Will They Never Learn?

Friday, September 8, 2022

The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.  But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.  No one does good, not a single one!  Will those who do evil never learn?  Psalm 14:2-4a

The Psalmist could have inserted my picture as the headline to this Psalm.  He was being kind and discreet, but this has me written all over it.  The evidence is overwhelming, but one incident, in particular, gives the overall sense of stubbornness lodged deep in my soul. 

It happened on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon drive.  There wasn’t much money in our household budget, so a family drive was a major tool to combat hot summer boredom.  This was long before the price of gas reached a zillion dollars a gallon, back when air-conditioning in cars was for the rich.  To keep cool we had “450 air-conditioning” – you opened the car’s 4 windows and drove 50-miles-per-hour!  But, I digress.

On one of those drives down the country lanes and backroads my Dad favored, he half-turned to us boys in the back seat and told us to close our eyes.  Russell did the 10-year-old thing every parent has heard:  Why?  Dad replied:  Just close ‘em; you’ll see.  Russell:  But how can I ‘SEE’ with my eyes closed?  Dad:  Russell Jay Brownworth…just close your eyes.  Russell, (rolling eyes and sighing rather dramatically) But, what if I don’t want to?  Dad:  It’s too late now – just forget it.

Later that day my older brother, Thom informed me the moment I trashed with my attitude was Dad’s attempt to add just a little more excitement to the ride.  He was coming to the “dip” in the road, and was speeding up to get us airborne.  It’s one of those weightless instants when you’re suspended between going up, and then down.  It’s the apex of a hill’s up-and-down that makes your stomach do a loop-de-loop.  We couldn’t afford to go to the carnival rides, so Dad was trying to bring the roller coaster to us.  I wonder how often Dad whispered to himself:  Will he never learn?   

That incident always turns my mind to how my Heavenly Father may have the same thought…not just about Russell – about God’s entire family.  Sometimes our foolish ways are beyond understanding.  We steal moments of selfish pleasure, thinking to enhance our lives and self-esteem, only to find ourselves crumbling on the inside in shame and emptiness.  We kill each other with amazing regularity, playing out Cane’s hatred.  We mock God with our little sand castles of empires and imperialism, and find them washed away with the next tide.  Nothing we build lasts, and little is our self-agrandizement recognized for the childish illusion of life we claim.  In short, like a 10-year-old stuffed with pride, we won’t listen to a single bit of helpful joy.  And God says:  Will they never learn?

For You Today

Willfulness and pride aren’t hard to hold-onto, but they’re the devil to let-go-of.  And their results are harder to swallow than just one spoiled moment on the roller coaster; failing to let go of self, to find oneself wrapped in the everlasting arms of love from Father, is the most costly of all our obtuse ways.  This begs the question unendingly:  Will we never learn?

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 and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

When Mercy Outweighs Justice and In the Beginning

[1] Images:  Bing Images (Royalty Free)   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Go Git Y'r Bucket

 

Thursday, April 21, 2022

Praise the Lord!  Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven!  Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness!  Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp!  Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes!  Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals.  Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!  Praise the Lord!  Psalm 150:1-6

The Psalmist makes no small, obscure point here:  everything that breathes is expected to offer praises to God with whatever noise we’re capable.  The problem isn’t understanding that…more, it’s a matter of pride or shame in the ability to do just that.

There’s an old saying which was, more than likely, coined to describe my singing ability:  He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.  My bride, Elizabeth, who knows what she’s doing with music, says it isn’t my voice…it’s my ear.  Well, I’ve got to disagree; how many people do you know that sing the Star Spangled Banner out of their ears? 

Anyway…when I do sing, it’s one of three places:  the car, when I’m driving alone, the shower…again alone, or church (and definitely not alone) when my voice joins with all the other worshippers to offer heart’s praise to our Lord.  At such times the other voices make a fine garment to cover my part, which sounds like two cats getting ready to fight to the death!

My decades-long struggle with trying to sing on-key, on-pitch, to any degree acceptable to human hearing, started in church Christmas programs.  As soon as the first rehearsal ended, without fail the director always found a wonderful (non-singing) part for me, like handing-out programs, or reading a verse – anything that did not include music.

Once, long ago, and in a faraway galaxy, a music director in our church convinced me to solo one verse of When the Saints Go Marching-In during our July 4^th service.  To this day I’m certain he had a wicked agenda, something like give-him-enough-rope-and-he’ll-hang-himself…but the pianist was skilled, knew me, and played loudly.  In the spirit of good manners, and lacking musical snobbery, the congregation applauded.  Perhaps they were just glad I was finished.

