Well, how did the election go for you? Did your candidate(s) win? Even if things didn’t go well in terms of the outcome, isn’t it great to live in a country where we have the right to vote? You did vote, didn’t you? Of course you did. I don’t know if you went to aContinue reading “Election Reflection”
Category Archives: 1 Peter
Last Meals and Living Hope
Asleep at the Wheel is the name of a group that plays western swing music. Several years ago they recorded a song called Last Meal. It is a fictitious account of a man on death row about to be executed. However, before his execution can take place, the warden tells him he gets a lastContinue reading “Last Meals and Living Hope”
Defying The Darkness
In his inspirational book, A Touch of Wonder, Arthur Gordon tells of a grave stone put up somewhere in England after one of the horrific bombings of WWII. Inscribed on it were these words: There is not enough darkness in the world to put out the light of one small candle. The stone marked the grave of aContinue reading “Defying The Darkness”
Trust God and Put Your Name On It
If you think about the time you spent in school, nearly everyone would agree that they didn’t look forward to test day. Even if you were good at tests, it wasn’t a day you circled on your calendar and anticipated with eagerness and enthusiasm. Even though the nicest of teachers would try to calm ourContinue reading “Trust God and Put Your Name On It”
Too Wonderful for Words
When Peter wrote to the Jewish disciples dispersed in the five Roman provinces of Asia Minor (present day Turkey), he told them that even though they hadn’t seen Jesus (as he had), they loved and believed in Him. As a result, they were filled with an “inexpressible and glorious joy” (1:8). It’s that word “inexpressible”Continue reading “Too Wonderful for Words”
Thinking about Reverence
There’s something about Jesus’ cleansing of the temple that is startling. It seems out of character with Him, but it’s not. It’s simply out of character with the Jesus we have created—the One who accepts everybody and everything and makes no demands on anyone. Let me suggest if Jesus was really like that no oneContinue reading “Thinking about Reverence”
The Way of Jesus
Charlie Brown is walking in his neighborhood at night and he come across Linus who is holding a candle. He asks him about it and Linus says he has heard it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Charlie Brown agrees but says there are some people who see things differently.Continue reading “The Way of Jesus”
The End of All Things?
What does Peter mean when he says that “The end of all things is near?” (1 Peter 4:7). Is he talking about the return of Jesus? Does he mean something to the effect of, “The end of the world (i.e., the return of Christ) could take place at any time?” I suppose that’s a possibilityContinue reading “The End of All Things?”
Preparing for PRAYER
1 Peter is packed with practical instruction for living out the story of Jesus. One thing he gives quite a bit of attention to is our mindset and attitude. In 1:13 we are told to have “minds that are alert and fully sober.” In 5:8 it is “Be alert and of sober mind.” And inContinue reading “Preparing for PRAYER”
Making Sense of 1 Peter
There are a lot of moving parts in 1 Peter so that as you make your way through the letter it can seem like a hodgepodge of loosely related discussions rather than s single. cohesive message. After all, he moves from “inexpressible and glorious joy” (1:8), to submitting to the civil authorities (2:13), to ChristContinue reading “Making Sense of 1 Peter”