Skip to main content

The Church of St. Arbucks By Steve Camp

The Church of St. Arbucks
...their coffee cup is brewing up strong messages

I like Starbucks very much... It is my first stop in the morning everyday after I get all five of my children to school and swim my mile or two at the "Y." It is a great place to work on the blog; read the news; study the Word; and interact with the faithful members of the church of St. Arbucks.

Some evangelicals are up in arms at SB's recent "The Way I See It" campaign which solicits short quips and thoughts about life, culture, the times, etc. and posts them on their paper-mugs. The reason that some are concerned is because of the nontraditional family values liberal bent of most of their messages (like the one shown) that are appearing on their paper mugs once you shed the brown protective wrap.

Personally, I don't mind them at all (even though I am a conservative politically and a Reformed Baptist). In fact I thank the Lord for them. That's right--this is a blessing, a gift to the body of Christ. Why? When I order my favorite "cup of Joe" at St. Arbucks, I immediately remove the brown sleeve to see what new "message" is printed on my cup. I then share that message with another standing in line or seated at the tables. It engages us in the lively art of conversation about all matters of issues and I am wonderfully afforded the opportunity to bring the biblical worldview into the discussion. This has proven to be a fantastic way to proclaim the gospel of grace and the truth claims of our Lord Jesus to those who will never come to church on a Sunday or show up at the myriad of Christian events circling the evangelical planetary subculture that many Christians choose to remain hidden within.

So may I encourage you today to write our good friends in Seattle, thank them for opening up many great opportunities for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, continue to go to the church at St. Arbucks (its service times are seven days a week from 7am to 10pm in most cities--and they are always full) and dialogue with the patrons from a biblical worldview, explain the hope that is within you with gentleness and reverance and enjoy some of the finest "Joe" in the world.

Let's be salt and light,
For those who have ears to hear...
Campi
Matthew 5:13-20

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Issues I Have Been Associated With Recently

The King James Only Controversy : I have been in 3 churches since the Lord was pleased to save me, the last 2 of them as a pastor. The first church was when I was not a pastor, but did teach Sunday School, and preached occasionally. It was a church that used the KJV of the bible, but neither I or the pastor was hardcore KJV Only. The second church was the first church I pastored. For the sake of some long time members in that small church, I used the King James version for sermons, but after I was there a year or two, I began using the NKJV for Scripture Readings. My third church, which is the one I'm pastoring now in Idaho, does not use the KJV. We offically use the NASB for our sermons, and the ESV many times when quoting other scriptures. I know some of my long time Christian friends from Maryland are KJV Only. I am not. I think it is an issue that we can agree to disagree on, but it seems there may be some that cannot. In the not so distant future, I'll post on the Blog why
12 comments
Read more

Are Arminian Baptists Legitimate Biblical Churches?

With all the discussion going on about whether Presbyterians are biblical churches because of infant baptism, I would like to ask if we believe that Arminian Baptist churches are legitimate churches? If a Baptist Church, regardless of their affiliation if any, believes in a universal, insufficient atonement by Christ, issuch Baptist Church really a biblical church? And if so, how can we say that it is when it involves the very heart of the gospel in the atonement. Further, how can we say that those Presbyterian churches that believe in a particular, sufficient atonement yet infant baptism are not biblical, yet those that believe in a universal, insufficient atonement yet believers baptism by immersion are biblical churches. Inquiring mind wants to know ;- ). Thanks..... P.S. Still Baptist and thank the Lord for it!
12 comments
Read more

Christian Discussions and Chem-Trails

What a title, huh? I just didn't want to post these separately :-). This morning as we were sending off our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, there was a Chem-Trail right over us in the sky. Have you heard of Chem-Trails? They are chemicals being put in the sky to supposedly help with so called global warming  :-). Sadly, too many people still think this is a conspiracy theory. For those that do, I recommend you just put that in a search engine and see what comes up and just start reading. They come from the exhaust of commercial airliners, but they are not the same as "contrails." Contrails dissipate and follow the plane. Chem-trails stick around. They have certain chemicals in them (Aluminum and Barium are two of them if I recall correctly) and they just add to the list of toxins that our bodies absorb and endanger our health. If more people would pay attention and communicate with our elected officials at all levels perhaps, we could put a stop to this Lord will
Post a Comment
Read more