Coffee is to the body what the Word of God is to the soul.

There is an old story about JFK going to visit NASA during the 1960’s. We were building rockets to go to the moon before the end of decade. President Kennedy talked to rocket scientists, engineers and managers for the whole day. At one point he was walking down the hallway and met a janitor who was working to clean the floor. When the President stopped to talk to him for a minute, he ask the janitor what he was doing. The man straightened up noticeably and said “I am helping get a man on the moon”. It’s an old story but one I was reminded of this week.

As I sat in the service yesterday I heard the story of the dad and daughter who were baptized last week. The daughter who brought her dad to 12Stone. I was reminded that we are not making coffee. We are not cleaning up messes or refilling creamers. We are winning souls into the Kingdom of God. Along with all the other folks who work on Sunday to make it more comfortable for the seeker, new believer and anyone else who finds their way to our doors.

Smile and engage in conversation. Find out who it is that God is bringing to us. They need you. They need  you to smile, shake hands and just be welcoming. Thanks for all you do. It means a lot to me and to the people that smile back.

Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
Chaplain of Caffeine

I feel like I have a new lease on ministry. I’ll explain more later on what is changing but my focus today was different. I got to engage someone for the Kingdom.

You all know me well enough to know my answer to “How are you doing??”. It’s almost always “Better than I deserve”. Yes, I listen to Dave Ramsey sometimes and yes, that is where I first heard that answer but it is not why I say it. I say it for two reasons.

First, it is always true. I am better than I deserve. The wages of sin is death and I am a sinner. I deserve death but by the the Grace and Mercy of God I have life in Christ so I am always better than I deserve. I never have to lie and say “Fine, I’m fine” when I am not. Life is hard. Sometimes it feels like we are either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis or headed for a crisis. Welcome to life on this planet!! Don’t misunderstand though, it’s a Good Life and I am better than I deserve no matter what is happening to me.

Second, it almost always starts a conversation and today was no exception. I got the question and my answer was “Better than I deserve” and that got another question. “What do you mean?”, he asked. Soooooo, I got to share my faith with someone I thought was a believer but perhaps did not get this basic premise of my life. We talked about Christ and death and sin and finally I said “It is by grace through faith that we are saved, not by works so that no one can boast. (Eph 2:8-9). He walked away with something of the Spirit to contemplate.

My point is that we are all called to share our lives and witness to those we serve and I pray that each of you on the Brewteam at 12Stone will take that seriously. We are there to clean the carts, put coffee up and make sure there is cream and sugar for the people that don’t take coffee in is intended form (black and hot ) but more importantly we are there to share Christ. You will get the chance to do so if you look for it.

Be alert and yet be relaxed. I don’t want to have you manufacture a moment but rather just be yourself and look for anyone that you can serve and talk to. God will lead you to the moment that He wants you to have.

Thanks for listening and remember that It’s a Good Life!!

Jerry Robertson
Chaplain of Caffeine

I just watched a movie called Into The Wild. Very cool movie. I won’t spoil it for you but I want to get some thoughts down about it. The big thought is about our relationship to God. To be free and unencumbered with this world and to relate to God the way we were meant to.

The bible says we will not marry in heaven. I am not sure what relationships will be like but I am sure it will be different than what we have now. I think we will find God is finally, consciously always with us. Not like he is with us now but in a way that we simply can’t fathom now. To walk in the cool of the evening with our God. How great is that!!!

To explore all that God has created for us. He made is so big that we will never run out of things to do even in all of eternity. Wow, do I feel small right now. To explore the planet, solar system, galaxy or universe with him at our sides. To know he created it all for his glory and to share it with us. To share it with other people that are in heaven with us. Those we know now and those we will find along the rest of this path.

Focus on the relationships. Us to God and us to others. Nothing else really matters.

Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson

Well, things are better but the message goes on. I was watching a little of the Ray Charles story and my wife said “how sad a story” and she was right. Ray almost lost it all because of heroin. My thought was “but that’s where the music comes from” and as we watched the end of the movie we see Ray had a successful music career of 40 years and never went back to heroin. 

