With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #39.
Many churches share a meal or food after their service, but this one put a new twist on it: we head off to a restaurant, en masse. Though not everyone goes, a significant number do, including my wife and me.
As we form a line at a nearby fast food joint, one of the church members passes out coupons to everyone.
Though it’s great to spend time together outside of church, I wonder what kind of impact we make on the restaurant staff, with a bunch of church folk descending upon them, all bearing coupons and looking for a deal.
Once we have our food and sit down, the people from church sit at tables all around us, but no one joins us or invites us to sit with them.
Though they are all having a great time moving from one table to another and bantering back and forth, Candy and I are left out.
We are all alone in a group of people. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last.
However, midway through the meal, one woman gets up from her table and slides into ours. We have a great conversation and feel cared for.
Again, one person made all the difference between us feeling included and being ignored. Isn’t inclusion the purpose of sharing a meal?
Building community within a church family can take on many forms. Often this involves food, such as when sharing a meal.
Eating together, however, is only one way to connect with those you worship with. Working together on service projects or community initiatives is another.
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
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.
The second sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 3:1-4:4 (specifically, Acts 3:12-26). After he speaks, Peter heals a lame man.
Setting: Jerusalem, in the temple
Speaker: Peter
Audience: Jews
Preceding Events: Peter, through the power of Jesus, heals a lame man who was crippled from birth.
Overall Theme: Jesus, God’s servant, was foretold in the Old Testament. His execution at the hands of ignorant people was part of God’s plan, as was his rising from the dead.
Central Teaching: Jesus’ name has the power to heal.
Subsequent Events: Peter is interrupted by the temple guards and he and John are thrown in prison, yet thousands more believe in Jesus.
Key Lesson: A miraculous healing provides an opportunity for truth about Jesus to be shared, which results in mass conversions.
If, at church, you saw a wheelchair-bound man get up and walk, what would you think?
Should healing others in Jesus’s name be a normal occurrence? Consider how the biblical account can better inform our perspectives, expectations, and actions today.
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 How to Hear God’s Voice and Discern Spiritual Direction
I’ve shared with you the arc of my faith journey, the spiritual transformations I’ve experienced so far in my life. I built upon that by relating my experiences in reading the Bible and praying for my children and future generations.
Next, I decided to share how I learned to hear from God and receive Holy Spirit insight.
A Key Question
People often ask me how they can hear from their Creator. It seemed a great idea to tell you how I learned to discern God’s voice. Alas, I’ve already blogged about it. Not once, but twice. (Yes, I write so much that I sometimes forget what I’ve written.)
Though the two posts share the same essential tips, read both to get the full picture. Each post has unique content that can inform the other.
I realize the way I discovered how to hear from God may not work for everyone, but it will work for some. I pray it works for you.
Building on this theme of listening to God and discerning his voice, I covered Simeon and Anna who both encounter baby Jesus shortly after he is born (Luke 2:22-40).
God reveals to Simeon, a godly man, that he will live long enough to see the long-anticipated Savior. One morning the Holy Spirit prompts Simeon to go to the temple. Simeon obeys and meets baby Jesus, just as supernaturally promised.
Anna, who already spends much time at the temple, also sees Jesus. She praises God and confirms the baby is the Savior who the people anticipate. How does she know this? The Holy Spirit reveals it to her.
I also wrote about hearing God speak from an Old Testament perspective, about Moses and Ezekiel. At that time, not everyone had God’s Spirit living in them and only a few could discern God’s words.
In this case, people who wanted to hear from God, would seek an intermediary.
Today’s Truth about Holy Spirit Insight
Today it’s no longer necessary to ask someone to inquire of God on our behalf (but if you need to, don’t be shy about asking for help).
Through Jesus, we all have the gift of God’s Spirit living in us. If we follow Jesus, we all have the potential to hear God’s voice and receive Holy Spirit insight.
This doesn’t mean everyone can do so—at least not yet. But the capacity resides within us. To realize Holy Spirit insight requires us to pursue it and practice.
As we do, we may not always hear fully, but hearing something from God is better than hearing nothing.
If you don’t try to hear Holy Spirit insight, it won’t happen.
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.
