I was sitting in my office and thought I would share this quick thought.  A few months ago I had the opportunity to hang out with a close friend.  At one time he was a pastor for a church and had a large library for preparing his sermons every week.  He is now working a “regular” job and doesn’t see himself being a pastor ever again.

I remember coveting after my friend’s library.  I remember going into his office and thinking to myself, “I want a library like this some day.”  I remember just staring at his books and taking note of his collection.  I even remember the distinct smell his office had from all the books and wanting my office to have that same smell.

When he heard that I was going through Re:Train, he wanted to help me with my expenses, but due to life circumstances he wasn’t able to. While I was visiting with him, he took me into his garage where he had his library stored.  He humbly pointed out the boxes and told me to take whatever I wanted/needed.  I left his house with more than 500 theology, commentary, history, cultural analysis, and linguistic books.  The total cost has to be over $3000 easily.

While he couldn’t help me pay for my flights to Seattle or the cost of my laptop, what this friend did in my mind was priceless.  From his gift, I’ve been able to do all the research for my papers.  I’ve been able to loan/give books out to friends.  My library has more than doubled.  All these things are great, but the greatest gift this friend gave me was a lesson in generosity.  I had to ask myself if I would be willing to do the same thing…and I don’t know if I could have.

This makes me ask you the question:  What do you have that you don’t need (or do need) that you need to give to someone else to bless them?  Do you have a treasure that you need to pass on to progress the kingdom for Jesus?

I regret to tell everyone that this will be the last Beer Tip of the Day on GregQualls.com. But don’t worry. I have something special in the works that I’ll reveal to everyone in a week or so. Until then enjoy this final BTotD.

Here is the reality. Most beers are served too cold and this is a bad thing. I remember growing up and seeing signs at the local bars that said, “Coldest beer in town.” The only problem with this is that most beers aren’t meant to be served at super frigged levels. By drinking your beer extremely cold, it does two things.

1. It doesn’t allow the beer to “open up” and reveal all of it’s wonderful aromas.
2. It numbs your tastes buds and inhibits you from being able to experience the full flavor of the beer.

Now certain beer companies serve their beers at extremely low temperatures to disguise the real taste of the beer (which would be categorized as disgusting). I see this as one of Big Business’ greatest conspiracies to dupe the American beer drinker. They want you to think that you need to drink beer really cold. Then they can sell you their crap and have you think that it is good. To use a friends analogy, “It’s like the Wal-Mart greeter. They’re there to make you feel happy about all the crap you’re about to buy.”

Well I’m sorry…I’m not happy.

So what temperature should you drink your beer at? That is a wonderful question, and I’m glad you asked. Each style of beer actually has a different temperature. The general rule is to drink it at the same temperature that it was fermented at. If you’re like me, you’re not going to go out and research to see what temperature your beer was fermented at. So I’ve included a handy chart from herestobeer.com that will give you an idea of what temperature your beer should be served.

So here is your homework for this week. Get a beer with which you are familiar with the flavor. Now take your time drinking it and take note of how the flavor and smell changes as the temperature of the beer changes.

Until next time, enjoy your beer.