Categories
Bible Study

1 John Bible Study, Day 25: Overcome the World

Online Bible Study for the books of 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John
1, 2, 3 John Bible Study from the book Love One Another

Today’s passage: 1 John 5:1–5

Focus verse: Everyone born of God overcomes the world. (1 John 5:4)

There is a lot packed into today’s passage, but most of it reviews what John has already written. He talks about believing in Jesus as our Savior (the Christ) for us to be born again.

How loving the Father is loving his Son. There’s a reminder to love others and obey God’s commands, which are easy to do and not a burden (see Day 18).

Then John slides in the word overcome. He’s already mentioned this word in two passages. 

First, he said that the word of God lives in us, and we have overcome the evil one (1 John 2:13–14). Second, he said that since we are from God—that is, his children—we have overcome the spirit of false prophets, the antichrists (1 John 4:1–4).

For his third mention of overcome, John does not build on either of these prior mentions. Instead, he adds a third consideration, one even more grand. He says that everyone born of God overcomes the world.

Yes, we, through our belief in Jesus as God’s Son, have overcome the world. Not that we can, not that we might, but that we are actually doing so. We are overcoming the world.

From a spiritual sense we will overcome the world as we move closer to our time of joining Jesus in heaven. From a tangible perspective we overcome the world each day—at least that’s God’s expectation.

Yet many Christians don’t act as though they’re overcoming the world. Instead, they live defeated, dejected lives that prove how the world has overcome them. I get that. I’ve been there. But that’s not God’s plan; this is not his intent.

Everyone born of God overcomes the world. Not a few. Not some. Not even most. Everyone. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God has this overcome-the-world condition in them. 

Then why don’t our lives show it? Or show it more often?

I wonder if it’s because we try to live a life that’s too close to the world we hope to overcome. If we act like the world and think like the world, it’s impossible to overcome the world because we are part of it; we’re fully immersed in it.

But this isn’t a call to segregate ourselves from our worldly neighbors, community, and society. If we do that, we’ll never have a chance to tell them about Jesus.

Yes, we must stay in our world, but if we’re too much like it, our witness will be ineffective, and we’ll have no hope of overcoming the world.

Questions:

  1. Are we overcoming the world or is it overcoming us? 
  2. How can we move from living a defeated life to overcoming it?
  3. What should we do to be less like the world?
  4. How can we remain in the world and not be overcome by it?
  5. How can we be a better witness for Jesus?

Discover what else John writes about overcome in John 1:5 and John 16:33.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

Discover practical, insightful, and encouraging truths in Love One Another, a devotional Bible study to foster a deeper appreciation for the two greatest commandments: To love God and to love others.

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

Don’t Judge Christians for Their Theology

Don’t Judge Christians for Their Theology: Forgive and be Forgiven

Forgive and be Forgiven

As followers of Jesus, we shouldn’t judge others, but we do. Too often, we judge Christians for their theology. We must stop.

When we evaluate others based on what they believe, we diminish them in the process. And we smugly elevate ourselves over them. When we do this, our egos show through.

Do Not Judge

Jesus clearly teaches that we shouldn’t judge others. If we judge them, we too will be judged in like manner (Matthew 7:1). This judgment can cover anything.

It might be judging what others do or say, how they dress or where they live, but too often it is over what they believe. But we shouldn’t judge Christians for their theology. If we do, we will likewise face judgment.

Luke records it a bit differently. He writes that Jesus says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” He continues by saying do not condemn and you won’t be condemned. Instead we are to forgive, and we will be forgiven (Luke 6:37).

It’s a simple concept.

A few translations use the word criticize instead of judge. This may help us to better understand what Jesus is saying. If we criticize others, we will likewise be criticized. We must stop criticizing our fellow followers of Jesus.

This includes their theology.

In James’s teaching about judgment, he also uses the word slander (James 4:11-13). To slander means to say something false or malicious about someone.

