"But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15,16).

When new subscribers sign up to receive our daily messages through the email list we get a notification with their name and location. We find this interesting especially regarding those from other countries or even those who are local. One of the things we find most fulfilling about our work is the ability to encourage and teach people from all over the world as two very ordinary people.

However we are also reminded of the many interesting town names here in the states. We have such names here in Pennsylvania, most notably the colorful town of Intercourse here in Lancaster County. But we have names like Fearnot, Bird-In-Hand, and Jersey Shore (which is far from the Jersey shore).

Yesterday a new subscriber signed up from a Pennsylvania town I had never heard of before: Normalville, PA. I found out it's a small unincorporated place in western PA. I was curious as to how the town got its name and learned that Normalville was originally named "Elm". In the late 1800s, a normal school (a school to train teachers) was built and the community was renamed "Normalville".

But in light of so much deviation from normal seen on so many fronts today the name sure caught both Brooksyne's and my attention. When I read and sometimes see all the craziness going in our country and even around the globe it makes me wish I lived in Normalville!

"Normal" as an adjective means "conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected". We speak of having just a normal day meaning nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"Normal" as a noun means "the usual, average, or typical state or condition". Life works because of normal; the fixed laws of nature and God's design. Gravity isn't sporadic. Imagine if it was! Normal is a blessing we so easily take for granted until things or events in our life are not normal.

You will hear the term "new normal". In the past this description was used in the sense of someone who's had a loss or crippling injury getting accustomed to a major change in life, the new normal for them. We've heard this ad nausea the last couple of years regarding changes we've all experienced since Covid arrived on the world scene in 2019.

But we also see "new normal" being used to describe the abandonment of God's standards and design as revealed in Scripture. What was once abnormal can become new normal and in time the old normal is considered abnormal! Similar to the verse that says, calling evil good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).

That's why we are not to follow society's standards of what is normal when they deviate from God's standards. God calls us to be a holy people. There is a profound and crucial difference between the standards based on the world's philosophy and the standards set forth in Holy Scripture.

God wants us to be normal according to His standards, not the world's. God's Word to ancient Israel, "Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy" (Leviticus 20:7). Peter wrote "but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15,16).

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)