Amazing weekend ahead!

I am so excited about this weekend! It is our Community Makeover Weekend. There are 9 churches involved and we will be doing ministry projects all over the county. Most of the churches, The Ridge included, will NOT have our Sun day morning worship gathering this week. Instead, we will be out in the community. We call it “Don’t GO To Church, BE The Church!” I am pumped that over 200 people have signed up to participate from The Ridge on Saturday and Sunday. We have several projects to do that will touch dozens of families in our community. I can’t wait to report on the results! Pray for all of us Ridgers and the others in the county who will be ministering in Jesus’ name this weekend. This is unprecedented! Jesus is going to be made famous in Paulding County this weekend!

Those of you who are Ridgers, plan to be at Austin Middle School at 9AM both Saturday and Sunday if you want to participate. Even if you didn’t sign up ahead of time, just show up and we’ll get you plugged in. What an amazing opportunity to love our community!

My Computer…Finally!

Well after talking to yet another tech person at Dell, I finally have my computer fixed…for now, anyway. I am actually typing this on my laptop…not my wife’s laptop, not the desktop at home, not the desktop of our office assistant…mine FINALLY.

I have gotten to know several Dell Tech guys: there was Will, Kevin, Johnny, a girl I can’t remember, another guy I can’t remember, and Paul. That is six different people that I have dealt with, not including the tech/fixit guy who came to my office yesterday. And it only took 23 days, between 8 and 12 phone calls, getting cut off in the middle of conversations with tech guys three times, two times of sending my computer to the Dell Repair Depot, and one fixit/tech guy coming to my office to totally gut and re-gut my computer. Well, persistence pays off. It is working. Let’s just hope it stays that way.

My Computer… Not so fast, my friend! @*%^&!!!!!

First of all, I’m in the wrong business. The tech/repair computer geek, who was fixing my computer when last I blogged, left my office after doing his job…in a brand new 2008 Corvette convertible! It was sweet!

Well, the saga continues. Before aforementioned tech/repair computer geek left, my newly re-gutted computer’s wifi would not work. He said, I’d need to reinstall it from my driver disc that came with my computer originally since he had replaced my wireless card. That disk was at home, so I said, “Fine. I’ll get it when I get home.” Easy, right?

Not so fast, my friend! When installed that disk could not identify whatever parts he put into the computer. Not only does it not recognize the wireless driver, it doesn’t recognize the ethernet driver. Consequently, I cannot get online in any way to download the proper stuff! @#%&^$!! Oh, sorry. I should be more patient. Anyway, I didn’t want to call Dell tonight, because I may very well become a cussing preacher if I talk to them again. Therefore, I call a friend who is a great computer guy. If anyone could figure it out he could.

Not so fast, my friend! He walked me through a bunch of different options, including downloading the driver to my desktop and transferring it by jump drive to my laptop. Nothing.  %#@$^&*!!! Oh, sorry again! Well, surely there was something else we could try.

Not so fast…that’s it for now. No other options as things stand now. I must call Dell…again…for the umpteenth time this month. In the immortal words of Charlie Brown, “AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

“Consider it all joy my brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance…” (James 1:2-3)  I must be getting ready for a marathon.

My Computer…Round 3

As I am writing this, a computer tech/fixit guy contracted from Dell is sitting outside my office taking all the guts out of my laptop and putting basically everything new in. It has been a ridiculous month in regards to thsi computer. Earlier this week I received my computer back from Dell’s repair depot…for the second time in three weeks! As soon as I turned it on, I knew that they had not made the necessary repairs. it only took about a minute and a half for it to inexplicably shut down. When I looked at the repair sheet, I noticed they had simply replaced the LCD…which has nothing to do with the problem! I called and spent over an hour on the phone with Dell (at least I was talking to an American ). I said I wanted a refund. HA! They said they would send me a refurbished unit (someone else’s problems) or send out a tech/repair geek to fix my computer. A refurb would take 3 weeks to get. A technician coming to my office, would take a couple of days. I opted for the tenician, but said if he, couldn’t repair it I’d be seeking a full refund and taking my business elsewhere, maybe buying a Mac.