As we move from one year to the next, may we put behind us the challenges, fear, and uncertainty of the past year and move into the new one with expectation.
Here is my New Year’s blessing for you:
May God keep you physically safe, emotionally healthy, and spiritually vibrant.
May God provide for you in abundance.
May God grant you favor in all that you do and with the people you meet.
May God grow your relationships with others, strengthening the good ones and shoring up the challenging ones.
May God draw you into a fuller, deeper, more meaningful worship of him. May you do so in Spirit and in truth.
May God lead you to those who are hurting and in need of help. May he show you what to do and give you the wisdom and ability to do it.
May God speak to you through Holy Spirit insight and endow you with Holy Spirit power.
May God give you strength to do what he calls you to do.
May God empower you to advance his kingdom.
May God speak to you as you read and study his Word. May you hear him when he speaks to you through his Holy Spirit.
May God bless you indeed!
May this new year be your best year ever.
May it be so.
Receive this New Year’s blessing in confidence, through faith.
Thank you, Father for your provisions. Thank you, Jesus for healing and saving us. Thank you, Holy Spirit for living in us and guiding us. Thank you for giving us another year of life and for the potential it represents.
May we honor you and worship you by making the most of what you have provided for us. May we celebrate you in this new year you have given us in all that we do, say, and think.
Amen.
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.
With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #38.
So many elements of this church excite me: a message with substance, elements in the service that pointed me to the worship of God, significant community before and after the service, meeting in a school (and not owning a building), and a group of people that shun status quo religion.
I felt so at home. This church could easily become my new faith community. I want to say this is the future of the church, reimagining it for the next generation.
Yet for all its appeal and innovation, the key elements of the modern church still exist: gathering for a Sunday service, having a worship team lead us in singing, and hearing a message from a trained minister.
This isn’t a new way of doing church but merely a fresh iteration within established norms. This isn’t the overhaul the modern church needs but merely a fresh coat of paint.
Although it looks nice and feels inviting, I yearn for more.
If reimagining church falls short, perhaps we need to go back to the beginning and reinterpret what true church should be.
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
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.
Audience: Cornelius, his family, and close friends—all Gentiles (that is, non-Jews)
Preceding Events: Through a dream, God tells Peter to go to Cornelius’s house.
Overall Theme: God makes no distinction between people; traditional barriers have been broken, everyone can come to Jesus.
Scripture Quoted: none (as a non-Jewish audience, citing the Bible would not likely have been helpful to those listening)
Central Teaching: God shows no favoritism.
Subsequent Events: When Paul says “everyone who believes in him…,” his message is interrupted by the Holy Spirit, who comes upon the Gentiles who have just believed.
Key Lesson: Don’t allow our past or perceptions to dictate who we interact with; Jesus is for everyone.
Peter had to set aside his traditions and the law of Moses to do what God told him.
How often do our expectations, customs, and practices get in the way of us doing what God wants us to do? Do our unexamined perspectives block us from seeing things as God sees things?
May we do all we can to remove our blinders and accomplish God’s will.
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.
Applying the Fairytale Story of Cinderella to Esther Disrespects Her Situation
I’ve always liked the story of Queen Esther. She’s an ordinary girl who wins a national beauty pageant and becomes queen. If this story seems familiar, consider the fairytale story of Cinderella.
The two have much in common.
Both are orphans.
Both are raised by a relative.
Both are beautiful.
Both are common people.
Both have an improbable, amazing interaction with royalty.
Both are elevated to a high position.
Given all this, in my imagination, I’ve ascribed to Esther a Cinderella-like romanticism, with Esther and the king falling in love and living happily ever after.
Alas, this isn’t what the Bible says.
The biblical account of Esther doesn’t mention love. It fails to include any hint of happiness. Let’s review some more facts:
Forcibly relocated to a foreign land, Esther and her people are victims of war.
Esther doesn’t opt to take part in the beauty contest. All attractive virgins must participate. Her involvement is unwilling and more akin to slavery.
Esther’s heritage prohibits her from marrying outside her faith. To do so is a shameful and disobedient act.
