Gratitude, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, Suffering
John Beeson
Thankful in 2024

Have you had hard 2024? Are you looking forward to the page turning to a new year? I think of dear people in our family at New Life who have lost loved ones, who are battling cancer, mental illness, whose marriages ended, or who have lost jobs. I’m so sorry if 2024 was a hard year for you.

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 truthfully and with a heart of love for you.

Thankful in 2024
Christian Living, Culture, Politics, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Vulgar Authenticity

Who is your favorite celebrity? Your favorite political pundit? Your favorite politician?

Why are you drawn to these individuals? Maybe it is their personality. Perhaps it is because you respect their convictions. Possibly, it is because of their unique style.

Taylor Swift might be the most beloved celebrity in the world. Many have commented that one of the reasons that Swift has cultivated such a devoted following is her accessibility and down-to-earth qualities, from what she wears to the love stories she writes about in her music.

Vulgar Authenticity
Christian Living, Biblical Studies, Religion, Spiritual Growth, Theology
John Beeson
The Faith of Unbelief

Bart Ehrman has perhaps done more to undermine the credibility of the Bible than anyone else in my lifetime. But his story didn’t begin that way. Ehrman is a New Testament scholar and skeptic. Ehrman grew up in a Christian home, attended a conservative Bible school, and then found his way to a liberal seminary where his faith in the God of the Bible unraveled. That seminary happens to be the seminary I would attend a couple of decades later.

For Ehrman, everywhere he looks he sees holes in the biblical story. The inconsistencies that he sees have led him to determine that he cannot trust in the God of the Bible.

The Faith of Unbelief
Christian Living, Culture, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Don't Numb Your Feelings

“Don’t listen to your feelings; remember what Jesus did for you!”

“Don’t be guided by your feelings; listen to what God commands you to do!”

In just the past week, I heard both of these warnings. Two very different Christian speakers urged their audiences to shut down their feelings. These admonitions resonate. They contain truth. It is correct that our feelings don’t override truth, nor do our emotions negate what God has done. Neither do our feelings give us an out for what God commands us to do.

Don't Numb Your Feelings
History, Spiritual Growth, Suffering, Wisdom
John Beeson
Lord, Reach Your Justice Down

I had outsized emotions as a child. Games, especially, would get the best of me, whether cards or boardgames or sports. In response to a stroke of bad luck, a hot surge of anger would erupt, followed quickly by tears and then embarrassment.

Emotions are God’s gift to us in many ways. They are one of his kind ways of showing us where our deep attachments lie.

Our son started his freshman year at the University of Arizona this fall. It’s been a great experience for him, but not without its adjustments. The climate of a secular school is quite different than the Christian school he graduated from

Lord, Reach Your Justice Down

Christian Living

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Christmas Recommendations

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Christmas Recommendations

1.      Five Misconceptions About the Christmas Story: Michael Kruger sets the story straight. How many did you know?  He says, “These five misconceptions remind us that sometimes our picture of scriptural stories is shaped more by popular perceptions and modern retellings than by the text itself. But when we take a closer look at the biblical clues, a wonderful—and hopefully more accurate—picture emerges of what happened that night nearly 2,000 years ago.”

2.      What One Pastor Got Wrong About the Magi: Colin Adams shares a preaching misstep he made at Christmas and what the Magi’s gifts actually tell us about Christmas.

3.      Merry Christmas from Genesis 3: Eric Geiger reminds us, “The Christmas story does not begin in a manger; it begins in a Garden.”

4.      Young Adults Feel Isolated and Anxious: Aaron Earls reports, “Barna classified young adults as anxious If respondents say they feel at least three of the following: anxious about important decisions, sad or depressed, afraid of failure and insecure in who they are. Among those surveyed, 1 in 5 (20%) qualified as anxious according to that definition. Those young adults are more likely to experience other negative emotions asked about in the survey. Almost 3 in 5 in that group (59%) report a sense of isolation. Those who attend a worship service weekly are less likely to say they are experience anxiety (22%) compared to others (33%).”

5.      What Happened When I Showed Vintage Mr. Rogers to My Kids: I love the story of the power of the ageless kindness of Mr. Rogers.

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My Favorite Books of 2019 and What I’m Looking Forward to Reading in 2020

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My Favorite Books of 2019 and What I’m Looking Forward to Reading in 2020

2019 was a heavy reading year for me. This year I read 101 books: almost two a week. I love learning and reading is of my favorite forms of learning. If you’re wondering how I read that many books, I’m going to reflect on that next week.

