URGENT! FIND FRIENDS OR DIE EARLY!

Find your "church!"

Dear Reader,

Thank you for being a subscriber to The Three Taverns!

I felt compelled to send another one out this week due to a couple of recent conversations and then an article posted below.

I was talking to a couple of guys in a cigar shop I frequent. Both of them in separate conversations said that they found their “tribe” in cigar shops. They had struggled with finding meaningful relationships in typical church gatherings. Instead they found real community in cigar shops.

Folks, for YEARS I have shouted from the rooftops that “Church is NOT where you go it is who you are.”

You cannot join a church. Only Jesus can add you to His church. He is building HIS church and only HIS church overcomes the gates of hell. The churches we are building do not, cannot, overcome the gates of hell. They are built around budgets, celebrity “pastors”, institutional visions, crowd control, group-think, laser light shows and fog machine worship, and big money drives.

Church is YOU in Christ relating to OTHERS in Christ. No matter when or where. Where two or more are gathered in His name He is there in the midst.

You cannot develop relationships when you are simply a spectator in a large gathering with people on a stage doing everything. You must get into small communities and actively involved in each other’s lives. It is messy sometimes, time-consuming, and scary, but it is WORTH IT! It is the only way to grow up in Christ, by learning to forgive, work through problems, celebrate together, serve one another, grow in the gifts of the Spirit, pray for one another, read the word together, and give to each other.

I felt compelled to send this because there is a deadly loss of friendship in our culture. Loneliness is a mortal danger. Technology is not bringing us together. We must find our tribe and purposefully work on developing friendship and mutual care for each other. It is the most rewarding thing you can do in life.

Just read through this article quickly and see what I mean:

https://nypost.com/2025/02/24/opinion/friendship-in-america-is-in-freefall-and-its-killing-us

I found the church in cigar shops. It has led to so many other networks and fruitful relationships it is mind-blowing.

And developing friendships helps you LIVE LONGER!

Maybe that’s why so many of the owners of cigar brands live into their 90’s and beyond!

But wherever you find your “church”, FIND IT INTENTIONALLY!

Here’s some opportunities coming up:

TAVERN TALKS TUESDAYS

Each Tuesday morning at 7am you will find 25-40 men gathered to hear each other’s stories, to encourage one another, to teach scripture and pray together.

This gathering is at The Mission Cigar & Social in Spring Hill.

Michael Snellenburg shared his story last week and it was powerfully moving to hear him talk about overcoming being a “victim” to blindness and of how the Lord led him to his wife.

Taverns Talks is about our stories and God’s story in our lives. It’s not about perfect people with perfect stories but authentic working out this salvation in our lives.

One recent attendee sent me this text after our last meeting: “Thank you for making me feel so welcome. I am already looking forward to next week!”

COMING UP:

March 4- Brian Shake shares his story

Bring your coffee, your Bible, Febreze if you go to the office after, an open mind and open heart. You can purchase a cigar as well to enjoy your first cigar of the day.

We are really grateful to Mark, Monte and Willie for opening up The Mission early each Tuesday and participating in Tavern Talks!

SWEETWATER

Sweetwater Church have invited me back to preach on March 9th. I would love to see you there! I had a bunch of friends who drove out to fellowship with us and it was encouraging to see everyone.

Sweetwater rents a small church building from Glendale Methodist Church, so their meeting time is 11:30am, which is actually an awesome time to meet! You can sleep late, enjoy a leisurely Sunday morning at home, then come worship. And when you get to lunch the church crowd is gone!

They meet at 1423 Culleoka Hwy, Columbia, TN and your GPS will take you right there.

Until next time in The Three Taverns!

Looking Up! (Luke 21:28)

Tod Bell

Chief Tavern Host