Church

You may have heard about the new Starbucks Via, Starbuck's entry into the instant coffee arena.  Though I'm not quite a coffee snob, those who know me know that I am a coffee purist.  It's much like why I prefer the National League over the American League.  God never intended for designated hitters to replace pitchers who couldn't hit their way out of a wet paper bag. Over the years I have learned to appreciate how God created us with free will.  We are free to make choices -- good choices or bad choices.  Living with free will lends itself to interesting experiences, such as the creation of iced coffee.  Though the Bible is silent about such a matter, I can only infer that God never intended people to drink cold coffee.  Would I make it a test of fellowship?  Not quite.  I'm still learning what Paul meant when he…

This past weekend at Mountainview, Jim spoke about the nature of the church being a movement and used Paul's description of the church as a body.  We are all either eyes, ears, or elbows.  He reminded us that church is a verb and not a noun. During our communion meditation ("communion med" in our short-hand language -- but calling it a "med" makes me uncomfortable!) I used Ephesians 4:16 and focused on this particular phrase: "joined and held together by every supporting ligament."  As Christ-followers, we are each a supporting ligament to the body of Christ (the church).  We may hold different muscles together, but every ligament is important. During my junior year in college I tore the anterior cruciate ligament in my left knee playing intramural basketball.  I heard a loud "pop" and my knee just buckled.  Within minutes it was swollen and changing colors.  If you've ever strained…

As you may know, I received a home coffee bean roasting machine (Behmor 1600) from my former boss at Blue Haven Pools and Spas. For the last two months, I've been roasting my own coffee beans (on the back porch, since I smoked up the house on my first attempt).  I've been using the original beans that came with the roaster. So, yesterday I set out to find raw coffee beans here in Denver.  After a bit of research on the Internet, I found Kaladia Brothers Coffee near Denver University.  It's a small shop that roasts its own beans in-house.  They also sell the same beans raw and unroasted (green beans, but not those green beans). I have found my coffee roasting destination.  The guy behind the coffee didn't seem bothered by my questions; in fact, he lit up and seemed genuinely engaged.  He walked me through the different kind…

For those of you suffering from insomnia, podcasts of my recent sermons at Mountainview Church are now online.  Sorry -- no money back guarantee (they're free!).

Last Sunday evening, three of us from Mountainview Church flew from Denver to Tulsa.  Jim (senior pastor), Rick (executive pastor), and myself.  We spent Sunday night in Tulsa and drove the next morning to Joplin, MO.  We spent Monday and Tuesday interviewing potential new staff people.  Apart from the interviews, what I enjoyed most was the interaction between the three of us.  We spent a fair amount of time traveling in the car and just talking about the present and future of our church.  It was good to bounce ideas, share feedback, and dream together. As the newbie on staff, it was nice to have time to participate at this level.  Many of my fondest ministry memories are connected to team experiences.  At one point while I was serving in Walnut Creek, we had two other full-time ministers, an administrator, and a part-time staffer.  My greatest joy was getting to…