Just Charlie

Movin'...

2007-04-10T17:53:00.000-04:00

George and "Weezy" Jefferson did it - On Up.

Billy Joel did it - Out.

Even Rascal Flatts did it - On.

And now, Just Charlie is doing it, too!

Say goodbye to Blogger (more Billy Joel!).

Say hello to Just Charlie's new home over at the "free" WordPress.

Everything hasn't made it over there yet, but this will probably be the last post here.

Loyal readers - both of you! - can set your reader - if you'd like - to the new feed here.

Thanks! See you on the East Side - in the dee-luxe apartment in the sky...

"Painted Mane of the Painted Horse..."

2007-04-10T05:53:00.000-04:00

OUCH! This came from the A.W. Tozer daily devotional, and the picture perfectly illustrates the point: an old man, holding on for the ride, but going nowhere...

We have to consider whether we are just going around and around--like a religious merry- go-round. Are we simply holding on to the painted mane of the painted horse, repeating a trip of very insignificant circles to a pleasing musical accompaniment?...

More Easter Thoughts...

2007-04-09T22:16:00.000-04:00

(NOTE: I'm not a theologian or a Bible scholar. Nor do I play one on TV. I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.)

This morning I was reading Mark's account of the first Easter morning. and I jotted down some thoughts in my notebook...

The three women bought spices to anoint Jesus' body. When they got to the grave, they found the stone rolled away from the entrance and saw a young man in white, and Mark records that they were amazed. The young man said, "Don't be amazed."
His instructions were to go and tell Jesus' disciples what had happened. But, he implied, you'd better get a move on, because Jesus is already on the move!
Their response? They ran like crazy! They were shaking and amazed. And they said nothing because they were scared!
Mary Magdalene went and reported that she'd actually seen the risen Christ, and the disciples "refused to believe it."
Later, Jesus Himself appeared to two others on the road to the country, and they, too went and reported their encounter, "but they did not believe them, either."
Later, He appeared to the eleven at dinner, and "He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen."

I think there is a huge disconnect between what He says and what we see, so for us, the seeing always seems to trump the listening/believing/responding/obeying.

Sunday Night Unwind, 04.08.07...

2007-04-08T20:40:00.000-04:00

OK, after an earlier Unwind of Kutless and Hillsong, I've settled into some Mahler for the rest of the evening (heck, it'll take that long to listen to the whole thing!)

Anyway, the "Resurrection" that Mahler's Symphony No.2 refers to is not THE Resurrection that we celebrate today. But the Mahler Second is bold, powerful, inspiring.

And that is almost like - but not nearly as bold, powerful, and inspiring as - THE Resurrection that we celebrate today!

The last movement - for me, at least - is like Beethoven's Ninth or even the great Puccini aria Nessun dorma. Even if you say you don't like classical music or opera, it still has a way of moving you.

Of course, as usual, your mileage may vary...

Dog-Tired...

2007-04-08T18:05:00.000-04:00

Beat. Worn-out. Exhausted. What other synonyms can you walking thesauruses (thesaurii?) come up with?

Let's see... how'd it go?

Headed out for our "sunrise"service. I thought Easter was supposed to be in the spring! Not stinkin' winter! Oh, well...one of the stillest, quietest mornings I remember in a long, long time. And I wondered if that first Easter morning was kind of the same way.

Great spread at the early thing, thanks to the lovely and gracious "Mrs. Just Charlie." Oh, and Alaura the Dunkin Donuts gal who wondered aloud why I thought Easter was the biggest day of the year. And who considered the claims of Jesus for the very first time behind the counter at the donut place.

Good turnout at the early thing, including a couple I met at one of those "rent-a-pastor" funerals a couple of months ago.

Almost went to see The Mad Babbler at RidgeStone's 9:00 Easter service, but did a last-minute lookover of my message for 11:00. And spent some time hanging with some of our church folks.

Double our usual crowd at 11:00. Lots of guests. Most connected to our folks in some way or another. Not a home run on the message, but maybe a run-scoring double. We'll see...

Good to hang out with "The Boy" for a few minutes.

Went to three places before finding a place open for lunch. Ended up at good ol' Provino's. Stuffed with lasagna. (Note: Spring break and Easter are now officially over - gotta hit the Y - and hard! - tomorrow!)

Note #2: If it's in the shape of an egg, and if it has a brightly-colored foil wrapper, and if it says something like "Dove Dark Chocolate" on it, just put it down and walk away. I'll take care of the situation!

After lunch, watched another good game. (Note to my buddy Roger: I know we're only six games into the season. I know y'all whacked us 11-1 on Friday. I know your whole lineup is pretty potent from top to bottom. I know your guys can pitch. I know it's a long, long way to September yet, but I think y'all are going to have some company atop the National League East this year. Going to be fun again, maybe...)

Kutless and Hillsong on right now for the Sunday afternoon unwind. Dozing.

Speaking of Hillsong, I know it shows my old-cootness, but I am still blown away for some reason by the fact that I can order sheet music from Australia on Saturday night, and have it in the service Sunday morning! Amazin' ain't, Tom?!?!

That pretty much wraps up Easter '07. Long day. Good day. Jesus is alive.

Maybe the Second Most Popular Guy in Church This Morning...

2007-04-08T02:09:00.000-04:00

At least it appears that way to me from all the people who are looking for information on him, and finding my earlier post about a bugler playing Reveille at his funeral!

Book Lovers, Help!!!!!!

2007-04-05T22:53:00.000-04:00

Any of you loyal readers (all two of you!) have the new book by Henry Cloud and John Townsend called It's Not My Fault?

If you do, and you have a minute, could you send me the Table of Contents?

I would appreciate it a lot! Thanks!

Strange and Wonderful Thursday Night Unwind...

2007-04-05T22:02:00.000-04:00

Got a really, really mixed bag on the ol' Unwind tonight...

The latest edition of Runner's World magazine has "101 Kicks in the Butt" - ideas to help you and me improve our time and performance on the road. The list includes several "playlists," and I've got most of 'em going right now. For example...

"Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen
"Break On Through (to the Other Side)" by The Doors
"Beautiful Day" by U2
"Run in Place" by The Nadas
"Invincible" by OK Go

Then there's an assortment of Sheryl Crow's stuff, like...

"Every Day Is a Winding Road"
"The First Cut Is the Deepest"
"If It Makes You Happy"
"Soak Up the Sun"
"All I Wanna Do"
"Always On Your Side"

And for some reason, I've included...

"All Around the World" by Lisa Stansfield (You know..."been around the world and I-I-I...")
"Sweet Love" by Anita Baker

And finally, some pretty rockin' worship, from Kutless.

Go figure...it's one of those nights!

TV I Just Don't Get...

2007-03-31T22:48:00.000-04:00

Remember "Must-See TV?"

Well, flipping through the channels tonight, I think the new slogan ought to be "Must Have Missed It TV." I guess I'm showing my old-cootness, or my lack of cool, or whatever, but there are some things on TV I just don't get...

Bam Margera
Ultimate Fighting
Women boxing (ultimate or otherwise!)
Miami Ink (see "Women boxing")
Poker (multi-channels!)
[adult swim] (huh?!?!?!)
The fascination with Anna Nicole Smith
These folks. And these.

I'm sure there are other things on TV I just don't get, but that list'll have to do tonight.

I Wonder If Somebody's Trying to Tell Me Something...

2007-03-29T05:53:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you just have those synchronicity kind of days, where it seems like Somebody's trying to get your attention and tell you something important. I wonder if today may be shaping up to be one of those kind of days...

I've been pumped for a few days about hanging out with the cool kids today. Yep, I'll be easy to spot...look for the old coot with a dazed and confused look on my face. Oh, and I won't be in uniform (let the reader understand!). I do hope to soak up what God is doing in our world, and be challenged not to substitute dust for ashes (see the Jack London post below - or above - or however your reader lists them!)

Then, the aforementioned Jack London quote pops up in my Inbox.

Then, Roger does this to me. And does it again.

