Categories
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #48: A Great Church to Visit

Have a Visitor-Worthy Church

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #48.

This church did many things right, especially the warm way they welcomed my wife and me into their community. Several of their practices were personally inviting and spiritually significant. I enjoyed our fellowship there.

Their meeting felt more relevant than what most churches do at their services. They were a great church to visit.

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

However, there’s one thing I can’t get past: everything seemed old. I feel guilty for saying this. Their service had a formal vibe.

Although their style had a novel pull, I realized that with repeated visits it would quickly grate on me for its ceremonial constructs and reserved rigidity.

The congregation was mostly older, with very few young people. Even though many in this church have a youthful spirit—just as I claim to have—I can’t get past their age.

Older congregations have a bleak future. There is no next generation to rise up and continue the journey.

Despite its many positive elements, my concerns overshadow them and keep me from wanting to return. Though it was a great church to visit, once was enough.

[See my reflections about Church #47 and Church #49 or start at the beginning of our journey.]

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
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #47: Their Worship Style is Not My Style

There are Different Ways to Worship God

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #47.

The people at this church are considerate of visitors. Their embrace of us, in a casual, open way, encourages me. This, however, belies their worship style. It is a structured, reserved service.

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

They are informal with people and formal with God. They are open to others before and after the service but stoic towards the Almighty during their church meeting.

Their personal style and worship style stand in contrast. It’s as if they flick off their friendly switch for the service when it’s time to connect with God.

To me, it’s inconsistent to act one way with people before and after a church service and treat God differently during it. This troubles me. It feels hypocritical, but I wonder if this is my issue.

Having an open embrace of people and of God feels right to me. I want to treat God as I do my friends. It seems honest and is how I best show respect towards God.

However, other people may demonstrate respect for God by embracing him with reverence and in awe. If this is honest for them, then they should do it; my method would be the wrong one.

We can approach God casually, as a friend, and we can approach him reverently, as an all-powerful deity. He deserves both.

It’s a matter of worship style.

[See my reflections about Church #46 and Church #48 or start with Church #1.]

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
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #36: Don’t Expect a Minister to Do What You’re Supposed to Do

We are All Priests Through Jesus

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #36.

We arrived at church only to learn they cancelled the service because their pastor had an emergency.

Despite this, we hung around and talked for a long time, having brief conversations with most of the people who had gathered for Sunday School, which wasn’t cancelled.

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

During this time we had a deep spiritual discussion with a long ago friend. In doing so, we were able to minister to one another in a most satisfying way.

Though we didn’t experience a church service, we did experience deep spiritual community. From my perspective, I had a meaningful church encounter even though there was no official service.

It was one of my more noteworthy memories at the churches we visited.

The time was memorable for my wife, too, although it hit her a bit differently. “If they’re so full of the Holy Spirit,” she said, “you’d think he would have prompted someone to lead their service.”

Yes, indeed.

Though they held a successful Sunday School on their own without pastoral support, they didn’t even attempt to do so for church. I’m not sure if this was the minister’s decision or theirs, but they should have tried.

Even if no one felt capable of teaching a lesson, they could have still done the worship portion of the service and handled all the other elements too.

The idea that a church needs to have a pastor present to hold a service is ridiculous. As followers of Jesus, he expects every one of us to minister to one another. This is what we should always do, whether a minister is there or not.

[See my reflections about Church #35 and Church #37 or start with Church #1.]

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

My Haiku: Why I Write

Peter DeHaan’s haiku, “Why I Write,” was selected as a finalist for the literary publication Imagine This! An ArtPrize Anthology.

Imagine This! An ArtPrize Anthology

But you don’t need to buy the book to read it. Here is Peter’s award-winning poem:

Why I Write

Linking letters and
wielding words to create art
for God, my patron

The anthology adds the written word as a new art form to the acclaimed ArtPrize art festival. ArtPrize is one of the world’s largest art competitions and is held each year in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“I’m honored to have my poem appear in this inaugural work, that showcases writing for the ArtPrize festival,” said finalist Peter DeHaan.