So, here we sit…waiting to see the results. I’ll keep you updated.

Sunday Recap 7-20-08

Finished up our “WE” series with “Who’s Out?” today. Who’s out? Everyone. Because of sin we are all out. However, because of grace we can be in…then everyone who is in is out. Confused? Well, who’s on first? …Oh, sorry… You see the church is by name “called out ones”; that is what the name church means in the New Testament. So, everyone’s out without Grace, but if we’re IN because of Grace then we are called OUT…to bring hope to the world.

That is what this next weekend is all about. Next Sunday is our “BE the Church” Community Makeover Weekend. I am so pumped about what God is about to do in our county! Nine churches are all going to be OUT all over the county and beyond, to minister to people everywhere. It is going to be amazing! We won’t be gathering for our regular worship gathering on Sunday AM, but we will be ministering in the community along with hundreds (maybe thousands) of others! I can’t wait! Next Sunday evening we’ll all gather as one body for an amazing worship celebration at the Sam’s parking lot in Hiram. That is going to be amazing!

NOTE: Since we won’t be gathering on Sunday morning, you can give online HERE, if you would like. OR if you are out of town this summer you can do the same. We’ll also be taking an offering for each church at the Community Worship Gathering next Sunday evening.

TODAY was a good day @ The Ridge. Attendance rebounded somewhat to more normal summer numbers (last Sunday was our lowest attendance since last July…it was also the first rainy Sunday we’ve had in over a year and a half!). However, we had close to a dozen first time families with us today! It was crazy how many new faces we saw. Very cool!

John and the band did another stellar job. Great song set. Perfect for the message.

We pretty much ran out of our new “Don’t Go To Church…BE The Church” T-shirts today. It was awesome to see so many people getting excited about next weekend. We are trying to order some more Monday. Hopefully, we can get them in before next weekend.

We start a new series in two weeks: “Undercover…no more.” We also will be joining over 20 families for our Family Fusion Family Camp on August 3rd. Then we have an exciting fall planned. I am very excited about what God has on the horizon @ The Ridge!

My Computer

Two weeks ago I had to send my computer back to Dell to be fixed. It was under warranty, so it didn’t cost me anything, except a bit of frustration and hassle. Anyway, I got it back in 2 days, which I thought was great. However, I immediately knew it wasn’t fixed correctly or fully, when it began randomly shutting down for no apparent reason. So after spending over 3 hours on the phone last week trying to resolve the problem (it took 3 phone calls as I was cut off once in the middle of talking to tech support!), they said to just send it back. A shipping box was sent from DHL in which I would put my computer and send it to the Dell Depot to be repaired. Okay. This was Thursday. The box was to have arrived Friday, but didn’t. So I waited patiently, all the while trying to use a computer that inexplicably shuts down whenever it wants to.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I finally received the box to ship my computer back. About the time I received the box, I got a voice mail from Dell. The guy said, “Hey, just wanted you to know that we received your computer on the 13th (which was Sunday…first interesting point) and we have it on the bench now looking at it. It should be repaired today or tomorrow and you’ll have it back by the end of the week. I’m on top of it and will be tracking it to let you know what’s going on (second interesting point). I’ll call you back later and let you know the status.” All of this was amazing to me, since at the same time as I was listening to this voice mail, I was checking my e-mail on my computer, sitting on my desk!!!

I called Dell and told them, which the guy I talked to was curious about..or at least he acted like he was. I don’t know if it is common practice to say you’re working on something, even when you don’t have a clue about what is really going on or if someone just blew it by putting something in the computer wrong. I’m actually sending it back today. I’m interested to see if at the end of this week, I’ll get mine back and another one that is apparently being “worked on” now. Hey, maybe I’ll get two for one!

