Biblical Christianity from Peter DeHaan

Satan Is Not on a Par with God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 26, 2019

In the Ultimate Battle Between Good and Evil, the Winner Is Clear

For the first part of my life I assumed God and Satan were equal yet opposite forces.

I picked up this inaccurate image from culture, starting with the old cartoons of the devil sitting on one shoulder whispering bad advice into a person’s ear, with God sitting on the other shoulder whispering good.

In my memory (which may be faulty), the cartoon character, after vacillating between conflicting instructions, followed the more appealing temptation of the devil. With a smile, the cartoon character went down the evil path and did wrong.

Yes, there were consequences, but what stuck with me was this conflict between good and evil, God and the devil on equal footing, with Satan too often prevailing.

Discover What Satan Can and Can’t Do

This, of course, is wrong. Satan is not an equal to God. The devil is less than God, much less.

First, Satan is an angel, albeit a fallen one. God created angels, just as he created you and me. The creator has power over his creation. This confirms that God has power over his angels, including fallen angels.

Yes, the devil, also known as Lucifer, may have been a higher angel, an Archangel like Michael, but this is speculation. Regardless of Satan’s original angel status, he has limits. God doesn’t.

God is present everywhere. He is omnipresent. Satan is not. He can only be in one place at a time.

God knows all things. He is omniscient. Satan is not. His knowledge of the future has limits.

God is all-powerful. He is omnipotent. Satan is not. True, the devil does have angelic power, but his power isn’t all-encompassing. There are things he can do and things he can’t do.

He’s limited. We must remember that.

God Will Prevail for All Eternity

If we’re on God’s side, we’re on the winning side. If we follow Satan and obey him, we’ll find ourselves on the losing side. And we will lose for all eternity.

Some people quake in fear at the power of the devil, but they would do better to quake at the all-powerful God who created him.

In the end, the final score will be God 1, Satan 0.

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.

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Tags evil one, God, good or evil

Personal Posts

Memorial Day: In Memory of

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 23, 2019

This Monday will be Memorial Day in the USA. It is a national holiday set aside in memory of military personnel who died while serving their country.

As such it should be a solemn day of remembrance, attending parades and visiting the graves of loved ones. Memorial Day is also an appropriate reminder to thank all those who have served their country through military service.

Regardless of your opinion on the politics behind the various US involvements in which they serve, commend them for their many acts service.

They put their future and their life on the line for their compatriots.

Additionally are those who return from military service with life-altering injuries, both physical and mental. Too often they are forgotten or marginalized. Remember them too.

Some observe Memorial Day by doing these things. For others, it is a day to relax or have a cookout. However, too many have lost sight of why this holiday exists, seeing it merely as a day off from work (for most people) or a long weekend.

Aside from enjoying the day, one can take in a parade, visit a gravesite, thank a military man or woman, hire a vet, or do whatever they can to show respect or appreciation.

But whatever you do, remember to remember—today and every day.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

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

Tags holiday, Sacred-Secular Divide

Visiting Churches

Attending Mass (Visiting Church #5)

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 23, 2019

When I tell people we’re visiting Christian churches, they often assume Protestant and are surprised our plan includes Catholic gatherings. That’s where we head today, to our first Mass.

The most noticeable difference is an ornate crucifix in the sanctuary. I’m pleased to see many lay people helping lead the service. There’s a nice range of ages present, including children who remain with us the entire time.

52 Churches: A Yearlong Journey Encountering God, His Church, and Our Common Faith

I struggle to follow along. There’s many times for the congregation to respond, but we don’t know what to say. Their service is not friendly to the uninitiated.

Music

The lone musical instrument is a keyboard and the keyboardist leads the singing. There’s also a choir. Both the singers and musician are behind us.

Removing our focus from them, makes it less like a performance and more worshipful.

The priest leads us in the Apostle’s Creed. I thought this was a Protestant proclamation, but obviously not.

We also pray the Lord’s Prayer. I’m aware Catholics don’t say the final line that Protestants do, but I almost say it anyway.

Message

The priest begins his Mother’s Day message with a series of anecdotes about moms, segueing into love: reciprocal love, romantic love, and love-your-enemies as exemplified by Jesus.

I wonder how a priest can address the complexities of romantic love, but he does a great job at it.

I also appreciate him mentioning Jesus’s death as a love-your-enemies example.

The message is short, followed by communion, what many refer to as the celebration of the Eucharist. The priest calls it “a memorial service” for Jesus.

