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  1 Peter 2:1-3 Listen to today’s devotional There's an old question that pops up from time to time: "Can I be a Christian and not go to church?" Now, I assume there are good intentions behind the asking. So, here's my typical response. It's totally possible for someone to do Christ-like things and even be Christ-like on their own. But it is impossible to live the life that Jesus proclaimed and that the Bible portrays without the church. Can I go sailing without a sail? Well, you can float around, taking in the view. But you won't move forward how you’re supposed to without the wind in your sails. To be sure, the Spirit is the wind in the church's sail. And without the church, we're barely even in the water. That's not anything I haven't said or preached before. But I saw it again in today's reading. Notice the examples that Peter uses in this quick verse about growing into salvation. He says to get rid of malice, guile, insincerity, envy, ...

  1 Peter 1:13-16 Listen to today’s devotional I've seen demonstrations of how you actually go about girding your loins. It's what you do to get ready for hard work, something that requires focus and freedom to move. I can't remember the last time I was in a literal gird-your-loins situation. At least not in that typical sense. The Bible uses that phrase a few times. The Proverbs 31 woman girds herself with strength. God tells Job to gird his loins like a man so that he can be questioned. 1 Peter also uses the idea, but turns it inward. For Peter, the action happens in your mind. A literal translation of 1 Peter 1:13 goes like this: Gird up the loins of your mind. Physically, it meant pulling up your robe so you wouldn't trip when it was time to move. Spiritually, it means to stop tripping over your loose thinking. Holiness is learned. We begin to recognize it as we learn more about who God is. After all, Peter tells us to be holy because God is holy. Yes, holiness is a...

  1 Peter 1:8-12 Listen to today’s devotional As a kid, I had an 8" black and white TV in my room. Because that's what would come through, I watched a lot of news-like programming. I also had a bad habit of waking up extremely early for school. In those days, when I turned on the little TV in the early hours of the day, all that came on were religious shows. Funny enough, I can remember standing in front of the mirror, acting like the preacher I saw. One day, something struck me. Normally, there was a presenter in a studio, but on this day, he was out walking and talking. Understand that I didn’t know what the Holy Land meant. At one point, the speaker stopped, looked over his shoulder, and said something like, "I'm here walking on the same dirt roads that Jesus walked." That didn't sound right. Later in the day, I asked my mom if Jesus was a real person. In my mind, people talked about Jesus. There were stories about him, and all those churches thought he wa...

  Matthew 12:38-42 Listen to today’s devotional Surely, you've asked God for some kind of sign before. Did you feel evil or adulterous when you did? Let's think about when people wanted a sign from Jesus. Remember Doubting Thomas? He wouldn't believe the good news about Jesus unless he could see it for himself. He needed a specific sign. And he got it. A group of scribes and Pharisees approached Jesus once and said, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." In response, he denounced them as part of "an evil and adulterous generation." So, what's the difference? Timing and attitude, I suppose. Thomas had participated in Jesus' ministry and then witnessed the devastation of his crucifixion. He experienced a painful loss that completely challenged his faith. The religious leaders had also seen and heard from Jesus. But they had come up with some strange explanations for it all. Their request for another sign, maybe even a specific sign, wasn’t abou...

  Deuteronomy 6:5-7 Listen to today’s devotional This year, my mother-in-law's birthday fell on a Sunday. So, we set up a table of cupcakes for everyone to enjoy after worship. The plan was for our children to serve anyone who wanted a treat. When I finally made it outside, I didn't see my kids serving. Instead, I saw four younger children standing behind the table, with gloves on, carefully handing them out. I thought that was a cute idea to ask them to help. But they weren't asked to help. They asked if they could help. Sure, I bet the proximity to the sweets might have influenced their request. But that didn't take away from how they served. They smiled so much, were fully engaged and attentive to their job. I smiled when I heard them ask several people waiting off to the side if they wanted a cupcake. They wanted to make sure no one was missed. Someone snapped a picture of them in action. Someone else said they looked like the adults who often do the same thing in o...

Don't tell anyone! Yesterday, I snuck in a new verse to "Because He Lives." I don't know if that's some kind of copyright infringement, but I did it.  The verse is based on 1 Peter 1:3-9, which we used as our call to worship. I took the cue from GBOD and had people from the congregation stand to read each verse. I actually forgot who was doing the readings. So, I didn't know everyone who would stand and speak. It was intriguing to wait and see where the next voice came from.  My message was about believing and having life in Jesus' name. Knowing so many people love that song, it felt like a great spot to tie in the 1 Peter passage.  I don't know if anyone noticed that it wasn't the usual second verse. But I can tell you they sang it! Though trials may come and fear would shake us, we still rejoice with precious faith. We may not see the face of Jesus, but we believe and give him all our greatest praise. Stay blessed...john