John Beeson

January 31, 2023

Spiritual Growth, Religion, Wisdom, Apologetics

The Madman

John Beeson

January 31, 2023

Spiritual Growth, Religion, Wisdom, Apologetics

How do we make sense of God and the world when we feel so hurt by them? Doesn’t the world make more sense without a God who would allow the evil that we see and experience?

Friedrich Nietzsche, a prophet ahead of his time, saw the allure of the modern rejection of God. But he also recognized the serious consequences of such a conclusion. If Soren Kierkegaard demanded the Christian to take a “leap of faith” toward God, Nietzsche demanded that the atheist take a leap of faith into the abyss.

Faith is required of both the Christian and the atheist.

John Beeson

August 13, 2022

Christian Living, Sexuality, Theology

Beware the Lure of Sensuality

John Beeson

August 13, 2022

Christian Living, Sexuality, Theology

Perhaps the most uncomfortable thing about Christianity is not that God exists, and not that God sent his Son to the earth. It’s not the miracles: did God really make the universe out of nothing? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? It’s not even that its ethical stance on sexuality feels behind the times.

The most uncomfortable thing about Christianity is unequivocally our call to not just believe in, but to grant God authority in our lives and live faithfully and righteously.

In 2 Peter 2, Peter admonishes the church to beware of those who are false teachers and prophets. He says, “And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.” It’s interesting that he uses the word sensuality here. He doesn’t say, “And many will follow their false beliefs,” he says, “And many will follow their sensuality.”[i]

The result, not the cause, of our sensual desires is believing in false teaching.

The hook of false beliefs is rarely the beliefs themselves. Atheism, frankly, isn’t a very attractive belief system on its own merits. By its very definition, life contains no meaning: the brutal and blind hand of the natural world is all that is. It raises more questions than it solve: from the question of creation to the problem of evil to ethics. The hook of atheism is sensuality. If there is no God, there is no one you have to cede authority of your life to.

It’s why agnosticism is much more popular than atheism[ii] You get the same freedom and don’t have to swallow nearly as bitter a pill.

John Beeson

March 18, 2021

Christian Living, Recommendations, Apologetics, Evangelism, Parenting, Leadership

This Week's Recommendations

John Beeson

March 18, 2021

Christian Living, Recommendations, Apologetics, Evangelism, Parenting, Leadership

1. Most Americans Embrace Spirituality and Religion, Even Atheists: Also of note is the large gap between spirituality and religion. Aaron Earls reports, “Yet even among the quarter of Americans who do not identify with a religion (atheists, agnostics, and those who say they are “nothing in particular”), most still describe themselves as a spiritual person.”

2. Characteristics of Churches That Keep Young Adults: This is a great addition to the two posts I recently wrote on raising teens to love the church. Aaron Earls begins with the importance of sincerity. He says, “When teenagers see church members as insincere, they are more likely to drop out. Relatively few young adults say the church they attended as a teenager was insincere, but dropouts say this more often.”

3. One of the Ugliest Sights in the World: Tim Challies begins with a scene we’ve all witnessed, “One of the ugliest sights in the world is that of a child who rules over his parents. We have all seen it, I’m sure. We have seen parents who tiptoe around their child’s cries, their child’s demands, their child’s outbursts of anger. They will do whatever he dictates, give whatever he commands. We look on with horror, knowing they have set their child on a path to destruction.”

4. Brothers, We Should Stink: Thabiti Anyabwile explains that godly pastors live among the sheep. He says, “Do you know how to tell the difference between sheep and wolves in sheep’s clothing? Sheep eat grass; wolves eat sheep — it doesn't matter how prettily they are dressed.”

5. What is Christianity? This is a simple and clear three-minute visual presentation of the gospel.

John Beeson

January 7, 2021

Recommendations, Christian Living, Culture, Apologetics

This Week's Recommendations

John Beeson

January 7, 2021

Recommendations, Christian Living, Culture, Apologetics

1. 15 GOOD News Trends from 2020: How refreshing is this article by Joe Carter? It includes good news about terrorism, abortion, and numbers in the prison system. He concludes with this piece of good news, “The U.S. Supreme Court continued a pattern of preventing restrictions on religious liberty. The Supreme Court closed out its 2020 term with three significant victories for religious liberty—continuing a 10-year series of wins for religious freedom.”

2. The Six Costs of Sin: William Boekestein with an excellent breakdown of just how costly sin is. He says that, “Reflecting on the manifold cost of sin can warn our souls against wandering from the safe path of faithfulness.”

3. The Beauty and Burden of Nostalgia: Jared Wilson explains why, as good as nostalgia can be, it is also dangerous. He explains first that, “This is what nostalgia promises us—an exit from the tyranny of progress, the chaos of everything we see on the news and in our neighborhood.”