Sunday Recap 7-13-08

Yesterday was a great gathering @ The Ridge. The music was great. John and the band knocked a homerun! The set was cool. Chris does a great job with so little. I was fired up about the message, “Who’s In?” as we continued our “WE” series. Too bad so many weren’t here to experience it!  Yesterday was our lowest attendance so far this summer. If you missed it, you missed a GREAT Sunday! Even so, there were several first time guests and quite a few 2nd and 3rd timers, which is exciting. I believe God is definitely changing some perspectives and I am excited about wrapping up this series next week and heading into our Community Makeover weekend the end of the month. It is going to be awesome! If you are a Ridger and have yet to sign up to participate in our “Don’t Go To Church…BE The Church Community Makeover” Weekend July 25-27, then you need to do so this Sunday. We have several projects we’ll be doing and we need everyone to serve. It is time for us to go TO those in our community who are OUT and let them KNOW that they can be IN!

Who’s In? Everyone…because everyone belongs!

Last night we also had a Ridge picnic gathering at White Oak Park. Great time of hanging out, connecting, and playing cornhole! We are having a tournament next weekend too. You can register HERE. It is going to ba a lot of fun with all proceeds going to help sponsor Family Fusion Family Camp.

50,000

Does this bother you? I hope so! Read Perry Noble’s blog on this if you haven’t already. As we continue our “WE” series this Sunday, in preparation for our Community Makeover Weekend July 25-27, I thought Perry’s words were very relevant to our theme this week: “Who’s In?” I hope this bothers you. See you Sunday!

Do What We Do

I recently finished reading Tony Dungy’s book Quiet Strength . I already liked Coach Dungy, but liked and respected him even more after reading this book. There are some great leadership principles and family principles in this book. One of the things that he wrote that we spent time discussing at our mini staff getaway this week, was his philosophy and vision for his teams. Beginning at Tampa Bay, as he began his coaching career by taking over a perennial loser, Coach Dungy instituted a new philosophy that changed the perspective, and ultimately the record of that team. It also carried his next coached team, the Colts, all the way to a Super Bowl championship. It was a simple philosophy that, no matter what happened the year before, never changed. No matter how long success took, it never changed. Here is what Coach Dungy’s successful teams are built upon:

• Whatever it takes.
• No excuses. No explanations.
• We do what we do.

It can be so easy for us to get caught up in trying to always “one up” ourselves or others. We can spend so much time trying to recreate our vision rather than going back to the thing God called us to do. Do it well, without excuses when we stumble or struggle. Doing whatever it takes to follow and fulfill the vision God gave us. And keep doing what we do. If God has called us and given us a vision, we need to do what we do. Not meaning that we get stuck in a rut. Not that we just keep muddling along without a real vision anyway. Not that we don’t get creative and think and move forward. But that we simply do what we are called to do. If we keep this philosophy in mind, I think that in time, just like Coach Dungy’s teams, we’ll see God do amazing things. We’ll eventually see more fruit than we could imagine.

What do you think? Is this a philosophy that translates to church planting? What about family? What about leading in business?

Staff Get Away

We decided earlier this year that our staff would try to get away from the office to a separate “neutral” location once a month. The goal is to focus on one thing that we need to plan and pray about; one upcoming series, event, etc. Today, we are actually taking two days for a getaway to focus on the upcoming fall and to pray and plan through some things that are on the immediate horizon. I’m looking forward to this time. Someone has offered us a free lakehouse to stay in and we are, once again, thankful for God’s provision.

Pray for our team as we get away and seek God’s wisdom and direction for the remainder of the calendar year. There is much on the horizon in so many areas, facilities, personnel, missions, regular programming, special events and I want us to be where God wants us to be.

Our focus these days will be on what got us here and what will get us where God wants us to go the rest of this year. Later we will take a longer range focus on another getaway.