Again that last verse, this time as a stand-alone, focusing in on the word returned. For you were straying like sheep, but have now...

The final pair of verses in 1 Peter 2 shout out to me. Verses 24-25 shout out what Jesus did: Who his own self bare our sins in his own...

I was struck by Ps 34.9. Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! Truth be told, missionaries who live by...

I am returning to Psalm 30, to do a second run through those ten psalms. First thing I see is the section heading: A Psalm of David. A...

An old hymn says “The burden of my heart rolled away.” Psalm 38 truly poignantly of that burden. For my iniquities have gone over my...

I do challenge folks to be the kind of donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem: ready, available and willing. However, I had not...

My pastor friend Gerry and I have been chatting about the fear of the Lord. I know that fear of the sword makes a person flee, but fear...

Scripture sometimes uses such extreme examples. I should treat my wife as Jesus treats me. (Eph 5.25-28) Our marriage should look like...

Peter tells us that we have been called to put up with the yuck: For to this you have been called 1 Peter 2.21a And he tells us the...

We were looking at justice and fairness in 2.18-19, in this upside-down lifestyle that makes righteous sense. Peter rhetorically asks:...

This morning I see myself in one short David verse, in which he has much to say, with but a handful of words. God is my strength, I...

Peter gives us a swift kick in the pants with 2.18 and 19, undermining everything we “know” about justice and fairness. Go ahead and...

David has three suggestions for God on what to remember and what to forget. Remember Your mercy and love Don’t remember how I blew in my...

The paradox of the Gospel... Live as people who are free… but living as servants of God. 1 Peter 2.16a and 16.c I am free. Free to...

Yesterday I mentioned our “old rebellious nature.” It’s our ex-nature. It’s old, worn-out, and useless to us. In fact, it is detrimental...

I'm the first to admit that I'm a sucker for extreme object lessons. I'll put a ballon in a person’s mouth and shoot a dart at it. I'll...

Peter begins 1 P 2.13-17--his section on submission--similar to Paul in Ephesians 5 and 6. “Submission” is a term that tends to get our...

In my never-so-humble opinion, me thinks that we are ever-so-ready to draw lines in the sand between us, and those who do not follow...

More poignant poetry from the psalmist, this time it is David: Be not far from me, for trouble is near. And now, after Calvary, after...

Last week, after 55 years of Bible ready, I came across this verse “for the first time.” David poetically writes what is subtitled as, a...