holy (300)

Ian

Feeling Real

Psalm 84; 1 Kings 6:1–4, 21–22; 1 Corinthians 3:10–23 Based upon the description of the First Temple, it was impressive. The structure perched on a hill made it even more so. Culturally, physically, and religiously, it was the center of the Israelite city. We are…

Continue reading...
Ian

Strange People

Exodus 20:1–17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18–25; John 2:13–24 Jesus’ “cleaning” of the Temple is often focused on how the Jews “corrupted” the House of God. There is truth in it. The scary part is that it often seems to be a, “look at them”…

Continue reading...
Ian

What Holy Ground?

Psalm 19; Exodus 19:9b–15; Acts 7:30–40 “What Holy ground,” isn’t a rhetorical question. It’s a real one. What is Holy ground? The land surrounding the “burning bush” was Holy…for a time. Notice that it wasn’t important to God or Moses what happened after that encounter.

Continue reading...
Ian

To Live As Sacrifice

Psalm 105:1–11, 37–45 Genesis 22:1–19; Hebrews 11:1–3, 13–19 Post-traumatic stress is a real thing. There are many sources of trauma. We generally think of violence as the only source of trauma, but damaged relationships are equally the source of trauma for many individuals. Just like…

Continue reading...
Ian

Is It Yours?

Genesis 16:1–6; Romans 4:1–12 Abraham (Abram) did as his wife asked of him (the Hebrew translates to “beseech” or “pray”) and went to Hagar. Unlike Sarah (Sarai), Hagar becomes pregnant. As Sarah was focused on Abraham having children (perhaps more so than Abraham, it seems),…

Continue reading...