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Peter DeHaan News

News: Book Summaries Have Been Added to ABibleADay.com

Summaries of all 66 books of the Bible have been completed and are now available online at ABibleADay.com.

Now the focus shifts to expanding the already growing terms section of the website.

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.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

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.

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Personal Posts

Springtime Flowers

I’m so excited; my first outdoor flowers are in bloom—primrose.

Seeing my yard’s first flower of the year and with daytime temps finally in the 60s and 70s, I know that spring is actually here—not because the calendar says so, but it actually looks and feels like spring!

However, the primrose shouldn’t be my first flowers, the daffodils should have beaten them, but once again they let me down. 

You can see their anemic stems in the photo below that they are not going to amount to anything this year—again.

At one time, my daffodils were a lush and inviting row of springtime yellow. Then I thinned them because they were getting too crowded, and they’ve never done anything since—except produce wimpy little stems.

In my yard, I’ve been working on ensuring that during the growing season there will always be something blooming. That vision, however, is easier to see than to realize.

First, I found that some things don’t bloom for as long as advertised by the nursery. 

Then, when I was finally getting close to my goal, my growing trees were producing enough extra shade that the light conditions changed sufficiently so that many plantings were no longer in their optimal spots.

flowers-in-my-yard

This year I will be moving things around in an effort to coax them into producing their rainbows of color. I will keep you posted.

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.

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Peter DeHaan News

News: Minor Prophets Section Added to ABibleADay.com

Summaries for all the Prophets of the Old Testament are now available on-line at ABibleADay.com.

Learn more about all twelve of the Bible’s Minor Prophets in Peter’s book, Return to Me: 40 Prophetic Teachings about Unfaithfulness, Punishment, and Hope from the Minor Prophets

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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Peter DeHaan News

News: Summaries for the Bible’s Historical Books Added to ABibleADay.com

Summaries for all the historical books of the Old Testament are finished and now available on-line at ABibleADay.com.

Next, I will work on completing summaries for the rest of the prophetic books of the Old Testament.

Thank you

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.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

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.

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Personal Posts

Celebrating St Patrick

Let’s play word association.  I say “St Patrick” and you might say “March 17,” “shamrock” (three leaf clovers), “Ireland,” “leprechaun,” or “adult beverages” with a green hue. To be cute, you might even answer with an Irish brogue.

Just like Christmas and Easter, St. Patrick’s Day is a celebration of religious origin, of which the original meaning has been largely obscured over time and altered by rampant commercialization. 

While the meaning of Christmas and Easter is not so completely hidden, the work and person of Patrick is largely unknown.

Let’s clear up some misconceptions. First, Patrick is not really a Saint (that is, not canonized by Rome). He was not Irish (he was English). And the whole thing about ridding Ireland of snakes is most assuredly mere myth.

Patrick did go to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He strategically targeted those in power for conversion, which had a ripple effect throughout the entire population. 

For up to 30 years, he traveled Ireland, promoting Christianity and setting up churches and monasteries. His impact was immense and profound.

It is believed he died on March 17, hence marking the day that we commemorate his life of service and accomplishment—largely by celebrating the myth that surrounds him.

Happy St. Patrick’s 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.

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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Personal Posts

My Favorite Pen

I don’t know if you’re like me, but I have a favorite pen. And I am quite attached to her.

Although I have a couple dozen in my desk drawer, I only have one on my desk—my favorite—her.

I know that you’re not supposed to have favorites, because it can really mess up the other pens and make them feel inferior. But the way I look at it, that’s okay, because they are!

My pen and I have been together for several years, now. I picked her up at a trade show booth. Her label reminds me of where she came from.

As pens go, though, she’s a bit odd. Her barrel is not round as with most, but triangular. Perhaps it’s her uniqueness that draws me to her.

A while back, she ran out of ink. I did what I had to in order to save her—I performed a transplant. Soon she was as good as new.

Last Thursday, the unthinkable happened.

She disappeared. I held her as I lay down a book and the next thing I knew, she was gone. This had never happened before. As soon as I realized it, I immediately stopped work and searched in vain.

I retraced my steps and looked in every conceivable hiding place—two or three times. I kept thinking that when I found her, I would remember leaving her there. But that was not to be.

Eventually I had to accept that she was gone. I pulled a replacement out of the drawer, but it wasn’t the same; it wasn’t her. Each time I went to write, I was painfully reminded of my loss.

Then today, a surprise of surprises happened. Sitting at my desk, I reached for a pen—and it was her. She came back. I didn’t ask where she’d been or what she’d done.

I was just glad to see her again and accepted her back without question.

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.

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Peter DeHaan News

News: Summary of New Testament Books Complete at ABibleADay.com

Summaries for all 27 New Testament books are finished and now available on-line at ABibleADay.com.

Next, I will work on completing summaries for the rest of the books in the Old Testament.

Thank you

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.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

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.

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Peter DeHaan News

News: New content on ABibleADay.com

More information is added to the ABibleADay.com website each week.

In addition to more terms, summaries for many books of the Bible have been added, including all of Paul’s epistles. Overviews are now available for:

The remaining books of the New Testament will be added within the next week or so.

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.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

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.

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Personal Posts

How Many People Does it Take to Install a Printer?

As I mentioned on Valentines Day, I bought my bride a printer to express my deep and abiding love. That’s quite romantic of me, but I can’t help it; that’s just the way I am.

I actually hooked up the printer early—I had plenty else planned for V-Day itself.

My intent was to get up early Saturday morning and have a working printer before she ventured out of the bedroom.

How hard could it be to hook up a printer? Unbox it, connect the cables, turn it on, and boot the computer. Just “plug and play.” I’ve hooked up printers many times before—in a couple of minutes. 

Yet this effort took more than three hours. I was not a happy camper.

The install was anything but straight-forward. Twice I was prompted for the install disk, I had to download several updates, and then there were “dueling windows” to contend with. My quandary was which one to do first. 

Was it more important to “reboot now,” click “OK to continue,” or allow the update file to continue downloading?

Then there was way too much time wasted on installing the ink cartridges. My unit’s insides simply did not match the picture. I pushed, prodded, and probed, but could not ascertain were to insert the messy little contraptions. 

Eventually I determined that the carriage that holds the buggers was hidden under a panel on the far left of the unit, when it was supposed to be in plain sight on the far right.

Never mind that the instructions and diagram failed to even hint at the possibility of this annoying anomaly.

However, way before the test sheet printed, my bride appeared. She was a bit dismayed, unsure of what she should do or say—all the while sensing that anything would be the wrong thing. 

Frustrated and flummoxed, I was certainly not in the proper frame of mind to romantically convey my true love for her with words of eloquence or a clever printout of a red heart.

Once again, my efforts at romance failed—this time, stymied by an obstinate printer.

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.

Categories
Peter DeHaan News

News: A “Terms” Section Has Been Added to ABibleADay.com

As content is added to the ABibleADay.com site, some of it may contain words and terms that not familiar to everyone, especially those new to the Bible.

Therefore, a section of terms has been added. It’s a bit small right now, but it will grow, especially if you make suggestions for what you would like to see defined.

Check out the list of the terms that are currently defined.

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.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

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.