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Bible Study

John Bible Study, Day 38: Thomas Believes

Online Bible study for the gospel of John
John Bible Study

Today’s passage: John 20:19–31

Focus verse: Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

The Bible writes that faith is having confidence in the things we hope for and assurance in what we don’t see (Hebrews 11:1). Today this definition of faith applies to us.

We cannot see Jesus, so we must accept his resurrection and the salvation that he provides through faith. We have confidence and assurance that he overcame death to save us.

The disciples and Jesus’s other followers have it better than we do. Some of them see the empty tomb and eventually all of them meet the resurrected Jesus. It doesn’t take so much faith to believe what their eyes perceive. John, “the other disciple,” sees and believes (John 20:8).

We can assume that Mary and Peter also believe once they see the evidence of Jesus’s empty tomb (John 20:1–2 and 6–7). The rest of the disciples believe when they see him (John 20:20)—or at least everyone except Thomas.

Though Matthew, Mark, and Luke only mention Thomas once, John tells us more about him than the rest of the Bible combined. He shares three accounts about Thomas. 

The first story is Jesus telling his disciples what to expect and encouraging them to believe. He talks of preparing a place for them in heaven and coming back to get them so they can hang out with him forever. Then Jesus adds, “You know the way.”

This confuses Thomas. He wants clarification.

Jesus responds with what has become a familiar verse. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The second story is what Thomas is most known for. This is where we get the phrase doubting Thomas. When Jesus rises from the dead and sees his disciples for the first time, Thomas is absent.

He doesn’t believe the disciples when they insist that Jesus is alive—again. Thomas does the reasonable thing and demands proof.

In the third story, the disciples, including Thomas, hide in a locked room. Jesus materializes in their midst. He shows Thomas the nail scars in his hand and invites him to examine his side, pierced by the soldier’s spear. “Stop doubting,” Jesus says, “and believe.”

At last, Thomas does. “My Lord and my God!” Thomas now believes. He is no longer doubting Thomas but believing Thomas.

Though doubt characterizes him for a time, belief is where he ends up. He finishes strong. May we do likewise. May we have a firm belief in Jesus and who he is.

Jesus blesses Thomas because he sees and believes. We’re more blessed because we haven’t seen and still believe.

Questions:

  1. Do you doubt that Jesus is who he claims to be? Why?
  2. How do you define faith?
  3. What should you do when your faith wavers?
  4. Is faith the absence of doubt or is it belief in the face of doubt? Why?
  5. Which of John’s three stories about Thomas do you most identify with? Why?

Discover more about faith in Hebrews 11:1–40. What insights can you glean from this passage?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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

As Jesus’s Followers We Are to Live in Perfect Unity

Let’s Live in Perfect Unity with One Another

We Glorify God and Serve as the Most Effective Witness When We Get Along

I write a lot about the importance of Christian unity. This is because Jesus prayed that we would be one, and I embrace his request and vision as imperative. If we profess to following Jesus, we need to all get along. We must live in unity, perfect unity.

I’m not just talking about unity within your congregation, though that’s important. I’m not alluding to unity within your denomination, though that’s important too. And I’m not even referring to unity with those churches that agree with yours.

True unity addresses the entire church of Jesus, that’s all who follow him. He wants us all to get along. Every one of us. This includes other Christians we disagree with—especially those we disagree with.

Jesus Prayed for Our Unity

In Jesus’s lengthy prayer before he died for us, he wrapped up by praying for all his future followers that we would get along and be one, just as he and his Father are one (John 17:23). Their example is one of perfect unity, and we must pursue it with all diligence.

Jesus Died for Our Unity

Jesus died as the ultimate sin sacrifice to redeem us—to make us right with Father God—and bring about unity to all things in heaven and on earth through him. All things include us—it especially includes us (Ephesians 1:7-10).

We Are to Live in Unity

Furthermore, Paul urges the Ephesians—and by extension us—to live a life worthy of our calling, to be humble, gentle, patient, and loving, to make every effort to live in unity. This is because we are one body, through one Spirit, called to one hope, through one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, from one God (Ephesians 4:1-6). We are to be one. This is what it means to live in perfect unity and why we should do so.

True Love Results in Unity

Paul also writes as God’s chosen people—as followers of Jesus—we are to live with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We are to bear with one another and forgive one another, just as Jesus forgave us. These all fall under the umbrella of love, working together to produce perfect unity (Colossians 3:12-14).

