WALMART PARKING LOT

Came close the other day to going home to be with Jesus - as in heavenly home - for eternity. I don't know if it was the appointed time in God's will but the opportunity was definitely there for me to be yanked home to meet my Maker. That intersection of grace and free will (someone else's) was coming together to make this a real possibility. If it had happened, the launch point would have been the Walmart parking lot on Fruitville Pike in Lancaster PA.

I had just finished making my purchases and had returned to my Saturn. I was backing up slowly and cautiously because, of course, I was surrounded on either side by two monster trucks designed to obscure any view for at least a mile.  As I attempted to back, I had not yet reached the stage of cautiously inching my rear end into traffic when a vehicle raced by at a speed that would have earned a ticket on the interstate.  Then I took almost another full minute to back up stopping with great frequency, i.e., I lost count, as more vehicles backed out into the space I was trying to occupy.

When I finally made it "out", my vehicle was accosted by the rear ends of at least three other vehicles who seemed to have simply kicked it into reverse and pushed the gas pedal before even beginning to think that there might be someone else out there.  Once this exercise in "dodgem" was over, I still had to navigate a parking lot where people were making wide turns or occupying the center of the lane because they were talking on their doggone cell phones. (Actually, I had another expletive/adjective in mind but this is a religious blog site. Forgive me, Lord, for allowing that to even be in my vocabulary's secret vault.)

After about six minutes of near-death experiences (it seemed like sixty), I made it into the safety of actual traffic where God spared my life so I could be home to be with my lovely wife instead of my Maker.

Did you ever notice how dangerous life can be? Even for those people who try to insulate their lives by taking no risks, eating bland foods, staying out of traffic, avoiding their neighbors, keeping their heads down and mouths shut, life comes at you fast and you really have a lot less control than you'd like.  And at times it can scare the socks off of us.

That's why wise people like David teach us that we need to put our lives into the hands of the Lord.  "Even though I must walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me."  To do business as a human being requires us to venture into the Walmart parking lots and human intersections where another person's freedom can rob us of our peace and attack our joy. Where damage can be done that then we will have to deal with.

But we can live with confidence because "nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35)  It's that confidence that removes my fear and allows me to live with confidence even in the Walmart parking lots of the planet.  I may suffer a fender-bender, or I may actually meet with a fatal "accident", but I cannot be separated from God.

FRESH FAITH

Reading: Acts 4:20

The day of Pentecost has come and gone. Now Peter and John, transformed and emboldened by the Holy Spirit, have captured the attention of both Jerusalem and the Jewish leaders by healing a man who has been paralyzed since birth, They are brought before the same Sanhedrin that had a few months earlier condemned Jesus to death. They, however, are being let off with slap on the wrist and a stiff warning, "Stop talking about Jesus!" and also by implication, to cease using His authority to empower their activities.

Peter and John listen politely, then boldly refuse the conditions of their release. "But one thing we can tell you: we cannot possibly restrain ourselves fron speaking about what we have seen and heard with our own eyes and ears," - Acts 4:20 the Voice:Reader's New Testament


They know they have a mission, a purpose, But more than that they have an experience and a relationship. It is an experience and a relationship that has transformed their lives and transformed them as persons. The result, as they say, is history.

By contrast so many of us as Christ-followers seem to require programs, incentives and constant motivation simply to talk about Jesus. Why is that?

Perhaps because we have allowed ourselves to separate our identity from the Person in whose image we have been created, We would rather people see Steve or insert your name here than have them see Jesus when they see us. Perhaps it is because we are content with old memories of what God has done in our lives or we have sought nothing new from Him recently. As a result those old memories lose their power when these experiences are a part of a distant spiritual past instead of a powerful spiritual present. When your small group or church shares their God stories, do they have to reach way back in the past or are they talking about God was doing just yesterday or is doing today?

Maybe our prayer today should be, "Lord, give me a fresh encounter with you today. Keep my eyes and ears open to what You are doing today, And letme choose to be a part of it." I suspect the more we shared this prayer each day, we would have no trouble with that passion to share Jesus.

(C) 2010 by Stephen L Dunn

THIS OLD HOUSE

"And we know that if this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal heaven in the heaven, not built by human hands." - 2 Corinthians 5:1

This is the most recent picture of me available that I am aware of. Except that it preceded a much-needed haircut by about 36 hours, it is what it is. I mean, it's me.

Lately I have found myself thinking about those words from Paul. Still shy of my 60th birthday by more than half a year, but feeling very much like damaged goods body-wise.

Several weeks ago I stumbled over a suitcase in the room Dianne uses as an office. Pretty much scarred myself for life with the ugly gash that was left on my left forearm. A couple of weeks ago I ventured into the garage wearing shorts. I was trying to straighten the place; but it wasn't too long before I banged into something and opened a cut that is just now healing on my left leg. The very next day I banged the other leg on the exercise equipment in my office (which is still low to the ground because I haven't set it up). You guessed it, I gashed the other leg.

I awakened at 2 AM last Sunday morning with a lower backache that turned out to be a small kidney stone which I passed 16 hours later after great pain. And as I write this devotional on the next Saturday afternoon, there has appeared a similar pain in the same location. It could be a long and painful night. Could be the makings of a real hellfire and brimstone message tomorrow morning if the pain keeps up.

We all start to wear out physically. What worked when we were younger no longer works as well. The only place where time stands still is in a graveyard. We get older and our friends get older, and boy, do they look older.

But this old house, even though it will not last, is not our final address. As this old house begins to show signs of wear it is a sign that the time is drawing near to claim the lease on a far better place. The best is yet to come.

FINDING A ROUTINE

Two months ago the church's leadership and I agreed to a new position description - changing my title and purpose from being Senior Pastor to Lead Pastor. If you understand the philosophy of pastoral leadership, this is a very significant change; but now is not the time to unwrap that.

All of us develop routines for managing our lives and achieving our expectations. Routines are a tool of life management that
allow us work effectively, otherwise expectations are only dreams not reality. Routines allow us to organize so that we operate daily by the priorities of purpose instead of the tyranny of the urgent. Routines can be very helpful unless they become ruts that stifle creativity and defer initiative.

Part of my personal challenge is that routines are often tied to specific responsibilities. And in my case, responsibilities that cannot be dropped, they must delegated. So part of the challenge for me lately has been to find a way to step away from some responsibilities, so that I can develop a new routine that matches my new responsibilities. It is a little weird right now, sometimes a bit frustrating as I am eager to fully embrace my new responsibilities. However, if I persevere patiently and move in that direction intentionally it will become a reality and I will be able to develop and work by new routines.

Persevering patiently and moving intentionally is a good way of describing the process of becoming the person God has created you, redeemed you, and called you to be. The apostle Peter wrote these words to the early Christian church: (2 Peter 1:5-9)

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I pray that you will be able to find the routine (the pattern) and live in its discipline, so that you may be faithful and fruitful for God.