Month: March 2008 (page 2 of 2)
To paraphrase the late, great philosopher Jerry Clower, that MacBook Pro has “done flung a cravin’ on me!”
My little trip up to NewSpring’s Unleash Conference yesterday got me pretty jacked up! I’m off and running today, but I’ll post about it a bit later this afternoon.
Just let me go ahead and say, “Thanks!” to Gary and the Revolution crew for letting me tag along!
Man! I sure am glad we’re saying “see you later” to this bunch! (Wonder if there’s going to be anything in it for us? Hmmmm….)
My dos céntimos worth…maybe not criminal, and maybe technically not unethical, but let’s just call it unpleasant, and leave it at that, shall we?
I’ve been really digging the Hillsong CD God He Reigns lately. One reviewer said it’s a great blend of the “classic” Hillsong stuff and the newer, younger, hipper United material. Whatever. All I know is it’s been leading me into the presence of God in a big, powerful way.
A couple of notes from this weekend…
- Gideon this morning.
- A couple of first-time guests and a couple of returning ones!
- Pumped about this week. Going to NewSpring for Unleash. Going with Gary and the Revolution crew. Thanks, Gary! It’s been about three years since I’ve been to a conference. I really, really need it! (Other than a new Moleskine, what does one take to a conference these days?)
- But I’m kind of afraid of what God’s going to do to me on the trip and at the conference. See, He’s been rocking my world in a lot of ways over the last couple of weeks. He’s probably got something bigger in mind. He always does, doesn’t He?
- The lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” is the best wife in the world, hands down!
- Real change is hard, because it means you’ve got to change personally before you can help your organization/team/whatever change.
- I challenged our bunch to pray and dream “one size bigger” today.
- Let’s keep daylight saving time all year around!
4:00 a.m. is going to get here pretty early. See you later…
Great quote from Ryan Shupe…
I don’t need to make millions. There’s a lot more to music than just being funneled through the giant music machine. What it really comes down to is if people leave your show feeling uplifted; they’re going to come back. It’s more a labor of love. You have to love it because you’re most likely not going to strike it rich.
People e-mail and write letters to tell us how our songs have helped them. I keep them all. I’m blessed — I get to play music and travel and meet lots of cool people and hopefully make a difference in people’s lives. (Deseret Morning News, 11.22.2006)
One of those busy-but-pretty-good weekends went something like this (including today)…
- Didn’t preach yesterday morning. Had these guys in for their pitch. It was actually pretty good. Heard some interesting stats, a couple of items that made me go “hmmmm!” and one really great, challenging story that will certainly surface somewhere else along the way.
- “The Boy” stopped by long enough to eat lunch. Always great to see him!
- Got back to serious working out at the Y. Read some great, challenging articles at the wellness center desk.
- Caught the last three-quarters or so of G.I. Jane on TV. Love that great, challenging quote from Master Chief Urgayle: “There are no bad crews, only bad leaders!” Hmmm….
- Touched base with one of my heroes, the one and only Gary Lamb. He doesn’t know it, but he usually challenges and encourages me almost every time I talk to him!
- Started a little series in our evening service. We’re unabashedly talking about some other churches. And we’re calling them by name. Really picking them apart and all that jazz. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Going to be good….
- Read Shackleton’s Way, and was challenged and encouraged by his leadership in the middle of difficult and seemingly hopeless times of crisis. Just found a website….
- Re-discovered Tennyson and Browning, via the book about Shackleton.
- Made me want to watch Dead Poets Society.
- Set personal bests in the bench press today! Woo hoo!
WHEW! Finally finished up our adventure in refinancing today! We’ll be able to save a significant amount on our mortgage, and with the savings (no new debt, thank you very much!), we should be on our way to being debt-free (except for the mortgage) by year’s end! Very cool!
I’ve gotta tell ya…I’m a sucker for girl singers! And I discovered a new one yesterday on the way home from church!
Bob Edwards was interviewing Tift Merritt on his weekend radio show. She just sounded like loads of fun, and the snippets of her tunes grabbed me. So I’m now her newest fan, and courtesy of iTunes, I’m unwinding with Another Country, Tambourine, and Bramble Rose. Good stuff…
(Oh, did you notice she sings?)