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Christian Living

What Does it Mean to Follow Jesus?

When people approached Jesus, wanting to connect with him, he would offer a variety of instructions. It seems his response addressed their particular situation and issues. What he said most often was “repent and follow me.”

“Repent” simply means to change our ways, to do a U-turn; “follow” means to go after. Sometimes Jesus was even more concise and just said “follow me”.

I like this idea of following him and often tell people “I’m a follower of Jesus.” The label of Christian may be a quick and easy one, but it means different things to different people, evoking varying responses from respect to invective.

To say, “I follow Jesus” is straightforward and less confusing. Or is it?

With the ubiquitous popularity of Twitter, comes the common request to “Twitter.” To follow someone on Twitter takes little effort and requires no commitment; it is passive and demands nothing.

This is quite the opposite of following Jesus with a passionate desire to be his disciple and know him intimately.

It’s my hope that everyone will follow Jesus, not the meaningless “follow on Twitter” nonsense, but an all in, totally sold out following of Jesus, the Christ who is revealed in the Bible.

Read more in How Big is Your Tent? A Call for Christian Unity, Tolerance, and Love and discover what the Bible says about following Jesus. Available in e-book and paperback.

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.

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Christian Living

Does the Timing of Prayer Matter?

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 some time.

For example, if someone asks for prayer at ten o’clock, I can pray at ten (the best option).

Or I can pray in advance, anticipating what they will undergo (this is great if I’ll be busy at ten).

A third option is to pray afterwards but to pray as if the outcome is still undetermined (this is hard and I don’t do it often).

Once I told a friend, I would pray for her—and then forgot. A reminder of my forgetfulness was an email from her, which essentially said, “thanks for praying; things didn’t work out.”

Dismayed over my broken promise, I did my best to set aside my knowledge of the outcome and pray as if it hadn’t occurred. My faith, that my feeble prayer would be answered, was weak at best, but I did pray nonetheless.

About four hours later I received a second email, which negated the first. It basically said, “God is amazing; he has provided for me and answered our prayers.”

I can’t explain the two contradicting emails and don’t know the details. What I do know is that God answers our prayers—regardless of when we pray.

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.”

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Christian Living

What Does it Mean to be a Prayer Warrior?

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 what God has in mind.

What if God doesn’t want us to be a prayer warrior? Perhaps he desires that we not “war” at prayer, but rather that we “love” at prayer—love him.

However, recall that Ephesians 6:12 says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world, and spiritual forces of evil. This does indeed evoke an image of war.

Clearly a balance is called for. If we think of prayer as war, our focus is on the enemy, not God. I don’t think that’s what God wants (but the enemy may like the extra attention).

For me a prayer that devotes more words to warring against the enemy than to loving God is a prayer that is out of balance and focused on the wrong thing.

May our prayer focus rightly reside on God.

*The phrase “prayer warrior” is not found in the NIV, NLT, AMP, or NASB. Interestingly, occurs once in The Message, but in a negative context: “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant,” Matthew 6:7.

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.

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Christian Living

What’s More Important, to Get Decisions or Make Disciples?

I recently read about someone who is credited with producing over 55 million decisions for Christ. That’s the most impressive number. However, I wonder if it’s the correct focus. He needs to make disciples instead.

Jesus didn’t tell us to go and make decisions—or to get people saved, to make converts, or to have people come forward at an altar call, raise their hands, or say the prayer—but to make disciples.

Making a disciple is much more difficult and takes a lot longer. It requires but minutes for someone to decide to follow Jesus, but a lifetime to become a disciple of Jesus. However, true disciples are what Jesus wanted.

It’s really an issue of quantity versus quality. And frankly, most people today are more impressed with quantity.

Millions of decisions may make headlines and garner attention and adulation, but it was just 12 disciples who changed the world.

Consider how you can make disciples for Jesus.

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.

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Christian Living

Should We Tithe or Not?

Some people who follow Jesus give his church 10 percent of their income. The Bible calls this a tithe and it was a requirement from the Old Testament portion of the Bible.

Other people say 10 percent is more a guideline than a rule. I don’t see much support for this perspective—other than the fact they don’t think they can afford to give away a tenth of their income.

A third group points out that Jesus never asked for 10 percent and whenever the New Testament part of the Bible mentions the practice, it’s always in reference to the Old Testament. They conclude the requirement to tithe no longer holds.

Personally, I see truth in all three. Giving 10 percent is historical, it is a guideline, and it may not hold true any longer.

