Tag: follower of Jesus

Pursuing God Can be Risky

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 5, 2011

I have heard some claim that if you follow Jesus, all your problems will be solved and life will become an idyllic and blissful existence.

While I suppose that could be the case, I don’t reach that conclusion when I read my Bible.

In one of the more obscure passages, this is shown figuratively in The Song of Songs.

Twice, overcome in desperation to be with her lover (the king), the girl makes an ill-advised nighttime foray into the dark to find him. Both times, she encounters watchmen.

The first occurs without incident, but the second time she is mistreated by them.

The degree of abuse is unclear, but it could be understood as severe.

Just as she is willing to risk much to be with the king she loves, so to do God’s followers take risks to be with the King they love.

And if we truly love him, no risk is too great.

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 follower of Jesus, God, love

Christian Living

Are You a Theologian?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 13, 2011

A friend recently insulted me; he called me a theologian. What gall. I know he meant it as a compliment, but I was taken aback.

To me, a theologian is someone who intellectualizes God, sucking all the life and vitality from who he is and turning him into something dry, boring, abstract, and inaccessible.

I’ve heard these people speak, and I’ve read their writings—and I want nothing to do with them or the religious thought they represent.

When I hear “theologian,” the phrase “whitewashed tombs” comes to mind. Regarding this, Jesus said,

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law…for you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity,” (Matthew 23:27, NLT).

I am understandably turned off by that perception of the word theologian.

However, consider that theology simply means “the study of God.” Therefore, a theologian must be “one who studies God.” In that respect, perhaps I am part theologian—at least in a practical, non-theoretical sense.

But even more important than being one who studies God, however, is to be one who loves God, one who knows God, and one who follows God.

That’s how I’d prefer to be known.

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, purity, theology

Bible Insights

Are You an Alien?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 8, 2008

Do You Belong Here?

The Bible sometimes calls the followers of Jesus, aliens*. This seems like a strange and insulting label.

An alien is someone who doesn’t belong, an outsider.In common usage, an alien is from another country, but jumping to the world of sci-fi, an alien is from another world or alternate existence.

Is this starting to come into focus? If we follow Jesus, we don’t belong here; we are just passing through to the home that awaits us in heaven.

We are indeed aliens—but do we act like it? Acting like aliens means we have a different focus, different goals, and different priorities. It means we are different and people should see that difference.

Are you an alien—or do you belong here?

* See Ephesians 2:19, Hebrews 11:13, and 1 Peter 2:11; some translations use words like exiles, migrants, strangers, and temporary residents. The Message uses the phrase, “world is not your home.”

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

Christian Living

Welcome to Pursuing Biblical God

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 1, 2008

Welcome to “Pursuing Biblical God,” a conversation about spirituality from a biblical perspective. Here are some thoughts to get our party started:

I’m spiritual, but not religious.That’s a trendy thing to say, but I mean it. The Pharisees were very religious; I am not.
All things are spiritual. I reject the modern separation of reality into spiritual and secular realms.
Not all things that are spiritual are good. At best, some spiritual ideas serve as distraction; at worse, destruction.
I don’t have all the answers; I have mostly questions. I shun formal theology because it’s boring and impractical. I embrace paradox—and the Bible is full of wonderful, delightful paradoxes.
I avoid the of label Christian; I am a follower of Jesus. Nothing else matters.

What makes me qualified to embark upon such a grandiose endeavor?

Only that I am on a journey in pursuit of the God who is revealed in the Bible, the God who created time and space, the God who yearns to be in relationship with me—and I with him.

I’m in love with creator of the universe and savior of the world and invite that you join me on this greatest of life’s adventures.

Join me in pursuing Biblical God.

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 biblical Christianity, Biblical God, follower of Jesus, religious