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Bible Study

1 John Bible Study, Day 21: The Love of God

Today’s passage: 1 John 4:7–12

Focus verse: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)

So far in John’s letter he’s already talked a lot about love, building up to this passage in chapter four, where the topic of love becomes the focus. In the rest of chapter 4, John mentions love twenty-seven times. That’s a lot of love.

Building on his encouragement to love one another from the prior chapter, John again reminds us—his dear friends—to love one another.

This is because love comes from God, and he empowers us to love others. When we are born of God and know him, we’re able to love others well. But those who don’t know God aren’t able to love. 

Loving others is the fruit of our relationship with our Heavenly Father; it’s proof of our right standing with him, through Jesus.

Though we love God, he loved us first (1 John 4:19). He proved this by sending his precious Son to earth so that we might live eternally through him. Father God sent Jesus into our world as the sacrifice to atone for our sins (1 John 4:10).

We often think of Jesus’s great love for us. He showed this ultimate expression of love through his willingness to die in our place for all the wrong things we’ve done in our life—and all the wrong that we will do. 

Jesus endured a most painful death, tortured at the hands of his Roman executioners. Dying in our place is the epitome of love, and we celebrate him for making this supreme sacrifice. In turn, we love him back to the best of our ability.

Yet John isn’t talking about Jesus’s love for us by dying in our place. Instead, the apostle is talking about Father God’s great love for us. God showed his immense love for us by sending Jesus to save us.

For those of us who are parents, we don’t want to see our children suffer. We’d gladly stand in their place if we could shelter them from the pain of their struggles.

Our Heavenly Father is no different from us in this regard. How hard it must have been for Father God to send his precious Son into our world, knowing what he would have to endure.

That’s real love. And God’s immense love for us is why we should love one another.

When we do, “God lives in us and his love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12).

Questions:

  1. How well do we do at accepting God’s love for us? 
  2. How well do we do at loving others?
  3. Who do we love well enough to die for?
  4. Should our list be longer? Why?
  5. How can we thank God for loving us?

Discover more about God’s love for us in Romans 5:7–10.

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

Jesus Is the Way, Not the Destination

The Father Is the Destination and the Savior Provides the Path

Jesus tells Thomas, “I am the way.” The only way to get to the Father is through the Savior (John 14:5-6). He’s not a way. He’s the only way.

Though many people uphold the Christ as the primacy of the Trinity, we must remember that Jesus is the way. He is not the destination. The Father is the destination.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

John preaches a message of repentance. He baptizes those who confess their sins. This is to prepare the way for the Lord (Matthew 3:1-12).

Though many people assume John is the one foretold by the prophets, he plainly confirms he is not. In fact, he is so insignificant in comparison that he is not even worthy to untie the Savior’s sandals (Acts 13:24-25).

John’s father pronounced this truth that John will prepare the way at John’s birth (Luke 1:76). And this is exactly what John does (John 1:23).

Jesus Is the Way

John prepares the way for Jesus. Jesus is the way. The Savior provides the way to the Father.

Our sin separates us from God, from being in the Father’s presence. But Jesus redeems us from the wrong things we have done and restores us into right relationship with his Father—with our Heavenly Father.

Not only is Jesus the way, but he is also truth and life (John 14:6). He shows us the way to the Father. He teaches us the truth about the Father. And he gives us life with the Father. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

This all comes through our Messiah, and he is the way to the Father.

The Church Shows the Way

The book of Acts refers to Jesus’s followers as the Way (Acts 9:1-2).

This doesn’t mean they replace Jesus as the way to the Father. Instead, they function more like John and show the way to the Father through Christ. He remains the only way to the Father.

As Jesus’s followers we should point the way to Jesus so that through him they can be brought into fellowship with the Father.

Jesus is the way, and the Father is the destination.

Our Role Today

The people we know may not know Jesus, but we can show them to him and he will provide the way to the Father. All they need to do is follow him.

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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Visiting Churches

Visiting 52 Churches, Part Three

A Recap of Churches 27 through 44

The churches are starting to blur. Every week seems the same, offering only slight variations on a theme. I’m growing weary of our journey. I’ve realized this for a few weeks but didn’t want to admit it.

Yes, I still notice kindnesses offered and innovations presented at the various branches of Jesus’s church. But I worry that I notice more the actions that discourage me and disparage the reputation of my savior.