For You Today

This confession about my lack of musical ability has a purpose.  If I came close to describing your singing voice, you know who you are.  We are definitely not alone - by any means.  But that didn’t stop God from compelling the Psalmist to emphasize it:  everything that breathes is the way he made the job description for singing His praises. 

So…go git y’r rusty old bucket of a voice, and let’s carry as much of that tune as God gives us strength.  We’ll make a joyful racket[1] to the Lord, and, to Him, it will be a sweet sound of symphony…praise the Lord!

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

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

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[1] See Psalm 98:6 Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!

Prepared - Part 5

 

Friday, January 14, 2022

In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  Ephesians 6:16

There is a lot of teaching around about what constitutes genuine faith.  And, if Paul’s analogy of a shield holds up, that’s the way it should be.  We all have faith.  You and I are exercising a form of faith right now.  You might be sitting in a chair that your faith believes will hold you up, or turning on a light switch expecting you won’t be incinerated by the electricity.  The point is not whether we will use faith, but to what or to whom we will direct that faith.  A man bought a new hunting dog.  Eager to see how he would perform; he took him out to track a bear.  No sooner had they gotten into the woods than the dog picked up the trail.  Suddenly he stopped, sniffed the ground, and headed in a new direction.  He had caught the scent of a deer that had crossed the bear's path.  A few moments later he halted again, this time smelling a rabbit that had crossed the path of the deer.  And so, on and on it went until finally the breathless hunter caught up with his dog, only to find him barking triumphantly down the hole of a field mouse.^[1]

Sometimes Christians start out with high resolve, keeping Christ first in our lives.  But soon our attention is diverted to things of lesser importance.  One pursuit leads to another until we've strayed far from our original purpose. 

At times it is a lack of faith in God’s Word.  In his book, Rebuilding Your Broken World, Pastor Gordon MacDonald shared an event from his life:

A few years ago a friend asked a strange question.  If Satan were to blow you out of the water, how do you think he would do it?  I'm not sure I know, I answered, but I know there's one way he wouldn't get me – He'd never get me in the area of my personal relationships.  That's one place where I have no doubt that I'm as strong as you can get.  A few years after that conversation, a chain of seemingly innocent choices became destructive, and it was my fault.  Choice by choice by choice, each easier to make, each becoming gradually darker.  And then my world broke – in the very area I had predicted I was safe.  Oswald Chambers comments on the tendency of men and women to lose major personal battles not at the points of their weaknesses but, strangely enough, at the points of their perceived strengths.  He wrote, The Bible characters never fell on their weak points but on their strong ones; unguarded strength is double weakness.  Funny!  During my earlier years I'd thought we were most vulnerable at our weakest points – until I realized from personal experience that where we perceive ourselves to be the strongest is where we're least likely to be prepared for a battle that isn't psychological or emotional.  It's spiritual!^[2]

For You Today

How do you appropriate the shield of faith?  Ask God, then function as if you believe He is listening.  When Alexander the great sailed to conquer Persia, his ships landed at night.  As the troops gathered on the cliffs overlooking the harbor they were amazed to look back and see the torrid blaze of the entire fleet.  They learned that Alexander himself had ordered the ships burned.  He wanted his men to know that the only direction was forward; retreat was out of the question.  Satan will tell you there’s a way out, a more conservative approach.  But not if you want a shield of faith that works!

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

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

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[1]The Bible Illustrator, (Hiawatha Ia, Parson’s Technology) Idx 3763-3765

[2]Rebuilding Your Broken World, by Gordon MacDonald

 

Prepared - Part 3

 Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.  Ephesians 6:14

This week we are investigating Paul’s comparison of a Christian in spiritual warfare to a Roman soldier prepared for physical combat.  Today’s piece of God’s well-dressed warrior is the breastplate of God’s righteousness, the Body Armor.

In His sermon on the Mount of Olives Jesus said we would be blessed if we hunger and thirst after righteousness.  He said we should seek the righteousness of the Kingdom of God first, and worry about material things later.[1] 

What is this righteous condition?  The word “righteousness” or “justice” comes from a basic verb which means to show.  In a religious sense or application it means to stand before God with your heart open and on display.  There is nothing hidden, God can inspect you.  Is that a comfortable idea?  David prayed: 

 

Search me O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me.  Psalms 139.23-24a

Each of us has (at least) a few things in our life that, if they became public, would cause us shame.  Even if not public, we struggle with the self-shaming guilt that knows we offend God.  How do I know that?  I don’t have a crystal ball; I’m not reading your mail, or hiring a private investigator to spy on you.  I simply have a human heart…and I read God’s Word that tells me all about me…and you.  God knows the flesh lives inside us all.  Most of us know from experience (and the rest of us could guess from sheer human intuition) that it is not a wonderful prospect to stand before a righteous and holy God without some super-asbestos holy shield to protect us from judgment. 