OK, bottom line...right now, at 5:53 a.m. on Thursday, March 29, 2007, sitting in the semi-darkness of my office, with a half-finished cup of coffee and my workout clothes and shoes on, and getting ready to walk out the door, I do not - I repeat, I do not - see myself suddenly becoming a church planter! I don't think I have what it takes to do that! But...I am leaving open the possibility that God is going to do something astounding in my life today and beyond.

In fact, He already has...

Inspiration...

2007-03-29T04:48:00.000-04:00

This from Jack London...

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.

And speaking of Jack London, check out this Credo, believed to have been written - and believed and lived - by Jack London...

I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom
of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

Random Stuff on a Wednesday...

2007-03-28T11:15:00.000-04:00

Just a few things on my mind, on my heart, in my Moleskine, on my screen, and in my backyard...

Apple blossoms on two trees! Cool! (Here's hoping we'll have our own home-grown apples in the fall!)
Crepe myrtle leaves that literally just appeared! (The branches were bare yesterday when I started mowing the lawn. By the time I finished, they were covered with leaves!)
Impatient prophets lose their edge when they are away from the front lines where the action is.
Not much has changed since Jesus' day. We still have split-personality critics who are never satisfied, no matter what you do. Make that childish split-personality critics.
Sometimes the Psalmists must be "guest bloggers" here. Like yesterday. And today.
I've taken more of an interest in American Idol this year, and Simon Cowell does get a bad rap. I can't remember where I read it first (Google has not been my friend!), but someone rightly pointed out that even though Simon has a reputation for being mean, insensitive, or rude, or whatever, he really is just "telling it like it is." (Henry Cloud defines integrity as the courage to face the demands of reality.) Did you ever notice what Simon does when one of the contestants really nails it? He lavishes on the praise!
Love God. Love others. Prove it. The slogan from EPIC City Church has grabbed me this week. Thanks, Tally, for pointing to EPIC's story.
Gary Lamb kicked my butt yesterday. (But he's buying my lunch tomorrow and letting me hang out with a bunch of cool guys, so I forgive him.) Uh-oh...he did it again today!
Oswald Chambers in today's My Utmost for His Highest: Just because I don't understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that He must be mistaken in what He says. And a little further down: Many of us are faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to Jesus Himself?

Wolf? No, Mice...

2007-03-26T09:25:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 11:6 has these familiar words...

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

Well, in case there are any Daniels out there, my buddy Gary Lamb's version of that scripture now reads...

The mice will live with the Lamb...

Now, I'm no Belteshazzar, but personally, I think the Mad Babbler needs to lay off the caffeine or the sugar or the Willie Bros. or something! :)

OK, Forget the Sunday Night Unwind...

2007-03-25T21:52:00.000-04:00

...the lovely and gracious Grace Kelly (insert that Roy Orbison "Oh, Pretty Woman" throat noise right here!) and the suave and debonair Cary Grant are on Turner Classic Movies in the Hitchcock thriller To Catch a Thief!

Sunday Night Unwind, 03.25.07...

2007-03-25T20:09:00.000-04:00

In the mood for something a bit out of the mainstream for tonight's Unwind. Still hooked on jazz, but tonight's selection is from the great bassist Charles Mingus, and his classic Mingus Ah Um, released in 1959.

Lots of good stuff on the album, but the highlight for me, and the reason it's tonight's Unwind is the soulful "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," which was Mingus's tribute to the late, great saxophonist Lester Young.

"I Am Somebody!" (Aren't I?)

2007-03-23T21:42:00.000-04:00

Saw this quote today...

Everybody now wants to be somebody big in the public eye, as if that itself could justify one's existence and make it worthwhile being alive.

(via Notebookism)

Pastors as Walter Mitty...

2007-03-23T21:30:00.000-04:00

Uh-oh...here's what Wikipedia says about Walter Mitty...

Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, published in 1941. Mitty is a meek, mild man with a vivid fantasy life: in a few dozen paragraphs he imagines himself a wartime pilot, an emergency-room surgeon, and a devil-may-care killer. He has become such a standard for the role that his name appears in several dictionaries.

The character was played by Danny Kaye in the 1947 film version, and is scheduled to be played by Owen Wilson in a future film version. Thurber opposed the 1947 production, possibly because it trivialized a darker and more significant message underlying the text. It is possible to read the events in the story as the responses to the stress of reality by an aging man who is sliding into senescence. In the brief snatches of reality that punctuate Mitty's fantasies we meet well-meaning but insensitive strangers who inadvertently rob Mitty of some of his remaining dignity. His wife is the only inhabitant of reality that we meet more than once. Thurber cleverly leads us into accepting her as a nag by giving Mitty's fantasies a charming lightness and comic-book simplicity that disarms deeper scrutiny. On the other hand, her final appearance suggests that she is a woman struggling to cope as her role shifts from loving life-partner to care-giver as Mitty slowly slides into his second childhood.

What a Day!

2007-03-21T11:10:00.000-04:00

What an absolutely gorgeous, wonderful early spring day in North Georgia! Here's the way it looks from where I sit right now...

J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 147 streaming on Musicmatch (Oh... Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Herr Bach!)
Open office window (The real window, not the software kind! Note: We're usually too allergy-conscious and air-conditioning-dependent to have the windows open at our house. Shhh! I won't tell if you won't!)
Birds - lots of birds - just outside...better music than the Bach!
The blinds are gently swaying in the breeze
Cat in the window sill
Uncluttered desk (for a change and for a little while at least!)
Wind chimes
Half-finished cup of green tea

Wish you you could be here!

Nekkid Chicken...

2007-03-19T15:16:00.000-04:00

The late, great Lewis Grizzard once differentiated between "naked" and "nekkid" like this...

"Naked" is when you have no clothes on. "Nekkid" is when you have no clothes on and you're up to something.

Well, the chicken I just pulled off the grill is going to be "up to something" in just about an hour. It's going to be on a plate with some grilled corn-on-the-cob-off-the-cob and some steamed green beans. Then it's going to be "up to" my mouth with a fork.

Oh, why is it "nekkid" chicken? Because while I usually like my chicken with a little kick (cayenne, cumin, ancho chile powder, garlic, etc.) there just ain't no substitute for chicken with nothing on but a little Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Nekkid, and mmmmmmm, good!

Come on over....if you get here in time, there'll be plenty to go around!

And One More NC&D Post...

2007-03-19T11:17:00.000-04:00

...for now, at least.

The NC&Ds had a problem with Jesus' works of power and compassion, so who did they complain to? Themselves.
They had a problem with His choice of party compatriots, so who did they complain to? His disciples.
They had a problem with His disciples and their joie de vivre, so who did they complain to? Jesus Himself.

Notice, "the problem" was never with themselves and their own super-sanctified attitude. The problem was always something or somebody else, who didn't match up to their standards or bow down to their authority. Again, hmmmm....

About Those Naysayers, Critics, and Detractors...

2007-03-19T11:12:00.000-04:00

From Jesus' perspective, Levi's colleagues and peers were guests.
From the NC&D's* perspective, they were scum.
_____________
*Naysayers, Critics, and Detractors

They're Everywhere! They're Everywhere!

2007-03-19T10:48:00.000-04:00

More thoughts from Starbucks this morning...

From Luke 5...

One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.

Seems like wherever Jesus was doing some great thing, the naysayers, critics, and detractors came out of the woodwork, just to sit around and naysay, criticize, and detract. Hmmm...

Some Thoughts from a Morning in Starbucks...

2007-03-19T10:29:00.000-04:00

Spent a little time in my local Starbucks this morning, post-workout. Here are a few somewhat random thoughts that made it from The Book, to my mind and heart, then to my Moleskine, and now to you loyal readers (all both of you!)...

From Psalm 90...
God = ETERNAL! FOREVER! SOVEREIGN!
Me (Us) = dust! disappearing dream! dry, withering grass! NOT sovereign! open and accountable to God!

So...because He is eternal and has an eternal perspective on things, and because we are weak, powerless, and fleeting, because we are accountable and dependent on Him, we pray...

Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.

Taps? No, Reveille...

