A digital commonplace for a Regular Guy called Charlie Pharis

Month: January 2005 (page 2 of 4)

Today’s [+ “]…

Just found this in my Inbox…

A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; Every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: This day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught! -Thomas a Kempis

Currently Reading…



I’m finally digging into The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st Century Church by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. The latest quote to be scribbled in my Moleskine?

The church bids people to come and hear the gospel in the holy confines of the church and its community. This seems so natural to us after seventeen centuries of Christendom, but at what price and to what avail have we allowed it to continue? If our actions imply that God is really only present in official church activities – worship, Bible studies, Christian youth meetings, ladies fellowships – then it follows that mission and evangelism simply involve inviting people to church-related meetings.

In fact, this is one of the core assumptions that the attractional church is based upon – the assumption that God cannot really be accessed outside sanctioned church meetings or, at least, that these meetings are the best place for not-yet-Christians to learn about God. Evangelism therefore is primarily about mobilizing church members to attract unbelievers into church where they can experience God. Rather than being genuine “out-reach,” it effectively becomes something more like an “in-drag.” (p. 41)

Life is Too Short…

My earlier post about bad coffee has me thinking about the things that life is too short for. So far, I’ve come up with these…

Life is too short to drink bad coffee.

Life is too short to play church.

Can you finish that phrase? Life is too short…

Add your thoughts to the comments, and we’ll put ’em together and see what we come up with.

Another Redneck Comes Over to the Dark Side…

OK, if you’re a regular reader in this space (and who’s not?!?!?) you’ve been introduced to a group of guys that I get the great privilege of hanging out with from time to time…

You’ve met Revdude, a Methodist (gasp!) who has a knack for finding the most obscure bits of Internet news and weirdness. Oh, he’ll also call you up for lunch and listen to your moaning and whining, and before you know it, life won’t be so bad after all!

You’ve met the-one-and-only-thank-goodness Gary Lamb. (I put that link there on Gary’s name just to be consistent…don’t even bother clicking on it, as he has yet to post anything!) Gary is best described by that phrase from the movie The Fly: Be afraid. Be very afraid. Seriously, underneath all that “stuff” he’s a focused and successful church planter.

You’ve met TMc. Tony pastors a church in a movie theater. And gets you free gigs with leadership gurus. And funerals. And creative ideas by the big ol’ boatload.

I think I may have even talked a time or two about KenBob. Well…KenBob is in the blogging business now! Ken is the pastor I want to be. He’s made the jump from the “traditional” thing to doing a really neat God-thing in a young and thriving “after-modern” church. You’ll get a lot of good insight and encouragement – and probably a dose of Eric Clapton somewhere along the way from KenBob. Oh…he’s the one who coined one of my favorite phrases:

“I made a commitment this weekend to grow old LOUD!”

Check these guys out. You’ll be glad you did!

Monet…



I don’t know a lot about art – what makes it good, what makes it great, who made what, etc. – but I do know that I like artists like van Gogh and Monet.

I found this Monet last night, and I’m still intrigued by it this morning. The title is “Impression: sunrise” and it is apparently a revision of an earlier work. (You can see it larger here.)

What gets me is this: It’s about sunrise. Is the guy in the boat coming in from a long night? Or is he going out to face the new adventure of a new day? Who’s that that with him? Where’s he going? What will find along the way? What will he find when he reaches his destination?

I guess that all sounds like some pointy-headed, pseudo-intellectual, standing with arms folded and head cocked in a deeply meditative pose at some fancy-schmancy, artsy-fartsy gallery, huh? Well, at any rate, the Monet is probably about replace my cat as my desktop image…

Three Mighty Men…

Just had one of those “WOW!” moments this morning. I get the Leadership Weekly e-mail from Christianity Today. This sentence got my attention…

Why is it you never hear from a pulpit committee when you need one?

I went on and read the story Ted Traylor tells about his three mighty men who, like David’s mighty men, went back to the hometown well, got some water, and refreshed their leader’s soul.

Check out what one of those guys said to their pastor…

“We have talked about this all day�six hours up and six hours back,” the largest man said as he stuck out his hand to grasp mine, “and we want to make this statement to you: We will die for our pastor. We will die for you. If you stay straight and be moral and be ethical and be biblical, we will die for you. If you are immoral and unethical and unbiblical, we will kill you.” (Now that’s a deacon!)

We all need some “mighty men” (and wieldy women!) who will stand by our side, not because of who we are, but because of Whom they serve. Do you have some “friends indeed?”

Oh, here’s the link to the whole story…