A digital commonplace for a Regular Guy called Charlie Pharis
He’s In and Out of His Four Walls…
Well, now he’s back in the blogosphere again! Lucas Land has been one of my favorite bloggers. He’s been out of the blogging business for a while now. He’s been doing neat stuff like world music for little kids!
Now he’s updating his great blog, so he’s back on the list again! (I’m sure he’s totally excited about that!) But you will be, if you go check him out!
Where Dreams Go to Die
I found an old CD of the late, great Harry Chapin I’d burned back in the “free Napster” days.
Most of his songs are powerful and poignant, but one in particular grabs me in these days. It’s about the cleaner from Ohio who loves to sing and is encouraged to give it a shot on the professional stage. He’s the best singer in Dayton, but it’s an entirely different story when he goes to New York for his big debut. In one succinct review, Mr. Tanner’s dreams are shattered, and his life is sucked out of him.
He came home to Dayton and was questioned by his friends.
Then he smiled and just said nothing and he never sang again,
Excepting very late at night when the shop was dark and closed.
He sang softly to himself as he sorted through the clothes.
Music was his life, it was not his livelihood,
And it made him feel so happy and it made him feel so good.
And he sang from his heart and he sang from his soul.
He did not know how well he sang; It just made him whole.
Ever feel like that?
Out of the Big Box Church and Into the Real World
Did you catch this quote from Alan Roxburgh via Karen Neudorf via Jordon Cooper?
“Our culture does not need any more churches run like corporations; it needs local communities empowered by the gospel vision of a transforming Christ who addresses the needs of the context and changes the polis into a place of hope and wholeness.”
Kind of reminds me of the story where Jesus gathers His disciples together and, walking through the communities among the people, He tells them to pray that God would send harvesters into the ready fields. The very next verse…He sends the disciples themselves out into that world!
I’ve been kind of discouraged about our church folks’ response – or lack of response – to our annual Vacation Bible School. But, in the middle of my discouragement and disappointment, God is opening up a door for us to move out into our ready harvest! We’re taking the show on the road to a nearby trailer park, where there are some real needs. Exciting!
He’s In and Out of His Four Walls…
Well, now he’s back in the blogosphere again! Lucas Land has been one of my favorite bloggers. He’s been out of the blogging business for a while now. He’s been doing neat stuff like world music for little kids!
Now he’s updating his great blog, so he’s back on the list again! (I’m sure he’s totally excited about that!) But you will be, if you go check him out!
Yesterday, He Couldn’t Spell “Graduate…”
…now he ARE one!
Congrats to “The Boy,” Sequoyah High School, Class of 2004!
We love you and we’re proud of you, Andrew!
Yesterday, He Couldn’t Spell “Graduate…”
…now he ARE one!
Congrats to “The Boy,” Sequoyah High School, Class of 2004!
We love you and we’re proud of you, Andrew!
Today Has Been a Good Day for Thinking!
My early-morning blogging session kind of set the tone for the rest of the day. I got to my office and discovered that my secretary had a doctor’s appointment. We’re in the middle of changing phone companies, so the phone’s not ringing a whole lot. The maintenance crew did their usual Friday gig on Thursday for some reason. So, I put some Charlie Hall and David Crowder in the old CD player, ground some Komodo Dragon for the coffeemaker, and had a great, uninterrupted! day of thinking, praying, and studying.
Besides working on Sunday’s talk (finishing my “Real Reality” series, “What Not to Wear,” based on Ephesians 6:10-18, here are some things that crossed my mind, entered my heart, and made their way into the Moleskine. (No certain order, just random, may develop them more later.)
�Peter Pan� Christians: What do you do with believers who refuse to grow up?
Loving God with all that I am: PASSION, PRAYER, INTELLIGENCE, ENERGY, according to Mark 12:28-34.
What was it about Jesus that made Him such a magnetic, compelling leader? What made His disciples � especially the early ones � follow Him without prior knowledge?
– The testimony of John the Baptist. They were already following John � and he pointed Jesus out to them.
– Their own curiosity. If John said such amazing things about Jesus, what did he mean?
– Jesus� call to follow. �Come, follow me.� �See for yourselves.�
– Spending time with Him.
– The promise of a new kind of life. Not necessarily an easier life. A life that would require a new set of skills and a willingness to learn. �Fishing was their regular work.� Their new life would be �kind of like� the old life, but different.
Leading those who are someone else�s followers. (Thanks to Todd Hunter, from some un-updated blog somewhere on the Web! Just kidding…!)
If believers are to be disciples following Jesus � and I�m called to lead them, how do I do that? It�s not me they�re called to follow ULTIMATELY! It�s HIM! But I�m supposed to be the guy who points Him out to them, like John the Baptist!
Today Has Been a Good Day for Thinking!
My early-morning blogging session kind of set the tone for the rest of the day. I got to my office and discovered that my secretary had a doctor’s appointment. We’re in the middle of changing phone companies, so the phone’s not ringing a whole lot. The maintenance crew did their usual Friday gig on Thursday for some reason. So, I put some Charlie Hall and David Crowder in the old CD player, ground some Komodo Dragon for the coffeemaker, and had a great, uninterrupted! day of thinking, praying, and studying.
Besides working on Sunday’s talk (finishing my “Real Reality” series, “What Not to Wear,” based on Ephesians 6:10-18, here are some things that crossed my mind, entered my heart, and made their way into the Moleskine. (No certain order, just random, may develop them more later.)
�Peter Pan� Christians: What do you do with believers who refuse to grow up?
Loving God with all that I am: PASSION, PRAYER, INTELLIGENCE, ENERGY, according to Mark 12:28-34.
What was it about Jesus that made Him such a magnetic, compelling leader? What made His disciples � especially the early ones � follow Him without prior knowledge?
– The testimony of John the Baptist. They were already following John � and he pointed Jesus out to them.
– Their own curiosity. If John said such amazing things about Jesus, what did he mean?
– Jesus� call to follow. �Come, follow me.� �See for yourselves.�
– Spending time with Him.
– The promise of a new kind of life. Not necessarily an easier life. A life that would require a new set of skills and a willingness to learn. �Fishing was their regular work.� Their new life would be �kind of like� the old life, but different.
Leading those who are someone else�s followers. (Thanks to Todd Hunter, from some un-updated blog somewhere on the Web! Just kidding…!)
If believers are to be disciples following Jesus � and I�m called to lead them, how do I do that? It�s not me they�re called to follow ULTIMATELY! It�s HIM! But I�m supposed to be the guy who points Him out to them, like John the Baptist!