Teach Them Well

Thursday, November 9, 2023

O my people, listen to my instructions.  Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable.  I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us.  We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.  For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel.  He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born—and they in turn will teach their own children.  So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.  Psalm 78:1-7

If children are not taught well the lessons of how God’s Word is to be obeyed, we have no hope of having a sane, kind, and sustainable world.

In an age when everything must have an immediate solution, there is little hope of a “viral” response to this text.  Still, this text contains the ultimate solution to the madness that envelopes the 21^st century culture…to wit:  If children are not taught well the lessons of how God’s Word is to be obeyed, we have no hope of having a sane, kind, and sustainable world.

The Psalmist said it clearly, that if we forget God’s sovereign power (shown in His miracles and creation) complete generations of humans will cease to know God, and will therefore, set their hope on possessions and selfish ambitions.  I cannot think of a better characterization of what is happening in our world.  In my lifetime I have watched the disappearing act in churches, and the accompanying disregarding of fearing God (in the sense of honoring He who created and sustains us):

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.  He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.  He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.  Everything was created through him and for him.  He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.  Colossians 1:15-17

Putting this all together:  

     1.    God, through Jesus, the Christ, created everything, including all humanity, and keeps it going every second of every millennium, and is therefore the owner of all of it…and us.

     2.    He has given it all as a gift, sealed by the promise of His Spirit, the result of the blood of His Son, Jesus shed on Calvary’s tree.

3.    That requires a response of respect and reverence for He who owns us, loves us, empowers us, and sets us free to live creative, constructive, kind, and loving lives.

     4.    That shows up in many ways; the first (and foremost) of which is worship!

     5.    We are increasingly doing a pitiful job of that response

     6.    The way to reverse it is for families to return to a priority of worship, Bible study, and prayer, so that the children in those families will learn how to really live.

For You Today 

What I have shared is not new, nor is it flashy.  It’s not likely to make any headlines, and it’s not a single app you can get on Google, where you can hit the button and solve all your problems.  Rather, it’s a mindset, a worldview, a plain distillation of what Scripture covers from Genesis to Revelation – humankind’s responsibility to worship God all the days we live, and do whatever’s necessary to pass-along the faith to that next generation. 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Through the Eyes of Innocence

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”  Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.  Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.  So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.  And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.”  Matthew 18:1-5

There is an enormous difference between childish and childlike.  Childishness is unthinking, except for pleasing self and having a dry diaper.  Childlike is to capture the wonder and joy of good things, and to be appalled at the monstrous evil it encounters, choosing to enter the good, and destroy the nightmare of darkness.

C.E. Montague wrote the novel "Rough Justice."  The hero, Bron, is age four when he first visits church.  That day was the first he'd ever heard of the crucifixion of Jesus.  He was so horror-struck that he thought the whole church must be in tears.  But when the service ended, instead of the hushed awe he expected, a deafening clatter of small talk broke out.  Bron was astonished to find Christian people laughing and talking as if no tragedy had taken place. 

It may be that having one’s eyes opened to the truth is necessary for children to learn the “ways of the world”.  But it saddens one to think of the disappearing spark of innocence one can easily see in the face of a child’s trusting, joyful, face. This is what God must have seen that day in the Garden, when Adam and Eve hid themselves after they first sinned.  Innocent eyes that once walked in complete trust with their Maker, were now clouded by guilt, shame and suspicion!

Perhaps it was one of the disciples’ children that Jesus called to himself, and sat the little one upon his knee.  He told the disciples the answer to their question about who was greatest in God’s Kingdom, was what they saw, an innocent trust of being held in complete safety, unafraid, expectantly waiting for the next good moment.  The little one, unaware of the gravity of the question, or the depth of Jesus’ answer, simply wondered in that moment; am I a part of that kingdom?  Jesus was telling his disciples to lose the corporate mindset of climbing the ladder of achievement, and become like that child, only concerned to being affirmed as belonging, wondering, enjoying, and seeking the embrace of a Father’s love.

I’m certain the disciples came away from that morning’s lesson examining every word their Master had said, pondering what they were still missing, and if it was ever going to get easier following Jesus.  And isn’t that the way it is with children trying to get some understanding with their parents?  Yet parents sometimes forget what it’s like to be that child; we forget how much that embrace means.  In our own sinful nature we cannot see through innocent eyes; our vision is blurred by guilt and shame.  It is impossible to return to Eden once the door has been flung-open, and that is Jesus’ whole point.  He was there to be the pathway back into the Father’s embrace, because there was no other way.  His whole mission was to transcend the impossibility of return to innocence by destroying evil’s monstrous claim on our souls.  That would be what happened at Calvary’s cross when Jesus uttered those three blood-stained words:  It is finished!