Live in Perfect Unity

As followers of Jesus, we must get along. We must live in unity with one another. This is an answer to his prayer for us, glorifies Father God, and serves as our most effective witness to a watching world who needs Jesus to save them.

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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Bible Study

John Bible Study, Day 34: Jesus’s Kingdom

Online Bible study for the gospel of John
John Bible Study

Today’s passage: John 18:28–40

Focus verse: “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)

Jesus talks often about his kingdom. John, along with Mark and Luke, uses the phrase kingdom of God, while Matthew prefers the kingdom of heaven. The two phrases mean the same thing. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use kingdom of God.

Kingdom of God is a New Testament phrase. Jesus mentions the kingdom of God in eighty-five verses, with fourteen more in the rest of the New Testament and none in the Old. 

Jesus says the kingdom of God is near (Luke 10:9), within his disciples’ lifetimes (Mark 9:1), and even present (Luke 17:21).

Isn’t kingdom of God a reference to heaven and eternal life? If so, how could it have been near two millennia ago but something we expect in our future today?

We must view the kingdom of God as both a present reality and a future promise. Jesus’s kingdom is about heaven when we die. It’s also about our time here on earth today.

The kingdom of God starts with Jesus and his salvation, along with the life we lead in response to his gift to us. 

The kingdom of God is about eternal life, and that eternal life begins now. Heaven is part two. We’re living in part one today—at least we should be. 

Let’s embrace Jesus’s teaching on the kingdom of God to inform how we act today. He uses parables to teach us what he means.

Although John records none of Jesus’s parables, Matthew, Mark, and Luke do. Here are the parables concerning Jesus’s kingdom:

We should use these kingdom of God parables to inform our view of God and grow our relationship with him and others. Jesus tells us to seek his kingdom first (Matthew 6:33). We should listen and obey. 

Questions:

  1. How can you better understand the kingdom of God? 
  2. What does it mean to be part of his kingdom?
  3. How can you view the kingdom of God as both a present reality and a future promise?
  4. Which of Jesus’s parables about the kingdom of God most connects with you? Why?
  5. How do Jesus’s parables on the kingdom of God apply to us today?

Discover more about God’s kingdom in John 3:1–21. What insights can you glean from this passage?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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.

Categories
Christian Living

Jesus’s Other Sheep

Jesus wants all his sheep to be one flock

Our Good Shepherd Has More Sheep Than Just Those in Our Pen

Jesus talks about a sheep pen with a gate (John 10:1-21). The shepherd goes into the pen through the entrance. He calls his sheep, and they follow him into the pastures. Only a thief would sneak into the pen another way. Yet the sheep don’t know the robber’s voice and won’t follow him.

Jesus is the Gate and the Good Shephard

Jesus is the gate of the pen. He protects his sheep and keeps them safe. He won’t let someone with ill intent enter the sheep pen.

But Jesus isn’t only the gate. He’s also the good shepherd.

Jesus, as our good shepherd, is caring, protective, patient, brave, wise, and sacrificial. He knows our names. He cares for us, watches over us, and rescues us when we get into trouble, which we too often do.

As our good shepherd, Jesus is willing to die for his sheep. In fact, he does. He dies to make us right with Father God.

Yet there’s more. It’s easy to overlook, but it’s significant.

Jesus Has Other Sheep

Jesus doesn’t only have sheep in this one pen. He has other sheep too. They also listen to his voice and follow him where he takes them. He’ll get them and bring all his sheep together so there will be one flock, with one shepherd (John 10:16).

But where are these other sheep? We don’t know for sure, but here are some considerations:

Other People Groups

Jesus’s other sheep may mean other groups of people. The Jews during Jesus’s day, however, placed people into two groups. There were the Jews. And there was everyone else—the Gentiles.

Since his audience when he shared the story about the Good Shepherd, the sheep pen, and the sheep, were Jews, his other sheep might have been a forward-looking reference to the Gentiles who would later follow him.

This is a call for Jewish followers of Jesus and Gentile followers of Jesus to get along. It’s a reminder that through Jesus there is no difference between Jew and Gentile (Romans 3:22).

Other Cities

Since this teaching is a forward-looking allusion, Jesus’s other sheep could refer to other cities in the area where his followers will go and establish local churches. Paul will travel to many of these cities and even write letters of instruction to several of them.

