RP Sermons

It is nice seeing that some RP pastors got together to put collections of sermons on the web. I just want to point out two sites containing a plethora of Biblical wisdom. The first is powered by Sermon Audio I really want to point out that author and teacher, Edward Donelly is also on there. (a gold mine my friends, a gold mine). The other one is from the Indiana churches, it is mainly for iPods and other mp3 devices.

I would also like to give a little plug in for my friend Steven Steele (a good irish man) he has been doing work like this for quite some time on his blog.

blessed listening

the walk of the Christian life

Henry Martyn, the brilliant missionary and translator of the last century looked at his conversion four years afterward and said,

"The work is real. I can no more doubt it than I can my own existence. The whole current of my desires is altered, I am walking quite another way, though I am incessantly stumbling in that way."

Sin and the Crown of Life

In my Systematic Theology class we just finished our study on man. The big theological term for this is anthropology. As we were in this discussion we looked at what sin is. Dr. Schaefer described it as “missing the mark with God.” Which I think is a good overall definition that is based on Scripture (see Romans 3). But it lacks a little something. It lacks what sin does. I have often thought on my own personal sins. The conclusion of that reflection has led me to see my sins as the person taking nailing Christ to the Cross.

I remember when The Passion of the Christ came out 3 years ago and seeing one of the interviews that Mel Gibson did with a reporter who asked him “who is nailing Jesus to the Cross in that scene?” And Mel properly responded “I am.” Since hearing that I have pictured myself as the one who swings that hammer because every time one sins they spit at God and despise the great love He has shown this world. Sin is the personal act of rejecting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. It is saying “I do not want you to be God, I want to be god!” When I think of myself and my sins as what killed Christ that leads me to mourn because I recognize my own personal spiritual poverty.

CS. Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia, shares a delightful insight into the nature of sin and redemption in the persons of the Pevensee Children. In his development of Edmund we see one who knows the truth and suppresses it. When he goes into Narnia for the second time he despises the coat he wore as it was a ‘ladies coat.’ But Lewis draws our attention to what it signified – it made them look royal. Edmund despised the potential crown that awaited him (though he did not know it awaited him) instead he longed for the crown that the wicked white witch promised him upon his return.

We are creatures created by God to glorify Him. For those who believe in Christ’s name a crown awaits you in heaven. When we sin we say to God “no thanks, I will take my own.”

What Crown will you take?