John

The gospel of John is so good.

I was reading chapters 7-8 and it struck me how Jesus kept proving to them over and over that he was the Son of God and the people didn’t get it. However, I realized that there is a small verse that is crucial in understanding why. 7:39 tells us that the Holy Spirit was not with them. Not only did the Jews not have the full story, they also didn’t have the spirit dwelling in them that we as believers do! I don’t think we appreciate enough the fact that God dwells in those who believe in him. We sometimes are tempted to think we would be better off back in the day when we could physically see and touch Jesus, but the Pharisees had Jesus standing right smack in front of them! Without the Spirit to guide them as He guides us, they were just as lost as you or I would have been. Jesus later told His disciples that He HAD to go so that the Helper (meaning the Spirit) could come, meaning it would be better for them! And rightly so. Even though I would love to go back in time to meet Jesus here on earth, I already have a relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit and a full picture of God’s plan through His word in the Bible, I wouldn’t trade that for anything. I don’t have to be guessing as the Pharisees did, “could this be the Son of God?” I know He is. Do you?

"...Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" Now He said this of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were about to receive..." John 7:37-39

hazelnuts

Hazelnuts, the size of a gumball with the power of a cannon.

Okay, maybe hazelnut doesn’t pack that much power for you, but this new discovery has substantially changed my life, especially my coffee life. Before I get into the greatness that is a hazelnut, in this post I’ll tell you what first made me discover this little gem.

Chick-fil-A. I love it more than the average person. I work at one of the top stores with the most amazing people. I’ve also been there three years and I’m still not tired of the food. I could eat it every day, in fact, there have been weeks when I indeed ate it every day, even on days I wasn’t working. The only thing I never have and thought I never would enjoy is their coffee. Even when after the recent change.  Some people enjoy their coffee, and I’m happy to serve it to them, but in my opinion, it’s gross. Really gross. In the coffee’s defense though, I’ve grown up around coffee. It’s a part of Hispanic* culture and big deal to me, so I tend to be pickier. I have been called a coffee snob before…

I’m working on it.

Anyways, at least the new coffee is always fresh, unlike our old coffee that I think had a really gross holding time. Coffee literally turns rancid after just an hour people. Our old time was longer than that. However, it’s always fresh now so I’d thought I’d give it a try… still gross. (to me… a lot of people love the new coffee.) I tried everything, every combination of cream and sugar possible. Nothing worked, there was no magic combination that could transform my coffee. NOT EVEN VANILLA.

 When vanilla didn’t work, I almost gave up. Until I saw one of my Mexican coworkers add hazelnut to his coffee. Hispanics know what’s up when it comes to coffee people, pay attention to them. So I tried it. Mind blown. Chick-fil-A coffee now became drinkable to me, and I daresay…enjoyable. Yes, enjoyable. Hazelnut was the magic I was searching for. I owe the future of my career to that man. As I am now working the day shift, I have to be there at 6am. Even when I graduate and become a teacher, I’ll be getting up early all the time. Coffee is almost necessary some mornings. Now I can drink it anywhere. Even places I think are gross. IHOP probably has the worst coffee ever, I’ll try it there, the ultimate test, and see how it goes.

The only time I had ever tried hazelnut was once at a coffee shop in a Macchiato. It was amazing, but I thought it was just the store that made it good… it was the hazelnut… I feel like the Apostles after Christ rose from the dead, now they understood everything. (Yes, I just compared Christ’s resurrection to my coffee. No, they are not equal. It’s a joke people.) Have you ever tried hazelnut in your coffee? When you do, you may never go back.

 

Goodbye Vanilla, hello Hazelnut.

 

*I’m Hispanic if you didn’t know, Dominican.

Folk Art

I’d like to introduce you to a little restaurant called Folk Art.

 It’s located in Inman Park, hidden on a little avenue, sharing a building and parking lot with three other restaurants. If you aren’t looking for it, you just may miss it. It is everything I love in a restaurant. Their slogan is “Artful Eats for Simple Folk” and they do exactly that. The food is artfully and tastefully prepared, and incredibly good, yet when you walk in, you immediately feel comfortable with the simplicity of the diner. It’s cute and rustic... and goodness gracious are their fried pickles good. They combine a lot of different flavors to create unique experiences in each meal. I got sandwich that sounded like something I order at Shane’s a lot, which couldn’t have been more different. It was technically pork with coleslaw on it but it was so unique I couldn’t even compare it… in a good way. If you ever find yourself near midtown looking for somewhere to eat, try Folk Art, AND make sure you invite me. And for the love of everything good, order The Randy for dessert. (No that’s not a reference to Julian Smith, it is bacon dipped in pancake batter, then fried and covered in maple syrup) Don’t knock it until you try it, I’m pretty sure my friend almost died of happiness while eating it.

