Tag: love

Is Jesus Our Model For Masculinity?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 7, 2016

Emulate the Man Who Drove Merchants from the Temple and Denounced Hypocrisy

When I blogged about the need for a male role model, I wondered if the life of Jesus might stand as an example for men to follow. Is he the perfect blend of godly power and God-intended masculinity?

Indeed the character and actions of Jesus is compelling, more gripping than any other. Here are the lessons we can learn from Jesus:

A Man of Action

Incensed over sacrilegious commerce being conducted in the temple, degrading worship and exploiting people, Jesus makes a whip and drives the merchants away.

He scatters their money and overturns their tables; animals flee. He makes a real mess.

Jesus takes bold action to confront wrong behavior (Matthew 21:12-13, John 2:15-17).

A Man of Strength

Jesus is physically strong, able to endure the barbaric tortures of crucifixion. Being flogged (Mark 15:15) was enough to kill some people; Jesus survives.

He withstands the soldiers as they beat him (Luke 22:63-64) and carries his own cross (John 19:17).

In this Jesus stands as our modern view of manly power.

A Man of Faith

Jesus prays (Luke 11:1) and fasts (Matthew 4:1-2). He places priority on his relationship with God.

A Man of Boldness

Not afraid to condemn misguided spiritual practices, Jesus speaks against hypocrisy (Matthew 12:34). His concern is righting spiritual wrongs, and he has no worries over offending religious leaders in error.

A Man of Spiritual Power

With supernatural insight Jesus knows what others are thinking (Luke 5:22), has command over nature (Mark 4:39), heals people (Matthew 4:23), and raises the dead (Luke 8:54-55).

A Man of Love and Compassion

Jesus blesses children (Matthew 19:13-14). He longs to love and protect them (Luke 13:34). He cares about the masses, offering compassion (Matthew 9:36) and loving them (Mark 10:21).

This is an impressive list, one truly worthy of emulation, yet Jesus is not our model for masculinity. Instead Jesus stands as a model for humanity, both men and women.

Jesus is the ultimate paragon, our model of excellence and perfection, a peerless example.

Jesus is an Example For All to Follow, Not Just the Guys

Which of Jesus’s characteristics do you most identify with? Which ones seem aligned with one gender more than the other?

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.

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Tags cross, faith, fasting, follow Jesus, love, pray, supernatural

Christian Living

Does God Ever Change?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 31, 2016

The God of the Old Testament Seems Different Than in the New

The book of Hebrews says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). And since Jesus is God (John 1:1), doesn’t that mean the God never changes? That’s what I’ve been taught. That’s what this verse in Hebrews seems to say.

Yet as I read my Bible the God in the Old Testament comes across as a God of judgement while the God in the New Testament is all about grace. We fear Old Testament God and love New Testament God.

Perhaps fear and love are opposite sides of the same coin. Yes, we do see God’s love in the midst of Old Testament fear and have reason to fear God among his New Testament love, yet neither is the prevailing thought.

But I see even more differences than just Old Testament versus New Testament archetypes of God.

In the Garden of Eden God walks with Adam and Eve; they enjoy community with each other. Then Adam and Eve sin: banishment, judgement, separation; God is distant.

The God of Abraham and Job seems hard to understand, yet emerges as patient despite his clear sovereignty.

To Moses God shows relationship, power, and a grand plan.

In the era of Judges God seems mostly uninvolved as his people flounder. After they demand a king, much to God’s dismay, he actually seems more present, more involved in the United Kingdom under the rules of Saul, David, and Solomon.

Next is the time of the prophets: warnings, short-term repentance, and eventual judgement; God offers much patience before exacting his punishment.

And if we read the Apocrypha we see God as involved but ethereal—compelling, yet a bit aloof.

In the New Testament we see God as love through Jesus in the Gospels. Then we see God as power through the Holy Spirit in Acts through Revelations.

Depending on which section of the Bible I’m reading, God seems different, like he’s evolving over time.

