Cornelius is a commander in the Roman army; he’s also a man of faith, who prays often and gives to the poor. One day, during his afternoon prayers, he has a vision. An angel appears to him and says that God has received his prayers and gifts as a memorial offering.
Imagine that. God sees Cornelius’s prayers and help of those in need as a gift directly given to him. It is an offering, something done in his name.
I don’t know if God accepts all our prayers as memorial offerings or holds all our efforts to help others in such high esteem, but it is something to contemplate.
I think to be counted as a memorial, it must be done in Jesus’ name. And to be received as an offering, it must be presented with right motives. So when we do things for Jesus with pure intentions, it may be that God will likewise receive our actions as a memorial offering to him.
As a kid, I was confused by how we could directly give to God. Maybe this is how. May all we do be a memorial offering to him.
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.
How We Live Out Our Faith Reveals How Much It Means to Us
When we follow Jesus and give our life to him, we don’t need to do anything to earn our salvation or merit his good will. Eternal life is a gift he gives freely to us. Yet receiving it merits a response. How we choose to live out our faith in Jesus matters a lot.
A Secret Faith
I’ve known people who go to church and claim they’re a Christian, but few people know it—certainly not any of those outside of the church they attend. They’re very silent about their faith. They keep it a secret.
They claim that their faith is just between them and God. They justify their silence by saying that they don’t want to offend anyone. They’re stealth Christians, but in truth they may be fearful ones.
No one knows about their faith because they never mention it, and their actions are no different than anyone else in the world. Their witness to others and impact on the world is nonexistent. And they’re okay with it. But this must grieve Jesus.
Yes, if they have a true faith in Jesus, it will save them in the end. But they’ll receive no reward when they get to heaven. They did nothing to deserve one.
But this is not how we should live out our faith. We need to tell others about Jesus.
All Talk
Others talk a lot about their faith. They work spiritual-sounding language into every conversation, whether it fits or not. They pepper their speech with religious-sounding words and lofty spiritual allusions, but they fail to live out their faith with any intangible action.
In reality, they live no differently than everyone else.
Though most people tolerate their incessant preachy pronouncements, few people want to spend much time with them. This is because they come across as fake, they don’t “walk the talk.”
But this is not how we should live out our faith either. We need to tell others about Jesus, through both our words and our actions.
Action
James criticizes these inactive Christians. He says that faith without action is useless. He demonstrates his faith by his deeds, by what he does. Belief is not enough. James confronts his audience by bluntly saying that faith without deeds is dead (James 2:14-20).
As true followers of Jesus, we reveal our faith by what we do. We avoid trying to not offend like those with a secret faith or just speaking about it like the all-talk Christians. We live out our faith by what we do.
As St. Anthony of Padua said, “Actions speak louder than words.”
By Word and Deed
Then we have the quip to “Preach the gospel at all times. And if necessary, use words.” This may or may not have originated with St Francis of Assisi.
It presents a powerful image to grab our attention, but if we don’t accompany our faith-filled actions with faith-filled words, we lessen our impact and fail to best live out our faith. We must tell others about Jesus (Romans 10:14 and 2 Timothy 4:2).
To fully live out our faith, we do so by word and deed. We need to talk about our faith when appropriate and to confirm it by what we do at all times. This is the ideal witness.
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.
We Are Made in God’s Image, Not the Other Way Around
An idol is anything that becomes more important than God. The Old Testament of the Bible talks a lot about God’s displeasure with his people worshipping idols, that is, false God’s.
Today our idols may be things like money, career, possessions, and status. Even family can become our idol.
Yet there’s another form of idol worship today. It’s Christian idolatry.
Christian idolatry is a widespread practice. Most people accept it and even celebrate it. Christian idolatry occurs when we try to make God into who we want him to be, not who the Bible says he is. It’s modern-day idol worship.
It’s wrong. It’s short sighted. And it may have eternal consequences.
A Religious Smorgasbord
The prevailing attitude today is that everyone needs to decide for themselves what’s right and wrong. There are no absolutes. Society encourages this mindset.
And people apply this misguided perspective to their faith. This results in one form of Christian idolatry. It occurs when people mix religions.
