Should Christians Support Starbucks?

I know the very title of this post is going to raise eyebrows and begin the process of hate-mail but I must get this off my mind! The answer is NO! They shouldn’t! If you are truly a Christ Follower, would you support the advancement of the New Age, Zen Buddhism, Mysticism, etc.??? Under the disguise of casual interactions with friends, over-priced (and low quality coffees), and social status is a little company that has made its way into the store shelves. This company is the the supplier of Starbuck’s Teas…TAZO

  You can visit their site by clicking here. Did you know that they claim each box of tea is “blessed by a Shaman” ? This is a crying out to all who read and even are daily drinkers of coffee to banish Starbucks from their vocabulary and checkbooks! You might be saying that you don’t drink tea so it doesn’t affect you…I site the many verses in the Bible warning us not to partake in the ways of the world and having nothing to do with paganism. So come on “Christians” stop giving your money to companies that support everything you “believe” to be wrong.

Starbucks Will Be Closed Today…Yeah!

I just read today that Starbucks will be closing for three hours today. (Click Here for the story) to retrain their employees, oh wait “baristas” how to make coffee. Starbucks needs more than three hours to learn how to make good coffee! Maybe they should roast their own beans in their shop so it is as fresh as it can be! My favorite coffee shop of all time in Dothan, Al. did this and they (Dakota’s) kept me going through my college years. JavaMoon Coffee here in Bradenton,Fl. does this as well and as their slogan says…”There are many stars but only one moon…may JavaMoon buck the stars out of the sky”

Support your local Coffee Shop!

I Couldn’t Help But Listen #3

I was getting coffee this morning before filling in for the Highscool Choir teacher and there was a gentleman on the phone talking to his wife. After hanging up…he yelled “woohoo! I have the best wife ever!” I was shocked at the outburst of excitement and wish I knew why she was amazing but that doesn’t necessarilly matter. What I learned was that we should publicly praise our spouses no matter how crazy it may sound or what others may think! My wife is amazing too!

I Couldn’t Help But Listen # 2

Yesterday I was enjoying another tea from Starbucks. Although the conversations were not as shocking as before, here’s what I observed. I play guitar…I have been playing for about 8 years now. I say that to say this…don’t bring your guitar to Starbucks and serenade people trying to enjoy life sans off tune singing of Metallica and Collective Soul classics. The instance of this particular socially ignorant group of guys brought back annoying memories of college. It seemed everywhere you went on campus there was someone, or group of people strumming away…the cafeteria while I was cramming for Dr. Lee tests, the gym, the dorm lobbies during football games, etc. My issue is not that I hate guitars, but please don’t subject everyone to it in a public place!

Another interesting observation I had was from a Starbucks employee on her cigarette break. It kills me that Starbucks would allow their employees to go outside, sit next to customers and smoke. The image of sophistication goes down the drain when the first thing a patron sees is the employees wafting smoke in their faces. employees should have a designated place out back to do this. I also don’t like hearing about their urine test results from last week! no…I’m not kidding! This employee said something else that related to the “Name Brand Association” of Starbucks. While she was on the phone with her friends, she never mentioned she was “at work” when people asked her location…she said “I’m at Starbucks” Starbucks has become a lifestyle, a household name, etc. that even the employee didn’t refer to it as work! I thought that was interesting.

A follow up on my Young Life Rant

Every now and then I am humbled. Looking back on my previous bash on Young Life probably was a little pre-mature and nicer words could have been used. For that I apologize to Young Life as a whole. After speaking with an anonymous YL leader from another part of the country he assured me that their ministry is Christ honoring and evangelistic. No ministry organization is perfect, mine is definitely not either…I guess I just got a little heated about this conversation I heard. From now on I will confront the brother\sister first before lashing out on my blog.