are cancelling this week's meeting, originally scheduled for 5:30 to 7 pm.

Second, Emily is sick with mastitis. She has been running a fever for several days now (pretty much since we brought Chloe home Monday night) as a result. It looks that God is answering our prayers and she is not going to need to be re-admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics. (She has antibiotics in pill form instead.) She's also in alot of pain from her C-section and is still on pain medication.

Needless to say, our first week as parents has been a struggle, with Emily sick and me basically clueless about how to care for a baby! I'm learning slowly what to do... But we are both exhausted due to lack of sleep with a crying baby. Also, we're stressed out more than we have ever been in our lives due to being new parents. Your prayers on that front are appreciated!

I want to encourage all of you in two ways with this post:

1. It's all about God and people! Our gathering on Sunday is not as important as our hosts caring for their family in a time of sickness and need. It's also not as important as me attempting to care for my sick wife and our new child.
2. That said, everyone who is a believer in Christ is called to worship Him with our lives daily and with other believers regularly. Since there's no Ridge Church gathering on Sunday, check out a local church in our area Sunday morning or night. If you need a list of cool churches we've visited, let me know!

Our Ridge Church service project is still on the calendar for Sunday afternoon, November 23, at 2 pm. Please make plans to be there and join us as we "tip off" (Vols basketball, anyone?) the holiday season by serving those less fortunate at Thanksgiving!

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.

About today's sad event...

Today, a young man shot and killed another young man in the cafeteria at Central High School in the minutes before school started. It's a horrible thing that you hope never happens in your community... It's a shame and there's no way around that fact, regardless of the reasons that may come out for the violence in the future.

What made me want to post is some of the discussion that I heard today about the shooting. I heard some folks talking at lunch, and one made the comment that "this wouldn't have happened if we still had corporal punishment in schools." He claimed that students misbehave in school because they aren't paddled anymore.

Going back to "the good ol' days" will not make everything in our society better. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure child abuse, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, and other social ills occurred 50 years ago, people just kept that stuff quiet.

But, just as people weren't "better" 50 years ago, people aren't going to find themselves in some state of utopia in another 50 years. If you believe what God has to say about the matter, reactionism won't save our society. But, then again, neither is humanism the answer. Like legalism and license, both of these philosophies are in error; one is just erroneous to the rght and the other is wrong on the left side of the truth.

The Bible has a great deal to say about this type of thing, and Romans 3:9-24 is a great passage to read.

The Bible shows us that the real illness humanity has to deal with in order to find peace is our sin problem. Our sin caused a severed relationship with God starting with Adam and Eve. The root of our behavioral and emotional problems that lead to things like school shootings is simply our separation from God. The true answer to all the problems taking place around us is a restored relationship to God. And that can only happen via a life-transforming faith in Christ.

The Gospel has the power to change individuals and has done so for 2,000 years. Not only can the Gospel change individuals, it's truth can change families, neighborhoods, communities, towns, cities, and nations. If we truly care about our world and want to see it reconciled to God, we must do what it takes to earn the right to share the truth of Christ with others.

That way, instead of bringing back paddling to public schools to keep kids from "smarting off," we'll do the smart thing and help people to discover what they really need--Christ.

A Great Weekend and My Prayer Philosophy

Hope you all had a super weekend! I did...

I took Emily to Panther Creek State Park in Morristown, Tennessee for her birthday (Saturday was her "exact" birthday, which was cool). We hiked to the exact spot overlooking Cherokee Lake where I asked her to marry me 11 years ago. (The pic is from the Internet--just a representative shot!)

It was a great day! We went to Panther Creek quite a bit when we were students at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City. Of course, with Emily being pregnant, it was an interesting 2-mile hike in the heat, but we took plenty of water and everything was fine... It was beautiful and everything is a healthy green!

After changing into something a little nicer, we ate supper at El Sazon, our favorite Mexican restaurant while we were in college. (After 10 years of travel, I must say that nothing has beaten Campestre in Princeton, WV. It's the bomb! Cheap, wonderful food, great service, a nice new restaurant, and clean bathrooms! What more can you ask for? And in Southern West Virginia, no less!)

So, it was a good day. I hope your day was as nice as ours.

Today, I wanted to share a little about my "prayer philosophy." There are about as many ideas about prayer as there are well-meaning Christian folks. (That's alot!) My ideas about prayer used to be pretty simple: God is perfect and unchanging, so prayer doesn't change God, it just helps us to get "on the same page" with Him and is an opportunity to connect with God and worship Him.

Since Emily's been pregnant, though, I think I understand the depth of meaning in some biblical passages on prayer a little better. Don't worry, I haven't changed my mind on God's perfection or unchangableness, I believed I've just gained a greater appreciation for and a greater understanding of the biblical concept of prayer. (And, In case you haven't noticed, I'm always learning about more about both the Bible and God's nature... We all should be!)

When Jesus speaks in Luke 11, He is speaking for the Father (as He always does). As we talked about in an earlier post, God owns it all. The Luke 11 passage is obviously teaching that we are to be persistent in our prayers, and to ask God for good stuff--even if it's just stuff that we perceive is good in our imperfect humanity. God is "omni-sapient" (all-wise) and it's not a problem at all for Him to decide what we should have, and what is not so great for us to get our hands on. (See "Adam and Eve" for an idea of a seemingly-good thing that wasn't so good at all.)

As a father-to-be, I can far more easily see the comparison between earthly fathers and our Heavenly Father. Each is in a setting where they are able to offer wonderful things to their children. In God's case, the supply of blessings is unlimited! (In my case, not so much, but I can afford candy and some cool toys! Transformers action figures, anyone?)

However, each father also desires for their children to do the following (Disclaimer: this is my own list, you won't find it in any Bible passage, but I think you'll find it useful.):

• 1) really figure out what they want by themselves or with the help of others as a process of becoming more mature
• 2) think seriously about whether they really want it and if they're pretty sure it's a good thing to have
  
• 3) realize who has the goods and the power to provide them
• 4) actually humble themselves before their provider and honor them by asking for what they want
  
• 5) trust their provider (who has greater wisdom than they do) to judge the reasonableness of the request,

and finally,

• 6) appreciate the decision that their parent/our Heavenly Father makes in the matter, and be willing to have a good attitude regardless of the decision.

Of course, a post on the topic of prayer could go on forever. I have many more thoughts on prayer, and I'm sure you do too!

So, feel free to email me if you want to continue it at kevin@ridgechurchknoxville.com or call me at 865.223.5851. Or, we can do coffee someplace! :)