“It also succinctly shares my mission statement.”

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
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #27: Worshiping God Despite a Bad Attitude

Physical Worship from a Pure Heart

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #27.

I thoroughly enjoyed the worship time at this church. The worship of the song leaders was pure and ushered me into the presence of God.

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

With arms raised I connected with the Almighty through song.

For me, this was the highlight of the service though I also appreciated the genuine community these folks had with one another and how they shared with and prayed for each other.

Despite this, I also had some concerns, several. The first was them not being friendly. For the most part, they ignored us and the best connection we made was with other visitors. And this wasn’t the first church were this happened.

Next was the message and attitude of the pastor. His words seemed to ramble at times and was hard to follow. He also made some critical comments about our worship, which he deemed inadequate.

Granted, in his defense he was functioning on little sleep, due to delayed airline flights the day before when returning from vacation.

Third was an unpleasant odor near where we sat. It stayed with me the entire service. (Though my wife said she didn’t smell anything, and she asserted I was just imagining it).

Granted, I arrived knowing some of this church’s background and baggage, and my wife claimed I had a bad attitude.

Despite my concerns, I yearn to make a return trip or perhaps attend one of their Thursday night worship times. Of all the churches we visited, they were perhaps the freest in their worship and the most authentic.

I think God was pleased with their approach to him and the way they turned their praise to him.

[See my reflections about Church #26 and Church #28 or start with Church #1.]

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
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #26: A Fresh Experience

Embrace Active Worship

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #26.

Beyond their worship of God and approach to him, two other things stood out about this minority congregation.

First, the kids were an active presence during the service, both in their participation and in their can’t-sit-still bouncing from seat to seat.

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

Although at times distracting, I’m glad for their involvement in the service.

The other item is their view of time is different from mine. Though the service started when specified, the crowd was sparse. For the next fifteen minutes, people wandered in, eventually doubling our numbers.

The last family showed up thirty-five minutes after the service started. I know this is a factor of culture, but it’s hard for me to understand.

Likewise, their service lasted longer than most, scheduled for two and a half hours, and extending beyond that with an after-service meal to celebrate the baby dedication.

Though we stayed to eat and talk, we were still the first to leave; everyone else seemed content to stay even longer.

Expand Our Worship of God

This was one of the two non-white churches we visited. (The other was church #20.) At both, I felt, for a brief time, a hint of what it’s like to be a minority. Yes, these experiences were shallow in that respect, but it’s all I have to go on.

More importantly, however, is that their worship of God was fresh to me, invigorating my soul. I desire to return and spend more time with them.

As we celebrate the Almighty with others who have different practices than we do, our worship of God is enhanced and our understanding of him is broadened.

[See my reflections about Church #25 and Church #27 or start with Church #1.]

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
Bible Insights

Who Do You Worship?

A Lesson for Today from Zephaniah

A too-common practice in the United States (and perhaps around the world) is to take parts from different religions and philosophies, mashing them together to form a personal belief system. Doing so is a consumer-centric mindset.

People keep the parts they like, and they ditch the rest. They grab what is comfortable and jettison everything that makes them squirm.

It’s akin to reading the Bible with a highlighter in one hand and scissors in the other. People do this now, and they did it back in the days of the prophet Zephaniah.

Making up a belief system in this way is really little more than deciding to believe in yourself.

In doing so people make God in their image, to be who they want and need him to be for their own satisfaction and comfort. It’s a feel-good religion that won’t save them. It has no basis for truth other than what people want it to be.

It may seem like a good approach, but it’s not. The God who is revealed in the Bible doesn’t like it when people mix thoughts and practices from other religions or philosophies.

In fact, he has some harsh criticism for them, which he shares with the prophet Zephaniah.

Remember, just because we think something is true, doesn’t make it so. For example, it might be intriguing to say that gravity doesn’t affect me or that 2 + 2 = 5, but those are laughable conclusions.

So it is when we make up our own religion.

Speaking through the prophet, God declares his judgment against those who mix the worship of him with the worship of other distractions.

