Daily Lesson for January 29, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Isaiah 50 verse 11:

But all of you are kindlers of fire,    lighters of firebrands. Walk in the flame of your fire,    and among the brands that you have kindled! This is what you shall have from my hand:    you shall lie down in torment.

How should an arsonist be surprised when he burns the forest down?

How can those who sowed seeds of insurrection and aspersion be surprised when the wind casts the harvest all the way to the Capitol steps, and even further?

Those who play with fire are bound to get burned. So ignorance is really no excuse.

It is 2021, but it was said as plain as day two and a half millennia ago:

They who sow the wind reap the whirlwind; and the lighters of the firebrands will walk in the flames of their own doing.

It's in the Bible. May God give us not only eyes to read but also hearts to understand.

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

Daily Lesson for January 28, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalms 50

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving * and make good your vows to the Most High. 16 But to the wicked God says: * "Why do you recite my statutes, and take my covenant upon your lips; 18 When you see a thief, you make him your friend, * and you cast in your lot with adulterers. 19 You have loosed your lips for evil, * and harnessed your tongue to a lie. 20 You are always speaking evil of your brother * and slandering your own mother's son. 21 These things you have done, and I kept still, * and you thought that I am like you.

I encourage everyone to go and read Psalms 50 in full. It is about a people who profess God, tithe their money, yet have sold their souls to outright lies, calumny, and outright criminality. It, as is said elsewhere, about "a people who worship God with their tongues but whose hearts are a long ways away."

It is an indictment.

And the worst thing, the psalmist says, is that the people thought it was Godliness -- in other words, as God says:

"and you thought that I am like you."

God is God of truth and not slander. God is a God integrity and faithfulness, not corruption and abuse.

There is a due penalty for all who blaspheme God's name. Its cost is high. I pray that we as a people would find our way into the grace of repentance before we have to pay it.

The good news is there is still time to decide . . .

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

Daily Lesson for January 27, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Galatians chapter 2 verses 11 through 14:

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. 13And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel.

The truth of the Gospel is that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female."

Categories of segregation like race, sex, gender, class, have no place in Christ. Neither are there categories of exclusion for gay and straight, binary and nonbinary. These simply aren't definitive categories in Christ -- nor are they in the kingdom. As someone once said, "There will be no men's room in heaven."

Paul's problem with Peter, called Cephas, was that Peter was acting one way -- open and accepting towards Gentiles -- in one place and then closed in another. He was sharing the table with Gentiles, but then folks came from Jerusalem and he started acting another way. So Paul called him a hypocrite.

And my big question is, how many folks in America are the very same way? Accepting of gays in the workplace but not in church, just fine to use undocumented folks to build their houses but willing to build a wall to keep their sons and daughters out, completely for women breaking the glass ceiling in politics and the boardroom but still not willing to call a woman pastor?

It's 2021. Time for us to live with consistency. Time for us to live out the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

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

Daily Lesson for January 26, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Galatians chapter 1 verses 15 through 16:

15But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.16Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days.

The desert or wilderness has often played an important role in shaping the lives of the saints and mystics. It is in the wilderness -- literal or metaphorical -- where things are learned and unlearned and where deep conversion takes place. It is where deep repentance and transformation take place.

Paul was zealously opposed to the church in the beginning. He held the coats for those who stoned St. Stephen. He hated the church and the Gospel and in doing so thought he was doing the will of God.

That kind of opposition takes time to change. He had to learn and also unlearn. His prejudice had to be broken and his mind transformed. Basically, Paul had to be worked over. And it took three years for it to happen. The well-trained, scholarly, and respected zealot Paul had to go and leave all his prejudice and privilege behind and become a student again that he might be made fit for the kingdom of God. I'm sure it was humbling; and I'm sure it was also very, very, joyous and life-giving.

I have a buddy who has been in recovery a long while now who the other day was telling me about the first days of sobriety in a 28-day program. He was talking about how humbling it is to walk into a place with nothing but the clothes on your back and a second set wrapped up with some towels and toiletries stuffed in a trash bag.

That was the wilderness for him. It was rock bottom. It was also the way to salvation.

Would that more would find it . . .

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

Daily Lesson for January 25, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalms 41 verse 6:

Even if they come to see me, they speak empty words; their heart collects false rumors; they go outside and spread them.

We are thinking much now as a society about false rumors or what we call "fake news". And we are thinking a great deal about what is necessary, what is lawful, and what is ethical in the way of combatting the sources of fake news. Sadly, some have so abused their freedom of speech that they have lost the privilege of speaking in some platforms. Ultimately, a balance between freedom and truth must be found. The litmus test will probably be harm. For no freedom is absolute -- not when it results in harm.

But while we debate the ethics of the new social media technologies and the rules which will ultimately govern them, let us not forget that while it is technology which delivers fake news, the psalmist is right, it is the human heart that collects it and spreads it.

Let us remember today to guard our hearts. And, let us ask that God would change them also.

St. Paul said of some: "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved."

Truth and freedom are not enemies; they are sisters. And when we meet one we meet the other. We know the truth and the truth sets us free. Let us be free indeed.

And let our hearts be pure and our souls saved . . .

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

Daily Lesson for January 22, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 4 verses 35 through 37:

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion;

One of these days I'm going to preach a sermon titled "Jesus Slept."

Jesus did sleep. And he told stories about people sleeping. And he talked of death as a sleep also.