2007-03-19T05:36:00.000-04:00

I had a kind of difficult funeral yesterday afternoon. I usually do OK at funerals (boy, that looks weird!) but this one was going to be tough for some reason. I was looking for something else entirely when I came across Billy Graham's remarks at Richard Nixon's funeral in 1994.

Check this powerful story about Winston Churchill's funeral...

Years ago, Winston Churchill planned his own funeral. And he did so with the hope of the resurrection and eternal life which he firmly believed in. And he instructed after the benediction that a bugler positioned high in the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral would play Taps, the universal signal that says the day is over.
But then came a very dramatic moment as Churchill had instructed. Another bugler was placed on the other side of the massive dome, and he played the notes of Reveille, the universal signal that a new day has dawned and it is time to arise. That was Churchill's testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be Taps, it'll be Reveille. There is hope beyond the grave because Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven for us by his death and resurrection.

I used that illustration in my funeral message, and it was powerful! You can bet I'll chew on it for a long time, and more than likely, it'll show up somewhere else between now and say, Easter.

Your mileage may vary...

Hello, My Name's Charlie, and I'm a Guy...

2007-03-18T05:50:00.000-04:00

Not just any guy, mind you, but a 100% red-blooded American guy. And that means I'm the cause of all the problems in the entire world. For that, I'm truly sorry.

There.

Maybe that'll satisfy the people this guy writes about in this article. Check the last three paragraphs...

Images of global destruction being more powerful than images of normalcy and stability, Gore and friends are bound to win the competition for people's emotions. Hence, they are now deterring any analysis of the issue, by calling skeptics "global warming deniers," a not very subtle comparison to neo-Nazis. If we succumb to this intimidation like a bunch of namby-pamby rice cake eaters, the debate will be lost for good.

Thus, the global warming movement seeks to repress guyhood in order to perpetuate itself. If a guy is shown a picture of a sad-looking polar bear adrift on an ice floe, his first thought will be something like, "I've heard that bear steaks are tough, but maybe if you marinated them in beer, they'd turn out all right." At that point, the alarmists' emotional ploy is foiled. In a world without guy stuff, however, his vacant mind may be invaded by irrationalities like, "Who will take care of the polar bears' children?"

In this chicken-and-the-egg scenario, the success of the global warming movement is both the cause and effect of our society's emasculation. It would have never gotten this far if the "Nineties Man" hadn't paved the way. When "I feel your pain" became a successful presidential campaign slogan, we should have known that charcoal-grilled steaks would soon be on the endangered list.

Calling Vince McMahon...

2007-03-16T15:35:00.000-04:00

I don't why this story caught my attention today. Everybody knows rasslin' is fake, right?

Where Is the (Link) Love?

2007-03-15T18:39:00.000-04:00

Dang! If you're so worried about getting "strong comments" from "old guys picking stuff out of their ear," and if you're going to use a dead comedian as a code name for a certain church planter you've never met, but strongly dislike, the least you could do is include a link to drive some traffic over this way!

Where's the love?

Let the ~~reader~~ raider understand...(and you know you're going to be reading it!)

More Than One Place at One Time...

2007-03-15T05:14:00.000-04:00

Today is one of those days I wish I had paid attention in the "How to Be in More Than One Place at the Same Time" class in seminary.

See, all the cool kids are going to be here today, while I get to be here and here, and possibly - quite probably - even here.

Oh, wait...you mean there wasn't that kind of class? Too bad...

March Madness, Bay-bee!

2007-03-12T17:49:00.000-04:00

OK, a couple of disclaimers...

I know absolutely nothing about college basketball, except that I like it better than the NBA
I have absolutely no expertise about brackets and handicapping and such
The only thing I really know about this year's March Madness is that the men's Final Four is in the ATL, which means traffic will once again be a mess. (And BTW, whoever came up with the inane phrase "The ATL" for Atlanta? Guess we should start saying "The WOO" for our up-and-coming town...but I digress...)
Oh, and I know Dickie V will say "bay-bee" at least 147 times and "awesome" at least 235 times before the tournament's final buzzer sounds.

All that being said, I filled out my bracket for the Atlanta paper's online contest. My very unscientific, uneducated, and really uncaring picks for the Final Four are Wisconsin, Illinois (my Cinderella team for this year), Ohio State, and in a nod to Tadd - who bleeds Carolina blue - North Carolina. (Hey, Tadd...what exactly is a freakin' Tar Heel anyway?!?!?)

I know, I know...that's the Big Ten filling out three-quarters of the Big Dance. So sue me...

My winner? North Carolina over Wisconsin...86-78.

"After" Picture...

2007-03-12T06:29:00.000-04:00

Since my journey toward health and fitness started and progressed over the last year or so, some people have asked me to post an "after" picture to document my progress. If you're a glutton for punishment, if you have some pests you need to chase away, if you love the grotesque, just hold on...one may be on the way!

Anyway...

2007-03-12T06:21:00.000-04:00

Finished the "Prayerbusters" series yesterday. The last barrier to answered prayer was lack of faith or inadequate faith.

Late Saturday night on the road, I heard Martina McBride's song "Anyway," and I thought it was perfect for what I wanted to convey...

You can spend your whole life buildin'
Something from nothin'
One storm could come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You could chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

God is great but sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This world's gone crazy
And it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all you heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
Love 'em anyway

God is great but sometimes life ain't good
And when I pray
It doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
Yeah I do it anyway

You can pour your soul out singin'
A song you believe in
Then tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah sing it anyway

I sing
I dream
I love anyway

Sunday Night Unwind, 03.11.07...

2007-03-11T21:58:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that these two have one thing in common... the word "too" in the titles! Cool!

Anyway, I picked these up on my first Starbucks stop yesterday. I listened to them already on a trip, but they are absolutely perfect for an unwind on the Daylight Saving Time Sunday!

Today Is One Day I Really Don't Like...

2007-03-08T04:51:00.000-05:00

This date, March 8, comes around annually, and I don't really like it one bit. I'm not particularly fond of September 7, either.

Why?

Am I reminded of some tragic event that happened on March 8 and September 7? Are those days the anniversaries of some cataclysmic occurrence?

Nope.

I don't like these two dates because I use the One Year Bible on an almost-daily basis. And sometimes I'm tempted to skip March 8 and September 7.

See, I don't really like to be confronted about my failures, sin, and falling-short-ness. And these words do it better (worse?) than just about any words I read...

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

On the other hand, the same days also have these words...

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice.
Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

KenBob Lives!

2007-03-03T07:13:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to the blogosphere, Ken!

Bitter Sweet Symphony...

2007-03-03T07:07:00.000-05:00

There may not be better Saturday morning music in the whole wide world than The Verve's classic "Bitter Sweet Symphony."

Go ahead, you know you want to...

What If? Good Grief...

2007-03-03T06:38:00.000-05:00

What if you could live your life over again?

You mean, exactly as I've lived it?

I Wish Earl Creps Hadn't Said That...

2007-03-03T05:57:00.000-05:00

You know Earl Creps, right? The Off-Road Disciplines guy? Seminary professor guy? And now, soon-to-be fledgling church planter guy? Yeah, him...

I wish he had just minded his own business.

I wish he had just done that seminary professor thing, and coasted on off into the sunset of his later years.

I wish he had just decided to keep blogging.

I wish he had just kept on encouraging the whippersnappers out there.

But nooooooo! You know what Earl Creps had the audacity to do? He's taking a huge plunge. He's planting a church. In Berkeley, California. He's over 50. And he's bragging about it! (Well, not really "bragging" per se, but he is throwing it out there for all the world - including other timid, almost-50, sedate, comfortable-but-unfulfilled types - to see.

And if that's not enough, he says this about one of the reasons why...

My friend and Dean, Joe Castleberry, preached a sermon in an AGTS chapel last fall that contained an intriguing statement: the two great risk-taking phases of life are the twenties (before you have kids) and the fifties (after the nest is empty). This thought became like a virus in my mental programming, slowly beginning to take control of things.

I really, really wish he hadn't "quit preaching and gone to meddling."

