random thoughts from a coffee shop

I am sitting at the Daily Grind next to Correy. He is fixated in his book, Crazy Love. I am just sitting here, thinking. I love local coffee shops... for many reasons.













One, being, the non-corporately brewed coffee that is cheap... not the equivalent of 2 gallons of gas. And I love the simplistic names they have for their sizes. Small. Medium. Large. My non college educated brain can't take anything else. One time I was in Starbucks and I was trying to figure out how much a small coffee was, but I didn't see the word "small" on the sizes. I saw "Venti". It really confused me. I wasn't sure if Venti was equivilent to a small, or a little bigger than a small, or a little less than a medium. I don't even know what Venti means. I think its a Greek word or something. (Yes, I do have some opinions against institutionalized coffee. Can you tell?)
Two, I love the local feel. This coffee shop in New Philly epitomizes Ohioans. Simple. Friendly. Sincere.
Three, I love the smell. Every half hour or so Tammy, the owner, grinds up some beans. What is sweet about it, is that there are about 50 containers of coffee beans around the shop, just set out for inquisitive customers like me.
Fourth and last, I love that I would thoroughly enjoy sitting here all day with one or two close friends.

I was thinking about the Church and coffee shops and how the Church has set a subconscious precedent that coffee shops are where discipleship happens, one hour a week. I disagree with that mindset.

When I look at the Gospels, I don't see Jesus sitting by a java bar in Jerusalem, interviewing his disciples, using a structured text in order to prepare 12 men to change the world. I see Jesus walking by the shores of Galilee, yelling at two fisherman "Come! Follow me". I see the two brothers look at each other and throw the caught fish back into the water as they make their way to the shore to take up Jesus's offer. I see the three of them walking, and Jesus saying "Hey, there is this party I got invited to. Its a friend of mine's wedding actually. Lets go!" I see Jesus and the twelve climbing mountains, walking miles in between towns, staying in peoples homes, and eating breakfast at sunrise on lake Tiberius. The point I am making is that discipleship happens in the context of life, not the context of a coffee shop. I agree that a coffee shop can absolutely be setting where discipleship takes place, but the coffee shop is not the means discipleship. The Holy Spirit is.

I love Off The Wall because discipleship happens. It happens in a variety of places and in a variety of settings none of which are constrained to a specific location. The idea of "lets get coffee and talk about the depths of your life in one hour" is so American. Now, I am by no means bashing weekly 1 hour coffee meetings. In fact, I have them regularly. But, the people I meet with understand that our meeting is not the means of an end. Discipleship will not finish when I get in my car and go home. Because, I am being discipled by Jesus, through the Holy Spirit and God's Word, under the authority of Travis Troyer and Don Stubbs who are both under the authority of Countryside Chapel and Almighty God.

Life is so interesting sometimes. God reveals something to you that gets you thinking for weeks and then you realize that what he revealed is just a piece of a bigger picture. And I am like "shoot!". "God, i want to know now!." That is kind of what I feel like now. God is teaching me so much... and I don't know what it is for. But I know "that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

If I knew the reason for everything, it wouldn't be an epic adventure anymore... would it?

It is amazing what a little coffee and the Holy Spirit can do. Now I am excited. And I am going to Texas tomorrow. Sweet.


JN

Quenching the Spirit

I was at the gym this morning in the locker room, and I heard Don singing. Don sings all the time. This morning, he had 'Stronger' by Hillsong United stuck in his head. I think that one is one of his favortites.

Before I came to Off The Wall, I was never much of a singer in public. I have a crappy voice and I never really wanted to have other people hear me sing worship songs in the grocery store or wherever I happened to be in public. But the funny thing is, Don has a pretty bad voice too. He jumps keys all the time and forgets lyrics and mumbles. But he keeps on singing. For Don, singing is about worshiping Jesus, and he doesn't really care what people think or where he is.

I remember the fist time I met Don. It was about a year ago. We were in a Starbucks in New Hampshire, and Don walked in singing as loud as he possibly could. This was my first 'Don experience', as I like to call them. I stood next to him as he ordered his coffee and sang 'The Motions' by Matt Redman as loud as he could to the barista. She just looked at him like he was crazy and didn't really know how to respond. I wanted to go hide in a corner.

In 1 Thesselonians, Paul commands "Do not quench the Spirit of God" or in another translation "Do not put our the Spirit's fire".

I quench the Spirit so much. Probably every day. I can not recount the number of times I have been in a setting of worship at a church or at youth group and God tells me to get on my face and my response is "NO!". I am like "God, what will all these people think of me!?" But the worst part about it is that I am worshiping God with my brothers and sisters in Christ! Why would anyone of us care what position we take in worship. That is the reason we all gather, to worship. And the funny thing is that whenever I happen to see someone on their face or with thier hands raised, I am like "wow. that is awesome. I am going to worship like that." But why are we so hesitant to get on our knees when no one else is. It really should not matter.

Yesterday I was in subway ordering a sandwich. I love subway. It is by far my favorite fast food restaurant. This subway is right across the street from the house and I tend to be a frequent customer. So I see the same guys working there. God has had a way of telling me to talk to people. I don't know what it is, but something inside of me says "talk to this person". I get that a lot. So i am standing in line and I hear God say to talk to the guy making my sub. And I am like "no, i don't really want to right now. I don't want to inconvience myself." So I stood there fore about 2 minutes watching him make my sub and that urge would not go away. So i finally just couldn't take it anymore. So I asked the guy if he liked working at subway and told him that I wanted to get a job there really bad. The conversation really was not that big. I talked to him for about a minute and he gave me my sub and I left. As I was walking home, thoughts just filled my mind as to why I don't listen to the Holy Spirit. So often I repeatedly tell Him "No".

If we are to grow in Christ, it is essentinal that we do not quench the Spirit of God and put out it's fire.

Can you say confidently that in this season of your life you are growing in Christ?

If not, have you ever asked yourself if you quench the Spirit?

Would you define yourself as a passionate, obedient follower of Christ?

I feel like God is teaching me so much right now. I hope this blog encourages you to chase the Spirit and followe wherever He leads. When we are obedient in the small things, like listeing to "God tugs" and asking the cashier at Walmart how her day is, God faithful in giving us opportunites to Glorify Him in the big things.

JN