Jonathan Golden's Blog: Inklings, Coffee, Redemption.

Engage

What do you really want?

 

Is it true?

 

Is it good?

 

Does it help others?

 

Think on this.

 

Do it.

 

Engage!

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

Jonathan

Committment

What are you willing to commit to?  I’ve conducted two wedding ceremonies over the last 4 weeks.  The tremendous benefits of marriage happen when two people commit themselves to each other above all others for a lifetime.  In this commitment they get to know each other, they get to know themselves.  They learn to rely on each other and reap the benefits of synchronizing, adjusting, relying, loving and caring. 

 

Similarly the gift of community occurs when a group of people commit to living with each other or worshipping with each other over a long period of time.  A fulfilling church community doesn’t’ happen when you just visit a church for a few weeks.  Community happens when you commit.

 

This evening I participated as a new friend made a commitment t to pastor and plant a church.   He was ordained a Priest in the Anglican Church and together with his wife and a few friends they sense the inkling to make a difference in their community.   They have formed Advent Anglican Church and are living out relationship with each other, God and the city.  Their commitment is to make things better, to engage redemption.

 

After Dale’s ordination my friend John and I walked into the parking lot and we met two homeless people, James and Shay.  They mentioned that they were friends with Dale.   They shared that Dale had shown them the love of God.  Shay started to cry and said she was sorry she missed the ordination service and asked if we would walk her into the reception to see Dale.  My friend took her by the hand and walked her in.

 

Dale and his wife Q have made a commitment to each other, to God and to the folks around Ponce de Leon in Atlanta. They are, as Nietzsche would say, pursuing “A long obedience in the same direction”. 

They have committed.

 

Jonathan

 

 

 

Not your passion, not your life

Last Saturday night my wife and I went to see our friends from Third Day inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

It was a night of celebration for Third Day and several other artists.  One in particular was Johnny Carson.  Johnny Carson is in his 70s and the grandson of the late Fiddlin John Carson.  Johnny has invested his life in the music industry in Atlanta as well as the next generation of musicians in Cabbage Town.

Johnny shared that his wife of 45 + years had been his friend, his partner and more recently his eyes as he has been going blind.

His life has not always been easy and  once he was in a trio . . . John Carson, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.  He was an alcoholic and wasting his life a way.  His wife looked him in the eyes one day and told him:

“This is not your passion, this is not your life”.

That was the beginning of change for Johnny.  Sometimes we mistake things that attract us or consume us for our passion,  for life itself.

Is there something you need to disengage from today?  Start living.

 

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

 

Jonathan

Granny

Tonight my family and I had Granny Harris over for dinner.  Granny isn’t our Granny by blood, but she is by love. Today she turned 90.  I first met Granny about 7 years ago when I was looking for property for our church.  She invited me in to her house and I quickly told her she shouldn’t invite strangers in.  We laughed and became fast friends. 

I started to stop by for iced tea and chat with her on her porch.  She would say, “Be good,” and I would say, “I will and if not, I won't get caught."  A few weeks later, my wife visited granny and the 83-year-old was on a ladder cleaning her gutters.  Granny started calling us the family she never had. 

Soon, Granny started to attend our church and bake us delicious pound cake.  She then became everyone’s Granny.  A widow for 50 years and without children, Granny is a strong woman who has been at the deathbed of her husband, her mother, her father, and both of her brothers.  A woman who was once alone now has a family through St. Peter’s Place.  She’s even adopted the team at Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company and visits with lunch and pound cake. 

Tonight after her birthday dinner she told me that she was recently cleaning up some limbs and debris from her yard after a storm and hauled it to the back of the property.  Her niece called that day and asked her what she did. She said, “A friend and I cleaned the yard.”  

Niece: Who? 

Granny: A friend. 

Niece: But who?   

Granny: The same friend that’s been with me all these years . . .The Lord.   

Granny went on to share with us that “If something’s got to be done, you may as well get up and do it.  You can’t just wait for someone."

What do you need to do today? 

Happy Birthday Granny!

J

Lazarus Health Day

Today, Land of a Thousand Hills and St. Peter's Place Church had a cool opportunity to donate and serve coffee at Health Day, an annual event for the homeless in Downtown Atlanta. Lazarus, a ministry of Trinity Vineyard Church, hosts the Health Day by shutting down an entire city block and setting up shop--literally. A clothing tent helps the homeless find the apparel and sizes they need, estheticians volunteer to cut hair and give pedicures and manicures, doctors and nurses conduct health screenings, meals are served, and there's even entertainment as they wait--board games, karaoke, music, and comedians. To top off the day, Trinity holds a church service outside. As the staff of Land of a Thousand Hills and members of St. Peter's Place gathered to brew coffee and serve up a hot cup of joe on the streets of Atlanta, I was reminded of Rwanda. The farmers in Rwanda that harvest and hand sort the beans served the homeless in Atlanta today. Two countries, two cultures came together over coffee. And that's a beautiful picture of community.