If you are approaching "middle age," if you find yourself wondering "what if?" or "is this all there is?" do not - I repeat - do not read Earl's post. You may find yourself gearing up for something that will rock your world...

Or You Could Switch Channels...

2007-03-02T21:10:00.000-05:00

As a complement/update to that last post about XM Channel 75, I just realized you could switch over to Radio Paradise for some of the same kind of groove...that works, too!

Or if you really want an eclectic mix of tunes, check out student-run WREK at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

If You Can't Go to Starbucks...

2007-03-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

...you can bring Starbucks home!

You just get your coffee going, fire up XM Channel 75, get your books and notebook out, and there you go!

Well, almost...

HELP! And Quick! (Please?!?!?!)

2007-03-02T16:18:00.000-05:00

OK, here's the deal...you know when you get those pesky credit card offers in the mail and they have the fake credit card stuck to the paper with that "snot-like" adhesive? (Sorry!)

What's that stuff called? And where would I find something like that, quickly and locally?

Thanks in advance for your vast storehouse of knowledge!

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning...

2007-03-02T11:38:00.000-05:00

From the Starbucks in Canton, Georgia this morning...
The men's group is out in full force, the coffee is hot, sweet, and strong, the muscles have a good afterburn, the sun is shining, the storm is gone, I slept a long, long time last night, I finished my workout strong, God is on the throne, and right now, it is well with my soul!

Oh, and did I mention that Louis Jordan's "Let the Good Times Roll, " Spike Jones's "Cocktails for Two," and the Ink Spots' "Someone's Rocking My Dream Boat" are providing the soundtrack for this gorgeous morning?

And Ephesians 1 and John Piper are providing the reading material...

On War Room Praying, Death, Dying, Compassion, and a Few Other Things...

2007-03-01T08:08:00.000-05:00

It's a rainy, potentially stormy Thursday in my neck of the woods. I'm sitting here thinking, reading, and praying. And some of those thoughts are leaking onto the pages of my Moleskine...

My buddy Gary Lamb is in the war room right now. For something like only the second time in the history of the 'Stone, they're departing on short notice from the scheduled plan for Sunday. If you've got a minute in your busy schedule, lift up a word for the RidgeStone team.
I know people die. I know death leaves a void in the lives of family and friends who are yet alive. I do have compassion for grieving people, especially when the death is particularly drawn-out or whatever. I know we have a responsibility to help meet others' needs, especially those of the household of faith. But the mission goes on. And I need to have at least as much compassion for those who are dying spiritually, facing a Christless eternity separated from God, as I do for those whose physical death, while saddening and maddening, is a transition to an eternity in the presence of the One who makes all things new.
Our denomination reports that 103,585 people live in a 5-mile radius of our church's location. Median age, 35.6. Mostly "Up and Coming Families." Mostly disconnected. Mostly unchurched. Mostly overwhelmed.

Timothy Keller Article...

2007-02-28T22:30:00.000-05:00

I don't really remember exactly, but I think it was Steve McCoy who first pointed me toward Timothy Keller and the work of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.

Anyway, the latest print edition of Cutting Edge, the church planting magazine from the Vineyard churches, has a great article by Keller about developing city-center churches. (The issue is not online yet, but the print edition showed up in my mailbox yesterday.)

Good stuff! And it's got me thinking about things like...

How do these concepts relate to my place?
Is it time to look at places like Woodstock, Georgia as still being the 'edge' of Atlanta?
Or are smaller, growing cities like Woodstock 'cities on their own'?

And these money quotes (among many!) from the article...

You can't just disciple people on how to be Christians in their private lives, (e.g., prayer, witnessing, Bible study). Center-city people don't have much in the way of a "private life." If you are in finance, or art, or acting or medicine, your vocation dominates your life and your time. Discipleship must include how to be distinctively Christian within your job, including how to handle the peculiar temptations and ethical quandaries, and how to produce work in one's own field from a distinctly Christian world-view.

If you speak and discourse as if your whole neighborhood is present eventually more and more of your neighborhood will find their way in or be invited. Why? Most Christians, even when they are very edified in church, know intuitively that their non-Christian friends would not appreciate the service. What you want is for a Christian to come to your church and say, "Oh! I wish my non-Christian friend could see (or hear) this!" If this is forgotten, soon even a growing church will be filled with Christians who commute in from various towns and communities far and wide rather than filling up with Christians and seekers from your church's immediate neighborhood. (p. 23)

Interesting Tidbits and Other Assorted Stuff...

2007-02-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

Although I took a month off from blogging, I kept the ol' Moleskine hot. Here's a little smörgåsbord of thoughts from the last month or so...

Saturday, February 3, 2007 8:37 a.m....

What was the use of doing great things if I could have a better time telling her what I was going to do?
-Jay Gatsby, in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, p. 157

Thursday, February 15, 2007 6:03 a.m.

...if you allow sloppy practice and don't push your team to continually improve, sloppiness becomes a habit; then it's tougher to get the team to focus on getting better when it most needs to.
-Ken Blanchard & Don Shula, Everyone's a Coach, p. 21

Friday, February 16, 2007 8:34 a.m.

And more to the point, if [Tiger Woods] were trying to be some "whole person" defined by having to do it all, then he would probably not win the Masters, as he would be misusing his talents, spending time doing something he might not do well and not doing what only he can do.
-Henry Cloud, Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality, p. 32

We need our gifts, but without wholeness of character - integrity as we are calling it - our gifts will become unusable or at least less fruitful. You can be the best designer in the world, but if no one will talk to you, or you can't complete a proposal on time, you will be designing the inside of Dumpsters.
-Cloud, Integrity, p. 34

Things I Learned During a Month Off from Blogging...

2007-02-27T19:43:00.000-05:00

Among other things, I learned...

People still check in on your blog, even though you said you were done. Cool!
Blogging really is an itch that needs to be scratched! It's not quite like Jeremiah's fire in his bones, but it must be pretty dang close! Within 10 minutes of posting that "I'm done" post a month ago, I had three or four things I wanted to post!
Perry Noble rocks!
So does my buddy, Gary Lamb. (But I knew that before I took my blogging break!)
My other buddy, Tony McCollum ain't too shabby, either!
There is no substitute for passion.
There are a lot of things that keep our prayers from being answered.
If my prayers don't articulate God's character, advance God's Kingdom, and achieve God's purpose and plan, they probably aren't going to be answered.
Some people "get it." Some don't. Some of the ones you think "get it" really don't. And vice versa.
Medeski, Martin, and Wood are perfect for a Tuesday night post-blogging-break Unwind.

Wait For It...

2007-02-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

All Good Things...and Most Not-So-Good Ones...

2007-01-27T19:43:00.000-05:00

Just now, I came across this article about when it's time to stop blogging. The author, Lorelle VanFossen, lists 15 tips for how you know it's time.

Well, for a lot of reasons, and unfortunately, some of the 15 apply directly, it may be that time. At least for a while.

Now, even as I typed that last sentence, I immediately thought about how often we wanna-be bloggers are so self-centered, so self-important, that we actually think our checking out of the blogosphere would somehow greatly affect the ebb and flow of the universe. So we advertise the fact that we're giving it a rest. As though it matters.

Well, I'm probably not done for good, because I do love the give and take, the ability to put a little piece of yourself out there for the world, if they choose to or if they stumble upon your stuff en route somewhere else, to grasp and share. I like that a lot.

But our internet provider is about to change, I don't really know if I want to mess with the hassle of shifting this whole monstrosity over to the "new" Blogger, I'm kicking around the idea of a domain name, I'm playing with WordPress, and a whole lot of other factors are going into my thought process right about now.

I guess Lorelle's tips just kind of hit me at an opportune time.

I'll keep checking in on you guys. I'll keep learning and connecting and having those "hmmmm" and "aha!" moments, and probably before long, I'll be back again.

Thanks for playing. Keep up your good stuff!

Perspective...

2007-01-27T09:24:00.000-05:00

Today will be an adventure to be enjoyed, or an ordeal to be endured.

What makes the difference?

Starbucks and Krispy Kreme Lovers Unite!

