Daniel Seabaugh

I’m excited to announce that my new book, A Heart of Holiness, is coming out this spring. I spent the last year writing it, and I’m eager to share it with you.

Here are two excerpts from the introduction that’ll give you a glimpse of what the book is about:

God says, “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). That’s a lofty command in an age when the autonomous self is pursued relentlessly, almost religiously. We love being rugged individualists, masters of our fate, and captains of our souls. We admire people who plow their own course and make an impression on the world. But God’s call to holiness challenges everything about our Western individualism. It’s not good advice or something we do if we feel like it. God, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who gives life to every living creature, calls Christians to live differently than the world around them.

This book is about holiness. But don’t think holiness means submitting to a set of rules. Dos and don’ts won’t make us holy. They’ll change us, to be sure, but the change will resemble something other than holiness. We’ll either be puffed up—believing we’re better than everyone else—or, when we fail to live up to our impossible standards, we’ll develop a low view of ourselves, believing we’re failures and beyond God’s reach. Neither approach reflects God’s heart for people. Thankfully, another option exists. We’ll explore it throughout these pages.

Holiness means being set apart—separated from sin and evil. It involves living in countercultural ways, obeying the voice of God in Scripture, and following a different set of standards than the world around us. More than anything else, holiness produces joy in us, promotes peace through us, and culminates in a God-glorifying, Spirit-empowered life. We must pursue it because, without holiness, no one will see God (Hebrews 12:14).

This book isn’t only about holiness, though. It’s also about the Bible. The two work in tandem. We grow in holiness as we obey the Holy Bible.

God exercises his authority through the pages of Scripture. We can’t celebrate the parts we like and throw away those we don’t. We must obey every word.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

—2 Timothy 3:16-17

Kevin DeYoung says, “You can’t make sense of the Bible without understanding that God is holy and that this holy God is intent on making a holy people to live with him forever in a holy heaven.” Holiness is all over the Bible.

The Bible should be lived, not just known. Putting its words into practice is far better than knowing a lot of its words. Perhaps you’ve met people who talk a lot about the Bible but live as if it’s untrue or irrelevant. I don’t want to live that way. I want to wholeheartedly follow Jesus, the crucified Christ, not an Americanized version of him. Since you’re reading this book, I’m guessing you do as well. I hope these pages serve you well.

At its core, A Heart of Holiness is about doing what the Bible says. I hope to inspire you to live the story of Scripture and experience its power. I want to help you cultivate wisdom through a time-tested method: reading God’s Word and doing something about it.

This book was written for those new to the Christian faith, or perhaps for those exploring it. If that’s you, I pray you’re guided along the narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14). However, even if you’ve walked with Christ for years, something here will speak to you. We all need reminders. I want to remind us of Christ’s beauty and the joy of walking with him.

Holiness will happen in our lives as the Spirit empowers us to walk it out day-to-day. Only God’s Spirit can transform a life. What’s more exciting than having the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead living in us? If we align our lives with his, forsaking all other allegiances, we’ll experience transformation.

Each chapter of this book begins with a Bible verse. I’ll tell you how the verse has impacted me and try to encourage you to apply it in your own life through God’s power and grace. If you approach these verses as a list of dos and don’ts, this book will do more harm than good. If, however, you embrace them and fully surrender to God’s Spirit, your life will be transformed.

God’s Word is powerful. It has miraculous ways of shaking things up in us, rearranging areas we thought were dead, and illuminating those we thought were hidden in darkness. Over time, as we read and apply it, we’ll become people who look a lot like Jesus. If we continue living in Scripture-obedience, we’ll one day hear those precious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23)! I hope that’s your desire. The goal of this book is to guide you toward holiness. It’s an exciting journey because God goes with us, and God, in all his glory, is our destination.

I’m hoping A Heart of Holiness will be out in early spring. I’m not on social media, so the promotion of it will happen primarily through word of mouth.

Would you be willing to help me promote it? I’ll send you a free copy if you commit to reading it, sharing it with your friends, and writing a review on Amazon and various places online.

Reach out to me if you’re interested.

Thanks a ton!