Archive - March, 2007

The rise and fall of the Coffee House

March 31, 2007 in Uncategorized with 2 Comments

I spend probably 4-5 hours a week in a coffee shop. I am a coffee fan, I roast my own coffee at home and have all the makings for some serious coffee drinks (sugar free, of course). The thing that I am noticing when I come out to coffee shops is that they are basically hang outs for Pastors, Church Planters and Christian College Students (the category that I fall into). So if we spend all of our time in coffee shops surrounded by other Christian folks who are hanging out here in order to meet non-Christians, aren’t we missing the point?

I have dreamed of having a coffee shop for several years. I am telling you that I love coffee and the atmosphere of coffee shops. Since I have begun to be in coffee shops for a few years, I think I am at the point of opening a bar instead of a coffee shop. I am going to open a bar because people who don’t follow Christ will come in and hang and people who do follow Christ won’t. I think I am transitioning my study place to Whistle Binkies, a local pub which doesn’t have smoking. Probably no wi-fi, but I have a card for that, so no biggie. I guess I’m just want to hang out with people who aren’t Christians. They are, after all, the problem I have with Christianity.

I propose that if there were no more church planters and Christian College students, Starbucks would see a sharp decline in sales. I gotta give them props, though, because the other day their credit card machine was broken and they gave me my drink for free. For the record, I don’t really go to Starbucks often, so they probably won’t come out ahead on this deal. But they did take care of me!

If only you could get a Sugar Free Vanilla Skinny Latte at a bar…Now there is a million dollar idea!

Little Kicks

March 27, 2007 in Uncategorized with 1 Comment

Perry Noble’s latest post really hits home with me today. When Destiny (my wife) and I woke up this morning our daughter, Sophia, was performing her Rockette routine in the womb. This was one of the first times that I felt Sophia, I mean really felt her. I have felt tiny bumps and punches, but today was like, “Daddy, get your stinkin’ hands off of me and mommy!” I actually had to pull my hand away because quite honestly, it was really strange. Destiny assured me that as strange as it is for me, it is at least twice that for her.

Perry has some good ‘spiritual’ insights. The following is a quote from his post, for more go check it out for yourself.

What is inside of you? What is kicking and punching and wanting to come out? Is it you changing your major? Is it a career move? Is it accepting that job? Is it pursuing (or calling off) that relationship? What is it? Seek it??discover it??because we will never be fully alive until we allow Him to live through us on a daily basis!

Is Hell real?

March 24, 2007 in Uncategorized with 5 Comments

Since my last post I have been in discussion with a friend regarding the reality of hell. From what I understand, Brian McLaren basically holds a view that hell isn’t real and people just cease to exist. I don’t know that I can go with that. Another thing that Brian talks about a lot in this discussion is the idea of God creating people just to torture them. He takes a lot of flack in that discussion because there is sufficient Biblical support for a God that is more than just a loving God. He is also, among other things, a just God. For the record, McLaren doesn’t think that God created people just to torture them (and neither do I), but he contends that is the view he contends that mainline Christianity holds. I think that if we compromise components of God’s character by picking and choosing the things that make us feel warm and fuzzy inside, we are really missing something.

I sent back to my friend that I understood hell to be a real place. What this place looks like and feels like, I don’t know and I will never find out. The idea that we both agreed on was that basically hell is eternal separation from God. I guess one thing I am certain of is that Christ followers are promised eternal LIFE, everyone else is getting something else. I don’t know if it is a dude with a pitchfork in a place that is really hot, or if there are layers like in Dante’s Inferno.

I don’t claim to have all the answers. I am also open to discussion of ideas that are different from what I have learned or thought. What I am not open to is changing who God is. I know that some people could say and show me places that show God as being something other than what I have portrayed him to be here, but I think that misses the point. The point is God is everything or he is nothing. One book that shaped my thoughts in this area is The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. Tozer really hits home with a complete view of God. Good read!

I would love to hear what anyone who reads this has to say…let us open the discussion and see where this rabbit trail goes!

To Hell With You

March 21, 2007 in Church, Podcast/Vidcast with 2 Comments

Now that I have your attention!

I wanted to title this entry, “Hell and other stuff we don’t talk about”, but that just wasn’t that catchy of a title.

I was listening to a podcast of apologist Ravi Zacharias the other day and was really convicted on a number of levels.

Ravi told a story of a man named Charlie Peace, who was apparently a notorious criminal in Leeds, England. On the day that Charlie was to be put to death he had a short interaction with the prison Chaplain. Charlie’s final words to the Chaplain were:

Sir,” addressing the preacher, “if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!”

