Just testing the new WordPress BlackBerry app. Nothing to see here…move along…
Author: Charlie Pharis (page 17 of 165)
Hey, loyal readers…both of you! I’m unwinding tonight in Starbucks in Woodstock, Georgia. This is becoming a weekly ritual after long days. I’ve got the old iTunes kicked up , and I’m listening to a Genius mix based on Hillsong United’s great From the Inside Out.
Some things on my mind and in my heart tonight…
- True confession time: Today was the first day in a long, long time I didn’t actually dread showing up at church. I know that’s weird for a pastor to say. Somewhere along the way to somewhere else, I lost that real sense of joy I used to have. Today was different, and I pray that’s going to be a regular thing again.
- I don’t share that to whine, but just to lay it out there, and let you know that if you’ve got an extra prayer or two, I won’t try to convince you not to use them on my behalf!
- I’m teaching through the powerful and practical epistle of James these days. It’s been good to get back to my roots, so to speak. For all the cool, hip, happening, relevant topical preaching out there, there is still something pretty powerful about opening up part of The Book and working through it in a systematic, deliberate way.
- I want to be both Biblical and unboring.
- I talked about facing the future this morning. I wondered aloud if I talk a lot about faith and all that, but live like a “practical atheist,” as though God really doesn’t exist and is not a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Ouch!
- I wondered aloud if I presume on His grace when I assume things about tomorrow that may or may not be true. And yes, I used the great lesson of the word assume: you make one out of U and ME when you do it! Ouch, Number 2!
- And I wondered aloud if I’m cruising through my life with God’s dream, purpose, and plans percolating on the inside, but not taking shape in my life. I wondered aloud what’s keeping me from fulfilling His plan and purposes. Big OUCH, Number 3!
- I’m planning on talking about money next week.
- I’m learning some hard lessons about trusting God to provide in the face of great need these days. At least I hope I’m learning the lessons. I don’t want this process to go on indefinitely!
- Fasting without praying is just a cruel and joyless diet.
- Action cures fear.
- I’ve got at least 3 books in various stages of unread. I need to finish them and find something new.
- I’m old and tired. That’s reality, but I tend to trot it out as a convenient excuse for not doing something.
- I love Loreena McKennitt’s Christmas stuff!
- I’m breaking my own rule and actually rooting for an orange team against another orange team next weekend. Hey, Perry…make sure your Tigers win, OK?
- BTW, how ’bout them Jackets?!?!?
- What the heck is a Hokie anyway?
- There’s way too much math homework going on in here tonight!
- My couple of hours of free wi-fi is about up, and my rambling has about rambled out.
Make it a great evening!
Sitting in Starbucks on Hwy. 92 near Trickum Road in Woodstock, reflecting on the day, the weekend, and pretty much the whole week last week. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that I’m entering one of those infamous dark nights of the soul things. So maybe it might not be a great night to reinstitute the Unwind, but here goes…
- I could have sat at my office and worked, but I needed — no, I wanted! — some Internet connectivity. Isn’t it strange that we want to be “connected,” so we sit — alone — in a coffee shop, surrounded by all kinds of people, that we don’t even know.
- Yeah, don’t even get started on the glaring fact that even as 2009 is swiftly losing its identity into 2010, we have no Internet at our church office. I said don’t even get started!
- It absolutely stinks to get old! I don’t recommend it to anybody!
- But thanks for the birthday greetings last week!
- I’m not ashamed to say that I’m glad to see my friend Gary Lamb back online on a regular basis. I know there are a lot of folks out there who are looking for any excuse they can find to bash Gary and sit in judgment on him. I love that guy, and yep, I’m pulling for him, big time!
- There’s a gaggle of giggling Georgia Tech coeds in here right now. Man, they let 12- and 13-year-olds go to college! Amazing! (At least they aren’t some of the earlier-referenced “grazers” from that old Georgia Tech joke: “Why did they change to artificial turf at Georgia Tech’s stadium?”)
- I came across a random article today about what happens when leaders lose their way. The abstract of the article says there are five perils of the leadership journey, “distinctive destructive behaviors that tend to occur in the hero stage of managers’ early careers: being an impostor, rationalizing, glory seeking, playing the loner and being a shooting star.” I’m wrestling with some of these things at this late-middle stage of my life.
