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

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.!

God, Sovereignty, and Our Kid, Part 2

The reason I shared all the info about Emily and having a child is to help state our belief that God is sovereign.

What does that mean? You can click on the definition above from Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, but what does it mean for us, in real life?

I've been reading through the book of Job. Not that I feel like him, not by a long shot! But, there is much to be gained by reading about how a man who encountered difficulty dealt with his own life and his relationship with God. One verse especially, Job 1:21, is an awesome one. After God allowed his entire family (except his wife) and all that he had to be destroyed, Job refused to abandon his God: "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'"

Now those are some big words! Could you say them if bad stuff happened to you? We pray that God allows little Chloe to be born "just fine" and score well on her first test: the Apgar test. However, we would love her no matter what happens... That is because we believe God is, as I said last time, "large and in charge."

Here's some reasons we believe God is sovereign. (Really, maybe you should click that definition above!) I've stolen the list from Norm Geisler. He's a smart man... A good representative Bible verse is after each point below.

1. God is prior to all things. (John 17:24)
   
2. God produced all things. (Colossians 1:16)
   
3. God sustains all things. (1 Corinthians 8:6)
   
4. God transcends all things. (Psalm 8:1)
   
5. God knows all things. (Psalm 139:4)
   
6. God can do all things. (Matthew 19:26)
   
7. God owns all things. (1 Chronicles 29:14)
   
8. God rules over all things. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
   
9. God is in control of all things. (Proverbs 21:1)

This is a pretty good list of ideas and biblical passages to support the concept of God's sovereignty. The good thing is that just as the old song says, "He's got the whole world in His hands!"

Please pray for us as Emily goes to the hospital tomorrow morning (Friday) to have Chloe! We will post info here when we have a chance!

God, Sovereignty, and Our Kid, Part 1

Today was another tough day on the "having a baby" front. Emily and I went to the doctor for her second amniocentesis this morning. I had a good feeling about the test showing that our baby was ready to be "taken out of the oven" but I was wrong. The lung-readiness test showed that she isn't.

The new plan is to have another growth ultrasound on Thursday morning, and if everything looks OK, have the C-section on Monday. If everything doesn't look OK, we will have a C-section ASAP after the ultrasound. If Emily goes into labor, we will have a C-section immediately. So, we don't know when little Chloe will be in this world!

Emily's pregnancy has been a difficult process for us. Many of you know that we've been married for 10 years. And, this is our first child. For a long time, we didn't feel led by God to have kids. We were student pastors for 10 years, and loved students. We were told more than one time that we had "plenty of kids already." And, for a long time, that was just right for us.

But, a couple of years ago, we really felt that God wanted us to adopt a child. Since we had already "adopted" tons of other people's kids, that just seemed natural for us and felt as if it was God's plan. However, after a couple years of pursuing adoption, we finally got a straight answer: we did not have the net worth, financial stability (living on support is not a plus to social services!) and residential stability that the child-placement agencies wanted.

So, we didn't know what to do. Then, we felt that God told us it was OK to try ot have "our own" child. That was a step of faith for us, since Emily has some major physical issues (I call it "battle damage") from a car accident in college. Her pelvis is plated together, and won't expand for natural childbirth. She also has a hip replacement (a residual problem from the car accident) and epilepsy that is controlled by medication. All in all, Emily is as healthy as any young woman her age, but for having kids there's lots of potential issues. Besides the structural stuff, epilepsy leads to a much higher risk of birth defects.

So, with God's leading, we attempted pregnancy early this year. To be honest, we didn't even really believe that Emily could get pregnant. We didn't know what kind of issues she might have with her plumbing as a result of her surgeries. But, God blessed us and Emily got pregnant almost instantly!

That was a buge blessing, but then came the waiting game for weeks and weeks as we had test after test to check for the possibility of birth defects and major spinal issues. We knew that our baby could have serious problems. We also knew that no matter what happened, we'd love our baby and treat him or her as a blessing from God. We were repeatedly offered extra tests that were intended to allow parents to abort their unborn children if their kids had major birth defects. We rejected the ones that we could, but doctors insisted on several.

To make a long story short, this has been a stressful time for us. (Plus, we just moved to plant a church, and we rely on the gracious financial gifts of others for our living expenses.) So, if we sound super-ready to have our little girl, we are... We just want to get the pregnancy thing done and see our little girl. But, no matter what happens (and thank God, all systems are go so far!) we will love little Chloe.

I want to ask you all to pray tonight for another Acts 29 Network pastor, Brad Hovis, and his wife Haley and son Owen. Brad and Haley's daughter Molly was born two months ago. She was expected to live just a few minutes after she was born. But, she held on until last night, when she died on the operating table as she received an organ transplant. Brad and Molly and Owen could really use your prayers, so please remember them.

God is truly large and in charge. His ways are not our ways, nor can we always understand them. Some children are born healthy, and some are not. We'll talk more about this in the next post... But for now, please pray for the Hovis family. They are hurting in a way I hope I never feel.