[Featured Art by Jen Horton on Fine Art America, “The Last Supper”. ] It’s easy to think of people like Jesus and John the Baptist and know they are holy people. Jesus was conceived holy. Born holy. Lived holy. The Son of God remained sinless and faithful to the work God gave Him as HeContinueContinue reading “Set Apart: Holy People”
Category Archives: Holy
Set Apart: Holy Places
The Bible paints a clear picture for us – wherever God is present, the place itself becomes holy. What was once common becomes set apart as holy upon God’s arrival: Plain dirt becomes holy ground when God’s glory, His earthly presence, manifests in a tree as fire that burns but does not destroy (Exodus 3). ContinueContinue reading “Set Apart: Holy Places”
Set Apart: As Holy
Welcome to the Season of Lent! These are the set apart days leading up to Easter. ‘Set apart’ in the sense that these weeks are different from any other on our church calendar because they serve as a time to focus on the passion of Christ – His sufferings on our behalf. His death forContinueContinue reading “Set Apart: As Holy”
Holy is… God’s Shared Nature
Mirrors help us see ourselves. The treated glass reflects back to us our image, albeit in reverse, so that we can assess each outfit with a meticulous eye, make sure our hair hasn’t flown off our heads, and check for spinach stuck in our teeth. But, until recently, I had never thought mirrors might helpContinueContinue reading “Holy is… God’s Shared Nature”
Holy is… Sacred
As we continue shifting our gazes, almost imperceptibly, to see the different facets of the word ‘holy’ – admiring it like a crown jewel, noticing how it shines a little differently from each perspective – we land, today, on a different way to think of ‘holy’. We’ve arrived at the use of ‘holy’ that EnglishContinueContinue reading “Holy is… Sacred”
Holy is… Sanctified
Having spent a week with our Jewish tour guide in the Holy Land, our group was growing quite fond of him. We marveled not only at his vast understanding of Jewish history but his knowledge of New Testament Scripture. We wondered amongst ourselves why he wasn’t a Jesus follower with all he knew. So weContinueContinue reading “Holy is… Sanctified”
Holy is… Set Apart
Never have I been so happy to look at my yearlong outline and see that I had already designated an entire series on this idea of holiness as being set apart – because the research for all of this is so rich. There’s way too much to pack into one post. It’s an incredible thingContinueContinue reading “Holy is… Set Apart”
Holy is… Pure
Few things in life can be deemed pure. Maybe we think of purebred animals whose bloodlines have never mingled with any other breed. Or, perhaps, we think of a research lab or an operating room where much effort is placed in keeping everything sterile and uncontaminated. And, of course, we hope for drinking water thatContinueContinue reading “Holy is… Pure”
Holy is… God
The more I’ve researched the word ‘holy’ in the Bible, the more it has weighed on my soul. The more I’ve dug into what wise, learned believers have to say about ‘holy’, the less I feel I have to say – because there is not one of us, no not one, who truly grasps whatContinueContinue reading “Holy is… God”
Human and Holy
Transitions hold complexities that we often fail to have words for. All at the same time we might hold anxiety and excitement, grief and gratitude, or dread and delight – together. This is a mighty truth that has taken me a better part of fifty years to grasp. And I believe that as I movedContinueContinue reading “Human and Holy”