The Gospel According to Starbucks®

This book has not been authorised by Starbucks Coffee Company

Product Details
Price: RM 56.90 at Borders
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press (January 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1578566495
ISBN-13: 978-1578566495

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Studies show that fewer Americans than we thought attend church, and Sweet, popular author (Soul Salsa) and professor of evangelism at Drew Theological School in New Jersey, thinks that the church should take cues from an institution that isn't suffering a lack of customers: Starbucks. For all his hip cultural sensitivity, Sweet hasn't shed one standby of church-growth books: the acronym. His is EPIC, which stands for Experience, Participation, "Images that throb with meaning," and Connection. Starbucks has mastered EPIC living, and the church can, too. The successful coffee corporation recognizes that people are drawn in through visual icons, and it beats competitors because its design sensibility is superior—indeed, its imagery is shot through with "spiritual significance." The church should take a hint and, instead of focusing solely on its written mission statements, devote some energy to design. Starbucks understands that people hunger for "authentic experience." Finally, just as people like to drink coffee together, people seek community and connection in religious settings. Sweet's bottom line? Christianity must move beyond rational, logical apologetics, and instead find ways of showing people that it can offer "symbols and meaningful engagement." This whimsical and insightful book offers a fresh approach to a topic of perennial interest. (Apr. 17)
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Praise for The Gospel According to Starbucks®

“Cultural barista Leonard Sweet serves up a triple venti cup of relevant insights to wake up decaffeinated Christians. Careful, the book you’re about to enjoy is extremely hot.”
–Ben Young, pastor, author of Why Mike’s Not a Christian

“Reading this book is a caffeine jolt. Get ready to be accelerated into the future, with Jesus a central part of the experience.”
–Dan Kimball, pastor, author of The Emerging Church and They Like Jesus, But Not the Church
“The Gospel According to Starbucks® inspires us to quit playing safe and mediocre lives and to fulfill our God-given potential. Leonard Sweet uncovers God’s purpose for people not just as individuals but also as communities. An outstanding and thought-provoking book.”
–Paul McGee, international speaker, best-selling author of S.U.M.O. (Shut Up, Move On®)

“I have a massive passion for passion. It’s my favorite spiritual topic. And I have a nominal coffee obsession, Starbucks being my ritual more often than not. So what a treat to read Leonard Sweet’s extra-shot weaving together of the two–all in the hope that each of us will drink in the meaningful and passion-filled life we were designed for.”
–Mark Oestreicher, president of Youth Specialties

taken from Amazon.com

This book was spotted by my friends (Martin and Anne) at Borders one day, and they immediately called me to ask whether or not I have it already - because they know it is a must have in my collection. Yup, I don't have it yet and I must have it!

Though I have not read the book thoroughly yet (there's still a long queue before it comes to this one) but browsing through it is enough to pull me to ditch the rest and sit on this (like the strong aroma of good coffee that is so irresistibly tempting).

The author explains matters of faith using acronyms that is related to coffee and Starbucks' business plans like BREW for Being, Real, Engages the, World and EPIC for Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich and Connecting.

Sprinkled with experiments that illustrates how much Christian faith can be exemplified by our day-to-day coffee knowledge, using coffee related jargons, this book is truly going to be one of my favourites.