Yes. Yes. Yes.

The entire church-in-a-brewery concept comes from my conviction that Jesus would teach, worship and train in a brewery if He were here “in the flesh.” Jesus’ actions caused many of the religious elite to slander Him. They said He was a drunk, a glutton and a friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34). Here is what we can learn from those three accusations:

1) Jesus was not a glutton. He ate freely and enjoyed food to the glory of the Father, Son and Spirit. The religious elite had a problem with how freely He ate and with whom He ate (see #3). He did not abuse the gift of food.

I like beer. It is an organic drink that has ancient roots. I enjoy trying beers from breweries and microbreweries around the globe. I especially like Huntsville’s own, Olde Towne beer. Don Alan Hankins is quite the brew master.

So how can a pastor like beer? Well, there is a heritage of pastors and theologians who enjoyed beer, wine and other drinks. John Calvin is quoted to say, “if we study… why he has created the various kinds of food, we shall find that it was his intention not only to provide for our needs, but likewise for our pleasure and our delight… For, if this were not true, the Psalmist would not enumerate among the divine blessings, ‘the wine that makes glad the heart of man, and the oil that makes his face to shine.’”

I’m doing a wedding today in the Mountain Brook area of Birmingham. I enjoy performing them. It is hard to keep Billy Idol’s classic 80’s tune out of my head on days like this.

The chorus goes:
“It’s a nice day to start again
It’s a nice day for a white wedding
It’s a nice day to start again”

Now, I don’t want to spiritualize Billy’s song. He would probably give me that well-known sneer. But in it you see one of the main cries of mankind - “start again.” This is a common theme in the human condition. We desire to see renewal in relationships, vision, career, body and spirituality.