Christmas, Theology, Advent, Church, Hospitality
John Beeson
The Faithfulness of God of the Manger

Recently we had someone over and as the night came to a close Angel warmly offered, “Let’s do this again soon!” I wilted as I processed just how many things were on our calendar in the coming month. Just like Angel did, I wanted to be with them again and soon, but her invitation made me flinch.

 

My wife Angel and I are very different people. Angel brings light and life everywhere. People are drawn to her, and she is drawn to people. One of the many things I love about Angel is how she gets caught up in a moment with people. In that space, it’s not unusual that she shares hopes with those we are with of spending more time together. And she means it: there is no doubt of her genuineness.

The Faithfulness of God of the Manger
Advent, Christmas, Theology
John Beeson
A Humble God?

“I don’t compare myself with anybody, but nobody is better.” Michael Jordan

“They say the sky’s the limit, but I think my potential is beyond it.” Jay-Z

“I won’t be happy until I’m as famous as God” Madonna

“I won’t be a rock star. I will be a legend.” Freddie Mercury

“We’re more popular than Jesus now.” John Lennon

We tend to expect that greatest among us are also some of the most arrogant. And why wouldn’t they be? For many who make it to the top of their field, we can see how that arrogance can be a driving force for their greatness.

A Humble God?
Christmas, Forgiveness, Theology
John Beeson
The Just and the Justifier

God became flesh.

Let that sink in. Christianity asserts that God—sovereign, immutable, omnipotent, other—the eternal God who has no beginning and end—became a human being.

 Because many of us have had exposure to Christianity from our early years, it is easy to miss how massive the theological implications of the incarnation are. The incarnation lays the groundwork for a God who chooses to participate in his creation. The incarnation denies the existence of an abstract and distant God, unmuddied by his handiwork.

The Just and the Justifier
Advent, Christmas, Theology
John Beeson
The Theology of the Manger

“God did not, as the Bible says, create man in his own image; on the contrary, man created God in his own image.” Ludwig Feuerbach dropped this theological bombshell three years before Friedrich Nietzsche’s birth. Feuerbach, a name forgotten by most, but who influenced Nietzsche, wrote these words in his book, The Essence of Christianity (1841). He argued that human beings project their own attributes and desires onto an imagined deity, creating God in their own image. This for Feuerbach, is the essence of Christianity (and indeed all religions), the deification of our human ideals. “What man wishes to be, he makes his God… God is the outward projection of a man’s inward nature.”

The Theology of the Manger
Death, Gratitude, Prayer, Suffering
John Beeson
Go To a Funeral

We Westerners avoid death.

 

When was the last time you walked through a cemetery? When was the last funeral you went to? Our churches no longer have cemeteries, those who are older head to retirement communities and then to head to long-term care or assisted care facilities. The number of funerals held in churches has diminished. Death has become professionalized, antisepticised, and remote.

Go To a Funeral

ND Wilson

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Can I Get A Witness?

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Can I Get A Witness?

It has been heartbreaking to watch a parade of public Christian leaders pervert power or relinquish their faith. How can we maintain faith in Christ when respected leaders break our trust?

No religious leader was more influential when Jesus began his ministry than John the Baptizer. Crowds flocked from towns near and far to find him in the wilderness near the Jordan. He was dressed wildly, with a garment made of camel’s hair tied with a leather belt (Johnny Depp had nothing on him) and he ate a bizarre diet of locusts and wild honey (Gwyneth Paltrow, take note). Jesus declared that “among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matt. 11:11). Some whispered that this must be the Messiah. But he was not.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. A Prayer and a Prayer: My friend John Starke compares two prayers, “The first prayer, “Lord, give me patience,” is a prayer that she has learned she ought to pray. But the second is something deeper than a request “give me,” but a lament.”

2. The 50 Countries It’s Most Dangerous to Follow Jesus in 2021: Open Doors’s new list includes North Korea, Afghanistan, followed by Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, and India as the top ten. This Christianity Today report begins with the sobering news that, “Every day, 13 Christians worldwide are killed because of their faith. Every day, 12 churches or Christian buildings are attacked.”

3. Our Patriotic Idolatry: Danny Friederichsen with a timely warning, “Patriotolatry is dangerous because it flies under the radar for so many American Christians. After all, it can feel dangerously like faithfulness.”

4. The Blessing of Our Weariness: David Qaoud with a great reminder and encouragement, “weariness is a reminder that God created you to get stuff done for his glory (Ephesians 2:10). To use an N.D. Wilson expression, “Life is meant to be spent.” Workaholism is bad, but laziness is equally so…Weariness reminds us that idleness is sinful and that our lives are meant to be poured out for the glory of the triune God.”

5. Secret Sins Will Hurt Others: Greg Morse reminds us how significant our battle against sin is, “In this, Satan is a crafty spider, spinning a web of concealed threads sticking to those we never intended to harm.”

6. How to Respond to the News About Ravi Zacharias: Speaking of secret sins: this week a report was issued about an in-depth investigation of Ravi Zacharias which revealed a horrific history of sexual sin and cover-up. Randy Alcorn offers wisdom in how to consider such a devastating report.

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