Recommendations, Christian Living, Culture, Death, Faith, Finance, Science, Theology
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The grief we learn to carry: Stacy MacLaren says, “Grief research has given us language for something grieving people have known in their bones forever: losing someone you deeply love isn't like sustaining an injury that eventually disappears once you've healed correctly. Grief is, in part, a massive act of learning.”

  2. Some of the strangest Old Testament laws and what they mean: Christine Palmer explains, ““You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes” (Lev. 19:26). To remain in right standing with the Lord, under no circumstances may the cove­nant people eat meat with its blood,

This Week's Recommendations
Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Faith
John Beeson
Saul, the Witch at En-dor, and the Will of God

Do ghosts exist? Do we have access to the spirit world? If so, what does that mean for our spiritual life? The bizarre story of Saul and the Medium at En-Dor, while challenging, addresses these questions.

 

At the heart of this text is a critical question: will you obey God?

Here is the story:

The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him,

Saul, the Witch at En-dor, and the Will of God
Faith, Fear, Prayer
John Beeson
Come, You Who Are Anxious

Anxiety comes in many shapes and forms. Do you ever have a feeling of dread? Does your chest ever tighten in fear? Do you feel like you can’t slow down your mind?

How can we escape anxiety’s clutches? Let’s look at how Jesus responds to those gripped by fear.

Jesus first points us to the sovereignty of God. As Jesus departs the upper room where he and his disciples ate the Last Supper and he stooped and washed their feet, the hearts of the eleven were in turmoil. Jesus had shared the frightening news that Judas had allowed Satan to enter his heart and that Peter would deny him

Come, You Who Are Anxious
Recommendations, Consumerism, Culture, Faith, Fear, Finance
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Why the internet is making men and women hate each other: Samuel James writes, “We’re on the threshold of a vicious cycle. Men and women are declining relationships with each other, which means they are more likely to be suckered in by the algorithmic gender silo. But the more they take in a biased, imbalanced view of the other, the less interested they are in relationship.”

  2. Mutant virtues: Jacob Crouch says, “These mutant virtues parade themselves out in the public square as though they are the real thing. So-called justice, instead of being the righteousness of God on display,

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Family, Marriage, Relationships, Science, Wisdom
John Beeson
Seasons of Marriage

You are on a date night with your wife, observing the people around you.

“First date?” you ask. “For sure!” she says, noticing the telltale signs. The young lady carries a single rose. The young man is a little nervous. They are slightly overdressed for the restaurant. Eyes locked, their attention is rapt on one another. Cell phones never make an appearance.

 Young love.

A mom and dad in their late thirties burst into the restaurant with three boisterous children guffawing at a joke. They divide and conquer: dad takes the two boys to the bathroom while mom settles herself and their daughter into the chair.

Seasons of Marriage

Relationships

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Seasons of Marriage

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Seasons of Marriage

You are on a date night with your wife, observing the people around you.

“First date?” you ask. “For sure!” she says, noticing the telltale signs. The young lady carries a single rose. The young man is a little nervous. They are slightly overdressed for the restaurant. Eyes locked, their attention is rapt on one another. Cell phones never make an appearance.

 Young love.

A mom and dad in their late thirties burst into the restaurant with three boisterous children guffawing at a joke. They divide and conquer: dad takes the two boys to the bathroom while mom settles herself and their daughter into the chair.

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Why Do I Have to Keep Forgiving?

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Why Do I Have to Keep Forgiving?

“Why do I have to keep forgiving them?” It’s a question I’ve heard many times as a pastor, said in different ways and sometimes meaning different things.

It can be said with weariness and hurt, or anger and bitterness, or confusion and longing.

It can mean, “It hurts too much to keep forgiving them for repeated sins.”

It can mean, “Can’t I just overlook their sin against me?”

It can mean, “They hurt me so deeply they don’t deserve any more forgiveness.”

It can mean, “Why am I still hurting over a particular sin when I said I forgave them?”

