glorifying God

Created to Glorify God

CHRISTINE GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR Glory be to God! We say it and we mean it; we want our lives to reflect God’s glory. According to the Westminster Catechism, part of our creation design as humans is to glorify God. But what exactly does that mean? What is a Biblical definition of glory? And how do we give it to God? This word “glory” is all over the Bible, used in different eras and contexts. In the Old Testament it is the Hebrew word “kavod” meaning weight, value, honor, or respect. In the New Testament it is the Greek term “doxa,” from which we draw our word, “doxology.” The Glory of Christ John 16 and 17 are great places to settle in and investigate in order to understand “glory” in the context of Jesus and his church. In these chapters, Jesus just shared the Passover meal with his disciples and was teaching them one last time about why he had come and what was soon to happen to him. After promising the Holy Spirit would come and minister to them, he described the Spirit’s ministry in John 16:14: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The ministry of the Spirit is to make clear to the world the person and work of Jesus. Like a bright light shining through a dark December night onto a beautiful Christmas wreath, the Spirit highlights the beauty of Christ. The Holy Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus and show it to his followers. The Spirit displays Jesus’s power, moral excellence, love, grace, and beauty. He platforms the holiness of Christ. Jesus’s glory is all that he is and all he has done. It is his resume and his person.[1] It is the overflowing radiance, intensity, and energy of divine life and holiness.[2] All of these things are revealed to the people of God by the Holy Spirit...

Created to Glorify GodChristina Fox2024-05-31T15:16:28+00:00

The Body Part 2: Embodied Living

TARA GIBBS|CONTRIBUTOR Have you heard the word “embodied” being used more in the last few years? If asked to define that word a few years ago, I would have defined it “represents” or “lives out” as in, “She embodies the values of her home church.” But people are talking a lot more these days about a different definition of embodiment, one that addresses what it means to inhabit our physical bodies. As we observe our culture today, we see more and more confusion about how much our physical body defines who we are. Modern culture seems increasingly inclined to separate identity from our physical reality. It is not uncommon today for someone to decide who they are by how they “feel,” divorced from the physical reality of their bodies. As Christians, we must continue to consider, “Do our physical bodies and what we do with them matter to God?”...

The Body Part 2: Embodied LivingChristina Fox2023-03-24T17:50:18+00:00

Falling Down Laughing

LEAH FARISH | GUEST Events of the last couple of years have robbed us of several wonderful things, and one of them is laughter. Oh, we’ve had a few humorous moments—I recall trying to talk from behind a mask. I wanted to ask an acquaintance, “Are your roommates nice?” and instead said, “Are your roommates mice?” I suppose she could have said, “Yes--I wanted to get a cat and they won’t let me….” And as we all resorted to written communication, typos abounded: “I loom forward to seeing you,” and “I’m drowning in the hot tub” when my friend meant “drowsing.” I contributed this gem to one discussion: “I have a couple of other thighs to point out.” Churches tried to market themselves online, which reminds me of one cheery offer—“Don’t go crazy in isolation; let the church help!” My hope is that God will return joy and laughter to His people in the coming days. Laughter is not something mentioned much in the Bible, but let’s compare two of those mentions. In Genesis 18, we see Abraham’s wife Sarah, eavesdropping beside the tent flap where, outside, Abraham was entertaining three mysterious “men.” Through them, God spoke to Abraham and said that Sarah would bear a son. She was old, well past childbearing age. So she “laughed to herself” at the idea of pregnancy.

Falling Down LaughingKathy Wargo2023-03-24T18:00:47+00:00