The phrase son of man occurs in 178 verses in the Bible. Sometimes son is written with an uppercase S and other times with a lowercase s. When used with an uppercase S, the references are to Jesus, as seen in all four gospels (28 times in Matthew; 13 times in Mark; 25 times in […]
Today’s passage: John 17:1–19 Focus verse: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) With the time of his arrest drawing near and having given his final teaching to his disciples, Jesus prays. This isn’t a quick, God-help-me prayer. It’s an […]
Carefully Consider Your Faith Foundation and the Basis for What You Believe Some Christians base their faith on what the Bible says. Others, however, reject this view as outdated and judgmental. Instead, they allow society to guide their practices, which veers further and further from a firm faith foundation. They have become secular Christians. Here […]
Prolific Author Expands Access Author Peter DeHaan announced he is now on Substack. Substack is an online resource that “lets independent writers and podcasters publish directly to their audience.” “My website will remain the hub of my online presence,” DeHaan said, “and Substack will both extend and support that effort.” Though Peter has a presence […]
The experiences I share in my book are just that: my experiences. Other people will have different observations when visiting a church. I am an introvert, as is a slight majority of the population, but my reactions are not unique to or representative of introverts. Indeed, everyone, both introvert and extrovert, will share my perspective […]
Psalm 154 from Beyond Psalm 150 As the people of Israel travel about in the desert, water is scarce. They reach the city of Beer. God instructs Moses to gather the people, and he will provide water to quench their thirst. The people respond collectively, praising God in song. Though this seems like a poem […]
The People Ask Jeremiah to Seek God’s Will, But They Don’t Like the Answer Those few of God’s chosen people left in the promised land have it bad. Babylon has conquered them. Insurgents have just killed their captor’s appointed ruler, and the people fear they’ll face retribution. They Seek God They do what they should’ve […]
Today’s passage: John 16:16–33 Focus verse: “Take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) As Jesus continues his last instructions to his disciples, he talks of his departure, which his disciples will mourn, and the world will celebrate. But as a woman struggles through childbirth, and then rejoices over the birth of her baby, […]
The Creator Rested on the Seventh Day—Maybe We Should Too I’ve written a lot about taking a Sunday Sabbath. My goal is to treat it as a special day, one different from the other six days of my week. I’ve talked about my reasons for doing so, but I’ve seldom mentioned that the impetus for […]
For 52 Churches, we took a year off and visited a different Christian church every Sunday. Then we returned to our home church. For More Than 52 Churches we interspersed our visits with regular attendance at our home base. Consider these five discussion questions about Our New Church Home. 1. Staying connected to our home […]