A Poem for My 45th

In celebration of my 45th birthday, here is a poem which I had some fun writing. It is titled “Wild Hair”:

Where did it come from — 

this wild and unexpected will

to suddenly stand up all by 

YOURSELF

and no longer 

simply be content

to lie down and be prostrate 

just like all the rest?

I guess that’s what 

a little gray will do.

And maybe there are others too

who will go their own way also

now that they’ve seen your courage. 

Daily Lesson for September 17, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 5 verses 11 through 13:

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 13 ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

Jesus spoke to his followers assuming they would find trouble for following him. He took it as a given that they would be reviled and maligned for what they and He stood for. He said they would receive the prophet's reward -- trouble, good trouble.

William Sloane Coffin said we speak of the "priesthood of all believers", but need to rediscover the "prophethood of all believers". Priests get invited over for dinner; prophets get cut out of their parents' will.

Phil Strickland, the head of the Baptist General Convention of Texas' Christian Life Commission when it had a prophetic spine, once said we Christians too often leave salt in the saltshaker.

The world needs a little of our prophetic salt right now -- and pepper too.

Let's don't be too timid about using them.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for September 16, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Corinthians chapter 3:

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. . . 9For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

I have been watching some videos on the building of the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi's great basilica in Barcelona. Construction for the church began in 1882 and is still ongoing today. Generations of builders -- many from the same families -- have come and gone, giving their brains, brawn, blood, sweat, and tears to the building of the church without seeing its completion. They have built, block by block and generation by generation, knowing that they would never see the completed project. This generation may be the one to finally see the temple's spire rise to its ultimate height.

We build. Some are genius visionaries. Some are laborers. Most names are altogether forgotten. Even some of the greatest names are forgotten just in a generation. Yet the building rises, and still stands. Even after all these generations, the Church still stands.

And Christ is the chief cornerstone.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for September 15, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Kings chapter 22 verses 13 through 18:

13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, ‘Look, the words of the prophets with one accord are favourable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favourably.’ 14But Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.’

15 When he had come to the king, the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?’ He answered him, ‘Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.’ 16But the king said to him, ‘How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?’ 17Then Micaiah said, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said, “These have no master; let each one go home in peace.” ’ 18The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything favourable about me, but only disaster?’

Four hundred false prophets gave the green light to the Kings of Judah and Israel in the runup to battle with Aram. But the light was actually red. Talk about group think.

Only Micaiah, a disciple of that troubler of Israel Elijah, spoke the truth. Though others tried to sway his report, he was determined to prophesy what the LORD told him to prophesy. And for it he received a prophet's reward -- he was beaten and imprisoned.

But Ahab the King of Israel must have feared what Micaiah said was true. When he went off to war with Aram he disguised himself as a common soldier. But the disguise did not work and Ahab was killed. I am sure that as he died Ahab wished he had listened to Micaiah.

It's hard to dissent against the crowd -- especially in a runup to war. And it maybe even harder to listen to dissent. But 20 years after the runup to our own nation's longest war, I think we can see the truth in the minority report.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for September 14, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Numbers chapter 21 verses 4 through 9:

4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. 5The people spoke against God and against Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.’ 6Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. 7The people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people. 8And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.’ 9So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Behold a great mystery.

The serpent is a dreaded thing. Anytime I read this story, I think of that scene in Indiana Jones' Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Indiana is throne into the pit of vipers hidden in the desert floor. "I hate snakes," he says. We all do.

But in the snake is not only terror but also salvation. And in staring at the snake, that most dreaded of all creation, the people find their healing. Do not ask me how this works! It is mystery.

It is also metaphor and symbol. That which scares the hell out of us, we have to face. Thus the ancient Caduceus -- two snakes wrapped around a pole -- is the symbol for the medical profession. That which terrifies us -- our illness -- must be faced in order that it be healed.

Today is Holy Cross Day. The Cross was a terrifying symbol of oppression, social control, and murder. It was the lynching tree of its time. It was the symbol of death for all living under the shadow of Rome.

Yet the Cross became in Christ a symbol of life and hope and God's victory over death and fear. This is the hope of our Gospel.

Many things may make us afraid right now. They may make us hide in holes like snakes in the ground. But our deepest fears must be faced. And in facing them we are saved.

I hate snakes. But it is down with the snakes where the secret to our salvation is found. It is in facing our fears that we find our courage.

And the mystery is beheld: all who dare to look and see are healed.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for September 13, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1 Kings chapter 21 verses 5 through10:

5 [Ahab's] wife Jezebel came to him and said, ‘Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?’ 6He said to her, ‘Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, “Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it”; but he answered, “I will not give you my vineyard.” ’ 7His wife Jezebel said to him, ‘Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.’

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9She wrote in the letters, ‘Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 10seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, “You have cursed God and the king.”

It's an old trick. Whenever someone wishes to assassinate someone else's character they can do so by calling into question their fidelity to God and country. Say they are enemies of both religion and the State.

These were the same charges brought against Jesus, if you'll recall. He was accused of blaspheme and sedition. And just like poor old Naboth in today's Lesson, Jesus too was sat between two scoundrels on the cross.

Watch out the next time you hear someone call into question someone else's religion and patriotism. Scoundrels will surely join in. Make sure you're not one of them.

Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist in Fort Worth, Texas.

Daily Lesson for September 10, 2021

 In observance of 9/11, I’m using my Friday Letter to Broadway as this morning’s Daily Lesson:

Dear Beloved Broadway,

As I am sure we are all aware, tomorrow marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. We who remember that day can all recall exactly where we were when we heard that the towers had been struck. We also remember how our hearts were so heavy and fearful.

Twenty years on, the fear has dissipated but the heaviness of heart remains. The almost 3,000 lives lost in the September 11 attacks plus the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq bring both sadness and sorrow.  It is important that we take time to recognize and lament these losses. 

In that vein, Broadway’s Fleming Chapel will be open tomorrow (Saturday) from 9 to 11am for anyone wishing to come and pray in silence in this sacred space. Building entrance will be available at the W. Broadway Ave Chapel doors, and masks will be required. 

Another positive response can be made by volunteering to assist with the needs of Afghan refugees coming to our community. Broadway is planning to serve as a friendship church for two Afghan families, helping to meet their initial needs upon their arrival in the Fort Worth area. Additionally, Broadway will be assembling various welcome kits for these and other Afghan refugee families. More information on these programs can be gained by reading next week’s Broadway Window or by emailing Broadway’s Community Ministries Director Peter Nelson at pnelson@broadwaybc.org. 

On September 14, 2001 a service of prayer took place at the Washington National Cathedral. Billy Graham preached the service. His opening remarks included these words:

“We come together today to affirm our conviction that God cares for us, whatever our ethnic, religious or political background may be. The Bible says that He is ‘the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.’”

On this 20th anniversary of 9/11, I pray that the God of all comfort will bring comfort to all everywhere. So may it be today and tomorrow, always and forever.  Amen. 

See you Sunday,

Ryon