Tag: holiday

The Origin of Purim

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 4, 2022

Early each spring our Jewish friends celebrate Purim. The origin of Purim is found in the book of Esther, which is a beautiful and moving story.

In a rags to riches manner, Esther was whisked from obscurity to become queen. From her new position of access and influence, she was able to stop a plot to kill her people, the Jews.

This was done at great personal risk as she could have been summarily executed. Esther’s bravery shows how one person can make a difference

To commemorate this event, an annual celebration was commanded by Mordecai, Esther’s uncle. He wrote:

“Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.

“He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.”

This is the origin of Purim. The holiday started by Mordecai way back then is still celebrated today.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Esther 8-10 , and today’s post is on Esther 9:20-22.]

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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Tags Esther, holiday, Jew

Visiting Churches

Home for Holy Week

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 2, 2022

It’s Easter and we’re returning home to our church, the people we love and miss. This marks our first Sunday here since last Easter. It’s great to be back for Holy Week.

The 52 Churches Workbook, by Peter DeHaan

Consider these four discussion questions about Church #53:

1. There’s nothing special about the building, except that it’s 150 years old. Even with many enhancements, a dated look pervades.

What updates does your church need so that it doesn’t feel dated?

2. The pastor welcomes everyone, telling visitors what the regulars already know: there’s no plan for the service, only a general intent. Its length is unknown. It will end when it ends.

How should you better depend on the Holy Spirit to guide your church service?

3. The worship team launches into song, with worship at its passionate finest, full of joy and abounding in celebration. People on stage jump and dance, with more movement in the congregation than I’ve seen in a long time.

What does God think about your worship? How can you worship him better?

4. They baptize several people. For many churches, baptism is a somber affair, conducted with reserved formality. Not so here. It’s a celebration of unabashed enthusiasm, with the congregation cheering each baptism.

How can you move baptism from a religious rite to the spiritual rebirth that it represents?

[See the prior set of questions, the next set, or start at the beginning.]

Get your copy of 52 Churches and The 52 Churches Workbook today, available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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

Tags church services, Easter, Good Friday, holiday, Holy Week, The 52 Churches Workbook

Christian Living

Why is Pentecost Important?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 25, 2022
2 Comments on Why is Pentecost Important?

Celebrating Holy Spirit Power

In another post we talked about the four main Christian holidays. In succession, they celebrate that Jesus came to earth (Christmas), died so we could live (Good Friday), overcame death to prove his mastery of it (Easter), and having completed his mission, he gave us a gift (Pentecost).

Pentecost is the conclusion of the Easter story.

Here’s the progression of events leading up to Pentecost:

Jesus Goes Home

Having completed his mission here on earth, Jesus returns to heaven (Mark 16:19).

Jesus Prepares a Place for Us

As followers of Jesus, we look forward to the time we will join him in heaven and spend the rest of forever with him. As we wait for that day, he is getting ready to welcome us (John 14:2-3).

Jesus Listens to Our Prayers and Intercedes for Us to God the Father

How wonderful to know Jesus is in heaven as our advocate, representing us to his Father, our Heavenly Father (Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25).

Jesus Sends Us the Holy Spirit on Pentecost

This is the climax; this is Pentecost. When Jesus returns to heaven, he does not abandon us; he sends the Holy Spirit to comfort us and guide us. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in us, an essential aspect of putting our faith into action (John 16:7).

Pentecost reminds me of these things, foundational to my faith: that we will one day join Jesus in heaven, that we can pray to him now, and that we can live in concert with the Holy Spirit every day.

Today is Pentecost. Even though I’ll go to church, I don’t expect they’ll celebrate what this day means; they may not even mention it. This is a travesty, which is why I’m remembering it now.

Today, whether privately or with friends, I hope you’ll celebrate Pentecost and all it means.

Happy Pentecost!

Read more about this in Peter’s thought-provoking book, Jesus’s Broken Church, available in e-book, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover.

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

Tags holiday, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Pentecost

Christian Living

Let’s Reclaim Easter Before It Loses All Meaning

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 17, 2022

Remember to Celebrate Jesus this Easter

According to those who track public thought and opinion, the majority of people don’t realize that Easter is a religious holiday—or at least a holiday with a religious origin.

Given this, we must reclaim Easter for what it means.

The commercialization of Easter is strange. To start, we have Easter bunnies and Easter eggs, with the implication that the rabbits produced the eggs. How illogical is that?

Then there are colored eggs (both the real and plastic varieties), Easter baskets with a requisite bed of faux grass, pastel colored candies, and my favorite, the marshmallow peeps.

We send our children on Easter egg hunts and pile them with sugary candy. We do all this with nary a mention of Jesus.

Jesus is our savior who died in our place for all our sins (the mistakes we make throughout our lives). Then he proved his mastery over death by rising from the grave.

Celebrate Easter

If there is any connection between all this and Jesus’s history-changing victory over death, it certainly escapes me.

Where is the empty cross, the open tomb, and the risen savior? (Though it would seem a bit sacrilegious to chomp into a chocolate Jesus.)