Of course I like the New Testament manifestations better and see Holy Spirit power as the most relevant understanding of God for our world and the church today.

Yet the Bible says God doesn’t change; he is the same. I think that’s right: God doesn’t change, but how he relates to us does.

How do you perceive God? What characteristic of God do you like best?

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Tags fear, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, love

Reviews of Books & Movies

What’s Your Love Language? What is God’s?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 3, 2016

Do you know the five love languages? In his bestselling book, The Five Love Languages, Dr. Gary Chapman explains that people show love and receive love in one of five ways: through words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch.

Though I identify with all five, I wasn’t surprised to learn that my primary love language is words of affirmation. After all, I am a writer and make my living using words.

He goes on to say that many people marry someone with a different love language.

The result is often frustration: what one person does to communicate love is not received as such by the other person, and how one spouse expects to be shown love is not what his or her partner typically does.

This results in two people in love, showing their love, but not feeling loved.

The solution is to express love in the way our spouses will best receive it, by speaking their love language—not our own.

Dr. Chapman extends this concept of love languages to God in his book God Speaks Your Love Language: How to Feel and Reflect God’s Love. Unlike people who primarily use one or maybe two of the love languages, God excels at all five.

Though he shows us his love in all five ways, we might not perceive all of his various grand expressions of love but only those that align with our primary love language.

What we receive best from him matches our love language, which is different from other people, so don’t compare yourself to them.

In response to God’s perfect love for us, we respond by showing him our love through our primary love language. That means my preferred way of showing God love may not match yours.

This doesn’t imply either of us shows God our love in a wrong way, just a different way.

He receives all expressions of our love.

Then armed with a better understanding of how God shows his love to us and how we confirm our love to him, we can love others in a more effective and God-honoring way by using that person’s love language.

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Tags love

Bible Insights

Where Do You Stand on the Judgement Versus Mercy Debate?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 29, 2015

If you’ve been reading along in our New Testament reading plan, you’ve just finished the book of Titus and will wrap up your Bible reading for the year with the short book of Philemon.

Congratulations for finishing! (Next year let’s read the entire Bible together. Look for posts here each Tuesday that align with the reading plan.)

The book of Philemon is actually a letter Paul writes to Philemon. In it Paul advocates for mercy instead of judgement for their mutual colleague, Onesimus.

Onesimus deserves a stern dose of justice for running away, but Paul pleads for mercy instead.

This sounds a lot like Jesus and us. Our misdeeds demand judgement but Jesus offers mercy to everyone, but only those who follow Jesus can actually receive his mercy and grace.

God’s Law demands justice, but his love gives grace. Jesus makes the difference.

The Bible doesn’t say if Philemon extends Onesimus the mercy he doesn’t deserve or demands the justice that he does, but I think Philemon sets aside judgement and justice to present mercy and grace—just like Jesus does for us.

Thank God for Jesus, for mercy, and for grace!

What do you think Philemon did after reading Paul’s letter? How would you have treated Onesimus?

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Tags grace, justice, love, mercy

Christian Living

Who Does Jesus Hate?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 13, 2015

The self-righteous protester’s sign is etched in my mind. His assertion offends me, and I can’t shake it; I don’t even want to report the words. This person claims: “Jesus hates fags.” The memory of this appalls me; I shudder at the thought.

This is a lie, a brazen lie. Anyone who really knows Jesus would know this isn’t true. Jesus loves everyone, regardless of his or her situation or life status.

If you don’t believe me read about Jesus in the Bible. He never says he hates anyone, and he never tells his followers to hate anyone, either. What Jesus does teach, what he commands us to do, is to love.

We should even go so far as to love people who hate us and the people who attack us (Luke 6:27, Matthew 5:44).

Jesus never shows hatred. Instead he models compassion. He demonstrates love to everyone he meets. In fact, he goes out of his way to show love to the people on the fringes of society, the people who “proper” folks dismiss.