Drink Coffee. Do Good. 

Words That Work

From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him. --Proverbs 12:14

What you and I say, when said well, can satisfy us and others. The words we speak, the words we write, the words we think make a difference.  Do we ensure our words are articulated with creative force and in such a way that they satisfy understanding? Or are they quickly blurted out and leave little effect on the listener?  Worse yet, are our words constructed to tear down?  When used wisely, our words can build ourselves, others, and our enterprises up.  As proverbs goes on to say, “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down but a good word makes him glad.”

Your work is important and delivers a return. The work you put out will eventually come back to you. Do you work hard with quality, do you try to make good stuff, or are you satisfied with the mediocre? 

At the moment, I’m enjoying an omelet on the deck of Artisan Foods. I remember when Hoyt, the owner, first came into our Coffee House and shared with me his thoughts for the “work of his hands.” He took pride in the food and the experience he wanted to create in his shop.  His words led to his work, and his work is coming back to him in repeat customers and the enjoyment people like me find in his creation.

Peace,

J

Good Advice

Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.--Proverbs 

If you are getting ready to make an important decision, take time to receive the input and counsel of a few trusted advisers. 

This works for nations and it will work for you. 

J

Own the Hour

I really enjoy a day, an afternoon, or even a few hours of margin time—time when I can think, create, explore, and just be.  Sometimes margin time (the margin around my planned schedule) happens unexpectedly, like when I had three hours between meetings in North Georgia.  I drove my mini-cooper out into the country, sat parked with the top down, listened to music, and then worked on a few blogs.  Sometimes I’ll kayak during margin time, read my bible, take a walk with my wife, or play with my kids.  Margins allow me to own the time at hand. 

Often in the morning I’ll wake up earlier than I need to and the thought comes to mind to go back to sleep, but another thought emerges:  Get up, own the hour, and explore what I want to do. When I do this, making my coffee on my Technovorm seems like a gift, following an inkling to read or write or feels like a vacation.  These margin times are the times I think, play, pray, and get rooted into who I really am and what I want to do. 

I own this margin hour and when I take it, use it, explore it, I own my day. 

Without margin, I can bounce from meeting to meeting without thinking. 

Thinking—letting ideas  percolate—is what allows me to create. 

Own the hour.

J 

Catch It!

Contagious:  Able to be passed by contact.

A Micro-entrepreneur in Bangladesh to Bob

Six years ago, Bob, a coaching client of mine, shared his story of doing good.  He had been successful in real estate but had an inkling to do something else.  Bob visited a microfinance program in Bangladesh where he met a woman who was a recipient of a micro loan. The woman shared that now she could walk down the street with her head held high, take care of her family, and help others.  Bob asked her what her goals were, and she asked him, “What is your purpose in life?”

Bob started following his purpose of having an inkling, then having the courage to follow it, and encouraging others to follow theirs.  He now has positively affected thousands of people through microfinance, even funding schools in India!  He heard her story and caught it.

  

Bob to Me

Shortly after hearing Bob’s story, I asked my friend Bishop John how I could help in Rwanda. He said they have good coffee.  Encouraged by Bob’s story, I decided to follow my inkling and I imported twenty sacks of coffee, paid the growers in Rwanda a Living Wage, and started Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company with the purpose of pursing justice, community, and coffee. I heard Bob’s story and caught it.

  

Me to Travis

A few weeks ago, I was invited to tell my story to the folks at Atlanta Street Baptist Church.  A new friend named Travis heard my story.  Travis is a professional sports fisherman and is sponsored by folks like Zebco.  Travis has an idea to go to Rwanda with me and teach people how to fish and take care of their families.  He even has interest from his sponsors.  Travis heard my story and caught it.

Catch it!

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

J

Follow the Call

Today I talked to a man that shared he had been doing all sorts of “good things”—things that looked like they would be good or what God wanted, but they were really things he just wanted to do.  Then one day, in a moment of quietness, he said, “God, I've been doing all of these things because I want to do them. What do you want me to do?”  And clear as day, he said what came to mind was to write.  Doesn’t sound too holy, doesn’t sound too earth shattering, but it is what he sensed God wanted him to do. At a deep level—at a really true level—it is what he wanted to do, too.

 

See, God calls us to do that which at our truest selves, we really want to do.  The problem is we get busy following rules, fulfilling our roles, and living up to our responsibilities. 

 

Rules, roles, and responsibilities may be good, but they are not God and they may not be what we are called to do—what we really want to do.  God calls us to do those things and be the person we were created to be.

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

J