Though they may start with Christianity as their basis, they selectively pick beliefs and practices from other world religions—and popular culture—to stir into their pot.
They end up with their own faith concoction. Though it may taste good, it’s not nutritious. And it may kill them.
Selective Christianity
Another form of Christian idolatry—one more pervasive and less obvious—is selecting what parts of biblical truth to accept and what to reject.
If a passage in the Bible offends, people don’t seek to change their perspective to align with God’s. Instead, they disregard that text as being irrelevant or obsolete.
God created us in his image (Genesis 1:26). He made us to be like him. More correctly the godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made us to be like them.
When we make up our own faith practices, it’s as if we’re trying to make God into our image. Implicitly we’re saying we don’t want to view him or approach him for who he is but how we want to perceive him.
We don’t want to worship him the way he says to but the way we want to.
A faith that we make up may make us feel good, but it can’t save us. And being sincere is not enough either, for we can be sincerely wrong.
This is the root of Christian idolatry. It occurs when we try to make God into our image. And we must stop.
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.
Carefully Consider Your Faith Foundation and the Basis for What You Believe
Some Christians base their faith on what the Bible says. Others, however, reject this view as outdated and judgmental. Instead, they allow society to guide their practices, which veers further and further from a firm faith foundation. They have become secular Christians.
Here are some characteristics of secular Christians:
Being Politically Correct Is More Important Than Being Biblically Correct
Political correctness guides their perspectives, their thoughts, and their words. When this view contradicts what the Bible says, they dismiss Scripture and align with the current prevailing opinion of secular society.
Public opinion matters more to them than God’s Word, so they waffle in the wind of societal attitudes. And when that attitude shifts, they shift with it. As a result, they build their life on a foundation of sand. What they don’t realize is that it won’t last (Matthew 7:26).
Jesus Isn’t Central but Ancillary
Jesus is the star of the Bible, with the Old Testament anticipating him and the New Testament telling us about him and the work of his followers. He calls his disciples to put him first in their lives, to make him a priority (Matthew 10:38).
Yet secular Christians move away from this ideal. Yes, they may view Jesus as a wise teacher, a good man, or someone worthy of admiration, but he’s not someone to give their life to. As a result, Jesus becomes one pursuit among many. He doesn’t rise above all else. Instead, he’s more apt to be buried by it.
Society’s Views Supersede Scripture
Sometimes what the Bible says isn’t popular among progressive thinking people. When they read Scripture—if they read it at all—it’s as if they have a highlighter in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. But this is Christian idolatry. They don’t read and believe the entire Bible (2 Timothy 3:16).
When the Bible agrees with what society says, secular Christians affirm Scripture. But when it runs contrary to popular opinion, they dismiss or decry those passages.
At best, secular Christians view the Bible through the lens of culture. In the process, they distort the Word of God and delude themselves into assuming it says something it doesn’t say.
Christian Is a Label More Than a Lifestyle
Given this, it’s easy for these folks to treat the word Christian as a name that carries little weight. It may encompass a political perspective, a vague reference that means whatever they want it to mean, or a convenient description that allows for acceptance among some groups.
Instead, Jesus calls us to go all in for him (Matthew 19:29). To fully follow him is a full-time commitment. We make a U-turn with our lives to be his disciple. Saying we’re a Christian means nothing unless our lifestyle matches what Jesus calls us to do.
Don’t Be a Secular Christian
Just because someone says they’re a Christian doesn’t mean they really are. Too many people in our world today are secular Christians and nothing more. But Jesus has a higher calling for us (Hebrews 3:1).
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.
Another church is Anglican Catholic. They’re also on my mental list of churches to visit. I know nothing about them or their faith practices. I expect their service to be much like Roman Catholic, but I’m not sure.
Consider these three discussion questions about Church 74.
1. I’m curious and intrigued. I’m sure I can gather much to contemplate about our common faith and our varied worship practices.
What steps can we take to expand our understanding of worshiping God and embrace the faith journey of others?
2. Unlike other streams of Christianity and other Protestant denominations, I’ve never met anyone who was Anglican Catholic—at least not that I’m aware of.
What do our friends know about our faith and which church we go to?
3. Lacking information about their practices, this Anglican Catholic church emerges for me with a mystical aura, but I doubt that’s accurate.
