For all Christians who have done time on hard wooden pews in scratchy suits and ties, who have searched through musty hymnals and used church programs as fans while listening to sermons on the horrors of hell

This is one of the many reasons why I am no longer a christian.

Tim Wilson was a prophet. (pops)

It was the Rock and Roll creation?

/did Yin find his yang?

In Pittsburgh you can worship seven days a week:



/image pops

Ha. Huntsville, AL has had a church in a brewery for a while...of course, the brewery burned down -- but that wasn't the fault of the church.

Church in a BREWERY

peachpicker: In Pittsburgh you can worship seven days a week

I have been there and it was fun to drink beer in a church.

peachpicker: In Pittsburgh you can worship seven days a week:

www.about-pittsburghpa.com

I keep meaning to get up there one day. I believe they had a fark party or two there in the pats.

peachpicker: In Pittsburgh you can worship seven days a week:

[Church Brew Works]

/image pops

Came for this, leaving satisfied.

"Beer is man's proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

---------- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

peachpicker: In Pittsburgh you can worship seven days a week:



/image pops

Ohhh, I've eaten there.
I can testify to their beers as well as their fantastic pizza.

/Hallelujah!

Well hell, I might actually go to one of those.

/as long as I don't have to get up really early

There's also the South River Vineyard, in Ohio, which is a wonderful place.

===================================================

Aunt Sue,

I refuse to believe in a god who lacks a robust sense of humor.

Who wants to spend eternity with some Almighty Stiff incapable of laughing him- (or her- ) self silly at some ridiculous joke, until red-faced and breathless and clutching his belly he shouts, "Oh please, stop! No really, my sides hurt! Oh Me!" I would much prefer to ride out the senseless eons with a god who on occasion just might pee a little bit in his alabaster robes when in a fit of hilarity you goose him in his omnipotent ribs.

These notions occur to me while lazing about on dusty South River Road. To my right sits a small white chapel, to my left acres upon acres of lush vineyards stretch off to the horizon. I roll a cool glass round in my fingertips, wiggle my toes in the grass, watching sparrows dip above the treetops. Who would genuflect to a god who couldn't appreciate a nice bright wine buzz on a sunny summer afternoon such as this? That god would never understand what it means to be human. That god can just pucker up and kiss my rosy red ass.

Mm-mwah!

This could, of course, just be the booze talking. But I doubt it.

Those crazy old Greeks had the right idea, as usual. Their Dionysus was not just god of wine, but of wine and ecstasy.

Ecstasy!

Defined as "overwhelming emotion ... rapturous delight," ecstasy certainly sounds divine to me.

This chapel, with its clean, simple lines and little steeple was built over a century ago in Shalersville, fifty miles away. It's believed to have been purchased as a kit from the Sears and Roebuck mail order catalog, and for seven decades its peaked roof sheltered a Methodist Episcopal congregation. But in 1970 they packed up their piety and hightailed it to a new facility, leaving the faithful little chapel to decay.

It sat empty for thirty years, home to scarcely more than the sound of rain, until the decrepit structure was bought up and dismantled, carted off piece by piece to this quiet hilltop with grape vines blanketing the landscape and a long view of Erie's cool depths. Here the chapel was refurbished and built for the second time, here it was born again - Lazarus, come forth! - as the South River Winery tasting room.

And I tell you what, they make a mighty tasty dry Riesling here, crisp and floral and delicious.

* sip *

Some new neighbors, however, were not enamored with the intended use for the formerly neglected chapel. They contested its opening in court, but were rebuffed.

Their hostility is curious, because this region has long been the heart of Ohio viticulture. Driving north on Route 534 the vines begin to appear several miles south of here, and by the time one reaches the aptly named town of Cork there's little else edging the road save for vineyards. Cork itself claims only an officious green road sign, a Lilliputian elementary school and the intersection with South River Road, a crossroads dense with signs directing dogged oenophiles to all the wineries hidden among nearby hills. The modest South River Winery sign was hardly an iniquitous addition to the array.