Have I become cynical? Am I truly able to see what God wants me to see?

My prayers before we leave for church lack freshness. Have they become vain repetition? Matthew 6:7 in the KJV says, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.”

My anticipation for the service is no longer as expectant, yet God prevails and teaches me anyway.

For the first half of our journey, I picked our destinations solely by the driving distance from our home.

But heading in different directions each Sunday became disconcerting, making it challenging to synthesize an understanding of congregations within communities.

In retrospect, I should have divided our fifty-two churches into four groups: those within our local school district, those in the village to our west, those in the village to the southwest of us, and those on the western edge of the city to our east.

For the third part of our adventure we focused on the first three of these geographic areas, while remaining within ten miles of our house. This allowed us to better comprehend the churches within their local context.

The village to our west has twenty-one churches. We visited twelve in the first half of our journey, calling on the remaining nine for this phase (Churches #27–36). Together they comprise a wide-ranging group, offering an array of options.

Next, we turned our attention to the village to our southwest, with its five churches (#37–41). Although one was struggling, the other four weren’t.

They were vibrant and growing, each with its unique appeal and offering a different approach to worshiping God.

To conclude this phase of our sojourn, we visited the remaining three churches in our local school district (Churches #42–44).

Along with Churches 1 through 7, these ten churches are noteworthy because our local food pantry serves people living in the school district. Sometimes pantry clients ask me about area churches.

Now that I’ve visited all ten, I can share firsthand information, directing people to the one that best meets their needs and preferences.

Some of our clients attend church outside of the area, and I’ve seen them at several of the gatherings we’ve visited. I have mixed feelings about this.

Part of me wishes each congregation would care for the needs of their own, while the other part of me would decry each church replicating the same program.

Having an area food pantry is not only practical, but it’s also a great community service, with five of the district’s ten churches involved in a truly ecumenical outreach.

Greeting and Community

At the halfway point in our journey, I noted the importance of community, with some churches excelling at it, a few failing, and most falling somewhere in between.

The prelude to community is greeting. Churches that greet well embrace visitors and foster connections.

Liturgical churches, I observed, struggle with greeting and fail at community.

Fortunately, this isn’t an absolute principle, merely a tendency. Church #43 (A Welcoming Church with Much to Offer) and Church #32 (Commitment Sunday and Celebration) proved liturgical churches can greet well and foster meaningful community.

Church #43 excelled at this, perhaps even more so than the non-liturgical Church #22 (A Caring Community). Two other non-liturgical churches that greeted well were Church #38 (A Refreshing Time) and Church #41 (People Make the Difference).

I’d like to revisit them all, simply because of the amazing way they greeted, welcoming us into their community. We made connections. We had relevant conversations. We shared a spiritual camaraderie.

There are three opportunities to greet visitors: before, during, and after the service. Churches need to master all three. Few do, but Church #43 did.

Two churches ignored us beforehand and had no greeting time during the service, but they did embrace us afterward: Church #28 (Intriguing and Liturgical) and Church #35 (A Well-Kept Secret).

But it’s hard to overcome a bad first impression. While Church #28 did, enough so that I want to return, Church #35 didn’t.

The opposite error is not ending well. Church #27 (A Charismatic Experience) ignored us afterward. With no one who approached us and no one available for us to approach, we had two choices: stand there and look pathetic or leave. We left.

Then, one church, a non-liturgical one, failed at all three opportunities: they ignored us. This was Church #31 (A Day of Contrasts). It was as if we were invisible.

Though their service was most impressive, their cold demeanor isolated us, effectively pushing us out the door as soon as the service ended.

Yes, they did have two assigned greeters at the front door, but the personable pair couldn’t overcome the 150 indifferent people inside.

Yes, greeting well is important. Without it, visitors cannot hope to find community. So why would they want to come back?

Highs and Lows of Our Journey

Overall, our time at charismatic gatherings continues to disappoint.

While Church #27 (A Charismatic Experience) came close to providing a true charismatic encounter—or at least my perception of one—they also had some disconcerting shortcomings, including a rambling message and not being friendly.

The narrow doctrine at Church #34 (Acts Chapter Two) and Church #36 (The Surprise) especially dismayed me.

