Mark Sorensen So for Christmas this year, I got my 20-year-old son a $12 piece of cardboard, and, as expected, it was his favorite gift. What’s so special about this piece of cardboard that cost $12, you may ask? Well, it wasn’t just any piece of cardboard. It was a Google Cardboard 3d Virtual Reality headset (why do I feel like Ralphie from A Christmas Story writing that). Here’s what happens. You put this thing together, attach the velcro straps, put it on your face, and you slide your iPhone into the back of it. What happens next is pretty amazing. You open the app that goes with it and you can then virtually stand anywhere in the world and have a full 360-degree view of what’s around you. Can’t make it to Paris to see the Eiffel tower? No worries. Strap on the virtual headset and BLAM! There it is in all its glory right in front of you. Amazing, right?
The most enjoyable part for me was watching my son do this on Christmas morning. He began walking around the living room with no concept of what was around him. He was lost in this virtual world. And when he would take the headset off? He was always shocked by where he had actually wandered.
We’re about to start a new campus-wide series at The Woodlands United Methodist Church called Greater. As I pray over the teachings I will be giving in Harvest, I can’t help but think about my faith and the words of Jesus when He tells His disciples, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” (John 14:12 NLT) What if we actually viewed our lives through the lens of Jesus’ promise and allowed the Holy Spirit to speak and move in the power that was promised to us all? Is it possible we’re settling for the ordinary when, through the power of Jesus’ words and the Holy Spirit, He’s made the extraordinary available to us?
Here’s to a new perspective and greater leaps of faith in the days and weeks ahead.
Who’s with me?