It’s a sobering thought to consider that when we judge others—that is, when we criticize them—we slander them.

Judgment Is Discrimination

James gives us some practical teaching about judging others. He says that judging others is discrimination, and it’s evil (James 2:2-4).

In his teaching, James addresses judging people over their appearance and their attire. But this is just an example.

Therefore, it’s not wrong to apply this to other forms of evaluation, such as when we judge Christians for their theology. By extension, we can call this evil.

Judge Those Inside the Church

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that they were to judge those on the inside, their brothers and sisters in Christ (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). Does this mean we are to judge the people we go to church with?

Yes and no.

Paul specifically addresses wrong behavior, not theological differences. He teaches them to not associate with sexually immoral people, as well as the greedy, the swindler, the adulterer, and the slanderer.

These are moral issues, not theological perspectives.

To not associate with people who hold differing views on theology is a misapplication of Paul’s teaching about judging others within the church.

Don’t Allow Others to Judge You

Paul adds to the discussion by telling the Colossians to not let anyone judge them. Jesus is what matters (Colossians 2:16-17).

This includes what they eat and drink. It also includes their religious practices in how they celebrate and regard special days.

These are theology issues. Just as we shouldn’t judge Christians for their theology, we shouldn’t let them judge us for ours.

People sometimes try to do this to me. I understand why, but that doesn’t make it okay. They ask where I stand on various theological issues.

To them it’s a litmus test to decide if I’m in or I’m out, if they’ll read my words or reject them.

Sometimes they approach this indirectly, such as asking what type of church I go to, the style of worship I prefer, or how I regard the Sabbath. Even so, it’s still judgment. Just as Paul teaches the Colossians, I dismiss their attempts to judge me.

If we believe in Jesus and follow him, nothing else matters. Not really. Beyond the foundational truth of Jesus, it’s wrong to judge Christians for their theology.

Let God Judge

God’s judgment is the only judgment that matters (Romans 14:10).

It’s not our place to judge others for where they fall short, be it for their sins or their theology.

Our Lord will judge us (Hebrews 10:30). We must be content with that.

Judge at the Appointed Time

Yet there are also times Scripture talks about judging others. But this is a future-focused perspective. Paul writes that we are to judge nothing before the appointed time, which will be when Jesus comes again (1 Corinthians 4:5).

Then we will judge the world. Then we will even judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). But this only applies after our Savior returns. It doesn’t apply today. And it doesn’t give us permission to judge Christians for their theology.

Stop Judging Others

Until that time when Jesus returns, we should stop judging others.

Instead, we must hold our theological views loosely. After all we might be wrong—and they may be right. Therefore, it’s wrong—and foolish—to judge Christians for their theology.

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

Church Greeting

Know the 3 Church Greeting Opportunities

Greeting Well or Not at All

There are three opportunities for a church to interact with visitors: before, during, and after the service. Some churches failed at each occasion and only a few excelled at all three—though every church should.

Pre-Church Greeting

First, greeting people before the service is critical, as it’s the first impression a church makes on a visitor. Everyone should be a greeter.

This is in addition to the official greeters stationed by the front door, the minister and staff, and the ushers—for those churches that still use them.

Talking with friends before the service may be comfortable, but it’s not greeting, and it certainly isn’t welcoming to visitors.

Though a few churches treat their pre-service time with stoic reverence, you can always greet visitors before they enter the sanctuary.

At the friendlier churches, people even approach visitors already seated. But at too many churches, we didn’t interact with anyone before the service, leaving us isolated and alone. This is no way to form community.

Next, consider interaction during the service. When this occurs, it’s an announced time of greeting. This can range from awkward to invigorating. It can last too long, be too short, or feel exactly right.

