Beer

35 billion gallons of beer sell worldwide each year. It is over a $330 billion industry. And yet… one must be the best. But which one is the best of all? It is an interesting question; no doubt personal perception plays a role. Still, is the most popular beer really the best? How many people do you know that have tried Speckled Hen or Hop Head (and these are just some of the easy to pronounce and more popular ones)?

Certainly popularity does play a role, but people that are limited by few experiences should recognize the restrictions or their scrutiny. If Coors or Molson is the most exotic beer you’ve tried in the last few years you might just have to admit your limitations. And while I am not the most erudite of drinkers I do think that I have something special to offer you and I do believe that I have explored this world to an extinct far more diverse than is the average. And what precisely do I think I might have to offer my good readers? Well… faithful followers I, HaKohen have come to the following conclusion - Innis & Gunn – Oak Aged Beer is my personal favorite and is perhaps more importantly the greatest beer in the world.

In my humble opinion, you may not be able to find it at your local store, but you should certainly take a look.

Check ‘em out at http://www.innisandgunn.com/index.htm

It is well worth it!

He'Brew

Sorry to say that this one isn't available in Canada just yet! But that hasn't stopped these guys from shipping throughout most of the US. Perhaps soon we too can get a taste of thie new Jewish Beer... or as they call it He'Brew.

http://www.shmaltz.com/

Church?

I was thinking about something recently. I was thinking about how stupid church goers can be today. Today’s “contemporary” evangelical pastors think they’re so smart. They set up huge stages with “worship bands” and choreographed lights and have little skits to keep people interested. They perform an act and make God’s church into a theater and his ministers into little more than jesters. The pastor will speak to everyone from a seated position up at a little coffee table so that even in crowds filled with hundreds of people, each person is meant to feel as if they are sitting right across for him at some hip new overpriced coffee shop. It’s all just a little too hygienic for me. Where is the reverence? Where is the room for people to interact or discuss?

Near my home town in Kansas a church called Grace Point is the perfect example. If you go to their webpage you’ll find all the same kinds of images you’d see at any other “contemporary” church website. It has catchy slogans that don’t really mean anything like “Church for people who don’t like church” (in reality this means a gathering of believers that don’t like believers gathering). It shows a causally dressed minister who talks about “relevance” and “authentic community” and basically any other buzz words that happen to be floating around this year.

Now I’m sure that this church has some wonderful things going on and I’m sure that pastors like these truly believe in what they are doing but I just can’t understand it.

What has happened to us? I wonder what people in third world churches think when they see this? What is the difference between these mega-churches and old cathedrals built with gold and marble statues? Do people really look at this from their place in secular society and say, “wow, look at that light show… Jesus must have died for my sins”? Why do ministers keep feeding the people exactly what we think they want and nothing of what they need? Does church really need to be a “celebration service” every week? What about Good Friday? Is there no room for pain in our churches today? Do we really need church to be fun and entertaining all the time, cause to be honest I think if I wanted to be entertained I’d much rather go see a movie than go see a heavily diluted presentation of Christianity.

If you are reading this and you haven’t been to church in a long time then my advice to you is to go to the smallest church you can find. Find a mainline church that has intensely thought through its worship or find a new emerging church that is attempting to do the same for a new generation (one where you have input). But whatever you do –stay far, far away from personality cults and churches with a lot of money to spend and seemingly nothing better to do with it then build onto their already gigantic sanctuaries or hire specialty pastors for every conceivable type of person. If the church you go to has a minister for bisexual Asian, non-English speaking immigrants with missing toes, get out now!