2007-01-26T13:23:00.000-05:00

WOW! I just saw this story in the news. I know some folks who would be in REEEEAAAAAALLLL TROUBLE!

Tuesday Night Unwind, 01.23.07...

2007-01-23T19:55:00.000-05:00

It's an all-Diana night! I heard her on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz this afternoon, and I've been in a Diana mood ever since!

Some Questions...

2007-01-23T14:27:00.000-05:00

...for a self-satisfied, excuse-making, status-quo-loving pastor, serving in a self-satisfied, excuse-making, status-quo-loving church...

About Church Finances...

What about the finances? Do you want Me to give you enough money to meet your pared-down budget? Or do you want Me to call you to an incredible mission and provide what you need to pay for it?

Thanks a Lot, Roger!

2007-01-23T14:04:00.000-05:00

First, a story...

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived and breathed a race of men unmatched in all of pastoral history. These men were the mighty men of the Redneck Pastors. Much like the Jedi of old, these men were scattered - by schedule and circumstance - throughout the universe. Left to fend for themselves, they very rarely managed to congregate for jollity and mutual encouragement. The northernmost participant in this noble race is one Roger Blackmore, in the far reaches of civilization, otherwise known as LawnGUY-land.

OK, why am I thanking Roger today? Because he's perfected the art of the gut-punch, along with Andy Stanley. Don't believe me? Well, you can see for yourself. Twice.
(Warning: If you're a self-satisfied, excuse-making, status-quo-loving pastor, serving in a self-satisfied, excuse-making, status-quo-loving church, go ahead and brace your abs...your gut punch is coming.)

Roger's gut-punch #1.
Roger's gut-punch #2.

A List or A Life?

2007-01-23T13:42:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty sure this isn't an original thought, but it's a thought that's on my mind today...

A prayer list isn't the same as a prayer life.

It's All Over On American Idol...

2007-01-22T12:51:00.000-05:00

In case you missed it, my buddy Tony McCollum brought down the house with his American Idol audition! Oh, wait...I think that's "SHUT DOWN the house."

Check it out for yourself...

Testing...

2007-01-19T20:18:00.000-05:00

That's what you call "shifting pair o' dimes." Let the reader understand...

Finally, A Little Word Association Exercise, Part Three...

2007-01-18T12:08:00.000-05:00

When you say "traditional" (as in "traditional music"), what do you have in mind?

See, because if you Google "traditional music" you come up with around 111,000,000 matches...folk, Celtic, Japanese, Irish, world, Iranian, Oklahoma City, and the hits just keep on coming!

Whose tradition do you mean?

A Little Word Association Exercise, Part Two...

2007-01-18T11:07:00.000-05:00

When you say "choir", what do you have in mind?

Just wondering...

A Little Word-Association Exercise...

2007-01-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

When you say "organ" (as in, "A church without an organ is not really a church"), what do you have in mind?

Just wondering...

I Love Church Planters, BUT...

2007-01-17T22:03:00.000-05:00

God has been gracious enough to let me cross paths with several folks who are out there on the cutting edge of Kingdom work, planting brand-new churches that are making a huge impact in this culture. Almost every one of the church planters I know is facing great challenges. I pray for the ones I know almost daily. I try to help carry their burdens and more than anything, I want to be a friend and encourager to them.

BUT...

Tonight, I think if I hear one of them say anything about how much tougher they have it than pastors of established churches have it, I just might commit a felony!

Yes, to quote one of my church planter heroes, church planting is the extreme sport of ministry. Yes, there are challenges planters face that guys like me don't face.

BUT...

Tonight, I am once again convinced that the absolute toughest, most dangerous assignment in ministry is trying to lead an established church through a transition to make an impact for the Kingdom right now.

Flood Update...

2007-01-16T18:55:00.000-05:00

Just in case you were wondering about the progress of the flood recovery efforts, I went into the office today and checked in with our Servpro folks. Get this...they told me they've removed over 500 gallons of water since Sunday morning!

Oh, and here's anew concept for you. You know that stuff you make interior walls out of?

What's it called...DRYwall? NOT!

Ours is now WETwall! Nice, huh?

It's a-MAZ-in', ain't it, Tom, what one little tyke-sized toilet can do! There's gotta be a sermon illustration in there somewhere!

Pickin' and Grinnin'...

2007-01-16T18:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I had my first guitar lesson today. My teacher? Me. Along with Mel Bay and his world-famous Modern Guitar Method.

I feel a lot like Gitarzan, of whom it was famously said...

He ordered Chet's Guitar course C.O.D.
Makes "A" and "E" and he's working on "B"
Digs "C" and "W" and "R" and "B"
And me and the chimpanzee agree that one day soon he will be a celebrity.

Anyway, it was fun, if a little frustrating, due to my impatience. But it really is going to force me to value the process, which, if nothing else, may be helpful if I can translate it into some other areas of my life. Go figure...

BTW, I mentioned that my guitar is an old "beater." I found pictures of one just like mine on the Web today. Check it out here.

I also met the nice folks over at Donley's Music, a local shop just a couple of miles from my house. They didn't laugh at me or my guitar, (in fact, the guy at the store gave me several plausible-sounding reasons why it's a great guitar for learning!) and they fixed a couple of things and re-strung the guitar at a very, very reasonable price in less than an hour. I may end up signing up with them for some real live lessons in a little while.

But until then, I'm off to practice..."1st-String Etude," "Etude No.2," "The Mixmaster," "The Merry Men," "Frolic," and "E-B" have never sounded so good!

I'm a-pickin'...and you're a-grinnin'!

Sunday Night Unwind, 01.14.07...

2007-01-14T19:20:00.000-05:00

What a day already! Got to church this morning, going about the usual Sunday morning get-ready routine, when, all of a sudden, our nursery coordinator shouted, "Oh, no!"

I headed down the hall to discover about 2-3 inches of water in a 70-foot-long corridor! Nice! I got a stick and held it aloft at the end of the hallway, but it didn't work for me like it did for Moses! Dang!

So I had to slosh through the flood (funny, it didn't work like it did for the priests at the Jordan River, either, come to think of it!) to find the source of the stream: a constantly running toilet in one of the preschool rooms!

Well, at any rate, the flood was a good excuse to get rid of a bunch of junk that had been accumulating for years, and it gave us a good excuse to renew our friendship with our local Servpro folks.

Anyway, all that to set the stage for tonight's Unwind...

I've not been real partial to Hillsongs for some reason, but last night I watched NewSpring's service from last weekend, and was really moved by the worship (led by Lee McD!). They used Mighty to Save from the Hillsongs project of the same name, and it rocked my world for some reason! So I did the old iTunes thing and got it and the Chris Tomlin project which includes "Everlasting God," "Awesome is the Lord Most High," and a very laid-back but powerful rendition of "Amazing Grace." Good stuff!

A Little Help from You Worship Leader Types, Please...

2007-01-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

OK, here's the deal...

I'm 46, I have some musical background, and I want to learn to play the guitar. There, I said it!

Now I have no illusions of being Jimi (heck, I can't even hear Jimi, remember?) or Eric or Segovia or Lincoln or even Esteban! But I would like to be proficient enough to get through some basic chords, etc. and not embarrass myself if I tried to lead a little worship now and again.

What are some basic resources - books, web-based, anything - to help me do that?

I already have an old "beater" to learn on...I just need someone to point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

Andy Stanley Punched Me Right in the Gut...

2007-01-11T11:12:00.000-05:00

I keep finding ways to have coffee with some of the greatest leaders around. First it was coffee with Craig Groeschel. (You did know he's blogging now, right?)

Today it was coffee with Andy Stanley. (I don't know if he's blogging or not, but I do know he responds to blogs sometimes.)

Anyway, you'd think that since I'd gone to the trouble and spent my hard-earned money to buy Andy's book, just so I could have coffee with him this morning, that he'd nice enough to not haul off and punch me right in the gut!

But he didn't think twice about doing it!

Here's where he did it...(long book excerpt warning)...

