I was asked to speak at the Fall Men’s Retreat a couple years ago. When I arrived, I spotted a large jar with dollar bills in it. Not sure what that was about, I inquired of someone who arrived earlier. He said, “Oh, that? That is the ‘you oughta’ jar.” I pondered that for a moment and then, at the risk of sounding stupid, asked, “What’s a ‘you oughta’ jar?”

“You know, it’s because when a bunch of men get together at a place like the ranch we just can’t help but share what oughta happen with the place. That gets pretty old after a while, so we established a ‘you oughta’ jar. Now whenever someone says, ‘you oughta do this,’ or ‘you oughta do that,’ they have to put $1 in the jar. It doesn’t really cover the cost of the ‘you oughta,’ but it is starting to reduce the number of those ‘great ideas for someone else to do.’” GENIUS!

When we finished the new construction and remodel at CCC, we began to get “you oughtas” here, too. Rather quickly we established a policy: “Got a great idea for something we oughta do? Bring us the idea with a check to cover it!” That has worked amazingly well. We have received some excellent ideas AND the means to make them happen. Honestly, I have been so very impressed with the people of CCC. They are a “get your hands dirty and make it happen” kind of people.

Recently, I was hit with some other wonderful ideas on “things we oughta do.” These were things that required some labor. I asked if the person was willing to put in the effort personally or recruit a team of people to make it happen. They said no. I believe they insinuated that was my job. Don’t you just love it when someone has an idea, and they expect you to make their idea happen? ……..Yah, neither do I. Like my dad always told me, “You are either part of the solution or you are part of the problem.” I think he also might have said, “Put up or shut up,” but I’m not sure you can get away with that in nice church circles.

All this to say: we have an amazing culture of solution oriented people at CCC. One of our other mottos around here is, “We criticize by creating.” That is another way of saying the same thing. If something needs fixing we are gonna roll up our sleeves and be solution oriented people. One of my devotions this past week reminded me that God calls us to be “solutionists.” The author reminded us that God is always solving problems in the Bible: famine, illness, hunger, barrenness, death, eternal death, etc. God uses His people to bring extraordinary solutions to really big problems: Elijah and the widow, two loaves and five fish, Abraham and Sara, the story of Lazarus, and Jesus’ death on the cross. These are all examples of God’s problem solving throughout history because of His love for mankind.

God calls us as His children to be solution-oriented as well. He calls us to be “solutionists,” just like He was. I am grateful to be part of a community that mirrors our God. May God bless you this week as you seek to be a solutionist whenever you bump into something that isn’t right….or could be just a little bit better.

Andrew Alkire is the new Administrator at Christ’s Community Church. Andrew helped lead his small hometown church in Joshua Tree, California, before moving to Phoenix for school. He has since found a home at CCC and, after serving in various ministries, is thrilled at the opportunity to now serve in his new capacity. Andrew has been an avid Laker fan since birth and loves basketball in general. He spends most of his time outside of church learning in addition to playing piano and various games.

Grace Mungovan is CCC’s new Administrative Assistant. Grace also looks forward to her time to volunteer with the 4^th-6^th graders on Wednesday nights. As a result of being at CCC her whole life, she has been involved in many ministries at church because to Grace, CCC feels like home. She has always loved serving and helping others, putting smiles on their faces. She can hardly contain her joy as she gets to do that every day in her new role.

Sonny Perez is the proud father of 3 boys: Sonny Jr., who is 9 years old, and 3 year-old identical twins Elijah and Isaiah. Sonny has 2 older brothers, 7 nephews, and one niece. Prior to coming to CCC, Sonny worked 13 years in the Maintenance Department with Glendale Elementary School District. He is a huge sports fanatic and enjoys playing/coaching baseball, football, and basketball with his boys and nephews. Another hobby he has is restoring/customizing vehicles, especially classic cars.