WHAT?

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us.  I don’t want you to misunderstand this.  You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols.  So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.  1 Corinthians 12:1-3

The church at Corinth was particularly gifted by God; it seems all the gifts of the Spirit were in full-blown operation there, and the church was becoming a seedbed of confusion as to what was acceptable behavior.  So Paul reminded them of the dividing-line between holy and hellish.  On that line stands Jesus Christ.  Those who speak/act with impunity towards even the name of Christ do not belong to the Kingdom.

We can often misread people, and whether they’re on the Christ-side of that line.  We mistake the nature of their gift, and what God has called them to be, or how God has called them to serve.  The Great Generation (my parents were in this group, born in the early 20^th century) gave birth to the Baby Boomers following the second World War.  Both of those generations were as different as can be.  Long hair on guys, holes in jeans, and Rock ‘n Roll didn’t set well with my parent’s generation; bodies covered in tattoos, and gender-neutral/same-sex everything doesn’t set well with mine.  But (as Apostle Paul might say) the gifts and Spirit are unchanging and not up for debate.  We should not miss that!

When I served as pastor at tiny Greenville, Florida, the church gave me a 50th-birthday present, a gift certificate to the local undertakers.  WHAT?  

Yup, that's what the inscribed card said.  So, I went to the funeral home, assuming  I was in for a time of pre-need planning for my early demise, and wondering what the next Deacon meeting would be about.  

When I got to the funeral home, I discovered they not only buried folks, but they also dressed them well.  This was a place of funeral directors and tailors.  A few weeks later I wore a great hand-tailored blazer to preach to those good folks who scared the life out of me!

Now the point of this is the same as that which Paul warned the good folks at Corinth, and what I would like to say about what we see in our day.  We must not let long hair (or short, spikey, multi-colored hair, or any other surprise-hair), nor tattoos, piercings, clothing, shoes (or lack of footwear), or anything else under the sun, interfere with what’s going-on underneath that skin.  I had assumed the worst about the great gift that was given to me; we must not make the same mistake in the Kingdom of God.  What is going on in our day of people opting-out of “traditions” in church, in favor of finding new ways to spread the Gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ may (or may not) be a move of God…but that is not for any of us who are lower than divine-pay-grade to judge!

For You Today 

Your generation may be (in your humble opinion) the greatest or the worst.  But that is never the issue of importance in Heaven…God will do what He will do. 

The real issue is:  What’s going on with You?  What are you doing to speak the Word of Truth to whatever generation God puts in front of you?

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

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Many Different Worlds

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever.  Has the Lord redeemed you?  Then speak out!  Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.  For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.  Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless.  Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died.  “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.  He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.  Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.  For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.  Psalm 107:1-9

I’m a Baby Boomer, a generation of those born within 18 years following the end of World War II.  Subsequent generations were Gen X (born 1965-1980), followed by Gen Y, or Millennials (born 1981-2000), and Z (1997-2012).  Those born after 2012 are called Gen A.  The “move” spiritually and religiously has been towards the church is irrelevant syndrome.  As never before (at least in my lifetime and experience) younger people are progressively moving towards the exit door of church, in favor of “community” a loosely-defined search for refreshing change from the deadness of their parent’s “wasted-time” in the four walls with three hymns, recited liturgies, creeds, and a sermon of three points and a poem.  About the only agreeable worth for this on a Sunday was coffee and donuts (if provided).

Those for whom this description fits (loosely or like a glove) asked themselves the question:  What are you doing here?  The answer was mainly unsatisfactory. 

In some ways I couldn’t agree more.  At times the preachers, or other leaders made the discipleship process of following Jesus so uninteresting you wonder how any young people’s faith survived the entry process.  Like the Psalmist said:  Hungry and thirsty they nearly died.

MANY DIFFERENT WORLDS is an aptly described gap between Boomers, Millennials and the other letters.  This is not to say there isn’t ample precedent for young people ditching the established institutions.  Along with half (or more) of my Boomer friends, I was a lapsed believer in my teens and early 20’s. 

In the 17^th century a teen boy told his father the church and its’ music was so boring he couldn’t stand it.  His Dad said:  If that’s so, go write some better stuff.  The young man did just that, and we still sing Isaac Watts’ hymns these days.

To say we have “lost” the next generation is a two-fold mistake:

1.    That generation is yet to mature, age-out, and die.  We should be careful to not prematurely judge the changing appearance of spirituality.

2.    No generation is beyond God’s hand.  Martin Luther rebelled against a vile, dark church of his day; that didn’t turn out too badly the last 500 years.

So, coach, what do we do now?  How shall we live to reclaim and revitalize the faith once delivered (and now, seemingly deserted)?  I believe the game plan is unchanged from the playbook of Jesus’ first-century team – scatter and share!

In the daily living we do, we must continually be sharing the Gospel as the first Christians did, spreading-out from Jerusalem as they lived their daily lives, telling the Good news one-on-one, with a positive message of hope, love, and joy.

