Salted Belgian

Last night I had the Salted Belgian Chocolate Stout by New Belgium brewing company.  Lately I have been gathering with a couple of my colleagues to do what we call Sermon Sharpening.  We each bring our sermons for the next Sunday, pass them around, read, mark, and outwardly improve them.  It's a writer's workshop for preachers basically. 

Last night I really needed it.  My sermon for Sunday was a meandering hoard of exegetical thoughts.  However, my good friend and colleague, Fr. John Adams, helped a great deal.  He was able to see a path, a linear structure that I was hiding in the writing.   He suggested somethings to cut, to reorder, and to re-write.  I am humbled and grateful for his suggestions. 

Sermon writing has been a solitary thing for me over the last ten years.  While that has worked, I am finding it is a refreshing and rejuvenating practice to share my sermons with my peers, to get their advice, and to offer my own. 

Come join us Sunday at Church of the Resurrection, and see if John really helped me or not.

On to the beer...I highly recommend the Salted Belgian.  It has those hints of coffee and bitterness that give a stout depth and complexity.  The saltiness is a just counterpoint to the chocolate.  It's a must have.