Category: Christian Living

Pursuing a holistic expression of Christian faith that is true to the Bible and applicable for today’s world.

Will You Pray For Me?

Three Outcomes to Consider

When people ask for prayer, I’m eager to do so. Prayer is important; prayer makes a difference. God wants us to pray, and it’s part of our spiritual formation.

So when someone asks, “Will you pray for me?” I pray. Often I pray right away, either silently or out loud, depending on the situation. And I try to pray again later.

Sometimes this may be just once or twice. In other instances I feel a prompting of the Holy Spirit to intercede multiple times throughout the day or over the course of many days.

Then, after investing so much in praying for someone, I’m anxious to learn what happened. I hear one of three responses:

Yes! Often I hear glowing reports of God’s amazing answer, either exactly as we prayed or in ways beyond what we hoped. Then I breathe a prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus. God is good; I’m so glad I prayed.

No! Other times, the person is downcast. God seems to have been silent, not responding in any discernable way. I’m disappointed when this happens, but it doesn’t dissuade me from praying. I persevere.

Prayer isn’t about getting our way; prayer is about aligning our thoughts with God’s will.

Sometimes we fail to see his perspective. Navigating this is a tricky path, but it’s part of our spiritual journey; it hones our faith. I press on. I thank God that he is growing me.

What? A few times—too often, in fact—they give me a blank stare. This is something they asked me to pray about, but they forgot. It was a passing thought to them, one quickly disregarded.

I invested time, emotion, and faith into something for their sake, and God was part of that process, but they went AWOL: not joining in prayer, not listening to God’s direction, and not doing their part to move towards resolution.

I was more faithful in praying for them than they were. They didn’t follow through or keep me updated. This minimizes prayer and demeans God; it makes me sad.

At times we can be too casual when asking for prayer. While prayer should be common, it is not trivial. When we ask someone to pray for us, it is serious business; God is involved. After asking for prayer, our role is to pray, too.

Next we listen to God, and then we do our part to move towards resolution. This honors God and respects those who pray for us.

Don’t ask someone to pray for you unless you truly mean it and are willing to take part.

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.

Tags faith, faithful, prayer, Thanksgiving

Christian Living

Who Prays For You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 24, 2015

Are there people who pray for you? Family members, such as parents or spouse often intercede for those dearest to them.

Your best friend, boyfriend, or girlfriend may seek God on your behalf. Maybe members of your church, your small group, or your pastors pray for you. If you’re fortunate, it may be your boss, coworkers, neighbors, or the clerks where you shop.

Sometimes these folks pray for you when you ask them to, when they see a need in your life, or when the Holy Spirit prompts them. Or praying for you may be a daily habit of theirs and you are the benefactor.

As you read these possibilities, the list of people who pray for you may be overwhelming. Or you may be dismayed that no one (that you know of) prays for you.

Regardless of how long or short your list, there are two names we can add to it—important names, the most significant we can find, the best of the best. Did you know that Jesus prays for us? And not just Jesus but the Holy Spirit, too.

Imagine that, Jesus prays to the Father for us. The Holy Spirit prays to the Father for us.

Though the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, this is kind of like God praying to God, but they are also three parts of the godhead, imploring each other on our behalf, as though urging themselves to give us their best.

Jesus advocates for us; the Holy Spirit advocates for us. And I see God the Father nodding in agreement. It’s like a heavenly pep-rally—at least that’s how I imagine it.

Though this is hard to grasp, the essential point is that God wants the best for us and one way he shows this is by interceding for us.

Know that others, including Jesus and the Holy Spirit, are praying for us.

[Romans 8:34, Romans 8:27]

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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.

Tags Holy Spirit, Jesus, prayer, small group

Christian Living

What Does it Mean to Break Bread?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 17, 2015

Comparing Communion to a Meal

I’m always perplexed when the Bible talks about breaking bread.

What does this mean? In some contexts it seems to be a euphemism for eating, for sharing a common meal. In other cases, it seems to be a colorful reference to the Lord’s Supper, to Communion, aka The Eucharist. Which is it?

This question seems important to me only because I ask it through the context of modern church practices, which has separated the two into disparate acts. Communion has become a sacred ritual we do as part of a church service.

