Biblical Christianity from Peter DeHaan

Jesus Rends the Veil That Separates Us From God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 20, 2015

In the Old Testament, the people perceive the temple as God’s dwelling place here on earth. Therefore, to approach God they need to go to the temple. They worship God there and no place else.

The God in the Old Testament commands it.

In the temple hangs a thick, heavy veil (curtain) that separates the temple’s inner sanctum where God resides (the Holy of Holies) from the regular people, even most of the priests.

The only person who can enter it is one specially selected priest and then only once a year.

Jesus Dies to Change that

At the moment Jesus breathes his final breath the veil in the temple rips in two, symbolically allowing the people direct access to God, without the need for a priest to act as an intermediary.

Additionally the veil tears from top to bottom, from heaven to earth, to show that God initiates it.

This is Jesus’s doing, not man’s.

Now through faith in Jesus we may approach God directly, freely and with confidence. The veil is gone. We have no need for a middleman to act as our liaison to God.

Peter writes that we are now living stones. God actively builds us into a spiritual temple. We are to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices to him.

That is who we are through Jesus.

[Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45, 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, Ephesians 3:12, 1 Peter 2:5]

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.

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Tags temple, worship

Christian Living

Why Do I Love God and Hate Theology?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 18, 2015

A simple definition of theology is studying God. Since I love God so much and love reading about him in the Bible you’d think I’d love theology, too. Right? Well I don’t.

Learning about God and contemplating him through his word excites me. I look forward to it every day. Yet theology leaves me cold.

Start explaining the essential elements of a particular theological perspective and my eyes will glaze over. I’ll either get angry or yawn. Why is this?

Theologians Make God Boring

It’s understandable. Theologians are academics, and if anyone can squeeze the life out of something it’s academia.

While working on my PhD I took a class on C. S. Lewis. I was so excited—until I read the syllabus. Though we would read one book Lewis wrote, the majority of the class would focus on books other people wrote about Lewis.

Instead of reading Lewis we would read people who had read Lewis. While we could have studied Lewis firsthand, the professor inserted a degree of separation, and we studied Lewis secondhand.

Theologians do the same thing. They insert a degree of separation between us and God. While we can read God’s word directly, they effectively insert a middleman who interprets the Bible for us.

This made sense 500 years ago when no one had a copy of the Bible and most people couldn’t read anyway. But now we have our own copies of the Bible, and we can read it ourselves. So why do we need someone else to explain it? We don’t.

Yet I will go to church today and listen to someone explain the Bible.

Something’s wrong with this. It dates back to the middle ages when illiterate, uneducated people filled the pews. Things are different today. We can read and think for ourselves. We don’t need someone else to do it for us.

Why can’t we cut out the middleman and learn about God through his word, without a theologian or preacher who forces the Bible’s words to fit into a particular theological package?

I love God. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t stick my neck out to encourage everyone to remove all human filters and read about him firsthand.

Read the Bible. Cut out the middleman. Let’s start a revolution.

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Tags C. S. Lewis, church attendance, minister, read the Bible

Bible Insights

Love Is All That Matters

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 13, 2015

Love God and Love Others

In the Old Testament God gives hundreds of commands for his people to follow. We call this the Law or the Law of Moses (since God gives it to Moses to tell to the people).

But over time the people add more rules to it, some 20,000 more. They call this the Law, too.

That’s a lot of God’s commands and man’s rules to keep straight. In fact, it’s impossible to follow them all. I think that’s the point. Since we can’t possibly keep all of the rules, we need a different way. That way is Jesus.

Jesus’s detractors want to embarrass him. They ask a question, one they feel no one should be able to answer. Of these thousands of laws, they ask, which one is the most important?

Jesus is ready: Love God fully. Yep, that’s it. The greatest commandment is to love God.

Then Jesus tells them the second most important one: Love others as much as you love yourself.

Love God and love others. These provide the foundation of the entire Old Testament law.

Of course if Jesus’s inquisitors thought things through a bit, they’d realize Moses already answered this question. After Moses shares the Ten Commandments, he concludes by giving the people a reminder to love God fully.

Yes, we need to fully and totally love God; we need to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Love is the answer.

(Matthew 22:37-41, Deuteronomy 6:5)

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Tags love

Christian Living

Should We Recite the Lord’s Prayer?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 11, 2015
2 Comments on Should We Recite the Lord’s Prayer?

Last week I blogged about saying the Lord’s Prayer each Sunday in church as a kid and my apprehension for doing so. I cited my reason as the phrase “vain repetitions” (KJV) found in Jesus’s warning about how not to pray.

The NIV is more colorful in its rendering: “babbling like pagans.”

