picture from exiledpreacher.blogspot.com

This past week at church, we got an tiny glimpse of the servitude and love that Jeus had while He was on earth.  Our pastors washed the church’s feet during communion and it proved to be a powerful moment. 

Which made me think about serving others. 

I have two favorite fast food places and both are Wendy’s.  One is on Montegomery and I-25 and one is on Central and Monroe.  But I’ve noticed something.  The one on Montegomery is only a good place to go during the night and the one on Central is only good during the day! Both are pretty horrendous at all the other times.  It reminds me of a lot of KJ-52 songs that constantly slam fast food restaurants.  All too often when I go get fast food restaurants, I have experiences like he talks about (Now i’m rolling throught McDonald’s I’m getting a number two. But I know they gonna act rude and mess up my food. Here’s your cheeseburger and plus your coke too. Ha ha thanks a lot but where’s my fries at fool?)

Sometimes, I’m as bad as those Wendy’s during their off times at serving others. Jesus tells us that if we want to be great in the Kingdom of God, we are to be the slaves of all people. 

So daily I have to ask myself, am I proverbially washing everyone’s feet around me? Or am I acting more like a Wendy’s drive-thru worker?

Go read this blog

Picture taken from http://westernritecritic.wordpress.com

In the catholic faith, they have 7 deadly sins.  One of them is gluttony.  In today’s fast-food culture, what is considered gluttony?  Could eating a lot of fast food count as gluttony?  If so, what is too much.

I want to hear your responses, how much fast-food is considered gluttony?

Austrian Marco Hort takes in mouth 259 drinking straws during the World Records day at Vienna

Straws

January 3rd is officially national drinking straw day. It was on this day that Marvin Stone invented the first wax covered drinking straw.  How we drink has forever been changed.  Now,  I personally use a few straws as possible to “save a plastic tree”.  But my true reason is that I don’t fully understand why people use so many of them!  I didn’t realize how many straws were used until I started working as a server.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe there are times when straws are very important.

• I drink from straws if I’m taking a drink to go and it has a lid on it

• I drink from straws if I’m drinking a smoothie or milkshake

• My grandpa may drink from straws because his hands may be unsteady

But sometimes I have to laugh when grown adults (not wearing lipstick) ask for straws for their water.  I read a blog where a woman stated that she couldn’t drink cold drinks without a straw…not because she had sensitive teeth, but because it was too hard without one!  I used to have sensitive teeth, I could almost understand if that was the problem, but this IS an avoidable problem! 

My mom and I used to joke and say that the inventor of the straw thought that THIS (and we’d mimic lifting a glass to our lips) was too much trouble.  Somtimes, I would suggest, we use straws because its easy and its more comfortable.  But, for most of us, they’re not really necessary.  

Michael W. Smith

So why Michael W. Smith in this blog?  (If you don’t know who he is, you can visit his website) Smith has released some great, classic worship songs and has made some amazing covers of existing classic worship songs.  I used to be a huge Michael W. Smith fan for a lot of reasons, until my view on worship began to change.  Worship to me, used to be all about an experience, but I have come to realize it is much more than that. 

But my biggest problem with Smith is his support of what my friend Greg Qualls calls the “Christian Ghetto”, or “the world that Christians have created so they don’t have to interact with the rest of the world.” (Read more here) Most of Michael W. Smith’s songs create the image that a life with Christ is very ME-centered.  In his song “Above All” he implies that Jesus, while dying on the cross, was thinking about ME above all other things.  I would say it would only take one verse stating that everything is made from Jesus and thru Jesus and that all glory belongs to Jesus to prove this song wrong!  Jesus died to glorify God, not to glorify me. 

How they relate

Michael W. Smith’s music, like straws, are a comfortable alternative.  His music doesn’t challenge anyone to turn to God or give God the glory.  He doesn’t encourage anyone to love God and love people.  He helps create a larger Christian Ghetto.  There are some people that Smith can help and he can be useful in many situations (like straws), but for most of us, he is unnecessary.  His music should stick around, as should straws, but we, as Americans, should certainly consume much less of both. 

I encourage all you Christians to “save a plastic tree” and to listen to deeper worship music.  If you need some names, try Sojourn, Red Letter, Shane and Shane, Donovan Medina or David Crowder Band.  But get some music with some meaning and doctrine!

Welcome to Burger Joint Theology: A look at Jesus in a fast-food culture.  The truth is, we live in a fast-food nation.  I got this excerpt from a New York Times article written by Eric Schlosser:

In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent more than $110 billion. Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music – combined.

Some stats say that over half of all money spent on food is spent in fast food.  We live in a fast food nation.  Unfortunately, the fast food concept has invaded our lives and changed the way we interact with people, travel and make political decisions.  The most unfortunate of these, I would say, is how it has affected our view on God.  We now want a God who can provide quick answers and fast solutions and do it with bright lights and lots of color, instead of a God that is real and true and trustworthy and constant. 