A meal is a common activity with little spiritual connection, aside from an obligatory prayer sometimes tacked on at the beginning.

I don’t see this distinction in the early church. For them, I suspect, communion is a meal and a meal is a communion. The two are connected, intertwined; for them, their meal is not merely physical and their communion is not merely transcendent.

To them, every action is a spiritual one.

We will do well to elevate the importance of a meal—both spiritually and communally—while demystifying the sacredness of communion, not to debase it, but to make it more accessible.

As it is, our meals are too routine and our communion gatherings are too ritualistic.

Breaking bread is not just a meal and it’s not just Communion; it is both. May we seek to reclaim this understanding in our practice and in our theology. Let us break bread together with a fresh awareness and a renewed excitement.

May we start today.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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.

Tags communion, early church

Christian Living

A Fresh Start

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 4, 2015

It’s Time to Plant, Water, Nurture, and Prune

A friend recently shared how much she was enjoying spring, of seeing flowers bloom and once dormant grass turn green. I connected with her joy, warmed by the thought of spring and the new life it represents. I was happy for her, but then I grew somber.

I have no green grass in my yard to celebrate: no new life, just the brown of dirt.

Though this gave me pause, it quickly reminded me of opportunity. My yard represents a blank canvas, a chance to create something new. It offers a fresh start.

Soon grass seed will be sown and after that, flowers and bushes and trees will make their appearance.

The brown of potential will give way to the color of life. My yard will come alive, and I expect it will one day look delightful.

I wonder if God considers us the same way, as people of potential, as soil awaiting transformation.

In God’s eyes our past is forgiven and forgotten, our present offers potential, and our future beckons with the hope of something wonderful and amazing to behold.

However, the outcome is not assured. Just as I need to plant and water to transform my dreary brown yard into a pleasant lawn, so too, we need to let God work in us: to plant and water, to nurture and grow, and, yes, to periodically prune.

Then we can grow, becoming much more than who we are today.

God offers us a new beginning. May we open ourselves to his design for us, accepting his plan for our lives. May we allow him to grow us into something new and wonderful to behold.

God offers us a fresh start, beginning today; don’t miss out.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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.

Tags God, grace

Christian Living

Were Adam and Eve Married?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 3, 2015

The Bible Never Says that Adam and Eve Married

To consider Adam and Eve had children without the benefit of marriage is disconcerting to many; it assaults our traditional idea of matrimony and having kids.

The Bible, however, does refer to Eve as Adam’s wife and Adam as Eve’s husband. Well isn’t that marriage? Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. Consider Abraham and Sarah. Sarah gave her slave Hagar to Abraham to sleep with him and make a baby.

The Bible then refers to Hagar as Abraham’s wife, even though no marriage took place.

Based on these two stories, it seems the biblical idea of becoming husband and wife is connected to sex, not marriage. After all, as soon as Eve is created, the Bible says man will leave his parents, be united to his wife and they will become one.

I think the idea of becoming one implies permanence, a lifelong sexual commitment. Getting married isn’t mentioned. After this, in the next verse, Eve is called Adam’s wife.

Biblical Marriage

Marriage, by the way, isn’t cited in the biblical timeline for several centuries, some eight generations later (remember people lived for hundreds of years back then). The first occurrence of marriage is with Lamech, the father of Noah.

Some Bible scholars place extra emphasis on the first mention of a word in the Bible, using it to frame our understanding of the word.

This gives us another pause, for the first mention of marriage is in reference to polygamy, as in “Lamech married two women.” This is certainly a perversion of the idea of two people becoming one.

In all this, I’m not suggesting we disregard marriage, and I’m certainly not advocating polygamy.

My suggestions are that our idea of traditional marriage may not be as biblical as we think, that we need to be careful before judging people with differing practices, and that sex does indeed make us one, as in husband and wife.

May we view this oneness as sacred and lifelong.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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.

Tags Adam and Eve, marriage

Christian Living

What Do We Do To Dishonor God?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 26, 2015

Look for Ways to Honor God

In his letter to the Christians living in Rome, Paul talks about people who attempt to live life according to a bunch of religious rules, that is, the law.

The result is that God is disrespected, not so much by the people themselves, but by those on the outside looking in.

