Oh Espresso!

I used to drop $$$ at Starbucks for a consistently brewed doppio or Quad Grande Non Fat Latte. After a while, I put away childish things!

I put a cheap espresso maker on my family Holiday wish list and was gifted an older model of the Mr. Coffee machine you see on the left. Being a barista beast has taken some time and research, but I have arrived. I prefer no latte (3 shots of espresso (Starbucks’ Sumatra) + 1 shot of frothed cream) better than my own!

The savor of success and savings! Joy. Be your own Barista peeps! It pays off

 

This Bird has MORE Rhythm than I

His grandfather wouldn’t have had him kicked out of the youth choir for rocking in the wrong direction The bird can sing too

 

Easter Scripture

In song…

Matthew 28:1 | Mark 16:1 | Luke 24:1 | John 20:1

 

Ecclesia

The church is more than a place of worship. I do believe that the church is worship. I know that it is more than a worship service. Overtime the multiple meanings of the word ‘church’ seem to have confined too many ‘churches’ in defining their purpose by only one of its meanings.

Most would deduce that the original meaning of the Greek word ‘ecclesia’ (or ekklesia, the original word from which ‘church’ was translated in the New Testament and in the Old Testament via the Septuagint) is a reference to a ‘community’, not a place. In early church history, references are made to ‘The Church @ _____ (insert geographic area),’ suggesting a group of Christ followers within a certain area. Throughout the history of Christianity the word usage has varied and evolved. Couple this confusion (for lack of a less negatively connotative term) with the concept of our ‘bodies being a temple’ of God and well we have scores of concepts and notions being addressed under the umbrella of one term.

Today there are ‘churches’ everywhere that have ‘church’ once or twice a week and have therefore qualified as being a ‘church’. Or so it seems. I might be off base here, but its not sitting right with me! The following is a more or less related excerpt from a paper that I had to write concerning my ‘Theology of Worship’:

A corporate understanding of worship cannot be accomplished without acknowledging the tenant of personal worship that God requires as we offer our lives as living sacrifices. It is the worship that we intimately live in relationship with God and man, through faith and obedience that lays the foundation for corporate expressions of worship. The act of worship through a service at an appointed time and place, outlined by the presence or absence of a predefined order and the Holy Spirit, organizes our collective approach but does not nullify the necessity for our individual responsibility. Often times, within the communities that comprise the ecclesia this service also functions to introduce non-believers to Christ and to mobilize believers for discipleship and service.

I know this post was a ramble… trying to write through some thoughts.

 

A Punk for Pain

“The difference btwn where you are & where God wants you to be is the pain youre avoiding” -Craig Groeschel #catalystoneday

 

How Are You?

My standard response to the opening inquiry is, ‘Very well and you?’ Unfortunately, there are times when the person asking has already shared with me their state of being and my, ‘and you?’ comes across indifferent and redundant.

By theOtherdrBen's.

Furthermore, I almost ALWAYS respond the same way whether or not I am doing, ‘very well.’ The majority of the time I the question is not sincere and merely serves as cordial salutations.

Today, I answered ‘very well.’ I meant it. Friday was hectic, tomorrow makes me anxious, my life is still unsettled but today, I answered truthfully.

 

Need Music. Please.

I love music but I am not a connoisseur of any particular genre and that really inhibits my ability to select an artist or an album to motivate, console, or to serve as a backdrop to my daily activities. Pandora usually comes into save the day and I have the following stations created:

• Lauryn Hill
• Coldplay
• The David Crowder Band
• Be Calm – Top 40
• Yo-Yo Ma
• Rihanna
• Jill Scott
• Lupe Fiasco
• Tye Tribett
• Billie Holiday
• William Murphy

Now where to go from here — Quick Mix? That will need to suffice. My latest love has been Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) -  an amazing violinist that does crazy electronic arrangements. Or if I am at home and trying to crank out some work I’ll put on some classical music that came stored on the original Nomad Creative Jukebox! (The big blue one! Ya’ll don’t know nothin’ bout that — pre pre pre iPod mp3 player!). Needless to say I need some new playlists and I think Genius is whack! Maybe I’ll listen to a little House music once this Pandora Quick Mix gets old.

Last week, I was listening to NPR and they featured Corneille a German/Rwandan artist who has a new album out. I liked his genuine nature, raw emotions and the style of his music. Not to mention, his website  is very well designed ;-) I’ll let you know how it goes… let me know who I should be checking out…

What I desperately want to avoid is going to BestBuy and picking out a few CDs that seem like they might be cool… That is not cool. That is what iTunes is for (even though I wish they made it easier to burn a CD for music that I have purchased so that I can pop it in my CD changer when I don’t have my iPod in the car)… I have no room to store another CD case. However a trip to the CD game exchange to sort through the racks might be well worth an evening in Georgetown.

 

Untitled

How many times will I use the, ‘My post disappeared.’ reason to justify my blogging absence? At least one more time! About 2-3 weeks ago, I spent my Saturday morning out early in Old Town Alexandria. With a hot cup of coffee and WiFi, I read paper/blogs/magazines (Wired & Business Weekly) then went ahead and worked on a post diving into Ash Wednesday and Lent. Saved the post once and then wrote some more… Clicked publish, and my connection RESET.
 
Obviously, I have only a modicum of common sense. If I had anymore I would know always to draft my posts in a text editor and then just copy/paste/format it when I am ready to post. Lesson well learned finally! Drafting this post on ‘Active Notes’ on my Nokia e71.
 
Some updates to come. My blogroll has grown, but since I have been using Google Reader I haven’t updated it here. Hoping to outgrow the emotional state of this blog very soon so that I can be brave enough to confidentally post on my passions under the domain name of my *name* : )
 
Not yet though…
 
PS Shout out to Teletubby.

 

Testing Posterous via Gmail App

I don’t like the SEVEN signature.

 

Posterous From Nokia e71

Testing Via SEVEN email systems.
 
— Sent with System SEVEN – the new generation of mobile messaging