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Christian Living

Why Do We Do the Things We Do?

Most people whose faith is more than in name only, have certain religious rituals as part of their spiritual practices. A common one is church attendance. Another may be giving money or tithing to the church.

Participation in a Bible study, small group, or midweek meeting is a third practice many people pursue. Introspective spiritual activities can include Bible reading and study, prayer, meditation, and fasting. I’m sure there are more.

Why do we do these things? Here are some common reasons:

Out of Habit

While habits can be good, an unexamined habit becomes a mindless ritual. God deserves better.

To Avoid Feeling Guilty

While there is a good type of guilt, most guilt is bad. Seek to understand the source of this guilt. If it’s another person – either directly or indirectly—it’s likely a bad guilt.

To Earn God’s Love

The starting point in our relationship with God is that he loves us. We don’t need to earn it; we already have it. There’s nothing we can do to make him love us more. (And nothing we can do to make him love us less.)

To Get God’s Attention

Do we do things to show God how righteous we are in order to get his attention? If we do, first of all, it’s just a show. Second, we already have his attention.

Because the Bible Says To

Citing the Bible as justification for certain actions is noteworthy, but we must be careful. Does the Bible actually say what we think it says? Are we making unwarranted assumptions and jumping to wrong conclusions? Too often the answer is “yes.”

I can claim all of these reasons at one time or another. And they are all wrong. Here are the real reasons we should pursue our various spiritual practices; anything else is futility:

To Express Love to God

God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us. We should want to love him back. Remember, we’re not trying to earn his love or get his attention; we’re simply trying to say “I love you, too,” intangible and meaningful ways.

To Worship God

True worship is our ultimate gift to God. Though he doesn’t need our worship, he does deserve it. How we choose to worship him need not be like everyone else, but it should come from our heart.

Loving God and worshiping God may be opposite sides of the same coin. I’m not sure if we can separate the two. The things we do and the things we don’t do should be intentional decisions for the express purpose of loving and worshiping God.

Any other reason falls short.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

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Bible Insights

Loving Sinners: Biblical Thoughts on Responding to Sin

With a knowing wink and a smile that was too practiced, the preacher said, “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” This irritated me. I couldn’t tell if he was being snarky, condescending, or wise.

How can we truly separate the deed from its doer? Should we even try to make the distinction?

After all, Jesus said, “A tree is recognized by its fruit.” In essence, we become what we do.

Although I sensed the preacher’s statement could maybe guide my attitude towards sin and sinners, in a practical sense it didn’t help much. What did help was James when he wrote, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

I needed to change my focus, to remove my attention from judgment and instead offer mercy. That’s a great start.

What really helped was Peter: “Love covers over a multitude of sins.” Through love, we can overlook the sins of others, regardless of how irrepressible their actions may be. That’s what love is; that’s what love does.

Through this sin-covering love, I can overlook the errors of others and instead focus on the person.

Yes, I can dislike sin. I can also dislike it when people sin. But I need to offer mercy to them; I need to love sinners.

After all, I sin, too—and isn’t mercy and love what I desire, to let love cover my sin?

[Matthew 12:33, Luke 6:44, James 2:13, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

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Bible Insights

How Important is Knowledge?

In our society we value information and knowledge. We pursue it at great cost (just consider the price of a college education).

In many situations, knowing the right answer is what matters most, and knowing more than someone else is the way to win.

Many people who study religious stuff also pursue knowledge, often making the most minuscule of distinctions over trivialities that normal people care nothing about.

This is the epitome of the age of modernity, elevating knowledge above all else.

I know people with great knowledge. They dispense it freely, often with little regard for others. They use knowledge as a weapon, hurting people with it as they smugly attempt to elevate themselves.

In the process they end up being cocky and condemning.

This is how some preachers preach and how some of their followers act. In the wake of their unfiltered rhetoric, they leave a trail of bodies. Though they love knowledge, they don’t love people.

Yes, I study the Bible, too. But I don’t lose sight of why. More knowledge isn’t my end game.

Paul understood this. In one of his letters, he writes that love trumps knowledge. In another dispatch, he effectively says that without love, nothing else matters.

I don’t study the Bible to obtain more knowledge but to know more of God, the God of love. That’s all I really need to know.

[Ephesians 3:19, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 1 John 4:8, 16]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

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Categories
Christian Living

How to Show God Love

I’m a fan of Dr. Gary Chapman’s classic book The Five Love Languages. The basic premise is there are five ways people express and receive love. The five love languages are:

  • Words of Affirmation
  • Quality Time
  • Gifts
  • Acts of Service
  • Physical Touch

Though we may use several of these love languages or even all of them, we each have a primary mode we default to in order to show and feel love. This is our love language (and often couples use different ones).

It took me a while to figure out my primary one, but it’s words of affirmation—and being a writer, this makes a lot of sense. My inclination is to use words to express love to others and hear words as their expression of love to me.

Does love language apply to God? I think so and so does Dr. Chapman with his book God Speaks Your Love Language: How to Feel and Reflect God’s Love. I’ve not read this one yet, but it is on my wish list.

While I don’t want to presume to know what the book says about how to show God love and receiving love from him, my mind is already formulating ideas. Words of affirmation, quality time, and acts of service are all easy parallels to see.

The love language of gifts could be money, but I suspect there’s more to it. That leaves physical touch. Do we understand it as a metaphor or is there a more practical application? I don’t know.