Contrast Cinderella to Queen Esther
Whereas the prince rescues a Cinderella from a subservient life under her unloving stepmother, the king removes Esther from a loving life with her guardian Mordechai to make her subservient to the king’s sexual whims.
Add to this some reasonable conclusions about Esther’s relationship with the king:
Even after she becomes queen, he continues to enjoy the company of other women in his harem.
She and the king don’t have regular interaction. He hasn’t summoned her for thirty days.
She fears him. She faces execution by merely approaching him without permission.
Esther’s elevation to queen isn’t to give her a grand life and make all her dreams come true. Instead God uses it to put her in a position where she can influence the king to save her people from annihilation.
Queen Esther is a hero to her people, despite personally forced into a life she doesn’t want to live.
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.
Plan to Read Scripture to Feed Your Soul and Inform Your Life
I’ve read the Bible most of my life. It’s been a huge part of my faith journey. To be clear, this started out with my parents reading to me: one Bible story each night before I went to bed. This helped me know God’s Word at an early age and prepared me to read it on my own.
To be sure, during my days in elementary school, I read Scripture infrequently. This was because my preteen mind found the language of the King James Bible largely inaccessible and mostly confusing.
What little Bible reading I did in my preteen years was more drudgery than anything else. I learned little from it.
Read the New Testament
By the time I hit middle school, however, more accessible translations became available, at least for the New Testament. Mirroring my experience as a preschooler, I set a goal to read the Bible each night before I went to bed.
Eventually I worked my way through the New Testament. It took me a couple years because some nights I was too tired to read and other nights I forgot. But eventually I finished.
In case you’re interested, reading a chapter each weekday will get you through the New Testament in a year. It only takes two or three minutes to read one chapter. Surely this is a doable task.
Read the Entire Bible
By the time I reached high school, the Old and New Testaments were available to me in more language-friendly versions. The summer of my fifteenth year, I set the goal to read the entire Bible before school resumed.
This was before I got my driver’s license. I was stuck home all day, scrambling to find something worthwhile to consume my time.
Reading an hour most every day, I reached the end of Revelation in mid-August, a couple weeks before it was time to go back to school. Mission accomplished.
I later learned that the average adult reader can read the entire Bible in about 80 hours. I proved that claim to be correct.
Making Time to Read the Bible
If you think an hour a day is unreasonable for anyone except a bored teenager on a mission, let me ask three questions.
How much time do you spend each day watching television?
How much time do you spend each day gaming?
How much time do you spend each day on social media? I suspect one or more of these areas consumes more than an hour of your time each day. Perhaps several.
The solution is simple. Cut back on entertainment and scale up to read the Bible. That doesn’t mean eliminate all television, gaming, and social media. It’s just a nudge to scale back and not let it consume so much time.
In my first reading of the whole Bible, I covered many familiar passages, albeit in more detail than my children’s Bible story book provided. I also discovered the less kid-appropriate passages too.
I assumed reading the entire Bible was a once-and-done effort. Even so, when I finished, I reverted to my nighttime Bible reading effort, albeit at a much slower pace: one chapter a day.
Though I met with better success then when I was in middle school, I still struggled. I found it hard to concentrate on the words in front of me as I fought off sleep. For some reason I could read fiction at bedtime but not the Bible.
Deciding When to Read the Bible
As an adult and a morning person, I switched my Bible reading to the start of each day. This fit me better—much better. I was more consistent in this practice and less fatigued by it. I learned more and better connected with God.
In my mid-twenties I felt the call from God to again read the entire Bible. This time my goal was to do it in a year. It took me twelve to fifteen minutes every day, but I did finish. Relieved to have met my goal, I was also delighted to no longer need to cover so much Scripture every day. I needed a break. Or so I thought.
It wasn’t long, however, before I felt God’s nudge to resume intentional Bible reading each day. That year I read through the New Testament. The following year I read through the Old Testament (ten to twelve minutes a day). The third year I again read the Old and New Testaments.
Pick a Version
Though I grew up hearing the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, I never used it when reading through Scripture. Today I mostly read from and study the New International Version (NIV).
Yet in my annual explorations of the Bible, I’ve used other versions or translations and benefited greatly. Each one gave me a fresh perspective on the text.