In Burger Joint Theology, I intend to look at how the American view of God has changed, what it means for us today, and how it is different from the Biblical view of God. It should be a wild ride, but I’m excited we’re on it together. 

Also, coming to bklatenight, look for:

It will be a weekly rambling about life lessons and things that make me laugh. 

Remember to check back on Monday for:

And remember, life IS more than food

I wish you all to go visit… www.thebeerean.com

And keep your eyes peeled for…

Burger Joint Theology:  A look at Jesus in a fast food culture
Here on bklatenight

I normally try not to have blog inspiration and write it on the same day but this is an exception. I was reading my verse of the day on my daily calendar and stumbled upon something so “God”:

Have you ever waited for someone? Something? Maybe an answer to a question. Or maybe good news or bad news. Those minutes, or days, or year, seem so much longer than they actually are. Here’s a passage from 2 Peter Chapter 3

8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Ok…there is way too much to break down in this that applies to my life. Lets start with verse 9…simply stated, my understanding of “slowness” and my understanding of “a long time” is very different from God’s understanding of it. Here’s what that means. He is patient, and not wanting anyone to perish, and wanting everyone to repent. So everyday that goes by where our hearts are hard to Him, and we are sinning and not turning from that sin…to God, that feels like a thousand years. Why? Because it breaks God’s heart when we turn from Him. It breaks it so much, that God once said He regretted putting humans on the earth!

But…(usually the best statement in the bible…) He is also patient. He would easily and willingly wait thousands of years for one person to repent, and it would seem like only a couple of days to God. Also, when we do repent, we are glorifying Him. After this earth, those that chose God will forever glorify Him…and because we’ll be complete, the thousands and thousands and thousands of years that will make up “never ending”, will never get boring. Because to us, it would be like one day.

So, are you coming to Him with your broken heart, or breaking His? Is forever going to seem like one day, or like thousands and thousands and thousands of years?
What is your understanding of slowness?

What are you waiting for? If Jesus can wait 2,000 years for His bride (which is the church), then what’s a couple of hours, or days or months or years to wait for something for us?

Since I have a week left, I want to use a Starbucks reference to start this blog off.

My favorite coffee/food pairing is the Verona coffee with the chocolate hazelnut biscotti. Let me tell you, if you’ve never tried them together, it is an experience. The biscotti is super sweet on its own. The coffee, on the other hand, is rather acidic on its own, but has a definite cocoa and nutty flavor to it. Which is why they go together. The cocoa and the nuttiness fit nicely together and the sweetness and acidity balance each other out.

Now, personally, I have a sweet tooth, so I love the biscotti, and the coffee is pretty good if you brew it right. But on a personal preference level, I like the sweetness over the coffee. So when these two things mix, they take something from the other and give something of themselves. According to me, the coffee gets the better end of the deal, losing some of its acidity and gaining sweetness

Where the heck am i going with this?

We get the better end of the deal with God. He gives us grace and forgiveness and mercy and love and strength and kindness while we give Him our brokenness, sin, filth, shortcomings, heartbreaks, confusion, and lies. In this relationship we are coffee.

But, as someone who desires to be more like Christ everyday, in my relationships with other people, I need to be biscotti. If Christ gives US all those things, how much more should i afford the people in my life things like grace and forgiveness and mercy?

Even when people bad mouth me, curse me, pass rumors, break my heart, hate me, kick me out, wish bad things upon me…I am called to give them forgiveness and love and faithfulness and time and trust…and the more I do, the less all those other things will bother me because I’ll be more focused on following the Only One who won’t do all of those things

(And if you were in my Bible as Lit class…the capital O’s in the last sentence are thanks to your friendly English Translator)

Warm coffee odor hangs in the air
The coldness burns my fingers when I open the window

What if I experienced more of the burn and less of the warm?
People outside live the burn
Know no home
Live the burn…know no home

“Last night I found this great bush…”

Know home…

Choice, mistake or failure
Know no home

My work has a heater,
my car has a heater,
my home has 2…
But I know home,
I live the warm

The burn I feel for 40 seconds
as i open the window
to deliver
$5.00 coffee
to someone whose world…
…has 4 heaters

Someone who knows home…

Call him what you will
but that bum
that drunk
that failure
needs Jesus as much as i do tonight.

And all he wants
is to
know
Home

One of my favorite songs is Train “Drops of Jupiter” and there’s one part that i particularly like it goes like this

Can you imagine no love
pride
deep fried chicken
your best friend always sticking up for you…even when i know you’re wrong

Can you imagine no first dance
freeze dried romance
5 hour phone conversations
the best soy latte that you ever had
…and me

Today, for the first time in my Starbucks career, someone ordered a soy latte…

Touching huh?