July 2016 Jottings

Jottings...

I like coffee. I like the caffeine stimulation in the morning. I like the flavorings and the warmth and the smell. I like having a cup in my hand socially as I talk or play games with whomever I am with. I am just fine with Folgers and don’t need the deluxe kind you pay for at Starbucks.

If you had known me at 16 you would never have thought this love for coffee possible. I didn’t like the smell of it or the taste of it. I couldn’t figure out why my mom liked it so much and I blamed coffee for keeping our family at restaurants when I was done and ready to go. I knew we would be there another 10-15 minutes when the check came but my mom also asked for a refill on coffee.

All that changed the summer after graduating from high school. I had a summer job with the survey crew of the city where I lived and we would often stop for breakfast. I would get milk and everyone else got coffee. They would get unlimited free refills and I had to pay if I wanted more milk, so I set my mind to learn to drink coffee. I started with lots of cream and sugar and very small sips. Soon it was less cream and sugar and bigger sips. Until today when I am capable of gulping it and am fine with it black.

Why is this the focus of what I write in June? Because we need to be reminded that change is possible. As I write this I am working on a sermon that will focus on the changes in Saul’s life when he became a Christian and changed his name to Paul. Maybe change has been forced on you due to family circumstances or the loss of a loved one. Maybe you feel trapped by a habit or addiction that you know is not right but you have not been able to break free.

God delights in change. Sometimes He changes our circumstances. Sometimes He changes us. Being disciples of Jesus Christ means a process of change that makes us more and more like Jesus Christ. I am not talking about changing our core beliefs or following fads. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. But this same God of the universe who redeemed us has made promises about doing a new thing.

Watch. Pray. Study. Grow. Change! And if a drinking a cup of coffee while we embrace all of what God is doing and wants to do among us makes the process easier, I will be glad to join you.

- Pastor Brian