 

Pictured:

Sweet Potato Donut holes,

Flourless Chocolate Ganache Cake,

Coffee (what’s dessert without coffee?)

Bad to the Bone Sandwich
(house roasted pork shoulder topped with collard green cole slaw, date chili bourbon BBQ, gruyére cheese, and carmelized onions)

 

Is your mouth watering yet?

Under the Sea

Seafood and I have a strange relationship. I hate everything about it except the taste. I know, it's odd. The idea of fish grosses me out, but when I make myself eat it I enjoy it every time. The only time fish hasn't freaked me out was when I had it on the beach. The thing had its head still attached people…and yet it was so good. However, take me to the farmer’s market fish section and I may or may not throw up on you. Yes, I'm a weirdo.

 

 

When we go to the Dominican, all food is better. There's something about eating a perfectly chargrilled piece of fish on the beach that is just so totally right. There is something about getting fish from a container at Kroger that is so totally wrong to me. If you enjoy fish no matter where you are, more power to ya, I'm still working on it.

I got to thinking about seafood because I recently watched the Little Mermaid with a little girl I babysit. Now, The Little Mermaid is also something I have strange relationship with. I love everything about it except the main character...exactly. Ariel is one of the worst role models a girl could have. A disobedient, discontent, girl sells her soul for guy she saw...ONCE. Not exactly a pattern you want to be following. However, the music is amazing, her friends and family are really good characters, the evil witch is a great villain, even the "handsome prince" isn't so bad, he takes in a mute girl for goodness sakes. What impacted me this time around was what a beautiful picture of the gospel it is. Ariel gets caught up in the world, literally the world above, so she sells her soul to the devil thinking she can handle it. When her world inevitably crashes, it's time to pay for her sins. Unfortunately, her all powerful father can't break the contract because it is the real deal, legally binding, so what does he do? Takes her place, it's the only way to save her. 

Now that's where the analogy stops otherwise Trident would have risen from the dead and beat Ursula himself. They had to give Eric a chance to redeem himself.  Also I'd like to clarify that the contract isn't actually made by satan, it's made by God himself. He is so holy, He won't break the rules and allow sin to go unpunished. That's why someone had to die and be punished. Thankfully for us, Jesus came and DOESN'T need us to rescue him. He conquered death Himself and that's why it works. That's why he can be our real substitution. If you think about it, Ariel and everyone else really weren't freed when Trident took her place, because now Ursula would rule, and basically ruin everyone's life. Satan didn’t win, Jesus did.

Jesus isn't Trident, he's a thousand times better. Do you know Him?

pointless piece of chicken

Can we just start with the MOST important bit of soul food there is? The Gospel.


God, Holy Creator made Man. Man (yes, that's you and I), sinned, separating himself from God. Since God is holy, He must punish un-holiness (sin). God loved the world (the people in it) so much that he gave His only beloved Son Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him (acknowledge Him as creator, acknowledge and repent of your sins, keep faith in God) will not perish (go to hell where we are punished for our OWN sins because He is holy and can't by nature can't be with un-holiness) but have eternal life (live with God for all eternity). John 3:16 (a book in the Bible which I encourage you to read).


That is a VERY basic summary of the most important information you may ever read in your life...


Don't let it blow past you.


If are a believer and you've never read the gospel of John...what are you doing with your life? It's like going through life not knowing about avocados. It's so good. Okay, Honesty check... I'll admit I've never read it all the way through... Let's form a pact. Me, google blogger, and anyone who may be reading this, I'll start now (AGAIN) and actually finish this time, and we can read it together.


As I was trying to think of food to compare the Gospel to, I just kept coming back to salt and butter, really any spice that adds flavor to food. What is a piece of chicken without spices. I mean, does it even have any flavor? It's like flavorless chewing gum. Chicken is an empty palate for a chef to paint on. Those people without the gospel, without Christ in their lives are like chicken without any seasoning, pointless. Sure someone may chew you up, you may accomplish some little thing, but in the end you'll never be thought of again, eternally anyways. Worse than never being remembered, bad, tasteless chicken gets thrown away. It's not a perfect analogy, but the gospel is ten times more important than spices, it shows us our purpose on this Earth...


 (To glorify God and enjoy Him forever, in case you were wondering)