Like Church #14 (The Pentecostal Perspective), they placed an unbiblical emphasis on speaking in tongues, viewing it as a requirement to signify true salvation.

Church #42 (High Expectations and Great Disappointment) went to the opposite extreme, dismissing charismatic followers of Jesus as heretics and doing so with a most dogmatic fervor.

The way these otherwise well-meaning clergy divide Jesus’s church grieves me.

This error, of rejecting other Christians because they fail to meet some personally held opinion, is perhaps the biggest shortcoming we’ve seen at any of the churches.

I wonder if they’ve lost their first love. (Consider John’s stinging rebuke in Revelation 2:4–5 against the church in Ephesus). Do they truly comprehend what it means to follow Jesus? I seriously doubt it.

Conversely, Church #29 (Led by Laity) greatly encouraged me; they conducted their entire service without any clergy. I wish more churches would follow their example.

I beg churches to do so. Through Jesus we are all priests. We shouldn’t need ministers to do for us what we’re supposed to do ourselves. (See 1 Peter 2:5, 9 as a starting point.)

In considering Church #37 (Another Small Church), sometimes a church just needs to close. This church has more people on the outside trying to save it, than there are local people who attend.

Yes, God can do the impossible, but without a clear instruction from him to persevere, the wise action, the prudent option, is to simply shut down and stop wasting resources on an unpromising situation.

Interestingly, there was once local interest for this church to merge with another, but their respective denominations wouldn’t permit it. Their decision was self-serving and not kingdom-focused.

Lastly, some churches, despite many good traits and positive elements, showed us some bizarre practices:

  • Greeting strangers with a holy kiss was creepy, Church #28 (Intriguing and Liturgical).
  • Church #30 (Misdirected and Frustrated) duped us into attending Sunday school and angered me.
  • Avoiding all forms of promotion made them hard to find, Church #35 (A Well-Kept Secret). We stumbled upon them by accident.
  • Cancelling services because the minister was called away disappointed us, Church #36 (The Surprise). Hold services anyway. Church #29 (Led by Laity) did.
  • Having a dirty sanctuary made me reluctant to sit down, Church #37 (Another Small Church). The overall neglected condition of their facility didn’t help.
  • Heading to a restaurant after the service was interesting but unusual. Arming us all with coupons may not have left the best impression on the restaurant staff, Church #39 (A Great Way to End the Year).

Takeaway for Everyone: Set divisive theology aside and celebrate commonality in Jesus. Seek ways to work with other churches, not oppose them.

[Check out the discussion questions for this post about our journey of visiting 52 churches, along with two more questions that precede it.]

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

Lazarus, Come Out

Today’s passage: John 11:1–44

Focus verse: Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. (John 11:43–44)

The Bible tells us about three siblings: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Yet Matthew and Mark don’t mention them at all.

Only Luke and John tell us about Martha and Mary, while Lazarus only shows up in John, chapters 11 and 12. (Though Luke records a parable about a man named Lazarus, he’s a different person.)

John says that Jesus loves Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Though our Savior loves everyone, Scripture seldom names them, but it does specify Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. This should get our attention as to how important they are to Jesus.

In today’s account, Lazarus is sick. Sick enough for the sisters to worry. They send word to Jesus. They don’t ask for him to come heal their brother, but merely state that he’s ill.

Knowing what will happen, Jesus says Lazarus’s illness will not end in death but in glory to Father God and his Son. But he does nothing for two days.

In a delightful exchange, Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus is sleeping, and Jesus will go wake him. The disciples take this literally, but Jesus means it figuratively. In truth, Lazarus is dead.

Jesus uses the euphemism to wake him to mean resurrect him. The implication is that, to Jesus, raising someone from the dead is no harder than for us to wake someone from a deep sleep. So it will be with us when we die.

Jesus will wake us to live with him in paradise forever.

Jesus heads for Bethany, where the siblings live. He arrives to find that Lazarus is four-days dead and buried.

Both Martha and Mary have confidence that Jesus had the power to heal their brother and prevent his death. And Martha has faith that her brother will one day rise again. But neither sister expects Jesus to do anything for their dead brother now.

Jesus goes to Lazarus’s tomb. Martha, Mary, and the many Jews mourning with them follow.

When Jesus arrives, he instructs them to remove the large stone that blocks the entrance. He thanks Papa for hearing his prayer and commands Lazarus to come out of his tomb.