For You Today 

When a door has been opened, nothing is truly settled.  For there to be fulfillment of what was intended on the other side of that door, one must, of his own choosing, walk through the door.  God has granted us free-will, a choice to walk back into His embrace, or to remain in our success mode, climbing the ladder to nowhere but frustration and ulcers…and eventually, eternal separation from Him.

So…what do YOU choose?    

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image(s) courtesy of Pixabay.com                      

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

The Waiting Room of Caring

 

Monday, June 19, 2023

Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.  We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.  After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns?  It is you!  Yes, you are our pride and joy.  Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, and we sent Timothy to visit you.  He is our brother and God’s co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through.  But you know that we are destined for such troubles.  Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come—and they did, as you well know.  That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.  1 Thessalonians 2:17 – 3:5

To imagine Paul (in the least bit) cold towards the church at Thessalonica, is to misread the Apostle entirely; he loved them so much he could not bear the thought they might be straying from God’s loving presence.  His passion for their well-being, and their faith was hot to the touch.  He loved them as a mother or father loves a newborn child.  As such, Paul was protective and anxious over how they were doing.  He got to the point of not being able to stand not hearing from them.  We might miss some of the pathos here; there’s a big difference in culture of the mid-first century and the twenty-first century.  They didn’t have video-calling in Paul’s day.  Letters sometimes took months to travel the 311 miles from Thessalonica to Athens.  The words, Instant and Communication, were never linked back then.  Drop a letter in the courier’s pouch; sit-back and bite your nails.

When you care about people it’s gut-wrenching to watch their suffering… especially when you can’t do anything to help.  I’ve stood with my bride, and both of my daughters when they were in labor, getting ready to give birth; they were really ready!  I’ve waited on committees deliberating on my future as a pastor.  I’ve waited on news about a son in a war zone.  I have waited on-edge an eternity of a weekend, for the result of a blood test the doctor ordered, after telling me the strange rash on my neck was only found in one of two scenarios:  people of Chinese heritage, and someone with AIDS.  Waiting like that is excruciating torture!  The only companion to that kind of waiting room suffering is what goes on in the viewing room; there are no words, only sharing in pain.

The very thought that the church at Thessalonica, Paul’s pride and joy, was in trouble, was cause enough to send Timothy to check on them and bring back news quickly.  Paul was that church’s birth-father; he’d started them on the path of following Jesus, and their well-being was everything to him.

Now, in case you’re wondering where I’m going with this, I’ve just described a true pastor’s-heart for his people.  And I can share with you from the past 40-plus years of being a pastor, it’s much like a true father’s-heart for his family.

For You Today 

Father’s Day is yesterday’s news, but my prayer for you is that you took yesterday to fully-engage the connection between earthly and Heavenly fatherhood.  There’s not much of a dividing line between the two.  What God is to all of us, the source of our heritage and living, HE wants all of us to be THAT to our families.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Adversary  and  A Father's Guiding Hand in Troubled Times  and  Deadlines                                        

 

Title Image:  via Wikimedia.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Holding Tightly to the Faith

Friday, June 16, 2023

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  Hebrews 10:23

One of the reasons true Kingdom Families hold together better is that we were designed to be people of faith.  The how of holding tightly to our hope is that little phrase:  without wavering.  It is certainly easy to get sidetracked these days.  I see it every year when we attempt to enlist people to serve.  Holding fast to God’s faith has more to do than just being convinced in your mind that Jesus saves.  It has to do with serving consistently. 

 Every believer who draws near to God’s house should hold tightly to the faith with his service.  The why of this is found in what Paul said about the promises of Jesus, they’re faithful; they always come true.  Jesus promised rewards to His followers who serve Him faithfully, and it is a true promise!  The issue of holding tightly to the faith is important for making an impact on this world…at the very least, the small space we occupy in that larger world. 

I am only vaguely aware of how God fits everything together.  But looking back we see more clearly.  I was searching through some old papers and came across a note from Sarah Hollis.  Sarah was our daughter’s friend; they were both age 10 when we moved to Jacksonville, Florida.  She rode our van to church each week; her parents never came.  I had the privilege of baptizing Sarah.  One Sunday she came to me with a two-fold request.  She wanted me to pray for her uncle and his wife, and also go see them to “baptize their baby”.  When I met Sarah’s uncle and his wife it was clear they had very little church background.  What they had was worried hearts over a very sick, premature baby in an incubator. 

They wanted me to baptize their baby; the doctors said he was going to die within a day or so.  My heart went out to them.  As a Baptist pastor I couldn’t baptize this infant, but I would pray for him with everything I had.  I was fearful of the trust that couple placed in me as they asked me to talk to God for their son.  I told them the little kitten-sized child was in God’s hand.  I held their hands and we prayed.  That was in 1990.  Five years later Sarah wrote me this note:

…I still remember the day you prayed for Scott (my cousin) and gave his parents faith and helped them believe.  On the 28^th of this month he turns 5 year[s] old.  Today is his party.  Thank you for giving me the faith and hope.  Thank you, Sarah

Sarah remembered that day as a time when her pastor gave her faith.  At the time my main thought was frustration over Sarah putting me in an awkward situation about baptizing a baby.  I’d never even laid eyes on his parents.  I went, because I was her pastor.  But I went, mostly because I couldn’t deny Sarah’s pleading eyes. 

