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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Sit, Walk, Stand, by Watchman Nee is a compilation of messages given by Nee, centering on the book of Ephesians.
It was first published in India in 1957 (five years after his false imprisonment), with the American version following two decades later in 1977 (five years after Nee’s death).
Like many of the epistles, Watchman Nee notes that Ephesians is presented to two parts: the doctrinal (Ephesians 1 through 3) and the practical (Ephesians 4 through 6).
He further subdivides the second section into two components, the first addressing life in the world (Ephesians 4:1 to 6:9), with the latter focusing on conflict with the devil (Ephesians 6:10 to 6:24).
The result is a trio of teachings that cover “our position in Christ,” “our life in the world,” and “our attitude toward the enemy.” Nee’s succinct one-word prescription for each—forming the title of his treatise—is that we are to “sit,” “walk,” and “stand.”
As expected, each of the book’s three chapters addresses one element of the title.
First, Nee notes that we receive the gifts we are given by God “not by walking, but by sitting,” “not by doing, but by resting in the Lord.” He then proceeds to offer a cogent illustration illuminating what it means to be in Christ.
Second is the verb walk. Nee teaches that this suggests “conduct or behavior,” as well as denoting forward “progress.”
He proceeds to instruct on the importance of offering our first fruits to God, then he swiftly segues into a lesson from Jesus’ parable of the ten virgins.
Last, Nee admonishes that “Every Christian must learn also to stand,” to “be prepared for conflict,” that is “wrestling with evil spirits.” He instructs that the phrase “stand against” can best be understood as to “hold your ground.”
The weapons for this warfare are purely defensive, adding that “in Christ we are already conquerors.”
Nee wraps up chapter three with “four essential features of a work to which God can fully commit himself,” and concludes by sharing an inspiring personal story, appropriately titled, “The God of Elijah.”
While Sit, Walk, Stand is built on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, it is not a verse by verse commentary, but rather a springboard, teaching on the book’s main themes. Although it is a short book (78 pages), it is not a quick read.
This is likely due to it being separated from us by both time and distance. Nevertheless, it is worth wading through for the truths it contains.
[Sit, Walk, Stand, by Watchman Nee. Published by Tyndale house Publishers, Inc, 1977, ISBN: 0-8423-5893-5, 78 pages.]
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.
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.
When Moses went up the mountain to get the 10 Commandments (the second time), God said “I will write on [the tablets] the words…“Imagine that, God providing written communication for Moses.
But it’s not just Moses, a few centuries later David said, “I have in writing from the hand of the Lord.. God wrote the instructions for David about building the temple, with all the details,” so there’d be no confusion.
Wouldn’t it be ”great if God would write things down for us?
Wait, he did—and we can read it every day.
As we approach a new year, I encourage you to read what God said every day. Consider it a New Year’s Resolution, one with eternal ramifications.
Check back next week for the 2013 Bible reading plans.
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.
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.
In Let Prayer Change Your Life Becky Tirabassi shares her prayer journey, chronicling her trek and the principles she learned along the way.
Her decision to spend an hour each day in prayer developed into a life-long practice that became an essential part of her life.
Her prayer is that readers will make a similar commitment.
Becky writes out her prayers and includes time for listening to God, where she receives “detailed directions for each day,” (p 44). “Prayer,” she adds, “is not a monologue…but a conversation with a God who hears,” (p 58).
As the chapters unfurl, Becky outlines her personal prayer process, relating her own stories of struggle and success, along with God’s blessing and provision.
She includes ample biblical support for what she advocates and generously sprinkles in the wise words of others as it relates to prayer and pursuing a vibrant relationship with God.
The process she practices and promotes will later result in prayer workbooks, notebooks, and journals, aiding others in following her lead.
However, the essential elements of her prayer plan are self-contained in Let Prayer Change Your Life.
Lest readers miss Becky’s goal in writing this book, she spells it out in the concluding pages, which is “to motivate and inspire every reader to plan on spending time with God,” (p 159).
For those who need structure to form and guide their time with God, Becky’s format will do just that. But that does not negate the value of this book for those who bristle at the thought of a fixed and regimented plan.
We don’t need to follow the principles Becky reveals verbatim, but we can use them as a general guideline for a significant, albeit non-structured, prayer journey, sans the journal and one-hour requirement.
Either way, let prayer change your life.
[The 1992 edition was read and reviewed. It had a somewhat dated look and feel to it. Subsequent versions may have addressed this. Also, although the book will likely resonate with the modern reader, it may not readily connect with a younger audience.]
Let Prayer Change Your Life, by Becky Tirabassi. Published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992, ISBN#: 0-7852-7721-8, 159 pages.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Craving dessert is a habit my wife, “The Queen of Desserts,” cultivated in me. She claims, however, my affection for sweets was well ingrained before we met.
