Category: Christian Living

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

Do You Receive Communion?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 15, 2013

Depending on your perspective, you may call the sacrament that Jesus started as Communion, Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, or Holy Eucharist.

Other labels include the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacrament of the Altar.

In my experiences, the first three names are the most common. And the most common verb associated with them is the word receive, as in receive Communion. But it’s not the best word to use.

Though it’s not completely wrong, it’s not fully right, either.

When I think of receive, I think of its synonyms: accept, take, have, collect, and get. To say we receive Communion conveys a passive activity; it makes us consumers.

Receive is a one way exchange; we hold out our hands and we take.

Instead, Communion should be active, where we partake, experience, and engage. Consider carefully synonyms of these words; meditate on them.

Partake

Participate, share, join

Experience

Feel, face, suffer, undergo

Engage

Involve, occupy, engross, absorb, hold, connect, encounter, battle, contest

Next time we are present for Communion, may we consider—and embrace—these active words. May we grasp a fuller comprehension of this amazing sacrament.

May we never again be content to just receive Communion.

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.

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Tags communion, Eucharist

Christian Living

Say a Bold Prayer

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 8, 2013

What Do You Expect When You Pray?

When you make a bold prayer, what do you expect? Do you anticipate God will answer your request, or do you brace yourself for disappointment?

More to the point, are you more surprised when your prayers are answered or surprised when they’re not?

Some people pray with little expectation and are surprised when God answers their prayers. If you’re in that camp, don’t be dismayed.

In the book of Acts, the church prayed earnestly for Peter’s release from prison—it was a bold prayer, yet they were surprised when he showed up at their door.

I’m sure their faith grew as a result and then they prayed with greater confidence.

By God’s goodness, I’m usually in the other category: expecting God to answer my prayers and shocked if he doesn’t.

That’s not to suggest I enjoy a stellar record of answered prayer, but I see enough amazing results when I pray that I expect positive answers.

But for those times when things don’t turn out as I prayed:

Sometimes I see that God had a better outcome in mind
Sometimes I accept that God’s timing is different than mine
Sometimes I realize I prayed with the wrong perspective (mine, not God’s)
And sometimes I’m just perplexed.

That’s what faith is: taking a risk, expecting the unlikely, hoping for a miracle. When God says “Yes!” we thank him—and our faith grows. And when God says “No!” we wonder why—and our faith grows.

The only time we lose is when we offer him weak, wimpy words of no real consequence or don’t even bother to pray at all. Then our faith can’t grow.

May our prayers connect us with God and increase our faith.

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Tags faith, pray, prayer

Christian Living

I Scream Sunday

I don’t listen to music much anymore. I find it more distracting than helpful. But when I did listen, my preferences fell a bit out of mainstream.

The band, One Bad Pig, proves my point. Let’s just say their music is an acquired taste. (They were an 80s, Christian, punk, screamo band—and I liked them!)

Their classic song “I Scream Sunday” is a lament over the shallowness of Sunday-only Christians, while offering hope for something more.

In fact, they insist there’s something more, if only Jesus’ followers are willing to see it and embrace it—or as they say, to dream.

On many a Sunday, this song was my pre-church anthem—maybe it still is. The words draw me to God, crying with him over what is, while yearning for what can be, for what should be.

For me, it’s a powerful call to repentance and an imperative push for a deeper, nonconventional commitment to the savior of the world and our life within the world he created.

Today, as “I scream Sunday,” I reject status quo religion and pursue a vibrant Jesus faith in action. Will you join me? Sign up below.

[For those open to alternative musical styles, check out the lyrics or listen to the song; focus on the chorus, and sing along with me.]

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Tags Sunday

Christian Living

Pray Without Ceasing

My Quest to Pray Throughout My Day

I don’t think I’ll ever spend the majority of my day in God’s presence like Brother Lawrence or pray without ceasing like Paul. But I can learn to pray more often, so I seek to remain open to my surroundings, looking for reasons to pray.

“God, I fear for his safety. Watch over him and protect him; guide him in making wise decisions…” Then I realize I’m praying for a character in a TV show. I’m not sure if I should laugh about or celebrate my spontaneous impulse to pray.

Interestingly, I’ve caught myself doing this more than once. At least I’m becoming more mindful of praying. Happily, I do this for real people, too.

