I have been asked before, “Why did you all have so many kids?” or “Did you all plan to have that many?” Well, the question is something that we have to look at from a different perspective: My wife and I didn’t HAVE them…and neither did any of you…rather God GAVE them to you. So when we have that perspective, there must be a REASON that He gave them to us. So…what IS that reason? Why did God choose to give you those children…whether you have one, two, five, or eight? We will be looking this Sunday at what God’s Word says about The Reason. (by the way…this isn’t going to be one of those ”you-should-have-more-children-like-Pastor Steve” messages ) I hope you will join us and that you will invite someone to come to Church @ The Ridge with you. If you want to read ahead, read Psalm 127 before Sunday.

In case you’ve missed it, we have a new billboard up on Highway 92 at the intersection of Ridge Road. We were able to get a really good deal on the billboard rental, so we are trying it out for a few months. We have traditionally done a couple of mass mailings throughout the year. When we do that, we usually hit between 5000 and 10000 mailboxes. However, that is a one-time “touch”. With this billboard, the thousands of people that will see it each day and week will be more repetitive…meaning the same people will see it multiple times. So, we thought we’d give it a try. We’ll see how God might use this to draw people to His church. I pray that people who are lost, hurting, seeking, in need of hope and community, will see this and check out The Ridge. Will you pray too? Ridgers, as you pass this billboard pray that God would use it to reach people in our community. By the way, I tried to get my wife to go for having she and I on the billboard, but she declined.

We also have updated and upgraded our website this week! After way too long (in my opinion) of trying to come up with a better site…and being hamstrung by the cost of it along with the time to make it happen as well as the technical savy…we were able to make an upgrade with our current site host. They offered a better template option upgrade with some much better features…like listening to our messages right from the site rather than having to host them elsewhere…as well as a cleaner, better look that is easier to use. Check it out HERE and let us know what you think! While it may not be everything we want in a website, for now it is much better. We hope to go a different route in the future, but this is a stopgap that works better than what we have had. Thanks to Danny Sloderbeck for working on this upgrade for us!

Today is Martin Luther King Jr Day. Dr. King was certainly a man of influence. But what influenced him the most? I was listening on the radio today

Martin Luther King Sr with his family (Martin Jr is front row right)

of one recounting of some of the things the younger M. L. King was taught by his father, Martin Luther King, Sr. It was interesting to hear what a great influence he was to his son. The one who would become a “reformer” in the civil rights movement was influenced and inspired most by his father who had changed his name to one of the greatest “reformers” in history. While we rightfully laud the influence that Martin Luther King, Jr. had in our country, it can be easy to overlook the one in his life who, apart from God, influenced his character, his spiritual life, his boldness, his vision. It was his father.

It is said that one day, Martin Sr and his son were driving through Atlanta when they were pulled over by a police officer. When the officer called the elder King “boy”, Martin Sr. is said to have pointed to his son in the seat next to him and told the officer, “This is a boy. I am a man. And until you address me as such I’ll not respond to you.” Now, I cannot corroborate the accuracy of that story, but don’t you think that would have had a great influence on the junior King? That passion, courage and vision that his father showed and instilled into his son would influence him greatly in the years to come. This young man who would become a great influencer, was influenced greatly by his dad.

Fathers…don’t discount the influence you have on your sons & daughters! YOU have a great opportunity and responsibility to invest in your children. It is critical not only for them now, but for generations to come. Don’t take that responsibility lightly! As generation yet to be born is depending on you.

This past Sunday we also continued our Family Matters series by looking at this responsibility in Psalm 78. This is what made me think about Martin Luther King, Sr. today and the influence we as fathers have on the next generation.

This Psalm is a “Maskil” which means it is to be contemplated; it is a psalm to give instruction. When the Israelites heard “Law” the first thing that would have come to their minds was instruction. Instruction from God for their benefit. It was seen as positive instruction, instruction that was by example as well as negative warnings. We just think of Law as the negative. We see here that God has appointed this Law as a testimony and fathers are commanded to teach it to their children so that they may teach it to their children. Now there are three positive results that will come from the study, remembrance, teaching and application of God’s Word…

• we would put our confidence in God
• the Law is to teach us is that God is sovereign, so we should be humble and grateful in our thinking toward Him
• the Law is to move us to obedience…We are to show our gratitude to God for His mercy & grace by keeping His commandments.