What uninformed assumptions might we hold about others that we should seek to verify or correct?
If you feel it’s time to move from the sidelines and get into the game, The More Than 52 Churches Workbook provides the plan to get you there.
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 3 Tips of What to Do If Question Your Faith
I hear people who have a crisis of faith, who question what they believe. It pains me to see the struggle they’re going through. Yet I’ve never been sure how to help them, except to encourage them to press forward and not give up. This is because I never questioned my faith.
I have, however, questioned church practices. I’ve done this often for most of my life. And I see a connection between the two.
I Question the Church
I was a young teenager when I got my hands on a New Testament copy of the Living Bible. I poured through it. I read the entire thing. Then I read it again.
When I was fourteen, I devoted my summer vacation to reading the Old and New Testament of the Living Bible. It only took an hour a day, and I had plenty of time.
What I saw in this easy-to-understand version of the Bible bore little similarity to what I saw practiced at church each Sunday morning. Yes, there were common elements, but that was it. Mostly what I saw was a significant disconnect.
That’s when I began to question the church. I became so disillusioned with it, I nearly gave up—at least with the organized, institutional church. To this day, decades later, I’m still disillusioned and remain critical.
Yet I still attend—in hope to one day experience church as it was practiced in the Bible—and as Jesus modeled for his followers.
This lifetime of questioning church occurs throughout my blog posts and in many of my books. And it’s the focus of my book Jesus’s Broken Church.
But what’s the connection with me questioning the church and other people questioning their faith?
Do You Question Your Faith?
A common trait I’ve seen in people who question their beliefs—who face a crisis of faith—is that they’re mad at God because of what they’ve been taught about him, not because of who he is.
Their perception of God is skewed because of preachers and teachers who have misrepresented our Heavenly Father, Jesus his Son, and the Holy Spirit to them.
These folks teach with passion and conviction, but too often they’re spouting a manmade doctrine that runs counter to biblical truth. If you’re questioning your faith, first take a step back and question what you’ve been taught about God before you get angry at him.
Here are three tips if you find yourself having a crisis of faith:
1. Question What You’ve Been Taught
The first step is to examine your perception of God. Perhaps it’s wrong. For most people it is. Though many hold minor misconceptions, others make assumptions about God that are seriously flawed.
Though in some cases this may be due to their own faulty logic of making God into who they want him to be, usually it’s because others—both trained clergy in untrained peers—have led them astray.
God loves us. This is true.
But this doesn’t mean we won’t have struggles in life. In fact, we will. Jesus says so (John 16:33). The evil one will assault us (John 17:15). We will face persecution (Matthew 5:10-12).
And because God loves us, we will receive his discipline, just as parents lovingly discipline their children so they can grow and mature. So it is with Father God and us, his children (Hebrews 12:5-7).
2. Seek Biblical Truth
Just as I’ve cited these four passages that teach us the truth about God, faith, and living for him, the Bible is packed full of more of these truths.
To learn about God, we need to read the book that teaches us about him.
Don’t rely on what our culture says about God because they don’t know him. They are dangerous guides, just like the many ministers who misrepresent God’s true nature.
The true source for reliable information about God is the Bible. We will do well to read it, study it, and meditate on it. As we do our understanding of who God is and our relationship with him will change—for the better.
3. Ask for Holy Spirit Insight
It’s hard, however, to read and study the Bible in isolation. We can do this with others, with iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17). As King Solomon wrote, two are better than one (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
Yet the Holy Spirit is an even better resource to help us understand Scripture. The Holy Spirit is a reliable guide who will teach us (John 14:26). This begins with prayer (James 1:5).
Move Forward
If you find yourself questioning your faith, first question what you’ve been taught about God. Then seek the Bible for real answers, relying on the Holy Spirit to guide you and reveal truth to you.
As you reform your understanding of God, you’ll grow closer to him. And you will see your crisis of faith dim. This will take time, but it will be worth the effort.
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.
Jesus Offers Us the Gift Of Salvation; All We Need to Do Is Accept It
We read in scripture that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. There’s nothing else we must do. It is God’s gift to us. We can’t earn it. All we need to do is receive it (Ephesians 2:8-9). He doesn’t want any of us to die, to perish—no not one.
