Biblical Studies, Reading, Spiritual Growth, Wisdom, Worship
John Beeson
The Transforming Word

With a new year comes new resolutions: aspirations for improvement. If you could add just one discipline to your life, which one would make the most impact? Diet? Exercise? Meditation?

The answer might be reading the Bible.

If you think about, it’s not surprising that God’s Word is so transformative in our lives. Do you remember the first novel you cried when you read? Do you remember reading a book that changed the way you think about life? I have a distinct memory from seventh grade. A frayed paperback copy of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men shook in my hands as I wept over the final scene with George and Lennie.

The Transforming Word
Recommendations, Church, Death, Family, History, Vocation
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The dignity of ordinary work: Alastair Herd says, “When researchers examined what actually predicts whether workers feel their jobs are useless, they discovered something profound. The strongest correlation was with a single factor: whether workers felt respected by their immediate manager.”

  2. What Martha’s problem really was: Cindy Matson asks, “But what if Martha’s problem didn’t have anything to do with hospitality or domestic chores? And what if you and I struggle like Martha far more often than we think?”

This Week's Recommendations
Gratitude, Reading, Recommendations, Vocation
John Beeson
The Best of the Bee Hive 2025

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

Proverbs 16:24

I write because I believe these words to my core. Following a forty day fast, Jesus responds to Satan’s temptation to turn loaves into bread, by quoting Moses’s admonition to the Israelites who had seen that very type of miracle every day for forty days, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4/Dt. 8:3).

Israel had depended on God’s miraculous hand to bring manna for forty years—what could be more important than this daily bread?

The Best of the Bee Hive 2025
Forgiveness, Identity, Counseling, Religion, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Your Heart Is Not a Toy

“That isn’t a toy!” parents warn a child playing with a knife or a hammer.

Pharaoh thought he could play a game with God and win. He lost.

Your heart is not a toy.

The story of God’s battle with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is the story of the consequences of a hardened heart. It’s the story of someone who thought they could toy with God and with their heart. We cannot.

In the first five plagues, Pharaoh’s hardens his heart three times and his heart “is hardened” (it’s ambiguous who is doing the hardening) twice.

Your Heart Is Not a Toy
Recommendations, Christmas, Christian Living, Death, Music
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The ghost of Christmas never: Samuel James with a poignant Christmas reflection, especially for young men. “Fear is powerful. It warps the mind and shrinks the soul. It can deform character, like in Scrooge, or elicit despair, like in George. Most of all, it freezes. Fear paralyzes its host, suggesting that the next step will undoubtedly be wrong, or the next word will come back to haunt.”

  2. Human weakness doesn’t limit God: Paul David Tripp reminds us, “Sometimes we make good-hearted promises that later we realize we are unable to keep. We know things need to get done, but we do not have the power or the wisdom to do them. There is nothing that God has promised to do or that we need him to do that he is unable to do. Nothing.”

This Week's Recommendations

Worship

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The Transforming Word

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The Transforming Word

With a new year comes new resolutions: aspirations for improvement. If you could add just one discipline to your life, which one would make the most impact? Diet? Exercise? Meditation?

The answer might be reading the Bible.

If you think about, it’s not surprising that God’s Word is so transformative in our lives. Do you remember the first novel you cried when you read? Do you remember reading a book that changed the way you think about life? I have a distinct memory from seventh grade. A frayed paperback copy of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men shook in my hands as I wept over the final scene with George and Lennie.

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Hark! Born to Raise

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Hark! Born to Raise

What kind of immortality do you dream of?

At just 19 years old, an ambitious commissioned officer of the French Royal Army faced a life-defining moment. As a revolution swept through France, would he support the people or the monarchy? His decision was based, as many would be throughout his life, more on strategy than belief. Which side would further his ambitions? As he would many times in his life, Napoleon Bonaparte backed the right side. Seven years later, Napoleon was commander of the French forces. He led an ambitious military campaign against the Austrians and their allies.

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Hark! Veiled in Flesh

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Hark! Veiled in Flesh

In Talladega Nights, Ricky Bobby (Will Farrell) offers up an irreverent prayer to baby Jesus,

“Dear Tiny Infant Jesus...” Ricky prays. His wife interjects, “Hey, um... you know, sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don't always have to call him baby. It's a bit odd and off puttin' to pray to a baby.” Ricky responds, “Well, look, I like the Christmas Jesus best when I'm sayin' grace.”

Some of us are more comfortable with baby Jesus as well. He can feel more approachable than the suffering Jesus on the cross or the reigning Jesus on the throne.

Throughout this Christmas season, we are examining profound truths in four lines from Charles Wesley’s (brother of John Wesley) popular hymn and Christmas carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

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Grateful Dust

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Grateful Dust

Today I have the privilege of sharing a poem from my daughter, Camille. She is currently working at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and composed this poem as a praise to the Lord, my Rock (praise to the Lord, my Rock (YHWH Tsuri, see Ps. 18:2, for instance). Note also that ebneezers are stone monuments that memorialize the Lord’s help (see 1 Sam. 7:12, for instance). Finally, “ranan” means “to shout for joy” in Hebrew. -John

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The wilderness was never meant to last forever: Christopher Cook says, “The wilderness was never meant to be your home. For many of us, however, it has become one (a dysfunctionally comfortable one at that). Not because God’s promises changed, and not because your story was disqualified, but rather, because somewhere along the way, you might have stopped listening to the voice of the Lord and trusting His nature and His ways.”

  2. The great friendship collapse: In this video, Derek Thompson explains why we spend more time than ever and what the impact that has had on us.

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What If Jesus Could Coach You on Your Prayer Life?

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What If Jesus Could Coach You on Your Prayer Life?

I hate to admit it, but I’ve been around people whose prayers annoy me. Have you ever had that experience? Perhaps their prayers seem flippant, or they have verbal tics, or they don’t leave space for anyone else, or their language turns stilted when they start to pray. Have you ever wondered if your prayers annoy God?  Believe it or not, Jesus seems to indicate that is the case. Twice in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warns us how not to pray

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Worshiping Through Our Service

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Worshiping Through Our Service

Most Sundays, like most churches, New Life Bible Fellowship gathers to sing, pray, and hear the Word of God preached. This is a beautiful, biblical rhythm (Acts 2:42). But what if, on occasion, the most faithful way to worship is not inside the walls of the church but outside, serving our community? Once a year, we gather to Love Tucson. Before we worship, pray, and hear God’s Word together, we serve at a partner school.

Love Tucson is one of my favorite Sundays of the year.

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God's Names and Our Identities

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God's Names and Our Identities

There was a season of worship music from my childhood where a flood of songs were released reflecting on the names of God. El Shaddai, Jehovah Jireh My Provider, and Emmanuel all spring to mind. Interest in the names of God appears to making a comeback in worship as demonstrated by the popularity of Jireh, Yahweh, and Yahweh Elyon.

The names of God have always been dear to his people. The first person in scripture to give God a name is Hagar, who calls God El Roi, “The God who sees”

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How Changing Your View of Heaven Transforms the Way You Live Today

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How Changing Your View of Heaven Transforms the Way You Live Today

In 2003, Bart Millard still mourning his father’s recent death, penned the lyrics for “I Can Only Imagine,” a song that would go on to be the most-played song in the history of Christian radio.

Can you imagine what heaven is going to be like?

There are lots of different views of heaven out there. A couple of decades ago a cottage industry developed, selling stories of those who said they had been to heaven while on death’s doorstep. We’re told of bright lights, lives re-played, and a warm glow. Others might daydream of harps and clouds, when asked to imagine heaven.

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