Looking back, I know, and she also probably knows, it was God who gave her faith.  In the end, God used a pastor doing his job to build faith in a little girl.  And God used a 10 year-old kid’s faith to spur a forty-something, Christian pastor into good works.  Sarah impacted my life with her faith, and my faith was strengthened because of her impact[1]. 

For You Today 

God keeps his promises…if you forget everything you hear today, but you learn to trust in that one fact…and hold tightly to it…your faith will be rock-solid in the only One who holds the keys of Heaven, hell, and eternity.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Root System  and  Living Into the Seed of Promise  and  Holding Tightly This Promise                                        

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] See Isaiah 11:6 …a little child will lead them all.  Also Hebrews 13:2 …entertained angels without realizing it.

I Wonder...Me Too!

 

Friday, May 12, 2023

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.  1 Corinthians 13:12

Everyone wonders about the big questions of life, its purpose, meaning, origin, and where we will go afterwards. Such thoughts lead to one of two conclusions, both typically immersed in more questions than a human brain can entertain in a lifetime.  Those conclusions are either faith or unbelief.  To believe in God is to trust in the unseen.  Unbelief settles for what is in front of you – what you now see, touch, smell, and imagine with sensory gifts (wherever they came from, eh?).

Wayne Dryer, in a book entitled Your Sacred Self, has a delightfully-engaging parable that argues for faith:

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”  The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”

The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”

The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”

The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”

The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery, there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”

“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”

The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”

The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her, this world would not and could not exist.”

Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”

To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”

For You Today 

If Scripture has it right (and I have faith it does), then we ought to let these little children have the lead, and hold it dear until it’s clear!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   No More!  and  Say What?   

Title Image:  by Evgeniya Semenova   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Of Mules and Murphy's Law

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. Genesis 6:5

If you’re familiar with the adage known as Murphy’s Law and the epigram about leopards not changing their spots, you also will have little trouble understanding how God felt about humans back in Noah’s day.

Murphy’s Law simply states:  Anything that can go wrong…will go wrong.  Add the leopard epigrammatic twist, and it becomes:

Anything that can go wrong…will go wrong, again, and again, and again!

I have seen it firsthand!  About 30 years ago our church in Jacksonville, Florida, did an outdoor Christmas extravaganza, complete with stations around the buildings, representing Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  The pathway from the gates of the city (North Main Street in Jacksonville as Main Street Jerusalem), with tax collectors, Roman soldiers, Pharisees, women at the well, etc…eventually brought each visitor around to the back parking lot and the manger.  We had all the cast, Mary, Joseph, a two-month-old baby Jesus, plenty of sheep, a milk cow, and one very strong-willed mule.  The mule’s owner had a six-year-old son, in charge of keeping the animal off to one side of the manger while the preacher greeted the visiting public, and shared the story of Jesus’ birth.  That was the plan!  However, plans have a rather obnoxious habit of colliding with Murphy’s Law.  And, in this case, we became the story worthy of Clark Griswold’s Christmas Vacation.

The first couple of groups that came to the manger were textbook successes.  Then the mule started getting bored or anxious, wanting to take over my presentation of the Gospel.  It was hard for the crowd to hear the preacher for the braying.  (A member with a questionable sense of humor later told me it was hard to tell the difference between my preaching and the mule’s anyway).  The next time a group came through I cautioned the young boy holding the harness lead to keep the beast quiet.  About half-way through my presentation, the mule decided he’d had enough.  He strolled right between me and the crowd, dragging a six-year-old, holding onto the harness reigns, yelling at the top of his lungs:  stop it, stop it, you fool mule.  It was loud enough to be heard in South Georgia.  The worst part was the mule looking back and staring at me, face-to-face like Balaam’s donkey[1], with that look that said:  You were never in charge anyway, preacher. 

If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, Murphy’s correlation of that would be:  If you think you’re in control, you will spend major portions of your life in therapy.

The people of Noah’s day thought they were in control…but that was before the barometer dropped, and the thunder clouds gathered. 

For You Today  

Not every plan you make will result in as much disaster as that one night in North Florida’s manger scene.  But even when it does, it may be appropriate.  There may have been some people there who just needed a good laugh, and a lighter load during a tough time.  It’s hard to figure-out why God put mules on the earth, until the moment they steal the show.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Fear Factor - Part 1  and  When It Hurts So Much

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Balaam and his Donkey Numbers 22