I had an unexpected field trip yesterday to one of the most interesting places in the greater Knoxville region.  Yes folks, Trentville, a little town formed out of the blood, sweat, and tears of the Trent family years ago.  The interesting thing about Trentville is that it straddles the line between ghettos of East Knoxville and the hollers of Strawberry Plains and you get an interesting mix of urban and redneck.  This happens to be the place of the formative years of Roger's ministry, which is why on Thursday afternoon we headed over to a little place called the Tacklebox, where you can get your bait and your burger at the same counter.  Now, I wasn't aware that Tennessee had passed a smoking ban about 7 months ago until we pulled in and Roger pointed out the "Smokers Welcome" sign in the window.  Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when we were greeted by a man coming out the door who, upon seeing the developing snow flurries, held his arms out and said, "What's this $#%!?"

When we walked in there was barely room to move around and white men in camo with mullets were sitting elbow to elbow with black men in work uniforms.  This was definitely a unique place in Eastern Tennessee with a culture all its own.  

However, the purpose of our coming to the Tacklebox wasn't merely to have a Tackleburger, but to meet Roger's former pastor, Steve Evans.  Steve is one of those guys that walks into a room full of strangers and walks out with a room full of friends, all of which are about to pass out from laughter.  And laughter was just what the struggling town of Trentville needed 10 years ago when he was appointed to Trentville United Methodist Church.  

When he first arrived Trentville UMC was struggling for breath with 15 members.  Now it is a thriving cornerstone in the community with upwards of 150 in attendance.  In a town that was riddled with meth labs and hopelessness Steve was a breath of fresh air who offered real people the real hope of a real God in a real way.  As we finished our Tackleburgers Steve and Roger remenisced over a huge outreach event where the church staff dressed up as WWF characters and had a Church Yard Brawl.  In a culture that loves Stone Cold Steve Austin, this event drew about 300 community members into the light heartedness of the love of Christ.  

My time with Steve and Roger left me with something to contemplate.  As our church leadership gets caught up in a hip culture, myself included, who are the leaders who will go to those in the foothills of Appalachia where Starbucks isn't cool and cell phone service isn't guaranteed?  Do we wait for this culture to catch up to our catchy ideas or do we go backup, lose ourselves, and live and breath with people and share the gospel in a real way? 

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