- Understand God and His standard for your life -
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:15-16

- Understand your condition -
“...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23
“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” Ephesians 2:3

- Realize there is a penalty for your sin -
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

- Believe that only through Christ you can be forgiven and have a personal relationship with God -
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…” Romans 5:8
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6

- Respond personally by receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior -
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...” John 1:12
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Acts 20:21

- Know God forgives your sins and makes you a new creation -
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Is the LORD speaking to your heart? In the light of the Scriptures you have just read we invite you to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior for the forgiveness of sins. Would you place your faith in Him now?

If you received Him you are a new creation and have become a child of God. We would welcome hearing from you so we can rejoice together.

On the Bible Studies page of this website you will find a study entitled "Roots". Its a twelve week study to establish spiritual growth. We encourage you to begin it today.

.:. Ken’s Story of New Life

The Beginning of Life and New Life

Having a Christian heritage is both an advantage and privilege. My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were Christians. This heritage was instrumental in my becoming a new creation in Christ when I was a child. Truthfully, however, there wasn’t a lot of spiritual growth in my life as a teenager. I was caught up in sports, cars, friendships and desperately trying to be cool.

I remember being in the counselor’s office as a senior in high school wondering what to do with my life. At that moment the Lord spoke to my heart along the lines of “if you give Me your life I’ll work it all out.” I contemplated that for a moment but replied, “I don’t want to give up my friends.” Almost two years later I was a college drop out and unemployed. During that time my Aunt gave me a new Bible and I did a very dangerous thing. I started reading a chapter every day and the Word changed my life. Soon I realized obedience wasn’t a half-way proposition or even ninety-five percent one. It was all or nothing. “Lord I surrender my life to You and by Your grace what Your Word says I will obey.” That was another dangerous thing.

The next few years were filled studying the Bible, praying, reading and sharing this abundant life with family and friends. I had found peace and joy and wanted others to have it as well. It was a time for learning the spiritual dynamics of the Christian life through such books as Watchman Nee’s – The Normal Christian Life and Mrs. Howard Taylor’s – Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret.

It was also a time of apprenticeship with my grandpa who by this time was 85. He had come to Tennessee as a pastor/missionary in the 1920’s. I helped him plant corn, bring in firewood, get to the Saturday morning radio program, visit hospitals, and serve in the three churches where he preached.

I never really planned to attend college again, but that wasn’t the Lord’s plan or grandpa’s. One day he sent a reference form to Appalachian Bible College. I wondered what they would think when the reference arrived with no application. It made sense to apply for entry and wouldn’t you know it, I was accepted as a student in the fall. A new phase of my life was about to begin.

Marriage and Ministry

After four years of study in Bible College I received my degree of Bible and Theology in the Christian Education program. During our senior year Diana and I began pursuing a relationship and were married on June 4, 1988. Thus began our life of roses, or so we thought. Our plan was to go to South Africa as missionaries after I completed an internship at Daniels Bible Church.

When the youth pastor resigned I was asked by the elders to consider the position. I accepted and armed with all the Christian Ed. training received at ABC I began what became 15 years of ministry there. I really enjoyed being a youth pastor. It brought out the fun and crazy side of me and gave opportunity to express a lot of creativity. The mission trips, college tours, all-nighters, teaching, and personal relationships were all enjoyable.

We had our first child in 1991. After Daniel along came Maria in 1995 and Christina in 1998. Diana is a natural teacher and believing it was best for our children’s academic, social, character and spiritual training we began homeschooling.

Along the way the church began using some principles that really brought growth at the church for the first time since I had joined the staff. These were exciting years for the church. Eventually the elders asked if I would change from the youth pastor position to pastor of adult ministries. I said “yes” and we moved forward from there.

The Struggles Come

Diana and I had a “good” marriage but we also struggled through the years, so much for a life of roses. We worked hard at better communication, meeting the other person’s “felt needs”, doing the “right things” to make a good marriage. The trouble was we both had a selfish streak and continued to struggle. Trying harder just wasn’t enough and honestly we were both feeling like failures in marriage.

Parenting was another struggle in my life. Diana and I had often said that we thought we were unselfish until we were married. Then when we began having children we learned that we were very selfish. Being a husband and father is enough to break a person. It seemed I was often reacting out of frustration. I remember one evening saying to God, "I just can't live the Christian life. I am a failure."

Ministry seemed to be the thing that was going right in my life. However, the Lord pulled me up short in that area too. Sensing I was having struggles a brother met with me for coffee and recommended I read "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire". While reading this book I began to realize that much of my ministry was built on creativity, planning, programming, and personality. I had learned to be very self sufficient. There was little prayer in my life personally or for ministry and I knew little about dependence on God. It was humbling and a moment of brokenness.

