Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption By Katie Davis, with Beth Clark (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)From all appearances, Katie Davis was a typical all-American high school student: homecoming queen, class president, lots of friends, and frequent trips to the mall, a loving boyfriend, cool convertible, and doting parents who would do […]
One of Jesus’ disciples was Simon, who Jesus renamed Peter. According to the Amplified Bible, Peter means “stone” or “a large piece of rock.” Sometimes the Bible refers to him as Simon (47 times) and other times Simon Peter (33 times) but mostly just Peter (139 times). Peter was the first leader of Jesus’ followers, […]
Go To Church, Change the World: Christian Community as Calling By Gerald J. Mast (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Despite a trend to the contrary, the premise of Gerald Mast’s book Go To Church, Change the World is that church involvement is not a tradition to throw aside, but a practice to embrace. With a calling to […]
Kingdom Journeys: Rediscovering the Lost Spiritual Discipline By Seth Barnes (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Seth Barnes begins Kingdom Journeys by relating one of his own—a journey both physical and spiritual—one he first took as a 20-something college graduate. It resulted from restlessness, an inner desire to do something that mattered. It bubbled up inside. He needed […]
We live in a fast-paced world. It seems there are always ten things to do at once—and at least two are urgent. So we plan and schedule in an attempt to fit (most) everything in. It’s easy to approach God that way when we pray and read the Bible: plan and schedule, squeeze it in, […]
One of the 10 commandments is “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” Other translations of the Bible state this passage as “do not give false testimony” or more simply, ”do not tell lies about others.” We typically think of this as a command to not perjure ourselves, that is to not give false or misleading […]
In the accounts of Jesus’ life, there’s a curious exchange he has with the religious leaders. Although he has many such interactions, this is perhaps the most perplexing. He tells them healthy people don’t need a doctor. True. Then he makes a parallel assertion that his purpose isn’t to help good people (the “righteous”) but […]
There are two approaches to take when reading the Bible: quantity and quality. Quantity In the past I’ve read the entire Bible through in a year, many times. Other times I’ve opted to read the Old Testament in a year and many more times, the New Testament in a year. The pace is a bit […]
Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America By Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Divided by Faith investigates race relations between whites and blacks in the United States. Although white evangelicals have a well-intentioned desire to end racial inequality, their efforts can—and have—unwittingly serve to do more […]
In Matthew’s biography of Jesus, he repeats one phrase three times: “When Jesus had finished saying these things…” From this we can list three responses to Jesus. This phrase signals a transition in the story. Jesus spoke to the people and afterward the people respond: Today people’s reactions to Jesus occur in the same three […]