Though I didn’t get it as a kid, I now know that not all repetition need be in vain. I suppose that just as we can have vain repetition, we can likewise have worthwhile repetition.

So is repeating the Lord’s Prayer vain or worthwhile? I suppose that depends on the person doing the reciting. For some the repetition may be in vain and for others it may be worthwhile.

What I do know is that just a couple verses after Jesus warns against vain repetition and babbling like the pagans when we pray, he teaches us the Lord’s Prayer.

This gives me pause, for it seems like he tells us not to do something and then teaches us how to do what we’re not supposed to do. Is this another of the Bible’s paradoxes?

However, I don’t think Jesus intends us to recite his prayer. I suspect he gives it to us as a model to guide us, not a passage to memorize.

That’s what I use the Lord’s Prayer for, not a form to follow verbatim, but an example to steer my words when I communicate with God.

So, yes, I do use the Lord’s Prayer when I pray. I follow it as an outline to inform my prayers, not a refrain to repeat. For if I recite it verbatim, it would indeed become vain repetition—at least for me.

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Tags Lord’s Prayer, prayer

Bible Insights

All Things Are Possible With God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 6, 2015

Getting into Heaven is Impossible Without God

A rich man asks Jesus how to get to heaven. The man reels off a list of all he’s done, of all of God’s commands that he’s kept. He waits for Jesus to affirm him, but deep down he knows he still falls short. “What else must I do,” he asks?

Then Jesus hits him in the wallet. “Give all your money and possessions to the poor. Then follow me.”

The man walks away despondent. He’s not ready to put Jesus first in his life and follow him instead of relying on money.

Then Jesus explains to his disciples how hard it is for people who put their trust in money to make it into heaven. But it’s not just the rich people who are at risk.

Jesus adds more: getting into heaven is impossible if we try to do it on our own. The good news is that “with God, all things are possible.”

This is an indirect way to remind us that we can’t earn our salvation. It is a gift from God.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Matthew 17-19, and today’s post is on Matthew 19:26.]

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Tags follow Jesus, heaven, salvation

Christian Living

Should We Avoid Vain Repetition When We Pray?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 4, 2015
2 Comments on Should We Avoid Vain Repetition When We Pray?

Pray with Intension

As a kid I took seriously the warning in the Bible to avoid vain repetition when we pray. Even at a young age I knew that reciting a memorized prayer over and over did not impress God. In fact I suspected it sorely vexed him.

Given this I was highly critical of my church for spewing forth the Lord’s Prayer in rote unison each Sunday morning. I’d wag my head at their babbling.

Though I’d participate, I hoped God knew that in my heart I didn’t go along with their repetition.

Gee, don’t they read their Bible to know they’re not supposed to do this?

They so ingrained this habit in me that all someone needs to do is begin droning “Our Father…” and I’ll jump in without the slightest hesitation.

The church has programmed me to perpetuate their vain repetition—even though I know I’m supposed to avoid vain repetition .

So, then, it will surprise you to know that each morning I say the Prayer of Jabez:

“Oh, that You would bless me indeed,
and enlarge my territory,
that Your hand would be with me,
and that You would keep me from evil,
that I may not cause pain!” (NKJV)

But I don’t repeat this simple little prayer every morning because I think God needs to hear it again. With him, once is enough.

I say this prayer every morning because I need to hear it again. I need to remember what this prayer says and to consider ways that God has answered it in the past 24 hours—or what I may have done to thwart it.

Then when I have duly reminded myself, I add an addendum that often goes something like this: “Thank you God for hearing my prayer and answering it: in the past, in the present, and in the future.”

That’s a prayer worth repeating.

Consider is there’s value in saying the Lord’s Prayer or Prayer of Jabez. If your church recites the Lord’s Prayer in unison each week, what do you think about it?

[Matthew 6:7, 1 Chronicles 4:9-10]

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Tags pray, Prayer of Jabez

Bible Insights

Do Not Be Afraid

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 29, 2015

We Shouldn’t Be Scared When it Comes to God

Matthew writes about Jesus sending out his disciples to tell others about him. In the middle of his lengthy instructions, he simply reminds them, “Do not be afraid.”

That’s good to know. He is about to send them out by themselves to do something risky.

After all, people criticize Jesus; they will certainly criticize his followers, too.

The idea of not being afraid reoccurs often in the Bible, ninety three times. Seventy times the Bible says, “Do not be afraid,” and another twenty-three times it’s shortened to “Don’t be afraid.”

This occurs throughout the Old Testament, starting in Genesis. It continues in the New Testament in the Gospels and Acts, last popping up in Revelation.

Though sometimes this is God’s people telling others to not be afraid, usually it is God telling us. This may be during a supernatural encounter, before doing some hard task, or in the face of a humanly impossible assignment.