When many people talk about tithing, the implication is 10 percent is God’s and 90 percent is theirs.

I think Jesus wants us to view 100 percent as belonging to him. Be it directly donated or indirectly spent, we need to disperse it wisely to care for our basic needs and help others.

We are blessed to be a blessing to others, so we should spend carefully and give generously, not just tithe 10 percent.

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.

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Christian Living

The Spirituality of Giving

When it comes to giving to others there are two schools of thought. One is to give to whoever asks and the other is to be good stewards of the resources God has given us.

The problem is, both of these are taught in the Bible, so which is it?

The answer, as with many spiritual paradoxes, is both. In this case God does not give us an immutable law to obey, but instead guidelines to follow. I think we need to discern which path to take for each individual situation.

Sometimes we need to give generously without hesitation, while other times, the good stewardship rule applies.

This may mean sharing what we have, or withholding resources, or perhaps coming up with a creative response that while not giving what is requested, does provide for what is actually needed.

Giving to others is a spiritual thing; may we do it well.

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.

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Christian Living

Pray Once and Pray Without Ceasing

When we ask God for something, is it a “once and done” effort or should we pray repeatedly until our request is granted?

I think the answer is yes!

If we truly believe God hears our prayers, then we only need to ask once. (And what’s the point of praying if we don’t think he hears our every word?) To ask a second time may suggest a lack of faith.

Is incessantly pleading with God akin to children repeatedly begging their parents for candy? Just as a kid’s non-stop plea is irritating to parents, constantly begging God, must also bug him.

However, there are times, when prayers should be repeated. For example, in the parable of the widow petitioning the unjust judge, Jesus commends her persistence. Another time Jesus taught us to ask each day for our “daily bread.”

And while having enough food to eat may not be a concern for most of us, we do need God’s provisions for each new day—and it’s appropriate to make that request every morning.

There are times when we should only petition God once and other instances where we need to ask repeatedly. And part of our spiritual journey is discerning the difference.

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.

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Christian Living

Do You Create for the Creator?

I’ve never considered myself to be a creative person, not like artists and musicians or architects and engineers. While I may be good at tweaking something existing, making something new is not how I’m wired.

I’m definitely a left-brain thinker: analytical and logical, a processor of information and problem-solver. Yet, I’m also a writer—and writing is creating.

Each blog post, each article, and each book I write is the artistic birth of something not before seen; it is a new creation.

Creating things, be it art, music, buildings, devices, or even literature is a spiritual experience, be it a good spiritual or a bad spiritual. I, for one, endeavor for my creations of words to be a good spiritual.

God is a creative being. He created the universe (don’t fixate on the how, you’ll miss the point) and we are the pinnacle of his creation.

I recently tweeted: “God is the ultimate artist, creation is his masterpiece, and each of us is a work of art.”

We are made is his image, so it is inherently characteristic for us to yearn to make things—just as he made us.

As a child, I gave pictures to my mom; I now give my writing to God—and I believe he receives them with even more joy.

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.

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Christian Living

The Spirituality of Receiving

When we give something to others, there should be a spiritual element to our generosity. It’s more than just to be nice to them or to feel better about ourselves.

There’s a spiritual aspect in giving that can honor God and connect us more closely with him.

There’s also a spiritual aspect in receiving. Just as a rightly given gift should be offered graciously, it should also be received gratefully.

Doing so honors the giver and likewise connects us more closely with God, the ultimate giver of all good gifts.

I recently had some minor surgery and was on the receiving end of other’s generosity. Most prominently, my bride became my head nurse for a few days, doing things for me I’m used to doing myself.

Each act of kindness was another small gift.

Although I’m more comfortable in the role of giver, I endeavored to receive each gift well. This was to honor both the giver and the God behind the gift.

We can show God’s love by how we give—and in how we receive.

May we do both well.

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.

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Christian Living

What Do You Expect When You Pray?

When some people pray, they pray expecting God will answer their prayers and good things will happen.

When other people pray, they pray expecting there’s only an outside chance God will come through; bad things are bound to happen.

When you pray do you expect God to say “yes” or expect him to say “no?”

If we pray expecting God to grant our requests, there will be times when we are disappointed.

However, if we pray with little expectation of God granting our requests, there will only be a few times when we are surprised. We must pray in faith and without doubting.

I tend to be in the first group—expecting the best from God—and not in the latter group—expecting little from him. I see God as kind, loving, and benevolent, wanting to give me good things—all I need to do is ask.

When I pray, I almost always expect God to say “yes.”

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.