THANKSLIVING

BY STEVE DUNN

In just a few hours, I will be celebrating one of my favorite holidays-Thanksgiving.  Dianne and I will be in northern Kentucky with our children and their families to share a day that my nation has wisely set aside to encourage its citizenry to do what my God has called me to do everyday.  To give thanks.

It is a simple holiday made complicated by overcrowded airports, the delicate balancing act between the dinner table and the Big Game on the big screen TV, and the rush to finish everything so that a place can be claimed in a Walmart parking lot for Black Friday's bargains (or is now, Black Thursday Evening),

Nonetheless, God's Word teaches us that we are to be thankful people--thankful for those who bless, thankful for what we have been blessed with, and thankful to God Who ultimately provides it all.

Colossians another twist.  Our thanks in not expressed simply in our words and prayers--but in how we live, how we work.  Thanksgiving is not relegated to a day.  It is a way of living.

Living in thanks to the God Who gives us life and calls us to share in His work.  Thanksgiving is ultimately at its fullest through thanks living.

WHERE WILL THEY SEE JESUS?

BY STEVE DUNN

"They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." = John 12:21

Recently I came across this little vignette on-line.  "This morning, Jocelyn took a little Bible I have. She opened it, flipping page after page. She looked up at me and said, "Mom, I know this is the Bible. I know Jesus is in here. I am looking for his picture."

Every day there are people who are looking for Jesus.  Some out of need.  Some out of curiosity.  Some out of a desire to meet the One that so many of us call Savior.  Some out of s desperate need for a Savior.

Where will they see Jesus?

They might see him in the Bible, if they know to open it.

They might see him in a vision, but that is rare and would be unlikely.

There was a day in history that they could walk up to a disciple named Philip and then be ushered into his physical presence.  But that day has passed.

No, God intends people to see Jesus in the lives that our surrendered to his will and are living according to His purpose.

Just as God revealed himself to the world through taking on flesh--what we call the Incarnation; he continues to use incarnation to let people see him.

Only that incarnation is in us.

When people see your life, hear your words, experience your embrace, observe your actions--do they see Jesus?

That's what God intends.  Is that what you are doing?

FALSE HUMILITY

BY STEVE DUNN

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." - James 4:10 New Living Translation

I was greatly blessed by the sermon. The preacher had reflected deeply on the passage, he had framed his point in a clear and compelling key phrase.  His content reflected a respect for the Bible from which he had drawn the truth.  He had challenged me directly and yet had left me with a sense of what could happen if I let God help shape my response. He would have made his homiletic professor proud.

Then he blew it.

"I really appreciated today's message and thank you for sharing it."

"The Lord did it, not me," was his smiling response.

The response may have been ecclesiastically correct but it rang with false humility.  He acted as if he had nothing to do with its design and its delivery.  I found myself walking away thinking, he wasn't truthful.  It was enough to make me wonder about the truth of his content, as well.  Was he really speaking from the mind of Christ to deliver a message to God's beloved?

We sometimes make a mockery of humility by acting as if we are simply spiritual automatons, puppets of the Almighty.

God works in and through us.  He has blessed us with gifts and passions, experiences and understandings.  He empowers us for fruitfulness.  What He requires of us is commitment and obedience.  In other words, God works in us and through us.

That's the reality that is at the heart of true humility.   It is rooted in the authenticity of genuine relationship with Him. The preacher would have been more authentic (and therefore more helpful to me) if his answer had been, "Thank you, I tried to do my best with what God gave me." I would have someone who was submitted to the God Who had gifted him instead of making it sound like he was just a mouthpiece.

 

FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

BY STEVE DUNN

“… be filled with the Holy Spirit.” – Ephesians 5:18a

      We often make statements that to others appear as self-deluding.  When I was growing up, such statements were greeted with the comment, “You are full of it.” (We will have to stop there because the etymology of that expression refers to something very nasty that you are full of.) But for Christians, being full of something refers to being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
 

     Some Christian groups use this command as a code word for a specific kind of religious experience or as a litmus test of a certain type of Christianity that they believe to be superior to all other forms of Christianity.  I tend to disagree with both usages but that is a theological issue beyond the scope of what I want to say today.