It could even be cities throughout the world. This aligns with Jesus’s commands to be his witness in Jerusalem, the surrounding area, and throughout the whole earth (Acts 1:8 ).

Other Denominations

Yet it wouldn’t be wrong to extend this teaching to us today. Jesus’s other sheep could refer to the different streams of Christianity and to the multitude of Protestant denominations.

Though many of these groups have an inward focus and act as though they’re sheep pen is the only one, Jesus wants to bring us together to be one flock, with one shepherd—him. In short, he wants us to get along and to exist in unity with each other.

Other Planets

Space is vast, with a mind-numbing number of solar systems and planets. Surely some of them are inhabited by Jesus’s creation. It would be arrogant to think that our planet is the only one with life.

Therefore, Jesus’s other sheep could exist on other planets. Though they could be people like us, they could also take on a different form. Regardless, we are all Jesus’s sheep. We all follow him.

We Are One Flock with One Shephard

When we follow Jesus as our Good Shepherd, we must take care to get along with all the other sheep in his flock. This includes both those sheep from our own pen and Jesus’s other sheep that are in other pens.

Through Jesus there is one flock and one shepherd. We are united in Christ. May we never lose sight of this. May we always strive to embrace all of Jesus’s sheep, regardless of where they’re from or who they are.

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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Bible Insights

The Tale of Two Sisters

Put God first, the tale of two sisters

An Old Testament Parable Warning about the Perils of Prostitution and Idolatry

Ezekiel shares a story about two sisters. It’s an Old Testament parable. And it comes directly from God. The older sister is Oholah, and the younger sister is Oholibah.

Oholah is Samaria, the capital of Israel and represents the ten northern tribes. The younger sister Oholibah is Jerusalem, the capital of Judah and represents that entire tribe.

The Older Sister and Assyria

Oholah gives herself over to prostitution. Her husband—who represents God—gives her over to her lovers, the Assyrians. Metaphorically, they take her and abuse her. In the end Assyria captures Israel and deports its people.

The Younger Sister and Babylonia

The younger sister, Oholibah, sees this happen but doesn’t learn from her older sister’s mistake. She follows her sister’s example, only she is more depraved. She has her eyes for the Chaldeans, also known as the Babylonians.

God warns her that if she doesn’t change her ways—doesn’t repent of her wrongdoing—he will turn her over to her lovers as well. “Since you’ve turned from me,” God says, “you must bear the consequences of your lewd behavior and prostitution.”

The Message

On the surface, this story is about immorality, chasing other lovers, and prostitution. It’s a wise warning against adultery and promiscuity, to remain true to your spouse.

Yet the underlying message is about spiritual adultery and spiritual prostitution. It’s about idolatry, about chasing after other gods and turning our backs on the one true God as revealed in Scripture.

The story ends with the Old Testament truth that these two sisters will need to pay for their sins. There’s a penalty for their lewdness and consequences for their idolatry. God will punish them, and then they will know he is the Sovereign Lord.

Jesus’s Solution

Yet this is an Old Testament parable. Though we should heed its lesson about maintaining sexual purity and spiritual purity, we know from the New Testament that Jesus forgives our sins—all of them—when we follow him.

Through Jesus we receive mercy instead of judgment.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Ezekiel 23-24 and today’s post is on Ezekiel 23:49.]

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.

Categories
Bible Insights

Who is the Son of Man? Jesus or Us?

son of man

The phrase son of man occurs in 178 verses in the Bible. Sometimes son is written with an uppercase S and other times with a lowercase s.

When used with an uppercase S, the references are to Jesus, as seen in all four gospels (28 times in Matthew; 13 times in Mark; 25 times in Luke; and 12 times in John). It’s also written this way in Psalm 80:17, Daniel 7:13, and Acts 7:56, again implying Jesus.

Also, we can understand Son of man as a euphemism for Son of God, which occurs 41 times throughout the New Testament and is in all four Gospels, all referencing Jesus.

What’s really interesting is the use of son of man with a lowercase s. It’s used 93 times in the book of Ezekiel, starting with Ezekiel 2:1, as God’s pet name for his prophet. But God also uses this as a name for Daniel (Daniel 8:17).

Three other mentions of son of man are in Hebrews 2:6, Revelation 1:13, and Revelation 14:14, which somewhat seems to straddle these two understandings of the phrase.

So, how can the Son of man refer to Jesus, while son of man refer to people?

