Biblical Christianity from Peter DeHaan

The Long Term Problems with China’s One-Child Policy

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 4, 2012

In my family, there are a lot of two-children families. My bride and I both came from two-children homes. We have two children ourselves and both of our kids’ spouses hail from two-children families. Plus, my sister has two children.

So my mom has two children and four grandchildren. If the trend continues, she will have eight great-grandchildren.

Contrast this with China’s one-child policy, which has been in place since 1979 (33 years). A child born in China today will be the only child of two parents and the only grandchild of four grandparents.

If the trend continues, he or she will eventually be the only great-grandchild of eight great grandparents. This child will also have no uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, or nephews.

While this may be an effective means to curb population growth, it has two most negative outcomes:

First, a Chinese child will be the only child of two parents and four grandparents. That means that six people are placing their sole generational focus—good or bad—on that lone child.

There will be a tendency to spoil their only child and grandchild.

And there will be tremendous pressure placed on that child to do well, succeed, get married—and have his or her, one child. That’s a lot of pressure to put on one kid.

In addition, all these overly indulged, “only-child” kids, being the center of their family’s attention, will most likely be narcissistic and selfish.

Second, a Chinese child will be the only grandchild to care for four aging grandparents and later the only child to care for two aging parents.

There will be no siblings or cousins to share these duties. That’s a lot of responsibility to place on one child.

In societies with no procreation limits, parents rightly make their own decisions on the number of offspring, be it ten, two, one, or even none.

That is good and right, but when a whole society is forced to limit themselves to one, the ramifications are significant.

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.

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.

Tags family, Sacred-Secular Divide

Christian Living

What Do You Think of The Spiritual Realm?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 1, 2012

A friend of mine once startled me by saying, “Sometimes I think the spiritual realm is more real than the physical realm.”

That gave me a start, but I understand what he meant—and yearn to understand it more fully.

It’s been said that “we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body.” That suggests that our body, while temporal, will be outlasted by our spirit.

Implicitly then our spirit is more important than our body and, going to the next step, more real.

While we can only begin to vaguely comprehend the spiritual realm, I do believe it is real—and more real and more important than this tangible, physical realm, which sees me typing these words into my computer, to be posted on a blog, for you to read.

There is a physical realm and a spiritual realm. Right now I am residing in both, though mostly in the physical. One day I expect to transition fully and completely into the spiritual realm.

That is what we commonly call death, but I call eternal life.

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Tags spiritual realm

Christian Living

Watch Your Language

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 25, 2012

Avoiding Christianese

I once shared a story with a new friend and fellow followers of Jesus about a young boy praying for his teacher. My friend was perplexed and silent for a moment.

Finally, she stammered out an explanation, ”I’ve never prayed for people before.” I didn’t know how to take this.

Did she mean to say that she never offered prayers on behalf of others? Was this a foreign concept to her? Did she have a theological aversion to intercession? Aside from liturgical prayers uttered at church, did she not pray?

To make sure that we aren’t misunderstood, we need to choose our words carefully

Or perhaps it was my words that threw her off. If instead of saying “prayed for…,” what if I had said “asked God to bless…” or “requested that God watch over…?” Would alternate phrasing have removed the confusion?

Recently, the MC at an event randomly picked an audience member to participate in the show and was making the requisite small talk. The person was attending with a group of ministers and said he was “waiting for a call.”

I knew what he meant, but the host was perplexed. Even the guest’s explanation left his interrogator confused.

When we move in tight spiritual circles, we are bound to fall into using phrases and terminology that make complete sense to our friends but leave those on the outside confused and perplexed.

To make sure that we aren’t misunderstood, we need to choose our words carefully so that our efforts to communication are not thwarted. We need to watch our language.

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Tags prayer, religious language

Personal Posts

What Happened to Spring?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 21, 2012

Yesterday was the first day of spring—and the temperature hit a record-breaking 86 F. The average high for this time of year is 48.

That’s an astounding in 38-degree difference. And today, the high temps pushed 90.

Interestingly, the average high temperature for us in three months, the first day of summer, is only 84 degrees. That implies that our seasonal temperatures are about three months ahead of schedule.

Now if this difference continues and the high for the first day of summer is also 38 degrees above the average, that would put it at a sweltering 122 degrees.

While I don’t think that will actually happen, I do suspect we are in for a hot summer this year.

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 Sacred-Secular Divide, weather

Christian Living

A Missed Opportunity to Help

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 18, 2012

Last week I attended a convention and gave a couple of presentations. Traveling is not an adventure I enjoy; instead, it is a duty I endure.

Knowing this—and that self-focus is not God-honoring or kingdom advancing—I asked God for opportunities to interact with and help others during my trip.

This did indeed happen, especially after my presentations, but there was one opportunity I think I missed.

While staying at hotels, I always try to be nice to the staff who work behind the scenes, the employees who most guests tend to overlook, ignore, or see through.

The maids at this hotel were always smiling and seemed happy, yet meaningful communication with them was hard, as it didn’t seem they knew much English and—save for a few common words—I know no Spanish.

While English words were spoken between us, the dialogue often didn’t make sense.

I greeted one of the maids while awaiting the elevator and attempted to communicate, but it was as if she had merely been taught to phonetically say “good morning” and “have a nice day.”

I imagined myself giving her $20 and smiled at the absurdity of it as I stepped onto the elevator.

