Coffee Break – 01.05.2014

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Roast Your Own Coffee – A few years ago, I started to roast my own coffee at home. I’ve never looked back, and have found myself turning up my nose at things I once found enjoyable (Starbucks). While I don’t exist solely on my own roasts, I do use them pretty heavily. I order my beans from Sweet Maria’s, and use a Poppery II popcorn popper as described in this article.

X-Rays Of Nature – Simply stunning! Arie van’t Riet is a medical professional who takes x-rays of normal everyday things found in nature. The results are simply stunning.

Why The Amish Dress Like They Do – We live near an Amish community, about thirty minutes away. We lived in the heart of Amish communities in Indiana several years ago. But I never really understood the reasoning behind much of their lifestyle. This post helps to alleviate that a bit.

Maps Of The Seven Deadly Sins In America – This is fascinating. The means used to gain the info are a bit faulty, but it would be incredibly difficult to gauge such things with any degree of accuracy. Still, it’s an interesting look at where certain types of sin are more likely to flourish than others.

Why I Write – Someone asked me this very question just a few days ago. After realizing that I posted more than 250 times to my blog in 2013, and wrote in my journal daily, as well as other writing opportunities, I decided to examine why I write. Jeff Goins summarizes it nicely.

9 Reasons To Pray – As a minister, one of the biggest things I see in people’s lives, and in my own all too often, is the reliance upon ourself instead of on God. We talk big about prayer, but we don’t pray all that much, it seems. Here are nine good reasons to pray.

5 Ways You Can Bomb A Sermon – This article is primarily written with people who speak to youth in mind. But the principles fit to those who preach to other ages as well. Both the third one and the fifth one speak loudly to me, since I’m fairly new to preaching on a weekly basis to the congregation as a whole. And while I know the other three, it’s helpful to hear them again as a reminder. It’s not about me.

If God had granted all the silly prayers I’ve made in my life, where would I be now? – C.S. Lewis