     We fill our lives with many things — jobs, family, and even religion.  All in pursuit of happiness or fulfillment or meaning.  But those things are often delusions because they are expressions of a delusional belief that say, “It’s all about me.”  For too many our highest aim is self-satisfaction not significance.  We believe our lives have meaning when we get to be who we want to be.

     Such an attitude ultimately requires us  to ignore our neighbor, be indifferent to our community, and abandon any true responsibility for our world.

      The one true antidote to this outcome is not saturate our lives with self but to let the Spirit indwell us shaping us and empowering us to be people whose lives are immeasurably and whose impact brings God’s wholeness to all.

(C) 2014 by Stephen L Dunn

 This is from Mark Roberts exceptional devotional blog The High Calling

Advent Reflection: Immanuel 

 Matthew 1:18-25 "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.' " [Matthew 1:23]

 Several years ago a popular song celebrated the fact that "God is watching us from a distance." From his far away perch, God sees the beauty and harmony of this world, rather than its brokenness and strife. For some reason, this out-of-touch divine perspective was supposed to encourage us to be more loving and peaceful.

 The biblical story celebrates the opposite truth. Not only is God intimately involved with this world in general, but he actually entered this world as a human being. The child conceived within Mary's womb was indeed "Immanuel," which means in Hebrew, "God with us."

 When we face struggles at home or setbacks at work, when we suffer physical pain or seek to alleviate the injustice in our world, there is nothing more encouraging than the fact that God is with us. God was with us in the once-for-all incarnation of the Word in Jesus Christ. And God continues to be with us through the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts and in our fellowship with other Christians.

WHATEVER IS ...

BY STEVE DUNN

^" Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." - Philippians 4:8-9

These days I am working as an Intentional Interim Pastor for a church of nearly 700 men, women and children.  I have been with them since March when their Senior Pastor left.  I will probably be with them until about Easter when a new one will arrive.  It's interesting work--invigorating and challenging, rewarding and frustrating.  An Intentional Interim these days is a combination Ministry Coach and Church Health Specialist with a large element of Systems Analyst and Resident Sage.  You question everything, change only what is essential, counsel the impatient and rebuke those who believe the only way to be a church is their way.

You are also the church's pastor - its preacher, chief shepherd, leader.  You try to squeeze some of this in while doing all the above, preparing the church for the nest pastor, and coaching those who are in search of that individual that God has chosen.

There are days, far too many when the persistent problems nag at your peace; the attitudes of some about the past become annoying, the reluctance to learn a new way irritating.  And then the awareness that the church will not become all that God desires it to be during your brief tenure becomes simply depressing.

It is those times when you need to refocus what occupies your mind.  You need to see and celebrate where God is healing the church and moving it into new fruitfulness.  You need to rejoice at the life change that continues as new people follow Jesus.  You need to sing out those stories of where Jesus is at work on the mission field under your care.

And then you will have peace -- and influence the people you lead to have peace as they trust and follow God into the future.

GOD IS MY MAKER

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.- Psalm 139:14

BY STEVE DUNN

My body ain't what it used to be.  It's never been the sleek, buff guy in GQ and I'll never make anyone's "most attractive men" list (except for my wife Dianne's).  The hair is greyer and thinner.  Some of my teeth have now gone to be with Jesus.  My feet are downright ugly--even my doctor says so.  And today I took a tumble and badly twisted an ankle.  I just got clumsy coming off a step and went down before I could even put out a hand to stop.  (Did I mention the state of my reflexes?)

But our  body is not who we are?

My mind has always been sharp, my analytical skills finely honed.  I have mastered extemporaneous speaking.  I am known for my creativity and intellectual intensity.

But our mind is not who we are?

Yes, the complexity of our body's designs and the human mind is an awesome thing when it is functioning properly.  These are two factors that always remind me of the Intelligent Design that put me together, and knowing that the Master Designer has created even better versions simply affirms the divinity that shapes humanity and the world.  

Although God is perfect, I am vividly aware of my imperfection.  I love what is written on Ruth Graham's tombstone:

“Under Construction: Thank you for your patience.” 

 
Yet my imperfection does not change the wonder of who I am.  I am a person created by the Living God--and then created anew out his unconditional love and amazing grace--so that I can live according to His purpose.  And that purpose is the Good News that we all belong to God and have a part of the wondrous work He is doing to redeem humankind, and to demonstrate people living in this time that there is "a more perfect way" that He will empower them to live/

(C) 2013 by Stephen Dunn