We need to not be afraid. And if we follow God, he is with us, and we have nothing to fear.

Of course, this is easier to think about than to actually do. But we can give our fears to God, trusting him to protect us, guide us, and keep us safe. God wants us to live by faith, not cower in fear.

Being bound by fear is only seeing today; being freed from fear is only seeing the eternal.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Matthew 8-10, and today’s post is on Matthew 10:31.]

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Tags faith, supernatural, trust

Christian Living

Why Do I Write on Sunday?

Be Intentional with Your Sunday Activities

Part of how I follow Jesus is to treat Sunday as different from other days. I spend time with other followers of him, both at church and apart from church. I worship him, hopefully in spirit and in truth.

I don’t work or do very little work, not with legalistic fervor but with the attitude that this day is a set apart day to focus on him. I rest and relax. I may spend time with family, go for a walk, read, do a crossword puzzle, or watch a movie. And I write.

For a long time I didn’t write on Sunday, not one word. Since I write for work—even though writing seldom feels like work—writing on Sunday seemed like I was laboring on my set-apart day. I didn’t want that.

But what if I directed my Sunday writing solely towards God? After my habit of writing five days a week, became six when I included Saturday, I later added Sunday, but just temporarily I thought.

It would be just for a season to work on a project about God.

Since I typically write in the morning, my Sunday writing time fell before church.

Soon I realized that writing about God on Sunday morning was my first worship of him for the day—and often my best. It served to center my thoughts on him, preparing me for a day set apart to focus on my Lord and Savior.

Some Sundays, writing was the highpoint of my day, not that my words were great, but that my time with God, as I wrote, was.

When my Sunday morning project ended, I didn’t want to say goodbye to my morning spent with God through writing. So I continued to write each Sunday morning, just as I do every other morning.

Sunday morning is when I write my blog posts for the week, a blog about God, the Bible, and his church. As I write, I focus on God and worship him. For me, that is what Sunday is for—and what he created me to do.

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Tags worship, writing

Christian Living

Are You a Comfort-Zone Christian?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 13, 2015

I recently heard someone call herself a “comfort-zone Christian.” Though I disagree with her self-diagnosis, I understand what she’s saying. Christians live their lives on different levels. Here are four to consider:

First, some people are closet Christians. They keep their faith secret and don’t discuss it with anyone. No one knows they’re a Christian; there’s no evidence to convict them.

I have no idea how many people fit this category because they stay in hiding. We only learn about them after they come out of their closet.

Then there are marginal Christians. If they need to, or when it’s convenient, they talk about God. But mostly they live a quiet life, a bland existence really, not truly living for God, just existing with him.

Next I suppose are comfort-zone Christians. Most everyone knows about their love for Jesus. They share their faith, encourage others, and live a life worthy of imitation. We look up to them. But there are limits.

They don’t take many risks. They want to stay safe and evade ridicule. They avoid dangerous places and skirt contentious situations. Comfort is their goal.

I’ll call the final category extreme Christians, as in extreme sports. They take risks for God. They do whatever the Holy Spirit tells them, regardless of how crazy or dangerous it sounds. They go places, do things, and say stuff that could get them in trouble.

It’s not that they pursue action for the sake of action, but they do have their Papa’s heart. They willingly follow him wherever he may take them.

Though I occasionally dip into the extreme, I admit I enjoy the comfort-zone too much. As for my friend, she’s more extreme than she realizes. May we all be more like her.

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Tags Christianity

Bible Insights

Can an Actionless Faith Save You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 8, 2015

Can an Actionless Faith Save You?

There are some people who try to earn their way into heaven. They do good and obey God’s commands—at least most of them anyway. They work hard their entire life to get God’s attention.

Surely when their time comes, God will throw open the doors to heaven.

With a wide smile and a gracious gesture he will say, “Well done good and faithful servant.” But he could say, “Go away, I don’t know you.” They’re really not sure. They hope they’ve been good enough, but doubt lingers.

Others laugh at this approach. They say you can’t earn your way into heaven. Eternal life is a gift, given in grace and received by faith. They say a little prayer and figure it’s all good. They have their get-out-of-hell card.

Since heaven is a present, they continue living a life unchanged. They set God aside and live for themselves.

Is faith alone enough to save them? Maybe it is and maybe it’s not. James writes that it’s through our actions—that is, our good deeds—that we confirm our faith.

Yes, we are saved by God’s grace through our faith, but then we prove it by showing his love to others through our actions.

We need to have faith and then we need to do good deeds. Both are required.

[Matthew 25:19-23, Matthew 25:12, Ephesians 2:8, Romans 6:1-2, James 2:14-17]

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Tags doubt, faith, grace, heaven, hell