The breastplate, or body armor, covers the vital core organs, heart, lungs, and kidneys.  Having a breastplate of righteousness means your heart has been cleansed, you’ve been forgiven of sin and made to stand righteous, openly on show for God.  When it's like that, beloved, Satan’s darts are way out of range. 

A fellow Christian once accused me of being uncaring and cold towards him and his family.  He then widened it to include the whole church (and probably the whole of Western civilization!).  I told him he misunderstood me, but that I would pray for God to help me understand.  I did go to prayer, and while God affirmed to my heart that I really did care for and love this brother and his family, there were some other things in that area that needed my attention.  When I shared this with the brother, I could stand with the breastplate of righteousness.  I had stood honestly before God.  Satan could not use this rift of understanding to break that church apart.  He tries to do that, you know.  A wise believer will put on the breastplate and have a clean heart before God.

For You Today

Just as David opened his heart to God’s inspection with a confession that he needed holy, omniscient eyes to inspect every crease, crevice, and hiding spot of darkness in him, we must also be that transparent in our walk with God.

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

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

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[1] See Psalm 1,  Matthew 5:6 and Matthew 6:33

Can We Talk About This?

 

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love.  Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins.  Wash me clean from my guilt.  Purify me from my sin.  For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night.  Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.  You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.  For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.  But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.  Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.  Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice.  Don’t keep looking at my sins.  Remove the stain of my guilt.  Create in me a clean heart, O God.  Renew a loyal spirit within me.  Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.  Psalm 51:1-12

The twelve-year-old in the picture is yours truly, 60+ years ago.  It was a family vacation to New England.  The pillory in which I’m incarcerated was a 16^th century public device for shaming those caught in the act.  It was placed in the town square where every passerby would have an opportunity to view what happens to those who defied the laws.  My Dad was the one who suggested Russell should be the one in the photograph; his sense of prophetic irony is not lost…the eventual preacher on display for his sins!

So, what does this have to do with King David’s psalm?  Everything…and more!  Psalm 51 is David’s public confession.  The marginal notes in our Bible tell this story:  For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.[1] 

For the king to have sinned is expected; to publish it, memorialize it for all to see, and have it sung about, preached about in church, and remembered forever goes against human nature.  The picture of me at 12, pilloried, was a bit of family humor; Russell’s real sins would not be so funny.  To make King David’s point with clarity, there is no such thing as hidden sin.  David’s actions caused immense pain.  Hence the penitent nature of Psalm 51; sin requires reckoning.

I am not suggesting a return to the days of locking someone head and hands in a pillory on the town square.  There is nothing so ingenuine as a coerced plea for forgiveness when your hand has been caught in the cookie jar.  In such cases, there may be remorse – for getting caught – but very little contriteness of the heart, no real confession, only hopes to shorten or avoid the punishment. 

A case in point was President Clinton appearing before the Grand Jury to answer questions about his affair with Monica Lewinsky in 1998.  Responding to the question about if he’d lied about whether there IS an improper relationship going on between he and Ms. Lewinsky, Mr. Clinton replied:  Define IS.[2]  This vividly illustrates human nature, a man, a powerful, public leader, caught, and standing with no defense, trying to create as much wiggle room as possible against the threat of facing the consequences.  This was Adam telling God, it was the woman you gave to me…she gave me the fruit; deflect the truth, distort the truth, do anything but face the truth!

By contrast, consider King David, not only facing, but owning the truth.  Here is an earthly king, accountable to no other human being, publicly humiliated, guilty of adultery, conspiracy, and murder…and accepting responsibility without reserve.

To be sure, former President Clinton is not alone.  Recalling Jesus’ words about the difference between finding Heaven or hell, we understand the choice to avoid conviction of our sins:

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.  But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.  Matthew 7:13-14

For You Today

The answer…always…to the God-question, can we talk about this, starts with a repentant heart.  Contriteness isn’t natural, but forgiveness demands it.

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

[1] Title Image:  Brownworth Family photo    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

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[1] Bible Gateway

[2] See article by Timothy Noah, Slate.com, 9/30/98

Divided Mind

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.  Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.  They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.  You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully.  Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!  Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands.  As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should!  I will obey your decrees.  Please don’t give up on me!  Psalm 119:1-8[1]

“Walking” (or living our life) by God’s law is viewed by some as a constricting set of rules that won’t let you have fun or think for yourself.  But, a little deeper investigation of the word “law” helps us understand it’s just the opposite.  The Psalmist starts off the longest chapter in the Bible, which is all about God’s Word/Law, by telling us that those who walk in it are happy or blessed.  It’s is like cooperating with the principles of our natural environment.  When you’re in an airplane at 15,000 feet, it is wise to not test gravity without a parachute. 

