Unfrozen
Read: 1 Peter 2:4-10 That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you. (v. 9) When I was growing up, we sometimes, with tongue in cheek, called Dutch people the “Frozen Chosen.” This expression is rooted in both an overemphasis of verse 9, which describes believers as being chosen, and a view that […]
Loved People Love
Read: 1 Peter 1:22–2:3 This word is the good news. (v. 26) Last year brought out some of the worst in our human relationships. People pointed fingers of blame over a pandemic. Racial tensions reached a tipping point. There were even fights over face masks. In such turbulent times, “Love one another earnestly from a […]
Ready for Action
Read: 1 Peter 1:13-21 Your faith and hope are in God. (v. 21) I was never much for fishing but did enjoy going out on Lake Michigan with my friend Todd after a day of school. My presence allowed him two extra lines in the water. When a line near me twitched with a bite […]
Inexpressible
Read: 1 Peter 1:3-12 Born again to a living hope . . . (v. 3) Last February, I had the privilege of meeting with a group of believers from Iran. Seven received baptism. For all of them, our worship times provided the one time in the year when they could sing aloud their praises to […]
March Prayer Guide 2021
IRAN — Pray for Christian converts in Iran who continue to experience persecution because of their faith. At least 15 Christians are currently being held in prison for charges related to their faith, and over 100 were arrested at some point during 2020. There are reports of Christians being flogged for taking communion, being denied education […]
Who We Are
Read: 1 Peter 1:1-2 Elect exiles of the Dispersion . . . (v. 1) Writing from Rome three decades after Jesus rose, Peter told us who we are, how we got here, and where we are going. The first recipients of his letter were spread throughout modern-day Turkey. The times pulsated with anxious uncertainty as […]
No Guilt in Life, No Fear in Death
Read: Jeremiah 50:17-20 In those days and in that time . . . iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none. (v. 20) At the conclusion of Jeremiah, God declared that once the exile was completed, God’s condemnation would be spent. Once God’s judgment was complete, his instrument, Babylon, would be undone. […]
All Oppression Shall Cease
Read: Jeremiah 50:1-10 . . . let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant. (v. 5) God spent much of Jeremiah pronouncing judgment. He announced the instrument of his judgment: Babylon. Babylon was, for a time, serving God’s purposes. But at the end of Jeremiah, his instrument of judgment became the target […]
Surrender
Read: Jeremiah 38:14-18 If you will surrender . . . then your life shall be spared. (v. 17) Although I’ve never needed this advice, I read recently that one of the best ways to avoid a kidnapping is to fight back and make a lot of noise, in order to make it as difficult as […]