While God has directed me to give money to people in the past, it had never been like this, evasive and non-specific. Yet as I traveled downward, I began to wonder if I had indeed heard from God.

I briefly considered returning to the ninth floor and giving her a twenty-dollar bill.

I could say, “I think God wants me to bless you with this” or, “I think God told me you need some money,” but if my words made no sense to her, she would be left to her own imagination to decipher the meaning of my gift.

She could very easily have reached the wrong conclusion. I shuddered at the thought of other men, with less than admirable intentions, having handed her cash in the past, not giving a gift, but expecting something in exchange.

It wasn’t until I returned home that I realized what I could have done.

I could have gone to the front desk and requested an envelope, put the money inside and her name on the outside asked the manager to make sure she received it and given him the explanation.

I hope next time I will realize this right away, so I don’t have another missed opportunity.

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Tags give

Personal Posts

Dealing with the Daylight Savings Time and Jet Lag the Same Weekend

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 15, 2012

I’ve never been a fan of our twice-annual time change, in and out of daylight savings time. My perspective is to pick a time and stick with it.

This is in part because of the hassle of resetting clocks, but also because it takes my body about a week to fully adjust.

I also struggle with jet lag after traveling. That, too, takes a few days for my body to recover.

This past weekend, I was able to experience both, the switch to daylight savings time Sunday morning and an airplane flight, spanning two time zones, Sunday afternoon.

I think that the first partially offset the second. But then there was the return trip, from which I am in recovery from the jet lag.

Even so, dealing with the adjustment to daylight savings time simultaneously with jet lag, is better than dealing with them on separate occasions.

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 Sacred-Secular Divide, travel

Christian Living

Are You a Disciple or Believer?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 11, 2012

Those who follow Jesus used to be called “disciples” but that term has fallen out of favor. Now the common label is “believer.”

It is easy to believe; it takes a lot more to be a disciple.

To believe is essentially a one-time act, a singular decision made at one point along life’s path. To be a disciple is a continuing commitment, an ongoing determination to steadfastly follow Jesus.

Although believing in Jesus is a great place to start—and the requisite beginning—merely believing isn’t enough. James notes that even the demons believe.

Jesus wants more and deserves more. He desires that all will believe, but once we believe he wants us to become his disciples: fully committed, totally dedicated, and steadfastly pursuing him throughout our entire life.

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Tags believer, disciples, follower of Jesus, Jesus

Bible Insights

When Good Things Result From Bad

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 6, 2012

In my prior post about Joseph, we saw that Joseph’s audacious sharing of his dreams was likely the catalyst for his brothers’ selling him as a slave and then staging his death.

Joseph would have been better off to have kept his mouth shut.

However, had Joseph kept quiet, his brothers may not have sold him as a slave. Joseph would not have ended up in Egypt. He would not have interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream and been promoted to second in command.

He would not have been in a position to stockpile foodstuffs during the good years in preparation for the lean years to follow.

He would not have been distributing food when he’s hungry brothers came calling—and it would not have been him that they bowed down to.

This is an example of how God can work bad things out for good—which is something that he does for those who love him and are aligned with him.

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Tags Joseph

Christian Living

What is the Blessing of the Palms?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 4, 2012

Palm Sunday

An area church has invited other nearby churches to participate in a joint Palm Sunday service for the “Blessing of the Palms.”

That phrase in an unfamiliar one to me, but with millions of exact matches in an online search, it’s likely known to many within the Christian community.

If you are perplexed by this like I am, some quick research—Wikipedia notwithstanding—indicates that the “Blessing of the Palms” is a liturgy often used on Palm Sunday.

Whenever I encounter a church practice I see if I can connect it directly with what I find either prescribed or described in the Bible. This is not to imply that everything that lacks a direct biblical connection is wrong, but it is a reason to proceed carefully.

Though Palm Sunday is a remembrance directly related to Jesus’ celebratory procession into Jerusalem, just days before his execution (Good Friday) and resurrection (Easter), there is nary a biblical indication of any blessing being afforded to palm fronds.

Again, this is not a reason to disregard the practice, but it is a sign to carefully consider its relevance.

While, the “Blessing of the Palms” is a foreign idea to me, to others it is normative. This causes me to contemplate the opposite. How many practices that are normative to me, give others pause?

May we all carefully consider the things that comprise our faith practices, embracing the relevant and dismissing the rest.

Discover more about celebrating Jesus and his passion to save us in Peter’s new book, The Passion of Jesus. It is part of the Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series.

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Tags holiday, liturgy, Palm Sunday

Personal Posts

Could Spring be Right Around the Corner?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 2, 2012

Technically, the first day of spring will not be for a couple more weeks (this year on March 20—unless you live south of the Equator, then you have a much longer wait).

However, the seasons seldom line up with the calendar.

For me, the best sign of spring is when I see a robin for the first time. That happened today. Another typical sign of spring’s arrival is bulbs whose new growth begins to emerge from the ground.

Unfortunately, for me, that indicator is flawed this year, as my tulips got confused with a warm fall and actually began showing their greenery last October.

Bravely these early arrivals, with their one-inch stalks, stood guard all winter long, despite repeatedly being covered with snow. Though they are no longer a vibrant green, they did nonetheless maintain their general color all winter long.

And now, with warmer temps, they seem to be growing again.

It will be interesting to see if they have enough energy left to produce flowers later on, but nevertheless, they do assure me that spring is on its way.

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 nature, Sacred-Secular Divide, weather, yard