Greek Orthodox sits fourth on my mental list of churches to visit. Like Anglican Catholic, I’ve never talked to anyone who went to a Greek Orthodox church.
Historically, I understand they split from the Roman Catholic Church about a thousand years ago.
Consider these three discussion questions about Church 75.
1. What little I know about Greek Orthodox practices comes from what I’ve seen in movies and television. This is hardly an ideal source of information.
In what ways does the media incorrectly shape our views of spiritual practices we don’t know?
2. Inertia keeps me from visiting a nearby Greek Orthodox church. An element of fear over the unknown also conspires to keep me away.
How might inertia or fear hold us back from what God wants to teach us?
3. A degree of church-visiting fatigue keeps me stagnant. Similar issues may keep others home on Sunday and thwart them from finding a faith community to plug into.
Are we part of a supportive faith community? If not, what should change?
Get your copy ofMore Than 52 Churches today, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
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.
Discover More Psalms in the Bible from Exodus through to Revelation
Paul writes to the church in Colossae that they are to teach and admonish one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in their heart to the Lord (Colossians 3:16).
He writes a similar sentiment to the church in Ephesus: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18–19).
The book of Psalms feels like an ideal place to start this quest.
Some people think of the Psalms as a collection of Hebrew poems. I like that. Others call it a prayer journal. I like this perspective too. Just as our prayers cover a range of styles and emotions, so do the Psalms.
We can have Psalms (and prayers) of praise, lament, thanksgiving, and so forth. Some Psalms burst forth as a corporate hymn, while others seep out slowly as a personal prayer of anguish.
Whatever our mood or perspective there’s likely a psalm that captures our emotion and our heart. It’s no wonder, then, that people over the centuries have so treasured the Psalms.
The range of content addressed by the Psalms covers a wide array of themes.
Bible scholars attempt to classify the Psalms by topic, but there’s little agreement in their groupings. The labels they use include hymns, laments, thanksgiving, praise, compassion, liturgy, prophecy, petition, and so on.
The Bible’s Other Psalms
Yet not all the Bible’s psalms reside in the book of Psalms. Other psalms occur throughout Scripture from Exodus to Revelation. This book collects these randomly located passages to make it easy to find them and to immerse ourselves in them.
Compiling this list of these other psalms scattered throughout Scripture has been a time-consuming yet stimulating task. To create this list, I looked for passages of song and poetry that provided personal or community prayer and worship.
This book contains those passages, with sixty-seven more biblical psalms for us to contemplate, commiserate, or celebrate. As we do, may God receive our attention and adoration.
Some of these psalms appear in paragraph form instead of as poetry. This is because of the translation used, not because these passages aren’t biblical poetry. Regardless of the format, embrace each one as a psalm.
Given that Psalm 151 is in the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew, used in Jesus’s day), we’ll start our numbering of these other psalms at 152. This is for convenience and structure, nothing more.
Explore the other psalms—sacred songs of praise, petition, and lament—scattered throughout the Bible in Peter’s book Beyond Psalm 150.
[In exploring these other psalms scattered throughout the Bible, we’ll use the World English Bible (WEB) as our text. It’s based on the revered American Standard Version of 1901 and updated for today’s readers.
Notable in the WEB is the use of the Hebrew name Yahweh (or sometimes just Yah) instead of Lord or Jehovah. It adds a sense of awe, connecting us today with our faith’s Hebrew heritage.]
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.
While I can’t definitively answer this question about prostitutes, the Bible does give a clear indication—and the answer may surprise you.
Through the prophet Hosea, God says: “I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution…because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—a people without understanding will come to ruin!”
In economic terms, there needs to be both supply and demand for a “market” to exist. This applies to prostitution. Although both society and law enforcement tend to focus on the “supply” side of the prostitution equation, God’s focus seems to be on the “demand” side.
In God’s book, it’s the guys who are at fault and the guys who will come to ruin over prostitution. While sexual purity is a reoccurring theme in the Bible, in this case the ladies are offered mercy, but not so much for the guys.
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.
Focus verse: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Farmers who grow grapes and fruit know a truth that seems counterintuitive to everyone else. An unpruned vine or tree doesn’t produce much fruit, if any.
To the uninformed, it seems backward. Logic suggests that the more branches, the more fruit. But this isn’t the case.
Though a vine or fruit tree may have many branches loaded with flowers, too many blossoms produce small and undesirable fruit, which are worthless for sale and of little use.
In extreme cases it produces no fruit. This is because the plant divides its sustenance between all the branches and flowers. If it has too many blossoms, none of the blooms receive enough nourishment to thrive. As a result, the harvest disappoints.
Given this, wise farmers prune their grapes and fruit trees with care. With practiced skill, they cut off the weak branches, the damaged limbs, and the competing boughs so that the remaining healthy ones can thrive and produce much fruit.
So it is with us and Jesus.
This word picture of vine and branches helps us better understand our Messiah. He is the vine (such as a grapevine or a fruit tree), and we are the branches.
