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HappyChristian

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News Comments posted by HappyChristian

  1. There are differences between coffee and water...coffee is hot and can scald if someone is not careful and  spills it on someone. Drinking-temp water is not/would not.  Coffee stains if spilled, water does not. Coffee stinks as it sits and dries if not thoroughly cleaned up. Water does not. As I mentioned earlier, coffee will also mold. Water will not. (now, granted, if someone is on the ball and thoroughly cleans the spill, there are not real problems...but when the church cleaner isn't thorough, or when a spill is not mentioned, problems come).

    Aside from that, coffee is also a beverage that many folks enjoy while chatting with friends. No problem with that. But we have experienced the casual attitude that takes over when everyone's holding a cup of coffee (in some cases it was tea and hot chocolate - you can't say no to those if you say yes to coffee).  Anyone who is familiar with human nature knows that an irreverent attitude during worship service is a heart issue. That's not even my point...my point is if the pastor KNOWS that something is going to encourage a casual atmosphere and allows it, that pastor is guilty of encouraging what will likely lead to an irreverent - and then worldly - atmosphere, and heart issues amongst those who are irreverent. If you haven't experienced a church that is actually irreverent due to casual atmosphere, it's not uplifting at all.

    Again, each church has to make its own decision. But I have to disagree that church is a  "private social club." God's church is not a club, social or otherwise, and shouldn't be treated as such. It is the called out assembly of believers joining together to worship a Holy God. Fellowshipping at church does not equate to the club atmosphere. True Christian fellowship far surpasses that of any social club. IMO.  (That does not mean churches that allow coffee during the morning service are sinning, FWIW.)

    I don't think anyone is going to be able to point to scripture that forbids coffee during the worship service. But there are many principles regarding behavior in the House of God that might give folks pause.

  2. So, to an extent I agree with no coffee. But there are churches that do allow it, and I'm not going to say they are wrong...because, you know, independent. ?

    I don't think it's necessary, as salyan said, for that little length of time. But, again, each church is different (the churches I know that have added the cafes to their churches aren't what they used to be...but I don't blame the coffee houses as the problem, it's more a symptom).

  3. My hubs has told folks no coffee in the sanctuary at all, nor other drinks besides water. We meet in a manufactured home, so the living room area (which is our sanctuary) is open and connected with the kitchen. When we first began attending, Sunday and Wednesday nights were around the table where everyone had coffee or whatever.  Atmosphere was WAY too casual, and more general talking took place than anything else. People would bring whatever they were drinking into the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. And there was a spill. Stained the (already messy) carpet, but worse than that it wasn't wiped off the chairs...and it molded. Ugh!

    So when  hubs became pastor, he shook things up...no more sitting around the table in the evenings, and nothing but water in the sanctuary. Made some folks pretty unhappy  (and the resulting gossip is what led to the church split about a year later). But he stuck to his guns.  Coffee was always ready when folks arrived, so they could sip and chat before services.

    However, it was a habit for one of the men to start another pot just before the service ended...hubs put a stop to that, so the new pot was made earlier (we were given some carafes which kept the coffee hot, so that helped).

    Fast forward to a guest beginning to attend. He had absolutely no respect for the fact that we were a church. He treated the building like it was a house (even wanted us to let him move in to the kids' Sunday School room since at the time we had no kids attending...even though he was told no, he began bringing some of his stuff and leaving it in there, hanging his clothes in the closet, etc). He did awful  things like hanging his wet socks on the fire extinguisher in the kitchen and walking around barefoot, getting upset when hubs told him to put shoes on because we are a church, not someone's house. There was a lot of other stuff. Like bringing breakfast in late to Sunday School and eating it over the island, rummaging through the fridge and the cupboards while hubs was teaching, etc. Leaving a mess, yada yada.

    So hubs instituted a new thing: kitchen is closed 5minutes before Sunday School and not open again until after the morning service. Also closed during evening services. Everybody understood why and had no problem with it.

    Our son is a major coffee drinker, as are two of the other men. But they don't even try to carry it into the sanctuary. And coffee drinking stops at 5 til service time.

    All of that said is anecdotal, but it is why we don't have coffee during service times. There was not a reverent attitude and it really did hurt the atmosphere. No, coffee wasn't the culprit, but sitting there drinking it during service time helped create the atmosphere.

     

  4. He was a good man. I was his oldest daughter's K-5 school teacher at Freedom Christian School in Belpre. We did "Dimes for Deems" as they were getting ready to go to the Philippines. The whole church got involved, but the kids really loved it. We had cardboard with slots for dimes. I think once filled it was about $10. I was also his sister-in-law's roommate. Paul and Debbie were good people who loved the Lord (Debbie still is).

  5. We have a Facebook page that I post on a few times a week. Most of our members do not have Facebook pages, so it's hard to get followers. It is growing slowly, though. 

    We don't have a website yet, but the tech guy in the church that founded ours has volunteered to create one for us. 

    That's about it. I did start a Twitter account but don't use it. I know I should, though.

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