In light of this disconnect between the origin and present reality of this day, my goal is that with each dip into commercialized Easter, I will have a conscious reconnection to historical Easter.

As I nibble on my peeps, I will meditate on Jesus and all that he did for us through his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

Let’s all strive to reclaim Easter.

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 cross, Easter, holiday, Jesus

Christian Living

Which is More Important, Good Friday or Easter?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 15, 2022

Should Christians Focus on Worshiping Jesus Who Suffered or Jesus Who Rose from the Dead?

As we moved through Lent to approach Holy Week we anticipate four significant days: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter (which some call Resurrection Sunday).

The last two, Good Friday and Easter, stand as momentous occasions for all those who follow Jesus.

Though Christians worldwide acknowledge both as significant days that are essential to their faith, they tend to place more emphasis on one over the other.

Indeed some choose to worship the suffering Savior, while others focus their attention on the risen Savior.

Good Friday or Easter?

For the first group, Good Friday is their solemn day of remembrance, with Easter as secondary. The other group breezes past Good Friday to arrive at Easter, the pinnacle day for their faith.

In reality, we need both Good Friday and Easter. Without Good Friday, we couldn’t have Easter and without Easter, Good Friday wouldn’t matter.

Jesus needed to die in order to cover all our mistakes and reconcile us with God. He also needed to rise from the dead, to resurrect, proving his mastery over death. We need both death and resurrection.

Jesus Had to Die

Jesus needed to die as our ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices and he needed to live again to show that his death wasn’t the end but a new beginning, both for him and for us.

Jesus Had to Rise

Let’s balance our faith practices by placing equal emphasis on Jesus as our Savior who died and who rose from the dead. We need both Good Friday and Easter. May our observances this year show that reality.

Thank you Jesus for dying for us so we don’t have to pay for our mistakes, and thank you Jesus for overcoming death for us so we can, too.

Whether you prefer Good Friday observances or Easter celebrations, this year, seek to embrace both with equal reverence and excitement.

Discover more about celebrating Jesus and his passion to save us in Peter’s new book, The Passion of Jesus. It is part of the Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series.

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

Tags Easter, Good Friday, holiday, Holy Week, Palm Sunday

Christian Living

Is Ascension Day the Fifth Christian Holy Day?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 16, 2021

Celebrate Jesus’s Return to Heaven, Which Prepares the Way for Pentecost

In my post The Four Main Christian Celebrations, I list for holy days (holidays) that smartly recognize Jesus and succinctly outline the key elements of his life and what he did for us. These Christian holidays are:

I wonder if I should add Ascension Day to the list. It is, after all, a critical element in the arc of Jesus’s life.

What is Ascension Day?

Ascension Day occurs forty days after Resurrection Sunday (better known as Easter). On Easter Jesus rises from the dead. He spends forty days with his friends and followers to prove he is alive.

Then he gives his disciples the directive to wait in Jerusalem for a special gift—the Holy Spirit—that Papa will send (Acts 1:4). After his parting words, he ascends into heaven (Acts 1:9-11).

Ascension Day falls on Thursday, so the date differs each year.

Out of convenience many churches acknowledge Jesus’s returned to heaven on the following Sunday, which they call Ascension Sunday—even though it didn’t happen on the first day of the week.

Ascension Day is critical, for Jesus had to return to heaven before his followers—and we—could receive the Holy Spirit. Without Jesus leaving, Pentecost couldn’t have occurred.

The Five Holidays That Commemorate Jesus’s Life

Putting these five days together reveals a sound theological understanding of the essential role Jesus plays in our faith journey. Here it is:

Jesus comes to earth (Christmas). After he spends three years to teach his disciples and talk about the kingdom of God, he dies as our once-and-for-all sacrifice to cover all the mistakes we—and everyone else throughout time—have ever made (Good Friday).

To prove he has the authority to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, he overcomes death by rising from the dead (Easter). After confirming he is alive, he returns to heaven (Ascension Day) so that we may receive the Holy Spirit (Pentecost).

Recognizing these five days as Christian holy days and celebrating these holidays reminds us each year of the essential elements of the gospel story, God’s good news to save humanity.

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

Tags Ascension Day, Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, holiday, Pentecost

Personal Posts

Preparing the Peeps

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 11, 2020

Like other holidays with historical religious meaning, Easter has been significantly skewed by both custom and commercialization.

Over time, the risen savior has been superseded by bunnies and eggs (reportedly symbols of fertility).

Notwithstanding, Easter egg hunts and chocolate candies of all variations are delightful traditions—as long as the true focus of Easter is retained.

One such staple of Easter tradition in our household is peeps—those mouth-watering creations of colored marshmallows and sugar.

There is often debate as to the optimum timing in the consumption of these delectable treats: fresh or aged. I prefer my peeps to be aged in order to maximize my noshing enjoyment.

As most peep connoisseurs know, there are two methods of aging peeps. The preferred, yet painfully slow method is to leave them packaged in a dark place.

Using this approach, aging takes between 6 to 12 months. The other technique is to remove them from their package so that they may “air age.”

