Hum…so here is that break down I was eluding to. Even schedules need “debugging” as this “daily blog” clearly indicates...I think Day 3 was supposed to be close to a week ago.
It would appear that my ministry is getting in the way of my ministry…which isn’t really a new problem.
One of my discoveries at BCCF was that so long as a pastor is available there are going to be interruptions and really this is the whole point of being “the pastor on call” anyway.
It’s important to understand that the real job isn’t about the “work” at all. The work is merely a mean to get at the job, which is to minister to flock and reconcile the lost to their Father.
But when is a pastor not on call?
Certainly hiding a Starbucks doesn’t exempt me…I seem to have something of a Starbucks ministry that follows me wherever I go...perhaps I should do a Starbucks tour (just thinking out loud).
Sort of a continuation on a theme...
When BCCF decided that they no longer wish to host Sanctuary I ended up taking our morning devotionals to the Starbucks across the street and the result of that was a 15 minute devotional that typically ran over an hour with random people drawn in out of curiosity.
Don't get me wrong, it isn't as though those 15 minute devotionals had ever run any less that 40 minutes to begin with. But with random persons popping in, asking questions, asserting positions, and proclaiming declarations that had to be tactfully defused it was wonder that the manager never ejected us.
But then we seemed to have come into "favored" status. There were times I even found that my latte had been "up graded" or mysteriously covered.
This is where role of “shepherd” becomes the most accurate title as I spent a good percentage of my time herding folks back to the point of the lesson...while being careful not to scare them off. Sheep frighten easily. ;)
All that to explain that this past week or so the situation here in San Diego has been that when I come to Starbucks with the intention of blogging I find myself engaged in deep conversation over matters of faith, theology and the person of Jesus Christ. And should I attempt to use the coffee house down the road I don’t seem to be able to access their WiFi. Doh!
Today I am back at Starbucks and I have already gotten past this morning’s few distractions (I think) but I've gotta recognize that this isn’t really working.
What I refuse to do is become one of those guys who is so "elevated" in his self-importance that he forgets what he’s really all about.
The people that I reach at Starbucks ought to be able to bend my ear just as much as anyone who attends our fellowship. And if the real Church has no walls as Mark Foreman asserts, then anytime I step out on the street I'm on-call.
At least that's my excuse for this week. ;)
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