In this, Jesus is the source of our nourishment. He’s the giver of life. He is the means of our support, our sustenance, and our existence. Without him we are nothing and can do nothing.
For us, as branches, we completely depend on him. We can produce fruit only through him. Just as farmers trim fruit trees and grapevines to produce more fruit, so too, God prunes us to be more productive for him.
A more sobering thought is cutting off unproductive branches from the vine. What a horrifying image, to have our life severed from Jesus. Yet, even if our unproductive nature has separated us from Jesus, we have hope.
Paul mentions branches grafted—that is, reattached—back onto the tree. The grafted branch can again receive life-giving sustenance and survive.
Later in John, Jesus reminds us that he loves us, chooses us, and appoints us to bear fruit for him. Take comfort in this and go produce fruit.
Questions:
What fruit are you producing?
Is your attention divided between too many things? What can you eliminate so you can produce more fruit?
How open are you to Jesus pruning you to produce more?
What must you change to make sure you’re getting your nourishment from him?
If you ever feel lopped off from the vine, do you believe Jesus can graft you back?
Discover more about grafted branches in Romans 11:11–24. What insights can you glean from this passage?
Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.
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.
Focus verse: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
Farmers who grow grapes and fruit know a truth that seems counterintuitive to everyone else. An unpruned vine or tree doesn’t produce much fruit, if any. To the uninformed, it seems backward. Logic suggests that the more branches, the more fruit. But this isn’t the case.
Though a vine or fruit tree may have many branches loaded with flowers, too many blossoms produce small and undesirable fruit, which are worthless for sale and of little use.
In extreme cases it produces no fruit. This is because the plant divides its sustenance between all the branches and flowers. If it has too many blossoms, none of the blooms receive enough nourishment to thrive. As a result, the harvest disappoints.
Given this, wise farmers prune their grapes and fruit trees with care. With practiced skill, they cut off the weak branches, the damaged limbs, and the competing boughs so that the remaining healthy ones can thrive and produce much fruit.
So it is with us and Jesus.
This word picture of vine and branches helps us better understand our Messiah. He is the vine (such as a grapevine or a fruit tree), and we are the branches.
In this, Jesus is the source of our nourishment. He’s the giver of life. He is the means of our support, our sustenance, and our existence. Without him we are nothing and can do nothing.
For us, as branches, we completely depend on him. We can produce fruit only through him. Just as farmers trim fruit trees and grapevines to produce more fruit, so too, God prunes us to be more productive for him.
A more sobering thought is cutting off unproductive branches from the vine. What a horrifying image, to have our life severed from Jesus. Yet, even if our unproductive nature has separated us from Jesus, we have hope.
Paul mentions branches grafted—that is, reattached—back onto the tree. The grafted branch can again receive life-giving sustenance and survive.
Later in John, Jesus reminds us that he loves us, chooses us, and appoints us to bear fruit for him. Take comfort in this and go produce fruit.
Questions:
What fruit are you producing?
Is your attention divided between too many things? What can you eliminate so you can produce more fruit?
How open are you to Jesus pruning you to produce more?
What must you change to make sure you’re getting your nourishment from him?
If you ever feel lopped off from the vine, do you believe Jesus can graft you back?
Discover more about grafted branches in Romans 11:11–24. What insights can you glean from this passage?
Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.
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.
May Our Life Honor God and Be an Example to Others
Integrity is largely missing in our world today. It looms as an out-of-date concept. Many even mock it as restrictive, limiting our desire to act however we want.
Integrity is an unwavering adherence to moral principles and ethical behavior. It’s being honest. It’s sound moral character.
Given this definition, don’t we want to deal with people of integrity? Certainly we expect the companies we do business with to act with integrity. But many do not.
Don’t we want our friends—especially our closest ones—to be people of integrity? And we desire that our family and loved ones will live lives of integrity.
Yet we must wonder if we act with the same integrity that we expect from others.
Integrity is also biblical.
Consider Job
In the Bible we see Job as a man of integrity. Even Satan, Job’s accuser, views him as a man of integrity (Job 2:3). So does Job’s wife (Job 2:9). And even Job himself (Job 27:5). In the end, God rewards him for it.
Other People in the Bible
The Old Testament says that David leads the people with integrity (Psalm 78:72). And Hananiah is a trustworthy man of integrity (Nehemiah 7:2).
Paul self identifies as a man of integrity (2 Corinthians 1:12). And he encourages Titus to do the same (Titus 2:7-8).
Lessons from Proverbs
The book of proverbs also covers this topic.
If we walk in integrity, we will walk securely (Proverbs 10:9).
Last, the bloodthirsty—implicitly evil people—will hate those with integrity (Proverbs 29:10).
Leadership
In Paul’s instructions to Timothy, he teaches his protegee to appoint leaders in the area. They must be people of integrity (1 Timothy 3:8), just as we expect from all our church leaders and spiritual mentors.
The Integrity of Jesus
Most importantly, we see throughout the four biographies of Jesus that he is a man of integrity.