The Art of Mid-Service Greeting

There’s an art to doing it well, but when done poorly, churches might be better off skipping it. Here are my suggestions for a successful mid-service greeting:

  • Make eye contact.
  • Smile.
  • A handshake is acceptable, but not everyone appreciates a hug—and to “greet one another with a holy kiss” is creepy. Though welcoming others with a holy kiss is biblical (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26), don’t subject visitors to this degree of intimacy.
  • Share your name and repeat theirs if they give it.
  • Don’t be in a rush to move to the next person.
  • Focus on visitors first and friends only if time allows.

When the greeting time is a rote interaction performed with disingenuous intent, either overhaul it or omit it.

Although there were exceptions, our general conclusion was that traditional churches struggled with greeting time, while charismatic churches excelled at it. Evangelical churches filled the continuum between.

One church redefined greeting time, making it more akin to an intermission, where people could roam around, get more coffee, or grab another donut, while having extended interactions.

This church made it work well, but not every congregation could pull this off. And although we didn’t see it on our journey, I’ve been to churches that provided time during the service for group discussion with those sitting near you.

Another way to extend hospitality during church is helping a visitor navigate the service—especially at liturgical services.

Give them your hymnal when they grab the wrong one, share your bulletin to read the liturgy, or let them follow along in your Bible. You can do this without saying a word.

As a final thought, if the official greeting time is the first time someone addresses a visitor, something’s wrong.

After Church Greeting

When the first greeting occurs after the service, it seems too late to try, but it’s better than not at all. Most churches did after-church hospitality reasonably well, but a few skipped this opportunity too.

Sometimes there was a meal or snacks; food fosters connection. Other times it was just hanging out afterward, getting to know one another, making connections, and sharing our faith journeys.

All too often, one person made the difference between us feeling welcomed or ignored, singlehandedly forming our key perceptions of the church, with preaching and worship being secondary.

While applauding the efforts of that one person, the lack of effort from the rest of the congregation is sobering.

Granted, some people are naturally outgoing with a knack for hospitality, but everyone can smile and say “Hi.”

[Check out the discussion questions for this post.]

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

Returning to the Tomb

Seek Jesus: Who Will Roll Away the Stone?

Who Will Roll Away the Stone?

Today’s passage: John 20:1, along with Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:1–3, and Luke 24:1

Focus verse: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. (John 20:1)

With the Sabbath over, Mary Magdalene can again do manual labor. She returns to Jesus’s tomb, intending to anoint his body.

She and the other Mary prepared spices before the Sabbath, rested on the Sabbath, and now she’s ready to complete her work on the first day of the week.

Mark gives us the most detail about what happens.

He writes that besides Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James (possibly also called the other Mary) and Salome go with her. It’s early in the day, with the sun having just risen.

As the trio makes their way to the tomb, a critical concern occurs to them. “Who will roll away the stone from the tomb?”

Who indeed.

Just two days earlier, the women stood there watching Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus place Jesus’s body in the tomb and roll a large stone in front of the entrance.

Did the women forget this important detail until this moment? Or did they realize it and decide to keep their concern to themselves? Perhaps each one hopes one of the other two has a plan to remove this obstacle.

But the three of them are no match for this massive stone. They won’t be able to move it by themselves. Unless someone else does this for them, they cannot complete their mission. This would make their preparations and journey in vain.

Despite not knowing what they’ll do, however, they press forward.

Do they expect to find someone there to help them? Do they pray God will provide a solution to their dilemma? Might they have a backup plan if they can’t get to Jesus’s body this morning?

Whatever the case, they proceed. What other choice do they have? They can’t quit. Jesus deserves better.

Questions:

  • When have we planned something without considering the obstacles we would face?
  • How do we react when we find a stone blocking our path?

Prayer: Father God, when we face obstacles on the path you give us, fill us with the needed courage—and the faith—to persist.

Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his return to heaven in The Victory of Jesus. The Victory of Jesus is another book in Peter DeHaan’s beloved Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series. Get your copy today.

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

How to Find Strength in God

find strength in God

David Found Strength in God When His Men Wanted to Kill Him

When David and his men return from battle, they find that the Amalekites had raided their base, taken their families, and stolen all their belongings. David’s men are mad, and they blame him.

