St. Arbucks Jumps on Board

…two years too late.

Starbucks announced that they will give money this holiday season to the (red) campaign. Seriously, didn’t this happen already? Isn’t everybody done with the (red) campaign? Of course, it’s a good thing, as St. Arbucks will donate .05 cents from every holiday trio sold (Gingersnap Latte, Peppermint Twist Mocha, and the Eggnog Latte), but what if instead they said they will donate all procedes from the holiday trio sold on one day? I am sure more people would be on board for this. Maybe Uncle Howie should have been on board two years ago when the (red) campaign was relevant.

Fat Hawaiian Update

Do you watch the Biggest Loser? You should. It is inspirational and awesome. You will laugh and cry (from laughing) and be angry at Heba and Vicky. I just want to know why they are so mean! I feel like i am back in middle school. The show also makes you want work out as these people are trying to lose weight for life.

For six weeks, I was involved with Bob Anderson’s boot camp in Ferndale, WA to help me lose weight. It is a 10 week program, but I was able to hop in in the the middle of everything. I’ve been trying to lose weight before the baby gets here. Here is how it is going so far:

I weighed in on 9-27-08 at 227 pounds and could do 29 push ups and 28 sit ups.

Today I weighed in at 214 pounds and I did 45 push ups and 40 sit ups.

Improvement! I love it. I will do all of the measurements (chest, arms, legs and waist) and a final weigh in at the end of 10 weeks on Dec 6th.

No More Fat A$$ People In Ministry Weight Loss Challenge

Brent over at InWorship jumped on board with this and set out the weight loss challenge for fellow bloggers and people in ministry. I think that its funny how the most overweight people are working in either minstry or health care…two people who tell you that your body is a temple and how to take care of it.

So here we go! I, in typical Hawaiian fashion, have simply been continuing to gain weight and put this challenge off for later. Well, later started today.  Here are the Brown Kid’s stats for you:

I’m 6′ 1″. I weigh 217 lbs. My chest 45″ and my waist is 42 1/2″. I would post a picture, but I don’t want to make the ladies stumble (that’s a joke).

So I see a pattern developing in myself that I seem to have a comfort zone of 215-220. I hope to get down to 205 before or by september-ish. It doesn’t help that I work at St. Arbucks and am surrounded by deliciousness of the “Reduced Fat” Strawberries and Cream Coffee Cake…and caramel Machiatos…and Grande Hazelnut and Vanilla Lattes…and strawberries and cream blended creams…and, oh who am I kidding, I want to put it all in my mouth because it’s all good. So here is what I am going to do. While I am working out and eating healthy, I will only drink black coffee and unsweetened black Iced teas. Also, no sweets until the cheat days. Yes, I said cheat days. It will be my day of free for all eating so I don’t go crazy.

Here are a few of the other bloggers on board:

James
Brent
Kristen
Joe
Buddy
Dan
Rick
Brandy
Deborah
Joel
Theresa
Steven
Love
Tawny
Kelly
Jen
Ron
Darla
Theresa
Heidi
Lynn
Natalie

Care to join? It should be a piece of cake. mmmm. cake. I miss you already sugary mistress of deliciousness.

Thank You. Drive On Through, Sir

So, I couldn’t put a picture on here because it is copywritten, but a guy drove through the front window at Bakerviews Starbucks here in Bellingham. 

Finding Comfort and Coffee in Contemporary Christianity and Starbucks

So yesterday and today I learned quite a bit as I stepped into the role of a learning barista for Starbucks. As I was bombarded with quite a bit of information regarding the company, I couldn’t help but notice all of the similarities of Starbucks and the contemporary church. By contemporary, I am blending in the emergent church as well; though the Emergents may not like that, this is my blog and I’ll do as I please. I know that plenty of authors have written on this, including Leonard Sweets latest, “The Gospel according to Starbucks”, so if you want more thoughts on this idea, there are plenty of other resources.