We don’t partake, and I attempt to spend this time in quiet contemplation of Jesus’ sacrifice. However, I’m too distracted to do so.

The priest announces Mass is over. The service lasted one hour, and we head home with much to contemplate.

[Read about Church #4 and Church #6, start at the beginning of our journey, or learn more about Church #5.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

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

Tags 52 Churches, Apostles' Creed, holiday, Lord’s Prayer, Mass, Mother’s Day, Roman Catholic, seeker sensitive

Bible Insights

Discover the Comeback of John Mark

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 22, 2019

Everyone Deserves a Second Chance

A person who keeps resurfacing in the Bible is a man with two names. Sometimes he is Mark, and sometimes he is John.

For clarity, Luke often refers to him as John, also called Mark, John Mark for short. Let’s explore the failure and the comeback of John Mark.

John Mark’s story begins in Acts. When Peter is miraculously released from prison he heads to the home of John Mark’s mom, Mary. They are praying for Peter at that time. John Mark is likely a part of that prayer meeting (Acts 12:12).

Barnabas (John Mark’s cousin) and Paul take him on a missionary journey (Acts 12:25). He helps them at first (Acts 13:5). But after a while, John-Mark bales on them early on and returns home, to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13).

Later, Barnabas wants to give his cousin a second chance, but Paul adamantly disagrees and the two-part company over John Mark’s failure (Acts 15:37-40).

However, the story doesn’t end there. John Mark makes a comeback and wins Paul over.

In Paul’s various letters, he affirms their relationship (2 Timothy 4:11), calls John Mark a coworker (Philemon 1:24), and asks the church to accept and welcome him (Colossians 4:10).

Peter also affirms John Mark (1 Peter 5:13).

John Mark rushed into ministry before he was ready—he didn’t “count the cost” (Luke 14:28)—and did not prove to be faithful. Despite his poor start, he turned things around and finished well, helping both Paul and Peter.

He is likely the author of the gospel of Mark.

[Discover more about the Bible at ABibleADay.com: Bible FAQs, Bible Dictionary, Books of the Bible Overview, and Bible Reading Plans.]

Read about more biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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

Tags Barnabas, Friends and Foes of Jesus, John-Mark, Paul, Peter

Bible Insights

How Can We Help the Poor?

Deuteronomy Instructs Us to Help Foreigners, Orphans, and Widows

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminds God’s people that when they’re harvesting a field to not pick it clean, to leave some of the produce for others. This includes foreigners, orphans, and widows (Deuteronomy 24:19).

Help Foreigners Orphans and Widows

Moses’s words reiterate the same command that we read twice in the book of Leviticus (Leviticus 19:9-10 and Leviticus 23:22). It’s good for Moses to remind the people of this command.

They’ve been in the desert for forty years and not planted or harvested.

Soon that will change. He’s telling them their harvest won’t just be for them, but it’s also to help poor people, specifically to help foreigners, orphans, and widows.

Ruth Gleans Grain

Let’s fast forward a few centuries to Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi. Ruth and Naomi are both widows. Ruth is also a foreigner. When they return to Israel, they’re poor. Dirt poor.

Aside from each other, they have no family. They have no means for support. They have no money. What do they do?

Ruth goes out in the fields to glean grain, to pick up what the harvesters left behind or overlooked.

This wouldn’t have been possible had the landowners not followed Moses’s command to leave some of the harvest behind for the foreigners, orphans, and widows so they can glean.

Even though this is an act of generosity on the part of the farmers, notice that Ruth does need to work to get her free food. She must glean grain from the field, working and sweating behind the day laborers.

For Ruth and Naomi, their story ends happily. Ruth gets married again and this time she has a child. Ruth’s husband also takes care of his mother-in-law, Naomi. They no longer need to worry about their day-to-day survival.

But not all poor people are so fortunate. They must continue to glean from the fields and rely on the generosity of others.

How Can We Apply This Principle Today?

Today, few of us are farmers to leave food in the fields for people to glean. Yet that does not remove the responsibility from us to help the foreigners, orphans, and widows who are destitute and have no food. What can we do to help them?

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 22-24, and today’s post is on Deuteronomy 24:19.]

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

Tags Moses, Naomi, poor, Ruth

Christian Living

Do You Say Bold Prayers or Safe Prayers?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 19, 2019
1 Comment on Do You Say Bold Prayers or Safe Prayers?

