Updates

Both Hands

Posted on by Spanky Rouse
I know that you have heard those stories before too. The ones that make something in side of you leap, your heart melt, and passion overflow. Today I meet with a friend that went to Uganda with us a couple years ago and he shared one of those stories…he and his family call it “LIFE”. 


After returning 2 years ago from Uganda Matt and Kim felt the Lord leading them to adopt a child from Africa not because they are unable to have children, they have 3 of their own, but because God called them to stand up for the needed of this world. Matt, Kim, and their children know that as Christ followers we are to love and take care of the orphans.  As they have learned it can take a long time and it is extremely expensive to adopt one precious boy or girl from Ethiopia, so they decided to just go ahead and take home siblings. They are leveraging all that God has given their family to change the lives (forever) of 2 children that have been discarded. Heros of the faith!


It is going to be just a little bit longer until they can bring these beautiful children home but until then…


Matt and Kim partnered with an organization call Both Hands to make a difference in a widow’s life and her 4 children. They took James 1:27 serious, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” I would love for you to read about this project and watch the short video showing the work they did… and did all in the name of Jesus! http://bothhandsfoundation.org/matt-and-kim-ward.aspx I would also encourage (implore!) you to support them as they are still in need of $15K more for their adoption.


What if we all took the responsibility to stand in the gap for a life like an orphan or widow. You could be someones miracle that they are waiting on, YES even you.

30 Days Fasting Snacks

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

For the month of May a group from our church have been fasting. We called it Advance 30. Over the past 30 days we have been doing what we believe is one of the most powerful things we can do to advance His Kingdom. Fasting, praying and declaring our dependence on God. Some did a straight liquid fast, some did no dessert, some no coffee, some no meat, some no tv, and the list goes on. There is one fast or one person fasting that has made the biggest impact on me. My son, Mac chose to fast all snacks for the 30 days. Let me remind you that he is only 7 years old.

Just before this big fast I had done a 3 day fast and it was really interesting to him. He asked a ton of questions over those 3 days. When we announced that we were calling our entire church to a fast he decided to do this on his own. We did not in anyway encourage or push him to do this. We really thought he was kidding and would never really do it, this boy likes to eat if you didn’t already know this, so going with out is no joke. When I was telling him about the different kinds of fast I explained the David fast of no meat and his response was, “NOOOOOO way! That would be crazy!” As some of you may remember at Mac’s 5 year old doctor check up he was asked what is your favorite food and he responded with, “MEAT! and lots of it.”

Many days he would come home and tell us that during snack time at school he would just sit there and pray to God instead of eating like everyone else. Can you imagine this 7 year old sitting there while all of his friends are eating and praying. Most of us wouldn’t be able to do that. I asked him what he prays about and he said, “I pray that God will help me to know him more and for my friend at school that I am not sure if he knows Jesus.” I was impressed that Mac wanted to fast but now he is praying that he can know God more and he is praying for his non-christian friends! I have said this over and over but I truly believe that God has His hand on this boy and is going to use him to make a huge impact on this world.

It has been 30 days and he said that he was going to even do one extra day just to finish out the end of the month since May has 31 days.  Lara and I are so thankful that we get to be apart of this amazing little boys life and that we get to experience what God is doing in his heart everyday.

Grace & Truth

Posted on by Spanky Rouse
Lately I seem to be hearing and seeing this theme of grace and truth everywhere. Is God trying to teach me something??? I think so. In staff meetings, podcast, and having to live it out over and over, grace AND truth not grace OR truth, has been a theme that is recurring.

The idea here is, do we show grace to people or speak truth. We usually lean to one or the other but maybe its not one or the other but both/and. John 1:14 says that He, Jesus became “fully grace and truth” so Jesus, the only perfect person was completely grace and the very essence of truth all at the same time.

John 8: 2-5,7, 10-11 , 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”


Don’t know if you realize this but that is hard to live out! Speak truth and be gracious just doesn’t always come naturally. Most of us would have been there picking up rocks to stone this adulterous lady. We want to make sure people get the truth part down because we think this will change lives. In reality when truth comes with out grace, love, and kindness our audience doesn’t hear the truth, they just hear BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!

Like I said this theme keeps popping up all around me. As I write this I received a call where I have to go help someone that was arrested and they should have known better, right. I am praying that God will give me the words of truth and the spirit of grace as I go meet with them. Yes you should feel guilty because of what you did but not condemned by me.

Andy Stanley, “When it is someone else we want to speak truth, but when it is about me I want grace administered fully.” I think that if we constantly remember that Jesus was all truth and all grace then we will not fail in these tough situations and conversations of life.

