You Can Know God

Restoring, Backing Up and Apple Care

Everybody says to do it; it's really not that hard to do it.  So why is it that when the hard drive on my Mac dies, that my most recent backup is about two months old? I've spent the better part of last night and today reinstalling programs and copying files from an external hard drive.  And now I am backing every single one of my files (650,000 of them to be exact) to a hard drive using a back up program.

Can I make one complaint?  I took my MacBook Pro to the apple store where they said the hard drive was friend.  I can leave it with them and they will replace it and restore to factory settings.  Or I can pay money to take it to an authorized service place to try and recover the data.  If I were to take it to a friend of mine who could restore data, it would void my warranty, including the Apple Care extended warranty.  So my options were a free repair and no data, an expensive repair and recovered data, or a free repair and a voided warranty.  I think Apple should have been able to open the computer and give me the defective hard drive, therefore not voiding my warranty and giving me access to my files.  After all, I paid for Apple Care.

Hey, Let’s All Start a Ministry

I am convinced that most churches are flat out trying to do too much.  Way too much.  Womens, men, biker, working out, Awanas...you name it and some church has a ministry for it.  And most of those pastors and staff at those churches don't have time to do the things they were called to do.

Sometimes, well meaning people come up to me at church and suggest a ministry that we should start.   We need a mens ministry.  We should start a ministry for motercycle riders.  What do we do for women? 

First of all, can I just be honest.  Most people want the church to start ministry-such-and-such to justify their own hobby or obsession.  If the church has a motorcycle ministry, then that's justification for my Harley fetish.  Or Joe likes to camp, and his wife hates camping, so he wants a men's ministry to justify his hobby.

Listen, if you like riding Harleys or camping with the guys - YOU DON'T NEED THE CHURCH TO START A MINISTRY.  Just get some guys together and go!  If you want to get together with the ladies over tea or crumpets, then the church doesn't need to organize it, decorate it or sent out the invitations - just throw a party.  Just go camping.  Just ride.  Get some people from your small group (oh way, most people that complain that the church doesn't do enough ministry aren't in a small group) and go have a blast.

Some people have asked when we are going to start a men's ministry.  I tell them that we already have a mens ministry.  They meet at 6 AM at the movie theater for prayer.  Then they set up stages and move speakers and fold out cribs.  It's quite the ministry.

We have a women's ministry, too.  It's called Go to a Journey Group with Your Husband.  And there's another one called Go to a Journey Group with other single people.  They might even mention Beth Moore a time or two.  And if you're really crazy, you can just ask some of the ladies in your journey group to go out to dinner one night.  There's women's ministry.

At Oak Leaf, we do Sunday morning worship, children's ministry, Journey Groups and a little something for students.  That's it.  And while I imagine we might roll out a few things as the years go by, we are always going to be on the simple side.  Always.  This church is not going to become a ministry buffet.  Have you ever noticed that restaurants that serve hot wings, pizza, spaghetti, steak, seafood  and tacos are not that good?  If we were to go and start more ministries, then I would have to stop preparing for messages.  Tim would have to stop leading Journey Groups.  We'd have to hire more people to create ministries that end up babysitting Christians instead of focusing on accomplishing the Great Commission.

We're not even doing Vacation Bible School.  Gasp.  There's about 2,218 other churches in driving distance that do great ones.  For us to do that, our already committed volunteers would have to work harder, and there's no way that Sunday would be as good as it is.  I'd rather have VBS 52 Sundays a year, than have a decent VBS and only 46 good Sundays.

So feel free to join our men's ministry or women's ministry.  Feel free to camp or hike or hunt or fish all you want.  Just don't look to the church to justify your hobby with an official ministry or plan your social calendar.

Crash

So the hard drive on my MacBook Pro crashed.  Gone.  Dead.  Apple store says so and is replacing it.  I backed up stuff about 6 weeks ago, but I lost some data.  Like next weeks message.  And some videos I had edited.  And some iTunes stuff I'd purchased.  Once I get back up to speed, I'll be figuring out how to back up stuff better.

Fathers Day @ The Leaf

I know moms get all the flowers and cards and stuff, Fathers Day is coming up.  We're going to do it right at Oak Leaf.  On June 17, come to church sporting a t-shirt or jersey from your favorite sports team.  I'll be wearing a Florida State throwback jersey. Greeters will be decked out in their team colors.  I'm sure there will be some Bulldog fans present, not sure about Falcons fans.

We'll have some ping-pong tables and basketball goals set up for your enjoyment.  The band will be playing some of the greatest sports songs of all time.  And I'll how to talk about being a loser dad.  That's right...we're going to help you lose.  I heard a rumor that there might even be some tailgating before the service.  Nothing like hot dogs at 8 AM.