To everyone’s amazement, Lazarus hobbles forth, still wrapped in his burial cloths. It’s a miracle of miracles.

Though this isn’t the first time Jesus raises someone from the dead, this is the most spectacular one—and the most memorable.

Many people witness Lazarus’s resurrection, creating quite a stir, which we’ll cover in a few days.

In the end, Lazarus doesn’t die, and God and his Son receives glory.

Questions

  • How well do we do to accept that Jesus loves us?
  • What do we think about Jesus raising someone from the dead?

Prayer: Father God, may our lives—and death—give you glory.

Discover more about celebrating Jesus and his passion to save us in Peter’s new book, The Passion of Jesus. It is part of the Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series.

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

Consider Moses’s Triennial Tithe

Help Feed Those Who Are in Need

The Old Testament law of Moses commands multiple tithes, not just one. The one in today’s passage is a triennial tithe—every third year. The purpose of this one is to help feed the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless, and the widows.

Giving this tithe to the Levites suggest it may also include priests since they all descend from Levite.

The priests, however, are covered elsewhere, so we can understand the meaning of Levites in this passage to include all the rest of the Levites who are not priests.

Their job supports the work of the priests in worshiping God. They deserve to eat, and this tithe helps.

The other three groups of people covered by this triennial tithe are foreigners, orphans, and widows. They all face a disadvantage in life.

First, foreigners are outsiders and not included in God’s promises to his chosen people. Yet the Lord wants his children to provide for their daily nutrition.

The orphans and widows struggle to take care of themselves, which presents a challenge in the male-focused culture of their day. God wants his people to likewise help feed them.

In addition to this triennial tithe, God has other provisions to help care for the needy. He permits gleaning and commands that the harvesters facilitate the effort.

There’s also the year of jubilee, which occurs every fifty years. This provides for debt relief and property restoration. He also prohibits charging excessive interest. These provisions all serve to help the poor and needy.

Do we need to follow this example today and give a triennial tithe to help the staff at church, foreigners in our land, and orphans and widows? We can, but we don’t have to.

Remember that Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament law and the prophets (Matthew 5:17).

Therefore, our Savior offers us a better way. Instead of a tithe, Jesus tells us to give generously to the poor (Luke 11:41).

We should do that. And generously may mean giving more than ten percent, that is, going beyond Moses’s triennial tithe.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Deuteronomy 25-27 and today’s post is on Deuteronomy 26:12.]

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.

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Bible Study

1 John Bible Study, Day 20: The Greater Power

Today’s passage: 1 John 4:4–6

Focus verse: The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

After talking about the Holy Spirit and false prophets—that is, false teachers under Satan’s control—John gives us a comforting truth.

As Father God’s children who believe in Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit (whom John calls the Spirit of truth) living in us. Greater, John says, is the one who lives in us than the one who is in the world.

Many people don’t realize this, and their behavior belies John’s teaching. They view God and Satan as equal and opposing forces. They’re left quaking, wondering which force will win—and praying that they haven’t misplaced their faith. 

Yet this perspective is incorrect. God and Satan are not equal. God, as Creator, made all the angels—including Satan, a fallen angel. The Creator is clearly superior to his creation.

That’s why John can confidently teach us that God—who lives in us—is more powerful than the devil who lives in the world around us.

Yes, God has granted Satan a bit of authority in our world for a time. But our Lord will one day take back that authority and punish the evil one forever.

This victory over Satan began when Jesus died in our place for the wrong things we have done, defeating death and our enemy who specializes in death (John 10:10).

We’ll find the finale of Jesus’s victory revealed in full at the end of time, when Father God ushers in a new heaven and a new earth where we’ll live forever (Revelation 21:1–2).

We must focus on God’s power and Jesus’s victory. John reminds us that we are children of God. As his children, our heritage comes through him. He has overcome evil, and as his children we can overcome evil too.

God is greater than the devil. The battle has already happened, and God has won. We are on the winning side. And God is in us. Through him we can overcome the evil one’s opposition and the evil that is in the world.

We can count on God as the ultimate power and should live confident lives as a result.

Questions:

  1. How can we better embrace God’s spirit who lives in us?
  2. In what ways do our lives show we believe we’re on the winning side? 
  3. When have we placed too much emphasis on the power of our enemy?
  4. What does it mean to you to be a child of God?
  5. How should we respond when we encounter evil?