What I do know is there are multiple ways to let God know we love him and multiple ways for him to show love to us. One way isn’t better than another, just different.

May we each love God the way he has wired us—and not be concerned if it’s different from other people who may show love differently.

How do you show love to God?

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

Do You Feel in Love With God?

A year or so ago I made a bold statement to some close friends. As a group, we enjoy the freedom to ask pointed questions and the expectation to give honest answers; being transparent is our norm.

Yet, I surprised myself by proclaiming, “I’m more in love with God today than ever before.”

Yeah, it was brash—but I meant it: I’m having a spiritual love affair with God.

What caused me to declare my passion for the Almighty?

I suppose it was a convergence of things: an intellectual knowledge of my standing with him, the movement of his spirit in my life, a burst of clarity over what I read in the Bible, a sense of his presence in my being, and…euphoric emotion.

Yes, I felt in love with God. Now, I know it’s unwise to move by emotion or make decisions based on feeling, but I couldn’t deny what I felt that day.

Yet a few weeks later, the feeling was gone. Sure, I was still in love with God: my mind knew it, my spirit knew it, and my soul knew it, but I just didn’t feel it.

Then last week, while praying for God’s work in the lives of family and friends, that in-love feeling came back. Oh, glorious day!

When it comes to love—be it for God or for people—we can’t rely on our feelings, but when we do feel in love, it’s a wonderful thing.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

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Christian Living

Do You Love God or Fear Him?

For the past two weeks, I’ve been sharing a progression of thought about God as it relates to love and fear.

Consider:

We are to fear God, which begins to produce understanding and wisdom. We grow to understand that God is love and ultimately that perfect love—as embodied by Jesus—removes our fear.

Though we may start with fear, God’s perfect love (Jesus) removes it.

It is the love of Jesus that supersedes our fear of God.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Bible Insights

God is Love

In the Old Testament of the Bible we read the command to “fear God.” In the New Testament we read “God is Love.”

How can we fear someone who is loving? Is it even possible to do?

Is there a difference between fearing God in the Old Testament and a God of love in the New Testament?

Although it’s the same God in both, one who doesn’t change, the difference is Jesus. Jesus alters the way we understand and perceive God.

True, God is to be feared and God is love. This is a spiritual paradox we need to accept.

In the Old Testament, the focus is on the law (rules) and the result is fear because we fall short. In the New Testament, Jesus fulfills the law (overcomes or replaces rules) with love. The result is that love trumps fear.

This doesn’t mean we should completely disregard a healthy fear of God, but instead to temper our fear with his love.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 John 1-4 and today’s post is on 1 John 4:8 and 16.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Bible Insights

Consider Cain: Who Was He Really?

We know Cain to be a murderer—and we vilify him for it. What we often fail to consider is that Cain had a relationship with God.

Consider that Cain gave an offering to God that wasn’t requested or expected. (Cain lived centuries before God instructed Moses about the need to give him offerings.)

Also, consider that Cain also had a personal relationship with God, that is he talked to God and was able to be in God’s presence.

Given this, one might conclude that aside from one terrible act, Cain was a good guy, a God-loving dude. Perhaps like you and me.

Even so, this one act—his only recorded failure in life—needed to be punished. Justice demanded it. And as a just God, he meted it out.

So God sent Cain away, away from his presence. But not angrily or out of spite. For despite a need to punish Cain for his grave error, God lovingly put a mark on him to protect him from being killed by others.

God justly punished Cain—and then lovingly protected him.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

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Christian Living

God Loves Us!

Sometimes when praying or meditating I’m profoundly struck with the powerful realization of just how much God loves me, that he really, really loves me. In fact, he loves you, too! God’s love is always there.

I shake my head in amazement and wonder why. I don’t deserve God’s love; I have not earned his affection. I have done nothing noteworthy to garner such attention. But it’s there nonetheless.

In my mind, I know that God’s love for me is unconditional; that I don’t deserve it and that I can’t earn it.

Intellectually I am aware that there’s nothing I can do to cause him to love me anymore nor is there anything I can do to cause him to love me any less. This reality overwhelms me.

But in my heart, I waver; my soul doubts—just a bit—that this could really be true. Why, God?

Why do you love me with such overflowing, non-ending, unwarranted capacity? Don’t I need to do good first? Don’t I need to behave in a certain way to get your attention? Don’t you have a list of prerequisites for me to achieve?

Thankfully not.

Earning God’s love is not up to me; it’s all on him. God loves us and it’s a gift.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

Do You Love God?

When I pray, it’s not just about making requests. It is also about giving God my words—and my heart. Sometimes this means that I tell God I love him. Yes, it is true; I do love God.

Although simply saying, “I love you” is a great place to start, God deserves more than that. I let him know how much I love him and affirm that I would be lost without him.

Yet, as I contemplate my love for God, I eventually reach a point of consternation, for I realize—if I am to be completely honest—that my love for God seems to be conditional.

That is, I might just love him only because of what he has done for me and is doing for me, a love that is a “because of” kind of love, not an “in spite of” kind of love.

I am left with the soul-piercing question, if God did absolutely nothing for me would I still love him?

While that query gives my pause, I need not pause too long, for I know that regardless of how deep or fickle, absolute or conditional my love for God, he will not reciprocate in kind.

God’s love for us is unconditional. There is nothing we can to that will cause him love us anymore—and nothing we can do that will cause him to love us any less.

Thank you, God. I love you!

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.