What happens when you go on a coffee crawl, sampling three different coffees at different places? You get wired…buzzy and a little frantic, especially if you have not eaten much that day.

You also find the best coffee in suprising places.
Jesper, a new friend and fellow coffee nut set out this afternoon to discuss philosophy, Swedish heavy Rock music, performing arts, the book of Habbukuk and of course to determine where to buy a decent coffee from, close to home.

Exomod
I visit here regularly, its local, has free wireless interent, and serves decent coffee, with beautiful latte art.
I ordered a latte and Jasper a cappucino (no sprinkles or chocolate for goodness sake). Jesper specifically said, not too hot thanks.
Both the latte and cappucino were beautifully presented, with art on top. Real care taken, nice aroma…but suprisingly a few degrees too hot. Both of us agreed on that. Both were also just a little weak. Normally better, but still worth a 6.5 out of 10.

Soto’s
What to make of Soto’s? 2 years ago it was the place to be, but about 7 or 8 months ago I wrote it off after two hot and bitter lattes in a row, and house music way too loud. (I know I am getting old).
Today I ordered a Ristretto and Jesper ordered a classic Macchiato.
The Ristretto was good…smooth and strong…I would have preferred a little bit more crema. A good ristretto (in my view) should have a 1/3rd crema. But I am no expert. It was not too hot and I enjoyed it.
Jesper’s macciato was great. Nice full robust flavour. Good temperature. It lost marks for the dubious look of the milk dob on top. 6.5 out of 10

Beaufort St Merchants
The suprising pick of the bunch. I ordered a flat white, and Jesper asked for a ‘traditional’ Cappuccino…and the guy knew what he meant.
Perfect temperature. Lovely texture…on both. Lovely aroma. You with think after two coffees we might be coffeed out, but this was just great. We also sampled some of their dark cocoa chocolates. The young barrista knew his stuff and was taking pride in his work. They sell both Fiori and 5 Senses coffee, so you know its fresh, and they rotate what they use. 8.5 out of 10

There is so much swirling around in my head at the moment…I can’t stop.

Finding it difficult to sleep at the moment, or switch off from the things going on at church and our mission to the greater area of Inglewood.
This week we have kicked off Kids Jam…Quentin leading and starting this program on Tuesdays aimed at 4 years olds.

But that is only part of it.
I have some HUGE HUGE news to announce to the church on Sunday…God willing.
Can’t wait…but there is an awful amount of work, of every single type, to get done in the next few weeks. When God moves…sometimes you just have to go along with the ride and realise, you are not in control, yet, you need to be wise and discerning, sensitive, strong, focused but spontaeous…all at once.
It is only 8.30am, and despite having had my first coffee….I am tired already just thinking about it all….but also energised….if that makes sense.

If you are part of the Bedford Baptist Church community…do not miss Sunday….HUGE NEWS I tell you HUGE!!

This is interesting…
“I’m a firm believer in the fact that the lead pastor gives the church its feel. If he’s a screaming dictator, everyone’s afraid to open their mouths. If he’s a recluse, most of the folks don’t get too connected either. But if he’s a fun-loving idiot who enjoys being with people, there tends to be a pretty relaxed atmosphere around the place.”

Source

Fun loving idiot….yep….that about sums me up!
Actually I enjoy casualness, planned spontaneity…and can be intense at times….mmmmm

Pastor Ed Young has a lot of good stuff to say,
check out his blog.

http://www.edyoungblog.com/

It is great when the Holy Spirit brings a service together.
This morning another packed house (4th week in a row) enjoyed together a time of reflecting on marriage. We broke mid stream for coffee….

We heard some stories, watched a clip from “Everyone loves Raymond” and reflected as Eliot gave one of his best messages. He spoke on ‘freshness’ in marriage. He used the verse from Ecclesiastes 4 (a three cord is not easily broken) and shared some humorous and interesting stories and illustrations. It was a challenging talk. One thing which struck me was his point on never putting your wife down in front of others. That should be a ‘no brainer’ and especially with the attack Christian marriages undergo. In Australian culture it is all too easy to fall for going too far with teasing your wife in front of others. There should be no doubt in anyones mind of your love and even adoration of her. That is not always easy!! And takes passion….

All the married men also had their wives dig into their ribs when a guest musician shared his story of how he proposed to his fiance. He is 48 and they are both widows. He also sung a story about second chances…..wonderful. The story he told of the prophetic vision God gave him blew me away.

You will be able to listen to this message and the testimony in a day or two on our Bedford Baptist web site.

God is good and I feel like I am riding a wave of growth at the moment…and I don’t want to do anything to stuff it up!!!

Todays opinion piece in the Western Australia Zoltan Kovaks take the prize as the biggest load of crap written in our daily paper…and that is saying something.

Fair enough, criticise the Fremantle Football club for their inconsistent form. Criticise them for some of their draft picks….but Zovaks has no idea about the soul of the club…no idea at all.

Soul does not come from success….some might say it comes from how the club responds to defeats….

Was Zovak around in 2001 when Fremantle crowds still turned up in number to cheer the club when it won only two games and brought the wooden spoon home? No….he was off sipping lattes somewhere.
I was there, during rain drenched nights…I heard the crowd cheering, groaning…but all the time still supporting. I saw the crowd numbers tick over which would give a club like North Melbourne heart.

I was there when we marched from Fremantle to Subiaco to declare our heart is in Fremantle, and unlike the manufactured corporate Eagles, we wanted to be based in the Football heartland of Perth, Fremantle.

Be a Christian and not go to church…….
I am not talking about being a paid up member of some institution, I am not talking about some religious Sunday Christian who makes sure their name gets ticked off the role.
I am talking about being a part of Christ’s body.

Being a Christian means belonging to Christ, and being ‘belonged’.
I wonder if the last couple of decades of Christiandom with its emphasis on ‘personal salvation’ has swung too far.

The idea of being a Christian means being part of a community of believers, a corporate body.
Belonging to Christ, being responsible to your local expression of Christ.

What does this mean?
Can we be part of the body of Christ over the internet? Or while watching our favourite preacher on TV……Maybe. But I don’t think its ideal. Its to easy to be insular.

Part of being the body of Christ means being outward focused, playing our part.