They’re so inflamed with anger that they talk about killing their leader. How does David respond?

He finds strength in God.

Though I’ve been in difficult situations and encountered people who hated me, no one’s ever threatened to kill me, so I can’t fully understand David’s situation.

But I can comprehend his response. David seeks to find strength in God. That’s all he needs to get through the situation.

If strength in God was all David needed when he faced people who wanted to kill him, we can also find strength in God for the difficulties we encounter.

But what does that mean? How can we find strength in God?

Through Trust We Can Find Strength in God

When we have a relationship with God, we have a history we can draw from when things get difficult. We know how he’s helped us in the past and that gives us confidence that we can trust him to help us with the present—regardless of the situation.

Through Faith We Can Find Strength in God

Coupled with trust is faith. By faith and through faith we can hold on with certainty that God will provide for us. He will never abandon us or fail us.

He will give us what we need, when we need it. Faith gives us an assurance, a certainty, that we can place our hope in him, and he will never let us down.

Through Prayer We Can Find Strength in God

We can seek God in prayer, asking him to strengthen us when we are weak, when we are needy, and when we are afraid.

If we talk to God on a regular basis when things are good, this gives us confidence in approaching him when things are difficult.

Yes, God hears and responds to our pleas in desperation, even if that’s the only time we seek him, but how much easier this is when we share all our life with him through prayer.

Find Strength in God

We can find strength in God when we need him. This isn’t hard. It involves trust, faith, and prayer. And the more often we find our strength in God, the easier it becomes.

We can turn to God and seek him when we face life’s difficulties. We can find strength in God.

[Read through the Bible this year. Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 29-31, and today’s post is on 1 Samuel 30:6.]

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 Study

1 John Bible Study, Day 24: He First Loved Us

Online Bible Study for the books of 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John
1, 2, 3 John Bible Study from the book Love One Another

Today’s passage: 1 John 4:19–21

Focus verse: We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Perhaps the most misused, most misunderstood word in English is love. I love my wife, and I love to watch movies. I love nature, and I love blue. I love to write, and I love spring.

I also love God. 

If our love of God means anything, we show it by how we love. This is because he loved us first. Therefore, we respond to his love by loving him back and by loving others.

We show our love to him by how we worship him, how we spend our time, and how we use the resources he blesses us with. Our love for him is a fitting response to his love for us.

We also show our love to God by obeying his commands. One of his chief instructions is for us to love one another (Day 16). 

If we do not love the brothers and sisters we live with and can see, how can we expect to love the God we don’t live with and can’t see?

We delude ourselves if we claim to love God yet remain mired in hate toward others. Therefore, if we love God, we must also love our brothers and our sisters.

We may wonder who qualifies as our brothers and sisters. Surely, this goes beyond our own family, but does it expand to include only those in our faith community, or does it mean everyone in the entire world? 

We can ask the same question about the command to love one another. Does this only apply to the Church of Jesus, or does it apply to everyone?

For the answer to this question, recall the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). A religious expert asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.

Jesus tells him to love God fully and to love his neighbor as much as he loves himself. The religious expert asks Jesus to define neighbor. This is when Jesus gives his parable.

It’s a story about a man who’s robbed and left on the side of the road to die. A priest comes upon the man but walks by him. Next a Levite arrives and ignores the hurting man as well.

At last, a Samaritan—a person Jesus’s audience reviled—arrives on the scene. He stops to help the man and takes steps to nurse him back to health.

Jesus asks the religious expert which of these three people acted as a good neighbor to the injured man.

The religious leader can’t bear to even say “the Samaritan man.” Instead, he simply says, “The one who showed mercy.”

Jesus tells him to do likewise.

In the same way we should love one another—our brothers and sisters—because God first loved us.