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The Cost of Awkward

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The Cost of Awkward

The next day, the extended family hosted a party for us. As we drove up to the farm, the pressure of meeting a whole group of strangers began to mount. I felt like the boyfriend from the city visiting his girlfriend’s family farm in a Hallmark movie. To quote Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell), I was “shaking in my custom baby-seal leather boots.”

The men headed outside to lawn chairs while the women stayed inside. I drifted outside with a group of men I had never met and sat down. I had a beer in my left hand like the rest of the guys, but unlike everyone else…

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A Healing Place

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A Healing Place

It was a long week. I felt sniped at by a handful of complaints from congregants. I was fighting for a spirit of gratitude as frustration grew in my heart. I stepped into a meeting and did my best to be present, but the inner critic’s voice was loud. I asked a simple question to kick things off: “Where is God growing you?” Tears welled in the eyes of the woman across from me. “New Life is my safe place, my growing place. New Life is my healing place. Every time I come to church, it feels like a hug.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Should Christians flip tables like Jesus? Alan Noble concludes, “Scripture intentionally emphasizes humility and servanthood over anger and strong language. We should do likewise. We must follow Jesus knowing his actions are different from our own. We do not need to imitate his every act to be his faithful follower.”

  2. Burnout looks different across the org chart: watch for these signs: Daisy Auger-Dominguez begins, “Workplace burnout is often discussed as if it were a single condition with a single solution: fewer hours, better boundaries, more resilience. That framing is incomplete and misleading.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The quiet grief of adult friendship: Pranav Jain reflects, “Somewhere between “Let’s catch up soon” and “Sorry, life has been hectic”, adult friendship became one of the most emotionally significant and least discussed losses of modern life.

  2. Created to play: Brianna Lambert says, “Scientists admit that of all creatures, humans play the most, noting, “We are built to play and built through play” (Stuart Brown, Play). And God does just that. He builds us through our hobbies and gives us his own titles.”

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The Man Who Loves One Woman

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The Man Who Loves One Woman

There is an ancient proverb that says, “The man who loves all women loves no women. The man who loves one woman loves all women.” There is real wisdom in that saying. True love is faithful and sacrificial; flirtatious love is selfish and shallow. We all know people who love the idea of love more than the actual people they claim to love.

There are several ways this disordered desire can show itself. Psychologists have described three common patterns: serial love addiction, seduction addiction, and limerence.

Serial love addiction is a compulsive pursuit of the experience of "falling in love" and the emotional high that comes with romantic excitement. 

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The Ring of Fellowship

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The Ring of Fellowship

JRR Tolkien had an elevated view of friendship. For years, he met with an informal group of literary friends called the Inklings at the Oxford pub, the Eagle and The Eagle and the Child (or, as the group called it, “The Bird and the Baby). Tolkien and CS Lewis were fast friends. Tolkien’s Ent Treebeard was fashioned after Lewis, and Lewis likely fashioned his protagonist Ransom in his Space Trilogy on Tolkien.

Both were shaped by The Great War, their love of languages and myths, and by their devotion to Christ. Tolkien, in fact, was crucial in Lewis’s conversion.

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Friendship, Courage, and the Making of a Hero: Reflections on Project Hail Mary

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Friendship, Courage, and the Making of a Hero: Reflections on Project Hail Mary

Every once in a while, a movie surprises you: not just with spectacle or clever twists, but with heart. Project Hail Mary did that for me. Adapted from Andy Weir’s highly acclaimed novel, Project Hail Mary is one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen in a long time: funny, imaginative, and genuinely moving. What lingered with me most after the credits rolled wasn’t the wow factor of the production (although all $248 million of its production costs make the movie visually stunning). It was the friendship.

That might sound strange for a movie about saving the world from an extinction-level threat.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. What comes after expressive individualism? Trevin Wax says, “More and more people are shaping their sense of self through powerful group affiliations rather than as independent individuals. This isn’t a rejection of expressive individualism so much as its evolution…

  2. The surprising importance of shallow Christian friendships: Danny D’Aquisto with a helpful contrarian perspective,

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