Coffee

Nothing Like It

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

The following is my article for the Buffalo Center Tribune. It was inspired by 1 John 3:1 – the text I preached on All Saints Sunday, November 7. To God be ALL glory!

I enjoy a good cup of coffee. Wait, that’s not a strong enough statement so let’s try this again: I REALLY enjoy a good POT of coffee, or two. There, that sounds better. You see, I am writing this article at 9:30 AM and I have already finished my first pot and now thinking about my next cup, which will come soon. But also, those who know me well know that I am a first-class coffee snob. I have a local roaster that I buy from, and I do not mind paying a little extra for good coffee. I am not rude, though. I will drink what my host puts in front of me, but I am very picky about what adorns my coffee bar at home.

And this coffee snobbery is on display in my office. One sign reads, “Coffee gets me started, God keeps me going”. Yes, there is a humorous truth here but theologically, many holes can be punched through this. Then there is the sign that reads, “C.O.F.F.E.E. – Christ Offers Forgiveness For Everyone Everywhere”. I like this because this has Gospel (and coffee) written all over it. But there is one more sign – one that I almost feel guilty about having, as it is borderline sacrilegious: “Coffee – Liquid that smells like fresh ground heaven”. Once again, there is a certain humor to this but truthfully, there is nothing that can be compared to heaven – not even coffee (yes, I actually wrote that).

You see, as good as coffee is, or anything of this world, nothing can be compared to our awesome God. 1 John 3:1 says this, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…” The phrase “what kind of love” has the sense in the Greek of “from what country are you from”. John writes this because there is nothing that can be compared to God’s love. There is nothing that can be used in this phrase: “[blank] is like God’s love.” When someone encounters God’s love, it is a love that is so different, so foreign that it should lead someone to say, “Wow, you are not from around these parts”. And that is what John is saying here. God’s love is not like the world, yet, we try to show love to one another using worldly ways and then saying that is God’s love. God’s love is shown and known only through Jesus and him crucified for your sins and raised for you. God’s love is perfect and complete. God’s love is pure and holy. God’s love is like nothing the world has ever seen for God’s love makes YOU His children. No other kind of love can do that.

Yes, there are many fantastically awesome beautiful things of this world (coffee), but nothing that comes close to God – who made all those fantastically awesome beautiful things (coffee). From what country are you from? Through Jesus you’re from the Kingdom of God. And that is a fantastically awesome beautiful truth. To God be all glory, always and forever, Amen.

Ready for the Day

/ The Pastor

Oh God,
i am up and ready.
My coffee is in hand.
My busy schedule is before me.
There is much to be accomplished.
So there is part of me that selfishly asks that all may go well for me and my family, but,
oh God,
i ask even more than that – that i would glorify You in my busyness.
As i go on my way this day may the busyness not distract me from You.
May i not forget to glorify You through my words and deeds.
May i not forget to receive people as i would receive Jesus.
May i not become overcome by my schedule, so much so, that i forget to show the love of Christ to others, including to my own family.
May i not get caught up with thinking that this is MY schedule, but rather it is YOUR schedule.
May i go through this day with the peace of Christ in my heart.
May i go through this day in patience – looking for mission opportunities that You create for me.
Oh God, may i not let Satan make this day just about me.
This day and every day is about You, and so here i go.
I am up and ready – with coffee in hand.
To You be the glory, this day, and always.
Amen.

Ode to Coffee

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

I am a pastor but you can’t be serious all the time, and thus what you will read next. On March 2, I wrote my Ode to Bacon, so it only seemed appropriate (for this coffee snob) to follow that up with my Ode to Coffee. Enjoy…and then go have some coffee 🙂

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Oh coffee, oh coffee,
You provide so much glee.
You are most glorious.
Anyone will agree.

The bean of great glory,
YES, you certainly are.
Never out of my mind,
Always on my radar.

Oh most perfect of drinks,
A precious gift from God.
If my wife reads this poem,
She will think I’m most odd.

Oh coffee, oh coffee,
I cannot go without.
“Would you like a refill?”
“Well duh, without a doubt.”

Parable of the Lost Coffee Thermos

/ The Pastor

The following is dangerously close to being sacrilegious so please read with tongue in cheek (based on true events that actually happened to me recently)…

“Or what man, having a rockstar coffee thermos, if he loses it, does not search diligently his home and office, and even the Starbucks across the street until he finds it? And when he has found it, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coffee thermos that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents…and definitely over the found coffee thermos.”
[Luke 15:8-10…or something close to it]

The lost has been found!

The Morning

/ The Pastor

The scene
A quiet house
The sound of chirping birds drifting in through an open window
The words of Scripture marinating in my soul
And a good cup of coffee to top it off

God’s blessings to start the day
God’s presence to renew my soul

The prayer
Oh God,
Your mercies are new everyday
Your blessings abound
Your love is wide and deep
Your grace is unending

Your Son, Jesus, is Lord of all
My Savior, Jesus, died for me

Renew my faith this day
Embolden my witness
Bless my words
Guide my decisions

May Your mercies and blessings;
Your love and grace
Be evident to all

Glory and honor be unto
You
Oh God
This day and always

Amen

The Pastor -|—

I Give You Thanks, O God

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Awesome and holy God,

the sound of the rain,
the singing of the birds,
the peacefulness of the morning;

I give You thanks, O God.

Time with Your Word,
moments of prayer,
worship with the saints;

I give You thanks, O God.

The cooing of my child,
the babbling of my child,
the love of my family;

I give You thanks, O God.

My parents,
my sister,
all my family;

I give You thanks, O God.

The loyalty of friends,
the strength of community,
the joy of Your church;

I give You thanks, O God.