The One Negative that the instruction of the Law reveals is in this next verse. (v. 8)

and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

In other words: “Don’t be THAT guy!”

Don’t be like those in your past…or those in the past (or even current) generations of this nation who were stubborn…putting their confidence in themselves or in the things of the world or in things that they saw others doing …rebellious… willfully choosing to NOT be obedient. Choose your path…choose wisely. Fathers especially, choose wisely and humbly what path you will lead your sons down. Your influence will impact generations to come.

Influence is a great responsibility. And you have it, positive or negative, whether you like it or not. May the influence you have on the next generation, be founded in the Word of God, in the sovereignty and grace of God. May it impact a generation yet to be born…for the glory of God!

And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.

We need to reprioritize and the next generation needs us to!

I am really excited to see what God does through this important, foundational series. Lots of feedback of how God spoke to individuals. Three people indicated that they were putting their faith in Christ for the first time! DOZENS indicated their desire to recommit and reprioritize themselves and their families to God’s Word and to keeping His commands and diligently passing them on to the next generation. THAT NEVER GETS OLD!!

We also had out new RidgeKidz computerized check in system online. It was a little slow (only one printer was working ), but everyone was patient and we were able to get everyone acclimated to the new system. We’ll get all the bugs worked out and this is going to be a smother and more secure system in the long run. Thanks for all you Ridger parents being patient. Thanks to Wendell and his team of volunteers for their diligent work too!

Great attendance yesterday too…and there were lots of regulars out! Several new faces and returning guests.

New Quest Groups are starting this month. If you are a regular attender @ The Ridge, get connected by signing up the next two Sundays. More details to come!

I am really excited about what God is doing @ The Ridge right now! There are some amazing things just around the corner. Hang on Ridgers! God’s about to do some incredible things in our community!

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In this series we’ll take a look at the biblical priority, purpose, and responsibility of the family. What did God have in mind? What’s our purpose? How do we withstand the attacks? Why do we have all these kids anyway? How can we stay sane as a family? What can I do to strengthen my marriage?

All these and more we’ll be addressing in this series as we examine God’s Word together, because…

Family Matters!

So, this month I have been terribly derelict in my blogging duties. I will strive to do better in 2012. In the meantime, join us for Christmas Eve @ The Ridge at 5:30pm. We’ll gather at Austin Middle School on Ridge Road for a great time of worship, lots of music, a very important Christmas message, candlelight and even a special time just for the kids. Join us and make this a part of your family’s Christmas Eve tradition! It is the perfect time to invite an unchurched friend or family member to hear the hope of Christmas.

We will not have a gathering on Christmas Day, rather we would invite you to worship with your family at home.

The Church @ The Ridge will gather on January 1st to kick off 2012 with a special family worship gathering. There will be no RidgeKidz that day. I’ll also be sharing some vision for 2012 that I believe is exciting.

We’ll begin a new series called Family Matters on January 8th that you will not want to miss! Make plans to gather @ The Ridge in 2012. I believe God has some great things in store.

Take a second to copy and paste this picture into your email and invite someone to join us Christmas Eve.

Finally, if you are a Ridger and are traveling this next week, or if you simply want to support the work God is doing here, you can take care of all of your year-end giving by giving online HERE or through your bank’s auto bill pay or simply by mailing your offering to
The Church @ The Ridge
P.O. Box 1228
Hiram, GA 30141

Next Sunday, December 18th and on Christmas Eve, we will be giving The Gift.

In our generosity series last month, we focused one week on Ephesians 1:7-8 which says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (emphasis added)

The Gospel is an incredibly generous gift! How generous are WE with the Gospel? How generous are WE with the resources we have been given, so that we can further the Kingdom of God in our community and around the world.

