I don't want the week to close without acknowledging the passing of Nancy Thurmond, the great matriarch of Broadway Baptist Church and model of courage and commitment to men and women alike across the state and elsewhere. She was the embodiment of grace and grit and never afraid to let it be known how she saw it.

Sometime ago, Nancy gave me a book titled "Texas Women Speak". When this Texas woman spoke, this Texas man listened. I and all the other pastors who proceeded me.

I was so honored when in her last days she wrote a book about her years at Broadway, titling the final chapter about Broadway under my leadership "Justice for All".

A woman with indomitable spirit and strength, she shall be missed by all, and by me deeply.

But I trust and hope that she's still gonna be casting her vote from the balcony . . .

Daily Lesson for January 15, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1 through 4:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,    my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him;    he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry or lift up his voice,    or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break,    and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;    he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be crushed    until he has established justice in the earth;    and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

We are in the season of Epiphany, a time in the Liturgical calendar when the coming of the anointed one is made known and his mission made clear.

The anointed comes with a spirit of justice for the peoples. He comes without harm.

"A bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not snuff out."

What a combination -- justice and gentleness! Strength and kindness!

These are the qualities of God's anointed. They are the character of God's very self.

These, and steadfastness. For:

"He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth."

Come, anointed one. Come with your kindness and strength, justice and mercy.

Come; and may your spirit not grow weary! For many rise up against you; but we need you strong, and gentle, and ready to walk the second mile . . .

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

Daily Lesson for January 14, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Ephesians chapter 2 verses 13 through 16 and

13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body* through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. . . . 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together spiritually* into a dwelling-place for God.

Our destiny is oneness.

The forces of division seek to pull us apart, to fray us at the seams of our democracy, or our race, or our politics, or our geography.

But our destiny is togetherness. It is oneness.

E pluribus unum. Out of many we have been made one. In Christ we have been made one. In Christ we will be one.

Don't give up on the vision, friends. It still stands. I beckons. It compels. Love, and unity, and a common destiny compel us.

Dr. King said, "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny."

When will we learn, that the two children in Rebekah's womb need each other in order to survive?

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

Daily Lesson for January 13, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 119 verses 17 through 24:

17 Deal bountifully with your servant, * that I may live and keep your word. 18 Open my eyes, that I may see * the wonders of your law. 19 I am a stranger here on earth; * do not hide your commandments from me. 20 My soul is consumed at all times * with longing for your judgments. 21 You have rebuked the insolent; * cursed are they who stray from your commandments! 22 Turn from me shame and rebuke, * for I have kept your decrees. 23 Even though rulers sit and plot against me, * I will meditate on your statutes. 24 For your decrees are my delight, * and they are my counselors.

This morning I am praying for Congress and the Executive branch as the path forward for our nation is considered.

Though the nightmare of these recent weeks is not yet over, I do give thanks for people of conscience from both political parties. Over the past several weeks and months, many people in state and national political positions have acted honorably defending the rule of law. They have stood firm and fulfilled the duties of their office with courage and integrity.

Others have not. As investigations continue to take place and more information comes in, the acts of treachery amongst many who had formerly been sworn to protect and defend the Constitution will become known.

We must therefore pray for wisdom and for justice and, in President Lincoln's words, "firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right."

May the decrees of the law be our counselors; and may justice and peace prevail.

Lord, have mercy.

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

Daily Lesson for January 12, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Ephesians chapter 1 verses 15 through 22:

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love* towards all the saints, and for this reason 16I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20God* put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

It is natural that we feel dispirited now and even powerless. The problems of our nation are large and complex and seem very far from answer. The forces at work seem so cosmic and beyond our ability to control. We can easily be dismayed now.

But this morning the faithful are reminded of the power we have in Christ -- a power "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion". We are reminded of the power we have in Christ in us.

In 1945 after the end of World War II, Martin Niemoller -- who had been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for 7 years -- led the Christian churches of Germany in what is known as the Stuttgart Confession of Guilt. It was a confession of the Church's complicity in the Nazi era and its admission that it had not done enough to resist the rise of Nazism. Crimes against peoples and nations were admitted; and so too was it admitted that the Church had not "prayed more fervently" and "believed more joyously".

These are difficult days now; so we must continue to pray fervently and believe joyously and see and use the power God has given us for just such a time as this.

For our God is greater than all else. And the power of God in Christ is in us. So let us pray, and believe, and never give up hope.

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

Daily Lesson for January 11, 2020

 Today's Daily Lesson is Psalms 1:

1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, * nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful! 2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord, * and they meditate on his law day and night. 3 They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; * everything they do shall prosper. 4 It is not so with the wicked; * they are like chaff which the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes, * nor the sinner in the council of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, * but the way of the wicked is doomed.

I'm looking out my window this morning at the old oak tree in my front yard. My house is almost 100 years old. Who knows how old the oak tree is, how many seasons it has had.

The seasons come and go. The wicked rise up in a sudden spring but then fade like grass in the summer. The oak remains.

The oak remains; and it stands tall and strong.

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

Daily Lesson for January 8, 2021

 Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalms 118:

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; * his mercy endures for ever. 4 Let those who fear the Lord now proclaim, * "His mercy endures for ever." 5 I called to the Lord in my distress; * the Lord answered by setting me free. 10 All the ungodly encompass me; * in the name of the Lord I will repel them. 11 They hem me in, they hem me in on every side; * in the name of the Lord I will repel them. 12 They swarm about me like bees; they blaze like a fire of thorns; * in the name of the Lord I will repel them. 13 I was pressed so hard that I almost fell, * but the Lord came to my help. 14 The Lord is my strength and my song, * and he has become my salvation.

The seat of American democracy was attacked this week, and it was a sad and scary thing. A life was lost, blood was shed, fear and dread gripped us all. Who knows how far it could have gone, had not Congress escaped?

Yet Congress did escape. And for that we give thanks.

A democracy is a fragile thing. Democracies can rise and fall. And American democracy is no exception.

Wednesday was a warning, and should be a wakeup call for us all. The institutions which protect and preserve this Union have been imperiled. They were attacked -- and are still under attack by enemies both domestic and foreign.

But thus far they have been preserved. And it is not inappropriate that we give thanks for that. Indeed, it is appropriate that we give thanks that on Wednesday democracy prevailed.

We still have many a trial to get through. And a transfer of power will not bring the end of all our travails. The future will not be easy.

Nevertheless, for today we can thank God the statue of Freedom is still standing on the Capitol dome. We can thank God and pray also these hallowed words:

"God bless America, land that I love

Stand beside her and guide her

Through the night with the light from above."

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