By Peter Hiett

By Peter Hiett

Many years ago, I attended a public-school program involving one of my children. It was held at a Catholic retreat center. During the program, and to the left of the children as they were performing, I noticed something hanging on the wall that had been covered with a sheet. I thought, “What are they protecting our children from? What could be so b…

There’s a war in Europe, one in the Middle East, and an election in just a few days. “IF the tribulation is imminent, and IF there is a pre-tribulation rapture, I fear I may not be ready.” Someone recently shared that thought with me, and I suspect it may have haunted all of us at some point.So, what are we so afraid of? The Judgment(s) of God.Whil…

By Peter Hiett

Many years ago, I worked in a facility with some people that were a tremendous challenge. Jacob was extremely self-centered. At times I would find him sitting alone in his own filth — “wretched.” Betty was the same but also prone to rage. She once bit my wife leaving bloody teeth marks behind... on her behind — “totally depraved.”Of course, I’m tal…

Most people seem to think that Adam was a mythical man without a belly button who has nothing to do with any of us. Or, if he does have something to do with us, it’s that thousands of years ago he ate an apple, and so God will torture most of humanity forever without end. Most people think this is what the Bible says, and it’s not even remotely clo…

By Peter Hiett

Have you seen "The Lion King"? Convinced that he’s responsible for his father’s death — and, in a way, he is — Simba wanders in outer darkness.Rafiki, the crazy monkey, finds him and asks him, “Who are you?”Simba sighs and says, “I’m not so sure.”“I know who you are,” says Rafiki. “You are Mufasa’s boy.”“You knew my father?” asks Simba.“Correction.…

During one of his shows, the comedian Daniel Tosh once shared that he wore a WWJD (“What would Jesus do?”) bracelet to the movie theater. When he got into an argument with someone talking on their phone, he was about to choke them when he saw his bracelet and thought, “What would Jesus do?” “So,” says Tosh, “I set them on fire and sent them to hell…

By Peter Hiett

Why do you laugh?Genesis 17: "God said to Abraham... 'I will bless [Sarah], and moreover, I will give you a son by her... she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.' Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, 'Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old?' God said...'You shall call his name ‘Is…

I'm assuming that almost everyone has seen the movie: Jack lets Rose rest on top of a piece of floating debris. He then sinks into the abyss. Rose is saved but takes a new name and begins a new life. And then 85 years later, Rose has a dream, in which she meets Jack at the clock on the grand staircase of the Titanic. It is, or was, in the abyss, an…

By Peter Hiett

I totally get why we would want to write-in the name "Jesus" on our ballots in the upcoming election. But I need to break it to you: Jesus won't be president. Once, they tried to make Him king (that's a president), and He ran away. Once, He actually was on the ballot, and we all voted for Barabas. Even His base — His people, His hometown, folks lik…

For 22 years, Susan Coleman kept herself as a gift to be given on this day. And the evening of that day — our wedding day, May 28, 1983, we consummated our covenant in a passionate, intimate, and uninhibited, holy communion. She gave herself to me, like an alabaster flask filled with perfumed oil, a fragrant offering.Imagine, if on the morning of M…

By Peter Hiett

By Peter Hiett

There is one book that's affected me more than any other, while at the same time I never felt an obligation to read it or told myself that I needed to change because of it. Of course I'm talking about The Lord of the Rings. To be fair, I suppose that the Bible has affected me more; however, I haven't always read it in freedom. In junior high, I rea…

Soren Kierkegaard told a tale about two robbers who broke into a jewelry store and simply switched all the price tags such that the fake was valued as the real and the real was assumed to be fake. He said it was the story of our age.Years ago on the French Riviera, I walked past an extravagant yacht moored in the harbor. On the back deck sat two el…

By Peter Hiett

On the communion table sits a glass (a mason jar) of water, half empty . . . or maybe it's half full. Are you the type that sees "half empty" or "half full"?This week's message is the second half of last week's message and the same text, 2 Peter 3:1-13. In verse 8, Peter writes, "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one da…

Sunday was my dad's birthday. He'd be 105 if he hadn't died 20 years ago.Forty years ago, in downtown Denver, some men assaulted him with knives, broke his sternum and several ribs, knocking him unconscious and taking a huge sum of money. He almost died. In those types of situations, we naturally ask God, "Why do you allow such violence?"A few year…

By Peter Hiett

By Peter Hiett

This week's message was a continuation of last week's message in which we noted that Peter seems to clearly believe that Jesus is an entirely successful Savior who somehow implants his Divine Nature in all the children of Adam and is now bringing all of us together in a communion of free and sacrificial delight — Eternal Life in one Body of Perfect…