Teacher Appreciation

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

As you all know this year I have been focusing much of my time on this community project with Piney Grove. We have been able to serve the families and staff of this school in many life changing and impactful ways. Loving and serving for the purpose of His fame in this community!photo-24-2

Last Wednesday it happened again and we weren’t even expecting it. We were able to bless the teachers and staff at Piney Grove Elementary in a simple but powerful way. Last week was teacher appreciation week so we thought we would do a little something for this amazing staff, they truly are amazing too. **From their mouths, “we are called to this and there is nothing we would rather do than teach these children that don’t have much help or hope.”** We completely under estimated the effect it would have on these teachers and us. It was a simple breakfast and lunch done up in an exceptional way that touched their hearts.

“You have no idea what this does for these teachers, to know that a group of people really care about them and this school.”

“We never get anything special here, this is a real treat!”

“LOVED not having to make my breakfast and lunch this morning!”

“We really feel loved today. Thank you!”

“We are not allowed to leave school for lunch, so to get a special lunch like this is great!”

“RIDGE CHURCH, RIDGE CHURCH, RIDGE CHURCH”

“WOW you are have been here all day serving us?!?!”

“Can you guys come back every week? We love having you guys here.”

To top it all off we left 4 gift baskets full of candy, chocolates, snacks, sunglasses, pins, markers, etc. I can only explain what happened when we brought them out by referring to what happens when you bring out a bag of candy in a third world country and the kids spot it. It was like Christmas for these teachers and I found out why from my contact at the school. She told me that NO one has ever gone this over the top and done something like this for the staff at Piney Grove Elementary, and we really didn’t do much we thought.

As we were leaving that day I got multiple high fives, hugs, smiles, and Thank You’s which leaves me thinking of how big of an impact this day is might be on the teachers but also the children they care for each day. We will never know the fullness of our serving and giving to this community but we know the gift there is in being obedient to the Father and loving those here, THERE, and everywhere.

Going through the fire

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

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There is a price to pay for being in ministry, becoming the leader God wants me to be, and living out the purpose for which God created me for. In Daniel Chapter 3 we see that these 3 friends had to pay a price too. In the end it was sooo worth it but during the process many times it was unbearable and hopeless. It  took a really BIG faith in God, Really BIG courage, and an understanding of God’s character to stay the course. They knew that God was for them and that He had control of every step and every breath (Daniel 5:23) of their lives so they could rely on God even when things got “heated”. (Daniel 3:17-18)images-3-2

Just to be honest I never realized just how tough and taxing the “job” of being in ministry was until now. It can seem like it’s killing you but I’m not alone.Elijah, Moses, and Jonah all found their selves in situation that God had allowed them to be in that seemed too difficult to handle. This life is hard but completely worth it!

I listened to a podcast the other day of Perry Noble, pastor of New Springs Church, talking about going through the fire. He was talking about the benefits Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego received from  going through this, what would normally seem like a horrible experience. He made one point that has stuck in my heart. When in the fire you recognize the presence of God like never before. Here is the thing, His presences is bigger than my problem and more powerful than the fire! When going through the fire, if we ask for and look for His presence we will be able to walk out the other side and probably walk out better than how we entered. “Seek the Lord and His strength. Seek His presence continually.” Ps 105:4

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SKUNK!!!!

Posted on by Spanky Rouse
images-3I now feel like I am an expert at dealing with skunks. If there is one thing that I wish I knew nothing about it is how to take care of the smell of a skunk in your house. We have studied, googled, and researched everything there is to know about skunks and have learned that these beast are the spawn of Satan.

Saturday a week ago at 3:45am we were woke up from a deep sleep with the most horrible smell ever. I can only describe the smell of fresh skunk spray as chemicals, rubber, and garlic burning. We were literally vomiting in our months as we walked around the house trying to figure out what was going on. We went outside trying to get some fresh air we found our neighbors getting in their cars at 4am and leaving. Believe me you never want to experience this smell in your life, especially in this close proximity! Through this awful experience we have learned a few things that we feel obligated to share with you so IF you ever get this “opportunity” you will know what to do, and I pray this never happens to any of you!
Everyone we know had a suggestion or remedy…and we tried them all. So here they are:
Bath in tomato juice
Fabreeze
diluted Clorox in a spray bottle
white vi
negar
air fresheners
move out
washing your cloths multiply times
baking soda
windows open
keep spot lights on to prevent the return of a skunk
cups of coffee grounds sitting out
cups of bleach
air purifier
fans
humidifier full of bleach and sir freshener
shampooing carpets
sitting furniture, rugs, and linens outside for days to air out
fogging the air duct system
cleaning the coils and fans on your hvac unit
We have tried all of these but unfortunately we still have a stinky house so if this ever happens to you, just burn it all down. Everywhere you go, every piece of cloths that you wear and even your wallet, phone, and Chapstick will have the god-awful stench for weeks. There isn’t much relief or hope so you just have to pray and try not to loose your mind. I have tried to rest in the fact that He works everything out for my good and that I am so blessed in this life by a loving God. I have a great family, generous mom and dad, supporting church family, and an opportunity to serve the Lord and other people with my life! So what if we stink, right!