Refreshing, Revival, Renewal

It is impossible to point to just one event the Lord used during this time to bring refreshing but there were some significant things that happened along the way. What I didn’t mention earlier was that at the moment of crying out to the Lord about being a failure His answer to my heart was very plain. "You can if you let Me live My life through you." This was a moment of initial surrender. The spiritual lessons I had learned as a young man came flooding back to my mind.

With the need for prayer established in my heart it became a priority in my life and ministry. Those were the beginnings of some very intimate times. Pursuing God in prayer wasn’t something I just did alone but also with others. Our family began meeting in our home on Sunday evenings with a group of adventurous young adults. These times were so real, open, and intense. I was also meeting with a couple of brothers for early Morning Prayer that sharpened my prayer life.

One day a tape by Stuart Briscoe came into my hands, The Fullness of the Spirit (See "Resources" – Audio & Video). It was the beginning of the journey to really understand what it means to be filled with the Spirit. I knew the theology of it all but to live out the reality of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling was something else. For Him to have control of my mind, soul and heart was and is a growing process.

I think you can say it all adds up to having experienced a revival in my life. I don’t believe it is an end in itself but a wake-up call to return the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. A revival tends to last a moment in time be it days, weeks or months, but life in Christ is ours for a lifetime and eternity. Revival brings us back to our “first love” and He recaptures our heart. It reminds us that Christ has set us apart unto Himself and that He is our life, our righteousness, our hope, our deliverance.

During this specific time God used many writings to renew me such as: The Spirit of Christ (Andrew Murray), Pursuit of God (A.W. Tozer), Power Through Prayer (E.M. Bounds), They Found the Secret (Raymond Edman), Answers to Prayer (George Mueller) and Spiritual Disciplines (Richard Foster).

What about Diana and Our Marriage?

Diana was going through her own spiritual journey during this time. She had lived a performance based Christian life. Compliant, perfectionist, intelligent, determined and being raised in a pastor’s home made it easy to obey the Bible and win approval from others. The only problem was that it wasn’t life giving. Eventually the responsibilities of marriage, parenting and homeschooling made it impossible to measure up to others’ expectations or her own. Feelings of frustration and failure set in. Thankfully she has her own story of how God graciously worked in her life and put us both on the same track.

As for our marriage we had always known that seeking Him first was best for our marriage instead of selfishly trying to change the other person. An amazing thing happened; He began to make our marriage into what we had both wanted it to be from the beginning. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect but it is on solid footing or should I say our feet are on the Rock.

Starting Down the Path Of Trust

As these things continued to become prominent in our lives and ministry and not really enjoying the administrative position of Adult Ministries, I announced to the church that the Lord was calling us to move on from Daniels Bible Church. I worked there for another year as they made a transition. How God eventually led us to CrossWorld (formerly UFM) is another story in and of itself.

After resigning from Daniels it took us about two years to actually get to Mexico. During that time God led Diana and I to personally take an old school approach to support and finances. We believed before God that He would have us trust Him not only for support but also for daily living expenses and that without asking or making our needs known unless specifically asked. Some days there was ample in the bank and some days we wondered how we would make the payments coming up. He never failed us once! There are many, many wonderful stories of His provision during this time, like when He led us to pray for a $5000 gift and our tax return was over that amount for that year (we hadn't anticipated it.) or the $1000 gift we received from a couple whom we had met for one week and who sent the money after selling their home in Alaska. Also there was the time we were within a few days of having absolutely nothing to make our payments and in a three day period $1500 came to us by ten different gifts.

We Find Ourselves In Mexico

We believe those lessons of faith were not just for finances but for preparing us for another round of trust. At the moment it is in Mexico. We are building on those two years to learn to trust for language, for being far away from family and friends, for living in a spiritually oppressed place, for guiding our children through this transition, and for the future. He has not finished the story but we are confident that each step of faith leads to the next and will continue to build until He finishes His work with us here and calls us to Himself.

While we desire to be His instrument to see Mexicans delivered from the power of darkness and come to salvation, we believe that our primary purpose in being here is to worship Christ in this sun scorched land. We may help the poor, provide Bibles, extend hospitality, share the gospel, host teams, bring light against the darkness, do loving acts of kindness; but first and foremost, we are here to give worship to the Lamb of God. Service may come and go, people may be receptive or apathetic, the days may be up and down, but we believe that every day we are able to rise up and praise Him.