A Holy Pursuit

A couple days ago the long-awaited, highly-anticipated birth of the British prince came to a culmination when he was introduced to the world outside of the hospital where he was born. Then, the world waited in anticipation for his name to be announced. He is already celebrated and appears to be well-loved. I, also, celebrated the birth of this little guy. At first, simply for the historical significance his birth provides; but more so for the simple fact that he is a baby, not only allowed to live, but joyously celebrated. His parents are joined by many other celebrators. As I observe on every news channel more updates on the "royal baby", I am, however, saddened. Maybe I am jaded by my career in a pregnancy help center where so many babies are unwanted. Maybe I am overly sensitive because of the large quantity of calls I get every day from young women devastated by the news that they are pregnant. Maybe I am cynical because I get phone calls from desperate young men wonderi...

I have recently been reminded and challenged of the importance of keeping our bodies healthy and pure, as a response to the message in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, which says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."  Someone put this into perspective for me again in the past few days, but for the life of me, I can’t remember who it was. Maybe it was Pastor Luke in his sermon? Regardless, they said the Lord no longer dwells in the temple as He did in the Old Testament. Rather, now our bodies act as His temple, where He lives and dwells. In the Old Testament (and much of the New Testament, I suppose) the temple was kept with utter respect and dignity. It was revered as a place of worship. Since the temple is now represented through our bodies (Paul says in Colossians 1:27 that Christ in us is our hope of glory), I think ...