This Christmas I want to challenge each of you to consider how you could lavishly give back a Gift of gratitude and love to God and His work. On December 18th and also on Christmas Eve, The Church @ The Ridge will receive “The Gift”- a special, annual gift to God in gratitude and love for His incredible grace to us.

 The challenge is to pray about what God would have you and your family give – over and above your regular tithes – to this special offering. My challenge to you is to do one of two things:

• Match or exceed your most expensive gift purchase this Christmas
• OR match the total amount you will spend this Christmas

 What will “The Gift” be used for in 2012 at The Church @ The Ridge? Our staff and Advisors and Stewardship Team have considered where we are and where God is leading us, we have prayerfully made some specific priorities this year.

• MISSIONS: We want to support missions as generously as possible. This has always been a part of the DNA of The Ridge. That will continue this year as we plan to give a significant portion of The Gift to support the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. This is an offering that will support the work of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering we will be joining with thousands of churches across the US in supporting over 8,000 missionaries around the world. Most specifically we will be helping in some regions of the world that are considered closed to the gospel as the IMB is making stronger efforts in these areas.
• FAMILY MINISTRY: When God led us to start The Church @ The Ridge, “impacting another generation” was a core part of the vision He had given us. As pastors, we have felt a strong urging from the Lord that this is an area God is working in and we believe He is “calling us to return to” with a renewed emphasis. Our desire is to grow by reaching new families with the gospel and also to strengthen the families within the church body. We want to do that with excellence and effectiveness and invest in areas of ministry that are “growth engines”, not just numerically, but spiritually. One of those, we believe, is Family Fusion. Family camp has been one of our most effective tools to renew and restore marriages and families. The last couple of years the economic environment has not enabled us to do our camp, but we have instead done a conference and even a road trip. Both of these were very good and effective. However, we believe that returning to the Family Camp this year is going to be most effective and important; and will reach the maximum number of families. Therefore, we want to make it as affordable in the current economic climate as we can. So a portion of The Gift will go to help make Family Fusion Camp happen…and make it affordable, enabling families that could not otherwise attend, be able to afford this life-changing experience. Your investment in The Gift will definitely carry on for another generation!
• SAVANNAH CHURCH PLANT: Three years ago we prayerfully commissioned one of our staff families along with several others to go plant a church in Savannah, GA. Doug & Shelly Garvin (former Creative Arts Pastor @ The Ridge) launched Canvas Church 2 ½ years ago. God has given them an opportunity to move into a space of their own in a former strip shopping center. However, many things have been on hold for a while because they need finances to complete some of the buildout. They are almost there, but still in need of funds. We would like to take part of The Gift to help them complete this so they can aggressively move forward in impacting the community ti which God has called them.
• SUMMER INTERNS: In the past we have had some part-time staff members working with Community Ministry and Students during the summer months. The current economic climate has forced us to not fill those positions in the last year. As we are praying for God’s provision to more impact another generation, we would like to hire some part-time summer interns to assist in several ministry areas, while at the same time we will be investing in them. These college students who are called to ministry will be able to learn and gain experience that will be valuable to them in the future. In essence we will be investing in impacting another generation around the world by investing in these future leaders. FINALLY…our budget has been trimmed dramatically this year and your generous giving has met the budget the last couple of months. This is a blessing! We want to be sure to set aside a reserve fund that will help keep us on a firm footing for the next year. A portion of The Gift will be set aside for unforeseen shortfalls and/or needs this coming year.

 What is our goal? If it pleases God to allow us to raise $25,000 – over and above the regular giving of the church – we believe that we can do all of the things mentioned. This is certainly a God-sized goal, but we are trusting that God might even provide more than this goal! If so, it would set us up to do all that is before us in 2012 and more. 

How should I give “The Gift”? Pray about what God would have you give on December 18th or on Christmas Eve. Put it in “THE GIFT” envelopes provided on Sunday. OR you may give online at the church’s website HERE.

See you Sunday @ The Ridge!

