The Unrepentant
Scripture
Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
~Luke 13:4-5, NIV
Quote
So great is the blindness of the unrepentant that they abuse to their own harm the very blessings which God bestowed upon them for their good.
~Martin Luther
In Romans one Paul delineates the depravity of the Gentile world but it chapter two, he proves that Jews are just as guilty as the Gentiles or heathens. The Jews considered themselves righteous and viewed the rest of the world with contempt. Paul ask them, “Are you not showing contempt for the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Jesus stated clearly, everyone needs to repent; actually, everyone must repent or else they will perish. The unrepentant heart despises God’s kindness, forbearance and patience. The unrepentant take God’s goodness for granted. They take God’s gifts and respond with self-centered living. Like a hog at the trough, they don’t even look up to see who is feeding them. It is impossible for such people to repent unless they are brought to an awareness of their sinfulness.
Ironically, the unrepentant see the sins of others but never their own. They do not understand that God kindness toward them is to lead them to repentance. They are fools who regard themselves as wise. In their conceit, they harden themselves more and more in their impenitent ways. They even reach a point of such pride that they think it would be improper for them to repent for they deem the very sin, that God sees in them and despises, as being good. Thus no respectable Jew would repent of anything: it would not be proper. Jesus said, “You will either repent or perish.” How quick are we to find fault with and in others? How slow are we to repent? I can never be at ease around those who never repent. The person who does not see his own sin, is bound to spot the sin in others.
I just want to say, it has been a fantastic week. I got to counting in my head the other day and if my memory is right, this week makes 50 Vacation Bible Schools for me: 48 as pastor and 2 working under Joe David at DBC. Matter of fact, the Corona Virus broke my DBC streak of 40 straight. I have had a fun week. About all I do is drive the van and show up. I haul the girls every night and Big Mama transports the boys. I think the kids have as big of a time on the van as they do at VBS. It has been a good experience and I have loved every minute. It makes me feel young again. The triplets [Katie’s] have never had much to do with me and that has bothered me but we broke the ice this week. They want me to walk them to the door each night to protect them from Carrie Beth’s old flea bitten mange dog. It makes my day. They got up Monday morning at 8:00, took a shower, washed their hair and got ready for VBS. They have had a ball; I think they have all had a good time. I even think the big ones have enjoyed it. Josh Melson wrote our material and he made joint worship come alive: the kids loved it. The weather has been a little shaky. Big Mama and I had to drive through a down poor Monday night and trust me, we don’t see as well as we once did. We slowed down to about 30 MPH but by the grace of God we made it. Thank you for trusting us with your children. They have all done great! Next year, we are going to start on Sunday night and go through Thursday night. Our team has got this thing down. Yes, we broke all our records. I think we had 46 kids age 6th grade and down {going by last years grade}. The 5-6 grade class may have been the largest class we had. We had at least a dozen youth workers, maybe more. Anyway, we praise the LORD for a great week. Tonight: A brief program begins at 6:00 followed by picnic and water slide.
June never got Cracker Barrel to answer but she did go to crackerbarrel.com and get an email through. Shoot them an email today. Spread the word on FB. This is a battle we can win if we get involved.