With renewed energy, pastor sees every home with ‘fresh eyes’ – Kentucky Today

Robin Cornetet

By ROB PATTERSON, Kentucky Baptist Convention

“You do not have to be excited to be obedient.” That nudge from the Holy Spirit began to turn things around for Kevin Denton.

The pastor of Horse Cave Baptist Church transparently shared, “For months I had been trying to make myself get excited about the Gospel to Every Home initiative. I just couldn’t. I had attended all the trainings offered by the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Liberty Baptist Association. I had read through the book multiple times, but in a season when we have been exerting so much effort to literally keeping our people alive” and to finding ways just to be able to gather for worship, Denton acknowledged that it was hard finding the energy to organize his church to mobilize in sharing the gospel with every home in their community.

But when the Holy Spirit reminded him, “You do not have to be excited to be obedient,” it drove him to prayer. With fresh eyes, he began adapting the prayer resources provided in the church planning kit to fit his church and context.

“I was not sure our people would use the 40 Day Prayer Guide as printed, but I really liked the idea of prayer walking,” he said.

Denton encouraged church members to utilize the prayer walking guide both in daily prayers and, as designed, for prayer walking their neighborhoods.

As so often happens when we commit ourselves to prayer, Denton confessed, “I was not prepared for the change in me.” Having pastored Horse Cave Baptist Church faithfully for more than 25 years, he recognized, “At some point, I stopped seeing people and just started seeing houses. I realized that I no longer really knew our community. When I first came, we knew who lived in all the houses close to our church.”

But as new people moved in and out over time, that familiarity faded.

“Now I look forward to praying for the people in each of those homes during my walks,” Denton said, understanding that God is using prayer walking “to develop a greater level of compassion in me for our community than I have felt in years.”

Prayer walking helps see the urgency of the harvest.

“You find yourself walking and driving by more homes than you realize, even in a small town of only about 3,000 people,” Denton said.

The church committed to prayer walk or, in some cases, to prayer drive every street in Horse Cave in September with plans to visit each home in October. Cooperating with sister churches of the Liberty Baptist Association, the church wants to provide at least one gospel touch to every home in the larger region.

Denton applied congregationally what God reminded him of privately. The pronoun shifted to “we” do not have to be excited to be obedient, and he committed himself to praying Luke 10:2.

“I have not directly asked anyone to commit to going out. Instead, I am trusting God to call out laborers as I pray,” he said. Over the past four Sundays, members have come to him saying, “When you are ready to start, I am willing to go.”

Denton said the church felt great tension about home visits and community outreach during the pandemic. His wife, Debbie, works for the Medical Center at Caverna and knows the suffering and loss related to COVID-19. This perspective drove Horse Cave Baptist to be as responsible as possible in virus protocols but members also sense their responsibility in sharing the gospel.

“People are keenly aware right now that anyone could die unexpectedly. They are thinking about death in ways we typically avoid. I don’t know of a better opportunity for the church to share the good news that God has provided hope for life after death through His Son, Jesus.”

Rob Patterson is the evangelism team leader for the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

Original Source: https://www.kentuckytoday.com/stories/with-renewed-energy-pastor-sees-every-home-with-fresh-eyes,34365