Very eclectic mix for the Unwind tonight: iTunes shuffling through all the music on my computer. No filters, no exclusions, no Genius feature, just the Music Library open and shuffle enabled. I bet that before the night is over, I’ll even break the Labor Day rule. Sue me, it’s my Unwind, and my music!

So, what’s up in the old Just Charlie world?

• Happy Birthday to the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie”! She turned, well…a year older today! (Oh, and happy belated birthday to her twin sister. Who turned a year older a day earlier! Nice, huh?)
• I had intended all kinds of cool birthday things to do, but hardly any of them actually panned out. Originally had planned to go the Atlanta Braves game, but couldn’t find any really great tickets, being as it’s Memorial Day weekend and all. Thought about the Georgia Aquarium. Holiday weekend, again…bunch of folks. Amicalola Falls? Rainy! Fancy Sunday Brunch? Crap, who wants to “dress up” to go eat breakfast, when you could scarf down oatmeal, fruit, and eggs in your underwear? In bed, if you wanted. Forget the brunch.
• So, how did we spend the momentous occasion? Home Depot, a little playing in the dirt, lunch at our old standby Eye-talian place, and a quick visit with “The Boy.” How’s that for par-tay?!?!?!
• Meanwhile, it was good to have a day off and just hang with the fam!
• But wait! Isn’t it Sunday? And aren’t you a pastor? Yep!
• One of my best buds in the world, Warren Moore, brought it at The ‘Crest this morning! My team – Mark, Alison, and Nick – handled everything. Thanks, y’all! Shoot! Nobody even missed me! Charlie who?!?!
• BTW, drum corps music just came on the Unwind soundtrack. From pre-DCI days, 1971. Cool!
• Been in a poetry mood lately. Reading The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology. Good stuff!
• Wondering about whether the time at the YMCA may be coming to its end. There may be some other opportunities. Just wondering…
• Had a great time with God early this morning, before the birthday celebration kicked off. Really challenged and encouraged by the story of David, especially this verse.
• I’ve also been thinking a lot about responsibility, initiative, and discipline for leaders and those who want to be.
• Tim McGraw’s Let It Go on the Unwind soundtrack. See? I told you it was eclectic and random!
• Probably heading out to spend a little money tomorrow.
• Looks like all three vehicles are trying to go kaput at the same time! Not good! Starter for my truck, transmission for the lovely and gracious “Mrs. Just Charlie’s” car, and well…college student driving for “The Boy’s” car. ‘Nuff said?!?!?
• Well, that’ll do it for the next month! See y’all later!
• Oh, and how about some Natasha Bedingfield to close the post? Did you know she sings?!?!?! Good night!
  

Unwind soundtrack? Tasty! by Ray Brown and Jimmy Rowles. Just good bass-and-piano stuff. Both of these guys were pretty big influences on Mrs. Elvis Costello, and that’s good enough for me!

UPDATE, 12:09 a.m. April 20, 2009…

I started writing this post and completely lost my train of thought. I saved the draft, and went to bed, lulled immediately into SleepyTown by a rather gentle thundershower. Then after about an hour of good sleep, I was awakened by the phone (my father-in-law) and the severe weather siren less than 150 yards from my house. They were both alerting me to the fact that we were under a tornado warning. That meant I was – and still am – wide awake, thank you very much! So I might as well try to finish the post!

On my mind tonight…

• The day started out to be one of those days…just couldn’t get on track this morning. Late, late changes to our Sunday program and that’s neither good nor fair to my team. I really, really need to be lots better on that front.
• Late start to church…got a call that one of our “regular” “friends” (which being translated, means, someone looking for a handout) was looking for me at the church.
• When I got there – LATE! – the old softy in me took him and got him some gas for a trip. But that threw me even further off my game.
• Of course, the week-after-Easter crowd was slimmer than the Easter one.
• Our music started off with “Mighty to Save.” Yessssssssss!
• Called an audible in the middle of the service, due completely to the aforementioned late, late changes.
• Started a new series about money. I thought it went pretty well, considering.
• I asked everyone to take out their checkbooks and calendars at one point during my message. Told them that theywe could look at those two sources of information and see exactly where theirour hearts are. OUCH!
• Had a good time meeting with a young couple that I’m going to marry in June.
• I just realized that there are some things I have to be careful of Tweeting and/or blogging.
• I’ve got some great friends and encouragers!
• I’ve really got to get focused in my workout/nutrition/etc. areas again. Trying to live on what you did three years ago won’t cut it today!
• I’m still wide awake and there’s no sleep on the immediate horizon. More rain and thunder, it appears, but alas, no sleep.

