Thinking about Holiness

sermon, Theology & The Bible

In preparation for this week’s sermon on Leviticus 19, I have had to think quite a bit about God’s Holiness. Here are a few quotes I have run across.

Holiness is more than a mere attribute of God—it is the sum of all His attributes, the outshining of all that God is. -Jonathan Edwards

There is nothing which my heart desires more than to see you, the members of this church, distinguished for holiness. It is the Christian’s crown and glory. An unholy church! It is of no use to the world and of no esteem among men. Oh, it is an abomination, hell’s laughter, heaven’s abhorrence. And the larger the church, the more influential, the worse nuisance does it become when it becomes unholy. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church. -C. H. Spurgeon

Holiness is the quintessential quality of Yahweh. In the entire universe, he alone is intrinsically holy. The nominal sentence, Yahweh is holy, points in this direction. That God is holy means that he is exalted, awesome in power, glorious in appearance, pure in character. God’s holiness is contagious. Wherever his presence is, that place becomes holy. -John E. Hartley

Holiness is God’s beauty and glory. When God would be drawn—as much as He can be—He is drawn in this attribute of holiness. Power is in His hand; omniscience in His eyes; mercy in His bowels; but holiness is His beauty! -Stephen Charnock

Two Articles in Preparation for the Super Bowl

Culture, Life, Theology & The Bible

From C.J. Mahaney, “Thoughts on Super Bowl XLIV“

Given my love for sports I have an obligation to publish a public service announcement to prepare you for the impending Super Bowl…
O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D
The Super Bowl is the most overrated sporting event in the history of all sports, dating back to the very first Olympics. The NFL thinks so highly of itself, the Super Bowl is assigned Roman numerals.
Yet despite the hype, year after year this game rarely delivers. With few exceptions, most of these games are neither exciting nor memorable (unless your team is participating). With Peyton Manning and Drew Brees in the Super Bowl, there is at least a chance that Super Bowl 44 will be entertaining, but I doubt it. –read the rest of the article here

From Kevin Deyoung, “A Simpler View of Sports“

Like most Christian men I know, I have a love/hate relationship with sports. I’ve played sports–in high school, in college, and on the side–and I’ve been a fan of sports my whole life. I love it when my teams wins. I feel pangs of sorrow when they lose. I love the conversational fodder sports has provided thousands of times for me and my brother and my dad. I love the way sports gives me something to talk about with the majority of men in my church, many boys, and a not few women and girls.
And yet, I recognize sports talk is only the shallow end of the pool. More than that, I am fearful of the place sports can occupy in my heart. As a pastor, I want the folks in my congregation to give their lives for something more meaningful than youth soccer leagues and the triumphs of fandom. I am not blind to the idolatries of sport and the failings of sport stars. But, still, I am a huge sports fan.
So it was with interest that I read the Christianity Today cover article on “Sports Fanatics.” In this lengthy essay, Shirl James Hoffman, an emeritus professor of kinesiology at UNC-Greensboro, sets out to prove “how Christians have succumbed to the sports culture–and what might be done about it.” I was hoping for an article that took a fair look at the world of sports–the good, the bad, and the ugly. What I got was something like this, but not quite: an argument that, on the one hand, affirms sports as “derivatives of the God-given play impulse,” and, on the other hand, argues that Christians should get rid of football and take up swimming. –read the rest of the artcle here

Christopher Hitchens and the true nature of Christianity

Theology & The Bible

Christopher Hitchens (a popular atheist or as he prefers “anti-theist”) was recently interviewed by Marilyn Sewell (a Unitarian minister). In that interview there was an interesting exchange about the true nature of Christianity. And oddly enough, Hitchens got it right!

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?
Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian. (read the entire interview)

Why is Preaching So Important?

sermon, Theology & The Bible

from Mark Driscoll’s Blog:

There is an ongoing debate as to the purpose of the sermon and whether it should focus on converting the lost or maturing the saved. The apparent conflict between preaching for seekers and preaching for believers is resolved simply by noting that both need to repent of sin and trust in Jesus to live a new life empowered by the Spirit. Therefore, a sermon can and should effectively communicate to both audiences, and it will if the preacher is able to go after the root of sin and explain Christian jargon in order to speak the “tongue” of the hearer. This includes saying the name of Jesus and making him known.