- Funny…Count Basie’s “Front Burner” is playing on iTunes, and in Starbucks at the same time!
- 12 0f the 15 people inside Starbucks have their laptops open. Looks like 9 of those 12 are on Twitter right now! That’s funny! (BTW, the other 3 are playing poker. With real cards. Go figure!)
We’re in the middle of a bunch of thunder and lightning, so I turned my desktop computer off. Here I am with my trusty Curve, seeing how it works with the old blog. This is just a test…nothing to see here…move along now…these are not the droids you’re looking for…:-)
I went to bed earlier, but was really waiting on The Boy to let me know he made it back to Rome, Georgia, so I really didn’t go to sleep. Now I’m up again, and can’t get sleepy, so here goes a rare Sunday Night Unwind.
- Today was a hard day at our place. It was the last official day for our Student Minister. Stinkin’ finances got in the way. I told our people that my first thought about Mark was: “I really don’t have time to train an inexperienced youth guy!” Then God reminded me that somebody took a chance on another inexperienced kid about 28 years ago, and it worked out OK for me! Thanks, Mark and Alison, for some great years in ministry. Thanks for the lives you’ve influenced. Thanks for putting up with me. And thanks for being really good friends!
- I’m really put out by silly, petty people, who show their butts. I don’t know if they meant to show their butts or not, but the end result is the same…big ol’ ugly butts hangin’ out there. No class!
- Started re-reading Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala and Encourage Me by Chuck Swindoll. I think I need what both of these men are saying right now.
- I’m also re-discovering some old new worship by Roger Hodges tonight. I don’t remember how I first found Roger, but I know it’s been a long time since I’ve listened to the three CDs I have. Good stuff!
- I’ve got a real restlessness in my spirit these days.
- I’m hungry for something new, fresh, and exciting.
- I don’t know how to be a friend to a friend who needs a friend right now, and that bugs me. A lot.
- I really sense that God is nudging me toward a reset of my priorities, a “back-to-basics” emphasis, if you will, in my life and ministry.
- There’s a lot of clutter in a lot of the areas of my life that needs be cleaned out.
- I don’t ever want it to be said of me that I am “impressively energetic regarding God”—but that I’m “doing everything exactly backward.”
- I finished an impromptu mini-series on personal renewal today. I needed it, whether or not anyone else did.
- I don’t know what’s next for my preaching/teaching. Gotta get that figured out, and quick!
Well, I guess I’ve unloaded enough melancholy for one night. Hope your day has been better, and hope you have a great week! Stay tuned!
Very eclectic mix for the Unwind tonight: iTunes shuffling through all the music on my computer. No filters, no exclusions, no Genius feature, just the Music Library open and shuffle enabled. I bet that before the night is over, I’ll even break the Labor Day rule. Sue me, it’s my Unwind, and my music! 🙂
So, what’s up in the old Just Charlie world?
- Happy Birthday to the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie”! She turned, well…a year older today! (Oh, and happy belated birthday to her twin sister. Who turned a year older a day earlier! Nice, huh?)
- I had intended all kinds of cool birthday things to do, but hardly any of them actually panned out. Originally had planned to go the Atlanta Braves game, but couldn’t find any really great tickets, being as it’s Memorial Day weekend and all. Thought about the Georgia Aquarium. Holiday weekend, again…bunch of folks. Amicalola Falls? Rainy! Fancy Sunday Brunch? Crap, who wants to “dress up” to go eat breakfast, when you could scarf down oatmeal, fruit, and eggs in your underwear? In bed, if you wanted. Forget the brunch.
- So, how did we spend the momentous occasion? Home Depot, a little playing in the dirt, lunch at our old standby Eye-talian place, and a quick visit with “The Boy.” How’s that for par-tay?!?!?!
- Meanwhile, it was good to have a day off and just hang with the fam!
- But wait! Isn’t it Sunday? And aren’t you a pastor? Yep!
- One of my best buds in the world, Warren Moore, brought it at The ‘Crest this morning! My team – Mark, Alison, and Nick – handled everything. Thanks, y’all! Shoot! Nobody even missed me! Charlie who?!?!
- BTW, drum corps music just came on the Unwind soundtrack. From pre-DCI days, 1971. Cool!
