Perfecting the ART of Chaos

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!  The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:  “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.  You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery.  There is violence everywhere—one murder after another.  That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away.  Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.  “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame!  My complaint, you priests, is with you.  So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.  And I will destroy Israel, your mother.  My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.  Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests.  Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.  The more priests there are, the more they sin against me.  They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols.  

Hosea 4:1-7

There can be little denying the words of Hosea, written nearly 2,800 years ago, which describe our generation in agonizingly accurate detail.  There is a lack of truth and integrity, a prevalence of violence, one murder after another.  Climate change is decimating entire species of animals, and, as the prophet lamented over the people, everyone is wasting away.  And then, Hosea, never a prophet of easy times or soft strokes, lays the blame right at the feet of those who won’t tell the truth…false preachers in the business of business as usual.  The uncompromising truth-teller bellows:  Don’t try to pass the blame!

There are Biblical texts that are hard to take, and this is one of them.  I wince each time Hosea opens his mouth, because the ones he says God is going to hold accountable are the false preachers.  I have a commitment to truth – Biblical truth, and personally sticking to telling the truth.  However committed I am to truth, I’m not always right, and sometimes convicted by not being brave enough to speak-up.  It would be untruthful to not accept that mantle of falling short of God’s Glory[1]

Hosea’s most explosive bombardment is the accusation of empty preaching, where priests (clergy) have refused to know God, and therefore have nothing about God to tell the people who are disintegrating without any connection to God.  When you have access to food, and refuse to share it with people who are starving, you’re guilty…there’s no one else to blame.

End of story.

For You Today

If you’re a person who identifies as a Jesus-follower, disciple, or simply a believer in God, you are also a preacher.  We are like beggars who have found bread, and bear a responsibility to tell other beggars where the stash is located.  In the absence of truth-telling, chaos is bound to reign.

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

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts on Rocky Road Devotions. 

To dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text:  Stumbling in Broad Daylight 

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1]  See Romans 3:23 and Isaiah 45:21

Wait FOR and ON Each Other

 

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.  For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.  That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died.  But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way.  Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.  So, my dear brothers and sisters, when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other.                          1 Corinthians 11:27-33

As a pastor, I’ve served communion to many people. 

One of the things I’ve hated about the last two years of COVID-19, is missing that holy moment of looking into the eyes of the people who come to the table.  It was always an honor and high privilege to break the bread and place it into the hands of those who loved Christ, and humbly held out a hand to receive.

I belong to a group of fellow-pastors that meets monthly for fellowship and accountability.  We share ministry ideas, discuss current events in church life, and try hard to offer each other “support space”.  We don’t solve problems or leap tall buildings in a single bound.  Of course, we DO eat!  Invariably we share the loaf and cup as the finale to our meeting.  

We serve each other, face to face, uttering those treasured words, the body of Christ, given for you; the cup of Christ shed for your healing.  And it is certainly a healing moment for spiritual strength.  I have never left such a time without a sense of renewed spiritual energy and joy. 

For that reason (among many others) I am certain the enemy, that old slew-footed serpent, Lucifer, has relished COVID-19 social distancing.  It has not only crippled the intimate nature of fellowship around the table, but in some cases derailed many local churches from meeting together for worship.

On a more positive note, I believe the church has found something exists that needed to surface…determination, perseverance – that intangible spiritual toughness that takes-on the challenges God’s enemy throws in our pathway.  It is that nearly undefinable quality of spiritual fortitude, a reserve called-forth in response to the Spirit’s bidding which says, we’re going to serve Him, no matter what!

The church of the roaring, troubled 20’s reminds me of Job, sitting in the ashes of grieving, covered with boils, ridiculed by most everyone who knew him, being questioned as to why God was punishing him, and why he would even consider continuing to breathe.  Job’s answer was a resounding stone-faced glare of steel:

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:                              Job 13:15

For You Today

There are two reminders for each of us in Paul’s letter to the Corinthian believers, as well as Job’s faithful response to his critics:

     1.    We need to wait FOR each other…don’t forget that the body moves together, or it comes apart.

     2.  We need to wait ON each other…the strength I need is something you exhibit and share with me…and, that which keeps you going does not entirely come from within you...thou and I share the same pulse when we consider:  one loaf, one body.  Life is in the blood, brother!