Questions:

  1. What is your definition of love?
  2. In what ways do we misuse the word love? 
  3. How can we love God more fully?
  4. How can we love our brothers and sisters better?
  5. Who can we show mercy to?

Discover more about loving our neighbors in Galatians 5:14.

Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.

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

Discover practical, insightful, and encouraging truths in Love One Another, a devotional Bible study to foster a deeper appreciation for the two greatest commandments: To love God and to love others.

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

When Will You Retire?

Honor God and Worship Him through Our Work ... and Our Retirement

God Created Us to Work, So Don’t Stop

I’ve worked from home since 2000. That’s a long time, and I doubt I could ever return to a more typical workplace environment. Through most of this time, neighbors would ask if I had retired. (How old did they think I was, anyway?)

I’d smile and tell them I was too young to retire.

Then they’d often ask about my retirement plans. I’d shake my head. Even now I tell them I have no plans to retire. I want to work as long as I can. My prayer is I’ll be able to keep writing until the day I die.

Keep Working

Retirement is a more recent phenomena, ushered in with the industrial revolution. Before then—except for military service—people worked as long as they could. They had no choice. They had to. Their livelihood depended on it.

When they could no longer work, their family took care of them. Even then they’d do whatever they could to help and not be a burden.

Aside from that—and more importantly—God created us to work (Genesis 2:15). Work gives us purpose. We must avoid idleness (Ecclesiastes 11:6). Idle hands are the devil’s workshop (Proverbs 16:27).

Therefore, we should work for as long as we can. This honors God, gives us purpose, and keeps us productive.

Reinvent Your Work

But what if you dislike your job and can’t wait to retire? Then find a different job.

Look at what you like to do, and then go do it. You may not earn as much money, but that shouldn’t matter because you wanted to retire anyway.

I relish my work as a writer. Yet not all aspects of it are enjoyable. No job is perfect.

So I tweaked my work. I eliminated incidental tasks that dragged me down and outsourced what I didn’t enjoy or wasn’t good at. I streamlined and simplified.

The result is that most of the day overflows with work I savor, with activities I embrace.

Each morning I arise excited for the day ahead. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with so much anticipation for what I’ll write in the morning that I have trouble falling back to sleep.

So instead of retiring, find your dream job and dive in. It may mean reinventing what you do. Or it might mean tweaking what you already do.

Life is too short for a job that pulls you down, so find one that invigorates you.

Follow Your Call

What has God called you to do?

He’s called me to write, to write for my Lord. I obey his call on my life. To retire from his call prematurely would dishonor him. As long as I can write, I’ll write for him. I’ll do this as long as I can—or until he calls me to something else.

Work for Free

If you’re retirement age, use your retirement funds, pension, or social security to pay the bills and then work for free. That is, volunteer your time to causes that matter.

What are you passionate about? What do you enjoy doing to help others? What have you always wanted to do but didn’t because it didn’t pay enough?

Since earning money doesn’t matter if you’re retired, pursue your passions. Just make sure your pursuit is about others and not yourself. Seek to make the world a better place, and don’t look inward with a self-serving motivation.

Forget Leisure and Don’t Coast

There’s nothing wrong with leisure activities, and we all need to rest (Genesis 2:3).

Yet we must take care to make sure leisure activities don’t fill our day. We shouldn’t retire and then coast to the end. Instead we must make each day count.

Find Your Purpose

Regardless of where you are in life—working for a living, nearing retirement age, or retired—seek an outward-looking purpose. Think about what you can do to give to others. Then do it.

Retire When You Can’t Work

When you’re no longer able to work, it is time to retire. To retire wisely, focus on three areas. Pursue them with diligence.

1. Do What Gives You Life: Many people toil in jobs that suck the life from them. I feel for them. I’ve been there. Now I’m not. My work as a writer gives me life. It provides a reason to get up each morning.

2. Do What Honors God: Our lives should serve as an act of worship. This includes all that we do, and it extends into retirement. Find retirement activities that honor God.

