#holiness

Whatever Is False, Whatever Is Immoral, Whatever Is Prejudiced…

We live at a time of great public immorality, a time in which the only thing that is shameful is shame itself. Immorality is synonymous with entertainment and the basest sexual perversions are flaunted on-screen for all to see. Television shows compete among themselves to explore and transgress any boundary. The very things that marked a respectable man a few years ago mark a bigoted or repressed one today. Society is so saturated with immorality it is impossible to prevent …

Whatever Is Not Christ

It is said of Michelangelo that when he was carving his best-known masterpiece he began with a block of marble and simply removed whatever was not David. This is the task of any sculptor—to begin with raw material and to work with it until nothing is left but the subject itself. Under the hand of a skilled artist, each rough blow of mallet on pitching tool, each gentle tap of hammer on chisel, each precise stroke of rasp and riffler, …

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Which Christian Best Portrays Christ?

An elderly man, bedridden through a long and terminal illness, wished to see the Rocky Mountains before he died. Unable to travel, yet being a man of some means, he hired a number of skilled artists and dispatched them to the West. To each he gave orders to bring him a painting that would display the beauty of the Rockies. One painter made his way to Banff National Park, to the rise above Morant’s Curve, where he captured a scene …

Good Things Happen When My Wife Watches Cooking Shows

Every now and again Aileen gets into cooking shows. Every time she does, it works out well for me. And for her. And for the kids. It could be Top Chef or Master Chef. It could be The Final Table or The Great British Bake Off. It doesn’t really matter. She starts watching and before long she gets cooking. Sometimes she watches these shows because Netflix shoves them in her face. Sometimes she watches them because she has grown weary …

But God Makes No Mistakes

Nothing in this world is haphazard. There is nothing random or unplanned about the circumstances you are in right now, even if those circumstances seem very hard. Rather, God is leading you by the way he deems most appropriate, the way he has determined is most fitting for your spiritual growth. Just as one tree grows best in a sheltered valley and one by the edge of a gentle stream, another grows best on a bleak mountaintop where it is …

Imagine All Those Eyes…

There are lots of odd beings in the Bible, aren’t there? There are the Nephilim of Genesis 6 who some believe were the offspring of fallen angels that bred with human women (though others believe they are nothing more than depraved human beings). There are angels and archangels, giants and demons, and even a talking donkey. But of all the mysterious creatures, none have more captured my imagination than the cherubim. The cherubim make their first appearance in the first …

Always Count the Cost

Just a couple of blocks from my home is the concrete shell of an unfinished mosque. Several years ago they broke ground and quickly after poured the concrete for the foundation and the four great minarets. And then the project went dormant. For almost three years it has sat ugly and unfinished, a grey concrete husk on the edge of the city. A GoFundMe page shows they have completed phase one of the project, but have collected less than one …

Is There Anything Wrong with Sports and Hobbies?

As a Christian, how should you think well about sports and hobbies? Can Christians watch sports or enjoy hobbies? Should they? Those are the questions behind this brief Q&A. Transcript Do you have any hobbies or sports? I’m not into sports so much. I like watching sports occasionally, but not very often. Baseball’s my sport because I can have it running in the background and don’t really have to pay too much attention to it. Hobbies, a little bit. Not …

Young Christian: Set an Example

It has never been easy to be a Christian. It has never been easy to be a young Christian. How are young Christians to live differently in their speech and conduct? How can they strive to live godly lives? Here’s my attempt to answer those questions.   Transcript The young adult years can be spent chasing after many different things, what does the Bible say to young people about this? Yes, you know the Bible doesn’t let you get away …

The 10 Duties of Every Christian

The Christian life is one of obedience. It is what one author has brilliantly described as “a long obedience in the same direction.” Those who have turned to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith prove the authenticity of their conversion by their obedience. No sooner have they made their profession than they begin to willingly and joyfully search out God’s will and to live in conformity to it. Like David, they learn to plead, “Lead me in the path of …