Even Jesus’s detractors confirm this (Matthew 22:16 and Mark 12:14). Though their words may be disingenuous, complimenting him to catch him off guard, we realize they acknowledge an underlying truth that even they’re aware of.
Jesus’s life serves as an example for us to emulate, the best model we could follow. As we seek to be like Jesus, we will be people of integrity.
And as people of integrity, we will honor him, be an example to others, and serve as a witness to the world. And our actions will speak more powerfully than our words.
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.
For several years I’ve used a blogging schedule to guide what I post and when. Though this helps me greatly, I’ve never shared this information, so it doesn’t help you, the people who read my posts,
Here are the topics covered in my blog posting schedule:
Use the above links to follow your preferred posts, or just read them all.
Thank you
Bogged Down Reading the Bible?
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.
My final consideration is Greek Orthodox. They appear fourth on my mental list of churches to visit. Like Anglican Catholic, I’ve never talked to anyone who was Greek Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox.
Historically, I understand they split from the Roman Catholic Church about a thousand years ago.
What little I know—accurate or not—comes from what I’ve seen in movies and television. This is hardly an ideal source of information of what it means to be Greek Orthodox and how their worship of God unfolds.
Visiting them could be another high church experience, which I could contrast to Roman Catholic and Anglican Catholic.
A Greek Orthodox church is about thirty minutes away. Yet inertia keeps me from visiting.
In truth, I suspect an element of fear also conspires to keep me away, not that I haven’t had to deal with my share of fear in visiting many of the other churches.
But now, a certain degree of church-visiting fatigue contrives to make me unsure and keep me away.
This isn’t their issue, it’s mine.
Given this, I wonder how many other people have similar concerns that keep them home on Sunday and thwart them from visiting churches, one of which could turn out to be a great faith community for them to plug into.
Get your copy ofMore Than 52 Churches today, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.
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.
We Should Do What Jesus Commands and Push Secondary Pursuits Aside
Jesus wants us to be his disciples. Each of the biographies of Jesus mention this. To be his disciple means to set all else aside and follow him (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, and Luke 14:26–33).
As his disciples he expects us to produce fruit, that is to help other people become disciples too (John 15:8). It’s clear. We need to make disciples.
Matthew’s biography of Jesus records his final instructions to his followers before he returns to heaven. Jesus tells his followers to go everywhere and make disciples (Matthew 28:18–20, which some call the Great Commission).
He doesn’t say he wants them to go and make converts. He wants disciples. Though believing in God is the first step, it’s not enough. Jesus wants more. He wants followers who go all in for him.
Much of today’s church has missed this call for discipleship. Instead they focus on conversions, such as praying a prayer, being baptized, or making a public declaration of belief in Jesus.
But this is just the first step on a lifelong journey of faith, a journey into discipleship.
Jesus commands us to make disciples, yet few churches do this on a corporate level. And few people do this on a personal level.
When a person says “yes” to Jesus, that’s wonderful news and the angels celebrate (Luke 15:10). Yet too many churches then abandon those new believers and leave them to flounder (Luke 8:11–15).
Instead they should invest in that person and help them become a disciple of Jesus, just as he commanded. Then that person can go out and make another disciple.
If we all made disciples—just as Jesus instructed—there would be many more people following him and the world would be a much better place.
Jesus told us to go out and make disciples. We need to take this command seriously and obey it. We can start today.
Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.
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.
Isaiah Talks about Peace More Than Any Other Book in the Bible
Isaiah talks a lot about peace, mentioning it more than any other book in Scripture. One-tenth of the Bible’s references to peace occur in this one book. That’s a lot of peace in one place. And God is the source of this peace, peace like a river.
Isaiah’s most notable mention about peace concerns Jesus, declaring that he will be the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6–7). This passage opens with the familiar line, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (KJV).
This Son (of God) will rule over us and his peace-filled reign will last forever.
Most of Isaiah’s passages about peace look forward to a time of future peacefulness. He talks about resting in peace, enjoying perfect peace, and living in peace.
God calls his people to make peace with him. And he promises that peace will be the outcome of righteous living. Death for God’s people will usher us into eternal peace.
God will create peace for his people. And we are to proclaim peace as we promote the good news of God’s salvation (Isaiah 52:7). It’s a beautiful thing.
An oft-quoted one-liner about peace is God saying, “There’s no peace for the wicked” (Isaiah 52:7 and Isaiah 57:21, NIV). Isaiah writes this twice, so we’d better not miss it.
Peace Like a River
And last, but significant, Isaiah writes, “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river” (Isaiah 48:18, NIV).
This is one of two verses about peace like a river (the other is Isaiah 66:12), which inspired a classic hymn “It Is Well with My Soul” (sometimes called “When Peace Like a River”).
It praises God for the amazing peace he provides. And let’s not forget about the more contemporary chorus, “I’ve Got Peace like a River.”
We can find true peace from God here on earth now, and after that we’ll enjoy peace with him forever.
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.
