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

Death

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The Gospel of Self-Forgiveness

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The Gospel of Self-Forgiveness

She sits in my office, tears running down her face. Two years ago her mother died in hospice while she lay asleep at home. She was trying to get a decent night’s rest after days spent at her mother’s side. “I just can’t forgive myself. I let her die alone. I knew I should have been there, but I was selfish. I can never forgive myself for that.”

I’ve heard dozens share similar confessions with me. Does this resonate with you? What guilt do you bear? What burdens are you carrying because you can’t forgive yourself?

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Why Would God Make People Suffer Forever?

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Why Would God Make People Suffer Forever?

What is hell? Throughout the years, many Christians have responded that hell can be summed up in three words: eternal conscious torment. But how could it possibly be fair for God to make people suffer eternally for a finite number of sins?

It’s a good question and a hard one at that. I’ve wrestled with the doctrine of hell for a number of years. While believing that hell exists, I’ve wondered if the classic historic teaching on hell might have misstated scripture’s teaching. While I’ve come to believe that hell is eternal conscious torment, I’m sympathetic to those who struggle with the doctrine and who see other possibilities.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Nietzsche was Right: In a similar vein as my post on Tuesday, Tim Keller reviews Tom Holland’s (not the actor) book on how Christianity revolution changed the world. Keller concludes, “In no way does [Holland] let the church off the hook for its innumerable failures. Nor will he let secular people live with the illusion that their values are just self-evident, the result of reason and scientific investigation.”

  2. What Has Been Most Helpful in Your Marriage? Ed Welch answers this question with wisdom.

  3. Beware of Pride: A Cautionary Tale: Lee Hutchings tells the story of how pride led William Henry Harrison to have the shortest tenure of any US President. He explains, “Such a tragic and ironic ending to an otherwise tenacious life is compounded by the fact that Harrison died, in all likelihood, of his own vanity and pride.”

  4. Love is a Skill: Seth Lewis comments, “It’s interesting that Jesus never mentioned how the Good Samaritan felt about the man on the road. He only tells us what he did for him. Evidently, Jesus does not consider love to be primarily about how we feel, but more importantly about what we do.”

  5. Can Cancer be God’s Servant? Randy Alcorn considers hard truths in the face of his wife’s recent death. “When our ministry posted Nanci’s words, “My cancer is God’s servant,” someone responded, “WHAT? God does NOT give people cancer. Jesus bore our sicknesses and carried our pains on the cross.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Biblically Accurate Angels Would Be Pretty Scary: Over at History Defined the various descriptions of angels in scripture are considered and the results don’t look at all like the offerings from Precious Moments. For instance, “The prophet Ezekiel’s vision of cherubim is depicted in the Book of Ezekiel in which they are portrayed as having four faces — one of an eagle, one a human, one an ox, and finally a lion. Cherubim have straight legs, four wings (one set covers their body while the other is used for flying), and bull hooves for feet.” [For what it’s worth, I believe that the author’s conclusion that the authors are struggling to find appropriate language for heavenly creatures is true, although I also think many of these images include biblical allusions that speak to their character more than their appearance.]

  2. Stop Throwing Pastors Under the Bus: I hesitate to include this as it feel self-serving, but I appreciate Brent McCracken’s perspective here. Without letting pastors off the hook, he encourages congregants to consider their motives when they are quick to criticize, “Are our calls for a pastor to denounce that particular sin in “the culture” matched by our invitation for him to call us out on our own sin?”

  3. Shaken to Bear Fruit: Tim Challies reflects on how his son’s death shook him. He begins, “The strange machine along the streets of Madrid seized my attention. Its long arms reached out and wrapped themselves around the trunk of a tree. Its motor vibrated those arms at high speeds so they could shake the tree violently. Its net sat suspended just beneath the lowest branches. As the machine buzzed and roared, a hundred ripe oranges fell from the branches to land in the net below — a hundred ripe oranges that could feed and satisfy a hundred people. That machine was carefully designed to release the fruit from the tree — to release it by shaking.

  4. A Reflection on Barna’s Open Generation Report: This is important for anyone with a heart for the rising generation. Nick Hartman highlights some important findings, “One of the most striking discoveries of Open Generation, vol. 1, was that an overwhelming majority of teenagers call themselves Christians. 52% of teenagers identify as Christians, but this study also noted that ‘only 50 percent among teens who identify as Christians say Jesus was resurrected; not even half (44%) say Jesus was God in human form.’”

  5. When You Feel Overwhelmed: Lauren Washer begins, “My eye started twitching about ten days before he left, and at my annual well visit on the day prior to his departure, my blood pressure was higher than it has ever been.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Why Do Billionaires Want to Live Forever: Tim Challies begins a deep reflection with this question, “Why is it that billionaires always seem to want to live forever? Why is it that the 1% of the 1% almost always seem to veer from their core businesses into attempts to prolong their lives indefinitely?”