Saturday night we had a “Night Of Worship @ The Ridge.” We gathered together and participated in a time of worship and music led by The Ridge band. Then about 20 men stood together and participated in a special Resolution ceremony inspired by the movie Courageous. It was definitely powerful! Each man stood with his family and made the resolution before the Lord and then signed it. I cna’t wait to see what God is going to do through these men and their families to impact another generation!

A great Sunday started off with a Family Dedication as the Hearn family dedicated their children to the Lord. It was a very special time watching this dad and mom pray over and bless their children as they rededicated themselves to the Lord and dedicated their children to Him as well.

Great music from The Ridge band as usual! Love these guys and their heart to serve and lead.

We started a new series called Wide Open: living a life of generosity. Here’s a few questions we posed at the beginning (which are borrowed from Vance Pitman):

What if there was one activity that would…

• Benefit and bless others?
• Bring you priceless joy?
• Meet your greatest need while meeting the needs of others?
• Expand God’s kingdom in South Paulding, Georgia, the US and the world?
• Open the windows of heaven and invite God’s blessing into your life while at the same time allowing God’s glory to be made known through your life?
• Result in eternal rewards for you?
• Protect you from envy, jealousy, greed, materialism, and self-centered living?

Would you do it? Do you think that would be something you would want to be a part of? The answer to those questions is likely “yes” for most of us. Well, what is that activity that will bring all of that about? Generosity.

Winston Churchill once said, “We all make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Generosity matters. That’s what we talked about Sunday: “Why Generosity Matters.” 

Generosity Has Become . . .
An option instead of an obligation. An emotional response instead of a spiritual discipline. We will give to a cause instead of giving to God. This is how the tithe has become a tip in the church today.
Three biblical principles on why generosity matters:

• All I have belongs to Him “The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains” —Psalm 24:1, 1 Corinthians 10:26
• He’s entrusted some of what belongs to Him to me
• And that which He’s entrusted to me, I am supposed to use for Him

At the end of the day, we make generosity about us. It’s about OUR emotional response. It’s what WE can afford. It’s done after I have met MY needs and MY wants and MY other obligations. That kind of generosity is not generous at all. And I’m guilty of this myself. The bottom line is that’s pride and selfishness. And that is not a wide open life. It’s one that is closed.

Generosity is about God. It’s about being a disciplined follower of Christ. It’s about being wide open to whatever God wants to do through me with whatever, time, talents, possessions, resources that HE has entrusted to me. It’s about realizing my life is to be open to whatever God wants to do in and through me, whenever He wants to do it.

Here’s The Thing…

If I live wide open, I’ll open myself up to His blessing and glory. God has been generous with us and is asking us to live our lives wide open…for His glory!Living life wide open doesn’t mean that I’m grabbing all I can get, it’s about not holding on to anything and being open to giving whatever I can generously. It’s being open with everything and generous with whatever He’s blessed me with, for His glory.

This Thursday, November 10th, we are starting Men’s Fraternity @ The Ridge. I am SO pumped about what God is doing in the lives of the men of our church & community! This is going to be a fantastic, impacting experience for our men. It isn’t too late for anyone to come. Join us at 9:00pm at our church offices which are located at The Warehouse Of Hope. Click HERE for a map. It’s gonna be a great discipling process as we begin “The Quest For Authentic Manhood.”

One more IMPORTANT thing you can do “Before Sunday…”, and for the next couple of weeks too, is  to take the e-vite below and use it to invite your friends or family. Just copy and save the image on your computer, then insert it into an email or on facebook or your own blog and invite folks to join us for this series.

While it isn’t essential to joining us for this series, before Sunday, try to go see the movie Courageous; then ask yourself this question: “In my life…in my relationship with God…am I being courageous or complacent?” Read Matthew 14, then join us Sunday at 10:30am at Austin Middle School for oue worship gathering @ The Ridge. It’s gonna be a great day!

There are many reasons why this movie and this teaching is so important to our families, churches, and country. Below is a behind the scenes video that stresses just one of those reasons. Please pray for God to do something significant through this movie. Pray for a revival!