But it wasn't the winery itself that was objectionable, it was the incorporation of the beautifully restored chapel which some felt was sacrilegious. I suppose it had been perfectly righteous, however, to let this house of worship crumble for thirty years until being slated for demolition to make room for a convenience store. Yes, that was God's plan all along, and the chapel's salvation and conversion has been a corruption of that design. Now on three, everyone repent: One, two ...

Far back in the dark ages of the 18th century, when hoary satyrs yet roamed the land, a rather thoughtful fellow named Benjamin Franklin proclaimed, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." I doubt that Ben would've denied likewise salubrious qualities to wine and spirits, and outside this small sweet law-abiding chapel my well-lubricated soul is certainly feeling the love.

But how many Americans today would describe wine as a divine gift? How many more would view it as inherently sinful?

Wine is neither intrinsically wicked nor saintly. Merriam-Webster defines it as "something that invigorates or intoxicates." That is, wine can either poison (intoxicate) or give life (invigorate). And it doesn't impart these qualities so much as reveal what's already present. Wine is a mirror. Too often not an especially flattering one.

But if the reflections in our glasses are frequently hostile, intolerant or cruel, perhaps it's not entirely our own fault. After all, we were created in our maker's image.

And as that primeval beast Tom Waits once growled, "There ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk."


Three,
peachpicker

eqtworld: Christianity will be like Astrology is today...and they will look insane to 99% of the population.

Oh Sweet Sun God Horus, one can only hope

/Is it can be age of reason now?

UNC SAMURAI


FTW

The greatest comedy song ever written.

I believe that the term "cristian" is following a certain lifestyle where you think "WWJD", and then do that. I, myself, just try to treat people decent, and expect the same back, if not, i kill them and use thier flesh for catfish bait.

There was a Holy Spirit in each shot glass.

Meh. Doesn't beat the Lesbian Pentecostal Church I attend.

Mr. Potatoass: Meh. Doesn't beat the Lesbian Pentecostal Church I attend.

That gives a whole different meaning to speaking in tongues.

Mr. Potatoass: Meh. Doesn't beat the Lesbian Pentecostal Church I attend.

Lesbian Pentecostal?

/Since you're Pentecostal, What do YOU do to drive out the demons?
//Does it have anything to do with "speaking in tongues"?

There are so many churches holding services in breweries now, I'm getting really excited for the day it will no longer be newsworthy.

Anyhow, it'll probably be the only way to get me to church, and it will be an accident.

awww - beat me in by two seconds.

Seriously though,
Some of the coolest people I know are clergy, and I know a lot of them. It's the self-righteous in the pews that are the problem.

kashyyk muffdiver loves taco sauce: Seriously though,
Some of the coolest people I know are clergy, and I know a lot of them. It's the self-righteous in the pews that are the problem.

Ghandi said it best: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Cuchulane: It was the Rock and Roll creation?


Let There Be Rock (new window)

Sounds like someone doesn't know what the blue laws are for.

SapperInTexas: kashyyk muffdiver loves taco sauce: Seriously though,
Some of the coolest people I know are clergy, and I know a lot of them. It's the self-righteous in the pews that are the problem.

Ghandi said it best: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

This kind of stupidity always gets under my skin. Christians are not Christ. They want to follow him and be changed by his "story" for lack of a better term, but they fail constantly, thus their need for him.

So I am not defending the "self righteous" Christians, but I am calling out people like you both who stand in judgment on these people, because if we analyzed the hypocrisy in your own lives, there would not be enough memory on teh internets for all the volumes of sordid stories, I'm sure.

Now, you may feel because you are not Christians that you should not be held to these standards. That is fine. But I think in life in general, regardless of your religious beliefs, you shouldn't point out the flaws in others without accepting and fixing the areas of your own lives where you are equally hypocritical in many ways.

Would you want Christians to sit around and judge you so viciously about ways you fail in your own particular standard of living? No, that pisses you off, right? You call those type of people "self righteous", right? So, why don't you stop doing the same thing, only in reverse, by judging all Christians so harshly.

In other words, I don't think Gandhi would be too impressed with your judgmental hypocritical attitude either.