  2. Why Mainstream Scholars often Differ with Evangelical Pastors on the Gospel: Having attended a mainline seminary, I resonated with George Sinclair’s reasoning here. Near the end of the post he shares, “There is a rich, thick, deep history and literature of Christian thought which shows not just the truth and reasonableness of miracles, but the importance of them for a wide, humane, and beautiful understanding of the world—one which leads to human flourishing.”

  3. Fertility is Not a Disease: D Eaton writes, “This desire to have sexual pleasure without constraint has culture suppressing the truth of not only biblical revelation but also science. To justify the extermination of the child, we must classify the child in the womb as either not a human in its natural course of existence or not alive. It is impossible to deny either scientifically, yet logic and truth must be sacrificed on the altar of sexual autonomy.”

  4. The Last Gift My Father Gave Me: This is an excellent piece from Mike Cosper. He shares how his father’s death allowed him to finally experience the gift of grief.

  5. Your Money Will Trick You: Trevin Wax reminds us, “Jesus says ‘Watch out!’ and ‘Be on guard’ as if there’s a silent, stealthy enemy creeping up on an unsuspecting person, ready to pounce. We like to think of wealth and possessions as inanimate objects, helpful to us if we use them correctly, but basically neutral.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Is ‘Be True to Yourself’ Good Advice? Brian Rosner begins, “You don’t need to look far today to notice that personal identity is a do-it-yourself project. A gym near where I live advertises itself with the slogan: “Be Fit. Be Well. Be You.” A new apartment complex around the corner, offering high-end luxury design, carries the byline: “An Unlimited You.” People think about themselves constantly, it seems, and with high expectations!”

  2. The Dead Seriousness of Careless Words: Tim Challies concludes, “And as it is right and just that there be an accounting for the careless performance of tasks, it is right and just that there be an accounting for the careless uttering of words. For words can bring harm every bit as much as deeds.”

  3. The Internet is More Powerful Than the Printing Press: Chris Martin makes the argument. “The internet is the most consequential technological advancement in human history.1 The most common retort to this hot take of mine is, "Yeah but the printing press.”

  4. Reflections on Temptation from Peter’s Sifting: Wendy Willard shares, “God intends for us to be joined with Jesus so perfectly that we cannot be sifted out—or strained—regardless of how hard Satan shakes—or boils—us. Those negative statements we hear in our head? What if that’s Satan “sifting” us, trying to see if he can separate us from our Savior?”

  5. The Land is Bright: Jake Meador celebrates the overturning of Roe. “Overthrowing Roe is not the totality of what our response to abortion ought to be, nor does it mean that the culture of death has been defeated (or the culture of life established), nor does it mean that our work to promote a culture of life is done. It simply means that one highly significant step in the quest to create a culture of life has been taken. But more must follow.”

  6. FAQs: Supreme Court Overturns Roe, Sends Abortion Back to States: Joe Carter explains, “This is one of the most significant acts of justice in modern history. While ruling brings only a change of direction, not an end, to the fight over abortion, it is an essential victory for the pro-life cause that should be celebrated by all Christians. Roe was one of the most evil and repugnant decisions of jurisprudence in our nation’s history, on par with Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. How to Lose the Abortion Debate While Winning It: Russell Moore says, “What the world needs most from evangelical America is that we be a people who really believe what we say. Whether the world agrees or disagrees with us on abortion, or any other matter, they need to see us love vulnerable children—whether in the womb, in abusive homes, in foster care, or in our own pews.”

  2. Jesus, Friend of Sinners: Adriel Sanchez begins, “’How many prostitutes do you know?’ I once sat with a theologian who recommended asking that question to gauge a pastoral candidate’s qualification for ministry. Our conversation took place shortly before my ordination exam. Of all the questions I’d anticipated, this wasn’t one of them. He didn’t mean, ‘Have you ever visited a prostitute?’ He meant, ‘Are sinners drawn to you like they were drawn to Jesus?’ His point was that if we’re going to ordain men to represent Jesus as ministers of the word, they should know and love sinners as Jesus did.”

  3. Christ Conquered Death. He Didn’t Cancel It: Jennifer Rosner considers how Jewish traditions link death and life and what that means about the cross and the resurrection. She says, “Death, in all its insidious forms, still pervades our daily lives. Even after Jesus’ glorious resurrection, we continue to wrestle with the disquieting dimensions of our humanity: the traumas we relive, the losses we endure, the disappointments we amass, the anxieties we are paralyzed by.”

  4. The Ten Minutes After Church Ends: Andy Huette offers simple but impactful advice. The first is, “Don’t talk to your besties…Don’t miss that opportunity to experience the fullness of the body of Christ by getting to know those who are unlike you or from different life stages and interests.”