God Often Wants to Delight Us, If Only We’ll Ask

Too many people say safe prayers, such as, “God, please guide . . .” These are safe because no matter what happens, our confidence in God remains unchallenged. These timid prayers accomplish little. Instead we should make bold prayers.

Pray with Bold Expectation

A few weeks ago, a friend asked for prayer about finding a new job. My prayer was bold and specific, filled with expectation.

When I finished, my friend looked at me wide-eyed. “Do you always pray like that?”

“I like to swing for the fences,” I replied.

He smiled and gave me a nod of comprehension. A few weeks later, God answered my bold, specific request for my friend. He received a job offer. Thank you, Jesus!

To “swing for the fences” is an allusion to baseball. In generic terms, this phrase means to go all out, to give it our all. I think that’s what prayer should be like, to put our faith on the line each time we pray.

To swing for the fences when we pray does exactly this.

Prayer Outcomes

Sometimes when we go all out in prayer, we see amazing answers. In our baseball metaphor, we hit a home run.

Other times our prayer doesn’t get the answer we anticipate (we fail to get on base), or God says “no” (we strike out). These outcomes stretch our faith, but they also give us the opportunity to grow.

May our prayers be bold, and regardless of the outcome, may they bring us closer to God and deepen our faith.

Don’t pray prayers where we can’t lose, where our faith remains unchallenged regardless of the outcome. Instead, may we say risky prayers that stretch our faith, that leave no room for failure.

May we say confident, bold prayers, swinging for the fence every time.

Bold Prayers Helps Our Faith Grow

Yes, we will sometime strike out when we pray. Striking out is discouraging. We’re disappointed—not in God but in ourselves. At least that’s my perspective.

Why did God not answer the way we expected? Did our heart not align with his? Perhaps.

Did we not see things the way God saw them? Maybe.

Are there things we don’t understand? Likely.

But these are all chances for our faith to grow.

But other times we get a home run (or at least a base hit) when we pray. These are times for our faith to grow too. We see God’s generous answers to our bold requests, leaving us completely amazed and in awe of him and who he is.

When we pray, regardless of the outcome, it’s a chance for our faith to grow. May we pray with bold confidence, and may our faith grow each time we do.

Don’t make wimpy requests of God. Say bold prayers instead.

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

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Tags faith, prayer, spiritual growth

Personal Posts

Thoughts About Moving

Do You Leave Home or Take it With You?

It was 2014 when my wife and I were selling our house. It wasn’t our plan, but things change.

We had just finished updating most of it: new roof, furnace, windows, carpet, flooring, kitchen, and bathrooms. It was a three-year effort that methodically moved from one project to the next as our budget allowed.

We planned to live the rest of our lives on that house, the place where we raised our kids and the setting of many happy memories.

So, why then we moved? The answer is simple: family. Our son and his wife live about an hour away. It was hard not to be closer to them; the pull was strong.

Then our daughter and her husband, along with our grandson, moved, ending up a few miles from her brother. The draw was inescapable.

My wife and I discussed that. Then we asked what our kids thought. They liked the idea, but one instituted a ten-mile buffer, but then reduced it to five, which eventually disappeared.

Our daughter-in-law liked the idea of us living next door, where their kids could walk to grandpa and grandma.

She grew up with that and so did I. Alas, we would not be that close, but we would be within seven miles of each of our kids’ homes.

Now, as we were planning and packing, I recall the things that happened there: the happy times, the struggles we overcame, the celebrations, the milestones, and the friends who visited.

But these memories do not reside in this house, they live in our minds.

The house stayed, but our home moved along with us.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

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

Tags family, Sacred-Secular Divide

Visiting Churches

The Right Mix of Music (Visiting Church #4)

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 16, 2019

The church is a traditional-looking building, constructed of brick and stately in appearance. In checking out the sanctuary, I anticipate the service will be just as Facebook promised.

It said “a blending of traditional and contemporary.” Will they have the right mix of music?

The service begins with several familiar choruses. A few people lift their hands in praise, though this is limited and low-key. A team of four leads us: the worship leader on guitar, vocalist, keyboard, and the minister on bass.

The drums sit idle. However, they don’t use the piano during the singing, but it is expertly played for the prelude, offertory, and postlude.

After a time of singing, they give several announcements. The church is a busy place and there’s much information to share. A glance at the bulletin reveals activity every day of the week.

