charlieDEAN’S Blog

Katie, the keeper of the books, regularly grabs books that she thinks I’d like and puts them in a pile for me. As I went through the pile yesterday, I found that she had put this book: Swashbuckling Faith: Exploring for Treasure with Pirates of the Caribbean.

I immediately started laughing.

WARNING: HEAVY CYNICISM INCOMING!

Must the Christian book industry try to make a buck of every single latest fad? Seriously! You should have seen the book store shelves filled with “Narnia” books.

Okay, I repent of the cynicism (at least some of it). As a friend and I were talking yesterday, I’m sure that somewhere, someone is connecting to this. And if this comes from a good place — that people really are wanting to wrestle through the spiritual implications of a pirate movie, then “good for them.”

But if it’s just about making a buck, and trying to ride the wave of a movie industry juggernaut, then shame on us for exploiting the gospel of Jesus Christ to make a few more shekels.

First, I had a pretty full day (it was a good day, but full).

Oil change @ 8am
In the office by 8:45
Premarital Counseling @ 11:00-12:15
Lunch with JR @ 12:30-2
Counseling appt. @ 4:00-5:15
Swimming Lessons (the boys, not mine) @ 6:00
New Community @ 6:45

In the middle of all that, returning phone calls, emails, cleaning up my office, etc.

So New Community got over and a bunch of Nexurs were going to Chili’s afterward. I wanted to go so badly. And then Steve Wilmert and the guys from the worship team were going to a movie and asked me to go along, and I really wanted to go.

But I went home. I had seen my wife for 1/2 hour at swim lessons (you follow Caleb, I got Gavin, and I’ll take Jaxon for now) and the only time I saw my kids was at swim lessons. So I went home, and tucked my boys into bed, and told them that I was proud of them at swim lessons. And I tickled Jaxon for a little bit and talked to him (mostly coooing noises), and then watched a movie with my wife.

I’m such a socialite, that it’s hard to go home sometimes — I hate missing out on the fun, but I also miss my family when many days I leave the house before seven, when no one is up, and sometimes don’t come home until after five.

Yesterday, I had the privelege of meeting JR Dakin. JR is the new college & young adults pastor at Riverside Community Church. I’m so excited that they’ve filled this position, and JR is the real deal!

It was fun, we have a lot of the same background (former PCSers) and have similar thoughts about ministry. It’s so good to sit down with fellow “ministry types” where you can talk real “heart stuff,” and strategy and philosophy and hopes and dreams…

I’m looking forward to partnering with JR!

Katie, the keeper of the books, regularly grabs books that she thinks I’d like and puts them in a pile for me. As I went through the pile yesterday, I found that she had put this book: Swashbuckling Faith: Exploring for Treasure with Pirates of the Caribbean.

I immediately started laughing.

WARNING: HEAVY CYNICISM INCOMING!

Must the Christian book industry try to make a buck of every single latest fad? Seriously! You should have seen the book store shelves filled with “Narnia” books.

Okay, I repent of the cynicism (at least some of it). As a friend and I were talking yesterday, I’m sure that somewhere, someone is connecting to this. And if this comes from a good place — that people really are wanting to wrestle through the spiritual implications of a pirate movie, then “good for them.”

But if it’s just about making a buck, and trying to ride the wave of a movie industry juggernaut, then shame on us for exploiting the gospel of Jesus Christ to make a few more shekels.

I love books.
I think if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you probably know that.

I’m in a slump. I’m looking for a book that will challenge my soul. I have no problem downing novels like and ice-cold b….soda. I’ve read a bunch of leadership stuff. I just haven’t read anything in a while, that has really made me fall in love with Jesus all over again.

I’m thinking about pulling an old book off the shelf, unless someone else has a great idea!

[just to save time...i've read all the Donald Miller/Brian McLaren/Philip Yancey/John Ortberg stuff, and I've also perused all the RELEVANT releases.]

I love books.
I think if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you probably know that.

I’m in a slump. I’m looking for a book that will challenge my soul. I have no problem downing novels like and ice-cold b….soda. I’ve read a bunch of leadership stuff. I just haven’t read anything in a while, that has really made me fall in love with Jesus all over again.

I’m thinking about pulling an old book off the shelf, unless someone else has a great idea!

[just to save time...i've read all the Donald Miller/Brian McLaren/Philip Yancey/John Ortberg stuff, and I've also perused all the RELEVANT releases.]

A good friend, who knows some of the stuff I’ve been dealing with recently, showed me this quote from Dan Allendar’s book, Leading with a Limp.

“Pastors are told they have develop thick skin but keep a tender heart. Yeah, and leprechauns are waiting to offer expert counsel on winning lottery numbers.”

Yup.

A good friend, who knows some of the stuff I’ve been dealing with recently, showed me this quote from Dan Allendar’s book, Leading with a Limp.

“Pastors are told they have develop thick skin but keep a tender heart. Yeah, and leprechauns are waiting to offer expert counsel on winning lottery numbers.”

Yup.

Recently I noted that I finally got an internet connection at home. As part of reworking our computer and entertainment issues at home, I had an extra Kenwood receiver. So now I’ve run the sound from my computer into the receiver and I am powering all of the upstairs speakers from our computer.

So what am I playing?

Besides CD’s that I already own, I’ve started to become a big fan of Pandora. Basically, you tell Pandora an artist that you like, and Pandora starts playing music that it thinks you might like. You then rate the song with a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down” and Pandora uses that information to formulate more songs to play for you. In effect, you create your own radio station. You can create different stations…for example, right now I have a DMB station, a Led Zeppelin station and a Counting Crows station.

It’s actually quite fascinating how Pandora picks music…if you want to learn more, go here.

Recently I noted that I finally got an internet connection at home. As part of reworking our computer and entertainment issues at home, I had an extra Kenwood receiver. So now I’ve run the sound from my computer into the receiver and I am powering all of the upstairs speakers from our computer.

So what am I playing?

Besides CD’s that I already own, I’ve started to become a big fan of Pandora. Basically, you tell Pandora an artist that you like, and Pandora starts playing music that it thinks you might like. You then rate the song with a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down” and Pandora uses that information to formulate more songs to play for you. In effect, you create your own radio station. You can create different stations…for example, right now I have a DMB station, a Led Zeppelin station and a Counting Crows station.

It’s actually quite fascinating how Pandora picks music…if you want to learn more, go here.