CELEBRATIONS

A few days ago Dianne and I unexpectedly joined a celebration. We were taking a brief vacation to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. No special agenda, just a quiet getaway together before the hectic intensity of Thanksgiving, Advent, and Christmas. Thanks to some nice gifts for Pastor Appreciation Sunday, we booked an inexpensive room (read "off season rates") at the Hampton Inn at Woodstock, Virginia. Only 180 miles from home in the midst of some magnificent mountains and ripe with Civil War history (I am a Stonewall Jackson fan and Dianne thrives on museums.) Hampton Inns have often been the place to which we retreat--great service, comfortable rooms, an early breakfast (for early rising Steve).

The Hampton Inn at Woodstock proved to be a brand new hotel, and its staff was especially sharp, friendly, and helpful. That night we discovered that the next night was the hotel's official grand opening. (In fact, we met the owner, a Lancaster County native named Lefever--who invited us personally). Great food, lots of people, horse and buggy rides. The guests included people from the community, the families of the employees and owner, contractors. A festive evening. Even though we were peripheral to the celebation, we were warmly welcomed and enjoyed a memorable time.

We are less than 2 weeks from Thanksgiving, a civil holiday in the US; and Christmas, a Christian holiday that has been embraced by the culture as a time of good will and good works. Dianne and I, like many of you, will be a part of those celebrations, too. Yet because we are Christians, we will not be peripheral participants--especially to the Christmas celebration. For Christmas is the celebration of the greatest news that anyone on Planet Earth ever received. That God in His grace had come in the flesh to redeem His people from their sin. In just the right time, when we were powerless (and clueless), God acted out of the richness of His love to end the separation of sin that left His people lost and without hope.

Others will celebrate Christmas for their reasons. We can neither control that nor condemn that. We just need to celebrate Christmas for Christ's reasons, for we are the people of Christ.

FINGER PAINTS

Do you remember finger paints?

Those bright, bold, beautiful colors that just screamed out "Smear me all over everything!" Many a child, with innocent and reckless abandon simply plunged in and the next thing you knew - painted walls or maybe even "painted playmates."

Teachers and parents quickly attempted to set some boundaries, corraling youthful creativity and passion before home remodeling became a necessity. Or they would watch them like hawks, wiping away any errant smudge that found its way onto faces or clothes before the child was permanently marked by their artistic enthusiasm.

Often, the children had an eye for colors (and their combination) that seemed alien to the adult mind--a first indication of a generation gap. And for many a child, finishing the picture was not as important as the process of painting. Most finger paint efforts were works in progress. But they also had an idea when the work was complete and now ready to go on exhibit in that Louvre of Finger Painting--the kitchen refrigerator.

Finger paints were better than crayons--because they were not used to "color within the lines." Finger paints defied such conventions. Finger paints were instruments of pure expression. A first attempt to be who God had created us to be--unique, gifted, eager to leave an impression on the world.

New Christians are like children with finger paints. They have a newfound discovery and a newfound resource. Boundaries are not as important as expression. They introduce an element of freshness and unpredictability that often brings bright new "colors" to the church. Although they need to be discipled, we need to always be careful that we don't crush the simple enthusiasm and passion that they have for their newfound faith.

And maybe we would be benefited if we let them paint on the walls or any on the faces of believers who have grown dull and dim in the predictable passing of years.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

I am often up at a very early hour. Whether I am at home or at work or even at a hotel or retreat center-one thing tends to be true. It is very quiet. So quiet that at times you can hear traffic on an interstate many miles away. Or leaves rustling against the wind. Or maybe the building creak a little.

The Tremeloes once famously sang "Silence is golden." But do we treasure silence. Many immediately break the silence by turning on their favorite radio station. (I tend to turn on Sports Center on the TV.) Others fill the air with praise and worship tapes. But to paraphrase Simon and Garfunkle, "The sounds of silence are sometimes lost in the sounds (noise) that comfort us."

In many ways silence really is a godly friend, if you don't bury it in sounds. It is not without accident that David writes in Psalm 46.10, "Be still and know that I am God."

Without times of silence, our lives have no real reflection--we have no awareness of what really is around us--we have no active listening that allows us to hear God and know God.

Don't see silence as an enemy and don't despise silence with so much background noise. God does his best speaking when we are silent enough to listen.

(C) by Stephen L. Dunn. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

THRIVING IN CHRIST

It is raining this morning. A cold rain that gives a chill to the fall morning. It's rained a lot lately and some of us are growing weary of it. It's keeping us from getting that last cut of the grass or complicating raking our leaves that are dropping rapidly. It interferes with golf plans and makes fall football Friday nights very unpleasant. It adds a dampness to the cool air that plants a chill in our bones.

