Heart Disease

This morning, I arose early around 4:00 but wanted to get back to sleep. In moments like these, I will often download a sermon and then listen to it; sometimes I remain up, other times I drift back to sleep. Either outcome is a good one. As it was, I struck a compromise and listened to a sermon, then fell asleep again until 7:00.

I went searching in iTunes for Alistair Begg, the Scottish pastor whose church is somewhere around Cleveland. Begg is seriously one of the best preachers out there, a LeBron as it were in the theological world, but firmly committed and established in Cleveland, not looking to take his talents to South Beach. Cheer up Cleveland, you still have one of the best in something much more important than basketball. It is very fascinating to me that the self-esteem of cities is based on large part in how their professional sports teams do. Pretty sad commentary on what our society esteems.

Rather than Begg's sermons appearing, the sermons for 2nd Presbyterian Church in Memphis came up for some unknown reason. Begg was nowhere to be found from what I could tell. Maybe there is an old sermon of his way back in the audio files somewhere. Instead, I came across from a talk by Paige Brown, a woman speaking at a Women's Conference. Sometimes I like to get the female perspective on things, so I downloaded the presentation. The sermon was titled "The Desperate Heart." It was very instructive and insightful. I recommend you give it a listen.

I have been pondering recently heart issues in terms of spirituality. I know I often see spiritual issues as intellectual in nature, where the task at hand is to figure something out. Yet, the more I have thought about it, I am coming to more of an understanding that all of the great issues of our day are heart issues (i.e. what we cherish, adore, and worship). The heart is like the horse that pulls the carriage of the mind. The mind will follow where the heart leads, often explaining or rationalizing the direction. So, when people pontificate that knowledge is the solution to what ails us, it is an incomplete answer. The real question to address is the inclination and destination of our hearts...to love, to hate, or to just be apathetic?