Discover what else John says about the Spirit of truth (Holy Spirit) in John 14:16–17, John 15:26, and John 16:13.

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

It’s Ten Commandments Not Ten Suggestions

Let the Bible—Not Society—Guide Our Behavior

God gives Moses Ten Commandments, which he passes on to the people. We find these listed twice in the Old Testament (Exodus 20:3-23 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21).

They provide the foundation for the rest of the laws in the Old Testament, which Bible scholars tell us number 613 commands. That’s a lot to keep straight, so boiling it down to ten main ones is helpful.

The Ten Commandments

  1. Do not have any other gods.
  2. Do not worship idols (“other gods”).
  3. Do not use God’s name wrongly.
  4. Keep the Sabbath day holy.
  5. Honor your parents (which carries a blessing).
  6. Do not murder.
  7. Do not commit adultery.
  8. Do not steal.
  9. Do not lie (give false testimony).
  10. Do not covet.

The first four relate to our relationship with God, while the last six relate to our relationship with other people.

The fifth one, which is the only one with a blessing attached to it, serves as a transition between the four God-honoring commands and the six people-focused commands.

Though these were once affirmed by most people—including those who didn’t believe in God—this is no longer true.

The first four have slipped away from society’s consciousness, especially number four, which is something many Christians now disregard.

Of the remaining six commands, most are falling away from our culture’s moral perspective, with people having little concern about adultery, lying, and coveting.

The prohibitions against murder and stealing are now gray areas, and too many people fail to honor their parents.

Of these Ten Commandments, people tend to at best consider them as ten suggestions and at worse to disregard them completely.

Jesus Fulfills the Old Testament Law

Yet some people are quick to point out that these Old Testament laws, even the Ten Commandments, no longer apply. This is because Jesus says he came to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).

Yet within the same verse he says he didn’t come to abolish them. And he says it twice. While he did fulfill—and thereby negate—the ceremonial commands in the Old Testament with his sacrificial death and resurrection, he built upon and clarified the rest.

Sometimes Jesus confirmed them, but most times he extended them.

Consider his expanded teachings about murder and adultery. He extended murder to include anger (Matthew 5:21-22). And he extended adultery to include merely thinking about it, that is, lust (Matthew 5:28).

Jesus’s Top Two Commands

Jesus’s chief teaching, however, comes when he summarizes the Ten Commandments, along with the expanded list of 613, down to just two.

He says we’re to love God and love others. It’s that simple.

Jesus teaches that the most important command is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. And he says the second greatest command is to love other people as much as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

Realize, however, he doesn’t tell us to love them more than we love ourselves, but we shouldn’t love them any less.

And we shouldn’t treat Jesus’s commands as suggestions, either—even though the world does. We should take them quite seriously and do everything possible to obey them fully.

To do anything less is unacceptable.

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

WORLD News Group

A News Source Grounded in Biblical Truth

I stopped listening to the news on June 15, 2020. I had to. The negativity and biased rhetoric wore me down. It permeated my life and threatened my ability to function.

Though I didn’t like being out of touch, when I stopped listening to the news a weight lifted off me right away. I became happier and less agitated. It was a smart move on my part and overdue.

But after a two-and-a-half-year break, I started listening to the news again. It comes in the form of a podcast each weekday morning: “The World and Everything in It.”

It’s from WORLD News Group, which “produces sound journalism, grounded in facts and biblical truth.” This is exactly the news source I need.

It’s so counter to other news sources, that it took me a couple weeks to get used to it and embrace it, but I now so look forward to it every day.

They also have a biweekly magazine, which I subscribe to.

If you want to hear news that won’t confront your faith and challenge your beliefs, check out wng.org. It’s a news source you can trust.

My friend, Thomas Umstattd, recommended it to me. Now I’m recommending it to you. Please check it out.

Then you can recommend it to your friends.

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.

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Visiting Churches

52 Churches: The Second Quarter

Preparing to Visit Our Next 13 Churches

Going forward in our journey of visiting 52 Churches, we may bypass more churches on our list to vary the scope of our adventure.

So far, we’ve skipped one that wasn’t a Christian gathering and another because they were in limbo, pending a turnaround.

