It's The Caffeine

I love me some coffee.
I'm not one of those who drink if all day long...
Two cups in the morning.
Three on weekends.
Maybe a cup at night if we have breakfast for supper.
Usually have me a cup sitting here on the computer desk as I type out the Greene Street Letters each morning.
Started drinking coffee because it was cheap.
I never really cared for coffee until I started dating my wife.
We'd go out to the Toddle House (use to be on Broad street) for a patty melt and coffee.
Ten Cents a cup....and refills were free. (Yes, I was a poor struggling artist....well, maybe not). But the refill policy hit my wallet just right.
So coffee it was. Coffee it is. Coffee it will be.
Don't give me flavored coffee. I know it is popular, but I just can't wrap my 60-year-old-taste-buds around it.
When I was at Gadsden Vineyard, Wayne Wimpee, Todd Bagley and I use to make what the others of the church referred to as "Cowboy" coffee. Strong and full of kick.
I love me some coffee.

You know what else I love?
Abraham or Abram...depending on which end of the story you read from.
I am taken that a man at age 75 would up and leave everything he's known. Family...friends...homes....(I know..home was a tent)..but still.
God called.
Abram heard.
Abram left.
Do you think Abram knew of all the things that would happen along the way as he was following God? I don't think so.
Do you think Abram knew that thousands of years later, he would be written about in a country on the other side of the world from where he lived? I don't think so.
We have no clue as to the power of God working in us and how it will impact others.
The smallest of things.......hearing God to leave your home and follow him....turned into a nation of people from which the entire world has been blessed.
All of this because one man was obedient. Did he mess up? Sure did. Did he repent? Yes he did. But he stuck to the journey filled with a promise that Messiah would come through his bloodline.
Obedience in hearing God and then following.
That is the main thing that comes to me from Abram, that I am to simply obey.

Sometimes being obedient brings me in contact with others. This is the heart of the kingdom...telling others....teaching others...making disciples. I think maybe A.A. has a better grasp of this concept than most. To put it bluntly, it is one alcoholic helping another with his sobriety. I'm not trying to elevate A.A. to the position of being a church. It's not. But I can't tell you how many times I have heard from those in A.A. that their earliest recollections of going to a meeting was being met by someone as they entered the room. Being offered a cup of coffee and some cookies and an invitation to "Come sit with me." Shown love and compassion first draws a heart closer to the fire. It opens a  heart up to receive. The alcoholic thinks to himself..."Here is someone like me who must know more than I do. They are clean and sober." Thus begins the journey. One man helping another.  Why? Because you never know who that man or woman might become once free of the bondage of addiction. You never know what God has in store for them.

I remember a sermon I heard back in 1983 by a man named Lon Woodrum. Lon was an ordained minister in the Methodist church, but he as first and foremost a journalist. He had an incredible talent for the spoken word. When Lon would preach, the words painted such pictures that you could see what he was speaking of.
My favorite sermon of all times was Lon speaking of "Who's On Your Rope?"
It was the story of Paul's escape from Jerusalem because word was out that the religious folks were out to kill him. Lon made the statement that anyone can preach on Paul. If you couldn't find a message on Paul, then you needed to pack up your Bible and go get a job with the Standard Oil Company. Lon's focus was on the two men who lowered Paul down the wall in a basket with a rope attached to it. He said those two men were never named, but they as much to do with the writing of our Scripture as did Paul. They helped Paul escape so he could write the epistles and letters. You never know who is on your rope.

As you pursue Jesus / sobriety / recovery/ and life, be aware of those around you today.
You never know what a kind word, or a word spoken in truth may do to that person. It may be the very thing God uses to propel that individual into the 4th dimension, as the big book of A.A. states. I think maybe we are to be fire-starters for the Lord. Our words bringing life and igniting passion for Jesus in others. Don't be afraid to tell your story today. Share with someone what God has done for you. You never  know who might be on your rope today.

You know what?
As I read back over this posting, it seems a bit jumbled.
There is a message there....
But I think the caffeine has kicked in.
I will stop for now.
No more coffee.

God on you....
mb