Jesus doesn’t hate anyone; he loves everyone, including the homosexual, especially the homosexual. If I were to make a sign, it would tell about Jesus’s unrestrained, universal love: “Jesus Loves Everyone.”

Jesus doesn’t criticize the people who society dismisses and pushes to its edges. Instead he makes a point to spend time with them.

He hangs out with them, and when he has anything to say, he merely says—to them and to all—turn your life around and follow me.

This could be another sign: “Follow Jesus.”

There is however one group Jesus does criticize, and it’s not who you might think. He reserves his criticism, his sharpest rebukes, for the religious teachers who lead the people astray.

He doesn’t hate them, but their actions do frustrate him, just like the protester with his foolish sign.

Who would Jesus make a point to spend time with today? What would you say to the protester with his hate-filled sign?

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Tags follow Jesus, Jesus, love

Bible Insights

What Do People Remember About You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 1, 2015

Faith, Hope, and Love

When Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica he professes three things he recalls about them.

He remembers them and their characteristics before God, presumably as he prays, offering thanksgiving to God for their lives and the examples they provide.

Three things stand out as the testimony of the Thessalonian church, their witness to the world around them:

Faithful Work

Their faith in God produces their work. They don’t work for the sake of working or do things just to do things. They work with intentionality because of their faith.

They couple actions with belief, with their actions springing forth from their spiritual moorings.

Loving Labor

Their love for others prompts them to help others. They don’t love in name only or in theory, they show their love by their deeds. For them love is a verb.

Because of their love, they toil for others, laboring for the benefit of those around them.

Enduring Hope

They persevere because of Jesus, through their hope in him and the promises he offers. This hope inspires their endurance; it motivates them to persist regardless of the situation or circumstances. Their hope propels them forward.

When Paul thinks about this church, this is how he remembers them. He recalls their faith, their love, and their hope.

In another letter Paul upholds all three of these ideals and then adds that the greatest of them is love.

(1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Corinthians 13:13)

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Tags faith, hope, love, Paul, Thanksgiving, witness

Bible Insights

Love Is All That Matters

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 13, 2015

Love God and Love Others

In the Old Testament God gives hundreds of commands for his people to follow. We call this the Law or the Law of Moses (since God gives it to Moses to tell to the people).

But over time the people add more rules to it, some 20,000 more. They call this the Law, too.

That’s a lot of God’s commands and man’s rules to keep straight. In fact, it’s impossible to follow them all. I think that’s the point. Since we can’t possibly keep all of the rules, we need a different way. That way is Jesus.

Jesus’s detractors want to embarrass him. They ask a question, one they feel no one should be able to answer. Of these thousands of laws, they ask, which one is the most important?

Jesus is ready: Love God fully. Yep, that’s it. The greatest commandment is to love God.

Then Jesus tells them the second most important one: Love others as much as you love yourself.

Love God and love others. These provide the foundation of the entire Old Testament law.

Of course if Jesus’s inquisitors thought things through a bit, they’d realize Moses already answered this question. After Moses shares the Ten Commandments, he concludes by giving the people a reminder to love God fully.

Yes, we need to fully and totally love God; we need to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Love is the answer.

(Matthew 22:37-41, Deuteronomy 6:5)

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Tags love

Christian Living

The Error of Evangelicals

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 19, 2015

Take Care What You’re Known For

In our world of political correctness, there seems to be one group of people who it’s socially acceptable to harass and hate: Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists.

In a world that values tolerance, there is one group that it’s okay to not tolerate: evangelicals.

It’s politically permissible to mock them, denigrate them, and verbally attack them.

It’s not fair, but they brought it upon themselves. They made themselves a popular target.

Though some evangelicals are truly persecuted and martyred, the majority who think they are enduring hardship for their faith are really facing wrath over their errors.

Though I may have some evangelical characteristics I do not identify myself as evangelical. I was, for a time part, of their camp, but I left. When I visit them, I often don’t enjoy the experience.