The next thirteen churches on our list promise a wider variation of experience. This excites me. I also see some churches we’ll exclude because they don’t hold much promise for additional variation.

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

Our journey is about growth and discovery, not about thoroughly covering every option in a precise order.

Though we have a plan, the plan is flexible.

Takeaway for Everyone: Plan, but be flexible. Fixating on the plan, as well as having no plan, will miss opportunities that arise.

[Check out the discussion questions for this post.]


Part Two Perspective: Churches 14 through 26

We’re now half done with our journey. For the past twenty-six weeks we’ve sought to expand our understanding of how others worship God. I blog about our visit each Monday morning, but friends frequently ask for more.

“What are you learning?”

“That God’s church is more diverse and varied than I ever imagined.”

“Is your journey changing?”

“No. We’re still planning to return to our home church when we’re done.”

“Do you want to revisit any of the churches?”

“Yes.” I start to reel off a list along with my reasons, but they don’t seem interested in the details. Why do they ask if they don’t care about the answers?

Aside from these questions, a sobering realization is that church is not about the teaching or the music. It’s about community.

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

We’ve heard messages from gifted speakers and those not-so-talented, the formally trained and the self-taught.

We’ve heard deep thoughts and entertaining fluff. But in all cases, we received a worthwhile word from God. I suspect if we pray expectantly and are open to hear, we will.

Similarly, we’ve sung traditional hymns, modern songs, and contemporary praise choruses. Accomplished vocalists, struggling crooners, and everything in between have led us in worship.

There have been worship bands, pipe organs and pianos, accompaniment tracks, recorded songs, and even a cappella. If we focus on the words, we praise God regardless of musical style.

Nonetheless, message and music, I’m sad to report, aren’t important—not really. The big variable is community. Aside from that often-awkward official greeting time during the service, community is a meaningful time of spiritual interaction with others.

When we make connections with others, we share Jesus. God is more present in these informal exchanges before and after the service than during the planned and prepped moments of the service.

A few churches have no community. People come, people sit, and people leave, without saying a word. This is not church as God intended.

Church #18 (Revisiting Roman Catholicism) had no community. Church #17 (A Doubleheader) and Church #16 (Something’s Missing) had minimal community. They gave us no reason to return.

Fortunately, most churches allow community to some degree and a few excel at it. I want to revisit these churches. Community is church at its best.

4 Standout Churches

Four churches stood out in their embrace of us. Though our visit could have been an anomaly, I suspect all visitors would receive a similar welcome.

Many churches have an official greeter or two and most have a couple of outgoing people who reach out to visitors, but at Church #22 (A Caring Community) it seemed everyone reached out to us.

We met so many people who were genuinely interested in getting to know us. They were sincere, accepting, and engaging.

At Church #25 (Embarking on a Metamorphosis, Part 2), we enjoyed many friendly conversations beforehand, had people invite us to sit with them, and enjoyed significant interaction afterward.

The after-church community at Church #19 (A Near Miss) was also great. We talked with many people, made connections, and learned about their church, ministry philosophy, and vision. It felt as if we were at a family reunion with extended relatives.

At Church #14 (The Pentecostal Perspective) many members of the congregation were friendly. We felt welcomed before and during the service, enjoying spiritually-significant conversations.

Unfortunately, their narrow theology placed us on the outside. They would never fully accept us into their community.

Receiving honorable mention are the two minority congregations: Church #26 (An Unknown Situation) and Church #20 (Different Language, Same God). Both were extremely friendly, but we failed to make deep connections with anyone at either church.

For the first, this was due to language differences and for the second, cultural differences, though I should note, we weren’t in the target demographic at either church.

Avoid a Consumerism Mentality

A second observation also stems from the preaching and singing. Consumerism is rampant in the modern church. The mantra of many churches, especially the larger ones, is “excellence in everything.”

Doing whatever God calls us to do to the best of our abilities is God-honoring. He deserves nothing less. Unfortunately, pursuing excellence can feed into a consumer mentality.

Many people seek a church with the most engaging speaker and professional musicians.

When they find it, they join that church—and stay there until a better preacher or music comes along. They are church consumers, looking for the best value. They forget about community and never ask what they can give to a church.

I’m not being overly critical. How many times have you heard someone leave a church because “I’m just not being fed anymore”? I’ve heard it, and I’ve even said it. Its cousin is “it’s just not meeting my needs.”

