Category: General (page 22 of 121)

That’s the title of the first post I read via Bloglines this morning, and when I read the title, I thought someone was having a little blogosphere fun with my blog buddy, Chad Canipe. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks…Chad had passed away over the weekend. Chad was 34 years old, he leaves behind his wife Renee, and their two cool kids, Colin and Aidan.

I’m still stunned and in shock. The last thing Chad posted on his blog was about a nagging medical condition. Well, he just never got over it, and it turned out to be a lot more serious than imagined.

I never met Chad in real life, but he was truly a long-distance encourager for me. He had a heart for God, a passion for his city, and he seemed to be one of the most creative guys I’ve encountered.

It was Chad who encouraged me to blog way back in the Straddling the Gap days.

It was Chad who helped me set up my comments and my RSS feeds when I didn’t have a clue about all that stuff.

It was Chad who turned me on to How to Think Like Leonardo daVinci, a book that literally changed my perspective on life.

It was Chad who helped me begin to see some things that God was/is doing in our culture.

It was Chad who graciously shared a very cool picture of his son Aidan, in a shot that perfectly captured the spirit of Advent for me.

It was Chad who encouraged “The Boy” about design and Web stuff.

The Kingdom of God is not diminished today, but the citizens of that Kingdom are certainly lacking one of their finest brothers. Chad’s untimely passing reminds me of that great quote from Erwin McManus’s The Barbarian Way…

Martyrs didn’t survive, but they died facing the right direction.

Please keep Renee, Colin, Aidan, and the rest of Chad’s family and friends in your thoughts and prayers in these days. And if you’re so inclined, you can donate to a memorial fund by clicking the button at the top of this post. you can also stop by an online memorial forum to leave your thoughts.

Life is but a vapor…

OUCH!

“Your Beta Upsilon Chi name is…Peter!”

“Why ‘Peter’?”

“WHY NOT?!?!?!”

So many good Animal House lines, so little time…

Sorry…

A couple of quotes from some random places…

There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth.
-Marie Curie

Tradition is what you resort to when you don’t have the time or the money to do it right.
-Kurt Herbert Adler

Just like the “proselytizing crocodiles,” we’re not reaching them because our actions don’t always match our talk.

BTW, I’m hooked on Pearls Before Swine…

Hold on, boys and girls! Here’s the latest installment of the Stack o’ Stuff, some random links I found on the way to somewhere else. Jump in!

• “If you think you can’t, why think?” Anita Sharpe’s Thought for the Day from Dee Hock.
• Dan Ohlerking on doing minstry strategically. Link via Dino Rizzo.
• Good management = better companies.
• Renee Altson on her love affair with Moleskines.
• The da Vinci drawings. Link via Moleskinerie
• Dick Staub says God is more interested in the Q than the A
• “I thought that all I had to do was ski fast to the bottom.” Anita Sharpe (love that Anita!) says sometimes we make our goals too complicated.
• Scot McKnight on Emergent Style

OK, I feel a little like Larry the Cable Guy right about now…

Forgive me for that Lord, and bless all the pygmies in the Congo.

Why? Well, my prideful self is trying real hard to get the best of me this morning. This week, our church is hosting a mentor training conference for a local crisis pregnancy ministry. In fact, we’ve hosted this group in meetings just like this for several years now. We provide them space, and technology/gadgets, and our folks even go all out to make them feel welcome and comfortable with a wide variety of coffee, snacks, goodies, and fresh flowers and mints on the table, etc. etc. We have had a wonderful and mutually-beneficial and encouraging relationship with these folks over the years. They do a wonderful job at the ministry they provide, and they are top-notch in every way.

This morning, I was helping put the finishing touches on the coffee and tech setup as the conference attendees began filing into the room. This is what I heard one of the women say, and I quote…

Yeah, I just can’t for the life of me figure out why we’re meeting here instead of over at (insert local two-miles-away humongous mega-church name here)!

I don’t know why that comment is burning my backside this morning. Maybe it was the tone of her comment. I don’t know, but I’m bothered by the comment and more by my being upset about it.

I don’t have a problem with (insert local two-miles-away humongous mega-church name here). I really don’t. I think we’re all on the same team. I think I’d rather be in close proximity to a place where God is working than not. When our folks have poor-mouthed and bad-mouthed about (insert local two-miles-away humongous mega-church name here) – and trust me, they have and they do! – I always try to correct and encourage them by reminding them we have an enemy but it’s not the folks over at (insert local two-miles-away humongous mega-church name here).

I guess my gripe this morning is that we’re not glamorous, hip and happening, cool, and cutting-edge, and all that, but at least in this one area, we’re trying the best we can to make a difference in the world with God’s help.

OK, sorry…rant over…please return to your regularly scheduled Tuesday…

I first discovered Tom Peters back in the In Search of Excellence days, and his books and articles and PowerPoint presentations are among my most useful tools. I came across his current reading list over at his blog yesterday. Talk about a voracious reader! Man!

I love his line about going on a trip without enough books…

Embarrassed at how much stuff is sitting in the nearby pile, and the fact that I’m not comfortable going on so short as a two-day trip (tomorrow, to CA) with less than a dozen books. (But what if I were hijacked or ended up in the hospital?)

Anyway, as you peruse Tom Peters’s list, how about drop a comment about what you – the real-life “Ms./Mrs./Mr. Bigs” – are reading?

And why not be like Tom Peters – and divide them in to the categories of…Incredible/Life-altering, non-fiction, and fiction?

Don Knotts, RIP…

Over and out, Barn…

I promise, this is the last “number” post for a while!

Wednesday’s number was 1106 – the number of calories calculated by the computer at the Y.

Yesterday, the number was 20 – the number of pounds I’ve lost since the first of the year.

Today’s number – and the final number thing for a while – is 74. Why 74? What’s so significant about 74? Well. you regular readers – both of you – may remember I posted on Valentine’s Day about lots of good “heart” stuff. One good “heart thing” was the fact that my bottom blood pressure number was almost down where my comedian doctor wanted it to be. Well, “normal” blood pressure is 120/80. And my comedian doctor was worried that my bottom number was over the 80 mark. And that, my friends, is where the number 74 comes in. Today, while the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie” was shopping, I checked the old BP…117/74! Yessssssssssssss!

Good numbers this week…thanks for “counting” along with me!