Musings of the Minstrel

I am sitting in a coffee house this morning drinking my "sugar-free vanilla soy latte"(I miss my carmel frap)...and I started looking around. The paintings in this place are pretty weak. Probably done by local art students or bought at one of those summer sidewalk art sales downtown. Besides that 1/2 of them don't even make sense....oh well, I guess that's "post-modern" art.

Is it just me or have any of you ever wondered if coffee shop managers go to a class on buying/playing terrible music. Wow! pretty bad this morning! Some of these singers should have kept their day job...oh that's right...they never had one!

I am looking at a chinese tree of some sort (my botany skills are a little lacking) that has been used to decorate the little sitting area next to a huge sign advertising lottery tickets. This is some quality decor!

But....I am here! And there has been a steady stream of people coming through the door. They make a good cup of joe and they are friendly folks.

Just thinking about the business of the kingdom. It may not be the fanciest or best decorated church in town, the music may not be the most cutting edge of the latest worship project from some weird haired praise band....but the real deal is "CAN YOU GET JESUS THERE"?

Jesus is the thing that they are looking for and the only way they will see him is through you. So make them feel loved, give a smile and handshake, and let them see how much you love Jesus and their will be a steady stream of folks coming "taste and see that the Lord is good"

Just sitting here drinking my sugar-free, vanilla, breve latte at the corner coffee shop. Across the room are 2 college students both studying at the same table. One has head-phones on, his head is bobbing to the groove while the other guy is muttering softly to himself (must be attempting to memorize something). Next to them are 2 middle-age soccer-moms discussing the issues with their young children. A baby-boomer just walked in and loudly is telling us why one candidate has no integrity. I am sitting here having just closed a meeting, not at my office but at the 'coffee shop" (the new gates of our cities). It is wild how our world has changed in just a short time. I remember reading several years ago where one leadership expert predicted this phenomenon. He spoke of the birth of the "third place" as a result of the break down of the home and the work place. He said there would be a great dissatisfaction with the home and the work place would begin to lose its place of satisfaction in the minds of people. His prediction is obviously correct as coffee shops are sprouting up as quickly as trailer parks in the 50's. I propose that this change in our culture presents a great opportunity for the church. People are looking beyond the American dream (a house, a car, a fenced yard, a good job) to meet the void that is inside of them. While "iced blended macchiatos" are refreshing they cannot give meaning for the soul. This is a day of great opportunity. Let's give the world a taste of the "world to come" and they will never thirst again.