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5 daily readings · Kent Keller

But What About Christian Nationalism? - Acts 17:1-7

Acts 17:1-7

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Monday · Monday, July 6, 2026

Another King

"…and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."

Acts 17:7 · ESV

The believers in Thessalonica got dragged into court over six words: ‘there is another king, Jesus.’ To a Roman world that insisted Caesar was lord, that sounded like treason — and it was the truest thing they could say. Kent put it plainly: we can love our country, but we have only one King. Not a party. Not a president. Not a flag. On the weekend America turned 250, it’s worth saying out loud — there is only one King, and his name is Jesus. Every earthly power will one day answer to him. Where you set your deepest allegiance today quietly shapes everything else about how you live.

Reflect

If Jesus — not a nation, party, or leader — is your only King, what’s one loyalty in your life that needs to move down a rank today?

Pray

Lord Jesus, you are King over every ruler and every nation. Forgive me for the times I’ve handed my heart to lesser kings. Today I bow to you first — my highest allegiance, my truest citizenship. Reign in me. Amen.

Read Acts 22

Tuesday · Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Love, Not Worship

"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."

Jeremiah 29:7 · ESV

‘I love my God. I love my country,’ Kent said. ‘I worship my God. I do not worship my country.’ That one distinction keeps patriotism from curdling into idolatry. God even told his exiles in pagan Babylon to seek the good of the city and pray for it — so loving your nation, working for its good, praying for its leaders is a genuinely Christian thing to do. Just don’t put it on the throne. A country can be a gift without becoming a god. You can wave the flag with a full heart and still keep your knees bent to Christ alone.

Reflect

Where is the line for you between loving your country and worshiping it — and how would someone watching your life this week know the difference?

Pray

Father, thank you for the country I live in and its freedoms. Help me love it rightly — to seek its good and pray for its leaders — without ever letting it take the place that belongs to you alone. Amen.

Read Acts 23

Wednesday · Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Blessed Is the Nation

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"

Psalm 33:12 · ESV

‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.’ Kent argued that much of the American story really was shaped by that truth — the image of God behind ‘all men are created equal,’ rights that come from a Creator and not the state. But a nation isn’t blessed because it prints God’s name on its money or its founding documents. It’s blessed when its people actually know and follow him. The founders wisely refused to make faith a law, because you can force people to submit but you cannot force them to believe. Blessing never comes by coercion. It comes when hearts are freely turned to the Lord — starting with yours.

Reflect

What would it look like for your nation to be ‘blessed’ in the way Psalm 33:12 means — and what is your part in that this week?

Pray

Lord, we don’t presume on your blessing — we ask for your mercy. Turn hearts in this nation, including mine, back to you. Make us a people who don’t just claim your name but truly know you. Amen.

Read Acts 24

Thursday · Thursday, July 9, 2026

No King but Jesus

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,"

Philippians 3:20 · ESV

For two thousand years the church has said it: we have no king but Jesus. It’s why the early Christians unsettled emperors, and why our citizenship, Paul says, is finally ‘in heaven.’ Kent asked a hard question of himself as a pastor — would he want America to be an official Christian nation by law? His answer was no, because forced faith isn’t faith at all, and the gospel spreads by persuasion, not coercion. That’s actually good news for you. Your deepest identity isn’t stamped on a passport. You belong to a kingdom no election can grant and no empire can revoke. Live today as a citizen of that kingdom first.

Reflect

If your primary citizenship is in heaven, how should that reorder the way you talk about politics, argue online, or treat people who vote differently than you?

Pray

King Jesus, my citizenship is in heaven and my allegiance is yours. When earthly kingdoms rise and fall around me, keep me steady in the one that never ends. I await you as my Savior and Lord. Amen.

Read Acts 25

Friday · Friday, July 10, 2026

Free Indeed

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

Galatians 5:1 · ESV

America celebrated freedom this week, and rightly so — freedom is a precious gift, and it was never free. But Kent pointed past the fireworks to a deeper liberty. ‘For freedom Christ has set us free,’ Paul writes. Political freedom can secure your rights; it can’t cleanse your conscience or break the grip of sin. Only Jesus does that. The greatest declaration of freedom wasn’t signed in Philadelphia — it was won at the cross. So enjoy the cookout and the fireworks. Thank God for those who sacrificed. And then hold on to the freedom that outlasts every nation: if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.

Reflect

Political freedom or freedom in Christ — which one is actually shaping how you’ll live tomorrow? What would change if the second one won?

Pray

Jesus, thank you for a freedom no government could ever give and none can ever take away — freedom from sin, from shame, from death itself. Let me live today as someone truly, finally free. Amen.

Read Acts 26
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