4. Love, According to E.B. White: My friend Brianna Lambert explains how E.B. White gives us three different stories to explain three different definitions of love, “In the course of these three novels, E.B. White slows down and invites his reader to learn three very unique definitions of love.”

5. Atheism’s Empty Soul: Alan Shlemon explains the inevitable end of naturalism, “Atheists don’t have a livable worldview. I don’t say that to gloat. Several atheists who have been candid with me have told me life is ultimately empty and devoid of meaning. That doesn’t mean they can’t feel happy, follow a set of morals, or believe their life is significant in some way. But their denial of God has serious repercussions.”

John Beeson

March 3, 2020

Apologetics, Biblical Studies

What Reasons are there to Believe the Bible?

John Beeson

March 3, 2020

Apologetics, Biblical Studies

What Reasons are there to Believe the Bible?

Last week we began considering whether it is possible to believe the Bible is true.

The outspoken atheist and author Sam Harris once said,

“Tell a devout Christian that his wife is cheating on him, or that frozen yogurt can make a man invisible, and he is likely to require as much evidence as anyone else… Tell him that the book he keeps by his bed was written by an invisible deity who will punish him with fire for eternity if he fails to accept its every incredible claim about the universe, and he seems to require no evidence whatsoever.”[i]

Can we trust the Bible? Do Christians believe the Bible with “no evidence whatsoever”? What is the evidence that it is trustworthy?

The challenge that is made against the Bible is that it isn’t a trustworthy historic document. We can’t trust that the history the Bible purports to tell is accurate.

These are serious questions and they deserve thoughtful responses.

John Beeson

February 18, 2020

Biblical Studies, Apologetics

Isn't the Bible Full of Contradictions?

John Beeson

February 18, 2020

Biblical Studies, Apologetics

Atheists.org begins its post on Biblical Contradictions[i] with this statement: “It is a central dogma of all fundamental Christians that the Bible is without error. They teach this conclusion by “reasoning” that god cannot be the author of false meaning and he cannot lie. Is this true? If written by a perfect being, then it must not contradict itself, as a collection of books written by different men at different times over many centuries would be expected to contradict each other.”[ii]

It’s a well-stated premise. I heartily agree. If the Bible’s forty authors who wrote the Bible over a span of approximately 1,500 years and three continents contradict one another (and let’s be honest, how could that kind of motley collection of authors not contradict one another!) it would be a sure sign that the Bible is a human, not divine document. The Atheists.org post goes on to list its top 15 contradictions in the Bible.[iii] Those are:

1) The Permanence of Earth: we are told “the earth abides forever” and that it will be “burned up.”[iv]

2) The Holy Lifestyle: should we celebrate “with a merry heart” or be sober-minded in our living?[v]

3) Seeing God: have some seen God face-to-face or have none?[vi]

4) The Sabbath Day: we are told that the Sabbath day is to be kept holy and later that “every day is alike.”[vii]

5) Personal Injury: is “eye for an eye” punishment the rule, or non-retaliation?[viii]

6) Circumcision: are we to be circumcised or not?[ix]

7) Family Relationships: are we to honor our parents or to hate them?[x]

8) Incest: is incest blessed or disallowed?[xi]

9) The Power of God: is God all-powerful or is his power limited?[xii]

10) Trusting God: does trusting God bring us blessing or difficulties?[xiii]

11) Human Sacrifice: are human sacrifices encouraged or forbidden?[xiv]

12) Punishing Crime: does the punishment of sin fall upon the children of the offenders or not?[xv]

13) Temptation: can God tempt or not?[xvi]

14) Resurrection of the Dead: can those who die be resurrected or not?[xvii]

15) The End of the World: was God supposed to return quickly when the New Testament was written or not?[xviii]

Let’s deal with these apparent contradictions with three responses.

John Beeson

August 27, 2019

Christian Living, Book Reviews, Church, Spiritual Growth

What Books Can Help me Talk to My Friend about Their Questions for God?

John Beeson

August 27, 2019

Christian Living, Book Reviews, Church, Spiritual Growth

What Books Can Help me Talk to My Friend about Their Questions for God?

In the coming months at New Life we are looking forward to stepping into a series called Questions for God. In the series, we hope to openly and honestly engage the most difficult questions people have about Christianity. For some those questions keep them on the outside looking in. For others, it causes them to wrestle with their faith.

We hope that Questions for God invites everyone into the conversation no matter where you are spiritually. It is our aim to address these questions with respect and honesty. And it is our hope that some might lean in to engage their questions in a safe environment. It is hope as well that it might serve as an opportunity for Christians to open the doors for conversations with friends and family members.

