R & P -- NO REASON TO SING THE BLUES
Ezekiel 33:10-16 Psalm 51:6-17 R & P -- Repentance and Penance As a Protestant, when I hear the word "penance," I get this image of Bart Simpson writing on a blackboard 500 times, "I will not do anything bad ever again." For all the time Bart has spent at that blackboard over the years, it hasn't changed his behavior one bit. He still keeps on doing the same things that drive his teacher, Mrs. Krabappel, and Principal Skinner nuts. Of course, Bart is a cartoon character, but we in the real world sometimes try to "get right" with God by doing good works or some other self-imposed action and then turn around and keep doing the same things, over and over again. In fact, that's the very issue God is talking to the people of Israel about In Ezkiel 33:10-16. They thought that if they went through the motions of offering sacrifices for their sin, that was enough for God. It wasn't: "A nd even if I have pronounced a death sente...