For even Jesus, sleep was necessary. And he was able to take sleep. In fact, in this story, he was sound asleep -- even as the storm came. That was the first miracle -- being able to get a good night's rest even while the storm clouds are gathering. Remember that.

Sleep is necessary. It's when our bodies heal. It's when our minds relax. It's when our memories are cleansed. And it's when our imaginations dream. It's also, in the Bible, when God often speaks.

So, here's praying you get a good night's sleep tonight, dream deep, and rise with the courage for the facing of tomorrow.

For remember, it's a day at a time, and a night at a time, and we can only face the storm with eyes wide open if we've rested with eyes closed tight.

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

Daily Lesson for January 21, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 4 verses

26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’

30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’

Just a few days ago, on January 11, we marked Plough Monday, the traditional beginning of the English agricultural new year after the December fallow.

It's a long-time off yet before we'll see the stalk or the head, and the earth looks now mighty hard and even dead, but beneath the surface the soil is still alive and there lies a whole world unseen. So the plough goes in to dig up the the dirt, stir the worms, and ready the earth.

It's a long ways off, but the farmer is already making ready for Spring and even harvest. And he trusts that the earth is making ready also.

So much is still hidden yet. What this new year will bring we are all still so far from seeing. But the ground is being made ready. Soon enough the seed will find its soil. And what is to be revealed will be made known.

"The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein."

The earth is the LORD's; and it is good. Trust it.

Trust the earth, and the seed, and the plow, and the present that will soon enough give birth to something beautiful in the future.

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

Vespers

The sun is beginning to set on a truly historic day in America. I keep in prayer President Biden, Vice President Harris, their families, and our country.

And I pray also for President Trump, Vice President Pence, and their families as well. As Lincoln said at his Second Inauguration, "with malice towards none; with charity for all" we know that "to bind up the nation's wounds" requires much of us in the way of magnanimity and character. This is our noblest call, as we seek to make "a just, and lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations."

What justice requires will no doubt be considered in the days ahead. But for this evening it is important to remember that the sun will rise on everyone tomorrow, and that this is a part of the providence and grace God gives to all people, everywhere.

God is our peace; and "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God."

Daily Lesson for January 20, 2021

 Today America inaugurates a new President and this morning I offer a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer to guide our thoughts for President-elect Biden, Vice-President-elect Harris, and all other civil authorities. We pray for them all; and we remember that God is our first and last Governor, the Alpha and Omega. So, we heed the words of Scripture, "Fear God. Honor the emperor."

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State (or Commonwealth), and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

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

Daily Lesson for January 19, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Ephesians chapter 4 verses 25 through 32:

25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another. 26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not make room for the devil. 28Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labour and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up,* as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

What a scripture for the days we are living in.

We are to put off falsehood and speak the truth to one another. We can be angry; but we are not to sin in our anger. We are not to seethe in it either. No evil talk is to come from our mouths, "but only what is useful for building up."

Perhaps its the words of Lincoln's Second Inaugural that best capture what is necessary for all of us now:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds . . ."

The words are conciliatory, but not weak; peaceful, but not pacifying.

The work we are in still requires strength; it requires courage and conviction. But the strength must be tender; and the courage and conviction must be kind.

We must be kind, and forgiving, even as God has been kind and forgiving unto us. For Christ came "full of grace and truth"; and we must be the same.

"And the measure we give will be the measure we get."

And perhaps even more . . .

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

Daily Lesson for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2021

 Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and my family and I join with millions in remembering the life and legacy of Dr. King. Today the Prices plan to fill hygiene kit bags for the church community center, and listen to one of Dr. King's landmark speeches together. We all still have so much to learn from his courage and wisdom. What a star God sent to orbit our earth from 1929 to 1968.

In honor of MLK Day I want to offer ten things I think are important to know about and learn from Dr. King. This list is only a start; but it's important that a good start be had when it comes to understanding Dr. King in the totality of his philosophy and witness:

1. He was the son of the black church; and his movement found its organizing framework within that beautiful Body.

2. He was prodigious in study -- graduating from high school at 15, college at 19, and completing both an MDiv and PhD by the time he was 27.

3. From beginning to end he made his commitment to nonviolence the foundation of his message. We hear that in his first Montgomery boycott speech and we hear it in the speeches of his last year of life also.

4. Words were not Dr. King's only weapon, political organization was the other. And it was the latter that broke the back of the Montgomery power-structure. As Dr. King said, "Power without love is reckless and abusive, love without power is sentimental and anemic." Dr. King's movement combined both.

5. It wasn't just Dr. King's movement! Thousands joined his ranks, creating the political power necessary to make change. These thousands included a backbone of women organizers who were, sadly, often left unsung in their sacrifice. Chief among these was Coretta Scott King.

6. Dr. King was not a perfect human being, and the federal government attempted to exploit the foibles in his humanity in order to try to discredit his work and witness. It is an old story.

7. Dr. King's speech against the War in Vietnam was a watershed moment for the anti-war movement, but cost Dr. King a great deal of support from politicians like LBJ.

8. The movement was not only a civil rights movement, but a human rights movement. In affirming human rights throughout the world, Dr. King linked the "three evils" of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism together as three heads of the same dragon.

9. In his later years Dr. King argued for universal basic income -- not as a matter of charity, but of justice.

10. Dr. died in Memphis fighting for the rights of sanitation workers -- remember that when you see the garbagemen come down your street, and remember it when you hear somebody talk down about labor organizing.

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