In Zephaniah’s time this was the worship of stars and the worship of other gods. Mixing and matching doesn’t work in God’s book.

God is not content to have our partial attention. He is jealous of our affections and wants it completely. We must give ourselves fully to him.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Zephaniah 1-3, and today’s post is on Zephaniah 1:4-5.]

Learn more about all twelve of the Bible’s Minor Prophets in Peter’s book, Return to Me: 40 Prophetic Teachings about Unfaithfulness, Punishment, and Hope from the Minor Prophets

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
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #24: A Variety of Worship Styles

A Traditional, Friendly Congregation

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #24.

The people at this traditional church were friendly, much friendlier than most. The message was good and gave me something to contemplate, but it was the teens who led music that left a lasting memory with me. Their worship felt pure.

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

With no pretense, their focus was solely on God. They gave me a glimpse of what it might mean to worship God in the spirit and in truth.

The pastor of this church saw my original post and forwarded it to the music director. She contacted me, thanking me for my words, which she shared with the musicians and singers.

A week or so later, we met at a coffee shop to talk about worship, church, and faith.

She likes to offer the congregation a variety in worship styles and content, from traditional to contemporary.

Her goal is to bring in youth once a month or so. I really want to go back and hear them again, but I fear a second experience would pale in comparison.

Instead, I choose to let my memory of this service suffice.

[See my reflections about Church #23 and Church #25 or start with Church #1.]

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
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #23: A Church Business Meeting Overshadows the Service

Don’t Hold a Church Business Meeting After the Service

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #23.

It’s challenging to get members to attend a church business meeting during the week, as it requires an extra trip to church that’s squeezed into an already busy schedule.

So it’s understandable when churches hold business meetings at the end of their service.

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

However, conducting church business as part of a Sunday service often provides an uncomfortable experience for visitors. This church business meeting is no exception.

One member questions the makeup of the pastoral selection committee. Other members, either aroused or emboldened by this first comment, join in to voice their dissent. As emotions rise, so does the tension in the sanctuary.

Just as civility threatens to escalate out of control, a conciliatory remark ends the discussion. Then they approve the committee slate with only minor murmuring.

The leader dismisses us, and my final memory of the church service is the rancor of their business meeting, not their worship of God. In the spirit of expediency, they forgot the purpose of church.

Church Business Meetings on Sunday

It’s a common practice at many churches to conduct church business on Sunday at the conclusion of the church service. We do this to our shame.

We forget the Old Testament commands to keep the Sabbath holy (which today’s church now views as Sunday) and not do any work. By my account, holding a church business meeting on Sunday violates both of these commands.

Jesus, however, came to fulfill the Old Testament Law and prophecies. That means these two Old Testament commands may no longer apply.

In this way, some may now feel the freedom to work on Sunday and not regard it as holy. In doing so they freely conduct church business after a church service.

Even so, tacking a business meeting onto a church service removes us from a worshipful connection with God and replaces it with an often-contentious connection to worldly concerns.

We must save our church meetings for during the week and not detract from our Sunday experience.

[See my reflections about Church #22 and Church #24 or start with Church #1.]

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
Visiting Churches

Reflecting on Church #21: A Unique Church Service

Sounding the Shofar at Church

With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #21.

Of all the 52 churches we visited, this one deviated the most from current church practices. It was a unique church service and a memorable one too.

They used a shofar to start the service. It was loud, awe-inspiring, and a worshipful opening to our time together.

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

The teaching included interaction, so that true dialogue could take place between the minister and those of us gathered. This allowed for discussion, as well as being able to ask questions.

At the conclusion of the message, we spent time truly worshiping in God’s presence. And afterward we enjoyed extended community.

We had a most memorable time there. God was present. We worshiped him in Spirit and in truth. And we connected with each other after the service.

I suspect this version of church is more in line with what the early church practiced when they met together, spurring each other on and encouraging one another (see Hebrews 10:24-25).

This faith community had a unique church service, which is sad, because it should be the norm at every church, every Sunday.

[See my reflections about Church #20 and Church #22 or start with Church #1.]

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.