3. Do What Helps Others: A self-absorbed life is a selfish one. Instead of focusing on what we want for ourselves, we should redirect our attention on how we can serve and help others, to make our world a little bit better.

Final Thoughts about Retirement

As I consider these three retirement actions, they are exactly what I’m doing now in my work as a writer.

My work gives me life. My work honors God. And my work helps others.

As a bonus the books I write now will help others in the future, even when I’m no longer around. This is my legacy. And it’s work that matters to the world and advances the kingdom of God.

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

Categories
Visiting Churches

Visiting Churches Is a Lot Like Dating

Visiting Churches Is a Lot Like Dating: Dating Churches or Settling Down

Dating Churches or Settling Down

Visiting churches seems a lot like dating: both parties are, in theory, on their best behavior and hopeful of a positive outcome. Dating is fun—for a while.

There’s variety and excitement for each outing, but eventually an emptiness emerges, and you yearn for more. You seek connection, you want commitment, and you desire permanence.

For me, dating churches was great fun for the first half of the year. After that, the allure of new started to wear thin, and I needed to work harder to have a successful date.

This was even more challenging because we knew there would be no second dates, while the churches we visited usually hoped for more.

Even after we told them we were visiting a different church every Sunday, most persisted in wanting that second date.

Even more so, visiting churches is often akin to going on blind dates. We had familiarity with five of the churches: for three, it was one visit, while for the two others our attendance was many years ago.

However, for the other ninety percent of the churches, we arrived blind. We’d never been there before and knew little about them—except what we could find online.

A Church Dating Profile

I suppose church websites and Facebook pages correspond to a dating profile, with the best photos—sometimes out-of-date or misleading—and featuring positive traits while ignoring flaws.

The effort of a few churches to put a positive spin on their online profile was more akin to lying.

One church (Church #30, Misdirected and Frustrated) gravely misled us. We couldn’t recover from their deception and were still mad as we drove home.

That date was an epic fail.

Blind Dates

When visiting churches, just as with dates—especially blind dates—attitude is everything. Ideally you approach the outing with a positive outlook: seeking the good, striving to get along, and wanting to make things work.

Either directly or indirectly, our pre-church prayer addressed this. Though I feel I went to each church with a positive attitude, twice Candy thought otherwise and offered correction.

Conversely, some people go on their blind dates with a negative attitude. They expect things won’t work out, looking for the worst—and finding it.

Now take the dating analogy one step further. It’s like going to your date’s favorite restaurant, one you’ve never been to before.

Your date knows the menu, addresses the staff by name, is friends with the manager, has a favorite booth, and orders “the usual.”

But you know no one, are overwhelmed by the food options, and find the ambiance off-putting. Strangers come up to your date, interrupting to have personal conversations as though you’re not there and laughing over things you don’t understand.

You smile and try to make the best of it, but inside you squirm in agony.

We often felt that way at the churches we visited.

Settling Down and Getting Married

If visiting a church is analogous to dating, joining a church might correspond to marriage. When you join a church you make a commitment, and you stop seeing other churches.

There’s a comfort in knowing what to expect, who you will see, and having community for the good times and the bad: “for better, for worse, in sickness and in health.”

Though our church journey was fun, educational, faith-expanding, and ecumenically insightful, I eventually grew tired of dating churches.

I wanted to be in a church marriage, to have a church commitment and be in a faith family I could depend upon and support.

I think that’s what most people want.

[Check out the discussion questions for this post.]

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

Easter Sunday

Read What Scripture Says about Jesus's Resurrection

He Has Risen!

Today’s passage: John 20:1–18

Focus verse: Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” (John 20:18)

Jesus dies. His body is prepared for burial and his human shell is placed in a tomb. A large stone seals the entrance.

But this isn’t the end. In many respects, it’s the beginning. Three days later, he rises from the dead. Here’s what happens:

After his death, Jesus’s body is laid hastily in the tomb before the start of the Sabbath. With the Sabbath now over, Mary Magdalene heads to the tomb early the next morning, while it’s still dark.

