In Thursday’s post, Who Is a Christian Pharisee?, I talked about connecting—or reconnecting Christianity—with its Jewish roots—called Messianic Judaism. Although this thought may alarm some, there are ample justifications. Old Testament Judaism foreshadowed and gave birth to Christianity, Jesus was a Jew, and almost all of his early followers where Jewish. It’s only through a […]
How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself By Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)As implied by the subtitle, the main premise of When Helping Hurts is that efforts to help those who are less fortunate often do more harm than good—to both the receiver and the giver. In communicating […]
Why Small is the New Big for Today’s Church By Tony and Felicity Dale and George Barna (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Rabbits reproduce quickly and with abundance, while elephants do so slowly and infrequently; this is a metaphor for the church. The established institutional church is likened to the elephant, while the house church is […]
Just as we know that Jesus had twelve disciples, we know that Israel had twelve tribes, right? Jacob (also known as Israel) had twelve sons and each son became a tribe, right? Well sort of. Even though Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, there is no tribe named Joseph. Instead Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, […]
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Are You a Minister?
“Are you a minister?” The first time someone asked me that question, I was shocked, appalled even. I shook my head and laughed, “Heck, no.” This confused my inquirer. “Humph, I thought you were.” Later someone else asked me the same thing, then another, and eventually a fourth. Now I’m no longer disturbed when someone […]
A Manifesto for the Church in Exile By Rob Bell and Don Golden (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Rob Bell’s third book, is consistent with his unique style, first unveiled in Velvet Elvis and later fine-tuned in Sex God. This installment is equally insightful and no less thought-provoking. The subtitle, A Manifesto […]
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Smile…You’re Being Scanned
I recently renewed my passport, which required an updated photo. I went to my local Walgreens to take care of this and complete my renewal application as quickly as possible. I placed my toes on the line, looked into the camera, and put on my best smile. The technician scowled. “You’re not supposed to smile […]
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Do You Feel in Love With God?
A year or so ago I made a bold statement to some close friends. As a group, we enjoy the freedom to ask pointed questions and the expectation to give honest answers; being transparent is our norm. Yet, I surprised myself by proclaiming, “I’m more in love with God today than ever before.” Yeah, it […]
Identify and Understand Your Unique God-Given Spiritual Gifts By C. Peter Wagner (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Having read many books on spiritual gifts, Discover Your Spiritual Gifts is clearly one of the best. In a simple and easy-to-understand manner, Wagner succinctly explains what spiritual gifts are. He teaches on their proper use and exposes ways in […]
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Who Do We Compare Ourselves To?
Yesterday I posted in my Byline blog, “The Risk of Comparing Ourselves to Others.” Although my words focused on writers, the unwise practice of comparison is universal, applying to all people in all professions or pursuits. Succinctly, when we compare ourselves to other people, we either elevate ourselves by degrading them or lessen ourselves by […]