  5. How Should Christians Think About Gun Control: Excellent debate between Bob Thune and Andrew Wilson.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Is Evangelicalism Today Truly Evangelical? It’s a good question Michael Reeves asks. His answer? Not very. “In country after country, we hear stories of abusive and self-serving evangelical leaders. And they are surely only the more noticeable symptoms of a deeper malaise. The same spiritual emptiness that causes dramatic and high-profile falls from grace also stifles heartfelt worship in the pew.”

  2. Does Romans 7 Describe a Christian? John Piper considers whether Paul’s depiction of his struggle against sin is when he was a follower of Jesus or not. “This is a response to the objection from Romans 7:24. Can a real Christian cry out,’“Who will set me free from the body of this death?” To which my response is, Can a real Christian not cry out, ‘Who will set me free from this body of death’?”

  3. If God Really Loved Me, He Would… Sarah Walton begins, “Why are we surprised when trials come? Why do we quickly question God’s goodness, love, and control when we experience the pain of this world? For me, I think it’s because there is a pervasive belief that subtly infiltrates my thought life. One that, deep down, still believes God would keep me from harm and rescue me from pain if he truly loved me.

  4. When Good Things Spiritually Harm Our Kids: Melissa Edgington considers the threat of good things to our kids’ souls. She says, “No true Christian who is a parent would ever in a million years say that an extra-curricular is worth their child’s soul. Yet, what seems like no big deal can result in a lifetime of faithlessness.”

  5. Detailed View of a Crater on Mars: The wonders in our universe!

  6. The Russell Moore Show Podcast: Rachel Denhollander Calls for a Southern Baptist Reckoning: Russell Moore and Rachel Denhollander reflect on the devastating investigation.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The Universe Demands a Cross: This post by Samuel James is brilliant and moving. Please read it. Here is a taste, “The sterilized metaphysics of Western spirituality, the liturgies of eat-pray-love, are sieves when it comes to the bloodiness of reality. I could, if I chose, close my eyes and insist on believing in the inherent goodness of man, the brotherhood of all, and the common destiny of all but the worst people. But I could not close my eyes hard enough to un-see the blood of vaginal delivery. The blood does not merely sit there. It calls out, just as the blood of Abel cried “out from the ground.” It calls out for reckoning.”

  2. 200 People Left Our Small Church: my friend Benjamin Vrbicek asks, “How does a pastor keep his heart from growing cynical when, over 350 weeks of pastoring the same church, I have lost an average of one person each week? And why are these congregants leaving our church anyway? What role might I play, even unintentionally, in sending sheep to what they perceive to be greener pastures?”

  3. An Open Letter to Death: Cindy Matson begins, “Dear Death, I’m writing to you today with a simple message: Stop boasting. I realize that you have some reason for pride. You have had your way with nearly every human to ever live. (Do Enoch and Elijah keep you up at night?)”

  4. True Humanism: Jesus, Marx, or Jenner? Bruce Ashford considers the options to Christianity in contemporary culture, “[T]hese thought leaders often pose as anthropologists who find Christianity dehumanizing and as tea-leaf readers who discern in the anfractuosities of history a movement toward a more “humanized,” Christ-less future.”

  5. Tom Brady in Retirement: Football fans out there will enjoy this.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The Universe Demands a Cross: This post by Samuel James is brilliant and moving. Please read it. Here is a taste, “The sterilized metaphysics of Western spirituality, the liturgies of eat-pray-love, are sieves when it comes to the bloodiness of reality. I could, if I chose, close my eyes and insist on believing in the inherent goodness of man, the brotherhood of all, and the common destiny of all but the worst people. But I could not close my eyes hard enough to un-see the blood of vaginal delivery. The blood does not merely sit there. It calls out, just as the blood of Abel cried “out from the ground.” It calls out for reckoning.”

  2. 200 People Left Our Small Church: my friend Benjamin Vrbicek asks, “How does a pastor keep his heart from growing cynical when, over 350 weeks of pastoring the same church, I have lost an average of one person each week? And why are these congregants leaving our church anyway? What role might I play, even unintentionally, in sending sheep to what they perceive to be greener pastures?”

  3. An Open Letter to Death: Cindy Matson begins, “Dear Death, I’m writing to you today with a simple message: Stop boasting. I realize that you have some reason for pride. You have had your way with nearly every human to ever live. (Do Enoch and Elijah keep you up at night?)”

  4. True Humanism: Jesus, Marx, or Jenner? Bruce Ashford considers the options to Christianity in contemporary culture, “[T]hese thought leaders often pose as anthropologists who find Christianity dehumanizing and as tea-leaf readers who discern in the anfractuosities of history a movement toward a more “humanized,” Christ-less future.”

  5. Tom Brady in Retirement: Football fans out there will enjoy this.

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