This year you could divide my reading into six (plus one) categories: Christian Living, Theology, Apologetics, Pastoral Ministry, Leadership, and Fiction. The plus one is in the fiction category. I got on a John Steinbeck kick, so I pulled out an extra Steinbeck category. If you’re interested in tracking my reading, getting fuller reviews (I review every book I read), and sharing with me your favorites, I use Goodreads and would be happy to have you friend me there. Here were some highlights for me in 2019:

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       4 Mistakes Parents Make With Technology: Jeff Henderson, " The reason many kids are addicted to technology is because their parents are."

2.       A Parenting Roadmap for Social Media: Jeff and Wendy Henderson begin by reminding us, " Great parenting isn’t controlling. Great parenting is coaching."

3.       4 Reasons to Stop Grumbling: Cass Watson says that simply not grumbling is a powerful witness: " Because complaining is so rampant in the “crooked and twisted generation” around us, our cheerfulness will make us witnesses to the truth. "

4.       Americans Vastly Overestimate LGBT Population: There have been a few studies on this. It's important to right-size our understanding of different populations. " A recent Gallup survey found that on average U.S. adults believe 23.6% of their fellow Americans are gay or lesbian." However, " In Gallup’s most recent survey on the subject, 4.5% of Americans personally identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender."

5.       A Liberating Verse About God's Will: Eric Geiger encourages us to rethink God's will in light of Eden, "God’s desire was for Adam and Eve to not eat from one tree, but there was a lot of freedom beyond that. God did not say, ‘On Monday and Wednesday mornings you eat from the apple tree and on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, you eat from the avocado tree but only during odd months.’"

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Antonio Brown: A Parable

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Antonio Brown: A Parable

One year ago, the consensus best wide receiver in the National Football League was Antonio Brown. Today, he doesn’t play football. And yet, his skills didn’t diminish. He didn’t get injured. He wasn’t arrested. What happened?

One year ago, Brown had just finished his ninth year in the NFL. He was the face of Madden NFL 2019. It was by any measure one of the best first decades any receiver had ever had in the league. Having the unique ability to play any receiver position on the field and run any route, Brown eclipsed 10,000 receiving yards in fewer games than all but two receivers in NFL history. And, all of this from someone who was all but dismissed as a pro prospect coming out of college. Brown was picked 195th overall in the 6th round of the 2010 draft. It took him until his third season to finally break through as a starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Brown was fortunate to be on a team where he was able to work with a Hall of Fame Quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger had fed Brown nearly all his 837 catches. They seemed to share a mind on the field.

But trouble was brewing. In December, Brown got in an argument with Ben Roethlisberger. Angry, Brown skipped practices and then was benched. He was outraged the team would back their quarterback and overlook his value. In his mind, he was the cornerstone of the franchise.

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Kyrie Irving: A Parable

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Kyrie Irving: A Parable

There once was a man who was gifted by God as one of the greatest basketball players on the planet. Only a few in the world had the ability to handle the ball like he did: the ball seemed more a part of his body than an external object. His crossover, hesitation move, and step back ought to be put on a loop and played in the basketball hall of fame. At 6’2” he was far from tall by basketball standards, and yet his body glided through the air so effortlessly and he could use either hand from any angle so perfectly, that he could finish at the hoop like almost no other player.

But Kyrie prided himself on his intellect. He went to fine schools including Duke, he loved studying, and he got a thrill from defending unpopular perspectives. He chafed whenever he was lumped into the category of just being just an athlete.  

His aspirations were higher. He wanted to leave his mark on the world, he wanted to make a difference. He wanted to be a thought leader, a culture-changer, a philosopher. What difference could he make with a leather sphere in his hands?

So, he accepted the praise, money, and fame that his skills on the basketball court afforded him, but he did so with a condescending sneer. The world didn’t understand what he really had to offer.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       10 Ways Leaders Shape Their Teams: Eric Geiger with excellent advice to each of us leaders. His tenth is "Sacrifice of the leader, sacrifice of the team. Leaders who make sacrifices for the mission of the team have credibility to invite others to do the same. And the others are often inspired by the leader to make sacrifices themselves."