As we prepare for this series, I would commend the following books. Maybe one of these piques your interest. I would encourage you to pick it up and start reading it in the next few weeks.

Two Books That Engage the Broader Questions

Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin

Deep thinkers have pointed questions for Christianity. “Aren’t we better off without religion?” “How can you say there’s only one true faith?” “Doesn’t religion cause violence?” “Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?” “Isn’t Christianity homophobic?” “How could a loving God send people to hell?”

In Confronting Christianity, Rebecca McLaughlin takes those questions seriously. As a former skeptic, McLaughlin brings both empathy and clear reasoning. She does three things particularly well:

John Beeson

August 8, 2019

Recommendations, Culture, Sexuality, Theology, Church, Consumerism, Relationships

This Week's Recommendations

John Beeson

August 8, 2019

Recommendations, Culture, Sexuality, Theology, Church, Consumerism, Relationships

1. Is This the End of Recycling? What a bizarre turn of events: in a day and age with more environmental awareness, recycling is disappearing because of financial realities. Alana Semuels reports, "For decades, we were sending the bulk of our recycling to China—tons and tons of it, sent over on ships to be made into goods such as shoes and bags and new plastic products. But last year, the country restricted imports of certain recyclables... These municipalities have two choices: pay much higher rates to get rid of recycling, or throw it all away. Most are choosing the latter."

2. How to Create a Culture of Happy Complementarians: Whitney Woolard's excellent post begins, "If I were a man, I would be a church planter... But I’m a woman—a woman who believes God has spoken authoritatively in his Word on all matters pertaining to life and godliness."

3. What Should My Sunday Look Like? Chad Asby's article might look simple, but it packs a punch. He begins, " Week after week, many of us attend a worship served not a worship service."

4. Christians More Likely to Have Intergenerational Friendships: Here is an encouraging study by Barna. Aaron Earls reports, "Twenty-six percent of those who have an older friend and 18 percent who have a younger friend say they met them at church. Among Christians, 26 percent say they lack a friendship outside their age group, compared to 41 percent of non-Christians."

5. Americans Less Certain in God's Existence: Aaron Earls reports that, " In the past 15 years, the percentage who say they know God exists and have no doubts dropped from 65% to 53%, according to the latest research from the General Social Survey."

John Beeson

October 9, 2018

Christian Living, Church, Culture, Biblical Studies

Why Aren't You Going to Church?

John Beeson

October 9, 2018

Christian Living, Church, Culture, Biblical Studies

Pew recently released a survey[i] on why Americans do and do not go to church. While 73% of Americans identify as being Christian[ii], surveys say Americans who report going to church weekly is only around 35%.[iii] Our best estimates for our own city (Tucson) are that less than 3% of the population is in church on Sunday.[iv]

I write this as an appeal to the 65% nationally and 90%+[v] in Tucson who don’t attend church regularly.

First, I want to understand you and your reasons for not attending. In a recent survey, those reasons were expressed this way[vi]:

John Beeson

July 19, 2018

Consumerism, Recommendations, Evangelism, Theology

This Week's Recommendations

John Beeson

July 19, 2018

Consumerism, Recommendations, Evangelism, Theology

1. The Massive Self-Storage Industry: If you were going to invest in one industry over the past few decades, it would be hard to beat self-storage, which is now a $32 billion a year industry. Patrick Sisson digs deeper into the industry where "One in 11 Americans pays an average of $91.14 per month to use self-storage, finding a place for the material overflow of the American dream."

2. Study: Atheists Find Meaning in Life by Inventing Fairy Tales: Richard Weikart reflects on a recent report, "The survey admitted the meaning that atheists and non-religious people found in their lives is entirely self-invented. According to the survey, they embraced the position: 'Life is only meaningful if you provide the meaning yourself.'”

3. Ten Things You Should Know About the Cross: Patrick Schreiner concludes, "The cross is not only where our sin is paid for, where the devil is conquered, but the shape of Christianity. As Rutledge has said, 'the crucifixion is the touchstone of Christian authenticity, the unique feature by which everything else. . . is given true significance.'”

4. Can Social Media Be Saved? Kevin Roose examines whether there might be alternatives to the current quagmire, "I don’t need to tell you that something is wrong with social media. You’ve probably experienced it yourself. Maybe it’s the way you feel while scrolling through your Twitter feed — anxious, twitchy, a little world weary... Or maybe it was this month’s Facebook privacy scandal, which reminded you that you’ve entrusted the most intimate parts of your digital life to a profit-maximizing surveillance machine."

5. The Owner of the Paper Airplane World Record Shows You How It's Done: You also get to check out John Collins's loop-de-loop plane and his bat plane. Pretty cool.