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Fix Your Eyes

In Blog, Holy Spirit, Theology on
October 30, 2022

The Holy Ghost

Today is Halloween—the day where it’s all of a sudden acceptable to encourage your kids to stay out after dark and take candy from strangers. I grew up in a conservative, southern Baptist home, so I never really celebrated Halloween. I attended a handful of fall festivals in my childhood years, but I never went trick or treating, or walked through haunted houses, or decorated with spiderwebs and tombstones.

However, I once saw a Halloween decoration that I think my parents could get on board with. It was an outdoor sign made of different pieces of wood that were all painted in a variety of fall colors, and it read, “The only ghost that lives in this house is the Holy Ghost.”

The Holy Ghost, aka the Holy Spirit, can sometimes be a mystery to many believers. Who exactly is the Holy Spirit, and what exactly does He do in the world and in our daily, personal lives? Well, gang, it’s time to hop in the Mystery Machine and grab your Scooby Snacks because we’re about to discover that this Ghost is not as mysterious or daunting as He may seem.

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In Blog, Salvation, Theology on
September 11, 2022

The Transformation of Sanctification

I am a Christian, and I still struggle with sin.

Daily.

Like the Apostle Paul, I do sinful things that I don’t want to do, and I don’t do the things I know I ought to do (Romans 7:18-20). Such is the life of a Christian. Through the work of Christ, we’ve been made righteous in the eyes of the Father and we’ve been filled with the Holy Spirit, who gives us the desire and ability to obey God’s Word and do what is right. But all of us, even the godliest of saints, are still sinners. We still mess up and make mistakes. We hurt and offend people, and we disobey what’s written in the Scriptures. We say and do the wrong things, even if we have the best of intentions.

Thankfully, God doesn’t leave us this way. He doesn’t just save us and say sayonara, leaving us to fend for ourselves and figure out how to behave on our own until Jesus returns. No, God actively works in and through us every single day to make us more and more like Him through a process called sanctification.

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In Blog, Book Reviews, Systematic Theology on
December 27, 2021

Fix Your Eyes

If you’ve been around here for a while, you’ve probably noticed that theology is very important to me. I spent five years at a Christian college studying theology. I read about theology in my free time. I write about theology for the blog. I post about theology on social media. I follow theologians on Twitter and Instagram. When I moved a couple years ago and was looking for a new church, the church’s theology was one of the most important things for me to consider, and I love it when pastors teach about deep theological concepts on Sunday mornings.

I enjoy theology, and it’s something that comes natural to me. However, something that is not quite so natural for me is worship. I’m a fairly analytical, non-emotional person. I don’t typically listen to a lot of Christian worship songs, but whenever I do, I don’t often raise my hands or tear up as I listen to impactful lyrics. While I enjoy a more contemporary worship service, my number one goal was not to find a church with all the lights and fog machines and an environment that evokes emotion. None of these things are necessarily bad. I’m just more of a “thinking” person rather than a “feeling” person.

Yet, focusing solely on theology and neglecting worship can lead to pride and hypocrisy and needing to always be right. On the other hand, focusing solely on worship and neglecting theology can lead to ignorance and shallow faith and being deceived by false teachings. Theology and worship are equally important, and this is what Amy Gannett emphasizes in her new book, Fix Your Eyes.

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