Our stories are like that. Mine is still being written and the last few months have been rough but maybe that is where our song will come from. God has a song for us and He sings it over us all the time. The rough spots are just something we have to pass through in order to tune the instruments. To practice the music and get on the right key. 

Pray for us as we write our song and we’ll pray for you as you write yours. Let me know how to pray and I will.

It’s a Good Life,

Jerry W. Robertson
Chaplain of Caffeine

This one is out of my life right now. We are experiencing some pretty big challenges and I am talking to God more. That is how we operate sometimes. When I would ride a motorcycle and get in a difficult situation I would pray more. Life is like that. When things are going well we just seem to bump along on our own and even begin to think we are pretty good. 

Then something gets out of our control (like we ever had any in the first place) and we begin to panic and try to do everything we can think of to get things back under control and finally reach a point that we realize we never controlled it at all.

We are like that right now and frankly the last few days have been rough. I have had to go back to some basics. Here they are:

1. God Exists
2. I am not him
3. God Answers Prayer
4. God Love Me

Now that may not seem like a revelation to you but it is part of my journey today. I have to trust God. Most of us know the story of Job in the bible. He lost everything. Possessions, children, wealth, health. Everything. Yet in Job 19:25 he says “but as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives and that he will stand upon the earth at last.” 

That is confidence and trust in God. Job could not see the battle going on that we get to read about in the story but he knew that God could be trusted even if it did not feel like it at the time. Do we trust like that? I know I don’t have it under control but I am learning. 

No matter what happens I have to remember the 4 basics above and not let  life overwhelm me. I have my health, food, shelter and clothing. There is gas in the car and I even have a car!!! Who am I to worry?

What are you struggling with? Use this space if you like to share the struggles and how you are working on your trust in God in the midst of it. 

It’s a Good Life!!
Jerry W. Robertson
Chaplain of Caffeine

The desert. Standing in the desert before dawn looking up. The sky is clear. The air is cold and you can see the center of our galaxy called the Milky Way. More stars that ever before. You see motion just out of your field of view and adjust to look at whatever that is. It’s moving fast and in a laser straight line. Not like a plane. It’s much faster than that. It’s moving really fast. Relax, it is not a UFO but rather a satellite that you never noticed before because you have never been where there is no light to blind you to the stars and to the man made objects in the night sky. It is beautiful.

Now, project yourself back about 550 years. There is no satellite flying overhead but the sky looks the same otherwise. More stars than you have ever seen. The sky starts to brighten. It’s so subtle at first that you don’t notice it but it is getting brighter. The sun is coming up. Notice that? You said it is ‘coming up’. I mean, everyone says it that way because that is how it looks. You are standing still and the sun rises above your head. The sun is moving, isn’t it? You look off to the horizon and you can see the Earth we live on is flat and level in the desert. Nothing to get in the way of seeing all the way to the edge, is there? Imagine t hat we used to believe the Earth was flat and the Sun rose and sat around us. We were the center of the universe. How silly we were to believe that!!

Now, think about our current situation. Regardless of your politics, I am sure you can find things you agree with and things you disagree with. Imagine a line in the sand running from right to left. Conveniently it runs Right to Left. Conservative to Liberal. Lower yourself down onto the line. You are at ground level looking Right and Left along the line and deciding where on that line you will stand. My position is just to the Right of Ron Reagan. Yours may be next to FDR or Lincoln or Obama. We all think we are in the proper place and that anyone that is to the Right or Left of us is wrong.

Now, allow yourself to float up and get to about 3000 feet above the line. Look down. This is a different place. Right and Left don’t mean as much now. Maybe we need to allow ourselves to float up even higher to get a better perspective on the truth. I don’t know all the answers and certainly I don’t know where to stand on that line but if we allow ourselves to come higher maybe it won’t matter as we see more of the picture.

That line can be Right or Left, liberal or conservative, Catholic or Protestant, White or Black, rich or poor. You get the picture I hope and maybe we’ll realize someday that the world in not flat and that we don’t live on a line in the sand. Bring others up to a higher level and show them what it looks like from up here. Maybe it will make a difference.