In short, others harbor contempt for God based on how his follower’s act.

However, this isn’t the first time this happens. Paul is actually quoting from the book of Isaiah. What Isaiah writes is not his words, but God’s. God complains that because of his people’s failures, he doesn’t receive respect from others.

In both cases, the word the Bible uses to describe this is blaspheme. Others blaspheme God because of the behavior of those who claim to follow him.

To blaspheme is to speak of God in an irreverent, impious manner; to disrespect, show contempt, dishonor, slander, or abuse him.

I fear we have learned nothing from Isaiah or from Paul. Today we still do the same thing. We claim to love God, yet too often our words or our actions cause those outside of our faith to shake their heads in derision.

They mock us and they disrespect God; he is blasphemed—because of us.

How do we do this?

We hate when we should love.
We act with malice to those deserving compassion.
We judge others even though we aren’t supposed to.
We reject people on the fringes of society, the very people Jesus embraces.
We are exclusive, even though God is inclusive.

Forgive us God, for our blasphemy. You deserve better.

[Romans 2:24, Isaiah 52:5]

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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.

Tags Jesus, love, Moses, Paul

Christian Living

What’s the True Meaning of Easter?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 5, 2015

Happy Easter!

Easter is a celebration, not of chocolate eggs and fluffy bunnies, but of the greatest event in history. Christians everywhere know what this is, and we use big words and confusing terms to explain it.

Most people outside our circles don’t have a clue what we’re saying. Sometimes we don’t either.

On Good Friday, Jesus dies. On Easter, he is alive. But why? What does it mean?

Stripping away all the Christian jargon and inaccessible theology, here is how I see it:

We’ve all do things we shouldn’t; we’ve all make mistakes.

We deserve to be punished.

Our punishment isn’t a slap on the wrist or a timeout. Regardless of what we have done or will do, there’s only one thing on the books: death. It’s mandatory sentencing.

At our trial, Jesus stands up for us. “Oh, no, you don’t!” Murmurs go through the courtroom. “I won’t let you hurt them. Take me instead.” It is a shocking move. “Kill me; just let them go.” Wow, that’s real love.

And that’s just what happens. Jesus is executed instead of us. We get off scot-free.

This is his gift to us, the ultimate act of love, dying in place of another. As with any gift, all we need to do is reach out and take it.

But the story isn’t over. Death is not the end for Jesus. Jesus’ body doesn’t rot away in his tomb. To show the world how great he is, he comes back to life in an awesome display of power.

Now we can be together; now we can hang out.

How cool is that? Thank you Jesus!

That’s why I follow Jesus.

That’s what Easter means to me.

Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his return to heaven in The Victory of Jesus. The Victory of Jesus is another book in Peter DeHaan’s beloved Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series. Get your copy today.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Tags awesome, death, Easter, Jesus

Christian Living

I Am a Writer and Much More

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 31, 2015
2 Comments on I Am a Writer and Much More

Who Are You?

I started writing as a teenager. As an adult, many of my jobs involved writing, but I never thought of myself as a writer. Writing was something I did, not who I was.

That changed about five years ago when I realized writing was an ongoing thread in my life.

I had been a writer for a long time but had never verbalized it. Though I had to force myself to say it, I eventually croaked out the words, “I am a writer.”

I am a Writer

When speaking at writers conferences, at some point I lead new writers in saying, “I am a writer.” They smile. We do this a few times, each time louder and with more confidence than the time before. By the end, many are grinning.

For some it is sweet confirmation of their identity, while for others it’s the first time they’ve ever voiced their unspoken dream. At that moment they take their first step in becoming writers. They are affirmed.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy; we become who we say we are.

More Than a Writer

However, I am more than a writer; I am other things, too. I am also a son, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a friend, a volunteer, a magazine publisher, an editor, and more.

But my most important identity is as a follower of Jesus. Saying each of these labels, affirms me in those roles, cementing my self-image through positive identification.

There is also the opposite of this. Though unintentional, many of us cause ourselves pain with the negative labels we heap on ourselves.

Perhaps you’ve said or heard someone say some of them: “I am dumb,” “I am lazy,” “I’ll never amount to anything,” “I’m a failure,” “I can’t lose weight,” “I’ll never get out of debt,” “I’m a victim,” “I’m unlovable,” and so on.

