DON'T PREJUDGE--YOU MAY BE VERY WRONG

Have you ever prejudged someone only to find you were very wrong. Here is a classic of the foolishness of prejudging.

NATIONAL "NO-BRAINER" DAY

.According to the Ultimate Holiday website, today is National No Brainer Day.  The explanation? "A whole day devoted to obvious choices? It's a no brainer."  In honor of that, here are a few NO BRAINERS to me:

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS-GENTLENESS

by Stephen L Dunn

 "So is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength." - Anonymous

"Let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near." - Philippians 4.5

There is a harshness to life in America that troubles me greatly.  People have such critical spirits and the venom of those spirits often go viral spewing their anger and hatred on so many others.  This critical spirit has been magnified by a rampant incivility that stomps and bashes and even destroys without a thought to the long-term effect on the well-being of our communities.  We are quick to litigate or legislate when dialogue and an attempt at understanding could have saved us from many relational and civil demons.  We demonize our opponents in such a way that there can be no wholeness to relationships and no healing to our land.

One of the fruit of the Spirit that I as a Christian pray is evidenced in my life is called gentleness (Galatians 5.22-3).  The Greek word has the meaning "restraint coupled with strength and courage.^"

It is the opposite of hubris, the Greek word for haughty, boastful insolence.  In the Bible gentleness is tied to the idea of humility Gentleness includes true humility that does not consider itself too good or too exalted for humble tasks.

A corporal at Valley Forge who was directing three men as they tried to lift a log into place. It was too heavy, but the corporal commanded again and again, “All right, men, one, two, three, lift!” A man in an overcoat came by and said to the corporal, ‘Why don’t you help them?” The corporal pulled himself up to full height and replied, “Sir, I am a corporal.” Without a word the man stepped over and with his help the log went easily into place. The man was George Washington.

Gentleness is not a  synonym for doormat.  It is a quality of character that just might start to help to heal our nation.

HE AIN'T HEAVY, HE'S MY BROTHER

 As a teenager, I had some favorite songs.  Sitting here on a cold winter Friday afternoon, I was You Tubing and came across this timeless classic from the Hollies.  Not a Christian song per se, but clearly a song from the culture that affirms that Life Matters. Enjoy - Steve

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS-THE WISDOM OF TWO PRESIDENTS

Today is Presidents’ Day, a holiday that I haven’t always taken as a holiday from work.  Dianne and I moved over the weekend, so I thankful for the space to unpack and since the banks are closed, the freedom not to business.

On this day we celebrate the birthdays of unarguably two of the greatest American presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Washington was the general who would turn President, whose faith and moral strength, whose leadership skills and ability to stay focused basically ensured that we would have a nation at all.  Lincoln was the country lawyer turned politician whose faith and moral courage, whose vision for human equality and political toughness saw to that government of the people,  by the people and for the people did not perish from the earth.  And Lincoln insured that we would begin correcting that great injustice of our Founding Fathers who still kept some men in slavery.

As a person who is proudly an American, but more so as a person of deep Christian faith who believes that all people matter to God—I salute these two men.  Neither was perfect, as revisionist historians are fond of pointing out, but then none of us are.  What they were was men who let the mind of God shape their view of reality and their values as leaders.  And many of their words of wisdom could serve well today, despite our secularizing tendency to drive God from the marketplace and from our places of power.

Here are a few of my favorites-first from Mr. Lincoln:

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”

“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”

“My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.”

“Stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.”

And then from Mr. Washington:

“He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”

“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”

“Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”

“Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

A LITTLE LENTEN HUMOR

SATURDAY MAIL IS GOING BYE BYE

BY STEVE DUNN

In age of text messaging, email, and internet web sites; it has been derided as "snail mail."  Mail delivered by vehicles and human carriers in the slowest of manners, often misdirected by a single mistake in an address code or by the ignorance of substitute carrier.  Mail increasingly defined as "junk" because so much came unbidden and unwanted.  Mail that filled landfills. Mail that to be received in a more timely manner required more postage.

Sharing a little historical perspective, CNN columnist Bob Greene writes:
If and when it happens -- and it's beginning to seem inevitable -- the texture of the nation's life will be altered, probably forever. Saturdays without mail will feel like ... well, who knows? Maybe they'll feel like Sundays.

We may fool ourselves into thinking that it's e-mail alone that has addicted us to the expectation of hearing from each other all the time. But it's not the obsession that's new; it's just the means of delivery. When the post office was the quickest way to get the latest word from friends and from businesses, Americans seemed just as eager and impatient about it as they are now. According to the Postal Service, at the beginning of the 20th century, letter carriers in U.S. cities made multiple delivery runs each day. In New York, there were nine deliveries a day; in Baltimore, Maryland, there were seven; in Kansas City, Missouri, there were six. People weren't checking their computer screens compulsively, but they were checking their mailboxes.

From the very beginning, the government's mandate to the post office was to deliver the mail "as frequently as the public convenience ... shall require." The key word was "convenience," and the public found it convenient to have letters delivered all the time. It wasn't until 1950 that, "in the interest of economy," residential delivery around the country was permanently reduced to once daily.
But Saturday delivery has remained sacrosanct. Once -- in 1957 -- there was an attempt to do away with it. The postmaster general at the time, a fellow by the name of Arthur E. Summerfield, decided, in the name of budgetary prudence, to end Saturday mail deliveries nationwide.