It’s a Good Life!!
Jerry W. Robertson

We just found out that Stephen (my youngest) has been accepted at UGA for the Fall 2009 Semester. He applied through Early Action and we just got word today that he made it. I think that is awesome and a great reward for all the hard work he as done to earn it!!

Good Job Stephen!!

Thanks for listening,
Jerry W. Robertson

It’s Newton’s Third Law actually. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So if it is the law we had better obey it. I think it carries to the law of sowing and reaping. You know, we reap what we sow?

That is how God provides for our day to day needs and if we obey the law and do what we should then I suspect God would not have to bail us out. What we usually ask for are ‘poof’ prayers and ‘poof’ blessings to get us out of a tight spot.

There was a show a couple of years ago called Joan of Arcadia. If you don’t know it then this will be harder to understand but basically Joan was a high school girl that God talked to. I mean He appeared as different people and had a real face to face conversation. I have clipped a part of a transcript here that shows what I mean. They are sitting down playing chess and they say:

Joan – How did I beat that kid at chess?

God – He was using logic. You weren’t. It’s impossible to guard against chaos. It’s rare, but it happens. Blacks move.

Joan – I don’t want to… I don’t know how to play this game.

God – And yet you play the game.

Joan – Because I’m forced to.

God – Forced to? Your friends make a suggestion, which you follow up on, and then you’re surprised at the outcome? It’s a causal universe. Move.

Joan – Wait a minute, I’m being punished because I made a tiny little effort to fit in?

God – It’s not about punishment. It’s that actions have consequences, and to be in denial of that is to be disengaged from the laws of the universe, which renders you powerless and vulnerable to an inordinate amount of pain. Other than that, it’s no big deal… move…. (She touches one of the pieces and then changes her mind)No….

Joan – No?

God – It’s a rule called “touch move.” Once you touch a piece, you have to move that piece.

Joan – I’m not allowed to change my mind? What kind of universe is that?

God – Oh, you can change your mind, but you still have to play that piece. So you should think before you move.

Joan – Wait a minute, this is a metaphor… Yeah, I looked up “metaphor” and that’s definitely an example… Yep… took the bait. So now I’m in the game. How do I get out?

God – There are many ways to get out; surrender is one, losing is another. Winning, cheating, which I don’t recommend, but you have to do something. You have to have a strategy. See the number one rule in chess is this; whatever you do, don’t play the other person’s game. Play your own… Your move.

This idea that God sets up rules and has us follow them seems to resonate with me right now. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

I think when Jesus told the disciples to not worry about what they would eat or what they would wear, it was a time that they were worrying and because God was in the ministry and they were doing what God called them to do, he certainly would provide. We are not supposed to worry either. There is a balance to work that I personally struggle with but lately God is working on me to focus on doing my part and to let him do his part. I guess that is what i am trying to say here.

Follow the rules and trust God for his part and don’t worry. God is big enough and he wants to bless you. Do your part so he can.

Thanks for listening,
Jerry W. Robertson

I have been doing a little word study. What does God promise to provide? There is lots of mention in the bible about Providing. God provided a ram for Abraham and Issac. God provides food for the birds of the air. God provides sunshine and rain to create the increase in the harvest. God causes the seed to grow. He provides the seed and the soil. He provides our health and ability or skills for us to be able to do our part.

What is our part? Not to put too fine a point on it, our part is to do what we can and to do it well. That maximizes what God does for us. We till the soil, plant the seed the right depth, remove the weeds and then we wait on God. That is the old metaphor when we lived in the rural setting and worked as farmers for our blessings. How do we translate that today?

If you work in sales then it may relate to calls you make or relationships you build because your ‘field’ is your client list. If you are a programmer then it may be the work you do to design a database or how you create the software that your company sells. We have a responsibility to do our best so God can bless us.

I guess the best way I can put it is that we do what we can, the best we can and leave up to God to do what we cannot do for ourselves. We can plant the seed but we cannot make it grow.

I will keep working on this idea and bring more as God reveals.

Thanks for listening,
Jerry W. Robertson

I don’t normally cross link my devotions page with the real estate page but I am going to this time. Come check out my article on www.RealtyCaffeine.com and help us give thanks.

Jerry Robertson