The Americanization of Coffee... and God?

Where do you drink coffee? As long as it's good, I drink coffee anywhere I can get it. For some of us coffee is something we drink because we enjoy it, but let's be honest. Tom Hanks spoke for most of us in You've Got Mail when he called it "legal addictive stimulants."

One of my favorite places to get coffee is this little shop in Grapevine some friends turned us on to called Buon Giorno. It's a little shop where they roast the beans themselves. They have free wi-fi and shelves full of books and board games, but don't go there if you're in a hurry. It literally takes them about five minutes to pour a cup of coffee. Why? Because at Buon Giorno coffee is about the Cheers experience--having a place to hang out where everyone knows your name.

Which brings us to Starbucks. I like Buon Giorno, but I like Starbucks, too. Starbucks has gotten some bad press lately because people are saying they are becoming like McDonald's. Actually, I think what is happening is that McDonald's is offering what people were looking for at Starbucks--only cheaper. For the past ten years Starbucks has developed this process of making coffee that is efficient. You walk in, order your grande, extra-hot, non-fat, triple, no-whip, extra-foam mocha, and by the time you get to the register, they hand it to you, zip your debit card, and you're on your way. The problem? As efficient as Starbucks has become, McDonald's is still quicker and cheaper. So, now Starbucks is trying to change their image and their menu. (By the way, their new Pike Place roast is great. Big, bold taste with almost no aftertaste. It does, however, taste like coffee. If you're a coffee drinker who doesn't really like coffee, stick to your caramel macchiato.)

I think the problem Starbucks is going to run into is that we, Americans, don't usually want to sit and hang out while somebody makes our coffee. We want our stimulant quickly because we are on our way to work. Don't get me wrong, occasionally we like to enjoy coffee with friends or while we're reading a good book, but most of the time we think of coffee as a performance-enhancing drug not a way of life.

My concern is that this is also the way we think about God and his family (church) most of the time. We occasionally reminisce about a meaningful experience we once had, but we really go to church to get our dose of God for the week as we scurry about the rest of our lives. This Sunday I encourage you to go to church and savor the words you hear. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 10 that the words of the gospel literally save our lives. They sometimes sting, but after the shock of hearing that I don't contribute anything to my salvation, the truth that Jesus has done it all for me gives me peace and hope. Then, there's God's family. You can find hope in a few songs and an effective description of the Message of Jesus, but church can be so much more... You can find people who will love you and care for you when life is hard. You can find a place where people encourage you and remind you that God loves you--even when you blow it.

This Sunday come see us at the place God's family hangs out. If you don't already have someplace to go, come see us at CrossRoads. When you get to church, get some refreshments and find a comfortable place to sit. Then, say a little prayer. Tell your Heavenly Father thanks for sending his Son to show his love by dying for us. Ask him to introduce you to someone this morning who will be there for you when life gets hard to encourage you and remind you what Jesus' has done for us. Then, when someone comes to say "Hi", expect God to answer that prayer.

If you're looking for God, he has a place for you. Respond to him by going to find that place.

I'd love to see you Sunday!

I like to cook...

I'm one of those guys who enjoys cooking. Of course, I only cook manly food. My favorite food to cook is stir fry. A couple Christmases ago my parents got a wok for me. Three or four times a month I pour some peanut oil in that wok and fry up some chicken and veggies. I guess stir fry is manly food.

One thing I can't do without when cooking is a timer. I don't usually set my timer, though. When I start my food coking, I usually start my timer at zero and let it count up rather than backward. This gives me a better perspective on how long something has been cooking. I guess that probably makes me weird. The important thing is that regardless of which way my timer counts, the food still gets done.

This Sunday I'm going to elaborate on an idea we scraped the surface of last Sunday. I threw out the idea that the time our faith in Jesus becomes most significant is at a funeral--especially our own! In our world where we can fix just about everything with medicine or surgery, I think it's hard for us to remember that one day we're going to be done--regardless of which way we have our timer running.

We all need hope for our own funerals. The Good News is that we really do have hope when we're done. Come hear about it this Sunday!

The fragrance of life...

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 NIV
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.

One of the hardest senses for me to understand is my sense of smell. My wife and I have recently been house hunting. Every house had a different smell. Some smelled clean--they had a hint of lemon and bleach. Some houses smelled like animals. Don't get me wrong. I love animals, but the smell of animals inside a house doesn't give me some internal drive to purchase it. Probably the most interesting smell I noticed while house hunting was the smell of my grandparents' house. I can't place what the smell is, but there were a couple houses we entered that drew up deep emotions and memories. For some reason God has created us in such a way that our mind attaches certain aromas to emotions that are very central to who we are.

I guess that connection between our sense of smell and the core of who we are is what makes these verses from Paul's letter so powerful. Can you imagine the emotions of the Father when his Son was executed on our behalf? Can you imagine how deeply he must have felt grief that his only Son was dying a painful death, crushed under the punishment for every sin of every person who would ever believe in him? Can you imagine how great the joy as he knew that Jesus' death would usher every believer into the intimacy of his own family? It's with these deep emotions that we see Paul describe how we smell to God. He describes us as the aroma of Christ to our Heavenly Father. Paul goes on to tell us that our odor is not only powerful to God but to the people around us. As we love the people around us and share the words that describe Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf, we are the fragrance of life to those who are saved by God's grace. God's message through our words is the aroma that transforms the very heart of the people around us, by the power of God's Spirit, to give them new life through faith in Christ.

Who is going to be smelling you today? How are you going to show them God's love? How are you going to put words to God's love by telling them about God's gift to them in Jesus' sacrifice?

Thank you, Father, that through faith in your Son we are the aroma of Christ to you. Make us faithful to spread the fragrance of knowledge of Christ to others today.