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

emotional health

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A Nail Driven Out by Another Nail

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A Nail Driven Out by Another Nail

Habits can be the worst. I grew up eating a bowl of ice cream after dinner every day. I kind of thought that’s what everyone did. As a skinny-as-a-rail kid engaged in all types of sports, that habit didn’t catch up to me until my freshman year of college when, with free access to a frozen yogurt maker and an assortment of unfairly delicious baked goods, I began to pack on the pounds.

 

Habits can be the best. Waking up every day by opening your Bible, going to the gym after work, or sharing family meals can be formative of a healthy life. They set on auto-repeat the beneficial things you want to be doing. They create productive ruts that can even reshape your desires.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. If you use any of these 9 phrases every day, ‘you’re more emotionally secure than most’: 8 of Dr. Cortney Warren’s list of 9 are excellent (I’ll let you spot which one is problematic). Here are two good ones:“Let me think about that before I respond,” and “Am I like that?”

  2. Christian unity is deeper than ‘getting along’: Trevin Wax reflects on the riches of Jesus’ prayer in John 17, “Jesus wants his followers to be one as a way of participating in the oneness of the triune God.”

  3. Social media is causing our children to suffer: Joe Carter reports, “The U.S. surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, has issued a warning about the potential risks of social media on children’s mental health. Here’s why Christian parents should be concerned—and what we can do to protect our kids.”

  4. Gospel-shaped leaders communicate with grace-filled candor: Scott Thomas’s visual is helpful in considering how to move toward Christ-honoring communication. He says, “The goal of grace-filled candor is to find a solution to the conflict while deepening relationships with others.”

  5. The most common dad joke in each US state: This is pretty great. Although, I cry foul on a bunch of aphorisms masquerading as supposed “jokes.” Pennsylvania takes the cake as the most prolific dad-joking state with Oregon and Mississippi taking a strong anti-dad-joke stand.

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The Garden of Eden was No Picnic

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The Garden of Eden was No Picnic

The Garden of Eden was no picnic. When God created Adam and Eve, he placed them in the Garden not to vacation, but to work. Before sin ever entered the picture, God formed Adan and Eve in his image, and called them to exercise dominion in the Garden of Eve.

We are called to create order from disorder, to cultivate, and till, and build. Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden not just to sip Mai Tais and binge on Netflix (not that there is anything wrong with that!); they were put there for the sake of dominion. God wanted caretakers who would craft, build, and create order.

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Why Would I Go to Counseling?

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Why Would I Go to Counseling?

I’ve missed more annual well-checks to the doctor than I’ve made. It seems like a waste of time to tell the doctor that I’m not experiencing any physical difficulties, have him check my blood pressure only to confirm it is within the healthy range, and then pay on my way out the door for what I already knew.

Most of us feel the same way about counseling. Why would I go to a counselor unless things are falling apart?

There is a grain of truth in this impulse. Under normal circumstances, we should have layers of relationships that support us. Ideally, we have a strong network of godly Christian friends with whom we are transparent and who tell us hard truths. Ideally, we have mentors and pastors in our lives who we can seek out and who will speak encouragement and exhortation to us. Unfortunately, few of us have both godly friends and mentors.

Even those who do would still be blessed to have a good counselor in their lives.

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