Cancer crushes – Generosity brings hope

Posted on by Spanky Rouse
rtIMG_1706I walked into Piney Grove Elementary this morning to drop off some presents that a family had left Sa
turday at the Unexpected Christmas Store and was reminded what a difference Ridge Church is making in this community

. I was bombarded with hugs and ‘thank you’s from the principal and the administration as I walked into the office, because of the ripple effect the Unexpected Christmas Store and Ridge Church’s partnership has already had on these families.

When I left there this morning I was reminded of one the most heart breaking stories that

has come from the 14 families that were able to come shop at the Unexpected Christmas Store. This family ca
me to the store Saturday morning with a life story that would break the
average person into and leave them with no hope. As this single mom came in I could again see the heaviness on her face but could have never imagined what she is going through. We began her shopping experience by piling bags upon bags on a table and all around the floor for her and her 4 childre

n. When I brought her into the room to look over everything and she was in absolute shock.

“This is ALL for us?!?!”
“Yes ma’am. We wanted to make sure we could take care of your wish list and give you a bunch of household items that you could possibly use.”

Hugs and tears flowed but more than that smiles and joy began to appear. When she was done looking through all of it I told her that we still wanted her to go shop and pick out some cool toys and things her children would love to open from her on Christmas morning. But before she finished her shopping I told her that we had one more big item for her. I showed her a very nice dresser that The Blacklion had donated to the store for this family. She did not not
ice what a nice piece it was at first, she noticed that it had 4 drawers. “God must have known that I needed this since it has 4 drawers. Now we have one drawer for each child!”
This is when she began sharing her family’s story with me. Her oldest son who is ten years old was diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer last year. This crushed her and this journey was crushing the whole family. The only option for saving her son was to try and have another child. She did get pregnant and had a wonderful little baby boy, who was there with her at the store. The doctors saved the stem cells from the baby’s umbilical cord to use for the older son’s cancer treatments. So with the cost of having another child, having to pay for cancer treatments and becoming a single mother of 4 the family began to lose everything. They gave up their house, car, sold all they had even furniture, and now live in an extended stay hotel. The mother told me that this entire Christmas break they are spending their time at a cancer hospital in NYC. That was the extent of their Christmas until the Unexpected Christmas Store. This mom was so happy when she left that she went and got her children and came back. This time when she walked in her face was full of hope.
Most of us could never imagine having to go through what this family is faced with and most of us would never imagine being as generous as the small group was that took this family’s wish list and went over and beyond. I truly believe that when we realize how blessed we are and with what responsibility comes with those blessings we can change the world and make a lasting impact…maybe one family at a time.

Thank you Father for allowing us to be apart of this family’s transition from being crushed by life to a season of HOPE. We don’t always see the effect of our generosity but thank you for allowing us to see just a glimpse of the reward this day and allowing us the opportunity to give!

The Gospel Coming to Life

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

This week the staff of Ridge Church were sitting around sharing stories and talking about wins from the past weekend at the Unexpected Christmas Store (http://rousehousehappenings.blogspot.com/2011/12/unexpected-christmas-store.html) Patrick our Family Ministry Director was telling us about the lady that he was able to help host at the store Saturday. She is a mother of 2 elementary age children that attend Piney Grove school and she also volunteers there at the school. This mother was previously in the military for 10 years and she has some deep emotional and mental scares but not from what you would think. Anyone who serves our country probably has some degree of emotional damage from war and horrific combat situations but this lady’s troubles while serving our country were brought on by her fellow soldiers. She was sexually abused for many years in the military.IMG_1570

Now being removed from that environment this mother of 2 still faces her past every day. When she walked through the doors of the Unexpected Christmas Store I saw hurt, defeat, sadness, and trouble on her face. Our host team quickly greeted her when she walked through the doors and took her on a ‘red carpet’ shopping spree through this store that was set up just for her and the families at Piney Grove Elementary. Our goal was to bless them with much needed household items items and gifts for Christmas but even more importantly we wanted to let these families know that Jesus loves them and has not forgotten them during these tough times they face.

While Patrick was helping pack her car full of wrapped presents and Christmas decorations this mother that is burden with her past shared this with him. “I often feel like I’m not loved, but today I know that you guys love me and my family. Today I’m loved.” As Patrick said in this meeting, “this is the fullness of the Gospel.” Taking people who don’t feel loved, giving ourselves to them for the purpose of showing them that someone great loves them more than anything else, and then they see Christ in all of it. This is the Gospel coming to life!