We all have that internal device that measures how well we’re doing with life.  It is called heart or soul; some call it conscience.  If that internal measuring stick is only accountable to self, the outcome is called sociopathic, only doing what pleases oneself.  For the garden variety sociopath[2] there is only one person’s opinion that counts – his own.  The opinions of other people must agree with the sociopath, or those people become the enemy.

There is a sense in which we have all played the sociopath, placing our own sense of the proper order of things above even God’s design.  That is a dilemma as old as the creation of God’s angels.  Lucifer was/is a psychopath of the most violent order.  He was that from the beginning; it was what got him kicked out of heaven along with one-third of the angels who followed him.  The prophet Isaiah quotes Satan’s fatal, psychopathic attitude:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.    Isaiah 14:14

Echoing Isaiah, the New Testament writer James tells us about the danger of failing to keep your mind, heart, and soul focused on God’s will:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.  But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.  Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.  James 1:5-8

As the Psalmist and James wrote, having a divided mind creates instability.  And, when it comes to having a relationship with our Creator, the instability that having a divided mind creates also means we develop a deep sense of shame.  And our shame isn’t because God hates us; it’s because we know our loving God has given us everything, life, joy, other people to love, and be loved by…and we are responding half-heartedly.  We know that God knows what is best for our lives, and we trample underfoot his loving offer of joy and peace. 

The shame we feel sometimes is also a gift from God; it’s that internal gauge we were created with telling us we’ve slipped from the pathway and need to turn around.  It’s our safeguard against the unstable life…the sociopathy of narcissistic self-love.  It’s a reminder that loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and body is Job #1.

For You Today

If you feel a little uneasy in your relationship with God, and prayer is labored, sporadic, and joyless, self-examination day has arrived.

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

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

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[1] For another post on Psalm 119:1 see Finding a Straight Path

[2] “Sociopath” is currently used by the Mental Health community to describe a perhaps less violent form of “Psychopath”.  Although the terms are somewhat interchangeable the main difference is psychopaths are generally classified as biologically created, while the less-violent sociopath is conditioned.  See article at Psychology Today

The Fight Between Faith and Works

[1]

Friday, September 7, 2018

Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.  James 2:26(NLT)

If you ask enough people you can start to believe there is something of an informal war between the words of apostles Paul and James.  Paul is heavy on faith being the key ingredient in salvation; James seems to think good deeds or works are so important they, alone, demonstrate whether you actually possess God’s salvation.

When it comes to pressing your side of a theological question there is a danger of tipping the scales too far in either direction.  That’s not to say we ought to straddle fences because we’re afraid to take a stand.  Suffice to say, I’m glad Paul does complete the circle by showing that faith finds its expression in works:

For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.  Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it.  They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.  And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life.  Romans 2:13-16(NLT)

It’s true that Paul flatly states it is by faith that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8,9).  But the apostle goes on (in the following verse) to say that any faith which doesn’t blossom into good works is a useless, or only a so-called faith:

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  Ephesians 2:10(NLT)

Further, Paul points out the uselessness of claiming faith, when the life you live declares otherwise; the people at Crete were known for a life of lies, cruelty and a gluttonous attitude towards every pleasure:

Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.  Titus 1:16(NLT)

Speaking of shameful behavior, there’s been a lot of it …a LOT… uncovered in the leaders of our country; the news has been full of it lately on a scale that makes the last few years one of the most scandalous in America’s history.  That’s not to say there have not been unscrupulous and dishonest leaders at other times; but our 24-hour news cycles are filled with that kind of shame…and not much good news!  If you check with each of the ones indicted, suspected, convicted, or turned states-evidence to avoid jail time, you will hear stories of how the system got them; you won’t hear confessions that they’re Cretans, liars, gluttons and cruel to the core. 

If, when it comes to crunch-time, you won’t even admit the truth then, it’s hard to believe you were ever introduced to it!  I had the pleasure of meeting the well-known Baptist evangelist, Vance Havner in 1980.  One of his favorite expressions was: 

Faith that Fizzles at the Finish was Fickle from the First.

Bottom line:  When your actions are of kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, goodness, generosity, and care for your fellow human being, the words you use to describe your faith are the last thing anyone cares about.  To paraphrase Paul’s friend, James:

Your deeds of faith show me your faith is real.

For You Today

Live in such a way with your good works and deeds that it won’t matter who is theologically-correct about whether it is faith, or works, or both that saves you.

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

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[1] Title Image: Photo Courtesy of Pixabay.com