You Can Know God

Around the Office

Sights and sounds from the Oak Leaf Office yesterday...

1. Will sits right outside my office, and if my door is slightly cracked, I can tell that he sends or receives an e-mail every 7 seconds. He's also working on all these lists of equipment and gear that we need. Today, the list he was working on was called "New List of Things to Buy #2."

2. Tanya shares a workspace with about three other people, but you know there are some kids people in there because there are about 25 giant boxes of Goldfish from Costco (preschool snacks) and a bunch of popcorn (we send that to first time kids guests).

3. Anthony works in an office next to me. I made him hang his Florida Gator flag so I wouldn't see it when I walked into his office with my latest idea. Apparently, the people from a particular Pharisee website are on Anthony's case now, which means our church now has two hated pastors on staff.  Oh, how we have arrived.

4. When people come into my office, they turn the light on. I have a couple of lamps on, but apparently, a lot of people are used to the hospital style fluorescent lighting that I despise.

5. The office decoration project is coming together - we still need to do a lot of painting.  And by "we," I mean someone else that knows how to paint.

6. In the coming months, we're going to be expanding our staff team. Anthony told me that I can get a personal assistant soon, and I'm really excited about that. I'll post more details on how to get a job at Oak Leaf Church sometime next week.

7. I'm going to watch The Office this season. It's already set for the DVR.  I'm going to make that show and Heroes my must watch shows this fall.

Ikea

After a couple hours in the store, Ikea had the table tops we wanted but were out of the legs. Pretty silly that they can't figure out how to keep inventory in stock in this day and age. So I get back to the office, press a series of numbers on the phone for 10 minutes, wait on hold for another 20, only to find out that their system is down and they can't take orders on the phone. So finally, tonight I try to order online, and I get the billing address and shipping address entered and get error pages on their site.

Not sure why I expect more from a company that literally has a sign in their store that says "the reason we have so few employees to help people is to keep the costs down" and has signs up all over the place telling customers how they can make life easier for the employees.

Ikea = some cool looking stuff + cheap prices + not high quality + horrible service.

UPDATE:  Finally got through to a working system and person, and the table legs I need will not be in for 6-11 weeks.  Potentially 3 months!  So, all the stuff is going back and I'm ordering some stuff from Crate and Barrel.

Holding Out False Hope

Last month, our entire staff read Good to Great. I've read it about 4 times, and every time, it's worth it. It's one of the best business and leadership books out there, and no matter what your profession, it will help you.

I thought quite a bit about the section of the book where it talked about holding out a false hope for people. False hope isn't a positive thing. We have to be willing to confront the brutal facts and deal with what's before us with honestly.

It's best to be clear. When people ask why we don't have a choir, it's false hope to tell them we don't have one because we do church in a movie theater and it's not practical right now. When people ask if we can do Limelight every week instead of once a month, it's a false hope to hint that the current schedule might change any time soon. I'm tempted to answer questions with information that people want to hear, rather than the truth. Sometimes, we can give so many disclaimers to our statement, that the truth is watered down to nothingness.

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. 

Booming Metropolis

Cartersville is becoming quite the town.  Chili's opened up a few weeks ago.  And Starbucks is now open.  That's going to be the death of me, because I'm somewhat addicted to Grande 2% Cinnamon Dolce Latte's.  A Kohl's is going in by the Chili's (don't care about that).  Also just under construction are an Olive Garden and a Steak and Shake.  Can someone open up a bagel shop and an Outback?

A Holiday Inn is going by the Starbucks, and a Hilton or Marriott (can't remember which) hotel and conference center is coming soon.  That will bring more business and more restaurants.  And not to mention, Oak Leaf Church opened up 9 months ago.

Wi-Fi and Waiting Rooms

One day last week, I spent the morning getting my oil changed and some new brakes.  About three hours in the lobby working on the computer.  Why don't places like this provide wireless internet for the waiting customers?

I think that would be a pretty cheap way to take care of customers and raise the bar on expectations.  Hospital waiting rooms, repair shop waiting rooms and any other kind of waiting room ought to have wireless access.