The Bride of Christ

Consider that Jesus is the only son of God. We, as his church, are his bride. Therefore, through this spiritual marriage, we also become children of God, that is, sons of God, or to slide back into the euphemism, sons of man.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Ezekiel 1-4, and today’s post is on Ezekiel 2:1.]

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.

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

Categories
Bible Study

John Bible Study, Day 30: We Are on the Winning Side

Online Bible study for the gospel of John
John Bible Study

Today’s passage: John 16:16–33

Focus verse: “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

As Jesus continues his last instructions to his disciples, he talks of his departure, which his disciples will mourn, and the world will celebrate. But as a woman struggles through childbirth, and then rejoices over the birth of her baby, so too the disciples’ grief will turn into joy.

Jesus will see them again, which means they’ll see him again. No one will be able to steal their joy in Jesus. He continues to offer encouragement, mentioning answered prayer and Father God’s love for them.

The disciples start to understand. At last, they believe. This is a good thing because he has little time left to explain, so they better understand now.

He affirms their belief in him and warns they’ll soon scatter, each retreating to his own home. Though they will leave him, Jesus won’t be alone. His Father will stay.

Jesus says he’s telling them these things to give them peace. And even though the world will pile trouble upon them, “Don’t worry,” Jesus says, “I have overcome the world.”

Jesus wants them not to worry but to overflow with peace. By extension, he tells us the same.

Worry occurs when we look at our life from a human perspective. We see threats all around us, we feel the burden of living for Jesus in a world that is against him, and we combat an enemy set on causing us pain. These worries can weigh us down and rob us of our peace. 

Yet, through God’s perspective, we can see through fresh eyes. We know how the story ends. We know that Jesus, through his ultimate sacrifice, has forgiven our sins and defeated the evil one. He has overcome.

Though we may not realize the full release that his victory gives us now, we will experience it completely as we persist in following him and being his disciple. This should fill us with peace. 

Since Jesus has overcome the world, if we believe in him and follow him, we, too, can overcome our world through him. If we align with Jesus, we are on the winning side.

Questions:

  1. When has your grief turned into joy?
  2. What should you do to keep worry at bay and not be overwhelmed by it?
  3. How should knowing that Jesus overcame the world affect you and your actions?
  4. How can you experience peace through Jesus?
  5. Do you feel you’re on the winning side? If not, what should you do?

Discover what else John says about overcoming the world and the evil one in 1 John 2:13–14, 1 John 4:4, and 1 John 5:1–5. What insights can you glean from these passages?

Read the next lesson or start at the beginning of this study.

Read more in Peter’s new book, Living Water: 40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John, available everywhere in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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.

Categories
Christian Living

God Rested

God rested.

The Creator Rested on the Seventh Day—Maybe We Should Too

I’ve written a lot about taking a Sunday Sabbath. My goal is to treat it as a special day, one different from the other six days of my week. I’ve talked about my reasons for doing so, but I’ve seldom mentioned that the impetus for this comes from way back at creation.

After the Creator spent six days creating our reality, God rested on the seventh day.

The law in the Old Testament Scripture makes it clear about what God expected of his people on the last day of the week, the Sabbath. They are to keep it holy and rest (Exodus 20:8-11). That’s it.

They weren’t supposed to go to the temple, except for special celebrations. They were supposed to keep the Sabbath holy and rest.

Although Jesus followed this Sabbath rule (for the most part) he did tweak his practices a bit.

We often see Jesus healing people on the Sabbath, much to the religious leaders’ dismay. When questioned about this he said that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

While we could take this as permission to do whatever we want on our Sunday Sabbath, the context is doing good, in helping others. It wasn’t Jesus doing whatever he wanted. And we shouldn’t use this passage as justification for us to do whatever we want either.

Another time Jesus said he came to fulfill the Old Testament law and prophets (Matthew 5:17). Does this mean that God’s Old Testament command to keep the Sabbath day holy and not do any work no longer applies to us today?

Many people draw this conclusion. Though they aren’t entirely wrong in doing so, they aren’t entirely right either.

Notice Jesus didn’t say he’d fulfill all their Scriptures, only the parts containing the law and prophets.

The creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 predates God giving his law to Moses several centuries later. And it certainly precedes all the prophets. Jesus’s fulfillment doesn’t apply to the historic portions of Scripture, including Genesis.

After the Creator made people on the sixth day of creation, he proclaimed the seventh day as holy. And God rested (Genesis 2:2-3).

