TEXT FREE

 Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:17

I stopped at the Sideling Hill Rest Area Monday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  My ride up to that point had been somewhat difficult.  First, I was tired and was stopping in part, just to close my eyes so that my drowziness would not create a fatality. Secondly, the Turnpike had been literally jammed with cars either racing home from Grandma's house or heading to another holiday event.  Cars traveling at high speeds, filled with baggage, presents both wrapped and unwrapped, the precious cargo of children with Dads grasping a tall cup of Starbucks in one hand as they navigated the various lanes and lane changes. 

That reality had already drained me of much energy.  It had also added new meaning to the counsel, "Pray without ceasing."

On the door of the rest area building was a sign "This is a text free Turnpike."  They, of course, were not referring to a school of preaching that infects too much of the church.  They were reminding people of the great hazards involved in texting while driving.

Congress is trying to pass legislation to making texting and driving a crime.  The civil libertarians and the social networking junkies are already crying "Foul!"

Don't get me wrong.  I don't text (and frankly annoyed by the degree to which people plug out the world while they text).  I do, however, use a cell phone, email, and Facebook to communicate regularly.  I just avoid driving while I am doing.

What intrigues me is our desire to remain constantly connected with friends, family, work, and sometimes complete strangers and yet our relatively inconsistent and insignificant communications with God.

For the Bible does teach us that there is one connection that should be constant.  Paul challenges to pray without ceasing, be constantly aware of your connection with God and consistently in communication - listening or speaking - as we go through the days of our lives.  It's a communication that protects you in life instead of putting your life and the lives of others in peril.

And you can do it and still keep your thumbs on the wheel.  (And please keep your eyes open if you are literally at the wheel.)

(C) 2011 by Stephen L. Dunn

A little Christmas bonus:

WHAT GIFTS WILL YOU BRING?

Reading: "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh" - Matthew 2:11

Christmas is often an adventure into the distant corners of our relationships.  This is especially when it comes to finding a gift for one of the many persons that is probably on your list.  This is sometimes an exercise with embarrassing possibilities because you often find that you do not know the person well enough to select more than a generic gift.  As a grandparent, how often have you found yourself forgetting the age of a grandchild and then selecting a game that is an insult to their advancing years, (Yes 13 is not the same as three).  Or discovering that you spend so little time in conversation with someone that you end up selecting a gift of which they already have several. Then there's the embarrassment/frustration that comes when they supply a wish list reveals that they have no clue how poor you are.

That's why stores now issue gift receipts. It is also why "re-gifting" has become an acceptable practice in our culture. It also may explain why that thank you from your grandchild living five states away seems to have been carefully coached by a parent trying to help you save face and hiding the basic ingratitude or disinterest the child feels towards the present.

Personally, some of the best gifts are those that have been created by the loving hands of the giver, who obviously had me in mind.  And who knew what warmed my heart.  Those gifts are rarely shiny, cost next to nothing, and are unappreciated by the others around you. But they are the most precious gifts of all because they say in undeniable ways -- you matter.

When God entered the world he brought a gift - the gift of a Savior.  The wise men's gifts were gold for a king, incense for worship, and myrrh for burial.  Appropriate gifts that reflected God's gifts.

This Christmas what gift will you bring to the manger?

(C) 2011 Stephen L Dunn

MORE THAN A BAILOUT

Reading: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: 

The old has gone, the new is here!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Bailout has become a bit of a dirty word in our language.  It implies charitable initiatives intended to help some get back on their feet or stimulus packages to turn under-achievers and failed performers into fruitful workers or industries.  Our recent political and economic experience has generally resulted in failed expectations, some times out and out abuse of our generosity, and more often than not increased cynicism and even despair as we spiral deeper and deeper into economic and national chaos.

The problem with mere bailouts is that they assume by a timely addition of resources (like an infusion of capital) that essentially flawed industries can turn themselves around. They assume that the only flaw in those recipients is faulty judgment or bad breaks instead something embedded in the group's DNA.

The Fall has embedded something relentlessly destructive and deadly into humanity.  It's called sin - and the wages (the returns) of sin is death.  And death always collects its due.  Although we are created in the image of God, sin corrupts our spiritual hard drive even more relentlessly and completely than the most insidious computer virus.  Those of us who experienced such an infection know that at some point the only choice is to completely clean the hard drive or start over with a new hard drive.

When Christ came into the world it was not for a bailout or simple repair.  It was for a transformation, an entirely new creation.  Only when the image of God is   re-embedded through his work of atonement and grace do we have any hope of breaking free from both the power and penalty of sin.

Thank God He provided us more than an incentive or more than a bailout.

(C) 2011 by Stephen L. Dunn

THOU SHALT NOT PARK HERE

"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." - Luke 2.6-7

You know the story.  We have revisited and rehearsed it many times.  It is the staple of every children 's Christmas program.  Some of us still decorate our lawns with a replica of the proceedings.

Mary and Joseph have arrived in Bethlehem and there is no room in the inn.  The best the busy innkeeper has to offer is his stable, probably more a cave, inhabited by his cattle and probably some vermin.

This is the time of year when the "Keep Christ in Christmas" campaign begins to counter the "Happy Holidays" crowd.  The political correctedness has become so complicated that I sometimes catch myself saying "have a nice holiday," before I remember that I am one of those who desires to keep Christ in Christmas.

Even with an angelic chorus and exuberant shepherds, there were some in Bethlehem that were unaware that the Savior of the World was occupying a free parking space in the crowded city of David.  It was many months before Herod and his posse in Jerusalem learned from the Magi that God had become flesh and moved into the neighborhood. 

And Herod definitely wanted to declare to the infant King, "do not park here!"

But let me ask you--is Jesus free to park in your neighborhood?  I mean, do you treat him like an honored guest at Christmas and Easter and then hope he can take care of himself while you go to the beach, work overtime, sleep and play, and watch the Flyers and Steelers?

Of course he can take care of himself. That's not the point.

Jesus wants to do more than park in your driveway.  He wants to dwell at very center of your being. He wants to have an unbreakable and inviolable lease on your heart,

If he does not, then stop being a hypocrite and go shop at Target.

(C) 2011 by Stephen L Dunn