I also sometimes pray as I dream. Although some might claim the opposite, that I merely dreamed I prayed, I believe God hears my asleep prayers just like my awake ones.

Other times I’d dream about a person and God would prompt me to pray for him or her when I woke up. Now, I no longer wait for his nudge: if I dream about you, I’m going to pray for you when I wake up – and maybe when I’m dreaming too.

Another prayer trigger is email, which I send and receive all day long. After composing each message, I strive to say a concise prayer for the recipient as I click “send.”

Of course, some communications warrant much more prayer than a quick request for God’s blessing, favor, or guidance. Sometimes my words require prayer as I type.

Yard work is another great time to pray—or at least to try. It doesn’t take much thought to mow lawn or pull weeds, allowing me to focus on spiritual matters. Sometimes I’m successful and other times, not so much.

I’ve also learned to pray whenever I come upon an accident, see the flashing lights of an emergency vehicle, or hear a siren. Many people have needs at those moments, and I can do my part, helping by praying.

I continue to look for reasons to pray, desiring to intercede more often and seek God throughout my day. However, I no longer catch myself praying for a character on a TV show—and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad.

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Tags prayer

Christian Living

Being in God’s Presence

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 17, 2013

In the diminutive book, The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence shares his experience of essentially living much of his life while in the presence of God.

For most of his adulthood, Brother Lawrence worked as a monastery cook.

As he attended to his daily duties in the kitchen, he gradually learned how to spend that time in prayer, eventually getting to the point of his spirit moving into God’s presence while his body remained in this world to prepare food and wash dishes.

At least that’s what I think happened, because he declines to describe the experience, citing the complete inadequacy of his words.

What I do know is that he worshiped God more fully throughout his day in the kitchen than when at services in the cathedral. Oh, how I yearn to do the same.

Yet, Brother Lawrence worked in an ideal, idyllic setting; his work required little concentration. He could navigate much of his day on autopilot, allowing his mind and spirit to embrace God. Even so, it still took him a couple decades to hone his practice.

Not only does his experience inspire me, but his book confounds me. Living in the sixteen hundreds in France, he comes to me from another time and a foreign culture; he wrote in a different language.

His translated work possesses a unique rhythm, gradually emerging with a pleasing cadence, even though it abounds with incomplete sentences, which sorely vexes the writer in me.

Still, I grasp for a taste of what he lived.

May we likewise learn to practice being in the presence of God, not just at church on Sunday, but throughout our entire week.

Thank you Brother Lawrence for your example and your encouragement.

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Tags connect with God

Christian Living

Is a Big Church Better?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 10, 2013

In the developed world, especially the United States, size is celebrated. If something is big, we judge it as good. If it’s bigger, we applaud it as better. And if it’s the biggest, we acclaim it as the best. People equate size with success.

Churches fall into this same trap.

If a church is big, people assume God is pleased, that he has blessed them. Surely, God’s favor rests upon big houses of worship. The bigger it is, the more spiritual they must be, more holy in character and surely more loved by the Almighty.

People, both those in the church and those outside, equate size with success.

The opposite implication is that small churches are somehow lacking. Little is lamented. The logic is that tiny churches must be doing something wrong.

God is surely displeased, so he withholds his favor. Their small numbers suggests serious spiritual error.

We likewise judge ministers at these churches, with large-church leaders celebrated and small-church leaders ignored. But this is a societal assessment, not a spiritual indicator.

While there could be an element of truth in these assumptions, they are far from universal.

Too often, big churches have little connection with high spiritual standing, but are merely a reflection of successfully tapping into society’s consumer mindset.

While small churches may best provide the opportunity for spiritual growth.

Consider God’s rejection of Saul and selection of David or the victory won by Gideon’s tiny army.

With God, size doesn’t matter. And if he doesn’t care, why should we?

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Tags church

Christian Living

All Things Are Spiritual

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 3, 2013

One of the disservices of the modern era was dividing life into secular and spiritual, of splitting our existence, behavior, and reality into separate realms of activity.

Premodern man had no such illusions; neither did ancient man before that. To them, everything was spiritual.

If you don’t believe me, consider all the spiritual lessons and stories in the Bible. How many of them happened during a church service? Not too many.

Indeed, the Bible shows God at work throughout the week, not just on the Sabbath or Sunday and not just at the tabernacle, temple, or synagogue, but anywhere, anytime.