God’s Grace is a Gift
Grace means to receive something good that we don’t deserve. We don’t deserve to be saved, but God offers salvation to us anyway. He does this because he loves us, and he loves us unconditionally.
All we need to do to receive salvation through God’s grace is to follow Jesus. That’s what he told the people to do: “Follow me.” We do this when we believe in him. This is what it means to be born again.
It’s that simple.
There are no steps to take, no hoops to jump through, and no requirements to meet. Easy peasy. And don’t believe anyone who tells you anything different. If someone insists you must do something first or follow a bunch of rules, they’re a modern-day Pharisee or a slave to the Old Testament law that Jesus fulfilled.
Not Your Ordinary Religion
Christianity is unique compared to all other religions. This is because we don’t need to do things to earn our salvation, our right standing with the Almighty. Jesus offers it to us as a present, and all we need to do is accept his free gift.
We don’t need to change our behavior. We don’t need to take a class. And we don’t need to make sacrifices to become right with him. We just need to say “yes” and except the gift of God’s grace.
Contrary to what most people think and to how many Christians behave, Christianity is not a performance-based religion. It is grace based. Never lose sight of that.
Changed Behavior Is a Response
Once we receive Jesus’s gift of salvation, through God’s grace, our response may be to change our behavior. But this isn’t a requirement. It’s optional. And it comes later.
Changing how we act, what we say, and what we think is something we do to say “thank you” to Jesus. This shouldn’t be a burden, something we do out of guilt, or an obligation. It’s a choice we freely make for him with no strings attached.
Changing our lifestyle for Jesus once we follow him should be a natural response for receiving the greatest present anyone could receive: the gift of eternal life.
Does God Owe Us Anything?
I acknowledge that I’m saved through Jesus and by God’s grace. I don’t need to earn it—I can’t. As a result of receiving Jesus’s salvation, my response is to change my life so that it more aligns with Jesus. This is an ongoing, lifelong process which I gladly pursue day by day.
And this is also the area I once struggled with. I used to think my good behavior, right living, and efforts to grow closer to God somehow earned me his favor. That he owed me because I studied Scripture, prayed, and fasted.
The fact that I gave money to advance his Kingdom and made sacrifices for him somehow must mean I’d earned his attention and deserved his good will. I expected I should receive his blessings because I had earned them.
This, of course, was wrong thinking on my part. Though I relied on God’s grace to save me, I forgot about his grace as I moved forward in my life.
Receive God’s Grace
Remember what we covered earlier: God’s grace is to receive something good that we don’t deserve. I don’t deserve God’s favor, blessings, or protection. I can’t earn it, and he doesn’t owe it to me. But by God’s grace he does all these things for me and more.
Following Jesus and living for him is all about God’s grace. Never forget that.
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.
I’ll say it again, most Christians already know more about the Bible than what they put into practice.
Does the Bible Matter?
Many people dismiss what the Bible says, even Christians. They don’t care what it reveals, not really. They assume it’s out of date or think it’s irrelevant in today’s world. Depending on what they want, they may be right. Yet, if someone wants to know the God of the Bible, the Bible is the best way to get there.
Too many people make up their own religion, doing what feels good to them or what makes sense, but a man-made religion won’t save them. It may make them feel self-satisfied, but that temporal pursuit has no eternal value.
To discover truth, they need to look beyond themselves. They need a greater authority. For me, it’s the Bible.
If you want a relationship with the God of Scripture, then Scripture is the means to get there. Nothing else will do; nothing else matters. Then we need to put into practice what the Bible says and not just stuff more knowledge into our brain.
Should We Not Study the Bible?
If we already know more about the Bible than what we put into practice, does that mean we should stop studying it? No. On the contrary.
We need to continue to read, study, and meditate on the Bible. But there’s one more step. We then need to add action. We need to put into practice what we read about in the Bible.
That’s why what the Bible says is so important. Without Scripture, we wouldn’t know what we should do, what’s important, and what matters.
Amassing knowledge about the Bible isn’t the goal of Bible study. Learning how to live, such as to love one another, is. The Bible teaches us that, saying eleven times that we’re to love one another.
