HIT Opportunity : Saturday 31 July 2010 0800 Little Rock

Attention Hitmen:

I hope you are well and that this message finds you in good spirits.  I am emailing you today to let you know that there will be a hit opportunity this next Saturday benefiting Ms. Catherine Ahne.  Ms. Ahne is moving from 6 Spruce Lane, North Little Rock, AR to 221 N.Fillmore #1, Little Rock, AR  (behind Mid-town shopping Center across from Park Plaza mall).

Her inventory consists of just a few main large articles in the home as: queen size bed, two night stands, a tall dresser, a dresser with a mirror (all solid wood), a very small/light desk with office chair, kitchen table/4 chairs, couch, chair, light rocking chair, entertainment center (the heaviest piece in the entire house and the biggest), washer/dryer, daughter’s desk, mattress only (they are getting rid of their daughter's bed frame), two book cases, one dresser, two end tables, and a book case, 36 in TV.  There will be a little bit of furniture assembly but noting too heavy duty.

We plan on meeting at Kerrie’s Kountry Kitchen in North Little Rock at 0700 Saturday fro a quick breakfast and then do the move as quickly as possible.  I hope to see you all there.

If you are able to support this hit, please email me with the words “July 31 Hit” in the subject line and I will add you to the list.  If email is a problem, you can call me at 501/944-0562.  Please leave your name and telephone number as be sure to let me know it is about the hit and I’ll get you penciled in too.

 

In His service,

Luke Ribich

Hit Scheduled – Saturday July 24th at 7:30 AM

Greeting Hitmen,

This is a reminder that we have scheduled a hit on Saturday, July 24th at 7:30 AM to help support Ms. Crystal Farley.  Ms. Farley will be moving a desk, bookshelves, couch, chair, china hutch, kitchen table, beds, chest of drawers, etc., NO APPLIANCES!  There may be a need to assemble the bed frame for a queen size bed (if it is taken apart).  Ms. Farley will be moving from The Park at Riverdale Apartments, 2200 Riverfront Drive #3104 (1st floor), Little Rock 72202 to 919 Macadoo St. (single story home), Little Rock 72207.

I fully expect this to be a short move and everything boxed and moved easily.  We NEED a total of 6 Hitmen to support this outreach.  Evan Ormand has stepped-up and will be leading this hit.  If you are able help support this HIT, please contact Evan via email at Evanormond@sbcglobal.net or on his cell at (870) 489-7675.

In His service,

Luke Ribich

MAFIA Reminder of the Week: Fear

Fear

v. to be anxious about a particular event or situation

I fear not being good enough. I'm not one of those depressive people that tries to hog everyone's attention and focus on my flaws, but sometimes I really do find myself struggling with the question of "am I good enough.” It's not until I take the focus off of myself and zoom in on Christ that I can truly start feeling better about myself.

The bible talks a lot about fear. My all time favorite verse that deals with fear can be found in Psalm 27. This verse asks the simple question "whom shall I fear". When we look back at scriptures like Romans 8:31 and Jeremiah 17:7, we can be that much more at peace with the fact that as long as we are walking with Christ, we have nothing to fear!

Here's a great quote for you: “Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.” I absolutely hate trying to do something I'm afraid to do. But once I do them, more often than not I find I like doing them, and tend to want to do them again. Like when I first started leading worship in Driven. I was terrified to sing and play in front of all those people for the first time. But now that I've done it...well... just try to stop me!

On a separate note, this week’s MAFIA meeting was great.  Ken Barnes nailed it out of the park as he shared about the miracle of his boys birth and their survival being three (3) months premature.  Then, to be visited by both the Midtown Church Men’s MAFIA (headed by Sam Williams) and the Apostle Peter, well suffice to say we were truly enlightened.  Don forget about the MAFIA night a Dickey Stephen’s cheering on the Travelers next Monday.  We will leave the church parking lot at 5:30 PM or meet at the stadium at 6:00 PM, come hungry and ready for a great night of fellowship!

In His service,

Luke Ribich

MAFIA Reminder of the Week: Anger is Contagious!

Greetings Hitmen,

Okay, so here’s the deal – if the plan works as envisioned, you are all receiving this on Friday this week. Don’t worry, we didn’t forget to send this out earlier in the week, we just wanted to add some extra emphasis on this week’s topic prior to you going home to spend the weekend with your families and friends. As I am sure you already gathered by the title, this week I am talking about anger. Actually, I am somewhat of an expert in this area, though I am certainly not proud of it. I have been refocusing my study of scripture as of late on the topic of anger and I realize that this is an area that many, many men (and women) confront almost daily.

Anger is a dangerous pitfall that threatens all of us in one way or another. I have come to know that the intensity of this emotion must be dealt with from the inside out. Taking our eyes off Christ threatens our ability to focus on the good in life and can let anger creep in subtlety and quickly. Those of us burning with rage or some other intense driving force within us may think we can control it on our own accord; however, we eventually and invariably lose control. We need to see the truth that we are unable to control such forces on our own, confess this to God and those people on our “board of directors” whom we trust our accountability to. Then ask for God’s powerful help in controlling these feelings. And though I said I am an expert on the topic, I never said I am a perfect and/or godly example – but the Bible is full of good and Godly illustrations. Therefore I wanted to share with you all the various scriptures that I have found to review this week so you will have remembrance of what the Word says about anger:

1. Anger is contagious: “Keep away from angry, short-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul” (Proverbs 22:24-25)

2. Anger is dangerous: [Jesus] “You have heard that the Law of Moses says, ‘Do not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22)

3. Hot tempers aren’t cool: “A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted.” (Proverbs 12:16)

4. Anger has consequences: “Those who are short-tempered do foolish things, and schemers are hated… Those who control their anger have great understanding; those with a hasty temper will make mistakes.” And, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger… a hothead starts fights, a cool-tempered person tries to stop them.” (Proverbs 14:17,29 & 15:1,18)

5. Anger is best controlled: “Don’t sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil.” And, “People with good sense restrain their anger; they earn esteem by overlooking wrongs.” (Ephesians 4:26-27 & Proverbs 19:11)

This weekend start asking God to help you control your emotions from the inside out. And remember, as a good friend of mine says in the closing signature of every one of his emails, “Act justly, love mercifully, and walk humbly...”

