Year: 2013

Bible

What Does it Mean to Greet One Another With a Holy Kiss?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 22, 2013

Many churches have a time of greeting at some point in their service. This can range from awkward to inviting.

At some of these churches people merely shake hands and mumble a rote greeting. Other congregations actually make eye contact and smile as they greet one another. And at a few places, a meaningful connection begins.

One of the 52 churches we visited carried this to an extreme. The minister told us to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” It was a bit creepy, marking one of my more uncomfortable moments that year.

Fortunately, few people attended that Sunday, so the number of holy kisses we received was minimal.

I know this is biblical, with Paul mentioning it four times. But I don’t really know what it means. Even after experiencing it, I can’t describe it, except for creepy. And Paul doesn’t explain it or offer instructions; he just says to do it. But we can infer a few things.

Church: Each time Paul mentions holy kiss, it’s in a letter to a church, so it must be just for the church community. I take this to imply that outsiders (or in our case, visitors) are not included.

Intimate: A kiss is an intimate sign of affection. Since the context is church, we might want to dismiss a holy kiss as being an act of physical intimacy, instead understanding it as spiritual intimacy.

Holy: Something sacred or hallowed.

This implies a holy kiss is a sacred act of spiritual intimacy for a church community, but I still don’t know how to do it.

[Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, and 1 Thessalonians 5:26]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Tags church, spiritual

Bible

Don’t Worry About What You Don’t Know

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 15, 2013

There’s much about God we don’t know. For a society that craves knowledge and desires to fully understand things, what we don’t know about God can cause frustration. This keeps many people from embracing God.

They want all their questions answered before they say “Yes” to Jesus and follow him. But that’s not faith; that’s a sure thing – and we need to live by faith.

The Bible reveals some truths about God, while keeping other aspects secret. It’s easy to fixate on what we don’t know, frustrated over questions and a lack of clarity on things hidden. But this misses the point.

There are things we do know about God, things the Bible teaches us. Let’s focus on them. In these areas, God expects us to do what he says.

We’re not supposed to worry about what we don’t know, but we do need to obey him in what we do know.

[2 Corinthians 5:7 and Deuteronomy 29:29]

Tags obey

Bible

One Mistake is One Too Many

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 8, 2013

Last week we talked about Moses’ mistake of hitting the rock instead of speaking to it. He did this in disobedience to what God told him to do. The Bible calls this sin.

As a result of Moses’ mistake, that is his sin, he was only permitted to see the land God promised to give to the people, but he could not enter into it. This is a great illustration of the idea of following all the rules but one and then not getting into heaven because we’re not good enough.

We can’t earn our way into heaven, because just one “oops” removes that chance. Fortunately, the way to heaven is much easier; it’s called faith.

[Deuteronomy 32:51-52, Deuteronomy 34:4, James 2:10, and Ephesians 2:8-9]

Tags faith, heaven, sin

Bible

Listen Carefully to What God Says

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 1, 2013

For four decades Moses led the people as they wandered in the dessert. Once when they were thirsty, God told Moses to hit a certain rock with his walking stick. He did and water gushed out.

Later on, the people again clamored for water. This time God told Moses to speak to a rock, but Moses hit it instead. Though the people still got their water, Moses earned a reprimand for his actions.

We don’t know for sure why Moses disobeyed God and hit the rock the second time, but it might be because hitting a rock worked once, so he did it again. He placed experience over God’s word. Though this worked out for the people, it didn’t work out so well for Moses.

Moses’ example reminds us that it’s important to carefully listen to what God says and then to precisely obey him.

[Exodus 17:6-7 and Numbers 20:7-12]

Tags Moses

Bible

Is God a God of Wrath or Love?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 25, 2013

Reading through the book of Judges, a cycle quickly emerges: the people turn away from God, he sends a leader to rescue them, and then they return to him. This pattern continues, albeit to a lesser extent, in the books of Kings and Chronicles.

With endless patience, God offers them second chances.

This abruptly changes as 2 Chronicles winds down. The people’s rejection of God reaches its zenith, arouses his wrath, and “there was no remedy.”

He offers no second chances and no do-overs, only judgment. Conquerors invade them, killing some people, carrying off others, and leaving a few to subsist in abject poverty. For them, it was “game over.”

Is God a god of wrath or love? Your answer may depend on which part of the Bible you use to form your answer. Old Testament folks may see a God of wrath, while New Testament readers may see a God of love.