In 2 Peter, Peter has informed us that all are forgiven and anyone that lacks righteousness has forgotten that he has been forgiven. We must each lose the lonely tabernacles that we have constructed, but only so that we can be united in the eternal temple that God has constructed. Peter seems to believe that Jesus is an entirely successful Savior.W…

By Peter Hiett

At youth group in 1978, I saw the end-times movie "A Thief in The Night." Folks got "raptured" with the rest "left behind" to deal with the Antichrist. It definitely made me want to "accept Jesus" (for the 50th time), but it sure didn't help me to like Jesus . . . at all.When I was a youth pastor and trying to make a point one night at youth group,…

If at a party, someone approached you and said, "Tell me about yourself," what would you tell them? At our service this week, I asked folks to quickly write that down: their successes on one side of a piece of paper and then what they wouldn't want to share, their failures, on the other side. This piece of paper, this record, we made our offering t…

By Peter Hiett

Twenty-six years ago, I was standing in line for Alien Encounter with my eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and nine-year-old son, Jon. Elizabeth was lecturing Jon on courage. Jon had been asking me, "Daddy, will I be OK?" He wanted my judgment. Elizabeth didn't think she needed it. Alien Encounter was an animatronic "ride" at Disney World. They w…

On Easter, as a special guest preacher, Simon Peter preached our message on the topic of Easter and his epistle, 1 Peter. He came with fishing gear to demonstrate his trade and shared with us that for him, Easter was all about fish. "Fish is Life" had been the bumper sticker on his boat. "I saw that fish was good for food, a delight to the eyes, an…

By Peter Hiett

Twenty-six years ago, I said to my son Jon, "Let's build a pen for Myrtle, your box turtle." Jon was so excited. I thought, "This will be a great father/son project." We got to work, but at the age of nine, Jon wasn't the fastest of workers and seemed to prefer TV to hauling rock. Before long, I got grumpy. And before long, Jon began to shrivel. Hi…

By Peter Hiett

By Peter Hiett

Seventy-three years ago, the fate of the world hung in the balance; everything depended on the success or failure of an imminent invasion. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Forces, was to make the call. Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, paratroopers began dropping behind enemy lines. In a few more hours, thousands of young m…

1 Peter 4:7, "The End (Telos) of all things is at hand."In the past three messages, we've seen that “the End” is a day (the seventh day), that is a kingdom, that is a boat, that is a tabernacle, that is a temple, that is a person, that is the Way, that is like a van that is "at hand," parked in the garden of your soul.Jesus said, "I am the End... t…

By Peter Hiett

This week's message is the second half of last week's message; so, if you haven't read my summary of last week's message, please read it right now — and then, read this.[Click here for last week's summary]At the start of this message, I shared the home movie that I shared in the last message. You see, I videotaped the whole thing — or I should say,…

Twenty-six years ago, my children (three, six, eight, and nine at the time) had a dream. They dreamt of a Magic Kingdom; they dreamt of a whole new world: Disneyworld. A friend gave me a free week at one of the Disney resorts and free passes. All we had to do was get there. We couldn't afford to fly, but we could drive.I decided to surprise the kid…

By Peter Hiett

1 Peter 2:2, "As newborn babies long for the pure spiritual [logikos: logical] milk that by it you may grow up into salvation."Milk can go sour; water can get stagnant; and "the Life" can die . . . The Life was once entombed in the earth and entombed in earthen vessels like us. We think of death as the absence of life, but the Bible pictures death …

"There's nothing worse than a milkman gone sour."1 Peter 2:2: "As newborn infants, long for the pure logikos (logical, spiritual) milk." We drink it. And we preach it. We are to be "The Gospel Milkmen."Ben was the prototypical milkman: cheerful, encouraging, wholesome, and kind. However, one November morning in 1962, he didn't greet Shirley with hi…

By Peter Hiett

Every day, old Simeon went to the temple awaiting the Messiah.“But who may abide the day of his coming and who can stand when he appeareth?”Simeon loved God and hated God, for a part of him felt that Gad had made him and forsaken him, and so he banished a part of himself from himself. Simeon was not at home in his own temple.Mary and Joseph offered…

By Peter Hiett

For only $114 you can buy 3.3 ounces of “Eternity” that will make you smell like BO (death) and flowers. It’s Christmas, perfume advertisements are everywhere, and they seem to work, for we all would like to think that we can purchase eternity in a bottle and apply it externally to the skin. 1 Peter 3:3, “Do not let your adorning (Greek: kosmos) be…

By Peter Hiett