Look At This...But Not That.

Yesterday I read an incredible post from Steven Furtick's blog. Just in case you are too lazy to click over there now, I've copied and pasted it below. Read it. Then get back to work!

Why do you stand looking …

Read Acts 1:9-11
Here’s a summary:

While Jesus was being transported into heaven following His resurrection, His followers watched with great interest.
Of course they did! The Son of God was being beamed up into the skies before their very eyes. It’s understandable that they would be tempted to rubberneck.

So when the angels interrupt the experience with the question:
Why do you stand here looking into the sky?
…I’ve got to admit, it comes across a little unfair. Don’t these guys have the right to star-gaze for a minute or two considering the magnitude of the moment?

It makes more sense if you put the question in context. In the same breath that the angel commands the disciples to stop staring upward, he reminds them of the urgency of their task:

Jesus is coming again. There is an imminent need for you to be His witnesses. (Jesus had just explained this in Acts 1:8 - you know the verse.)
So get your head out of the clouds, receive the Holy Spirit, and then get back to work.

Now consider how much more this rebuke would apply to many modern day followers of Christ.
Jesus is coming again, we have the message of the Gospel, and more resource and capability than ever before to be His witnesses.
But it seems like a lot of us have our heads in the clouds.

We critique one another’s methodologies rather than celebrating one another’s success.
We divide in camps over our dim interpretations of complicated theological issues rather than uniting under the banner of salvation through Christ alone.
We let small people with microscopic vision dictate the course of our ministry and limit the scope of our impact.

We can’t stand around with our heads in the clouds and our thumbs up our…noses. We don’t have a minute to waste or the luxury of pontification.

Jesus is coming! His Spirit is within us! We have power! We are the Church!
How dare we stand around looking in the sky-when there’s a world to win right in front of our face?

Stinkin Sync'n

After 6 years of using a Palm Treo for all my cell phone/texting/email/google-something-at-a-dinner-party-to-find-an-answer-and-appear-uber-smart needs, I made the switch last week to the Blackberry.

Here is why...

I went into the Sprint store late Thursday night fully expecting to get a new Bluetooth earpiece. I told the CSR/Sprint Guy/17 yr old tech guru my situation. How I was sick and tired of hearing my friends mean mouth my Bluetooth headset. (Seriously, they were merciless! Mitch would call and just talk trash about my it like it had cussed his mom or something! Seriously, if I had a buck for every time Mitch would state, 'your headset stinks!" Anyway, I digress...what is new? Anyway, I digress should have been what I called my blog! Wow! I'm actually digressing while digressing)

Here is how the conversation ensued:

Sprint kid: "Bro, you've got a connection problem!"

Joel: "yeah, I know. I need a Bluetooth earpiece."

Sprint kid: "no, you need a new phone."

Joel: (thinking he was just trying to sell me a new phone) "why?"

Sprint kid: "because Palm's are notorious for not pairing well with any headsets."

Joel: "what does 'not pairing well' with my headset really mean?"

Sprint kid: "It means the connection between the two stinks. There is a syncing problem. It creates interference and broken communication. In other words, the better it syncs, the less it stinks!"

The conversation continued. I had an upgrade so I got a new phone. Now I'm not going to lie and say that the connection between my Bluetooth headset and Blackberry is perfect. My buddy Evan did say that it is 100% better. But I am going to tell you that I learned something through the experience.

A better connection means better communication. I find myself using my Bluetooth more. I've increased my communicating (talking and listening) as a result of my improved connection.

And of course since I love parables (so did Jesus) I thought I'd draw an obvious conclusion by asking a challenging question:

How is the connection between you and Christ?

In other words, Is it synced or does it stink?