It lasted for exactly one Saturday. On April 13, 1957, the mail did not come to America's homes. There was such public anger and outrage over this that President Dwight D. Eisenhower promptly signed a bill to provide more funding to the post office, and by the next Saturday, the country's mailboxes were being filled again."

The current Postmaster General, Bob Potter, is officially asking Congress to let Saturday mail go away.  The USPS will lose $7 billion this year and the elimination of Saturday mail will save $3 billion of that.   Budgetary prudence once again raises its ugly head.

Will you miss Saturday mail delivery?  Unless your my age or older, probably not.  Many of our citizens south of age 50 have never received a piece of personal snail mail unless it came from the US Government.  Our credit card statements now even arrive on line.  Christmas cards are posted on the web.  If you want a form from the government, it is lot faster to go to a .gov address.  Even post offices have few of those forms.

Romanticists lament the loss of lingering over a catalogue or Sports Illustrated on a Saturday afternoon; the taking of pen to paper following the unexpected arrival of a wedding invitation or a birthday card.  Or the timely arrival of the proverbial check that has been in the mail.

Well, SI i on-line, wedding invitations are done via websites, and even seven day a week banks will not credit that check until Monday.

I guess we really won't miss Saturday mail delivery.

(C) 2013 by Stephen L Dunn

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - THE HYPOCRISY OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS AND THE BOY SCOUTS

BY STEVE DUNN

The latest group to find itself in the cross-hairs of political correctness is the Boy Scouts of America. Political correctness so often carries an element of hypocrisy that reminds me of Jesus' charge against the Pharisees, "You strain at a gnat and swallow a camel."  As one reader of the USA Today commented. "It is a private organization. They have a right to define their own membership." Or as another commented weighed in, "They are a private group.... As is the NAACP and AARP. . but no one is talking about changing their requirements... As well they shouldn't."

I confess I agree with both of these gentlemen. Leadership of Boy Scouts of America have long positioned their organization in the camp known as "traditional family values." They have long depended upon churches to house them and to support them, most of whom fall into that same traditional family values camp. They have long served children, even homosexuals, affirming their personhood, providing them love and grace while simply refusing to affirm homosexuality as a wholesome lifestyle. 

No one likes to be told that what they have chosen for themselves is not a value that others find healthy or desirable.

But it is what it is.

Political correctness has become the new totalitarian ethic in our culture. Perhaps intended by some to do battle with the general intolerance and prejudice that exists in our society, it espouses its own form of intolerance shaped by the biases of an intellectual elite who always think they know better than the rest of their citizenry. It has come to disrespect any measure of right or wrong that does not support its agenda. And because so many in government and the media seem have made themselves the arbiter of right or wrong, political correctness has become as oppressive to individual human freedom as as any proponent of extreme sharia in the world beyond America. The very freedom of the individual to choose their own values that it purports to defend is eroded by its radical intensity. George Orwell could have been writing about modern day political correctness of the pages of 1984.

Let the Boy Scouts be who they believe they should be. A whole lot of little old ladies who need to cross the road would appreciate it.

FRIENDSHIP HEALS CHICK-FILA/LGBT DIVIDE

I have now seen this post through Ed Stetzer and Christianity Today.  I share this  because I applaud Dan Cathy's (head of Chick-fil-a) response to the attacks on his company and himself personally by the LGBT movement for his stand against same-sex marriage.  All Christians need to learn a lesson from this for how to deal with people who opposed their biblical values.  I am a firm believer that this will draw more people to Christ than the rhetoric and demonstrations and cultural warfare tactics.  He is truly trying to be "salt and light" as the Headline News interview with LGCBT activist Shane Windemeyer demonstrates. - Steve

FRIENDSHIP HEALS CHICK-FIL-A DIVIDE

by Url Scaramanga CHRISTIANITY TODAY

Last summer controversy erupted when Dan Cathy, president and COO of Chick-fil-A, gave an interview expressing his opposition to same sex marriage based on biblical teachings. Gay rights activists also reacted to the fast food company's financial support for organizations that sought to block SSM.

In the weeks that followed, supporters of Chick-fil-A and traditional marriage showed their solidarity by lining up at the restaurants for a fried chicken sandwich, and members of the GLBT community rallied protests to block the restaurants from entering some cities. The entire episode highlighted the widening divide between conservative Christians and the gay community, and few had hope that reconciliation was possible.

What we did not know was that Dan Cathy, rather than fighting this battle in the media, chose to pursue a more Christ-honoring way. He reached out to Shane Windmeyer, the leader of Campus Pride--the pro-LGBT organization that was leading the fight against Chick-fil-A. Cathy developed a friendship with Shane and his husband, and a foundation of mutual respect was created.