They excuse the children and the offering follows, accompanied by an impressive piano performance. At its conclusion, applause breaks forth. I’m a bit uncomfortable with this.

I wonder if we’re worshiping God with our hands or praising an accomplished musician.

The minister is in the second week of a series on the book of first John. Using an expository style—going verse by verse—he guides us through the text, zeroing in on 1 John 2:16, which is the impetus for his sermon title, “Pollution Free.”

We need to guard against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—thereby controlling the pollution in our lives.

We conclude the service singing a well-known hymn.

The way they successfully integrate hymns and choruses into their worship service impresses me. They meld the old and new. Their worship music is both traditional and contemporary. They have the right mix of music.

I enjoyed the experience, and I’m glad we were there.

[Read about Church #3 and Church #5, start at the beginning of our journey, or learn more about Church #4.]

My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.

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

Tags 52 Churches, church services, traditional service

Bible Insights

Paul Seeks to be a Reconciler

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 15, 2019

While Philemon is the recipient of the letter that bears his name, Paul is the author.

We know a great deal about Paul, as he is mentioned over 250 times in the Bible, mostly in the book of Acts, but also in the letters that he wrote, as well as once by Peter. Only Jesus is mentioned more frequently.

From these mentions, we know Paul to be a missionary, a church leader, a church planter, a mentor, and a teacher. In the book of Philemon, we also see him emerge as an influencer to reconcile and restore broken relationships.

Reconciliation was the reason for Paul writing his letter to Philemon. Paul’s desire was to see Onesimus and Philemon’s estranged relationship made right.

Paul encouraged both of them to the right thing: for Onesimus to return to his master regardless of risk and for Philemon to welcome him back without penalty.

Paul was able to assume this role of reconciler because he had a personal relationship with both parties. This history gave him a credibility that an outsider would have lacked, allowing him to positively influence them both.

If you, like Paul, are in relationship with two estranged people, should your role be to encourage them to pursue reconciliation? If you’re not sure, talk to God about it. He may have put you in that position for this very reason.

Read about more biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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

Tags Friends and Foes of Jesus, Onesimus, Paul, Philemon

Bible Insights

Moses Blames the People for His Mistake

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 14, 2019

Not Taking Responsibility for Our Actions Goes Way Back

We often shake our heads in dismay over people who refuse to admit when they have done something wrong. Instead they want to blame others. They refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes.

This is not a new development. Even Moses, who spoke to God face-to-face, had this problem.

Moses blames the people for what he did wrong.

Here’s his story.

Moses’s Failure

After Moses leads God’s people out of Egypt into the desert, they’re thirsty. They clamor for water. God tells Moses to go to a rock and speak to it. Then water will pour out of it for the people to drink.

Moses does go to the rock, and he does speak to it, but he also whacks it with his staff—something God didn’t tell him to do. God sees this as a lack of trust on Moses’s part.

Because of Moses’s failure to completely obey God, he won’t let Moses enter the promised land (Numbers 20:2-12).

This seems a bit harsh, but that’s what God determined.

Moses Blames the People

Fast forward about forty years. God’s people are ready to enter the land he promised to give them. Moses has them ready to take the territory. They’re poised to move forward, camping at its border.

Moses then recaps what’s happened over the past four decades. He reminds them about their journey and reiterates some of the laws God gave them.

Then he tells them he won’t be going with them. Instead Joshua will lead them. Joshua will realize what Moses had hoped for, what he worked hard to achieve for forty years.

Moses is bitter over this. But instead of admitting he disobeyed God, that he sinned, he shifts the blame. He blames the people for his failure. He says, “It’s because of you, that God is angry with me” (Deuteronomy 3:26).

Yup, that’s right. Moses blames the people for his mistake.

Blaming Others

Of course, playing the blame game didn’t start with Moses. It goes way back to the Garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve committed the first sin by disobeying God, their second sin was trying to shift blame.

Adam blamed Eve instead of admitting his own error, and Eve blamed the serpent instead of assuming responsibility for her role in committing the first sin.

Blaming other people for our actions is a moral shortcoming that is the result of sin. Failing to take responsibility for what we have done and pretend that someone else is at fault is another sin.

Repenting so that we may follow Jesus acknowledges our sin, our mistakes, our failures. To repent is to regret what we have done, to be sorry. But we can’t truly repent when we blame others for our mistakes.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 1-3, and today’s post is on Deuteronomy 3:26.]

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

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Tags Adam and Eve, blame, Egypt, Moses, sin