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

thanksgiving

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The Power of Encouragement

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The Power of Encouragement

We are called to be those marked by encouragement. So, why is encouragement so hard for us? Why do we withhold praise? For some of us, we withhold encouragement because we just get busy. I like to write encouragement notes to volunteers and co-workers at New Life, but it’s surprising how quickly the weeks (and sometimes months!) go by between when I write them.

Some of us withhold encouragement because we are too focused on ourselves. It requires a humble heart focused on others and not ourselves to offer encouragement. To the extent that we are self-focused, we will never be able to be strong encouragers.

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Fasting for Thanksgiving

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Fasting for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost here! While not a biblical holiday, Thanksgiving is a gift to the Christian. It is an opportunity to grow in gratitude. A heart of gratitude is a heart of worship. In the belly of the fish, Jonah sings to God, “But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’” (Jonah 2:9). Jonah’s hardened heart is softened in thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, God invites us to align our hearts in praise.

Would you like to maximize your gratitude this Thanksgiving? I encourage you to consider fasting. Fasting?! That’s right. Would you consider joining me tomorrow in a day of prayer and fasting so that we may prepare our hearts for the joy of worshipful gratitude?

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The Not-So-Insignificant Danger of Ingratitude

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The Not-So-Insignificant Danger of Ingratitude

There is a deadly gas that contaminates the air we breathe. The toxic gas appears unthreatening because everyone appears to breathe it in and breathe it out as harmlessly as oxygen.

The poison is ingratitude. And it is everywhere.

Everything (that I don’t have) is Awesome

Psychologists agree that social media has made us less happy. Why is that? Because the constant access into others’ lives taps into our propensity toward ingratitude. We are surrounded by neighbors with nicer cars, friends who take better and longer vacations, couples who are happier, and everyone seems to be fitter and better dressed than we are. And it’s all there for us to see tucked into that powerful, shiny rectangle in our pockets. Every minute of every day.

“Hamilton” came to Tucson this week and I watched as my Facebook feed was filled with pictures of those who gushed over the show. We were blessed to attend and so my heart was guarded against jealousy. But where will my heart be in the spring when I am unable to attend a show I was really hoping to go to because I have a scheduling conflict?

The Ancient Beginnings of Ingratitude.

The story of how it all fell apart is a story you’ve heard. God’s perfectly ordered creation and Adam and Eve’s response of gratitude lasts all of two chapters. God creates man and woman. He invites them to live alongside himself in perfect peace. He names them as king and queen over this paradise and grants them great latitude in their reign.

He creates a tree in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he says “Everything is yours for taking and enjoying except this one. This one you need to stay away from.”[i] Will they be content with the 99.9% of what they were given, orwill they be discontent with the .1% they weren’t given? Will ingratitude set it? That .1% was the sliver Satan slid through.

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Thankful in 2020?

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Thankful in 2020?

Who will be joining you at your Thanksgiving table this year? If you are like most people, it will be a much smaller gathering than you are accustomed to. There will be some measure of grief as you pull fewer chairs up to the table and slice into that smaller turkey.

There are lots of reasons to be discouraged in 2020. Businesses closed, some had paychecks replaced with unemployment checks, most have had a friend or family member battle COVID-19, and some have lost loved ones this year. Churches haven’t been able to gather together in person for worship for chunks of the year, and division over masks and politics has threatened the church’s unity.

May I invite James to one of the open seats at your Thanksgiving table? Let me warn you, though, James is the uncle who shoots straight. You might not like what he has to say. But you know he always speaks out of love.

Sitting with icy beverages in hand, complaints start dripping like the oil off the bird in the oven. Your dad grouses about politics, your grandfather expresses concern over financial instability, your sister goes off on anti-maskers, you voice your irritation with your boss, and your mom shares her annoyance about decisions at your church. James listens, sips his cranberry punch, and then quietly interjects, “Count it all joy, my [family], when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2).

Sheesh, Uncle Jimmy, can’t you show a little sympathy to a family struggling through a challenging year?

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Thanksgiving Recommendations

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Thanksgiving Recommendations

1.       7 Ideas to Make Thanks Last Longer Than Thanksgiving: This is a nice family-friendly list of ideas. I particularly like “inspire awe of God,” with the reminder that, “The more intimately we know someone, the more grateful we tend to be when we receive gifts from them. “

2.       Gratefulness and God’s Sovereign Goodness: Eric Alexander reminds us, “For the Christian, ingratitude is not just a failure in manners. It is a sin against the God who did not spare even His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.”

3.       Worthy? This is a simple but beautiful reflection by Mike Emlet. He concludes, “Are you worthy? No. But Jesus doesn’t require fitness from you. You only have to feel your need of him. You only have to see that his worthiness is sufficient for you. And this means that no matter your need, you can come to him boldly today.”

4.       Holding a Grudge Can Make You Sick: Ashley Abramson approaches the issue of unforgiveness from a scientific perspective. Abramson explains, “Many of the positive outcomes are psychological — forgiveness is a form of emotional regulation, since forgiving someone is an alternative to negative thought processes like ruminating on offenses or holding in negative feelings, both of which can lead to chronic stress.”

5.       The Quiet Liturgy of Fred Rogers: I’ve been looking forward to watching “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and this only piques my interest more. Ryan Pemberton concludes, “Fred Rogers’s life represents a liturgical invitation to embody the story of one who was a neighbor when a neighbor was needed—that others might receive the invitation to be a neighbor. It’s an invitation we refuse at risk of our own destruction.”

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The Danger of Ingratitude

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The Danger of Ingratitude

There is a deadly poison that contaminates the air we breathe. It’s a poison that, if we are aware of it at all, seems innocuous to us both because everyone else is breathing it in, and as far as we’re aware of it, others are breathing more of it in than us.

The poison is ingratitude. And it is everywhere.

Everything (that I don’t have) is Awesome

Psychologists agree that social media has made us less happy. Why is that? Because the constant access into others’ lives taps into our propensity toward ingratitude. We are surrounded by neighbors with nicer cars, friends who take better and longer vacations, couples who are happier, and everyone seems to be fitter and better dressed than we are. And it’s all there for us to see tucked into that powerful, shiny rectangle in our pockets. Every minute of every day.

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