2.       The BBC Reveals 100 Genders: Stephen McAlpine's opines, " I’m tempted to just get out the popcorn and sit and watch the train-wreck, but it’s too sad for that.  It’s just a sign of the cultural/intellectual suicide we’re seeing in a society that has no base other than the individuated self.   The bodies – whatever gender they deem themselves to be  – will start to wash up on our cultural shores at some stage.  I just hope there are enough people willing to care for these broken, confused souls."

3.       Why God Made Your Mouth: Scott Hubbard begins, " The average person speaks at least 7,000 words a day, or about 50,000 words a week — the length of a short book. We are authors, all of us, publishing 52 books a year from this printing press called the mouth."

4.       The Reward of Sin: This is a short but powerful analogy about our relationship with sin.

5.       The Most Beautiful Natural Wonder in Every State: What a beautiful nation we live in! This will do just fine as a travel itinerary ;-).

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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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Grumbling to Gratitude

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Grumbling to Gratitude

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a time where God’s powerful and miraculous hand was impossible to deny? Such were the days of the Israelites who lived during Moses’s lifetime.

The books of Exodus and Numbers track God’s miraculous rescue of Israel out of the clutches of centuries of Egyptian enslavement. God isn’t only going to rescue his people; he is taking them to the long-awaited Promised Land.

There is only one obstacle preventing Israel from escaping from Egypt and seizing the Promised Land. That obstacle isn’t Pharaoh and his massive army. It isn’t the imposing Red Sea. It isn’t even the entrenched Canaanite forces.

The only obstacle is the grumbling hearts of the Israelites.

The two words in Hebrew that are translated “grumble” are lun and ragan. Lun has the connotation of growling. Ragan has the connotation of whispered rebellion. The word in Greek that is translated as grumble is a fun word to say: gogguzo. The word sits in the back of your throat and you have to spit it out. Just for fun say it out loud now (a nice scowl makes it even better).

Each of these three words captures the state of each of our hearts in the midst of our grumbling. When we grumble we growl against God. Recently a congregant showed me the 22 stitches he received when a dog thought he was a threat. Like an angry dog who misperceives your kind intentions to pet it, we growl against our gentle and kind Heavenly Father wanting to love and care for us. When we grumble, we rebel against God’s rule. Our grumbling declares our distrust of God’s sovereign rule over our lives. “Not good enough!” we spit at the Almighty.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       The Worst Sales Promotion in History: You could say that this idea in the early 90's from the desperate leaders at Hoover totally sucked.

2.       Life After the Death of My Son: Simonetta Carr on the importance of ordinary faithfulness following tragedy. She says, "’[God's] not too busy to be with me in seemingly insignificant moments while he turns the wheels of history. This might not always be evident to my limited perception, but the same Christ who rose from the dead tells me it’s a reality on which I can count."

3.       Why I Wish We Hadn't Lived Together Before Marriage: Helpful article from Lisa Lakey. She concludes, " Doing things His way will always end better than me seeking my own will. No matter how right my way seems to me."

4.       4 Ways Conflict Can Help Your Church (and People) Grow: Dillon Smith packs in a lot of great wisdom here, " I’ve had to learn that minor moments of healthy conflict help you avoid massive moments of division that lead to disaster."

5.       Alive Again: I’ve just been introduced to Ahi and am loving getting to know his raspy, soulful voice.

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The Top Ten Ways to Lead in Your Home (and Organization, too)!

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The Top Ten Ways to Lead in Your Home (and Organization, too)!

Last week we considered the biblical priority of leading in our homes before stepping into leadership callings outside of our home.

When I was asked to speak to our Mom’s Matter group on leading well in the home I was a bit intimidated. I felt far from equipped to speak as a man to women on the topic of leadership. And so, I did the only thing I could think of: I asked wise, godly women who were also great leaders. Starting with my wife, I began to listen to the advice my female friends offered on leadership in the home and beyond.

I discovered a few things. First, I was surprised how home-centric their advice was. These women are leaders in and out of their homes, but their focus was on the home. They intuited the biblical priority of the home that we considered in last week’s post. Second, I couldn’t believe how aligned their wisdom was. I presumed that I would have to significantly trim the advice they offered, but what I found was that there were strong echoes of their collective wisdom. Third, I was surprised by how relatively gender-neutral their wisdom was. If I was to give a talk to men on leadership in their home, I couldn’t improve on their list.

I sorted their wisdom into the top ten ways to lead in the home. I will share that, and then, return to the list and consider it with eyes beyond the home. What components of this list relate to outside of the home as well? What is different?

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