Love is inhaling the aroma of the coffee...

Dear Friends at Rise Up Lubbock,

You know that I like my coffee. Well, I guess that is no secret… and I like setting on my deck in the cool morning, absorbing the warmth of the cup and inhaling the aroma of the coffee. It is… pleasant. No excuses, I just enjoy it. God is like that when it comes to our praise. No excuses needed… He just enjoys it. Our praises are like an aroma to His nostrils. Our praise rises to him like the fragrance from the altar of incense in the tabernacle of the congregation, the Tabernacle Moses built to God in the wilderness. Our hectic wilderness is the world of job, boss, politics, and family. We feel the pressure and weights of responsibility piled upon responsibility until we are drowning in the quicksand of our wilderness. What we need to do is step out of the wilderness into the Tabernacle of praise where participating in the worship of God creates an aroma so pleasing to God. It is so pleasant there. It’s certain God is there and all our problems can be solved there! It’s in that moment of serene meditation that we become the people/person we were meant to be, and we are doing what we were meant to do.

Dan-Dwayne

Each coffee brand claims they are the best

A Cup of Grace with Dan-Dwayne

Dear Friends at Rise Up Lubbock,

It seems that when I go to the coffee shop there is a growing amount of different coffee blends/brands and each one has some claim that they are the best. One boasts about having the best flavor and another brags on its aroma, and so on. I’ve seen a lot of product bragging, especially since I have worked in advertising… and celebrities are somewhat the same. I see people always promoting themselves. However the Word, Christ our Lord, teaches us something different. The best way to become someone special is to become humble first.

Matthew 23:12 - And, whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

It is likened to the way of Nehemiah. He heard that Jerusalem was in need and instead of mounting an awareness campaign he hit his knees and prayed... Then the answer came! …But, Weren’t we talking about coffee.

Dan-Dwayne

Don't take hot coffee with you in a regular cup.

Cup of Grace with Dan-Dwayne

Dear Friends of Rise up Lubbock,

Many times when I leave my house I will not have finished my morning (second cup) of coffee and so I take it with me. Sometimes I will put it in my travel cup but then there are other times that I just take my regular ceramic cup with me. Well, that was how it was, me finishing my coffee as I held my ceramic cup high over the car’s console as I traversed my way down the street. Take my advice it is not a good idea to take hot coffee with you in a regular cup. In the next instant a driver in another lane whirled his Mustang GT out of his lane (from behind a slow moving vehicle) and traversed across two lanes of traffic weaving between the cars. And, why? All to get ahead, to go faster down the road than the rest of the traffic. I slammed my breaks briefly to allow the Mustang enough room to dart between the cars and my coffee went… all over my shirt. Ouch! My first reaction was to respond in the flesh and not in the spirit. It is that stubborn streak I have that rose up in me for an instant. You know the stubborn streak that we have to kill out daily. (Sometimes I don't want to remember anger control = self control.) Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 “I die daily,” referring to dying to sin… and again in Romans 6: 10-11 he said, “For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It is easy to give into that stubborn… I want to do this my way attitude, but you will be far more blessed if you just give your situation to God, and trust.

Dan-Dwayne

Just a part of the coffee process...

Dear Friends of Rise Up Lubbock,

You know I like to talk about coffee. Well, I was just setting here thinking about how I only have control of my coffee at my end. I mean, have no control over any part of the coffee processing except the blessing and enjoyment part of drinking coffee. I know that there are pickers, roasters, and processers and many people that are involved in how my coffee gets to my cup, but the only thing I have any control over is how I brew it and pour it. So, as I said, I get the blessing part of the process. I get the enjoyment.  It's kinda humbling to think of all those are people working just so that the coffee can be sold in a grocery near me and that I can enjoy - my coffee.  My Christian life is also full of blessings that I didn’t put there. Those blessings were put into my life because of a praying mother, thoughtful prayerful friends, and the prayers of my loving family! They were prayed into my life and God honored their prayers and blessed me. That is a humbling thought. As a son, friend, husband, and father I have a responsibility to live worthy of their sacrifices for me… and then to think of the one who gave the most; the one who sacrificed the most… Jesus. How humbling to know that what he did was for me. Wow.

Dan-Dwayne

2oz Whole Milk in Americano

Friends of Rise Up Lubbock,

I was at my favorite coffee shop the other day and as usual I told the young lady about my books and that she would enjoy reading them. After I left the counter I seated myself behind a large freestanding rack filled with novelty cups and packages of ground coffees. I was near enough to hear what the baristas were saying (not that I intentionally meant to over hear them… it just happened.)  Well, the girl who I had been talking to was telling her coworker about my books and that she had just waited on an author. The curious thing was that she didn’t call me by name. I suppose she was trying to put a face to the name, after all they have so many customers throughout a day. Anyway, she called me by my order. The coworker asked was that ‘vanilla latte, half calf?’ The Barista replied no it was ‘2oz whole milk in Americano.’ As usual I started thinking about how that might apply to my spiritual walk.  Yes, it got me to thinking, what if God called us by our prayerful orders instead of by name. I can imagine Saint Peter asking God, “Was that last prayer from ‘ready for battle, full of faith with extra creamy enthusiasm?’” Then God might reply, "No, it was ‘only when need, all gain, low foam patience.’" I believe that what we pray and how often we pray (place an order with God) surely is relative to our relationship with God. I suppose to that Barista I will forever be known as ‘2oz whole milk in Americano’ who writes novels. 

Dan-Dwayne