What if you had a sixteen-year-old son who said he was coming to church one last time and then he was packing up and hitting the road for good. And what if in the middle of the night and angel appeared and said, "You can reach the heart of your son if you do exactly what I tell you. Go into your attic and find his old box of Legos. On Sunday, preach a message around this one point: Christ came to build a bridge to the disconnected. The entire time you are preaching you are to construct a bridge using his Legos." I know it's far-fetched. However, I also know that somebody reading this book is going to find some Legos and build a bridge next Sunday.

If that really happened to you, I feel confident that you would not respond by saying, "I can't do that in my church, it would require moving the pulpit." If you really believed that getting way outside your comfort zone on a Sunday morning would reach your teenage son, you would do it. If you wouldn't, there are probably other books you should be reading.

Now please don't miss this. Next Sunday, somebody's prodigal son or daughter may slip into the back of your auditorium to give the God thing one last try. And it could very well be that somewhere in your town there is a mom or dad praying like crazy that something significant would happen in the heart of their child. I know you would be willing to do some new and possibly unusual things to reach your own son or daughter. What would you be willing to do to reach someone else's? (Communicating for a Change, p. 176-177)

WOW! And OUCH! Thanks for the coffee, Andy. And thanks for the punch in the gut.

Now if we can only remember what the punch in gut felt like this morning - and do whatever it takes - whatever it takes! - to communicate the powerful, life-changing message in powerful, life-changing ways!

In the Presence of Greatness...

2007-01-10T15:10:00.000-05:00

Went to a meeting today with The One, The Only Mad Babbler Himself! Much to my disappointment - and deep down, to Gary's disappointment, too - nobody even mentioned the Christmas Eve video!

Speaking of Coltrane...

2007-01-09T20:24:00.000-05:00

The great A Love Supreme follows Kind of Blue in tonight's "Unwind" sequence.

Tuesday Night Unwind...

2007-01-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

I've "unwound" to tonight's selection before, but some things are just worth repeating!

The John Coltrane solo on "Flamenco Sketches"...man! That - among other things - is what makes Kind of Blue arguably the greatest jazz recording of all time! And that's what makes it tonight's unwind at the end of a pretty good day!

More Numbers from the Fitness Quest...

2007-01-08T19:32:00.000-05:00

Last week, I signed up to have my body fat percentage tested. Now as both of you loyal readers will recall, 2006 was a banner year for my personal physical fitness. I went from 274 pounds on January 2, 2006 to a svelte 190 by Thanksgiving, and I've maintained that level through all the holiday eating festivities!

Between the time I signed up for the body fat test and actually taking the test today, I had my annual physical exam as well. Let me brag just a bit more.

Remember my comedian doctor told me that in addition to needing to "jettison some excess tonnage," my liver enzymes were also high? This year, the new guy (from Canada, eh?) kind of scratched his head and said...

This is a typo, right? You really haven't lost over 80 pounds since this time last year, have you?

"No typo," I replied.

He went on to say this...

Your liver enzyme levels were rather high last year, and they seem to have come way down. It was 94 last January, and we like to see it no higher than 43 in guys your age. Your level this year is 26!

So anyway, today was the day of the body fat test. Kind of a weird experience where you have to completely submerge in this big ol' tub, assume a pushup position, and blow out all your air as fast and as hard as you can. More than once.

I was a little worried about what the number would show, since I've never had this tested before. The optimum health range for guys my age is 18.1% to 15.1%. Mine was 17.6! I'll take it!

I think I just found my next challenge though - getting it down to 15%. According to my tester's information, that means I need to drop around 6.3 more pounds of fat. That would put me at 183.7! I can do that! I think I will do that!

And Hungry College Students Are Mourning Today...

2007-01-06T20:25:00.000-05:00

...because the esteemed inventor of Ramen Noodles has passed.

In 15 Minutes...

2006-12-28T21:04:00.000-05:00

I was waiting to get my hair cut this afternoon and I picked up the January 2007 issue of Real Simple. I know, I know...but, hey, I like the magazine, and I figure you can learn something from just about anywhere if you pay attention.

So they had this little factoid section about what happens in 15 minutes. I came across these interesting 15-minute happenings...

An estimated 625,000 email messages are sent worldwide. 417,000 (67%) of them are spam.
About 91,000 people enter the turnstiles in the Moscow Subway system. How does that compare to the NYC system? Only 51,000 or so pass through the turnstiles in NYC's subway system.
62 million shares of stock are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The issue also included several sections which asked...

What would you do if you had 15 minutes of time?

The answers ranged from kissing your spouse, to playing with your kids, to reading and writing.

I'm amazed at how much we can get done in a very short time, if we only apply ourselves to the tasks at hand. That's a great argument for being fully engaged, for being where you are, wherever you are.

You and I have 96 15-minutes stretches of time every single day. I want to make mine count for something significant.

Reading Week...

2006-12-28T07:18:00.000-05:00

Well, 2006 is swiftly losing its identity into 2007.

Christmas is over...finally. And this week is kind of a crash week, filled with those things that you've just gotta get done since you have some time.

One of those things for me is catching up on some reading, writing, reflecting, and thinking about some ways I want to grow as a person, a husband, a dad, a friend, a son, a mentor, a communicator, and a leader during the coming year.

Part of my plan this week involves reading - a lot. Here's a representative list of some of the books in the bag, by the bed, in the...uh, reading room, etc.

What are you reading this week? What are you planning to read in the next two weeks? In the next month?

Remember...

Leaders are readers.

And this...

Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
-Francis Bacon

Personal Best Thursday!

2006-12-21T09:58:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted anything about my ongoing fitness saga lately. (Heck, I haven't posted much of anything at all, he says snidely.)

Anyway, today was a cardio day (3 days strength, 3 days cardio, Sundays off). I had intended to take a trip back in time to where this whole fitness thing started, and do my cardio on the elliptical machine at the YMCA. I packed the headphones and my Pines of Rome CD for a little added motivation.

I got to the Y, staked out a machine as far away from the others as I could. (See, I have this weird habit of getting carried away when the "Pines of the Appian Way" section kicks in, and it's not uncommon for me to actually "air-conduct" or something. But I digress...).

Well, the machine I staked out was unstable and wobbly, and felt like it was going to fall apart at any minute. (Now, mind you, I'm 69% of the man I used to be, but that's still not a secure feeling!) On top of that, the TV/audio console kept flopping up and down. And to top it all off, the audio-out jack wouldn't hold my headphone plug. So, I scrapped that idea after only five minutes.

I've been running for my cardio for a while, and so I decided to give the indoor track a spin, just to get my workout in. I hopped off the elliptical, and started running. It started out to be one of the easiest paces I've had, and I just had that feeling that it was almost effortless.

17 laps later (one mile on the indoor track) I glanced at my trusty Timex Ironman, and it read...

9.07.74

Now, I know that's slower than Christmas in the real running world -- after all, I'm the guy they used a calendar to time in the 50-yard dash as a kid -- but for a 46-year-old old coot, who couldn't even go for eight minutes straight on the elliptical just 11 months ago, it's a personal record!

Oh, the best part about that 9-minute mile? You can do a significant amount of business with God while you're on that pace. And in the 13-minute mile walk just after it. And in the 12-minute mile run-walk interval workout at the end.

Here's hoping you have a "personal best" Thursday today!

Serendipitous Quote of the Day: Vision...

2006-12-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

I found this great quote from Mark Twain in the Design Within Reach email newsletter...

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

If I Had It to Do Over...

2006-12-15T12:34:00.000-05:00

Just some thoughts on my mind today...

Ability does not equal necessity. Just because you can, doesn't mean you must or ought.
The difference between who you are now and who you’ll be in five years depends on the books you read, the people you meet, and the experiences you seek.

"Blasphemous Dingbats in Santa Suits..."

2006-12-12T18:22:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Wednesday, 12.13.2006, 3:33 p.m....Uh-oh, now the TV news is in on it! We'll never hear the end of it now!

OK, so I'm a little bit late to this party, but did you hear the one about the church with the bad rap video promoting their Christmas Eve service?

Seems the local paper has picked up on it along with the usual detractors.

It's not the "blasphemous dingbats in the Santa suits" that concern me.

