NOVEMBER 12 "STARBUCKS = COFFEE - NOT GOSPEL"

Is the issue that the red paper cup doesn’t say “Merry Christmas” or is the real issue that Christians have lost their way?  Christians are focused on forcing institutions, like Starbucks, to be Christian, instead of focusing on the people within those institutions. We want every business to be like Hobby-Lobby or Chick-Fil-A, but those institutions are not Christian because some obnoxious Christian forced Christianity upon their business, but because a man was converted to Christ by a one on one witness by a caring Christian and then when they started their business the implemented Christian ethics and values. If you want more Christian’s businesses, then reach more people who will in turn start more Christian businesses. You cannot legislate morality, it must come from within; and it only comes from within through conversion.

As Scripture states, "if any man be in Christ he is a new creation". Society is losing it’s away along Christians who are losing their way, thence we need to create law against partial birth abortion. However,

if that young lady was converted, if she had Christ inside her, we would not have to show her a law to tell her she cant do that it would come from within.  Jeremiah 31:33 “this is the covenant i will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the lord. “i will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” God doesn't want legislated morality; he wants people to know him! It is so much easier to just sit down in some room, alone, with a pen and paper and write your Christian laws and force them through; then sit down with a person and share the love of Christ with them and work through issues and questions they have. God’s way, “person to person” modern Christian way, sit in a room, disconnected from all humanity and write all these God laws and force them through, then those heathens will have to comply! Christians have lost their way because we have lost our heart or never even had it, for people. You might want to think that a declining disinterest in people is only a sign of a deteriorating relationship with Christ because the closer you get to Jesus Christ the closer you get to people. If a Christian has a hard time loving people it is only an outward manifestation of a shallow and/or superficial relationship they have with Jesus. The old adage, “Christ I love, it's people I hate” is a statement that comes from a deluded Christian. If you love Christ and he is at work in you, you will care for what he cares, people.  Where is the battle field today of the Christian? It’s at Starbucks, it’s at school, it’s at Football games. You can fight for your right to pray at school, but really, can’t you pray at home before you go to school and just go to school to learn? You can fight for your right to pray at a football game, but does God care about football and why not pray on your own time before the game? We have lost our way. We will court to court to fight for our right to pray in school or pray at a football game, but yet when the church calls a prayer meeting less than 10 percent of the church shows up for that prayer meeting. George Gallop did a poll several years back, and if I’m not mistaken, I remember the poll revealed that Christians

average about 15 minutes of prayer per week! In a 7 day week, that breaks down to about 2 minutes per day; yet we are going to court for our right to pray before and after a football game; when we have all the freedom in the world to pray at home and we don’t? We have lost our way! How is that Barista at Starbucks going to respond when a  concerned Christian walks-in and ignores the Red Cup but wants to share the Love of Christ of ask that Barista out to church, once he’s been accused of “hating Jesus” by the previous Christian because of a red cup?  The self serving Christian may have won the battle, but he has lost the man or woman and woe unto

next Christian who comes in behind that man and unselfishly tries to reach out to that barista, invite him out to church, how do you think that's going to go? The man who is fighting to get his way is not even thinking of getting the Barista out to church, he doesn't care if he goes to church, hear's the gospel and is saved, changed and helped; all he cares about is his agenda. Christians have lost their way.

This man may be able to force this Barista to write "Merry Christmas" on the outside of his cup, but wasn't Christ wanting to be written inside the Barista’s heart, not on the outside of a cup? If Christians do all this in “the name of God” then we have to ask, “what does God want?”.  Does He want his people going into coffee shops and obnoxiously forcing someone to write “Merry Christmas” on a cup, giving a scathing rebuke to the Barista or is He wanting his people to go into the coffee shop and be loving, kind and caring, caring enough to reach out to that Barista. Is this really the “hands and feet of Jesus”, that Christians sing about? Is this the heart of God, can cups be saved? I know people can!

“This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.

1 timothy 1:15