For You Today

Whichever of the DIFFERENT WORLDS you live, God calls us to connect with others.  The game plan is always scatter and share!  As the coach said to his team:  That’s the game plan, now go, and play your heart out!

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 in the Rocky Road Devotions library. 

To dig deeper on today’s topic read:    Good News   and   Patiently Patiently...O Lord How Long?

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

Worn-Out...or Broken-In?

 

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.  Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me.  But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest.  I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”  Acts 26:20-23

Paul was on trial, and this defense of his actions was pled before King Agrippa.  As usual, Paul was not as concerned for his life, welfare, or reputation, nearly as much as concern that the message God had given him continue spreading.  The apostle was proclaiming to the King’s court the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that all persons are sinful and must repent.  There must be a clean sweep, turning their backs on all forms of evil, in order to be forgiven by God.  Without it there can be no peace in this world, nor escape from the tribulation of the next. 

The idea of a “clean sweep” is not a new concept.  How that is achieved is the crux of every generation’s struggle for identity.  In Ancient Jerusalem it meant national repentance, the whole nation bowing in lockstep.  In 2022 that idea runs counter-cultural to the rugged individualism of figures, such as John Wayne.  In modern times we bow only to personal choice.  The woke culture hears no voice, save its own.  All that is valued is change.  What used to be valued is now obsolete, worthless.  Virtually everything is turned on its ear.  Whatever was is now to be changed into the new…conform to this non-conformance with the past, or be left in the dust.

A proverb found in many cultures is:  a new broom sweeps clean, but an old broom knows the corners.  The wisdom of this proverb is the balance between the energy of newly-minted movements (new brooms), and the experience of the old brooms that have already travelled down the road of practice. 

While the struggle between the last generation’s ways, and the new generation’s ideas is legendary and ongoing, the wisdom of that ancient proverb is a guide that is venerable.  Energy and experience are both valued, because experience is where wisdom can put energy to its best use.  Energy (the new broom of change) will also inform the old, worn-out eyes of experience with fresh perspective, and envisioning the pain of not changing.

Change is inevitable.  But people never change intentionality until the pain of the consequences of not changing exceeds the fear of changing. 

The Biblical record, as Paul laid out to Agrippa, tells us the only change that takes you through the narrow gate to your Creator’s strong love is repentance of sin.  That is where we find the open arms of acceptance and joy.

For You Today

We don’t want to be too conflicted by which way to turn.  When you’re sitting on the railroad track and hear the train whistle blowing, it’s not the time to do a survey or study on whether to move to the left or right; if you don’t move, you’re going to get flattened.

The only thing that matters when you’re faced with changing times, energy, or demand for wisdom, is what (and whom) you’ve decided to trust.  Like Joshua told Israel when they were getting ready to cross the river into the Promised Land, Choose, THIS day, whom you will serve[1].

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

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

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[1] Read Joshua 24

ChurchSpeak

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

I drove past a church the other day, and the church’s sign had a wonderful scripture verse in the “Authorized” version (KJV):

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus… Romans 8:1a (KJV)

I smiled…because I’m an insider.  I go to church all the time.  In fact, as a pastor, I’m a professional church insider!  I know that condemnation from God is gone from my life, because the cross of Christ paid for my sins and I’ve been set free; it’s a great message!

And then it hit me like the dawn’s early light – it was:  CHURCHSPEAK.  Insiders understand churchspeak; outsiders furrow their brows and think, Huh?

It’s true; 40 years ago 75% of everyone who drove past that sign would understand because they’d heard that verse in sermons and read it at home.  Today 95% would think, Huh?  Whazzat mean?  What language are they speaking?  Don’t they know condemnation is a hate crime?  You can’t condemn anybody these days.

And they’d also say, And what’s-up with that IN-Christ Jesus business?  I’ve been IN the mood for ice cream, and IN the park…IN the kitchen…and even IN-transit; but, IN Christ Jesus?  How can I climb INside somebody who lived back whenever?  Dumb!

Churchspeak is often a disconnect between insiders and outsiders.  And there is a whole generation (or three) of outsiders.

To communicate the Gospel – the Good….GREAT news of Jesus’ love and forgiveness means learning the language of those to whom you speak.  And language is fluid; it changes from generation to generation….and even from week to week in our fast-paced world. 

Now, it’s not a crime to be a few weeks behind, but when we’re decades off the mark sharing Jesus, it’s time to do some soul searching and word-changing.  Because, while God is unchanging in His character and nature, he always meets us where we are in a changing world.  

To refuse to change our churchspeak ways is to refuse to act like Christ, who always spoke clearly.  And to refuse that is to choose to die as a church.

So, I rolled it around in my mind how the real message of that Scripture could mean something to outsiders in 2014…here’s what I came up with:

Well…they’d still probably consider me pretty lame in high school…but at least they’d understand.

For You, Today…

Watch your words today.  If you’re going to talk about Jesus to anyone – and I hope you will – make sure you act like Jesus did with the Samaritan Woman at the well.

Start simple – stay truthful – make sure your words count.