Earlier this week Windmeyer "came out" about his friendship with Cathy in a column for Huffington Post

He writes: Throughout the conversations Dan expressed a sincere interest in my life, wanting to get to know me on a personal level. He wanted to know about where I grew up, my faith, my family, even my husband, Tommy. In return, I learned about his wife and kids and gained an appreciation for his devout belief in Jesus Christ and his commitment to being "a follower of Christ" more than a "Christian." Dan expressed regret and genuine sadness when he heard of people being treated unkindly in the name of Chick-fil-A -- but he offered no apologies for his genuine beliefs about marriage.
Windmeyer continued:

In many ways, getting to know Dan better has reminded me of my relationship with my uncle, who is a pastor at a Pentecostal church. When I came out as openly gay in college, I was aware that his religious views were not supportive of homosexuality. But my personal relationship with my uncle reassured me of his love for me -- and that love extends to my husband....

My relationship with Dan is the same, though he is not my family. Dan, in his heart, is driven by his desire to minister to others and had to choose to continue our relationship throughout this controversy. He had to both hold to his beliefs and welcome me into them. He had to face the issue of respecting my viewpoints and life even while not being able to reconcile them with his belief system. He defined this to me as "the blessing of growth." He expanded his world without abandoning it. I did, as well.

In Cathy and Windmeyer we have a model of a Christian response to the tensions between the church and LGBT community. Rather than fighting battles in the courts, legislatures, and public square, we ought to begin by loving our neighbors and establishing genuine friendships.

Throughout the conversations Dan expressed a sincere interest in my life, wanting to get to know me on a personal level. He wanted to know about where I grew up, my faith, my family, even my husband, Tommy. In return, I learned about his wife and kids and gained an appreciation for his devout belief in Jesus Christ and his commitment to being "a follower of Christ" more than a "Christian." Dan expressed regret and genuine sadness when he heard of people being treated unkindly in the name of Chick-fil-A -- but he offered no apologies for his genuine beliefs about marriage. Windmeyer continued:

In many ways, getting to know Dan better has reminded me of my relationship with my uncle, who is a pastor at a Pentecostal church. When I came out as openly gay in college, I was aware that his religious views were not supportive of homosexuality. But my personal relationship with my uncle reassured me of his love for me -- and that love extends to my husband.... My relationship with Dan is the same, though he is not my family. Dan, in his heart, is driven by his desire to minister to others and had to choose to continue our relationship throughout this controversy. He had to both hold to his beliefs and welcome me into them. He had to face the issue of respecting my viewpoints and life even while not being able to reconcile them with his belief system. He defined this to me as "the blessing of growth." He expanded his world without abandoning it. I did, as well.

In Cathy and Windmeyer we have a model of a Christian response to the tensions between the church and LGBT community. Rather than fighting battles in the courts, legislatures, and public square, we ought to begin by loving our neighbors and establishing genuine friendships.
For more on this story, here's an interview with Shane Windmeyer from Headline News:

MONDAY MORNING REFLECTIONS - THE BEST SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL

BY STEVE DUNN

Four million dollars for a 30-second commercial.  People who don't even like football watch the Super Bowl to see the creative commercials, or to see which companies utterly wasted four million Big Ones!  For me this is the best use of that money.  Thanks to Chrysler and its Jeep division.

SPEAKING FOR GOD

BY STEVE DUNN

 

Sunday morning early.  A light dusting of snow has fallen on Dover, but nothing that should impair people going to worship this morning except maybe for those who are looking for an excuse not to go.  In about 3 ¾ hours I will be heading up the road to Mechanicsburg to bring them the morning message and to remind them that they serve a God who calls upon them to embody His love. Since last August Dianne and I have been on a Journey we have called our "Abraham and Sarah Excellent Adventure" and I have been preaching at various churches great and small awaiting our next assignment from the Lord. The sermon this morning is one I have preached several times in this Journey period.  I hope I have planted seeds of this basic truth in a variety of settings.

By calling--and now profession and persuasion--I have been a pastor and a preacher. And your chief function is to be a primary spokesperson for God.  It is no small task--and not for the lazy or the prideful, although both types have practiced my profession.

That "speaking for God" thing is one that I take most seriously--preparing through study, prayer, sometimes over a long period of time for a single message.  There have been times when I have not done a good job and times when people simply did or would not hear what I was saying to them.  Then there are times when people would comment, "Were you listening at my house this week?" or "I need that," or "I wish you hadn't said that."

That's why my prayer EVERY TIME I step into a pulpit or stand before people with a message, I speak this prayer, "Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be YOUR WORDS FROM YOUR HEART to these people who are Your beloved."

 

T.D. Jakes once said, " I fully intend to preach the word of God to you until there's a difference between how you walk out of here and how you walked in here.." 

Jakes was speaking to the ambition of a faithful pastor who believes that transformation not information is the purpose of our preaching.  This is one more reason why I have continued to preach these many years.  It is because I believe that when the Word of God is spoken by men and women who live that Word and see themselves as vessels to share that Word--lives are transformed. 

In a few weeks I begin a year as an Intentional Interim Pastor for a church in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.  It is the framework in which God has now called me to operate--in these shorter term and more focused pastorates.  It is a place where preaching becomes even more important.  So in a weeks I will once again stand before a people gathered in the name of Christ, and I will pray, "May the words of my mouth ...."