Play with fire and you WILL get burned (applies to sin AND rock climbing)

Some friends and I spent a couple days in Las Vegas about 15 years ago on a mid-winter rock climbing road trip.  We spent most of our time in Joshua Tree and then stopped in Vegas on the way back to see some other friends, climb at Red Rocks, and recover from a really stupid climbing injury (that was me).

Climb enough big rocks, and you will eventually get hurt!

While we were in Vegas we took a short tour of some casinos.  I was shocked at the openness and availability of SIN in its many forms, and I expect the situation hasn’t improved in the intervening years from then to now.

I first noticed this video on our local newspaper’s website, and thought I’d post it here.  It’s from Associated Press and it’s a brief video essay about homeless guys living in the tunnels under Las Vegas.  The message I’m hearing from the guys in this video is the damaging effects of unbridled sin (or even bridled sin, if that’s possible), their disappointment with their own life-choices, and the hopelessness of their situation and their lives.

Hopelessness, that is, without the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The problem with the world is me

A pastor I know once told me that he is a firm believer in total depravity, because he practices it every day.  Or something close to that.  His point is that if we’re honest with ourselves, we are all great sinners.  Not were great sinners — are great sinners.  And will be until we are finally glorified in the presence of God.

In his book Unspeakable, Os Guinness writes,

When the Times of London once asked several of Britain’s leading intellectuals what they thought was the problem with the world, the celebrated Catholic journalist G. K. Chesterton sent back a postcard response: “I am.”

“I am.”  Was he wrong?  Would anyone else reading this disagree with him?  Can anyone else honestly give a different answer?

This lisping, stammering tongue

I miss the hymns. 

Don’t get me wrong, there are some rock-solid worship songs being written in these modern times, and the church we’ve been attending does a great job of selecting and singing Christ-exalting songs, with the occasional hymn added to the mix.  But I still miss the hymns.

Our copy of Together for the Gospel Live arrived in yesterday’s mail, and we listened to it as we drove down to Rapid City and then drove back in a good, old-fashioned South Dakota blizzard.  It has sixteen songs ranging from the best of the old hymns to the best of the new songs.  And what you can’t miss is the Gospel message that all these songs are permeated with:  the constant reminder that, as John Newton said, “I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great saviour.”