Christianity isn't about Jesus or good works, it's about appearances and being better than everybody else. Any bunch of lowlife sinners can get together around a few bibles and beers and call what they're doing church, but that doesn't change the fact that they're lowlife sinners.

/http://www.landoverbaptist.org/

Umokay: SapperInTexas: kashyyk muffdiver loves taco sauce: Seriously though,
Some of the coolest people I know are clergy, and I know a lot of them. It's the self-righteous in the pews that are the problem.

Ghandi said it best: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

This kind of stupidity always gets under my skin. Christians are not Christ. They want to follow him and be changed by his "story" for lack of a better term, but they fail constantly, thus their need for him.

So I am not defending the "self righteous" Christians, but I am calling out people like you both who stand in judgment on these people, because if we analyzed the hypocrisy in your own lives, there would not be enough memory on teh internets for all the volumes of sordid stories, I'm sure.

Now, you may feel because you are not Christians that you should not be held to these standards. That is fine. But I think in life in general, regardless of your religious beliefs, you shouldn't point out the flaws in others without accepting and fixing the areas of your own lives where you are equally hypocritical in many ways.

Would you want Christians to sit around and judge you so viciously about ways you fail in your own particular standard of living? No, that pisses you off, right? You call those type of people "self righteous", right? So, why don't you stop doing the same thing, only in reverse, by judging all Christians so harshly.

In other words, I don't think Gandhi would be too impressed with your judgmental hypocritical attitude either.


If you are a christian following the bible, and many claim to read it many times, everything is in front of you and you belong to a community that is supposed to support you. But christians dont try to live like christ did, like they should, they see jesus as football or nascar.

The same could be said of other word religions I am sure.

There's a church in Hawaii (big island) in the Kohala region that does the same thing. The joke is that the drunks from the night before are still in the bar when services start, which works well because they are the ones most in need of the advice.

tshetter: If you are a christian following the bible, and many claim to read it many times, everything is in front of you and you belong to a community that is supposed to support you. But christians dont try to live like christ did, like they should, they see jesus as football or nascar.

The same could be said of other word religions I am sure.

Where I disagree with you is the your seeming willingness to lump all Christians into this "football" category. I agree with you that many Christians are not trying to follow Christ, or even worse, they think they are and they are truly not. But I guess I am just a little more sympathetic for these folks, not for the least of which because they have been duped by the promises of modern day evangelicals and fundamentalists. Sad, indeed. But there are also many Christians who do not fall into this category, and are just doing the best they can in life, with their beliefs, and although they fail all the time in being like Christ, do not give up, become jaded, or self righteous.

Umokay:
In other words, I don't think Gandhi would be too impressed with your judgmental hypocritical attitude either.

I'm impressed by Ghandi's ability to get teen girls to sleep with him.

so say we all.

Don't know the people involved, but I regularly visit the pub (with my dogs, who are welcome). The beers are good, and the owner/brewer, George, is a Grade A Dude. He runs a nice place and makes sure to give back to the community.

Their Bonehead Ale is good, and the red is also worthy of mention. But, there is not a death-by-hops offering, unfortunately.

Top choice, though, is the nitro stout. That's as wonderful a beer as can be had anywhere.

And, for those who don't know our local idiosyncracies, here's the laws on Montana tap rooms: Open 4-8p, only 3 pints per customer. Going price is $3/pint. Luckily, the the three tap rooms in Billings are within walking distance. Pub crawl FTW!

eqtworld:
In another few decades...very very few will take it seriously, and they will look insane to 99% of the population.

From your lips to God's ears -- wait.

Jesus bummed around with fishermen (notorious drunks and liars) and a whore. He rode ass, drank large quantities of wine, cavorted with wicked woman and evil men and you know what happened? HE DIED! Do you want to wind up like Jesus? Executed for disturbing the peace? Hell no you don't. You should avoid alcohol and wild women. You should hide from the wicked world. The world killed Jesus. Don't let the world kill you like it did Jesus

Lost Thought 00: peachpicker: In Pittsburgh you can worship seven days a week:

[Church Brew Works]

/image pops

Came for this, leaving satisfied.

What he Said.