Jesus makes the difference, offering a loving solution to Old Testament wrath and providing us with a remedy.

[2 Chronicles 36:16, 2 Chronicles 36:17-21 and John 3:16]

Tags God, love

Bible

It’s Not My Fault

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 16, 2013

We live in a society of blame. People shun taking responsibility for their mistakes and shortcomings. Instead they blame someone else: “It’s how I was raised,” “He talked me into it,” “It’s her fault not mine,” “If only I had a better education,” “I had no choice,” and so forth.

In doing so, they fail to take responsibility for their own actions. They attempt to pass their error onto someone or something else and thereby avoid God’s censure for their sin.

In God’s perspective, that’s not how things work. Each person is responsible for the things he or she does. Through Moses, God said that each person would die for his or her sin, not the parents but them.

Fortunately, Jesus offers a different solution: Saving people from their sin.

[Deuteronomy 24:16 and Matthew 1:21]

Tags Jesus, sin

Bible

Jesus is God’s Child and So Are We

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 11, 2013

The Bible says that Jesus is God’s one and only son.

However, God also calls the church his children. How can we be God’s children if he has only one son?

Although the Bible is full of paradoxes – which are hard for modern people to accept but not so difficult for post-modern people and certainly not an issue for ancient people – I don’t think this is one of them.

Another truth may explain this seeming contradiction. One metaphor in understanding our relationship with God is that of a bride and groom, with Jesus being the groom and the church being the bride.

Therefore, by virtue of this union, Jesus, the only son of God, brings the church into his family through marriage, thereby making us, the church, become children of God.

This is just a thought, but it’s an interesting one.

[John 3:16, 1 John 3:1, and 2 Corinthians 11:2]

Tags church, Jesus, paradox

Bible

Thoughts on July Fourth and Freedom

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date July 4, 2013

Today is the fourth of July. Everywhere in the world, it’s the fourth of July. However, in the United States it’s a special one, it’s the Fourth of July, a national holiday, officially known as Independence Day: the day we celebrate our freedom as a country.

Freedom is important to Jesus, too. Once, when teaching at the synagogue, he read from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah proclaims freedom for the captives, the nation of Israel.

Jesus reads that text and says he fulfills it. But the captives he proclaims freedom to is not just Israel but everyone, including you and me.

Though it took a war for the United States to find freedom, freedom through Jesus is much easier, we just need to believe and follow him.

That’s real freedom!

[Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:16-20, and verses about Freedom in the New Testament]

Tags Holiday, Jesus

Bible

Transitioning from the Old Testament to the New Testament

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 27, 2013

The Old Testament of the Bible presents God’s original way of interacting with his people (a covenant). It consists of a list of rules and expectations (the law).

The New Testament of the Bible introduces Jesus and a new way to interact with God. Jesus sets aside the old rules and asks people to believe in him (a new covenant).

When does this transition from the old way to the new way occur? It’s simplistic to say the Bible’s two Testaments represent the demarcation. I always thought the switch started in earnest when Jesus died and was completed when he resurrected.

However, Jesus says the old way of doing things applied until John the Baptist began baptizing people and telling them to get ready. This implies the new way begins when John points people to Jesus.

Perhaps John’s preaching is the pivotal point between the old and new ways of doing things.

Regardless of when the transition occurred, it has happened and Jesus provides a new way to connect with God.

[John 5:24, Luke 16:16, and Luke 9:23]

Tags God

Bible

Why We Shouldn’t Test God’s Patience

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 20, 2013

My high school drafting teacher was a patient man – and my classmates sorely tested him in this. They had a perverse enjoyment in pushing him to his breaking point, because when he had enough, he exploded with a tirade of invective.

The word patient occurs 27 times in the Bible, often referring to God’s patience with us. Yet just like my drafting instructor, God’s patience isn’t without limit.

We see this over and over in the Bible, especially the Old Testament, but it hits me most profoundly when God loses his patience with the nation of Judah.

The text simply says, “There was no remedy.” That means no second chances. Saying “I’m sorry” won’t help. God had enough and that was it.

It reminds me not to try God’s patience, for one time he may say “enough is enough; there is no remedy and no second chances.” I never want to hear those words.

[See occurrences of patience in the Bible and read 2 Chronicles 36:16.]

Tags God