It's the unforgivable "whiteness" and lack of rhythm and coordination!

Coaching Quote...

2006-12-12T07:49:00.000-05:00

This great quote about coaching appeared yesterday, courtesy of Troy Worman...

What I need is someone who will make me do what I can.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

What Leaders Do, Part 43,231...

2006-12-11T05:22:00.000-05:00

Today's quote from John Quincy Adams...

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

About That Clutter...

2006-12-06T23:34:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention this in the last post. One of these days, real soon, I'm going to be trying to clean out some of the clutter and revamp the blog. May move it, may keep it here, who knows yet?

Cleaning Out Some of the Clutter...

2006-12-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

Today has been a "clean out the clutter" day...in more than one way!

I got up this morning and went to the office to wait for a meeting, and while I was there, I just started throwing out junk that has accumulated over the last while. Just that little bit of cleaning out freed up some space in my office and made it a bit neater and more usable.

When my day started today, I had 338 feeds on Google Reader! 338! Now, I love this whole blogging thing, but I've come to realize lately that the value in blogging (at least for me) is actually blogging. Writing. Contributing. Not the sometimes mindless monitoring of over 300 blog feeds. Don't get me wrong: I do find quite a bit of information that makes me go "hmmmm!" and "a-ha!" But I discovered (admitted?) that I really have gotten caught up in the whole echo chamber thing. So I cleaned out my feeds. For now, at least, I've pared it down to 197. That's still a lot, and the potential for wasted time is great. But it's manageable. The Turk may strike again before it's over.

Finally, tonight, back at the office, I had a good, long time of praying, reading, thinking, reflecting, etc. And I got to clean out some clutter from my mind and my soul. Funny how cleaning out the clutter in one area often leads to more of the same in others.

Tuesday Night Unwind, 12.05.06...

2006-12-05T19:14:00.000-05:00

Taking a little break from the Christmas music tonight. Got a little Camille Saint-Saëns going on, for one reason: the grandiose organ part in the final movement of the Third Symphony!

OK, make it two reasons: The organ part in the Third Symphony and the Danse bacchanale from Samson and Delilah!

What's On My Mind Tonight...

2006-12-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

Just a random collection of stuff I'm thinking about...

My French press and Starbucks Verona make a pretty darn good combination!
I'm speaking here Sunday. And I'm looking here for some images for my talk. Oh, and I'm real nervous about it. For a lot of reasons.
This quote from More Space...There's nothing so broken that it can't be fixed.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas.
My buddy Gary's "offensive" Christmas mailer.
Tonight's full moon. Did you know that the orbital path of tonight's full moon will be an exact replica (or is that mirror?) of the sun on the longest day of the year?
Linus dropped his blanket. And didn't care. For one brief moment. Remember? (Hint: You don't really need a security blanket when an angel tells you not to be afraid.)
Why hospital business offices don't get it right.
Leadership means taking initiative.
Rotten fish
It's never too early to look ahead.
Three treasures you need to leave behind...Your library, your pictures, and your journals.

OK, that's enough for one night. What's occupying your thoughts tonight?

More Christmas Music, More Christmas Baking...

2006-11-30T14:54:00.000-05:00

The pound cake turned out really, really good! That's the first "real" cake I've ever made! A Southern Living recipe and some Alton Brown know-how...makes for good cake!

Anyway, now my favorite Christmas music of all is playing, and the Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars are in the oven!

The rain has stopped, the lovely and gracious "Mrs. Just Charlie" will be home in a bit, and we're probably going to hit the early bird special for dinner!

Yes!

Christmas Brass and Christmas Baking...

2006-11-30T08:32:00.000-05:00

How's that for a rainy Thursday?

This is in the oven and this is playing throughout the house.

You really can't beat it...

Happy Birthday to C.S. Lewis...

2006-11-29T05:04:00.000-05:00

Featured today on Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac...

C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland (1898). He said of his childhood, "I am a product ...[of] books. There were books in the study, books in the drawing-room, books in the cloak room, books in a bedroom, books piled as high as my shoulder in the attic, books of all kinds reflecting every transient stage of my parents' interests, books readable and unreadable, books suitable for a child and books most emphatically not. Nothing was forbidden me. In the seemingly endless rainy afternoons I took volume after volume from the shelves."

Lewis's parents were Anglicans and took him to church as a boy, but he found religion cold and boring. He preferred pagan mythology: Irish, Norse, and Greek myths he read in storybooks. He created an imaginary country called 'Boxen' and wrote stories about it. He said, 'My early stories were an attempt to combine my two chief literary pleasures — 'dressed animals' and 'knights in armour.' As a result, I wrote about chivalrous mice and rabbits who rode out in complete mail to kill not giants but cats.'

He began teaching philosophy at Oxford, where he met J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien was a devout Christian and Lewis was an atheist, but they shared a love for mythology. They took a long walks around the Oxford grounds, debating the existence of God. Tolkien tried to persuade Lewis that the story of Jesus was a myth but that it had also actually happened.

The morning after one of those walks, Lewis went with his brother to the zoo. He said, 'When we set out [for the zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did. Yet I had not exactly spent the journey in thought. Nor in great emotion.' He became the most prominent Christian apologist in the world. He recorded a series of lectures for radio, which were broadcast in England during World War II, and many people gathered around their radios to take comfort from his ideas in the midst of bombing raids. The lectures were collected into his book Mere Christianity (1952).

But he is best remembered for the seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia, which he started publishing in 1950. Lewis decided to write for children, even though he never had any children himself and had never had any strong relationships with children. He wanted to give children what he had gotten himself from fairytales when he was a child.

C.S. Lewis said, 'You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.'"

"The Ghost of Ministry Past..."

2006-11-28T20:10:00.000-05:00

That's what Mississippi pastor Tony Lambert said haunts too many of our churches and leaders today.

Wow!

Lambert was speaking at THE Seminary's Layne Lecture Series. Check this great quote...

It has never been God’s will for ministry to ever become a snapshot. No, God wants it to be a continuing, streaming video.

And this one, about leaders leading by example...

If the leader is not leading by example, then, I’m telling you, there’s going to be trouble all through the organization, whatever it is.

"We Wuz Robbed!"

2006-11-28T18:41:00.000-05:00

And that's how my day started...what kind of day have you had?

Let me fill you in on the details...

I went to sleep on the sofa last night watching Prison Break. (What happened at the road block in Albuquerque?)

Anyway, I woke up at 4:20 a.m. today, and I noticed that I hadn't turned off the Christmas lights on the front porch, so I opened the front door and turned off the lights. As I did, I noticed there was some guy standing in the street down at the end of our driveway. I thought it was a bit weird that somebody would be on the street at that time, but I just chalked it up to the fact that he probably had a good reason to be out and about.

I stood there and watched as he slung some sort of bag over his shoulder, got on an old bike, and pedaled noisily, but nonchalantly off down the street. I went back into the house, and since it was time to get up anyway, I went ahead and got started on my day.

The lovely and gracious "Mrs. Just Charlie" got up, got ready, and headed off to work. I didn't even mention the guy to her, figuring it was no big deal.

An hour or so later, I started to head out for the YMCA, and when I got into my truck, I noticed the laptop bag that had been in the passenger floorboard was no longer in the passenger floorboard.

And that's when it hit me: More than likely, it was my laptop bag the guy on the squeaky old bike had slung over his shoulder as he rode off down my street!

So, I called Cherokee County's finest, and the officer showed up, wrote out a report, and all that jazz. (Right in the middle of writing the report, he got a call about somebody's burglar alarm going off in our neighborhood.)

Apart from that whole "feeling violated on my own property" thing, "Mr. Squeaky Bicycle Guy" got the raw end of the deal. As I told somebody later, that computer is about two or three notches below "Piece of Crap" on the scale of notebook computers. But still, it's a sickening and deflating feeling to start your day off with a robbery.

So that was my early morning. Hope your day has been better than that!

Tuesday Night Unwind, 11.28.06...