Though this takes only days, great caution must be exercised to protect them from environmental elements.

Either way, care must be taken to keep them from becoming stale. There is, after all, a fine line between properly aged peeps and stale peeps.

Seeking instant gratification, some of our peeps were consumed “fresh” while others are being air aged; I seriously doubt if any will make it beyond a few days.

Regardless of your holiday focus or traditions, I hope that you had a wonderful Easter!

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.

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

Tags holiday, Sacred-Secular Divide

Personal Posts

“I Heart You” Day

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 14, 2020

My wife and I aren’t romantic types. I’m not sure if I’m just bad at the planning and execution or if it’s not all that important to her. Nevertheless, I do put forth a futile effort from time to time.

Years ago, it all started a couple of weeks before that, she asked for a new printer. Teasingly, I suggested it could be a Valentines’ Day present.

She readily agreed—seriously, she did—with the stipulation that it includes spare ink cartridges. So, a plan begins to emerge—a good plan!

Step 1: I ordered the printer and hooked it up the last week; it was an arduous task, but that’s a story for a different time.

Step 2: Then I presented her with a box of her favorite chocolates-Trinidads from Fannie May. Unfortunately, she still had some left from her birthday; maybe she didn’t like them all that well after all.

Step 3: And then, I made a special dinner—chicken stir-fry with sweet and sour sauce. (I wonder, if I always make dinner on Thursdays, do I get bonus points for Valentines Day if I was going to make it anyway?)

My plan was for a candlelight dinner, but it wasn’t really dark enough for candles and she opted for the more convenient invention, called electric lights. The meal was topped off with Valentine’s cupcakes that she made that morning.

Step 4: Waiting at her plate was her ink cartridges. She was pleased—at least I think so. Or perhaps she was just amused.

Step 5: To conclude the evening we went and saw the romantic comedy, “PS I Love You.” I’m okay with chick flicks, but I’ll only give it three stars (out of five). I think my wife was less impressed.

So, wrapping up. I think it was a good Valentine’s Day—I think.

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.

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

Tags holiday, movies, Sacred-Secular Divide

Visiting Churches

Love God More (Visiting Church #39)

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 16, 2020
2 Comments on Love God More (Visiting Church #39)

Today we attend our final church service of the year. With it falling between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I expect a light turnout. We are greeted by friendly faces and hearty handshakes.

The sanctuary seats about 90, plus a balcony. I count 55 present, but with a few late arrivals, our number eventually surpasses 60.

52 Churches: A Yearlong Journey Encountering God, His Church, and Our Common Faith

Though an organ is present, we only use the piano, singing numbers from the hymnal. After the first song, the minister gives an opening prayer, reads Mark 12:28-34, and makes many announcements.

Several members are absent due to illness; a few, in the hospital; and two families, traveling.

In a first for us, the congregation recites their memory verse for December in unison, Romans 5:8 as rendered in the King James Version of the Bible.

The pastor challenges them to recall their November memory verse, which he then leads them in saying.

We launch into another song and after two verses, pause to greet one another. During this extended time, we surely meet most of the adults present.

We return to our seats and sing the remaining two verses. Next is the prayer and offering, followed by another song; the children are excused for junior church.

Teaching from Matthew 9:14-17, the minister draws out a series of lessons from the text’s four verses, frequently returning to his theme of loving God more next year than ever before.

Presented with simple clarity, the profound meaning strikes me.

Being intent on loving God more in the coming year surpasses any New Year’s resolution and trumps all annual goals. I appreciate his future-focus and in keeping God pre-eminent.

He concludes by challenging us to make a pledge: “God, I will love you more in the new year.” What a fitting way to transition into a new year.

[Read about Church #38 and Church #40, start at the beginning of our journey, or learn more about Church #39.]

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.

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

Tags 52 Churches, holiday

Personal Posts

In the Mood!

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 14, 2020

When my daughter was in college, there were all manner of dorm rules and restrictions.

Some made sense (such as “no candles or open flames”), while others were quizzically arbitrary (as in “all Christmas decorations must be down before you check out for Christmas break”).

I’m not sure if my daughter found a loophole or if an acceptable workaround had already been established. Nevertheless, Christmas lights were deemed to be acceptable outside the holiday season if they were rechristened as “mood lighting.”

In an otherwise darkened room, the string of Christmas lights, oh, I mean “mood” lights did indeed set a warm and cozy mood. Even from the outside, their cheery glow beckoned to all, that this room was special.

At home, we have no such rules. Candles are enjoyed and appreciated. The same goes for Christmas decorations.

I’m not sure why, but invariably we put up our decorations late and take them down late, enjoying them long after others have restored their homes to a “normal ”state.

In the morning, I arise before my wife and make sure the Christmas tree lights are on for her when she gets up. Likewise, if she is out late, the Christmas tree lights are on to greet her when she arrives home.

The lights set a nice mood in our household, a warm and cozy mood.

Even still, it’s about time for the tree to come down, but perhaps we can keep the “mood” lights.

Maybe if we draped them over the refrigerator…

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.

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

Tags family, holiday, Sacred-Secular Divide