Hi Folks:

Hope your week has gone well. Last week I hit a wall of some sort, must be time soon for vacation. On Tuesday my body said, "That's enough." I had to ask my deacons to cover for me at prayer meeting because I lacked the energy. I backed off a little for the rest of the week, but even still I felt like I was dragging myself around. We'll go on vacation for two weeks at the end of July. Before that we have a teen mission team coming for a few days. The countdown is on.

The boys finish school this week. Actually, they attend today, and then go back Friday for a half day. Its hard to believe Ian will graduate from elementary school. In only six years he'll finish high school. Oh my.

Take care and have a good week.

Troy

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My first theology professor was Dr. Ralph Richardson. At the time, I didn’t realize the depth of all he taught us. Its only after some reflection that I realize how important some of those first lessons were.

For instance, he told us that there were two important things to remember about theology. First, all theology is grounded in God’s character. What we believe as Christians reflects God’s nature and being. That was the first lesson.

The second lesson he taught us was that good theology is practical. It has implications to be worked out in real life. It is to be believed and lived. Theology is not supposed to be an intellectual exercise only. And yet, we have this perception of theology as something beyond the ordinary individual, complicated and deeply philosophical. Not so, he said.

Of course, there was so much more he taught us, but I remember these two lessons in particular as I read Psalm 15. David puts "feet" to his theology. When David writes in verse 1, "Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?"* he is really asking, "What does holiness look like?"

We can write volumes on the holiness of God and what it means, but it would all be irrelevant unless we put it into practice. David helps us understand what it means to reflect God’s holy character at home, in the neighbourhood, in business, and at work.

This is my paraphrase of Psalm 15. See how practical God’s holiness is.

Holiness ... does no wrong, only what is right (15:2)

Holiness ... speaks the truth and slanders no one (15:2-3)

Holiness ... does no wrong to my neighbour and casts no slur on anyone (15:3)

Holiness ... despises evil and honours those who fear the Lord (15:4)

Holiness ... means I keep my word even when it hurts (15:4)

Holiness ... never takes advantage of someone who is down (15:5)

Holiness ... does not pervert justice (15:5)

If God were living next door, this is what we would see him doing. If we had lived when Jesus walked the earth, we would have seen him doing the same things.

We face many temptations to compromise holiness. Listen to the statements below.

"Its only wrong if someone gets hurt."

"Its only wrong if you get caught."

"Its only a little lie."

"Look out for #1."

"Everybody does it."

"Do as I say, not as I do."

"Don’t get mad, get even."

"Do onto others before they do onto you."

"I didn’t say that."

"Deny and blame."

"As long as it looks good, don’t worry about the rest."

"Protect your image."

Here’s where theology is practical. We don’t follow a code or a philosophy of life. We follow Jesus. If we think holiness is about the Ten Commandments, then we’ll begin to look for loopholes and rationalizations. We’ll justify our hypocrisy with lines like the ones above.

But if holiness is about imitating our leader, then we’ll want to become more like Jesus in our attitudes and actions. We’ll live it out more and more consistently, everyday.

Hope this helps. Be On Fire,

Troy

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ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. This letter published June 26, 2006.