In the post “Hear God” we looked at Jesus’ instruction to “hear the word of God and obey it.” “Hear the word of God” is usually understood to mean “read the Bible,” but it might be more correct to comprehend it as meaning “listen to the Holy Spirit.” Regardless, the concluding part, to “obey,” is […]
I’ve blogged about squirrels in my yard, which I see on a daily basis and rabbits in my yard, which I see almost as often. This is not the case with raccoons. I’ve never seen a raccoon near my house, at least not until a couple weeks ago. I was outside as dawn was peaking forth, setting the lawn […]
Once when Jesus was wrapping up a teaching, he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” What exactly does he mean? Hear God from the Bible In our culture, we often consider “the word of God” to mean the Bible. So the common understanding is we need to […]
I believe God lives outside of the space-time he created. Therefore, he isn’t limited by time—as we are—so our prayers need not be bounded by time, either. This allows me to pray for things after the fact; the timing of when I pray is not as critical as the fact that I did pray, at […]
By Bob Hostetler (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Set in present-day Israel, Bob Hostetler’s The Bone Box relates the story of Rand Bullock, a down and out archeologist whose life is a mess: widowed, estranged from his only daughter, a career in shambles, and seeking solace through alcohol. Yet in the midst of this, he is […]
The Kalamazoo Christian Writers critique group holds the first meeting and generates excitement. July 19, 2012—Peter DeHaan and Jerry Barrett have started a writers critique group, Kalamazoo Christian Writers (KCW), based in Kalamazoo Michigan. The first meeting was held July 11 at The Point, a non-profit community center located on the west side of Kalamazoo. […]
The phrase “the finger of God” occurs four times in the Bible. The first is when the Egyptian magicians cannot duplicate the feats God is doing through Moses and they say, “This is the finger of God.” The second and third times are when God gives Moses the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets. What […]
In continuing with the story of Jesus driving the demon out of the mute man there’s an interesting phrase. It is “Jesus knew their thoughts.” (In another account about Jesus, the Bible says, “Jesus knew what they were thinking.”) This suggests a divine power as being a part of Jesus’ human existence. Perhaps this is […]
How often have you heard the phrase “prayer warrior”? Have you ever attributed it to someone who prays a lot or prays with effectiveness? Interestingly, those two words are not used together in the Bible.* I wonder if the warrior metaphor is more a construct of modernity and a colonization mentality and not at all […]
After Jesus is criticized for driving out demons, he addresses his detractors. In doing so he makes a curious statement. He asks, by whose power do you drive out demons? Implicitly, Jesus was not the only one with the power and ability to drive out demons. In considering this, a bunch of questions come to […]