My New Office!

I have a new office and man is it huge!  You should see it.  My desk sits in front of a huge window that looks out on a bustling street and sidewalk.  The walls have some of the coolest artwork you’ll ever see.  The furniture in my office is incredible too.  My ceiling lights emit some of the most awesome colors.  Red, green, yellow, and white everywhere! There are tables all over my office where folks can gather together and just chill out.   I even have an oversized couch and two of the comfiest lazyboy chairs you’ll ever experience.  Bring a pillow, you might just want to take a nap in my office.  Of course that is if you can fall asleep to the tunes of  “Cage the Elephant”, “Bastille”, and oldies like “The Ramones”, and “Pink Floyd”.  Did I mention the coffee bar in my office?  Lattes of all sizes and temperatures are available.  Would you like a Three-Cheese Panini with basil and tomato on multigrain bread with a side of kettle chips?  Come to my office and let’s have a meal.  It’s all here in my new office.

But wait you say, how can all of this fit in your 15’ x 15’ office?  Well, actually it doesn’t.  My office at 597 East Avenue doesn’t quite have enough room for all of this, so I’ve undertaken an expansion effort.  This afternoon I took my office on the road – or down the street if you will and spent some time in a local coffee shop on Park Avenue.   Laptop in hand and work to be done, I spent almost two hours today in my newly found satellite office and I have to tell you I loved it!  And yes, I actually spoke to folks whom I would never have seen had I done the same work in my 597 East Avenue office.   Maybe it was my trusting face or the clerical collar I was wearing, but I actually had someone ask me if I would keep an eye on their computer while they went to the restroom.  Talk about trust!

Anyone who knows me is keenly aware of my obsession with coffee.  But that is not why I chose to turn my office into a coffee house.   Coffee houses and other places like them are where the world lives, not in locked up church buildings.  We are told in scripture that a long time ago the Word became flesh and lived among us.  Literally, the Word became flesh and pitched a tent among us.  I’d like to think that I pitched a Jesus tent on Park Avenue today. 

I pitched a Jesus tent at Boulder Coffee not because I desire to “sell” or “market” our congregation to the world but because I want to know people’s fears and doubts as well as the things that bring them joy.  I want to know that for which folks in our neighborhood hunger and thirst.  After all, I believe Jesus when he tells us that he is the bread of heaven who provides living water.  I believe Jesus when he promises to exchange our heavy burdens for his rest.

I did not expand my office today to bring people to church.  I did it to take Christ into the world.  This is not to say that I won't keep office hours at 597.  Of course I will.  That office is important too.  But I need to get to know my neighbors.  How else can I bear Christ if I don't know the neighborhood's needs?  So that you may join me anytime, I will regularly post my next coffee house office hours on Incarnate Word’s Facebook page.  After all it’s not just folks in our neighborhood who hunger and thirst.  You and I do too.

Peace and Love,

Pastor Doug