Ladies, this is the week to bring your guys to church.  Most church services are designed for women.  For this one, women will be the afterthought.

Updated Podcast Links

If you're having trouble getting the latest podcast episode, you might need to re-subscribe.  Here's a link to subscribe with iTunes.  Here's a link to the RSS feed where you can just listen online.

We have also updated the Oak Leaf Leaders podcast and blog.  Just go to oakleafleaders.com.  There we provide training and encouragement for our leaders and volunteers.  There's a link there to the RSS feed of the blog and a subscribe link to subscribe with iTunes.

Pics and Info

In case you're interested, over at Behind the Leaf, I posted some pictures of our Sunday morning setup with a description of some of what we do.  If you're a church planter or meet in a portable setting, this might be of use to you.

Weekend Behind, Week Ahead

We had a nice Memorial Day weekend.  I shut down the office last Thursday since we'd all be working pretty hard so it was like a 5 day weekend.  My family and I spent a day at a cabin in Blairsville where I was able to play golf.  Sunday night we saw Pirates 3 - better than the second one for sure, but I didn't understand the crabs.  On Memorial Day, I broke in a new Wii with my five year old, and tried to explain the difference between a stake out and a cook out.  She also told me that if I ever had to go to war like others in this country, she could teach me some moves.

We've got a busy few days in the office.  We're working with some new staff and volunteers and going into summer mode.  We're going to grow this summer, and we're going to get poised for a crazy fall.  Can you say third service? 

This Friday, Anthony and I are going to Charlotte to hang out with some folks from Elevation Church.  If you're not familiar with those guys, they have grown to about eight million people in eight months.  Anthony went to school with Chunks, their executive pastor, and I have a list of questions.  We're going to soak up all we can.  And play some golf.  I know Chunks can run a church but we'll see if he can hit a five iron.

Joel Sangl from Newspring is teaching this coming Sunday at The Leaf.  And then he will be leading the sold out Financial Learning Experience on Sunday afternoon.  If we move it to a bigger place, then it will be un-sold out and we'll let you know.

Money hits a Nerve

We're in the middle of a money series at OLC and I think it's hitting a nerve.  Most TV preachers talk about money too much (and they are wrong).  Some churches don't talk about money at all.  But Jesus talked about money more than he talked about heaven and hell combined.  About 15% of the words in red in your Bible have to do with money.

One reason that I think this series is hitting home is because the Financial Learning Experience that we're hosting next week is full.   We may look into a bigger location to accomodate some more people, because I think more will want to sign up once Joel speaks in the morning service next week.  Just about everyone that comes to OLC has money coming in and money going out, so this is definitely a real issue for real people.

Yesterday, we talked about two of the things you can do with money.  Here were some of my spending and savings tips.

1.  Pay your house off early. Getting a 15 year mortgage instead of the typical 30 year may only cost you a few hundred bucks more each month.  But you'll have 15 years of no house payment when you're done.  Or, you could split your monthly house payment in half and pay that much every two weeks and take a typical 30 year mortgage down to 23 years.  That's seven years of no mortgage just because of a simple adjustment that you probably won't notice.

2.  Buy cars, don't lease them.  Consumer Reports says leasing a car is the worst way you can get one.  The government doesn't require truth in lending statements like they do with purchases, so car dealerships can do all kinds of things.  Leasing is really renting, and a typical lease comes in at about 16% interest.  I also recommend that you buy a used car.  A $28,000 car depreciates at about $100 a week for the first four years.  Let someone else throw that money away.

3.  Automate as much as you can.  Even though I work at a church, and I hardly ever miss a Sunday, I set up my online banking to automatically mail a check to Oak Leaf twice a month.  I want to give, so I just make it automatic.  We decided how much to give and we just give it - no questions.  The same principle applies to savings.  If you can contribute to a 401k, have your employer take it out of your paycheck and forget about it.  Have money transferred from your checking account to a savings or investment account automatically.

4.  Pay off your credit cards.  The average American family has $8,100 in credit card debt.  If you pay $150 a month, it will take you 40 years to pay that off.  At the end of 40 years, you'll be back to zero!  You'll have nothing.  For some perspective, if you take $8,100 and invest it at 12% interest, at the end of 40 years, you'll have over $1 Million.  And that's not with any additional contributions.  Credit card debt is not your friend.  It's something that will bind you.  If you've got debt on credit cards, start by paying off the highest interest card first.  Call the credit card company and tell them you got an offer for a lower rate card and you want them to lower your rate or you're going to make a change.  Then make a plan to pay it off as fast as you can.