Whether this is a dip into self-pity, an attempt to gain attention, or an admission with a sliver of reality, these statements are damaging.

With negative talk such as this, we inadvertently move ourselves closer to becoming what we say, whether we believe it or not, whether it’s true or not. Who we think we are is what we become.

A Writer Who Follows Jesus

Let’s use our words to become our very best. Although being a writer is laudable, my identity starts with “I am a follower of Jesus, a child of the king.”

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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.

Tags follower of Jesus, writing

Christian Living

Two Types of Church

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 29, 2015

Institutional Church or Organic Church

There are two types of church in the Bible, and there are two types of church today.

In the Old Testament, there is the temple. At the temple, the priests lead worship and guide the people, as instructed by God through Moses.

The Levites provide support to keep things functioning smoothly—at least that’s how God wants it to work.

Old Testament temple worship is institutional, with much structure and strict procedure.

Institutions mandate order, reward conformity, and maintain the status quo—whether it’s good or bad.

In the New Testament, the people who follow Jesus start meeting together.

They don’t have a building, so they just hang out in public places and meet in people’s homes. There are very few instructions for what they do, with little oversight in how they do it.

However, they do eat meals together, share their belongings, and encourage one another. They live in community; it is organic. New Testament church is organic.

Organic gatherings nurture spiritual growth, adapt to their environment, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit—regardless of what’s planned or expected. Organic is, at times, also messy.

Today we see a plethora of options for church; most are institutions, few are organic. Most churches follow the pattern of the Old Testament: they have a building, paid staff, and leader-led worship; structure and procedure are their guides.

Few churches are organic, truly following the pattern of the New Testament. Though I do encounter these types of organic spiritual experiences, they aren’t frequent or regular—and they seldom happen on Sunday morning.

My wife feels it’s important to go to a church on Sunday morning; I feel it’s important to hone my faith in organic community.

If only we could do both at the same time.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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.

Tags church, community, faith

Christian Living

What Is Postmodern Biblical Spirituality?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 25, 2015

Embrace Biblical Spirituality

Biblical spirituality studies the Bible to inform our spiritual practices to make them relevant in today’s world, which has moved beyond a modern mindset. That’s where the postmodern part comes in.

Postmodern biblical spirituality considers the Bible as an authoritative narrative to reclaim a spiritual understanding that resonates with contemporary spiritual seekers.

It pushes aside unexamined practices to reimagine a relationship with the God of the Bible. In this way, biblical spirituality looks at faith in fresh ways.

Much of my writing is centered around postmodern biblical spirituality.

We are spiritual creatures, we have a soul (our mind, will, and emotions), and we live in a body.

The apostle Paul acknowledges these three parts of our being, as well as their order of importance in his letter to the Thessalonian church, when he writes: “May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NIV).

However, not everything that is spiritual is good. There can be good spirituality, bad spirituality, and inconsequential spirituality. To guide us in pursuing good spirituality and avoiding the rest, I advocate a biblical approach.

The Bible can—and should—be our guide in ascertaining a spiritual perspective that is positive and productive. A spirituality that’s not supported by the Bible is one that’s suspect and potentially dangerous.

For the last 500 years, modern thinking people have focused on the tangible and quantifiable, ignoring the spiritual roots of the pre-modern and ancient peoples. Those folks viewed everything as spiritual.

It was modern-thinking people who tried to separate the spiritual from the secular. Following that, modernity effectively shoved spirituality under the bus.

Fortunately, postmodernity has come to the rescue, reclaiming our true spiritual nature. Most postmodern people are open to spiritual things, which I covered in my dissertation.

The problem is that not all that’s spiritual is good. The goal of my writing is to point spiritually receptive people to a wholesome spiritual perspective.

When I launched my blog in January 2011, I had been struggling to find a phrase to describe the focus of my writing.

I’d been contemplating the concept for quite a while and the three words—postmodern biblical spirituality—came together when I started this blog.

When I strung those three words together, it was a perfect fit for who I am and how I write.

Free Gift

With this in mind, let our adventure begin. Start with my Bible reading tip sheet.