In the Bible, God seldom waited for people to show up at the temple before speaking to them. Nor did he often require exuberant worship as a prerequisite for revealing his presence or power.

Yes, those things did sometimes happen, but not usually.

When we view all of life as spiritual, the concept of secular disappears. Then we no longer need to wait for Sunday morning to encounter God; that can happen throughout the week—if we’re open to it.

On Sundays, we often arrive at church expectant of a spiritual experience: waiting for God to speak and open to experience his presence.

But if all aspects of life are spiritual, as the Bible shows us, then we should be expectant of a spiritual experience at any moment.

This should inform all we do, including when we drive our car, how we interact with the clerk at the store, what we watch on TV, and how we talk to our family.

Yes, all things are spiritual. It’s time we act like it.

May God speak to you and reveal his presence the next time you are in church—and even more so when you leave.

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.

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Tags spirituality

Christian Living

The Next Generation

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 29, 2013

On September 11, while others in the United States remembered the anniversary of a national tragedy, my wife and I celebrated the birth of our first grandson.

I waited a long time for him, not with any sense of urgency but with much anticipation for the joy his arrival would bring.

Now he’s here, and I’m reminded once again of the awesomeness of life. And although biased, I think he’s the most beautiful baby ever.

In seeing him, I’m mindful that babies don’t come with an instruction manual. Though my daughter and her husband have prepared well and are doing a great job, I know they will learn some things only through experience and after a few errors.

Surely, they will make a some mistakes along the way, just as their respective parents did in raising them.

When my grandson was one week old, I asked his parents what surprised them the most so far. For my daughter it was the realization of just how important sleep was; my son-in-law voiced surprise over the amount of time a baby requires.

I remember my trepidation when I first held my daughter; I scarcely breathed for fear she might break. Each evening I gave her a bottle, and then she fell asleep in my arms. Later, I did the same for her brother.

However, when I first held my grandson, there was no apprehension, only excitement. My parent skills came back to me quickly. This is a delightful phase in my life. I relish having grandchildren.

Although I like having grandchildren, the idea of being a grandfather is jarring. I suspect, though, that will all change in an instant, at that future moment when my grandson looks up at me and says for the first time, “Grandpa.”

And my heart will melt.

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Tags awesome, children

Christian Living

How I Worship God

Many people think that singing songs in church is worshiping God. They’re right, but there’s more.

Other people call the entire church service, “worship,” as in “Our worship service is at ten.” I suppose they’re right, too. But there’s more to worship than a one hour a week effort.

Ideally, everything we do, say, and think can worship God. At least, it should. Yet sometimes that’s hard to do.

Yesterday, as I tried to get my snowblower ready for winter, I should have been happy that I have a snowblower in the first place and found time to prep it.

Instead I was upset that it didn’t start, despite doing all the right steps. And when it finally did start, I forgot to thank God for answered prayer.

As far as worship, I fell short.

Yet my writing is one way that I do worship God. Everything I write is either about him or for him. I sense his pleasure as I type away. After finishing a piece, I think he smiles with delight as I offer it to him.

Whether it’s primitive or polished, as long as I did my best, he receives it with joy. Like a proud parent he posts it on his refrigerator for all to see.

Each Sunday, I write before I go to church, and it’s often my most profound worship experience of the week. Sitting passively in a pew may have its positive moments, but for me it pales to making something and offering it to God.

Here it is, God. I give you another piece of my writing as an act of worship.

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Tags worship

Christian Living

The New Sunday School

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 20, 2013

What was the original purpose of Sunday school? Religious instruction, right? No, not at all.

The initial goal of Sunday school was to provide basic academic instruction to poor children. Sunday school started as a philanthropic effort, not as religious instruction.

Teaching underprivileged kids to read was a key means to empower them so they could avoid mistreatment by society and abuse by employers.

Later on, when public schools effectively took over the role of Sunday school, rather than shutting down their programs, churches morphed Sunday school into religious education classes.

Though the purpose of Sunday school ended, their existence continued on, becoming an expected part of most church programming.

In the same original spirit of Sunday school, I heard of a church that offers classes in English as a second Language (ESL).

Their intent is philanthropic, to help people and better society. Isn’t that what churches should be doing, helping people and making our world a better place?

Could ESL classes be the new Sunday school?

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Tags Sunday school