A digital commonplace for a Regular Guy called Charlie Pharis

Month: January 2005 (page 1 of 4)

OK! I Take Back Everything I Ever Said…

…about Gary Lamb and his unblogging! I cruised through my links this afternoon, and I just half-heartedly and absentmindedly clicked on Gary’s link. Hallelujah! The guy actually posted something! Three somethings as of this afternoon! And they’re all pretty good stuff! Go over there and check him out!

Beauty for the Eye of the Ultimate Beholder…

Brian Thomas writes a concise little article over at THE OOZE about Christians and the arts. Like a lot of folks I know and read, he argues that believers ought to be among the very best creators of art and beauty, because we are made in the image of the ultimate Artist. And the Artist has redeemed us and is constantly scuplting, painting, singing, and writing the image of Jesus into our lives.

Unfortunately, P.G. Wodehouse, whose quote is included in the article, was right…

Whenever Christians, and evangelicals in particular, have attempted to ‘reach the world’ through the media – TV, film, publishing and so on – the thinking public gets the firm idea that, like soup in a bad restaurant, Christians’ brains are better left unstirred.

Instead of driving people away with bad attempts at “art,” dismissed with the excuses of “we don’t have the resources” or “it’s good enough for volunteers” or whatever, those of us who serve the ultimate Beholder should reclaim the lofty ambition of Francis Schaeffer who said…

The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.

I’m challenged and encouraged by people like Brian Ollman and his Millennia Co-op, referenced in Frost and Hirsch’s The Shaping of Things to Come, who are seeking to reclaim the heritage of believers from the earliest days.

Crossing the Bridge…

I love books. Books of most any kind. The best kind of books? FREE BOOKS! Especially when they are GOOD free books!

I was cruising along through my blog links a minute ago, and I came across this link to a FREE copy (.pdf) of Alan Roxburgh and Mike Regele’s Crossing the Bridge: Church Leadership in a Time of Change. Thanks, John!

And speaking of bridges, check out Fred Peatross’s parable

[+ “] for Today…

The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself.

-Wang Yang-Ming (1472-1529) Chinese Philosopher

Condoleezza Rice, Villain…

Did you know that Condoleezza Rice, the President’s Secretary-of-State-to-be is responsible for all the evil in the whole wide world? Yep, Condi did it! It’s all her fault! You know who’s making these charges, right? Those paragons of virtue in the U.S. Senate, of course…

Check out what Rich Galen has to say about the matter. Oh, and while you’re over there, don’t forget to click on the “Secret Decoder Ring” link. The one about the parade passing him by is pretty good stuff. And the caption of the day picture is, well…you’ll see!

“I Wanted to Be a Spaceman…”

I’m not real sure why Harry Nilsson’s words are going through my head right now, but they are…

I wanted to be a spaceman

That’s what I wanted to be

But now that I am a spaceman

Nobody cares about me

Maybe the post about being a “leader” has something to do with it. Maybe that post reminds me that in the deep, dark recesses of where I really hang out, it is, no matter how good a mask I wear, all about me. And when it’s all about me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

That Darned Jesus…

Why is it that He always gets in the way of what we’re doing “for Him?” (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Isn’t it all about being a great leader “for Him?” Why does He have to come along and mess that up?

Check out Rick Luoni’s powerful words about how Jesus ruins it for the rest of us leaders…

Jesus changed my idea of being a leader. I used to think I wanted to be a Christian leader until I took a close glimpse of Jesus. I figure that if I am going to be a leader in the Church I ought to have a perspective on how the dude who started it all led.

And Jesus kind of blows it for Christian leaders doesn�t he? For if I really want to lead like Jesus then I get to die like Jesus. Dying sucks. Why waste death on someone with my talents. That seems a bit silly.

And his bottom line…

Leadership is really what the Church needs now – not more “Christian” leaders like me. If you are looking for a leader, don�t look up�look down, they are usually the ones with the dirty rag in their hand on their knees beside Jesus. As for me, I don�t have the guts to lead like Jesus so I settle for being a Christian leader.