My shelter,
my clothes,
my food;

I give You thanks, O God.

Your grace,
Your love,
Your faithfulness;

I give You thanks, O God.

Your grace,
Your love,
Your faithfulness;

I give You thanks (again), O God.

The beauty of Your creation,
the presence of Your Spirit,
the love of Your Son;

I give You thanks, O God.

A good cup of coffee,
another good cup of coffee,
and another good cup of coffee;

I give You thanks, O God 🙂

My Father,
my Lord,
my Savior;

I give You thanks, O God.

Your glory,
Your power,
Your kingdom;

I give You thanks, O God.

Your victory over death,
Your victory over Satan,
Your victory given to me;

I gave You thanks, O God.

For the fact that I could go on and on and on and on and …

I give You thanks, O God, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

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May God bless you and keep you as you give thanks and praise to our most holy and awesome God.

The Pastor -|—

Not quite awake

/ The Pastor

Sometimes this pastor’s devotion time involves holding my sleeping 3 1/2 month old son while drinking coffee, praying and reading scripture. And then taking time to pound out a few words on my tablet, in case anyone cares what the pastor is doing this morning 🙂

But before you think that I have run out of thoughtful words to share please understand that I am working on 4 hours of sleep and very little coffee up to this point. Trust me, this pastor will be up to full operating capacity in no time and then a more thoughtful post will follow.

And I am guessing that once this first pot of coffee hits my system I may wonder why I wrote this (and posted it).

Oh well

God bless you and I’ll be back with something more thoughtful later 🙂

[I need so much more coffee]

The (not quite awake) Pastor -|—

Holy buzz

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

We tried something new yesterday at Salem.  Shocking…Lutherans trying something new.  Wow 🙂

Anyway…what we did for the first time was have coffee fellowship time BEFORE worship.  I know that this is not a revolutionary thing as I have experienced this at other churches in the past, but it was new for us.  And from what I heard from a number of people this was a big hit.

[By the way…I take no credit for this idea.  I wish I could.]

When people arrived they seemed pleasantly surprised by the crowd in our small narthex.  When I told them about the coffee time a smile quickly formed on their face 🙂 Many people grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down to visit.  Before long there was a holy buzz in the narthex.  People were talking and laughing.  One of the cool things I noticed was that there were people participating in this holy buzz that normally don’t stay after worship for coffee fellowship time.  That put a smile on my face 🙂

At about 10:10 a.m. (worship begins at 10:15) I began to wonder how I was going to break up this holy buzz.  I almost wanted to have worship out there in the narthex (but there were people in the sanctuary waiting to begin).  So I walked inside; waited for the organist to stop playing; and I starting talking.  People quickly filed in as I shared the morning announcements.  It was a smooth transition.

As worship continued I quickly noticed something else (something others shared with me later).  There was a different kind of “energy” in the sanctuary.  It’s hard to explain but that pre-worship holy buzz drifted into the sanctuary and something happened.  One person said, “It felt warm“, and I would agree. Following worship some people continued to hang around in the narthex for another cup of coffee and another quick treat.

More holy buzz.

All in all it was a great morning.

I think it is so easy to take Christian fellowship for granted.  Worship, scripture reading and prayer are important and essential but so is taking time to visit and listen to people.  I know we can not recreate last Sunday but I think it is safe to say that pre-worship fellowship time is going to continue…and definitely with my blessing.

edh -|—

Monday morning check in — Sewing day

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

Coffee and coffee cake with the sewing group is a time I look forward to every month.  On the first Monday of each month, the sewing group gets together to make quilts.  These quilts end up in the cities and get distributed to people who need them (sometimes these quilts head over seas).  It’s a sacred time…one that never gets messed with (unless of course there is an emergency.  Even then…it has to be a life or death situation).  At 9am Lucille emerges from the Fellowship Hall and calls out from the bottom of the stairs “IT’S READY!”  At this my secretary and I make our way downstairs (Lucille’s coffee cake is not to be missed (unless, like I said, there is a life or death emergency).  Each month, Lucille says that she tried something new with the recipe (who knew there were so many ways to make coffee cake).  And each month her coffee cake is absolutely delicious.  Even though I want to have more, I know I need to behave myself.  If there is enough left, Lucille will sometimes send a couple pieces home for Connie and I (which rarely makes it back to Connie…sorry honey). 

While we have our hot cup of coffee and warm piece of coffee cake, we discuss the “important” matters of the day.  “How is so and so doing?”  “Did you hear about that <news from the radio> this morning?”  Sometimes they look to me for some “inside information” (which I rarely give unless the other party has given me express permission to divulge the information).  It’s a sacred and intimate time even though to the untrained ear it looks and sounds like a gossip time, but it is so much more than that.  Some months it is just casual conversation.  But other times I hear questions that I normally don’t get to hear from people.  These question are sometimes hard, but always honest questions about what is going on in the church.  I guess they figure they have the pastor’s ear for a moment…and I am always happy to listen.

That is the morning gathering time.  At noon they have a little potluck where the husbands show up to eat and, of course, I am there.  It is during this time I learn the most about people.  It is where I learn who is related to whom (I am always amazed at what I learn here).  It’s where I learn about the church’s history.  I hear stories of the good ole days.  And, of course, there is the typical BS that is often heard when guys get together.  This is a sacred and intimate time.

Now…as I sit here typing this, I find myself getting more and more anxious about lunch; when the guys will show up; great food will be served; and stronger connections are made over coffee and hot dish.  We won’t solve the world’s problems today.  We won’t get into deep political discussions.  But one thing is for sure…this sacred and intimate time won’t be wasted.

Got to love sewing day 🙂

-edh-