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Beer Culture in Eastern North Carolina

Monday, October 5th, 2009

You may or may not know this about me, but I’m a foodie. I love haute cuisine, and I absolutely adore beer. I detest what my city calls beer (Natural Light, Busch Light, etc), and appreciate a great imported schwarzbier more than most people I know. But here’s something I’ve been noticing…

Slowly but surely something exciting is happening here in Eastern NC: a beer culture is developing! First, there’s Duck Rabbit Brewery (who honestly needs to hire someone in order to redo their website and get their social media marketing up to speed) who brew incredible dark beers. [Note: Despite the popularity of their Milk Stout, the Porter is the best beer they regularly brew...you're welcome].

Secondly, there’s the recent grand opening of Winslow’s Tavern. They have a pretty good selection of beer as far as restaurants go, with a decent selection on tap. They need to hire someone who knows how to manage a restaurant (as made obvious by the food quality and service), but the beer side of business is great.

Third of all, and one of the most exciting developments, is that Mother Earth Brewing is about to open! They are an organic brewery located in downtown Kinston, of all places. They are even beginning to grow their own hops, right here in Eastern NC. That in itself is incredible. And I’m hoping that their beer is as great as their ideas. One can only hope!

Here’s to a great beer culture in Eastern NC. Hopefully the Church can contribute as well. I’ll do my part and invest. Until then, I’ll sit back and enjoy my Pomme Lambic from Belgium (which I bought at Cindirene’s in Ayden).

Posted in Culture, Featured Articles, Greenville | 3 Comments »

Why We’re Moving to Tipsy

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Not sure if you’ve heard yet, but the church I lead, Harmony Church, will be moving to Tipsy Teapot in 3 weeks (October 18th will be our first service there). If you unaware of what Tipsy Teapot is, it’s a the cultural center for the Uptown Greenville commercial district. Tipsy is a teahouse/coffeehouse/used bookstore all rolled into one. Plus they have over 4000 square feet devoted to culture: arts, literature, music, film. They regularly hold film showings, discussion events (like our own God & Guinness), and concerts (recently absorbing the Greenville underground Spazzatorium shows). And starting October 18th, we will be having church gatherings there on Sunday mornings at 10am, just before they begin serving brunch.

And although moving to Tipsy is an amazing prospect, it sadly means that we have to leave Unk’s, our beloved home for over a year now. And we have an awesome situation at Unk’s: we meet there for free, use their equipment, enjoy the staff, and it’s central to the campus neighborhood. So why are we moving? Here are some reasons:

Removing a Stumbling Block: Even though we are not concerned with the ‘bar-taurant’ atmosphere of Unk’s, some people are. Some people looking for Jesus are. And that’s an issue. We want to remove any obstacles that could be hindering religious people, families, underage searchers, and anyone else from hearing the Gospel about Jesus. Sadly, this means leaving Unk’s for a more ‘general’ and politically correct meeting place (though Tipsy serves alcoholic beverages as well, the atmosphere is not bar-ish).

More Space: On one hand, we in essence have more space. We will eventually be using one half of Tipsy (it’s divided by double doors) for our gathering, and the other half for children’s ministry. We’re not sure of the details yet, but we do know that the children will spend a large portion of time with the adults in gathering. The space that Tipsy provides will be beneficial in teaching kids the Gospel on a level that they can understand, in the midst of a community that they both love and are loved by. This is vitally important to the inter-generational vision of Harmony.

Less Space: The seating capacity for Unk’s is one of the largest for a restaurant in the city (295). On Sunday mornings, one can feel really distant from others, simply because of the cavernous open room of Unk’s. Tipsy is setup narrow and long (think storefront) instead of Unk’s wide and shallow (think full music venue). This does two things: it draws the church closer together at least physically, and fills the room with more energy, which will hopefully bring a constant energetic ‘vibe’ at Harmony.

Location, Location, Location: Tipsy, as I said earlier, is grand central for Uptown culture. There is no other music venue like it. All the others are bars that happen to host bands. The creatives of Greenville gather regularly at Tipsy. They work there. There are people from different backgrounds/religions/lifestyle calling Tipsy their ‘third place’. So we’re going to incarnate there and hopefully tell them the Gospel. It is the “Union Station” for Uptown Greenville. And we’re calling it home base for the missio dei.

We Have to Grow Up a Bit: The thing about meeting somewhere for free is this: you can get spoiled very quickly. It’s like living with your parents for the first 17 years of your life. It’s time for Harmony to get an apartment. We’re not buying a house. Or moving to a loft in Manhattan. We’re just getting to know what the real world is like, so to speak. We’re becoming a responsible church. Which is healthy, and will bring us together as a community, with one mission and one focus: using our resources in order to further the Gospel.

These are just a few of the very, very many reasons that we’re moving. Would you commit to pray with us about this endeavor? I’ve challenged the church that whenever the Spirit leads you to pray more, to in that instant pray for the move to Tipsy. Would you do the same? Also, do you want to give your time/resources to the move and ‘relaunch’ of Harmony? E-mail me at derek-at-harmonydc.com or give online at HarmonyGreenville.com

Posted in Featured Articles, Greenville, Harmony Church | 1 Comment »

Day One: Jesus, Commander

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

joshua

On Friday, Christians from around our city will gather to pray for our city, to unite with our brothers and sisters, and ultimately to celebrate Jesus. This year’s vision Scripture for this gathering is Joel 2, but the origin of the gathering is from Joshua 6, which is of course the story of Joshua and Jericho. In encouraging my local blog readers to attend the gathering, I want to post daily on some aspects of the Jericho story that you may not have thought of. If you want more information on the Day Seven event, you can visit 6.22 ministries’ website here. Here’s your first thought from Joshua and Jericho:

Walls come down only because of Jesus.

This seems obvious. Of course this is true. But when we walk about the walls of Jericho, we always focus on what the people do. They walk around the city. They blow trumpets. They shout. But we minimize God’s part here. He’s the One that tells Joshua to do this. The plan originates with Him. And He’s also the one that brings the walls down. It doesn’t matter if the trumpets’ noise exploited a flaw in the walls’ construction, or if it was supernatural. He designed both science and miracles. If Joshua and the people used a truth from acoustical physics, God put it there. If their act was one of faith, then God responded by supernaturally bringing the walls down. Either way, God did it. But the thought of the day is that the walls come down not just because of ‘God’, some vague being, but because of ‘Jesus’. And for that, we must turn to Joshua 5:13-15

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Here’s the deal: Joshua meets a man (verse 13), who is also the commander of the Lord’s armies (verse 15). This man can only be Jesus. And Jesus is badass. Seriously. He has a sword in His hand, and Joshua questions as to which side He’s on. And Jesus’ answer is the most hardcore thing ever. Jack Bauer/Chuck Norris/Jean-Claude Van Damme doesn’t touch it.

Joshua: Whose side are you on?

Jesus: No one’s. I control the armies of God. And now I have come.

Hardcore. And Joshua realizes that it is God on earth. For who else could control the armies of God but God Himself? So Joshua does what we should all do before facing a city in battle: bow before Jesus. And Joshua realizes that this is really God’s fight. He’s just a servant. So Joshua does the wise thing, and listens to Jesus’ commands (which we read in Joshua 6:1-5).

Before Day Seven this Friday night, we need to bow before Jesus and realize that it’s His battle, and that it’s already won. We’re just the infantry.

Posted in Greenville, Teaching | 2 Comments »