Immersion Worship

Hey everyone,

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been running two blogs in tandem, and there’s really no need for it these days since the content is pretty much the same. So I’ve consolidated it all and moved to a new domain. From here on in, you will find me over at…

http://www.jamesridgers.com

If you link to me, please update your blogroll! And if you subscribe to my feed, you will find the new feed subscription over there as well.

In a week or so, I’ll redirect this domain to the new domain, but there will be no new posting here.

Come on over.

Just a heads up to everyone who reads this blog (all 2 of you)…

In a few days I’ll be moving to a new domain and you all are coming with me. So be prepared to update your bookmarks, favourites, rss feeds, and any other way you keep tabs on the goings on here, because it’ll all be happening on a different planet really soon.

Stayed tuned for more information.

Do you ever go through those seasons in life when you know in your heart that it’s time to make some changes?

Yesterday, Ryan Cook came to The Summit and spoke about being a dreamer. The good kind of dreamer. Like Abram, or Jacob, or Peter. The life changing, world changing type.

I want to be that kind of dreamer, and I want to be the kind that follows through and pursues those dreams relentlessly, like Abram, Jacob, and Peter.

But today I realised that I’m not positioned to go after the life changing, world changing dreams. And that means one thing:

I need to change.

Maybe I’m early for New Years Resolutions, but there are some changes I want…need…to make.

1. I need to lose more weight. I lost a decent amount earlier this year, and gained some of it back, but I need to lose more.
2. I need to protect my health. There’s all kinds of critical medical history in my family; I don’t want to be touched by any of it.
3. I need to get over my need to be entertained. It’s not that I watch too much TV, I just want to watch less and do something more edifying.
4. I need to get better organized. I’m pretty good at this now, but I need to do better.

I know there’s more, but this is a start.

What changes are you making to position yourself to chase some big dreams?

The more perceptive amongst you will notice that I’ve not blogged in a few weeks. It’s not because I’m forgetful. Nor am I given to simply abandoning a blog on a whim to pursue the superficial or mindlessly entertaining. I have more respect for the two or three of you who actually read this blog than that. Or something.

No, my silence has been deliberate. It’s just been one of those seasons over the last few weeks when it’s just been time for me to shut my pie hole for a while. I even took a self-imposed Twitter break for a few days. Unheard of.

There’s much that I could have said, and I’m honestly bursting with some ideas for the old blog, but with Rhonda losing her job and me having a crazy few weeks at work, it’s been good to just stop and listen to whatever I can hear for a while. Mostly, that has been the ’still small voice’ telling me to change a few things. Like not watching as much TV or finally getting around to reading some of the pile of books I have stacked up in my office at home or making good on some of the things I’ve been saying I was going to do with my team etc.

The silence has become deafening. It’s time to talk again.

Sorry for the interruption, folks. Service has now resumed. How are you?

I read a book not so long ago about the true story of a guy who survived a plane crash in the middle of a mountain range. He had to find his own way back to civilization since he was so remote he knew that he and his fellow survivors would never be found.

There is one part of the book that describes how he had to climb out of a valley and over the top of a very high mountain, but the knowledge that freedom was on the other side gave him the determination to make it. The only problem was that when he got to the top of that mountain, he looked down the other side only to see another valley and another mountain to climb beyond that.

That’s where Rhonda and I find ourselves today. After all the bad stuff that happened earlier this year (Rhonda getting in to a car accident and needing surgery, my mum dying, my dad having a stroke, my job security all but evaporating, and the financial concerns that come with all of that), we found ourselves at the top of the mountain. I got a fantastic new job, God provided for the financial impact of the car accident and the surgery, my dad’s rehabilitation going well etc. At the top of this mountain, we were expecting to see a clear path on the other side.

What we see now is another valley that we must walk through.

On Wednesday morning this week, my wife was let go from her job at Starbucks Coffee Company in another round of corporate redundancy lay-offs. She’d already survived two rounds but didn’t escape the third round of cuts. At a time when the global economy is in meltdown, this was a really hard pill to swallow.

Since then I’ve realized that my outlook has been all wrong. When did God ever promise us an easy ride, or only one set of mountains of conquer? This morning I am actually feeling very positive about these changes. Starbucks was never our source. The company that I work for is not our source. I’m not tied to the world’s economy. God is my source and I operate entirely inside His economy.

Sure there will be changes. Dish Network will go. Cellphone packages will changes. Even the amount we drive will be reduced. But isn’t that just sensible stewardship? In fact, I’m hoping that these changes will disconnect me a little more; less TV, less time with a cellphone stuck to my face, less concern about being entertained. Instead, I hope to replace it with more time with my wife, more reading, more growing, more learning, more stretching, more being challenged.

Thank you, Starbucks, for putting us in a position where we will see God do some massive things.

