Living in the Past

The other day Lina and I were watching videos of Christian, my son.

Christian is about 5 months old, and we try to take as much video of him while he’s so cute and cudley. Sometimes it seems like we video tape him more than we play with him, which is why video tapes are so ironic. We record video to preserve memories, but can't experience them. What a dilemma!

So anyways as we were watching the TV, Christian kept crying on the floor.

"It's ok Christian, it's ok."

I pick him up. He keeps crying, and I keep trying to quiet him,

"Shh Christian, let's watch the TV."

I put him back on the floor and sit back in the couch. I look up at the TV and on the screen Christian is on the floor playing by himself. I look down and Christian is doing the same thing on the floor. I should have video taped Christian playing on the floor in front of the TV watching himself playing on the floor in front of the TV. That would be a classic.

Quest for Perfection

I'm reading Experiencing His Presence by Tommy Tenney (God Chasers), and on page 85 "Hungry babies just aren't intimidated by the people around them. They put their total focus and energy on their hunger and the source of their satisfaction. At the height of their hunger, they make no room for distractions of any kind. In contrast, many Christian's do their best to demonstrate their independence and self-sufficiency in public worship gatherings. They would never think of going forward in a public invitation of prayer (ouch!). Such a transparent admission of need is unacceptable because it would reveal politically incorrect cracks in their carefully cultivated facade of Christian perfection. In their determined effort not to attract any attention to their need, they've also managed to totally lose God's interest and attention! " He goes on to mention Bartimaeus, who "cried out to Jesus with all the power his lungs could muster" Mark 10:46-52, The woman suffering from an incurable and chronic blood hemorrahage, the persistent mother from Canaan desperate to win deliverance for her daughter, the demoniac possessed by a legion of demons, the desperate friends of the paralyzed man (Matthew 15:22-28). If these responses were acceptable to Jesus Christ, why would they be unacceptable in churches today? What would you do if you knew you had to capture the attention of God in some way? Bartimaeus couldn't even see the One he was chasing. He was incapable of effectively pursuing Jesus in a physical way, yet the blind beggar became the God Catcher that day. How did he do it? ...What did Bartimaeus do to arrest the momentum of the Messiah? Examine the words he sent from his heart to the ears of God. He said, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" He worshiped! With all the passion, hunger, and desperation in his being, the son of Timaeus arrested the attention of the Son of God. Radical praise brings radical presence!

From Sunday Nov 2nd 2008