New Mexico Woman Falls in Well

"10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4

If a woman’s concept of God determines the depth of her prayer life, then it’s important for me to ‘Know the Gift of God.’ Like the Woman at the Well, I, don’t realize that I’m thirsty. I think that I am satisfied and have everything I need – AND - I know where the well is when I need to draw more. I don’t realize that I am thirsty, what’s more, that I’m thirsty for Christ. I keep drawing and drinking from the well of earthly possessions, needs, and desires. It barely wets my whistle and merely curbs my thirst.

And, just like the Woman at the Well, I am never truly satisfied. I desire a deeper relationship with Christ. I desire a deeper prayer life. For this to happen, I must first recognize that I AM THIRSTY…….for Jesus. I need the Living Water more than I need my next breath! So, I’m praying for a parched throat, one that aches for, and can only be quenched by the Living Water that is Christ.

Network Rendering

When I'm making a video with my cheap video editing software every single frame has to be rendered, which is to say that the computer has to individually paint every frame of the video (about 30 frames per second). Depending on how long your video is, all of this painting can take awhile. Think about it: 10 minutes of video = 600 seconds = 18,000 frames. In order to make things go faster the software can render "over the network," which is to say if the computer is connected to a network of computers, the software will delegate to other computers to use their painting skills, kind of like a cyber-painting party, only you don't have to buy pizza for everyone.

I've been thinking that as disciples of Jesus, this is what the church ought to be. We are all trying to learn to obey the teaching of Jesus; that's a lot of frames to paint! But if you are thinking about one teaching, and he's thinking about a different teaching, and she's thinking about a different teaching, and I'm thinking about a different teaching, then when we get together we can benefit from each other's painting.

This blog is a rough draft of that church. This is your invitation to choose a teaching of Jesus, reflect on it, experiment with it, write a post and send it to me, and I will add you as a contributor to the blog. (I'm retaining the right of editorial privilege initially, but I doubt I will ever need to use it.) This blog is not a university; we are not looking to be impressed by scholarly aptitude. This blog is not a magazine; we are not looking to be dazzled by glossy word pictures. This blog is a church; we are looking for testimony, confession, prophecy, dreams and visions, humanness and messiness.

And everyone is welcome.