Bible study for the sake of learning isn’t the goal. Bible study to reform our thinking and inform our lives should be our intent. Otherwise, our heads will be full of knowledge, but that will be all.
Paul writes that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1). Too many people who read the Bible are puffed up, but they don’t build up anyone.
As James writes, faith without action is dead (James 2:14-26). Therefore, as we study the Bible, it can—and should—spur us to action, making our lives come alive in tangible ways.
We shouldn’t read the Bible to learn as much as we should read the Bible to let its words produce action. Then we won’t be a Christian that knows more about the Bible than we put into practice.
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.
Though the Bible doesn’t use the word trinity, most followers understand God as a three-in-one deity, made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God is three persons in one. Though implicitly equal, most adherents more readily embrace one form over the other. But which is it, Father, Son, or Holy Spirit?
God the Father
Some traditions focus on God the Father as their primary view of God. Yes, they value Jesus, his son, and acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s existence, but in their practice, they venerate God the Father as their primary view of God.
Father God dominates the Old Testament and forms their understanding of him. Though the Old Testament alludes to the coming Savior and the Spirit does some work, the focus is on God the Father.
God the Son
Jesus arrives in person in the New Testament, with four biographies devoted to him: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He’s central in the Bible, central in faith, and even central in world history.
Therefore, other churches and their adherents place their focus on Jesus the Christ (the Messiah). They give him their attention, making him their priority. In the process, they downplay the other two parts of the trinity: Father and Holy Spirit.
God the Holy Spirit
When Jesus returns to heaven, his followers receive the Holy Spirit to guide them, teach them, and remind them of everything he said. The Holy Spirit stars in the book of Acts, leading Jesus’s church.
As a result, other faith practices place their primary emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Yes, Jesus is important because he makes the Holy Spirit’s arrival possible and Father God is the point of salvation, but these believers elevate the Holy Spirit.
Which Is It?
I’ve been to churches that fit all three camps. I understand where each comes from. But who is right? Should our focus rightly be on the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit?
Jesus provides the way to the Father; he is not the destination. Does that make the Father more important? Also consider that after his victory over death, Jesus must leave before the Holy Spirit can arrive. Does that make the Holy Spirit—who guides Jesus’s church today—more important?
If Jesus is the way to the Father and must leave before the Holy Spirit can arrive, does that make him less important than the other two?
Or is it the opposite, with Jesus as preeminent? After all, without Jesus to make the way to the Father or open the door for the Holy Spirit nothing else matters.
We Need Balance
Though our various faith practices elevate one part of the godhead over the other two, we need not concern ourselves with the question of Father, Son, or Holy Spirit?
The correct perspective is that we must balance our view of God, equally esteeming Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
May it be so.
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.
Among those who care about such things there is a debate as to the veracity of the story of Job. Succinctly, was Job a real person or is the book about him a work of fiction?
Supporting evidence that Job wasn’t a real person:
Job is not mentioned in any of the historical books of the Bible and only referred to once outside of the book bearing his name.
Job was “blameless and upright” (Job 1:1). And despite being afflicted, he “did not sin” (Job 1:22 & 2:10). Since only God is without sin, this characterization is false. Although it could also be hyperbole, a practice that occurs elsewhere in the Bible.
Supporting evidence that Job was a real person:
God, as recorded by the prophet Ezekiel, refers to Job along with Daniel and Noah (Ezekiel 14:19-20). Surely, if Job was fictional, God would not mention him in the same context as two people who did live (for whom there is biblical support).
In that same passage, God testifies that Job was righteous. It seems unlikely that God would so affirm a fictitious person as righteous.
So was Job a real person or not? Was his story fact or fiction?
The answers to these questions will never be fully resolved, but for me it doesn’t matter. Whether he is real or imagined, whether his story is fact or fiction, Job’s account is part of God’s inspired word. So regardless we can learn from it, be inspired by it, and be strengthened in our faith because of it.
Arguing about its origin is only a distraction from the truth that in contains.
May the Bible’s account of Job teach us and point us to God.
Discover more about Job in Peter’s book I Hope in Him: 40 Insights about Moving from Despair to Deliverance through the Life of Job. In it, we compare the text of Job to a modern screenplay.
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.
