Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Las Vegas

Earlier today my mom read this and sent it to me. I liked it and thought I would put it up here for everyone else. It's pretty thought provoking.


Splinters in the soul
Remember the "What Happens Here Stays Here" Las Vegas campaign? You're going to be seeing a lot more of it in the near future, according to today's Wall Street Journal. The city has tried in recent years to lure you with promises of affordability in a recession, but no more. Now we're going to be told that we can "enjoy some forbidden fun, or indulge in extreme behavior like conspicuous consumption," according to the Journal.

A few years ago, our family stayed a night in Las Vegas en route to a vacation in California. We'd never seen the city, and wondered what we'd missed. Turns out, Vegas isn't much interested in catering to a Baptist preacher. I don't know anything about "shooting craps" except that it doesn't sound like something they teach at the seminary. I was equally lost watching the other ways people lose money. For a neophyte like me, it was less fun than a monthly deacons' meeting (something I never thought I'd say).

But I am interested in their old/new slogan. The city can promise that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I'm doubtful. Unless they have invented a way to purge memory banks when we cross the city limits, I'm pretty sure they suffer from the law of unintended consequences like the rest of us.

In Numbers 32, the people of Israel are preparing to cross the Jordan River and take their Promised Land, but some of them want to pitch tents and build cities where they are. Their warriors are willing to help the rest of the army conquer the land, but they intend to settle in their current circumstances. Moses gives them permission, so long as their men fight as promised. But if they don't, "you will be sinning against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out" (v. 23). What he said to them, he said to us.

I have learned the hard way that there is no such thing as secret sin. In four churches I served over 25 years as a pastor, I watched as friends struggled to make peace with their past. Private thoughts and personal transgressions are like splinters in the soul. We can ignore them for a while, but the longer they remain, the more they fester. One of my students at Southwestern Seminary nearly died from a blood infection resulting from an unattended wood splinter in his thumb. I've seen the same thing happen to marriages, families, and ministries. What happens where you are today, won't stay there.

The good news is that our Father in heaven is ready to forgive all we confess and forget all he forgives (Jeremiah 31:34). Where has guilt found you today? Name that sin, repent of it, and ask God to forgive it. When guilt pushes on that splinter again, claim the fact that it is gone and God is gracious. Do this every time guilt returns, until it gives up and you are free. Why not start now?


This is taken directly from Dr. James Denison's GodIssues.org.

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