It all began while sitting through orientation, the common theme was about the “Starbucks experience” and, again, the “third place” concept. Starbucks wants you to leave having a great experience at whatever Starbucks you are leaving. I began thinking that this is not unlike the contemporary church in that they want you to leave the doors having experienced something (i.e. a “take away” of some kind). Some churches give you this experience through a sermon, in 5 points or less, that is relatable to your life, while others do it through contemporary music and enough multi media that can trigger seizures. The Emergent Church is also like this in that they want you to leave having experienced God through sensory response. They realize that not everyone experiences God the same way and so they have to hit as many buttons as they can. All three have one common goal: that you leave with what you came for (and hopefully more). 

Both the contemporary church and Starbucks want you to leave having experienced another important thing: friendly people. The Starbucks experience wants you to leave happy. So does the contemporary church. The church doesn’t want to offend anybody, or have anybody leave with ill feelings toward them or their building. This is the Starbucks experience. Both Starbucks and the contemporary church want you to leave being satisfied with what you got and coming back for more.

Finally, we come to the concept of the Third Place. I’ve talked about this before, but let me clarify this. Starbucks believes that a person spends most of their time in two places: home and work. Starbucks aims to be the third place that a person goes to and hangs out. It wants to be a place of comfort and coffee. This seems to be the aim of the contemporary church also (not so much the Emergent church). The contemporary church wants people to come to them and spend time there. It is the attractional church model that we hear about - it is the come and see church. By promoting comfort and coffee and excellent child care, the attractional model aims also to be the third place. I feel that the Emergent church discourages people from congregating in one general place, but instead opts to be in many different areas. Obviously this is not unlike the starbucks on every corner. Both the Emergent Church and Starbucks generally are intentional about where they are and what they are doing.

I could go on about this, but I’ll stop here. any thoughts on this? 

“Your Third Place May Be My Second Place” and other things that entertain me right now…

Starbucks refers to themselves as the thirdplace, and rightfully so, but i think that Starbucks is my second place. I use it as an office in my officeless job. So right now, I am drinking the new Pike Place Roast, listening to the new Gnarles Barkley, and writing up a ministry description for the RCC website on Muse Ministries. It’s been blank for a few months now…I just plain forgot.

I am writing a blog entry right now that is a lot like Brent’s discussion over at InWorship entitled, A Christian Response part 2. Great stuff. A must read.

I have new links up in the Blogroll: Faces of Bellingham and My church’s blog (Baron Miller) check em out.

Have you seen the movie “Once“? What a wonderful love story. I just bought the soundtrack today. If you don’t own it, do. It is the best 9.99 plus tax that you will spend.

One more thing before I go, if you go to texassports.com, my cousin is in the sidebar. He is the face of the catcher on the right hand side. It may switch to other athletes, I don’t know. I do know this though, my cousin Kawika is a longhorn – his life dream. Go Cousin!

peace,

ron

St. Arbucks and the Brown Kid: Welcome to the Machine

Well, if you read this blog within the last couple of weeks, you know that I was applying to work at St. Arbucks up the road from me. I am happy to say that I am now a part time “partner” with St. Arbucks. If you sent good vibes my way, or in matt’s case spat Holy Water toward me, thank you. Now I must get a health card and conform to wearing Khaki’s and black and white polo shirts to match my green apron.

I had one friend ask me why I would work at Starbucks as opposed to other coffee places throughout Bellingham. Quite simply, they weren’t hiring. I am honestly excited to work somewhere in my neighborhood where I can walk to work and will see people from my neighborhood. I am excited to work for a company that cares for their employees (much like my current job as worship director at Roosevelt Community Church), works to care for the earth by taking steps to be environmentally concious, and finally cares for the community that they are located in. Maybe I’ll get to cash in on that court case in California somehow. Well, the brown kid is growing up finally. Now I am part of the corporate world. So long to the small businesses and hello working stiffs. 

The Best Thing You Will See Today

Seriously. You’re Welcome.

A Moment of Silence Please…

Herb Peterson died today. Perhaps one of the greatest inventors ever. He invented the egg mcmuffin. This was the man who died a millionaire making his money off of an egg, a slice of ham, a slice of cheese, and an english muffin. Thank you sir. I’m Lovin’ it.