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Consider This: The Bride of Christ

I officiate a couple of weddings per year.  Even though they take a lot of time, effort and organization, I really enjoy them.  Weddings are the exact opposite of the grouchy, negative, complaining world that we live in most of the time. Weddings are full of joy, hope and fun. Out of all the comparisons God could have used to describe his relationship with us, he chose a wedding analogy.  Jesus is depicted as a groom waiting for his bride (See Matthew 9 and 25, as well as Luke 2 and 5).  When John sees a vision of heaven, he describes the celebration as a wedding feast (Revelation 19). The marriage analogy gives us several understandings about our connection to Christ.  Here are a few. First, this relationship is a choice!  In my family, we celebrate birthdays, but anniversaries are the really big deal.  You were a passive participant in your birth, but an anniversary celebrates a decision you made.  Whether it is a wedding anniversary, a celebrat...
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Spectacularly Ordinary Faith (1 Peter 1:22-25)

 It is great to have an unusual story to tell, but your best story is your everyday one.  https://youtu.be/UbECto9_FI4  

Consider This: The Need for Open Eyes

    Consider This:  The Need for Open Eyes “Give us open eyes to our blessings”.  I accidentally prayed that phrase many years ago.  I had not planned it, nor had I thought about it ahead of time.  It just happened.  Since then, I have repeated it a lot.  I almost always include it in any public prayer.  I have come to believe that having open eyes is of supreme importance.  Too often, we are drowning in blessings, yet we are discontent.  We could do so much good for others, but we think only of ourselves.  We have been gifted a million wonderful pleasures, yet focus on our few small problems.  Open eyes would change that situation.  Seeing what we actually have would cause us to be grateful, generous and kind.   Not only that, seeing how God has blessed us would help us trust him.  The future would be less scary if I remembered what God had done for me in the past.  Faith must look back occasional...

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant (1 Peter 1:17-21)

How Christians go through the Judgment Day and why it matters. https://youtu.be/IQ8yZoEfAA4   

Consider This: The Danger of Drifting

   Consider This: The Danger of Drifting Most people will not blow up their life in one big, messy moment. It can happen, and when it does, the damage is obvious and instantaneous. Like a car wreck at an intersection, people make a bad decision, and chaos ensues. Parts and pieces scatter all over. People get hurt. Situations like this are unexpected, loud, shocking and scary. Most of us will not wreck our lives in one big, terrible moment. The real danger is that we will lose what is valuable in small, almost imperceptible steps. It happens all the time. You can leave your marriage without ever leaving your house. You can leave your faith while still attending church. You can leave your life while you are still living it. Many people lose what they love, not by making one big, out-of-character decision, but by coasting, disengaging, neglecting and missing what matters. Almost every Biblical list of Christian characteristics mentions “Self-control”, yet I have not g...

Consider This: The Shocking Truth

    Consider This:  The Shocking Truth At the beginning of his first letter, Peter talks about what Jesus did for us on the cross.  He then writes, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.  It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:10-12).   Did you see what he said?  The prophets had no idea what would happen.  All they knew was that God was going to do something sometime.  They searched, thought and wondered, but never in a million years wou...

A Spiritual Makeover (1 Peter 1:13-16)

 Three responses to the new life God has given us.  https://youtu.be/FmqX5-3jOKc