CONFESSIONS OF A STARBUCKS PASTOR

Ever make one of these? Things like: I'm going to omit sugar this year. I'm working out five mornings a week from now on. Starbucks will see me less than half the time. I will floss daily. I will read more, spend less and bake cookies for the neighbors. Even if we don't make them out loud or write them down, I bet that many of us secretly make a resolution for the new year. One year after meeting a college classmate's 72-year-old grandmother who had gloriously smooth skin, my New Year's promise to myself was that I too would drink only water for the rest of my life. That's what the grandma had done and look at her. My quest lasted as far as mid-February. I think that was the same year I vowed never to eat pancakes again and that didn't last, either. Another year I compiled a very long and thorough list. I was certain obtaining the results would make me a far more accomplished and fit person. The list proved far too demanding and I was soon disappointin...

You've seen the back of brave trucks. A toll-free number is lettered in nice big font for other drivers to call and report what they've seen. It is supposed to mean you're behind a really good driver. Most of the time, I would agree. But oh that time when a delivery truck caught me off guard as it burst out of an alley and nearly ran me off the road, did I ever take up that 1-800 offer to call in. When I was in college and very new to the Christian faith, someone told me that the highly respected Billy Graham said that you could tell the spiritual condition of a person by the way they drove. That was confusing. What could driving a car possibly have to do with one's spiritual life? I thought those were two separate ideas and immediately shrugged it off. We currently live in Minnesota where it's winter and the roads are packed with snow. Most freeways are plowed clean and sanded, but highway entrances and side roads aren't as bare. It is not uncommon to skid ...

Recently I got smacked in the face. Not literally though. I had come across a severely needy someone reeking of cigarettes so much that you smelled them on me the rest of the day even though she didn't even smoke in my presence. Although I once smoked, no longer can I stomach the smell anywhere near me. It curdles my stomach and I fight nausea. I avoid hotels and cafes allowing it. Yet here I was, trying to listen to this person while resisting the urge not to pinch my nose at the same time and feeling smoke molecules float across the room and attach to every fiber of my clothes. On top of the stench, each area of the apartment was littered and unkempt. Overflowing clusters of ash trays, plates caked with dried bits of food and soda cans covered every sticky surface. Worse yet, most of what I tried to say to encourage this person was dumped on by their negative and downright rude behavior. I kept trying to make at least one encouraging point, but they were not going to have any...