Tag Archives: Cornerstone Church of Knoxville

A Bittersweet Christmas

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Nicole and I just returned from a last-minute trip to Knoxville, TN. We learned on Saturday that one of Nicole’s best friends was in a fatal car accident the day before. Alexis had been driving out with her two young sons (ages 4 and 2) to Nashville to sing at her brother’s wedding when she lost control of her vehicle. The boys didn’t get any serious injuries, but Alexis died instantly.

Alexis and her husband Tim were there with us when I first met Nicole. I proposed to Nicole when I came down to Knoxville for their wedding. They were our closest friends during the first two years of our marriage (spent in Knoxville). Nicole and Lex even experienced their first pregnancies together; their eldest son was born only weeks after Katie. Needless to say, we’re grieving now and will be for a while yet. It’s not a grief without hope, but it’s rough to lose a friend so young. My heart goes out to Tim, their two boys, Alexis’ parents and the rest of their family.

In the midst of this tragedy Tim and Lex’s church has really stepped up to help. Tim has so many things to deal with right now, and it’s enough to break a man… but God’s grace is stronger, and he’s showing his grace in part through the men and women coming alongside Tim right now.

Still, this is a difficult journey to be on. So if I could ask one thing of you, my friends… would you please pray that God would draw close to the Cantrells and Shraders this Christmas?

Cornerstone: Grounds for Improvement

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Thern & Trillia Newbell's deck.

Cool! It seems that Grounds for Improvement (on the DIY Network) featured a couple from Cornerstone Church of Knoxville in their April 28th episode (DGFI-312).

“Thern and Trillia Newbell have a deck that, over the years, has turned into a safety hazard. Many boards are loose and warped, and the rail is big enough for someone to fall through! There is also no way to access their backyard from the deck. The Newbells would love to make their deck safe and ideal for entertaining. The Grounds for Improvement team helps the Newbells build a new, and much safer, cedar deck with see-through glass balusters and a staircase down to their yard.”

I tip my hat to Suzanne McNeil at A Day in the Life of the McTwins for telling us about it! Now we just need to find someone who recorded the thing…

Cornerstone Church of Knoxville

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Cornerstone Church of Knoxville, TN: seal.

The CCK website is live!

Go check it out now, and download Bill Kittrell’s sermon from January 29th — it’s a great look at what consititutes true Biblical fellowship.

I’ve got to give Chris Hornsby credit: he’s done a great job, even if it is 100% Flash. (The Print feature is definitely a nice touch!) Now if they could just integrate a sermon podcast …

Happy Birthday, Tim Cantrell!

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Happy birthday, indeed!

Hey everyone, help me out in celebrating Tim’s birthday! If you’re looking for web hosting from someone who’ll take you seriously, check out Cross PC, Tim’s tech support / software / web hosting company. He’ll give you a good deal without giving you a hard time. (He’d better, or I’ll go down to Knoxville after him!) ;)

Affluenza in the Church

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Affluenza is the disease of greed. It’s the materialistic mindset that says that getting more money and possessions for yourself is the ultimate aim of life. Affluenza is the spirit of our age and it has infected all of us.

So Josh Harris begins a new series at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. I highly recommend downloading the first message and checking back in the coming weeks to get the entire series.

This is a topic that’s been getting a bit of press in the “GodBlogger” world. Not only has Josh blogged on it, but DesiringGod‘s Justin Taylor has posted on “A Biblical Theology of Poverty and Almsgiving” and Dan Edelen wants to pool Christian bloggers’ resources so we can actually help some folks (rather than simply lobbing grenades in the latest doctrine war).

My only contribution at this point is my LibraryThing account — since all my books are there now, my brothers and sisters at Chesapeake Community Church can easily browse my collection, and are welcome to borrow whatever they’d like to. (Just please, no highlighting!) Just imagine the resources that could be freed up in a church if a 500-member congregation only needed 10-20 copies of a particular book? (Did the authors in the room just faint? Sorry, guys!)

But it’s a very small start. In Money, Possessions, and Eternity, Randy Alcorn lays out a vision of an Acts 4:32-37 church where there’s a master list of items members have made available to the congregation. (Have a fallen tree in your yard? Don’t go out and buy a chainsaw; Bill Smith’s got one on the list!) It’s like one big family!

Wait… isn’t that what we’re supposed to be?