Although both complaints sound sincerely spiritual, they reveal a consumer mindset: “What will church do for me?” If this church can’t meet my needs, I’ll find one that does.

The result is church shopping and church hopping. This isn’t God-honoring, and we should be ashamed.

A third item is church size. Size does matter and bigger isn’t better.

There’s a progression: Excellence in preaching and music triggers a consumer reaction, so churches that excel in these areas attract bigger crowds. They grow and may even become a megachurch.

Connection and Community

From the perspective of structure, resources, programs, staff, and efficiency, bigger churches have a huge advantage. This plays well in today’s society, but it isn’t the purpose of church.

Church is to connect people with God and with each other.

This is hard, if not impossible, to do with any degree of intimacy and integrity at a large church. That’s why they form small groups, promoting smallness within the structure of largeness.

I’m using small groups in a generic sense. The actual labels vary: small groups, life groups, Bible studies, pods, service teams, and fellowship groups.

At the churches with, say, more than two hundred people, no one knows if you’re a visitor and few care. If you want to get lost in a crowd, go to a big church. If you want community, seek a smaller one.

These are the three key insights God showed me in the past six months. Our church visits confirm it. I’m not down on church, but I wonder if today’s church has lost its way.

Contemplating this, I blogged, asking “What Is Church?“:

“Church isn’t about message or music. Those are often distractions or settling for less than the best. True church is about community, where we are all priests, with each one giving and receiving, mutually edifying and encouraging one another on our faith journey.”

I’m sure we’ll learn more on the second half of our journey. I can’t wait for what else God has planned for us.

Takeaway for Everyone: True church is about community. The message and music are secondary—and may even distract from what really matters.

[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.

 

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Bible Insights

Jesus Predicts His Death, Again

Today’s passage: Matthew 20:17–19, Mark 10:32–34, and Luke 18:31–34

Focus verse: “On the third day he will be raised to life!” (Matthew 20:19)

In a prior reading we covered Jesus predicting his death and resurrection. This isn’t the only time he says this. He does it again . . . and again.

The second time is much like the first. They’re in Galilee. Jesus tells his disciples three things.

First, he will be delivered over to the hands of men. This is cryptic, but we now know that this means Judas will betray him to the Jewish leaders who will arrest him.

Jesus’s other two statements are clear. They will kill him, and he will arise to life (Matthew 17:22–23, Mark 9:30–32, and Luke 9:43–45).

This time Peter keeps quiet. He may have learned from his prior impetuous outburst that saying nothing is the wise action. Even so, the disciples react strongly.

Matthew says they’re filled with grief. This suggests they rightly hear the dying part but miss the rising part. Though Jesus raised some people from the dead, the disciples are much more familiar with death than resurrection.

In contrast to Matthew’s account, Mark and Luke say the disciples don’t understand what he means but are afraid to ask for clarification.

Which is it? It’s both. Combining these, we see the disciples are concerned because they don’t understand.

This is the second time Jesus predicts his death.

The third time Jesus predicts his death is on their way to Jerusalem. This time he gives more details.

He says he’ll be handed over to the religious leaders. They’ll condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles—that is, non-Jews, implying the Romans. (This is because the Jews lack the authority to execute anyone, but the Romans can.)

The Romans will mock Jesus, flog him, and execute him by crucifixion.

But his death isn’t the end. Three days later, he will rise again to life. Though Matthew and Mark don’t record the disciples’ reaction, Luke does. He says they don’t understand any of what Jesus said.

Why do Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us that Jesus three times predicts his death?

It may be for emphasis, or it may be to make sure we don’t miss his prediction. But the repetition may harken back to the Old Testament law that requires two or three witnesses to condemn a man to death (Deuteronomy 17:6).

Though Jesus isn’t supplying three witnesses, he does state three times that he’ll be condemned to die.

It’s as if he’s telling his disciples that he knows he will die and accepts it.

Questions

  • When has grief filled us over something we didn’t understand?
  • When has God needed to repeat his message to us before we understood his instruction?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may we understand what you say to us in Scripture and through your Holy Spirit.

Discover more about celebrating Jesus and his passion to save us in Peter’s new book, The Passion of Jesus. It is part of the Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series.

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.