So…THIS is the blog, eh? (Blows off the dust)

Most of the time I do the Twitter thing, but every now and then, I get the urge to put something down that’s a bit over 140 characters. Here’s a rare Sunday Night Unwind for your enjoyment or ignoring or whatever.

• My day started with a post to the aforementioned Twitter which read: Bigger, uglier true confession time: I hate Sundays right now. There. I said it. Lately, it seems my weeks are pretty good, but I find myself dreading Sundays. Which is pretty not-acceptable since I am the pastor and Sunday comes right regularly, every seven days, just like clockwork. If you’ve got a spare prayer or two, I’d appreciate you investing one in that area on my behalf. Thanks!
• One of my Y folks surprised me by showing up at our church this morning. As soon as she walked in, I thought: I wish I had something a little better, more profound, more fill-in-the-blank because she’s here. Then it hit me: Why do I worry about having something “better” for her, when I seem perfectly content to offer less-than-my-best to Him? Ouch! Big OUCH!
• Talked about the cross today. Three things the cross does. Galatians 6. I was especially moved by the way The Message renders that passage. Hope our folks were, too.
• Oh, and I used my CrackBerry to read The Message translation. From YouVersion! Tech savvy, there, boys!
• Speaking of CrackBerrys in church, I think we’re going to encourage Twittering during our services. That ought to get some comments!
• That and a couple of other good ideas from this helpful post over at Church Tech Matters.
• I’ve been reading a lot about burnout lately. Specifically,  I’ve just finished Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro and Mad Church Disease by Anne Jackson. Both of these books were very helpful and very challenging. I Twittered once while reading Mad Church Disease: Although I never noticed her hanging around, I’m pretty sure @flowerdust was spying on me as she wrote Mad Church Disease.
• Tonight, I started Henry Cloud and John Townsend’s Boundaries. Seems to be a great and necessary follow-up for some of the burnout/stallout stuff. I’ve already been slapped around a bit by the first few pages.
• Meanwhile, all is not dreary and gloomy.
• For instance, tonight I discovered the Inside Eddie’s Attic program on DaveFM. Good stuff that made me want to go check out some live music.
• Two guys in particular grabbed me on the Eddie’s Attic program: Mike Kinnebrew and Dana Cooper. Got home and downloaded some great stuff from both of these guys!
• Also, in the middle of a Sunday I started out hating, I was reminded again how much I enjoy the team I get to do church (and life!) with. Nick, Mark, and Alison, you guys rock and you make my day!
  

Well, there you have it…

Bible Study Magazine and Mars Hill are giving away 20 copies of Mark Driscoll’s new book, Vintage Church. Not only that, but they are also giving away five subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine and a copy of their Bible Study Library software! Enter to win on the Bible Study Magazine Mark Driscoll page, then take a look at all the cool tools they have to take your Bible study to the next level!

Welcome back, Sunday Night Unwind! Where have you been? This is the first Sunday Night Unwind of 2009. Not that there hasn’t been any Sunday Night Unwinding going on, but just not a lot of posting. So, anyway, without further ado, here we go!

• I got an earworm for that song on the TomTom radio ads. For the record, that song is “In a Persian Market” and it comes from some album of circus music. Circus music! Shazam!
• My ability to count is slipping away. I thought we had more people in our service today than the “official” counters counted. Go figure….
• We’re in the middle of a series called Constant Contact, and we’re focusing on how to listen to God. I think some people are getting uncomfortable with it. Which is good.
• I was as tired as I’ve ever been after preaching today. I don’t know why. It’s a good tired, but tired nonetheless.
• My TomTom earworm isn’t the only one I’ve had today! I woke up with The Spinners‘ “It’s a Shame” in my head. That led me to set up a Spinners channel on Pandora. Still haven’t heard “It’s a Shame” yet, but in the process I discovered Slacker Radio.
• Slacker is cooler than Pandora for one good reason: It plays on my CrackBerry! Yes!
• Starting a new workout from Turbulence Training tomorrow.
• It’s a case of “Physician, heal thyself” for me lately. Starting to put back on a little of the weight I lost. Not much, but enough to make me know I’ve got to get re-focused on health. Especially since I spend  the first part of most of my days tying to help folks develop healthy habits.
• I’m also becoming more convinced of Charlie’s Undeniable Exercise Truth #1: “You can’t ever out-exercise bad nutrition.” I’m no expert personal trainer or anything, I don’t play one on TV, and I didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn last night, but that seems to be so basic that it’s not even funny! And so simple that it seems to be pretty profound! Your mileage may – but probably won’t – vary. Whatever….
• I’m becoming more and more convinced that this so-called “economic stimulus” is a really crappy idea. The Congressional Budget Office now says it’s not only unnecessary, but probably detrimental in the short- and long- terms.
• And what is the stinkin’ attraction of socialism, anyway? Quick, name an instance in history where it’s led to a better quality of life, more freedom and liberty, and prosperity. Still waiting….
• I liked Starbucks a lot better when you never knew what kind of great coffee awaited you until you walked in the door. In the pre-Pike Place days, going to Starbucks was somewhat of an adventure. You got to try different blends, different tastes, and it was good. Now you get Pike Place. Or decaf Pike Place. That tastes like soap. And you might as well be drinking coffee from MickeyD’s, Waffle House, or the Patel Kwik Sack at the corner. Rant off….
• I still don’t think there’s ever been a better movie than Casablanca. Please, God, don’t let anybody get the bright idea of remaking it!
• One last thing: Do you hear that sound? The crack of the bat, the pop of a fastball hitting a leather catcher’s mitt, chatter from the dugouts…spring training is almost here! Yea, baseball! here’s hoping the crybabies will just get down to playing this season!

