Coffee House Confessions: The Leaf & Rummy

One of my favorite coffee shops is The Leaf. It is a cigar/coffee shop in Abilene. The atmosphere is one that is laid back, comfortable, and usually a little smoky. While the store's focus of sales revolves around cigars and other tobacco products they also have a very enjoyable coffee selection.

The time I spent at The Leaf was usually spent with brothers from my fraternity, ΚΦΩ. Long afternoons and late nights were spent enjoying brotherhood coffee and cigars at the small business in downtown Abilene. With free wi-fi offered we did everything from watch LOST, to debate theology. No matter what the conversation led to there was most always one constant, Rummy.

The card game has many different ways to play. Most anyone who has played a rummy game has had different rules in playing it. Ours was no different. Accommodating game play from two up to five people there was almost always a game started soon after walking in the door. With trash talk and competitive natures flying the games were always interesting, even if just to watch. I once even lost everything I owned to Jay Patterson (he graciously gave it all back). The memorable thing about Rummy at the leaf wasn't winning or losing. It wasn't about a game, cigars, or coffee. What was memorable was that we lived life together. We grew in our bonds of brotherhood. When we walked out the door we soon forgot the score of the card game but our friendships are something that will never be forgotten.

Drink of Choice: Dr. Pepper

Burned

The Leaf is a the favorite smoke shop of Abilene locals. It is an old-fashion smoke and coffee shop located downtown specializing in cigars and pipes. Frequently visited by college students and cigar aficionados it is a quiet place to grab a cup of coffee or a good cigar. The owner of The Leaf is a man named Bill. Today, while working on my disciple now material across the street at Monk's (a local coffee shop), fire trucks began pulling up to The Leaf, sirens blazing. Rushing outside to see what the commotion was. I caught up with Bill and inquired into what had happened. He said to me, "There is smoke coming out of the walk-in humidor and not the kind that we want to smell in there." The fire department inspected the situation and determined that the blower motor in the humidor had burned up. The blower was shut off, the fire trucks left, and The Leaf re-opened. But the incident made me think about Bill.

Bill is a very intriguing man and today isn't the first time that his work has burned him. Bill has a Bachelor of Science degree in Ministry as well as his Master of Divinity degree. Bill is a former pastor but now he owns a smoke shop. He had a bad experience at a church that he pastored and since has left the full-time ministry. Talk to him long enough and you will find out that Bill is bitter. He once saw me wearing a Logdson Seminary t-shirt and told me that seminary is where young men go to get their minds corrupted. Bill went through an experience that many pastors go through, he was burned by a church.

As someone who is aspiring to go into the pastorate having a bad experience at a church is something that is always at the back of my mind. I earnestly pray that God brings me to people who will love me. Currently, I love my job. I love the church that I work for. I love the people in that church. I don't want to be like Bill. I want to love the ministry. For those of you who are or are going to be ministers let me encourage you to burn proof your ministry and that starts with loving people. For those who are church attenders, fight for your pastors not against them. To many people who have surrendered to the call to ministry are surrendering their ministries. I feel bad for Bill but am inspired because of him, inspired to work hard for a lasting ministry, inspired to encourage others in their ministries, and inspired to help make myself and others burn proof.