And in other business related news, Cartersville is now an official city.  Starbucks is open.

Planning and Advice

Yesterday, I met early with six other guys in our church who all have a business background.  We're going to meet once a month to look at some important business decisions facing the church.  Though we're just six months old, we've got some important next steps on the horizon.  We have to come up with a short term plan for growth since we're almost maxing out the two services at the movie theater.  And then we need to start putting together a long term plan for buying land and building something, or buying something and remodeling. 

There are lots of options, and lots of ideas, and in the end, we need God to lead us.  I'm really thankful to have this smart group of guys around me to help us make smart decisions.  The church is a spiritual enterprise - no matter how you slice it, it's a God thing.  But we're also a business.  We're a non-profit corporation who buys things, signs contracts and has employees.  So we have to lead diligently in this matter.

Please pray for us. We're really considering some heavy things that will make a huge difference.  Our next step is going to be really important.  We are committed to our vision of reaching the disconnected in this area. 

Capital One Slight Hassle Rewards

Tried to redeem some travel miles on my Capital One card of which I am an authorized user but not the primary account holder.  Even though I can put thousands of dollars on this card, the account owner has to call the rewards department to authorize me to redeem travel.  The authorizations on the account aren't compatible with the rewards program.  The two systems don't talk to each other.  And as she told me there was nothing she could do, she says, "Thanks for calling Capital One No Hassle Rewards."  I chuckle, and hang up.

I also just called to see why I never got my e-mail confirmation once I finally booked the flight.  They could not look it up by travel confirmation number.  They had to have the account number which I didn't have handy at the moment.  They could not look up info by name, address, ssn, or confirmation.  Their screening system is to get the account number and DOB and then put me through to the rewards desk.  Why couldn't he put me through to the rewards desk where THAT guy could have looked up my reservation with my confirmation number.

No hassle.  Yea, right.

Ideas

Someone should open up a car repair shop that opens at 6 PM and where the work is done at night.  Drop your car off after work, and pick it up in the morning. 

Some bank chain ought to distinguish itself by opening up late and staying open until 9 PM and all day on Saturday and Sunday, when working people actually have time to go to the bank.

They ought to put zip lock things on potato chip bags and cereal bags.

When they sell a box of cupcake mix, they should put the paper cupcake things in the box. 

Someone should open up a grocery store that has childcare or some kind of play room for kids.  I'm sure moms would spend more money on groceries without having to hurry because of their kids.

Someone should open a good restaurant in Cartersville.

Training vs. Directions

Over the past few days, I've seen several examples of how business provide directions for their employees, but don't provide training.  Too many people set up systems that don't allow an employee to think.  They just fall back on "policy" even if it results in a stupid decision.

• The lady at the Holiday Inn express wouldn't give one of our guys an extra room key card.  They already made the group two.  Never mind that this was a grown man, not a middle school kid, and that the key card costs about $.02.  Trip policy as it relates to groups.
• Customer Service at Wal-Mart wouldn't take my return w/o a receipt because it was over $50.  Never mind that I could come back tomorrow with the rest of the stuff, have my wife come in later, or get around this policy about half a dozen other ways.  Store policy = annoyed shopper.
• A cable guy just called my friend Dave because he was installing a cable modem in his house and couldn't find the control panel on a mac.  Adelphia apparently doesn't train their guys on multiple interfaces...they just provide a direction sheet that says: "Step One - go to control panel."  If it's a Mac, then the whole thing is thrown off and we're done.  Time to call the customer and have the customer walk the installation guy through the process.

I see it in front desk employees that have to call the manager for every thing.  The person on the end of customer service that has to transfer you to a higher up person. Making an instruction manual is easy.  Training people to use their brains, operate with courteous common sense, and make wise decision is harder.  But that's how you become remarkable.  That's a purple cow.  More organizations need to really train their people and stop providing step by step directions.  If people can think, they can solve problems that aren't referenced in the company manual.