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

[1] Title & other images:  Russell Brownworth (own work)   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©    

Upside Down

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Tuesday, January 14, 2020

A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria…. But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.  Philip, for example, went to the city of Samaria and told the people there about the Messiah.  Crowds listened intently to Philip because they were eager to hear his message and see the miraculous signs he did.  Many evil spirits were cast out, screaming as they left their victims.  And many who had been paralyzed or lame were healed.  So there was great joy in that city.  A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great.  Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.”  They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.  But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ.  As a result, many men and women were baptized.  Then Simon himself believed and was baptized.  He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.  Acts 8:1b, 4-13

It’s worth a look to notice that the clergy were left behind in Jerusalem when the great persecution happened.  Some would perceive the laity were afraid and ran.  Others (perhaps more discerning) might see the way God does things, turning just about whatever is in sight on its’ ear…upside down.  Or, in this case, God turned things right-side-up!  God doesn’t make mistakes!

Philip was not a preacher, but God used him to get parts 2 and 3 of the Great Commission[2] started.  Jesus gave His disciples these marching orders just as He was about to ascend back to the Father in Heaven.  They would be his witnesses, first in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and part 4 would be an extension of His Gospel to the ends of the earth.[3]

But why (we always ask why) – why use the followers?  Isn’t that a job for the leaders?  I suppose the simplest answer is yes – but only if you’re not planning to turn the world upside down.  And, therein is the rub; God always turns things upside-down.   

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.  1 Corinthians 1:27

You expect to hear the religious stuff from the professionals, but that’s not what God wanted spread throughout the world with the souls of untold millions at stake.  What he wanted was the pure, unadulterated truth about Jesus, backed up by the lives of those who willingly chose to put everything at risk to follow Christ.  The clergy (Apostles, if you will) set the stage in sharing from the religious base of Jerusalem; it was the laity who took the message and ran with it.

For You Today

If you think its tough living today as a Christian in a world seemingly gone mad with unbelief and violence, you’re right; it is hard.  But God is up to something in our day.  Something is happening, and just maybe it will not be the religious professionals who change things, who turn this upside-down world right-side-up! 

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

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

[2] Matthew 28:19-20

[3] Acts 1:8

The Making of a Good Servant

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Friday, October 18, 2019

Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval.  Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.  Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior.  This kind of talk spreads like cancer, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus.  They have left the path of truth, claiming that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; in this way, they have turned some people away from the faith.  But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription:  “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”  In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay.  The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use.  If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use.  Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.  Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts.  Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.            2 Timothy 2:15-21

Although I have many “favorite” passages of Scripture, all of God’s Word interests, instructs, and corrects me[2].  But if there is one verse that could be my life verse, or the theme of what my passion is about, it would be what Paul wrote about being God’s approved workman, correctly explaining the Word of Truth.  Paul said to the Philippian[3] believers:  I don’t claim to have achieved perfection in every doctrine or complete knowledge, but I am pressing-on in that direction.  If there is one thing I am passionate about it is sharing God’s Word accurately, with an aim to help anyone know God better.

This passage is Paul’s instructions for his young protégé, Timothy, on issues related to his ordination vows.  Paul had laid hands on Timothy and charged him with being pastor to a flock of God’s people.  Timothy may have felt a little awkward, because he was probably younger than 90% of the church members.  It’s hard to be authoritative and “fatherly” to a group who were adults when you were still having your diapers changed.

Nevertheless, Paul instructed the young servant of God about what would make him a fit and holy vessel (or tool) in God’s workshop.  Chief among the required activities for any pastor is meditating on the Word.  Without careful, prayerful consideration of what God says, it matters little what the preacher says or does.  Any private that rushes into battle without heeding the commands of the general is like a heat seeking missile launched without coordinates for the target…you may stay busy, but you’ll cause a lot of damage in the doing!

Along with taking-in God’s Word, there is plenty of admonition from Paul the Elder to Timothy the Rookie to taking-out the things of the world, including idle discussions that only bear the fruit of contention, and any other kind of impure behavior.  If there is to be holy ministry in the name of our Lord, there must be holy living.

And now here is the sticky point about all this – we’re ALL servants of the Most High; we’re all ordained (set aside) to be servants of the Kingdom.  These instructions to Timothy apply to every believer, whether preacher, teacher, steelworker, homemaker, student, dentist, lawyer or retired senior.  Able-bodied or bed-ridden, male or female, new Christian, or walking with Christ for 70 years, if we have breath we must serve!