“Little children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and truth.” 1 John 3:18
“And the King will answer them and say, ‘As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me.'” Matthew 25:40

Unexpected Christmas Store

Posted on by Spanky Rouse
IMG_1608Saturday was one of the coolest day’s that I have every been able to experience and be apart of! At Ridge church we signed the lease on our first 24/7 facility and less than 12 hours later we had created a Christmas store for 14 families from Piney Grove. This year we have chosen to serve and partner with the Piney Grove Elementary community to make a lasting difference and show Jesus’ love. This Christmas store is just one of the ways Ridge Church wants to bless this community by providing Christmas for families. We received the wish list and list of needs from 14 families in this school that are facing tough times this year. With the Christmas store set up parents were able to come do their own shopping and this would allow them to be the heroes in their home not Ridge Church.

Saturday morning was the first day the store would be open for the parents to come enjoy this red carpet shopping experience. We had no way of knowing the impact this would have on these parents and we were left speechless and yes full of tears. We heard some heart breaking stories that will now be filled with hope this season. These were not just families that were struggling but families that are in desperate need! A mother that had be sexually abused, a single mom of 3 whose husband died a couple years ago, a teenage daughter who has to raise 2 elementary age children, and a grandma of 4 who received chemo moments before she came shopping and she just told the children that they were not going to be celebrating Christmas this year because they had no money for gifts or decorations. The one story that I can’t get out of my mind is this one of a foster mom trying to help the real mom get established with her children. IMG_1621

I had the opportunity of hosting these two ladies on Saturday, the mom and foster mom. We had bought toys, shoes, coats, pi’s, underwear, socks, blankets, sheets, and a lot more for this family. The foster mom shared with us on the families wish list that was sent home of her desire to help this mom since she has just moved into her own apartment, so we bought somethings for the mom too. When we brought out the multiple bags full of gifts they were in amazement and the tears rolled down their face. They could not believe all of this. The mothers thought that they were just going to get a few little toys for the kids not bags of gifts for the whole family. After they had time to look at all of the gifts I told them that I we had one more gift for them. I took them over to these boxes and said, “you told us that your kids needed a bed to sleep on so…” The foster mom said, “NOOO WAAYYYY! You did not get some beds?!?!” I said, ” we actually got you brand new beds from Ikea with new mattresses, mattresses covers, and down comforters.” ** And a side note, a family in our church felt like the Lord was telling them to go buy some beds when they heard about the store. How cool is it when people are obedient to His leading!** The two mom’s began crying, hugging me and each other, and yelling over and over, “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!” It was like an episode of Opera’s Favorite things giveaway. The foster mom told me that this would definitely be the best Christmas that these 2 children will have ever had.

This day was about two things: blessing families that needed it and providing a way for the people of Ridge to be generous and serve together. Mission accomplished, no wait mission exceeded! We have one more day of the Unexpected Christmas Store this coming Saturday so please be praying for Ridge Church and the 9 families that will come shopping.

Proverbs 11:25, A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

Risk Takers

Posted on by Spanky Rouse

I am reading and studying through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan with our community group. Every week we go through a chapter, talk about it and see how we can apply it to our lives. It is making a difference in everyone of us. This week I am reading in chapter 8 and I came across this section called “Risk Takers”. Interesting, intriguing, and gut checking for sure!

The author begins this section by asking a question, “Haven’t we all prayed a prayer like this,”. He then goes on to this prayer that sounds a bit shallow, spiritually immature but familiar. It is all about me being safe NO matter what. It’s a prayer that many of us pray daily as we get in our car or before a vacation or mission trip. Does God care about our safety or protection? Yes. Of course. But is that His ultimate goal or desire? NO WAY!

God’s ultimate goal, desire, and priority is not safety. It’s His glory! And for Him to get maximum glory it sometimes means we will have to be in uncomfortable situations, pain, and even danger. But are we willing to allow any of those in our life or do we just simply want to play it safe? Would our life really look any different if God wasn’t apart of it? Are we playing it safe? Do we give, serve, love, and live in a safe way?

If you do, and most of us do, it is probably because we need to refocus our eyes and hearts on the One. Nothing in this life can be more satisfying and really nothing could be more safe than to say God your will be done. The last sentence in chapter 7 says, “What matters is that we spend our lives”, not how much we have, where we live, or accomplish. I am glad that God didn’t play it safe and that Jesus spent all he had for this world and me.

Prayer
God bring me closer to you no matter what it takes, keep me from unnecessary harm, and help me to live my life in the way that gives You most glory.