I hope you have a great Sunday evening, whatever’s left of it. Make your week count! It’s the only second full week of February you’re going to get this year! Peace!

What He said: “Change.” What He did: Same old tired political hacks to fill His administration.

What He said: “No lobbyists.” What He did: At least 17 lobbyists in key positions.

What He said: “Bi- and Post-partisanship.” What He did: “I won.”

And on, and on, and on…

I’m re-reading Tom Peters’s little Reinventing Work series. The first book in the series, The Brand You 50, includes this great quote that should be required reading for every American in the face of the mentality that has led to the socialistic government power grab, euphemistically known as the “stimulus package”…

America has always been the Self-Help Nation. Bootstrap Nation. Pioneer Nation. In the early years of our democracy, everybody provided for themselves and their families (and their neighbors in time of need). Nobody expected to be taken care of. Self-reliance, independence, and the freedom that goes with them were what we stood for, what defined us. And then, about 150 years ago, when Giant Corp. arrived on the scene (Giant Govt. came about 75 years later), we started to lose “it.” Our Franklinian “it.” Our Emersonian “it.” We succumbed — exactly the right word — to Babbittry. To Big Corp.-That-Will-Be-Mummy-and-Daddy-for-Life.

My take (redux): It stunk (and stinks) to high heaven.

But … Gloria, Gloria, Gloria … It Is Over!

Oh, that Tom Peters would be heard loud and clear by our alleged “leaders” at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue! Oh, that his manifesto would once again become the watchword of Americans of all stripes! And, oh that it would be before we sink further into the abyss of socialism!

…and the President and his administration just don’t care!

That’s a flashback to the stupid and inane reports from post-Hurricane Katrina, right?

Nope, it’s the current state of affairs…guess it’s all about the race/class of the victims, huh?

Amazing…

This is a test of mobile blogging from my CrackBerry.

It’s me, the guy who used to hang out here. Remember?

I know, I know…you’ve felt neglected over the last little while. The new kids? Yeah, you’ve met them, right?

Well, let’s see…there’s Twitter. Yeah, kind of accomplishes the same thing you used to accomplish, only in 140 characters or less. Not nearly as time-consuming. I know, it’s not the same. Don’t have to think as much, there’s not as large a blank space staring at you, daring you, challenging you. But it is quick and hip and happening. And it goes with me all the time.

Yeah, speaking of going with me all the time, I guess you’ve also met the newest kid on the block, the Curve. I know, I’ve always been a pencil-and-paper planner kind of guy. Never thought I’d be interested in gadget calendars and to-do lists. It’s taking some getting used to, and I’m still not sure it’s any better. Just different. Maybe you know some people who can help me get better at using it more effectively.

What’s that? You miss me? Yeah, truth be told, I miss you, too, old pal. When I was hanging out with the Twitter kid the other day, I realized that a lot of the folks you turned me on to over the last five years or so are hanging out there, too. And I got kind of nostalgic for the good old days. Remember, when you were the new kid on the block? When you were fresh and hip and happening? Before the corporate types took you over? Yeah, those were the days.

Well, just wanted to pop in and say howdy. The Curve kid’s got a blinking red light that calls for me, beckons for my attention. I’ll be back. Soon. Yes, I promise.