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Tag: Sin

Our World Is Broken

Published by Jeff Kennon on June 16, 2016

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Orlando. No longer in our thoughts will it be held as just the city where the most “magical place on earth” dwells. As of last week, it has now become a place where one of the most horrific acts of violence and terrorism has occurred. And this tragic event will forever be etched into our memories.

What happened in Orlando was horrendous. Words cannot describe the pain that is still being felt today by the families and friends of those killed and wounded. We should pray for them and the churches around the Orlando area seeking to be present in the midst of the pain.

The tragedy in Orlando has reminded everyone of how broken our world really is. Newscasters, politicians, and even late night talk show hosts have continued to convey the seriousness of this beastly act of terrorism. Everyone is outraged. Things are truly messed up in our world.

But as tragic as the Orlando event is, it is not the only thing that has occurred this past week that shows how broken our world is. In California, a Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, was given only a six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. Many are outraged by just a slap on the hand, but what makes it worse is the letter Brock’s dad wrote to Judge Aaron Persky before his son’s sentencing.

In the letter, Dan A. Turner, Brock’s dad, said that since his son was found guilty of sexual assault, he isn’t eating much and is full of worry and anxiety. It’s “a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life,” he argued.

“20 minutes of action!” For the dad, it was just a small mistake. Should it cost his son his future? How could a dad see such a crime as just a few minutes of “action.” Part of the answer could be related to what is known as “rape culture” It is predominately found on college campuses in which date rape becomes something that can be deemed as acceptable. The fact that we have something called “rape culture” is heart breaking. And with the rise of pornography and attitudes of self-entitlement, things look bleak. Our world is broken!

We are broken over the hate crime that occurred in Orlando and we want justice to be served. But I find it a bit funny that in other areas of our culture we are not as concerned about justice being handed out. For me, this is a true sign of our brokenness and our need of a Savior. Thanks be to God that we have one in Him!

 

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Where The Depths Of Sin Are Seen

Published by Jeff Kennon on April 15, 2015

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Sin is corruptive. It destroys us at our very core. But no where does sin show us “its full range and possibility” than in religion.

In his book Not The Way It’s Supposed To Be, Cornelius Plantiga Jr. quotes Geoffrey W. Bromiley:

The inward corruption to which Jesus refers in the scathing denunciation in Matthew 23 is not the corruption of deliberate and calculated insincerity. It is the corruption of a sincere and sincerely practiced religion, which is ultimately a supreme manifestation of religious pride…. The frightening picture opened up here is that when one recognizes obvious sin one has hardly begun to reckon seriously with this adversary. The open and blatant sinner, the oppressor or the harlot, is indeed a sinner. But it is not here that the genuine depth of sin is revealed, not even if the oppressor be ever so grasping or the harlot ever so shameless. It is in religious persons that the depths are to be seen. 

So we ask ourselves, as did the Apostle Paul, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” And to which the answer is: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25)

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The Gravity Of Our Sin

Published by Jeff Kennon on July 9, 2014

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The gravity of our sin must be weighed in light of the glorious holiness of God.

Let’s say you are wearing a free t-shirt and I walk up to you and squirt mustard all over your shirt. You would no doubt be a bit disgruntled. But let’s say you are wearing a new expensive dress shirt. What if I squirt mustard on that shirt?

Most likely, you would be more upset with me because of my ruining your expensive shirt than the free one. Why? Because the dress shirt was worth more than the free one. Though I committed the same act, they are viewed differently because of the value of the shirts.

Consider the words of George Smeaton, a 19th century theologian:

The guilt of the offense is proportional to the greatness, the moral excellence, and the glory of Him against whom the offense is committed, and how made us for loyal obedience to Himself. Nothing else, therefore, comes into consideration in estimating the enormity of sin but the infinite majesty, glory and claims of Him agains whom we sin. (quoted in The Transforming Power of The Gospel by Jerry Brides)

The reason our sin is so hideous is because it is against the purest being in all of the universe. Our sin is enormous because it is against the one who is preeminent.

The greatness of our sin therefore, should now cause us to marvel even more at the cross. Forgiveness from God should no longer be viewed as a small thing, but that which a holy God enacted as he took the enormity of our sin upon Himself.

Charles H. Gabriel said it best when he wrote…

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.

O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!

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