- Been in a poetry mood lately. Reading The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology. Good stuff!
- Wondering about whether the time at the YMCA may be coming to its end. There may be some other opportunities. Just wondering…
- Had a great time with God early this morning, before the birthday celebration kicked off. Really challenged and encouraged by the story of David, especially this verse.
- I’ve also been thinking a lot about responsibility, initiative, and discipline for leaders and those who want to be.
- Tim McGraw’s Let It Go on the Unwind soundtrack. See? I told you it was eclectic and random!
- Probably heading out to spend a little money tomorrow.
- Looks like all three vehicles are trying to go kaput at the same time! Not good! Starter for my truck, transmission for the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie’s” car, and well…college student driving for “The Boy’s” car. ‘Nuff said?!?!?
- Well, that’ll do it for the next month! See y’all later!
- Oh, and how about some Natasha Bedingfield to close the post? Did you know she sings?!?!?! Good night!
Unwind soundtrack? Tasty! by Ray Brown and Jimmy Rowles. Just good bass-and-piano stuff. Both of these guys were pretty big influences on Mrs. Elvis Costello, and that’s good enough for me!
UPDATE, 12:09 a.m. April 20, 2009…
I started writing this post and completely lost my train of thought. I saved the draft, and went to bed, lulled immediately into SleepyTown by a rather gentle thundershower. Then after about an hour of good sleep, I was awakened by the phone (my father-in-law) and the severe weather siren less than 150 yards from my house. They were both alerting me to the fact that we were under a tornado warning. That meant I was – and still am – wide awake, thank you very much! So I might as well try to finish the post!
On my mind tonight…
- The day started out to be one of those days…just couldn’t get on track this morning. Late, late changes to our Sunday program and that’s neither good nor fair to my team. I really, really need to be lots better on that front.
- Late start to church…got a call that one of our “regular” “friends” (which being translated, means, someone looking for a handout) was looking for me at the church.
- When I got there – LATE! – the old softy in me took him and got him some gas for a trip. But that threw me even further off my game.
- Of course, the week-after-Easter crowd was slimmer than the Easter one.
- Our music started off with “Mighty to Save.” Yessssssssss!
- Called an audible in the middle of the service, due completely to the aforementioned late, late changes.
- Started a new series about money. I thought it went pretty well, considering.
- I asked everyone to take out their checkbooks and calendars at one point during my message. Told them that theywe could look at those two sources of information and see exactly where theirour hearts are. OUCH!
- Had a good time meeting with a young couple that I’m going to marry in June.
- I just realized that there are some things I have to be careful of Tweeting and/or blogging.
- I’ve got some great friends and encouragers!
- I’ve really got to get focused in my workout/nutrition/etc. areas again. Trying to live on what you did three years ago won’t cut it today!
- I’m still wide awake and there’s no sleep on the immediate horizon. More rain and thunder, it appears, but alas, no sleep.
So…THIS is the blog, eh? (Blows off the dust)
Most of the time I do the Twitter thing, but every now and then, I get the urge to put something down that’s a bit over 140 characters. Here’s a rare Sunday Night Unwind for your enjoyment or ignoring or whatever.
- My day started with a post to the aforementioned Twitter which read: Bigger, uglier true confession time: I hate Sundays right now. There. I said it. Lately, it seems my weeks are pretty good, but I find myself dreading Sundays. Which is pretty not-acceptable since I am the pastor and Sunday comes right regularly, every seven days, just like clockwork. If you’ve got a spare prayer or two, I’d appreciate you investing one in that area on my behalf. Thanks!
- One of my Y folks surprised me by showing up at our church this morning. As soon as she walked in, I thought: I wish I had something a little better, more profound, more fill-in-the-blank because she’s here. Then it hit me: Why do I worry about having something “better” for her, when I seem perfectly content to offer less-than-my-best to Him? Ouch! Big OUCH!
- Talked about the cross today. Three things the cross does. Galatians 6. I was especially moved by the way The Message renders that passage. Hope our folks were, too.
- Oh, and I used my CrackBerry to read The Message translation. From YouVersion! Tech savvy, there, boys!
- Speaking of CrackBerrys in church, I think we’re going to encourage Twittering during our services. That ought to get some comments!