In addition to the NIV, I’ve also used the New Living Translation (NLV), The Message, Amplified Bible, and The Living Bible (which I wore out as a teenager). I think there have been a few others that I can’t recall.
The point is, don’t feel you must restrict yourself to one version. Mix it up. Variety is good.
Adjust as Needed
Since that time, I’ve had a Bible reading plan every year—except for a season when I didn’t. Here’s what happened: After a couple decades of regular, daily Bible reading, I became stuck. I would read the words but failed to comprehend them.
I persisted Bible reading as a discipline, assuming I would one day emerge from my rut of routine to reclaim the joy of reading the Bible each day. When it didn’t happen, I switched to reading other inspirational books for a time until I felt I could successfully resume my exploration of Scripture.
Rejuvenated, I jumped back in and persisted for a decade or so. But again, the day-to-day Bible-reading discipline eventually threatened to push me back into a rut. Refusing to allow that to happen, I decided to take one day off each week.
Instead of reading seven days a week, I now read six. In essence, I took a Sabbath rest from reading the Bible. Lest you think this day off happens on Sunday, Saturday works as a better day for me to pause my study of Scripture.
Taking a break one day each week prepares me to better embrace God’s word, study it, and learn from it on the other six.
I can hear someone complaining already: just as you feed your body each day, you must feed your soul each day too. Since you would never skip a meal, you can’t skip the Bible either. Hold on.
On most weeks I do take a daily break from food. I do a 24-hour fast. (In case you’re interested, my fast currently falls on Fridays.)
Reading my Bible each day, Sunday through Friday provides a great rhythm for me. I take a break on Saturday, which prepares me to dive back in the next week. The timing is ideal for me. I’ve now done it for years.
What does vary from year to year, however, is how much I read each day. Though usually I’m on a plan to read the entire Bible in the year, other times I slow my pace to cover the New Testament or even to focus intently on just a few books of the Bible.
Form a Habit of Reading the Bible
Doing this, I’ve read the New Testament about thirty times, the Old Testament twice, and the entire Bible more than ten times. It’s taken me a lifetime to reach these numbers. I plan to continue this habit for the rest of my life.
But don’t look at my lifetime of Bible reading and let it overwhelm you. Instead start small.
Read the Bible one day. Then read it a second day. Aim for a third. Keep the streak going. Form a habit. Soon daily Bible reading will become a way of life that you can’t do without.
Read through the Bible with me this year. Download the chronological Bible reading plan I will follow. (In case you’re wondering, to make this work for my schedule, I need to do seven days of reading every six, so that I can take Sunday off.)
Regardless of which option you choose, the goal is to have a plan to read the Bible this year.
Then do it.
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.
With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #37.
This small church likes to sing, and they’ve built a strong community that cares for one another. However, this church stands out for two other reasons.
First, as exemplified by the ragtime vibe of the music, it felt as though we were transported to another time. Candy called it a hoedown. This experience was one of our more unusual ones in all fifty-two churches.
The other issue was the appearance and condition of the building. From the road it looked abandoned. The inside showed signs of neglect and disrepair; the facility felt dirty.
Despite wearing blue jeans, I was reluctant to sit down on the grimy, stained padding of the pews. I didn’t even want to touch anything, and the first thing I did when I returned home was to wash my hands.
I’m sure the regulars overlook the filthy conditions, but dirt was the main thing I saw. And if formed my chief memory of my visit. There are so many ways that a church can scare off a visitor. Don’t let a dirty building be one of them.
Give your facility a serious church cleaning. Your visitors will appreciate it.
My wife and I visited a different Christian Church every Sunday for a year. This is our story. Get your copy of 52 Churches today, available in ebook, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
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.
Central Teaching: The news about Jesus is for all people (both Jews and Gentiles).
Subsequent Events: Paul and his companions are invited back, but opposition mounts against them and they are driven away. Nevertheless, their message spreads throughout the region.
Key Lesson: Be ready to speak of Jesus when the opportunity is presented—and ready to leave when the opportunity to speak is withdrawn.
We must be vigilant and ready to act or speak when God provides an opening for us. If we’re not, we may lose the opportunity to do so. If we delay, the door may shut, and it will be too late to reopen it.
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.
