No coffee beans were hurt during the writing of this blog

I was out running errands the other day.  I had just bought a vehicle for one of my girls and was trying to  get insurance on it. My insurance agents office is in a kind of strip mall. His office had a sign on it saying be back at 9:00. It was now 9:19.

I figured he had to be close by so I thought I would try the coffee shop a couple doors down.  I walked in and it was your typical coffee shop scene. I walked towards the back zigging and zagging between mac books, hipsters, and conversations. 

To my surprise I saw a friend who had moved to Vermont around 2006. It was a nice suprise and a short 3 minute reunion. We made plans to get together before he would hop a plane to return to Vermont. So far no coffee.

This morning we met at a different coffee shop. He had a pretty tight schedule. We had an hour before he had to be off. It was almost as I if no time had passed. We seemed to connect like the 5-6 years had never passed. We gave the usual updates on family, life, work.  Still no coffee, I had a chai latte and he had some sort of tea. Two coffee shops and no coffee.

He told me of the sell of the family business and the transition to a ministry. He is involved in a house of prayer that is community based and supported by a not for profit restaurant.  He said that one of the big differences from other houses of prayers is that they are mainly supported by the restaurant.  Also, only a third of teir employees are a part of the actual ministry. Two thirds are hired off the street. They are concentrating on being community based. Of the four to five hundred they serve less the 5% are staff customers.  They have a huge draw from their community.  They not only reach out to their employees but their community in a very organic way. It’s not a church or house of prayer at its center,  it’s an outreach of hope and love.

I have been thinking alot about the church and the church system and we need a new model.  I don’t I now if model is even the right term. I love what they are doing. They are impacting their surroundings in a very Isaiah 58 way.

Have you ever heard of the term the church without wall’s? A friend and spiritual dad has had some insight into the church without walls. I believe  that there may be a change in what we call and the way we look at church in the very near future.

This post has actually totally bunny trailed.  My original thoughts were to lead to what is below.

I don’t mind a bunny trail now and again…

In my most recent history I have picked up some thoughts and tossed lots of thoughts overboard because they were dead weight.  I think back and for 30+ years my theology had stayed very much the exact same (very little change or growth for that matter).

I was what I thought very spiritually
progressive. I look back and I was really dogmatic. In the past 12 months thrown out 90%+ of my dogmatic progressive garbage. If your theology is the exact same as it was 30, 15, or 3 years ago you are probably doing it wrong. I held my theology in a tight fist.  The problem with that is that your fist before too long will be used for hitting someone with it. I have learned to hold my beliefs open palmed in  a loose fashion allowing God to add or subtract.

End result,  I have gone from a stoic jerk with a doctrinal thesis stuffed somewhere to a guy who now generally smiles and is happy and relates to people as people instead of some spiritual conquest. And guess what?  I talk to more people about life and God then i ever had before. And those who I talk to are much more receptive. I am not out to ram my belief system down people’s throats but to love them reveal Jesus in them.

That is all for now, and still no coffee