5.  Give.  This wasn't the focus of the message, but I don't think you should wait to give to the church.  If you wait until you can afford it, you will never give.  Learning to give makes you a generous person, and that's something you need to be now. Jesus knew that money was a spiritual issue, not just a financial issue.  He knew your heart was tied to your checkbook.  There's a spiritual principle here that doesn't make much sense...sometimes, the reason you can't afford to give like you want to is precisely because you don't give.  Giving is the only place in the Bible where God says "test me."  Give to your church.  Give generously.  And see what happens when God is in control of your financial outlook. 

No Win Situation

I got an e-mail last week from a guy who attended OLC on Mother's Day. He said "It was way too crowded at that time and I felt estranged & disconnected from all those people. No one spoke to me or took the time to introduce themselves. It was an embarrassing experience for me."

Obviously, I hate getting e-mails like this, though it's only happened two times in nine months.  I sent an email back apologizing and saying how we work hard to make sure people feel welcome.  I asked him if he was able to grab a cup of coffee or if he filled out a connection card.

He replied with "I have never attended church for the coffee and door greeters. If I wanted customer service, I'd go to a restaurant on Sunday mornings...I was unable to complete a connection card during the time I was there due to being quickly shuffled out of the door to make way for the "paying" theater-goers."

I was even nice in my reply, but I'm done with that thread.  At first he was embarrassed because he wasn't welcomed, but then in email #2 he didn't care about greeters.  I wish we owned the movie theater and didn't have to hurry out, but we are guests there, so we don't really have a choice in the matter.  Had he filled out a connection card, he would have received an e-mail from me, a personal call from one of our staff members and a hand written note thanking him for coming.  We're serious about connecting people.  And I'm sure we're not perfect and don't do our best every single time, I know that some people are just impossible to please.

If you don't like OLC, that's cool.  There's about 50 other churches in this town alone that you can visit.  I'm sure they will do things exactly the way that you like them. :)

By the way, the first guy who sent an e-mail saying he didn't feel right ended up meeting personally with someone on our staff and shortly thereafter donated a car to the church.  Attitude is everything.

Oak Leaf Mind Dump

Here's a bunch of stuff floating around my mind as it relates to Oak Leaf Church.

• We're talking about adding a 3rd service - an 11:30 service in August to accommodate growth.  We're thinking of not having childcare @ that service, or possibly just a nursery environment.
• We had 540 people come to church last week...that literally blows my mind.  We're going to keep growing this summer and then hit it hard in the fall.  I really think that there could be 1,000 people coming to OLC by the end of the year.
• We are doing a baptism at the lake on June 10.  We were going to do it at the theater between services, but we had too many sign up.  So we'll hang out, eat food, goof off, and celebrate baptism together as a church family on June 10.  And there will be a couple hundred beach goers there who will witness this amazing testimony.
• We just hired a new administrative assistant to be in charge of the checkbook and the database.  She's really great and she's going to do a great job.
• Anthony is about to join our staff as Admin Pastor in a couple of weeks.  We've needed him full time in the office for months.  He will be our third full-time pastor.
• We aren't going to go with the children's person we had in from out of town.  I think we're going to hire some folks within our church who already get the vision and who are already doing it for free. (more on that later)
• We're about to invest some money and time into sprucing up our kids ministry.  Signs, thematic stuff, equipment, etc.  We need to do it, because kids are important.
• We're doing a series on money right now - this week, we're talking about spending and savings.  If we can help people manage their money better, the church would have resources to make a serious dent in the world's problems.  I've never taught on money before.
• Rebecca is now the Director of Student Ministries.  I'll introduce her to parents and students at the next Limelight.  Again, she's been a part of our church for months and we've seen her heart and work ethic.  We know her and trust her, and she knows us.  She's going to provide leadership to these monthly Limelight services, and get groups and volunteers up and running.
• In a couple of weeks, I am going to talk about something called thirty30.  It's been on my mind for a while and we're just going to start doing it.  I don't know of another church anywhere doing anything like this, and I think it is going to revolutionize our church and our focus.  Stay tuned.
• We had a great journey group discussion last night.  Some nights, I'm tired and want to stay home, but I'm always glad I go.  There are just some cool people there and I really like our group.  Oak Leaf Church - I'm the pastor and I am a part of a journey group.  It's that important.
• You can read updates from all the staff at oakleafblog.com. Hear our heart, learn what's happening, stay up to date with "Forward."  It's worth a read.
• Peoples lives are being changed in Cartersville!