Thank you, God, for being true to Your word and taking care of what we need, not what we want.

1. Nobody can resist singing along to ‘Life is a Highway’.

2. Some people just aren’t cut out for long distance relationships or driving.

3. ‘Cornell’ is pronounced ‘kerrnel’, and it’s the highest rank in army.

4. Heads can be trapezoid shaped.

5. When you’re feeling down, just sing “der-ner-ner-ner-num”, and you’ll feel a lot better.

6. Cook beets.

When Rhonda and I got married, we wrote our own vows. The occasion was (obviously) something we wanted to get right and we wanted the opportunity to put in to our vows the words that expressed the true commitments we were making to each other. I remember we spent a couple of evenings together drafting and redrafting. It was a big deal.

One of the vows we made is concerning the way we speak and think to each other and about each other…

I promise to always build you up, and never tear you down

That’s a pretty bold statement to make, in my opinion, because it takes a lot of work. It’s easy to build my wife up when things are good, but when the chips are down and tensions are high, it takes some work.

This coin, though, is not one sided. By that I mean that it’s not just about what Rhonda and I say and think to each other and about each other, but a significant chunk of solidifying this vow is also in making a decision about how we perceive the other person’s words, actions, and tone.

For example, sometimes I can be short in my words or distant in my demeanour if I’ve had a day at work that I’d soon forget. I can get home tired and cranky and literally have nothing left to give in response to the welcome home from my wife. My intention is not to push Rhonda away or be mean and ungrateful, but my lack of words, perhaps my tone, and my actions are not matching up with how grateful my heart really is.

Rhonda can perceive that in two ways. She can either take offense because I’m not being my usual joyous self and appear ungrateful when I’m really not, or she can trust me that I’m not tearing her down and I’ve just had a bad day. Her response can often dictate how the next few hours are going to go, and by believing that I’m not seeking to tear her down and reacting accordingly, that builds me up and gets me out of the funk. And this works both ways. When Rhonda is stressed out about something, her characteristic responses have the potential to offend me, but I choose to believe that she doesn’t want to tear me down, she’s just having a hard time and it’s my job to build her up again.

The reason why I’m blogging about this is because I’m starting to translate this behaviour to others around me at work and at church; giving the benefit of the doubt to someone when I feel attacked. Obviously the goals are different; I don’t want someone building me up when the focus should be building the ministry up or building momentum in a project at work, but I’m finding that I’m far less pessimistic concerning combative situations at church and at work. This carries a massive danger of getting burned - benefit of the doubt is not always healthy - but I’m starting to understand that when a combative situation is defused by simply believing for the best of intentions, the threat of the divide is quickly neutralized.

When have you experienced a positive reaction in a negative situation, and how has it helped?

You’re welcome…

Alex tagged me on the ‘16 Random Things’ meme that’s been doing the rounds. So here’s 16 random things about me…

1. I don’t like spiders. Scratch that. I hate spiders. Detest them. With a vengeance.

2. My career path happened by accident. I never meant to be “the computer guy”; it just happened that way.

3. I hate being called “the computer guy”, or when people describe my job as “he works with computers”. My job actually doesn’t involve me being “the computer guy”.

4. My first car was a 1983 white Ford Fiesta XR2 Sport. It was a piece of crap, but I loved it.

5. My first guitar was a beat up old electric of unknown manufacturer. I learned to play on that and it had an action so high that my fingers actually bled.

6. I’m a drummer before anything else. I’ve played since I was 7 and still practice my rudiments.

7. I collect comics. DC mostly, some Marvel titles. Superman is the greatest superhero ever and makes up more than 50% of my collection.

8. I’m a die-hard soccer (real football) fan. I’m a season ticket holder at LA Galaxy, and I follow Liverpool (English Premier League) and Oxford United (English Football Conference) religiously. If I didn’t know Jesus, soccer would be my religion.

9. I have four cats. I love them, but I won’t go anywhere near their litter boxes (yes, we have multiple litter boxes).

10. I’ve bungee jumped and it was awesome.

11. I’ve tasted many different types of cuisine and have concluded that there is no cuisine as tasty, as supreme, and as satisfying as good Indian cuisine. Thus, Indian food is my favourite food.

12. I’m a walking encyclopedia on NASA’s Apollo project. Ask me a question about any of the Apollo missions and I’ll be able to answer it accurately.

13. I want to learn to fly a plane. I had lessons for a while but ran out of cash and couldn’t continue. I’ll get my pilot’s license one day.

14. I’ve been married for four and a half years to the most amazing woman on the planet.

15. I’m a video gamer.

16. I’m the youngest of 6 children. I have 5 older sisters. Crazy.

I’m supposed to tag people to keep this going, so I tag Kurt, Christian, Derek and Scott.