For You Today

On his way to the cross on Friday, Thursday night Jesus was girded with a towel in the upper room washing dirty feet.  That is the model of the One we long to have others see in us.  So, are you still breathing?  Serve!

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

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[1] Title Image:  By Błażej Benisz via WikimediaCommons     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] 2 Timothy 3:16

[3] Philippians 3:15

Lenten Walk - Part 22

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Friday, March 16, 2018

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.  This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.  Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God.  He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins.  And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses.  That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.  And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor.  He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was.  

Hebrews 4:14 – 5:4^(NLT)

In yesterday’s devotion we considered the importance of confession in our Lenten journey.  Scripture declares over and over that confession is indeed good for the soul.  To ignore that truth and practice is to trample the grace by which we are saved.  Confession should be quick, genuine and without reservation; without confession we cannot begin to have a relationship with God, much less continue.

Today’s passage leads us to the priest who receives our confession…and, for me, the rub of ministry leadership.  Of course Jesus is THE High Priest; no ordinary human can fill this role.  Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for sin was sufficient; it was one time – for all time and all persons.  We need no other high priest; Christ IS our salvation.  That being noted, we see also that God does call humans to serve in a priestly fashion, leading others in their dealings with God.  And God reserves the selection of these to Himself.

The “rub” – or place where the rubber encounters the road, when it comes to being called as a minister (priest, if you will), is whether it is God doing the calling, or if it is some other voice.  This is the struggle-story I’ve heard countless times.  A person senses a pull towards ministry and then spends, perhaps, years running from it…fearing answering a call that may not have been a call from God at all.  Perhaps it was just a weird stomach cramp after too much pepperoni on the previous night’s pizza.  Or the supposed call was really just a pull towards getting a little needed attention to boost a poor self-esteem level.  (That one is really pathetically-funny actually…because, if God didn’t call you into ministry, you will have nothing to sustain you when the actual day-to-day of ministering to people blows your self-esteem out of the water, and you are left sitting in a corner somewhere staring at your naval.) 

In the end, those who choose ministry as a career, rather than respond to God who does the choosing, will find a hollow emptiness instead of the leading of that still, small voice.  It’s the difference between the called one who empties himself…and is filled by God with His Spirit and the fire to preach the Word…as opposed to the one full of himself, who just enjoys having preeminence in leadership.[2]

That principle is also just as valid in the pew as it is in the pulpit.  If we assume we are Christian by virtue of anything less than God’s grace and call to forgiveness by repenting of our sins, we are as foolish as a child playing with toy soldiers in the backyard thinking he is conducting a war.  The difference is huge, considering one day the child will probably grow up and understand the difference between play war and the obscenity of real war.  Not so in pretending to be a Christian by being good, being obedient, or thinking your way into being better; a pretend Christian just isn’t.

For You Today

Emptying before God all of who you really are, trusting in Christ alone, will result in being filled to overflowing with Who He is!  That is a terribly flawed English sentence, but an eternal, life-giving, life-changing truth you cannot live without.

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

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] See 3 John – the apostle’s warning against being like Diotrephes.

Lenten Walk - Part 18

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Monday, March 12, 2018

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.  After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus.  “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us.  Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus.  “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”  Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows wherever it wants.  Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”  “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.  Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?  I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.  But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?  No one has ever gone to heaven and returned.  But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.  

John 3:1-13^(NLT)

For a smart man, Nicodemus had trouble comprehending spiritual issues.  That is quite problematic for someone charged with guiding a nation’s spiritual and moral conscience.  Nicodemus was a Pharisee, one of the rulers, meaning he probably sat on the Sanhedrin, Israel’s ruling council.  As such, this important man who came to Jesus under cover of night (perhaps afraid his colleagues would find out he was consulting with a simple carpenter) should have recognized what the carpenter was saying.

The simple question here is:  What was Nicodemus’ disconnect?  To be a Pharisee at all Nicodemus would have had to be highly educated, particularly in the Scriptures.  The Pharisees had the strictest moral code, held the Scriptures in highest priority as God’s Word to be obeyed, and, this night he opened the conversation with Jesus as an honest, willing-to-learn, open-minded scholar…or was he?