When eating at home, I pace myself through the meal in expectation of a tasty treat at the end.
At restaurants, their oversize proportions and my training to clean up my plate leaves no room for my preferred conclusion to a meal. So I decline the dessert menu.
I’ve often joked that someday I’ll order dessert first. After all, if the world were to end halfway through my meal, I wouldn’t want to die with a stomach full of salad and empty of dessert.
But events require a proper order. You can’t receive a prize before you win the race. You can’t win the race before you run. And you can’t run before you start. Plus, if you’re wise, you won’t start before you practice.
This applies to most things in life. We want easy, but satisfaction takes time. We need to wait.
A common malady among aspiring writers is they want to have written but don’t want to write.
A frequent trap with spiritual seekers is they want the results without the journey.
We often desire reward but want to skip the requisite work.
While I like dessert, I know a diet of only sweets is unhealthy, unwise, and unsustainable. So I’m willing to eat my vegetables first.
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.
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.
The Protestant Bible contains 66 books, while the Catholic Bible adds seven more. I’ve read them all, seeing value in each one. But I like some more than others.
Here are my top ten books of the Bible:
1. Luke was a doctor and the only non-Jewish author in the New Testament. He writes as an outsider, more readily connecting with those on the outside.
Luke has a straightforward style, with compelling language. The book contains details not found in the other gospels and includes the oft-read Christmas story of Jesus.
2. Acts, also written by Dr Luke, continues where the book of Luke ended. Luke and Acts comprise a gripping two-book combination. Noteworthy in Acts is nearly 100 mentions of the Holy Spirit.
3. Daniel begins with six stories about Daniel and his three buddies. The last half contains four visions from God about the future.
4. Jude encourages believers to “contend for the faith” and contains warnings about ungodly people who have infiltrated the church.
5. James presents many practical teachings. Some misunderstand the book as setting aside faith in favor of good works, but this is not the case.
6. Genesis contains accounts of some colorful characters whose actions are sometimes hard to understand. Yet this is life: raw, perplexing, and occasionally, shocking.
7. Ruth is a captivating story of a widowed woman’s loyalty to her mother-in-law and the resulting reward for her devotion.
8. Esther is an intriguing story of obedience, duty, risk, and love.
9. Tobit is a supernatural epic adventure. It would make a great paranormal movie. Really.
10. Judith is the tale of a beautiful woman who daringly delivers her people from their enemies, using beauty and charm, all the while maintaining her virtue.
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.
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.
I’m an avid reader. I love books: to buy them, receive them, read them, and collect them. My common birthday and Christmas gift requests are for books.
I have four bookcases of them, full and overflowing, with another 100 stacked on the floor.
My overstuffed library is a dilemma. I need another bookshelf. This reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the farmer who had run out of room to store his crops.
His solution was to build more barns. He intended to cease working, live off his stockpile, and enjoy a life of leisure. His plans did not work out—he died that night.
This is a lesson against focusing on the wrong things, in this case greed instead of God.
Although my book-loving perspective is not on this same level of misplaced priorities, I do need to make sure my love for God is not superseded by the books he inspires.
I don’t really need another bookshelf. Perhaps it’s time to give some books away, so others can enjoy them too.
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.
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.
A Good and Perfect Gift: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny
By Amy Julia Becker (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)
How do we react in the presence of someone who is physically or mentally different from us? Do we accept them, ignore them, or retreat? Do we say the right things, the wrong things, or say nothing?
These are all issues that confronted Amy Julia Becker after she was informed her daughter Penny was not what she was expecting. Penny had Down syndrome.
In A Good and Perfect Gift, Amy Julia shares her story as she struggled to understand, accept, and finally embrace the gift God had given her in Penny.
Amy Julia writes with transparency and integrity as she honestly relates her questions and faith struggle—and later reveals insights and an enlightened comprehension of Down syndrome and what it means in the world today.
There are things Penny will never realize because she has Down syndrome, but there are also things—special and amazing things—she will exhibit and give, only because she has Down syndrome. To miss those would be to miss much.
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.
Last week we talked about Simon Peter, a guy with two names. Another man with two names is John Mark.
Unlike Abraham and Sarah who received new identities from God and Peter who got his second name from Jesus, the origin of John Mar’s two names seems to lack divine origin.
Perhaps his parents gave him one name at birth and his other label, a nickname bestowed by friends. Maybe he needed two names to avoid confusion with other guys named John and other dudes called Mark.
Regardless John Mark’s dual name does not seem to have any spiritual significance, but to simply be practical.
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.
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.