I'm starting to become concerned that I might accidentally end up with some jesus in my beer. That would piss me off.

Pilgrimage pub crawl?

Bob and Tom's
First Baptist Bar and Grill

Well, the church burned down and no one knew
what Pentecost Baptist was gonna do
the Sunday brimstone got so dadgum hot
it burned up a church bus in the parkin' lot

In a panic the reverend Dr. White
called up an ex-member that hadn't lived right
he owned Joe's beer joint right across the fence
it's the same Joe's he'd preached against...

He said, "I don't really want to be a hypocrite,
but I got a Sunday school class about to have fits.
We're all excited about revival week,
and moved by the spirit, so to speak.

With all the souls we saved and money we spent,
we thought God told us to sell that tent...
I got a famous evangelist supposed to come
and done run out of chairs, will you loan us some?"

Joe says, "Well you can just use the whole dang place...
A-9 on the jukebox is "Amazing Grace"
I ain't supposed to open because of them 'blue laws'
but I'll open tonight if it's alright with y'all."

Preacher said, "Well, I reckon it'd be OK,
the good Lord works in mysterious ways.
I was gonna talk about Joshua, Judges and Ruth
and I reckon I could do it from the DJ booth."

At the First Baptist Bar and Grill
it's the only church in the bible belt
that smells like a whiskey still...
when the sinners finish one more round,
we'll have dinner on the ground,
then go inside and pray we don't get killed.

The evangelist came with a well-dressed choir,
they showed up around happy hour,
looked around the joint and didn't take it real well...
said, "The White ministry has gone to hell"

Ms. Mills that taught youth Sunday school
and two deacons in the back room shootin' pool
were sharin' the Lord with a Jim Beam rep
who was teachin' Ms. Mills some line dance steps...

Reverend White was readin' from the book of Luke
to a tall, drunk trucker about to puke
he had John 3:16 memorized
tryin' to dry him out to get him baptized...

The evangelist yelled about the lights and the beer
said, "White, you can't save any souls in here...
this place ain't nothin' but a den of sin...
ain't the kind of place Baptists ought to be in!"

Preacher said, "Well we don't really need y'all here
You didn't do a very good job last year,
you only saved one sinner, that's Todd McGuire,
the little SOB that set my church on fire!"

"Joe's beer joint has done been revived,
only been here an hour, and I done saved five.
Sure, it's got mirrors and a big dance floor,
but I finally found the flock God called me for."

They're at the First Baptist Bar and Grill
it's the only church in the bible belt that smells like a whisky still not a stained glass window anywhere in site,
just a blood-stained floor and neon lights,
and the communion wine in here is always chilled.

We're here every Sunday; we're livin' large;
We're the only church with a cover charge.
And if you don't like our doctrine and think we ain't devout,
we'll have our bouncer throw your butt out ...
of the First Baptist Bar and Grill

Umokay, do you get a discount at the creation museum? Because that is some shiat worth a little drive and a few bucks to point and laugh at. Its like a Nazi museum that only has the sillier shiat that the Nazi's believed while editing out all the depressing evil shiat they are responsible for.

Yeah, I called you a Nazi.

UseTheForksLuke, That is not Bob and Tom's. See the second post in the thread.

thisisarepeat

Well excuse me Timmy Wilson, please forgive me.
I did not follow the link, but I was close.
That's how it looked in my music book.
I love playing that song, key of G?

libertyordeath: /Is it can be age of reason now?

Nope, but it's almost...



The Age of Aquarius!
The Age of AquariuuuuuUUuUuuuS!

/Sorry, first thing that popped into my head

olddinosaur: "Beer is man's proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

---------- BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Fart Proudly
- Ben Franklin

/ Just sayin', you want to think twice before you get behind him.

thereadlines: Kohala

I'm going to the big island in December and would like to visit this place. Do you perhaps remember the name or anything more about it?

The Phyrst Irish Pub in State College, PA (Penn State University) has been doing this for years. Every Sunday at 6:30pm-8:30pm, Pastor Jeremiah and some musical acts will host services in the bar.

Come see the Phyrst Church if you're ever around.