If God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh, we will do well to follow his example and rest one day each week, treating it as a holy, set-apart day.

We could do this on the last day of the week as God modeled for us, or we could do it on the first day of the week according to the Christian tradition.

When we do it isn’t important, but for me, it is important that we do. That’s why I treat my Sundays differently as a holy day of rest.

I do this because God rested, and so will I.

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.

Categories
Christian Living

What Happened to Integrity?

What happened to integrity

May Our Life Honor God and Be an Example to Others

Integrity is largely missing in our world today. It looms as an out-of-date concept. Many even mock it as restrictive, limiting our desire to act however we want.

Integrity is an unwavering adherence to moral principles and ethical behavior. It’s being honest. It’s sound moral character.

Given this definition, don’t we want to deal with people of integrity? Certainly we expect the companies we do business with to act with integrity. But many do not.

Don’t we want our friends—especially our closest ones—to be people of integrity? And we desire that our family and loved ones will live lives of integrity.

Yet we must wonder if we act with the same integrity that we expect from others.

Integrity is also biblical.

Consider Job

In the Bible we see Job as a man of integrity. Even Satan, Job’s accuser, views him as a man of integrity (Job 2:3). So does Job’s wife (Job 2:9). And even Job himself (Job 27:5). In the end, God rewards him for it.

Other People in the Bible

The Old Testament says that David leads the people with integrity (Psalm 78:72). And Hananiah is a trustworthy man of integrity (Nehemiah 7:2).

Paul self identifies as a man of integrity (2 Corinthians 1:12). And he encourages Titus to do the same (Titus 2:7-8).

Lessons from Proverbs

The book of proverbs also covers this topic.

If we walk in integrity, we will walk securely (Proverbs 10:9).

Our integrity will guide us (Proverbs 11:3) and guard us (Proverbs 13:6).

Last, the bloodthirsty—implicitly evil people—will hate those with integrity (Proverbs 29:10).

Leadership

In Paul’s instructions to Timothy, he teaches his protegee to appoint leaders in the area. They must be people of integrity (1 Timothy 3:8), just as we expect from all our church leaders and spiritual mentors.

The Integrity of Jesus

Most importantly, we see throughout the four biographies of Jesus that he is a man of integrity.

Even Jesus’s detractors confirm this (Matthew 22:16 and Mark 12:14). Though their words may be disingenuous, complimenting him to catch him off guard, we realize they acknowledge an underlying truth that even they’re aware of.

Jesus’s life serves as an example for us to emulate, the best model we could follow. As we seek to be like Jesus, we will be people of integrity.

And as people of integrity, we will honor him, be an example to others, and serve as a witness to the world. And our actions will speak more powerfully than our words.

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.

Categories
Christian Living

Make Disciples Not Converts

We Should Do What Jesus Commands and Push Secondary Pursuits Aside

Jesus wants us to be his disciples. Each of the biographies of Jesus mention this. To be his disciple means to set all else aside and follow him (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, and Luke 14:26–33).

As his disciples he expects us to produce fruit, that is to help other people become disciples too (John 15:8). It’s clear. We need to make disciples.

Matthew’s biography of Jesus records his final instructions to his followers before he returns to heaven. Jesus tells his followers to go everywhere and make disciples (Matthew 28:18–20, which some call the Great Commission).

He doesn’t say he wants them to go and make converts. He wants disciples. Though believing in God is the first step, it’s not enough. Jesus wants more. He wants followers who go all in for him.

Much of today’s church has missed this call for discipleship. Instead they focus on conversions, such as praying a prayer, being baptized, or making a public declaration of belief in Jesus. But this is just the first step on a lifelong journey of faith, a journey into discipleship.

Jesus commands us to make disciples, yet few churches do this on a corporate level. And few people do this on a personal level.

When a person says “yes” to Jesus, that’s wonderful news and the angels celebrate (Luke 15:10). Yet too many churches then abandon those new believers and leave them to flounder (Luke 8:11–15).

Instead they should invest in that person and help them become a disciple of Jesus, just as he commanded. Then that person can go out and make another disciple.

If we all made disciples—just as Jesus instructed—there would be many more people following him and the world would be a much better place.

Jesus told us to go out and make disciples. We need to take this command seriously and obey it. We can start today.

Read the first post in this series about things we must change in our discussion about our church buildings and facilities.

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

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.