August 30th, 2013

Hey, everyone! Hope you're having an awesome day! It is gonna be awesome today! Todd the weather guys said that…(ding!) Sorry…hang on one second…Todd said that today was gonna start out…(ding!)…hold on…lemme check this real quick…Could y'all give me a sec. I need to answer this. It'll just take a minute…aaaand "send"…there! Y'know, as I was saying, it's almost "Football Time in Tennessee!!" We're all so pumped! And with football, as you well know, there also comes…(dong dong DONG dong…dong dong DONG dong)…Oh. Sorry. that's my phone. I thought I put it on vibrate…um…Could y'all hold on? I need to get this. It might be important….Hello?…Hey! What's up?…Really?…No way!…They did?…That's awesome!…Huh? I can't believe that!…Listen, when it's done, can you call me or text me?…Thanks! See ya, dude. Bye!… I'm back. Sorry, folks! I'd been waiting for that call. Let's see…As I was saying…Actually, I don't remember what I was saying. Man! It seems like that happens to me a lot! With my phone in my pocket now, instead of screwed into the wall of my house where it used to be back in ancient times, and with all the texts and tweets and dinging and donging, I can't hardly keep my mind focused on much! I'm finding out that in our world of multi-tasking and trying to do two or three things at once (talk to someone, check my emails, order movie tickets online, and drive simultaneously) I'm not super good at doing any of them!  In fact, new research is showing that (ding!)…Sorry….uh…one sec…let's see…"send"…um…research is showing that folks who think they're good at multi-tasking, really aren't! A professor at Stanford says…Lemme see…google search…stanford…professer…professor…clifford…nass…there!…"The research is almost unanimous, which is very rare in social science, and it says that people who chronically multitask show an enormous range of deficits. They're basically terrible at all sorts of cognitive tasks, including multitasking…" The main problem is that when people try to do too many things at once, the brain can't tell which one matters most! Professor Nass says, "People who multitask all the time can't filter out irrelevancy….They're chronically distracted. They initiate much larger parts of their brain that are irrelevant to the task at hand….They're suckers for irrelevancy. They just can't keep on task….All because they have been multitasking, they've lost that ability to focus on one thing…So they're pretty much mental wrecks!" Yikes! That sounds terrible! I think (done dong Dong…)…I can't deal with that right now…I think it might be affecting our ability to know what really matters! One time, Jesus and His guys were having a time of dealing with a ton of things at once. They were having discussions on diet and nutrition, having to help loads of hungry people, there were healings to do, and opposition to face. It seemed like a crazy time for them!  So Jesus invited three of them to get away. They went up on a mountain where no one could find them. Some believe that where they went was a hill in the NE corner of the Valley of Jezreel, about seven miles from Nazareth, and I bet it doesn't have satellite phone coverage even today! So no tweets, texts or incoming calls. No people…no yelling for help or asking for stuff... It was quiet, dark, and still. A silent night, holy night. All was calm…And suddenly… All was bright!! Jesus began to…glow! Matthew says that "His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light!" Mark adds, " His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them!" Wow! Jesus gloriously glowing! Chasing away all darkness!  I'm sure those guys were on their faces, shaking and praising! I'll bet they had…(ding!)…I'm ignoring that…nothing on their minds but Him and His awesome amazingness! To be with Him! Alone with Him in His glory! What privilege! What wonder! What could ever measure up to that?  Our Lord prepared them for this moment. He had said to them about a week before that they were about to "see the Kingdom of God". To be alone with Jesus in all His glory-this IS the Kingdom of God!  In our world of tweets and plinks and plunks, texts and tocks, and "please leave a message!"s and "I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"s and instagrams and google search, and trying to do it all at once and at times able to finish or focus on none of it…  It's NEVER been so important to find some time and be alone with the King in His glory and listen to no one else!  And to do nothing else! And be with no one else!  And talk for a few minutes…  or more… to no one else… but Him! To have a few moments enjoying with Him the Kingdom of God! In our tweeting texting world, where it's more and more difficult to feel what is worth giving your attention to… Nothing matters more!