- That and a couple of other good ideas from this helpful post over at Church Tech Matters.
- I’ve been reading a lot about burnout lately. Specifically, I’ve just finished Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro and Mad Church Disease by Anne Jackson. Both of these books were very helpful and very challenging. I Twittered once while reading Mad Church Disease: Although I never noticed her hanging around, I’m pretty sure @flowerdust was spying on me as she wrote Mad Church Disease.
- Tonight, I started Henry Cloud and John Townsend’s Boundaries. Seems to be a great and necessary follow-up for some of the burnout/stallout stuff. I’ve already been slapped around a bit by the first few pages.
- Meanwhile, all is not dreary and gloomy.
- For instance, tonight I discovered the Inside Eddie’s Attic program on DaveFM. Good stuff that made me want to go check out some live music.
- Two guys in particular grabbed me on the Eddie’s Attic program: Mike Kinnebrew and Dana Cooper. Got home and downloaded some great stuff from both of these guys!
- Also, in the middle of a Sunday I started out hating, I was reminded again how much I enjoy the team I get to do church (and life!) with. Nick, Mark, and Alison, you guys rock and you make my day!
Well, there you have it…
Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!
Welcome back, Sunday Night Unwind! Where have you been? This is the first Sunday Night Unwind of 2009. Not that there hasn’t been any Sunday Night Unwinding going on, but just not a lot of posting. So, anyway, without further ado, here we go!
- I got an earworm for that song on the TomTom radio ads. For the record, that song is “In a Persian Market” and it comes from some album of circus music. Circus music! Shazam!
- My ability to count is slipping away. I thought we had more people in our service today than the “official” counters counted. Go figure….
- We’re in the middle of a series called Constant Contact, and we’re focusing on how to listen to God. I think some people are getting uncomfortable with it. Which is good.
- I was as tired as I’ve ever been after preaching today. I don’t know why. It’s a good tired, but tired nonetheless.
- My TomTom earworm isn’t the only one I’ve had today! I woke up with The Spinners‘ “It’s a Shame” in my head. That led me to set up a Spinners channel on Pandora. Still haven’t heard “It’s a Shame” yet, but in the process I discovered Slacker Radio.
- Slacker is cooler than Pandora for one good reason: It plays on my CrackBerry! Yes!
- Starting a new workout from Turbulence Training tomorrow.
- It’s a case of “Physician, heal thyself” for me lately. Starting to put back on a little of the weight I lost. Not much, but enough to make me know I’ve got to get re-focused on health. Especially since I spend the first part of most of my days tying to help folks develop healthy habits.
- I’m also becoming more convinced of Charlie’s Undeniable Exercise Truth #1: “You can’t ever out-exercise bad nutrition.” I’m no expert personal trainer or anything, I don’t play one on TV, and I didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn last night, but that seems to be so basic that it’s not even funny! And so simple that it seems to be pretty profound! Your mileage may – but probably won’t – vary. Whatever….
- I’m becoming more and more convinced that this so-called “economic stimulus” is a really crappy idea. The Congressional Budget Office now says it’s not only unnecessary, but probably detrimental in the short- and long- terms.
- And what is the stinkin’ attraction of socialism, anyway? Quick, name an instance in history where it’s led to a better quality of life, more freedom and liberty, and prosperity. Still waiting….
- I liked Starbucks a lot better when you never knew what kind of great coffee awaited you until you walked in the door. In the pre-Pike Place days, going to Starbucks was somewhat of an adventure. You got to try different blends, different tastes, and it was good. Now you get Pike Place. Or decaf Pike Place. That tastes like soap. And you might as well be drinking coffee from MickeyD’s, Waffle House, or the Patel Kwik Sack at the corner. Rant off….
- I still don’t think there’s ever been a better movie than Casablanca. Please, God, don’t let anybody get the bright idea of remaking it!
- One last thing: Do you hear that sound? The crack of the bat, the pop of a fastball hitting a leather catcher’s mitt, chatter from the dugouts…spring training is almost here! Yea, baseball! here’s hoping the crybabies will just get down to playing this season!
I hope you have a great Sunday evening, whatever’s left of it. Make your week count! It’s the only second full week of February you’re going to get this year! Peace!