In His service,

Luke Ribich

URGENT NEED – VBS THIS WEEK – CRITICAL HIT OPPORTUNITY

Greetings Hitmen,

We hope you dad’s out there had a great Independence Day celebration with your family.  We have a CRITICAL HIT NEED for you to get engaged in this week supporting the NLC GLR Campus VBS event for school aged children. 

We NEED for 15-20 guys to aid in the break-down process of all VBS equipment (stack chairs, deflate the inflatable bouncy toys, etc..) the night of Friday, July 9th around 8-10:00 PM after the last service is over. We simply have to stack everything by the main entrance so the Conway campus can come get everything for their VBS. Estimated to take 1-1.5 hours.

Usually all of the VBS workers do all of this but they will have already worked all week at their regular jobs, plus each night from 5-9 @ VBS so I thought it would be a great way to help out the children's department.

If you are able to assist in any way, please contact Craig Brzezinski ASAP a. You can email him at: udaman1371@mac.com or call him on his cell at 501/680-7753.

In His service,

Luke Ribich

Arkansas Travelers Make-up Game Scheduled for the MAFIA!

Greetings Hitmen,

We hope you are well and that this message finds you all in good spirits and that your July 4th Independence Day celebration was safe and enjoyable.  We wanted to help get you out ahead of the news that we are having a makeup game for the MAFIA at Dickey Stephens Park to cheer on the Arkansas Travelers baseball team. For many of you you will recall that out June attempt was called on a count of rain.

As you know much of this past quarter we’ve been hitting a heavy topic, father wounds, and we felt it was important to remind each of you of the importance of spending quality time with your fathers (or children) and work on building good memories too.  What better way than to spend an evening at the ball park.  So here’s the scoop:

• When: Monday, July 19th
• Where: Meet at NLC GLR Campus no later than 5:30 pm (or meet us at the park gate)
• Who: Men After Faith Integrity & Action (MAFIA) Hitmen and their children and fathers – be sure to bring your dad or child!
• What: $7.50 at the gate (NLC is covering 1/2 of entry and food).  This includes entry ticket and all-you-can-eat hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks.
• Why: Please RSVP to craft@craftveach.com, lribich@asigllc.com or by phone to 501/851-1408. Hurry and don’t forget, space is limited to the first 100 to respond.

We’re looking forward to a great time and fellowship with all you.

In His service,

Luke Ribich

MAFIA Reminder of the Week: Submission, the key to Leadership!?

Greeting Hitmen,

For those of you whom have known me for more than a few minutes, you know how deeply important the history of my military service is to me. In fact, were it not for the lessons learned in the Corps, I do not know if I would have had the courage to make a full commitment to Jesus, a decision that ran counter to the policy of past employers and even some of my relatives. Recently I had the occasion to have one of our MAFIA brothers visit me in my office and he noticed on my desk, positioned alongside my Holy Bible, was a copy of a book I reference often, even before coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ, the book is called “Leading Marines.”

Leading Marines, isn’t really a book I explained it is United States Marine Corps Fleet Marine Force Memo #1-0 (FMFM 1-0). It is a detailed explanation and model of leadership. Now, I want to be clear that the scriptures are the definitive source of both moral instruction and example by virtue of the source, wisdom and lives of Christ and the other saints; however, I often need to be reminded in modern day language what it takes to be a leader, and what that leadership looks like in application. In those times I often fall upon the leadership principles and examples found in FMFM 1-0.

Since our friend’s visit in my office, I was reading a passage of comments the 13^th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General John A. Lejeune, uttered in description of Sergeant Major John H. Quick, a Metal of Honor recipient: “Perhaps of all the Marines I ever knew, Quick approached more nearly the perfect type of noncommissioned officer. A calm, forceful, intelligent, loyal and courageous man he was. I never knew him to use profane language, and yet he exacted and obtained prompt and explicit obedience from all persons subject to his orders.” While I read these words I was moved to tears through conviction by the Holy Spirit because I know that I don’t always exercise leadership in the manner of Christ or my beloved Marine Corps tradition. 

The tradition of leadership education in the Marines uniquely mirrors that of Christ in that it has often been described as “leading by example.” In fact, leadership, in the long run, depends upon the example set by the leader (or the leaders leader), not only as a warfighter, but also as a Christ follower, citizen and human being. Being a Christian gives us no special relief from our call to lead by example, only a venue to accept the consequences and grace that comes our way as a result of our failings. In fact, because we call ourselves Christians, the effect of our example is emphasized and magnified a hundred-fold, particularly among our secular and non-believer friends. Being leaders by setting the example, in our homes, communities, workplace, socially, and within the body of Christ is far more important in the realm of principalities than in any other activity – military or civilian, because it is eternal. In fact, more often than not, the best way to lead others is to submit and be led ourselves!

This weeks reminder is straight out of Hebrews 13-17: “Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they know they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.”

In His service,

Luke Ribich