Tag: spiritual journey

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Visiting Churches

52 Churches: Wrap-up and Reboot

Between last Easter and this Easter, my wife and I visited fifty-two churches. Today marks the end of that adventure but also the beginning of a new one.

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

52 Churches Wrap-up

Our journey is over. I’m sad and excited at the same time. Our spiritual sojourn of fifty-two churches has ended; reunion with our community looms large.

We rejoin them for Holy Week, first for Good Friday and then for the Easter celebration.

On purpose, I leave my journal at home. There will be no more note taking. Documenting my observations isn’t the point: experience is, community is, family is, and especially God.

We sing in jubilant celebration, enjoying community before and after each event. Hugs abound as I reconnect with friends.

Both services surpass my expectations, as I enjoy an amazing reunion, encounter a grand celebration, and experience a fitting conclusion to our yearlong pilgrimage.

We learned much on our journey and expanded our understanding of worshiping God, but it’s good to be back, home where we belong.

52 Churches Reboot

Though our trek is complete, writing about it isn’t. Beginning next Monday, I will repost our journeey, one church per week, adding new information and providing updates.

For those who followed us on our journey, this will be a great recap. While for those who joined us midway through, this will be a chance to follow along from start to finish.

The Book 52 Churches

As I update and repost, I will also finalize the book that chronicles this awesome adventure. Currently standing at 70,000 words, my posts are only a fraction of what’s in the book.

As they say, stay tuned for more information.

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.

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

The Value of Spiritual Training

Spiritual Training

I had friends in high school who dreamed of excelling in sports, of being the star and even receiving a college scholarship. The problem with their aspirations was that they seldom practiced; a few never even bothered to try out.

More recently I’ve listened to aspiring writers who dream of having the next great novel, memoir, or nonfiction release. The problem with their ambition is that they’re not writing.

In both cases, they dream of glory but don’t want to put in the preliminary effort. Folks who don’t practice never become sports stars; people who don’t write never become the next best-selling author.

So it is with our spiritual journey.

We may desire to say bold prayers and see amazing results, to heal others with a word or a touch, to proclaim insights that move masses to faith or action, and to enjoy a direct line of two-way communication with God.

But results, such as these, often require years of struggle. Practice precedes performance. True, God could immediately bring someone to this point, but those things don’t generally happen without us doing our part first.

Moses

Moses spent forty years in the desert preparing. Then he led a nation.

David

David had years on the lam as a fugitive from King Saul. Then he became king, noted as a man after God’s own heart.

Joseph

Joseph spent time as a slave and years in the pokey. Then he experienced what God foretold him in his visions.

Abraham

Abraham lived as a nomad for decades, honing his faith and patience while awaiting God’s promise. Then he became the father of nations.

We may dream of possessing great spiritual power or producing amazing supernatural outcomes, but if we skip the preparatory time of praying, listening, waiting, seeking, and practicing, we’ll never become the people God wants us to be.

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.”
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​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

May We Be Refreshed By Each Other

God

This week, as I wrote out a prayer in my journal, I invited God into a time of fellowship with me, for us to commune with each other. Then I intended to ask him, “May I be refreshed by our time together.”

Instead, I felt a spiritual compulsion and at the last moment I wrote, “May we be refreshed by each other.”

I was shocked. That seemed sacrilegious. I felt I was being forward, presumptuous, and even arrogant. How could a finite being tell his creator that he intends to offer refreshment to a sovereign deity?

So I asked him.

His answer was quick. “I am refreshed by the things you think.”

I was reminded to “take captive every thought” and think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (2 Corinthians 10:5 and Philippians 4:8). If God is to be refreshed by what I think, then what I desire to do is no small task.

By extension, I don’t think our opportunities to delight the divine are limited by what we think, but also by what we say and by what we do. These, however, are not to be tasks of obligation or duty, but rather acts of love.

May our thoughts, our words, and our actions be pleasing to God and refresh his spirit.

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.

Categories
Christian Living

Be True to Our Calling

Be True to Our Calling

I just returned from a writers conference. It was a rewarding and informative time in learning about the art—and business—of writing well.

In the closing presentation, our speaker astutely noted that some of us write fiction and some non-fiction; some write for the Christian market and some for the general market—and that’s okay.

As writers, we need to be content with the area and genre that God has provided for us, not wishing to be writing something different and not pining for the success of others or the opportunities afforded them.

The same is true with our spiritual journeys. We are each on our own path and it is unwise to wish for be like someone else instead of who God has called us to be.

We may not pray as much as someone else or comprehend biblical truth like our best friend.

Others may be better at telling others about Jesus or more confident in reaching out to those who are hurting, but if that is not who God created us to be, it is foolish to falsely pursue those things—and disrespectful to God and the person he made us to be.

Whether it is writing or our faith journey, it is not wrong to want to improve and to grow; in fact, it is admirable and advisable.

However, to compare ourselves with others, diminishing who we are or what we do in the process, is little more than dismissing God’s provision and missing his plan for us.

We need to be content with where we are and stay true to our calling.

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.

Categories
Bible Insights

Is Karma a Biblical Concept?

karma

Karma is a concept found in many eastern religions that essentially says, “What goes around, comes around.” It is a sort of universal law of cause and effect.

There is a seemingly karma-like verse in the Bible, which appears to paraphrase this idea. It says, “You reap what you sow.”

However, in looking at the text preceding it, we see that the premise behind this concept is not a universal law, but rather a just God who will not let the unjust forever get off scot-free or the righteous not eventually be rewarded.

In the Amplified version expands on this nicely, allowing the fuller impact of the original language to be felt:

“Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.]

“For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.”

[Galatians 6:7]

So what at first glance appeared to be a restatement of karma is really the reflection of the character of a God who is fair and just.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Galatians 4-6 and today’s post is on Galatians 6:7.]

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.