2006-11-28T18:09:00.000-05:00

After a long day that started early this morning (more about that in the next post!), what better Unwind than the classic Vince Guaraldi Trio and the soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas? Which, by the way, comes on tonight. In about an hour and a half. And I'll be watching it. Because no matter how old I get, no matter how less sophisticated the animation gets year after year, no matter how crass and commercial the culture is around us, I'll probably still wipe a little dust when Linus gets on the stage and tells the Christmas story...

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. Good words, Linus, my friend. Good words, indeed...

Never Fails...

2006-11-25T20:29:00.000-05:00

See, it's not just that Tech had a banner year that seems like all for naught tonight.

It's not just that playing for the ACC Championship next week now seems anticlimactic.

Heck, I don't even really have a dog in this fight at all.

But you know what it is? You know what really gripes me about games like this?

The fans. Georgia fans, in particular.

I've mentioned before in this space that I don't really have anything against Georgia. Their mascots have been bred and raised by a whole family of my fraternity brothers. I've even liked most, if not all their coaches and players. I even pull for them when they play against the outsiders. I like it when they win their other big games.

But it's their fans. Their obnoxious, loudmouthed, overbearing fans. That's it...

Good game, Dawgs. Go win the ACC, Jackets. Wait till next year (he says for the umpteenth time in a row!).

Style Notes...

2006-11-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

OK, sue me...I was reading the December issue of GQ, and I came across the "M Noted" feature written by Michael Hainey. It's a little piece entitled "Untucked, Untied...Uncool" about guys who think they're Joe Fashion, but who really aren't.

Here are some interesting quotes...

If you think wearing an undone dress shirt the size of a tunic makes you look young and hip, think again.

I'm not saying I don't support a guy's desire to wear roomier clothes. Or to not tuck in his shirt. But the point is to dress like a man who has some self-respect. Like a man who looks in the mirror.

What's more, you have a responsibility to dress your age and your status. We all do. Otherwise, you go from Maloof to Magoofball.

96 Rock, RIP...

2006-11-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

Say it ain't so!

The Atlanta paper's radio guy says it is so!

Coffee with Craig Groeschel...

2006-11-16T15:35:00.000-05:00

I had coffee with Craig Groeschel this afternoon.

Well, actually I had coffee with Craig Groeschel's book Confessions of a Pastor which was in the mail at the office.

I got it out of the mailbox at 11:45 a.m. and headed to my table at my other office. I finished the book at about 1:30 p.m.! Couldn't put it down. It really grabbed me and spoke to some issues I'm facing in my own life and ministry. Now I'm going to spend the next little while going back through it with a new Moleskine and sharp Black Warrior, a little more deliberately this time.

Here are a couple of quotes from the quick read...

You'd think that becoming a "man of the cloth" (whatever that means) would have shaken the deceit right out of me. But as a young pastor, I simply turned pro. (p.9)
Somewhere on my journey...I forgot that God called me...not to be like a pastor, but to be like Christ. (p. 10)
I had become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ. (p. 11)

I'm starting the slow read with Chapter 3, which is titled...

Most of the Time I Feel Incredibly Lonely

...and includes this quote...

So you create impossible standards for yourself and daily put on your best performance for others. The show must go on. And so does the loneliness. (p. 65)

If you didn't get in on the giveaway of this book, let me urge you to run, not walk and pick it up as soon as you can.

A Couple of Updates...

2006-11-16T10:43:00.000-05:00

...just to set your concerned minds at ease!

Whatever was the deal with my calf/ankle thing is all better today. Must have just been a little overuse on Tuesday. No problems at all!
And since some of you asked, GanGan Haddard is not my grandfather - he's my dad! "The Boy" and "The Nephew" are the apples-of-the-eye grandkids! So, Happy Birthday to Howard!

"GanGan Haddard," It's Your Day!

2006-11-16T06:04:00.000-05:00

"GanGan Haddard." A little boy's way of saying "Granddaddy Howard." Well, GanGan Haddard hits the big 3-9 today. Plus a few.

Never one to make the headlines (well, except for that term on the local school board, and runner-up in the county fair cooking contest), still my hero after all these years.

Servant heart, do anything in the world for you. Best exemplified by the story told by another of my lesser heroes about the time the church needed to buy some property. GanGan Haddard voted against it (of course!). But it passed overwhelmingly. And when the day came for that property to be renovated, who was the first one there with tools and expertise in tow? You guessed it! When my other lesser hero asked why he was so enthusiastic about helping with the work when he'd been so dead-set against getting the property, GanGan Haddard responded...

I voted and had my say, the church has spoken, now it's time to get busy moving ahead!

I have been this guy, and GanGan Haddard is this one.

Creator of "Howardisms," like...

Many hands make light work.
Sorry Braves!
Lookahere!
Great time o' day!
Don't get caught exceeding the speed limit. (Intoned like clockwork at the end of every visit home, and followed by the response, "They have to catch me first!")
Boo! (Not in that scary ghost way...aw, never mind...you had to be there!)

And my favorite...

"Can't" never could do anything!

Thanks for everything, GanGan Haddard. Happy Birthday! See you next week!

Wednesday Night Unwind, 11.15.06...

2006-11-15T20:14:00.000-05:00

Severe weather possible in our area, constant rain all day long and forecast for all night, these three are just about perfect for a rare midweek unwind...

(Apologies to "The Boy." I guess if Dad is listening to John Mayer, he's not cool anymore, huh?)

Ouch! That Smarts!

2006-11-15T19:40:00.000-05:00

Missed my workout today because of my first injury since the whole process began back in January. Yesterday was an interval training day, and I guess that's when it happened. I didn't notice it until this morning. It's right between my calf and my ankle and it feels really tight and sore. I can walk and all that, but I'm glad I gave it a rest all day today. I'll jump back in the saddle tomorrow morning, and see how it goes.

Until then, any experienced runners out there with the same symptoms?

Oh, BTW...the scale said 190 this morning! That's down from 274 in January...and that's just about where I want to be!

A Dreary Day...

2006-11-15T08:17:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in my favorite little coffee place in our area, doing my usual Wednesday morning thing. It's raining, it's grey, and the fall leaves are piling up on the street outside. The cappuccino is like nectar of the gods.

The Greek Grammar Gang is holding forth in the corner booth behind me ("the rough primitive adjectives in Mark" - boy, those were the days!).

The "Weekly Reader" has made it through today's paper, and has turned to some huge Guide to the Bible.

The staff is discussing/critiquing the merits of some local churches ("too geared to evangelism, if you want to grow, it's not a place for you," "it's all about the Sunday show," "more North Point than North Point," etc.).

This guy is usually here but not today.

This is usually playing, but not today.

Curley, RIP...

2006-11-10T21:27:00.000-05:00

Actor Jack Palance has gone to the great cattle drive in the sky...

Sunday Night Unwind, 11.05.06...

2006-11-05T20:52:00.000-05:00

Some of your Christmas and winter favorites, done with incredible swing and style, by some of the best jazz artists you've probably never heard of. Christmas music is in full swing at the "Just Charlie" hacienda, and this one will be one of the most played this year.

I'll Take "Failures" for $100, Alex...

2006-11-01T09:04:00.000-05:00

And the answer is...

Son
Husband
Dad
Son-in-law
Pastor
Leader
Preacher
Evangelist
Student
Financial Manager
Optimist
Encourager
Home Maintenance Worker
Friend
Brother
Prophet
Blogger
Writer
Pray-er
Listener
Example
Difference-maker
Jesus-Apprentice

So Close, So Far Away...

2006-11-01T06:55:00.000-05:00

...and slipping further.

Just a rather cryptic heads-up to those who know and those who care...Nothing happened like I thought yesterday. No great provision or deliverance or supply or any of those things I had such a confidence about early in the morning. No great breakthroughs. No confirmation. I guess I just missed it.

If you think you hear Someone saying...

Run easy, son...

...or something about...

...waiting because your dad's coming...

...it may be, in the big scheme of things, best not to pay any attention to it. You'd just be setting yourself up for a huge disappointment. Trust me...or not...

At any rate, the ante just got raised when the new month kicked in.

And that's all I've got to say about that...