The ruler seemed to have a right attitude, except for the fact that he didn’t.  He framed his question in the form of teaching Jesus, rather than presenting himself as one who needed to be taught.  He said: we all know you’re from God.  He said:  you’ve come to teach us.  He said (essentially):  the evidence – the miracles you do – support our theis; so, Jesus, I’m here; teach me if you will…I’m waiting.

Now, I’m willing to admit I’ve made the cardinal sin of reading that last bit into the text.  Considering Nicodemus came to Jesus at all indicates he probably wasn’t defiant, daring Jesus to teach him – a learned Pharisee.  But attitude notwithstanding, Nicodemus still got it wrong; Jesus had not come primarily to be a teacher…rather he came to be a preacher.  He didn’t come to have a conversation; he came to announce the Kingdom’s arrival and that salvation was at hand.  Notice Jesus’ first sermon in the synagogue of his home town:

When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures.  The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him.  He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”  He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down.  All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently.  Then he began to speak to them.  “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”  Luke 4:16-21^(NLT)

It’s no wonder a man, deeply trained in Scripture, Theology, Reason, and the Experience of being immersed in the religious life of God’s people didn’t get it at all when Jesus said that he had to be born again.  Nicodemus was expecting a thesis from the teacher, along with appropriately detailed discussion; Jesus laid out an ultimatum. 

For You Today

Our Lenten Walk is a season of preparation to be dead-honest with Jesus in all we do and say.  Don’t repeat the Nicodemus blunder of trying to control the conversation; let God determine everything about your agenda today.

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

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Stumbling in Broad Daylight

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!  The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:  “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.  You make vows and break them; you kill and steal and commit adultery.  There is violence everywhere—one murder after another. 
That is why your land is in mourning, and everyone is wasting away.  Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.   “Don’t point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame!  My complaint, you priests, is with you.
So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.  And I will destroy Israel, your mother.  My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me.   Hosea 4:1-6a (NLT)

It’s hard to think about something that hits close to home; it’s harder to write about it.  And it’s the pits to preach about it! 

And this is one of those texts.

Hosea announces God’s case against Israel for worshiping falsely – being a spiritual harlot; they don’t live faithfully or kindly.  Among the charges are lying, stealing, adultery, and a general unfaithfulness to being God’s people.

That’s bad enough; but then Hosea blames it on the preachers who should be pointing the way to God – showing every human being who God is and how to serve him. 

Instead, the preachers are heaping the guilt of sin on people so the offerings keep coming in.  The people don’t know God, and the priests (preachers) are keeping them in darkness because it’s good for business.

Reads like today’s headlines, doesn’t it?

Hosea completes God’s indictment against his people by characterizing the whole nation as “drunk”.  They stumble in broad daylight, and the false prophets will sink with them into the dark-hole-morass of character-disintegration, and it’s all first-degree sin – no one else to blame for the punishment!  And God himself would pull the trigger.

Wow!  Just, WOW!

So…what do you do when you stand before a judge and the charges are piled-up like a stack of LEGOS, teetering back and forth; everything is at stake and the building of your life’s history is about to crumble like the Twin Towers? 

And Almighty God is the judge?

Well, if you’re smart you throw yourself open to a guilty plea, appeal to the mercy of the court and await the judge’s call.  But history teaches us God’s people weren’t like that too often. More than not they stoned the messengers – God’s prophets – and then suffered the judgment; not so smart!

These Days

We have the same track record unfolding in 21^st century America.  And we’re prone to responding just as dimly as Israel did so often in her history. 

I believe we have a short-sighted perspective on the dangerous path our country is following.  America has only been a nation for 238 years.  Israel’s history has been unfolding for more than 3,000 years.  We should learn the lesson of Scriptural holiness.

I also believe that nothing short of a sweeping flood of revival in American culture will keep us from suffering the same kind of stumbling in broad daylight Hosea predicted.

It was not pretty in Israel, and it will not be pretty in America.

For You, Today…

Pray for America, our leaders and its government to turn to righteousness.

Pray for the spiritual leaders of our churches; like the priests in Hosea’s day, today there’s a generation at stake who are blind, stumbling in the darkness of broad daylight.  And too many preachers are simply humming lullabies in pulpits, when we should be sounding the alarm.  

God forgive us.

We need God’s revival in the land…and it begins in our hearts…each of us.