The reason is they lost sight of their purpose. Their original goal was to evangelize, that is, to tell others about Jesus. Jesus loves everyone; Jesus offers acceptance; and Jesus specifically says his purpose is not to condemn (John 3:17).

Too many evangelicals have forgotten that. Contrary to Jesus’ example, they don’t love outsiders, they don’t offer acceptance to those who are different, but they do judge those with dissimilar values or lifestyles. They forgot to be like Jesus.

Instead, they have taken a political stand against two issues that trouble them: abortion and homosexuality. They stopped evangelizing and started politicizing. It’s no wonder some non-Christians think evangelical is a political movement.

In their campaign against abortion and homosexuality, a few of them have made some horrific statements and done some terrible things. Many have judged, condemned, and hated in the name of their religion.

Most have vilified those who deserve love and acceptance. They have besmirched the name of Jesus. For that, I am truly sorry.

If only they had spent half as much time, effort, and money doing what they should have been doing—telling others about Jesus and acting like him by offering love and acceptance without judgment—then the world would be a much better place and the name evangelical would be respected instead of ridiculed.

How I wish that were so.

Jesus offers love and acceptance without judgement.

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Tags evangelical, follower of Jesus, love

Bible Insights

John’s Unique Perspective of Jesus

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 4, 2015

Each of the four biographies of Jesus in the Bible reflect the perspective of its author. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain many similarities, John’s account is the most different.

He offers a unique perspective on the life and teaching of Jesus.

Some refer to the book of John as the gospel of love because he mentions the word twenty times, more than Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

In considering variations of the word, the total is thirty-nine times, more than the other three combined.

In his much shorter letter, called 1 John, love and its variations occur twenty-seven times. John, it seems, is all about love.

However, other keywords are even more prevalent in the book of John. The word know appears sixty-six times in this book, while believe occurs fifty-three times.

It would seem that John’s chief desire is for us to know and believe in Jesus.

That would be a great reason for him to write an account of Jesus’ life.

We can also understand John’s unique perspective by looking at words he uses infrequently. For example, angel only appears three times in John, far less than Matthew’s nineteen times and Luke’s twenty-four times (Mark, five times).

The book of John contains only a few of Jesus’ parables. In fact, the word parable is not found at all in John, compared to sixty-six times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

So John’s purpose in writing his biography of Jesus is so that we would know and believe in Jesus and to then live a life of love.

Angels and parables are not so important to these central themes of knowing, believing, and loving.

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Tags Apostle John, gospel, Jesus, love

Christian Living

What Do We Do To Dishonor God?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 26, 2015

Look for Ways to Honor God

In his letter to the Christians living in Rome, Paul talks about people who attempt to live life according to a bunch of religious rules, that is, the law.

The result is that God is disrespected, not so much by the people themselves, but by those on the outside looking in.

In short, others harbor contempt for God based on how his follower’s act.

However, this isn’t the first time this happens. Paul is actually quoting from the book of Isaiah. What Isaiah writes is not his words, but God’s. God complains that because of his people’s failures, he doesn’t receive respect from others.

In both cases, the word the Bible uses to describe this is blaspheme. Others blaspheme God because of the behavior of those who claim to follow him.

To blaspheme is to speak of God in an irreverent, impious manner; to disrespect, show contempt, dishonor, slander, or abuse him.

I fear we have learned nothing from Isaiah or from Paul. Today we still do the same thing. We claim to love God, yet too often our words or our actions cause those outside of our faith to shake their heads in derision.

They mock us and they disrespect God; he is blasphemed—because of us.

How do we do this?

We hate when we should love.
We act with malice to those deserving compassion.
We judge others even though we aren’t supposed to.
We reject people on the fringes of society, the very people Jesus embraces.
We are exclusive, even though God is inclusive.

Forgive us God, for our blasphemy. You deserve better.

[Romans 2:24, Isaiah 52:5]

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Tags Jesus, love, Moses, Paul