Holy, Holy, Holy (Holy Spirit who?), part 3
“Holiness is not a luxury for the few. It is not just for some people. It is meant for you and for me … It is a simple duty, because if we learn to love, we learn to be holy.” Mother Teresa Before I wrote anymore about holiness, I knew I needed to clarify the weightiness of the Holy Spirit. If not for Him, we have no chance at healing,...
Holy, Holy, Holy (how do we live holy?), part 2
“Holiness of life is simply the response of a loving heart to the grace and love that God has shown us in Christ.” T.L. Lowery from Apostles and Prophets: Reclaiming the Biblical Gifts In this section, I’m quoting from others more than usual because their insights helped so much when I questioned how to live holy and how to get there....
Holy, Holy, Holy (what holiness is and what it isn’t), part 1
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 NIV Worn hands on a Bible seemed the perfect image to begin our section about getting to the other side of trying hard and about holiness. Just like we began the healing and happiness sections, we’ll look at what...
An Overview Of HAPPINESS from On The Other Side of Trying Hard: Healing, Happiness, and Holiness
I typically put a similar statement like this one at the end of most of my blog posts. However, today I’ve included it at the beginning because this post is an overview of Section 2 about Happiness. This is the second of three sections to be included in my manuscript titled On The Other Side of Trying Hard: Healing, Happiness, and...
She Laughed (for goodness’ sake), part 4
A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day. Proverbs 15:13 The Message The good and bad news about cheerful and sad hearts is they’re infectious. Sometimes we catch our happiness or sadness from what’s going on around us. Sometimes from people we hang out with. Sometimes we recycle our own...
She Laughed (holy humor), part 3
“Wherever there’s laughter, there’s heaven.” Madeleine L'Engle from A Ring of Endless Light: The Austin Family Chronicles L’Engle likely wouldn’t have convinced me about laughter’s holiness except I heard my grandchildren. When their giggles come all the way up from their bellies, it’s heavenly to hear and healing and...
She Laughed (wholesome humor), part 2
“We are, in the comics, the last frontier of good, wholesome family humor and entertainment.” Bil Keane Bil Keane was most known for his newspaper comic The Family Circus. Included in his circle of friends were other wholesomely funny people like author and humorist Erma Bombeck and creator of the Peanuts comic strip Charles M. Schulz. A...