We come to the place of Christmas. We sing with gentleness, “O Holy Night.” Holy is not comfortable. It is not even predictable. We want a sweet song to sweep away our problems and lavish us in comfort. But what is holy does not avoid pain or difficulty. Holy makes way for the good, butContinue reading “Holy isn’t comfort”
Tag Archives: Holiness
The call to be “holy”
15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16) Some notes I jotted down on this passage a few years ago:
The way of holiness
“But holiness is in wild and furious opposition to all such banality and blandness. We are introduced to it through the stories of the burning bush in Milan, the mountain on fire at Sinai, the smoke- and angel-filled temple in Jerusalem. We find ourselves in the presence of God alive, with life far in excessContinue reading “The way of holiness”
The way of community
“I still think that the only solution is the land, and community, a community which is unjudging and which forgives ‘seventy times seven,’ as Jesus Christ said. We who think in terms of community at least have the assurance, the conviction, that we are on the right path, going in the right direction, taking theContinue reading “The way of community”
The DIFFERENCE of Christ
There is a higher call in Christ. There is a walk that is worthy of Christ.
The challenge of holiness
Am I truly prepared to meet the One who is truly holy?
Holiness… that’s a thing, right?
Holiness has never been just about the outward. The outward may look different at times… but for an inward reason.
The Lord’s Name in Vain
What does it mean to NOT “take the Lord’s name in vain?”
The sex talk
When you preach through the Bible with a systematic style of having the text in front of you, those really tough places will pop up from time to time. Eventually, you get to passage you’d rather skip over. 1 Thess. 4 is one of those places. Paul won’t avoid it. Neither should we. And myContinue reading “The sex talk”
The call really is to live differently
I am working my way through Leviticus… intentionally… Leviticus 18-20 and 1 Peter 1 offer similar exhortations: Where you are headed and how you succeed depends on the relationship you have with God. Live differently. You do NOT have to live like the people in that land. What 1 Peter reminds us in a very sober wayContinue reading “The call really is to live differently”
Apprentice 2 Jesus 