That statement really got to me. I could not stop thinking about it. If we lived the way we think, how much different would this world be? How many people would be saved from the very literal pits of Hell. Hell is a real place reserved for people who choose not to accept what God offers. Jesus followers, HEAR THIS! What we believe about eternity should influence our actions here on this rock. I heard a story about the origin of pirates the other day. Pretty interesting. Pirates were the dudes who took care of the dirty work. They were like the Tredstone of ancient times. (For those of you that don’t know what Tredstone is, watch or read the Bourne Identity/Supremecy) No one admitted that their existence or that they employed them. There came a point where countries couldn’t really use the pirates anymore. For any of you that have ever been downsized, it wasn’t pretty. They basically had two decisions: Join the navy or be pirates. They couldn’t join the navy. There was no way that these rogue dudes who smelled like bacon could fit into the prim and proper navy. They continued to do what pirates do.

How about us? Are we going to join the navy or be pirates? Are we going to settle for status quo, building churches and monuments to an era past or are we going to crawl on our hands and knees across broken glass that one person’s soul wouldn’t perish? A couple years ago I prayed with a friend of mine that I would find some unconventional ministry to be involved in. After what I had been through in the years leading up to that time, I couldn’t go back to ‘normal’ ministry. I couldn’t step into my home church and settle for teaching youth group or children’s ministry. I couldn’t settle for status quo. I had been a pirate for too long. I smelled like sand and beer and smoke and sea salt. I would have had to change too much of who God has made me to be to be ‘conventional’.

Those of you who haven’t made the choice to believe what God said about Hell is true and haven’t made the tough spiritual decisions that impact your eternity, I encourage you to think about these things. I am willing to crawl across the country on broken glass for you.

Arrgghhh!

Random Stuff

March 21, 2007 in Church with 0 Comments

  • Bible reading is awesome. I am currently reading Numbers…good stuff. Leviticus wasn’t bad at all, kinda suprised me, I normally avoid studying that one!
  • One of my good friends just started a blog. You should check it out. http://www.amysmuse.com/
  • I bought a helmet today. Couple that with the power tools I bought a few days ago and I am in man heaven. I keep thanking my wife for letting me splurge a little bit. I don’t think she knows that I have dreamed of having this set of power tools for like 7 years now. Also, I have wanted a motorcycle for my entire life….that dream is looming ever closer.
  • I have a lot of stuff brewing in me. Can’t explain it all here. If you really want to know whats up, let me know and we can get a coffee.
  • I now have three classes left, including the one I am currently in. Wow. A decade in the making. Lots of people go to college for 7 years. Yeah, they are called Doctors.
  • Excited for my men’s weekend in Florida in about 3ish weeks. Might even make a guest appearance at the National New Church Conference. You never know.
  • I just realized that when I get back from ‘vacation’, Sophia (our daughter) will be gracing us with her presence in a little over a month. AWESOME!
  • Following Amy’s advice, I said I was sorry to someone today. It did both my soul and this individual’s soul a world of good.

Lots of cool stuff going on. Stay tuned!

Absolute Destruction

March 12, 2007 in Uncategorized with 3 Comments

I was reading some in Genesis yesterday and had a thought that kept nagging at me. In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter and I am not one to get caught up in the minutia.

When God destroyed absolutely all life on earth through the flood he saved one family and some animals (granted there were a lot of animals). The earth went through a transformation through a catastrophic flood, no doubt about it! I cannnot imagine what that would have been like. Scripture tells us that after the rain stopped (40 days of it for those of you who are wondering) that Noah sent out a bird to search out dry land. One time the bird came back with a twig with fresh growth. I cannot imagine what that would have been like. 40 days of rain and dreary skies. No life other than the big stinky mess you have on this boat with a tiny hole to get out of at the top. New life is amazing.

Isn’t this what Christ offers us? To absolutely destroy what once was our life, filled with murk and mire and to offer us a twig with new growth? I’m encouraged by this. I am thankful for this. Just wanted to share!

By the way, I have joined one of my buddies in reading through the ENTIRE Bible, cover to cover in 90 days. He will finish before me, but I won’t be far behind. Day one is a reflection of what you just read. Pray for me in this endeavor. Never been good at two things: dieting and reading the Bible. Been tons better at dieting and now I need a new food!

Join the Conversation

March 9, 2007 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

I started a little sideline blog for what I am calling ThirteenTwo. This refers to Hebrews 13:2. Basically, just trying to facilitate some discussion surrounding Hospitality Ministry. Should be an interesting experiment. If you want to join the conversation, head on over to ThirteenTwo. Email me if you would like to be able to post and add to the discussion.

Wheeler out.

Page 1 of 212»