Yet rain is water, good old H20. It is one of God's sources of life and necessary to fruitfulness. Without water, we would ultimately wither and die. The Psalmist David speaks of this connection in Psalm 1. He talks about people who are blessed, who literally thrive at all times because they are closely connected to God.

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." - Psalm 1:3

Most of us do not thrive because we are not planted close to Christ. We keep him at a distance. Although he is the river of life with its life-giving waters, we are more like trees planted in a desert depending on a rare rainfall or a dependable irrigation system ... both of which are pretty "iffy" for true survival, let alone to the thrive and bear fruit.

You can neither live nor thrive without the living water of Christ. Plant yourself close to Him.

(C) 2009 by Stephen L. Dunn. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

MORNING HOPE

Reading: Psalm 5:3

Last Sunday I was returning from breakfast to the church. It was balmy morning. When I had driven to the restaurant it was still dark and the trip was made difficult by a thick, low-hanging fog. The sun was up on that return journey. The fog was still present but the sunlight had begun to pierce it. But the horizon above that ground fog revealed a magnificent sunrise. Al-though it was an October Sunday morning, it made me think of an Easter morning.

Easter morning is always a powerful reminder of the hope that God brings—hope often clouded over by our everyday sin—but hope that is present nonetheless. The reminder of that hope is revealed in the Empty Tomb at dawn.

That Sunday morning my thoughts went to the words of David, “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice: in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Morning is the time to set our mind on God and surrender our lives to His guidance and care. Morning is the time to remember the hope in which we live—and then begin living that day in that hope.
The devotional is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville and its friends. © 2009 by Stephen L Dunn. All rights reserved. Email subscription matters should be sent to www.coglandisville@ coglandisville.org. Direct communication with Steve to sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org. You can subscribe by blog by registering as a follower at www.drstevesdevotional.blogspot.com.

NEVER ABANDONED

Church Street is the main north-south thoroughfare through my community. I travel it in one direction or another several times a day. Parked alongside Church Street in a no-parking zone, just off the edge of the street, is a gray minivan. A plastic bag is stuck through its front window, a universal sign of a disabled vehicle (as opposed to a scofflaw parking in a no parking zone). The minivan has now remained unmoved for well over a week.

Ironically, it is a commercial van. The sign on its side says “Macro Inc.-Catastrophy Response Services.” ( I did a double-take the first time I saw it.) Either they had a catastrophe to respond to that has prevented them from returning, or they need catastrophic services themselves. Right now their abandoned vehicle doesn’t provide good advertising.

As I write this devotional, someone has just called to tell me that they are really up against a lot of pressure. They feel like they’re being overwhelmed and requested prayer (which I did
Immediately over the phone). Overwhelmed they may feel, but not abandoned—not as long as they have some praying for them and God watching over them.

The apostle Paul knew this experience, but out his experience comes a powerful truth.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing
power comes from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on
every side, not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

God works in and through our lives, even in the toughest circumstances. He is working to reveal His gift of abundant and eternal life – and that is perhaps most evident, when we knocked down or off the road of life.

This email devotional is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville and its friends. © 2009 by Stephen L Dunn. All rights reserved. Email subscription matters should be sent to www.coglandisville@ coglandisville.org. Direct communication with Steve to sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org.

PASTOR STEVE AND JESUS

This painting, entitled "Love", is the work of Richard and Frances Hook. It has hung in every office that I have occupied since 1975. It is a powerful image of Christ that I have been drawn to since the very first time I saw it.

A number of years ago I took it from its perch on my office wall into the sanctuary to use it as an objective lesson for my children's sermon. I wanted to talk to the children about how God loves children and to the adults (who are always listening to a children's sermon) about the simple trust that characterizes the faith of a child.

Attempting to engage the children in a dialogue, I held up the painting and asked, "Who is this a picture of?" Five year old, blond-haired Lailah raised her hand knowingly. Her answer, "It's Pastor Steve and Jesus." I started to correct her and then was struck with the discernment of her words. It is exactly who it is. I am a child of God and the foundation of my life is the knowledge that Jesus loves me. The essence of my faith is that I face the world (now at age 58) with the assurance that I am secure in the arms of Christ Who gave His life for me. I trust Him because I have no doubt--God loves me.

The verse that comes to my mind is this--paraphrasing John 17, "He has loved us from the foundation of the world."