When she arrives, she’s shocked at what she sees. The stone that blocked access to his tomb is no longer there. This isn’t what she expected.

She runs to tell Peter and John (the disciple Jesus loved) what she assumes happened: “They’ve taken Jesus’s body from the tomb, and I don’t know where they put him.”

Peter and John run to Jesus’s grave. John gets there first and peers inside. When Peter arrives, he goes right in. The burial cloths are there, but Jesus’s body is gone.

Seeing for themselves, they believe what Mary said—that his body is gone—and they leave.

Mary, however, stays at the tomb, tears flowing. She sees two angels inside. They ask her why she’s crying. “They’ve taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they moved him.”

Jesus—now very much alive—walks up behind her. “Why are you crying?”

She assumes he’s the gardener and asks where he moved the body.

Jesus calls her by name. “Mary.”

She turns to him and cries out in relief.

Jesus tells her to go and tell the disciples he’s alive and will soon return to his Father in heaven. In doing so, Jesus tasks Mary to deliver the most important message throughout all history. “Jesus is alive! He has risen from the dead!”

Though her culture doesn’t accept a woman’s testimony, Jesus doesn’t care. Mary will serve fine as his messenger.

This makes her the first missionary to tell others the good news about Jesus, that he has risen.

We call this day Easter when we celebrate his resurrection from the tomb. A better label is Resurrection Sunday.

On this first Resurrection Sunday, Jesus is victorious over the finality of death. This proves his mastery over the grave. Through this resurrection power he provides, we, too, can rise from the dead. And if we follow Jesus, we will.

Then we’ll live with him and Father God forever.

Questions:

  • What can we do to celebrate what Jesus did when he died and rose again?
  • How can we best tell others about him?

Prayer: Jesus, may we celebrate your victory over death when you rose from the dead. May we tell others the good news.

Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his return to heaven in The Victory of Jesus. The Victory of Jesus is another book in Peter DeHaan’s beloved Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series. Get your copy today.

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

Saul Squanders What God Gives Him

Saul squanders

Even If God Sets Us Up for Success, We’ll Fail If We Don’t Obey Him

God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel, ask for a king. This isn’t what God wants, but he gives them what they request. He gives them a king.

At God’s direction, Samuel anoints Saul as king, appointing him ruler over God’s people and their nation.

To prove this is God’s doing, Samuel makes three prophetic promises to confirm that God’s hand is in this. They all happen.

The final one is that the Holy Spirit will empower Saul, and he will prophesy. Then God will change him into a different person, presumably a person ready to lead well and keep them focused on God.

The Holy Spirit does indeed come upon Saul, he prophesies, and his heart changes. Samuel presents Saul to the people with the confirmation that there is no one like him in the entire nation.

This means Saul is unique and equipped to be king, Israel’s first king (1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9, 24).

God gives Saul a promising start. He’s poised to lead well. But despite God’s provision. Saul squanders what God gave him.

Instead of trusting God and instead of doing what Samuel—Saul’s spiritual guide—tells him to do, he worries and grows impatient.

He ignores Samuel’s instructions, and even worse, he disobeys God’s law.

And it only takes a few chapters in 1 Samuel for this to occur. Saul repeatedly shows he’s not the man God wants as king. By the time we get to chapter 15, God has enough of the disobedient king.

God tells Samuel, “I’m distressed I made Saul king.

He’s not following me anymore and doesn’t do what I say” (1 Samuel 15:10-11). Later Samuel confronts Saul and tells him that because he rejected God’s words, that God rejects him as king (1 Samuel 15:23).

Though Saul had a great start as king and was positioned to be a great one, his lack of trust in God and disobedience causes his downfall. Despite what God gave him, Saul squanders God’s favor and doesn’t finish well.

[Read through the Bible this year. Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 8-10, and today’s post is on 1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9, 24.]

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.