Abortion, Christian Living, Culture, Politics
John Beeson
Protecting the Voice of the Voiceless

The tide of public opinion on abortion has ebbed dramatically over the past two years. On Friday, June 22, the Supreme Court handed down one of the most critical decisions in our lifetime: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Forty-nine years of nationally enshrined abortion rights were pushed down to the states. The battle was not over, but had just begun. Pro-lifers who thought this was the beginning of a new pro-life era were in for a disappointment. The reaction from the pro-choice community was strong and their response led to a wave of support for their cause leaving many pro-lifers flat-footed.

Protecting the Voice of the Voiceless
Christian Living, Culture, Death, Fear
John Beeson
What Spooks You?

Across the street from our home is the holiday house. You probably have one in your neighborhood. They go all out for every holiday. On Saturday, cars stacked up on the main road leading into the neighborhood as families drove by slowly, taking in the massive display that must have cost the owners thousands of dollars.

 

Last week I drove by a home whose Halloween decorations weren’t as massive or ostentatious, but the lawn display was undoubtedly the eeriest I’ve ever seen. A life-like severed head hung from a tree limb. A decapitated corpse with a visible spinal cord jutting out between slumped shoulders sat underneath.

What Spooks You?
Christian Living, Culture, Fear, Wisdom
John Beeson
The Temptation of Temptation

In 2023, 46 horror movies were released. 75 million tickets were sold, and the industry made $798 million in domestic revenue alone. It’s been argued that horror movies remain a draw for many in the contemporary West because there is so little actual danger in most of our lives.

 

Atheist Steven Pinker in The Better Angels of Our Nature argues that we live in the most peaceful era of human existence: wars have decreased, human rights have expanded, and rates of starvation and lifespans have improved. Drawn to conflict, we now have access to global news coverage, which gives us the dopamine hit of feeling like we are in conflict.

The Temptation of Temptation
Christian Living, Fear, Spiritual Growth, Wisdom
John Beeson
Night

What attracts us so much to the dark?

In the story of Swan Lake, a ballet by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette (who has been cursed by the evil magician, Von Rothbart), after happening upon her at the lake one night during a hunting trip.  As a result of Von Rothbart's curse, Odette is human only at nightfall, for at daybreak she transforms into a swan.  True and faithful love is the only thing that can break the curse, and Siegfried aims to marry Odette, proclaiming such love, at a ball his mother is throwing for his birthday. 

Night
Christian Living, Death, Heaven, Religion, Spiritual Growth, Worship
John Beeson
How Changing Your View of Heaven Transforms the ...

In 2003, Bart Millard still mourning his father’s recent death, penned the lyrics for “I Can Only Imagine,” a song that would go on to be the most-played song in the history of Christian radio.

Can you imagine what heaven is going to be like?

There are lots of different views of heaven out there. A couple of decades ago a cottage industry developed, selling stories of those who said they had been to heaven while on death’s doorstep. We’re told of bright lights, lives re-played, and a warm glow. Others might daydream of harps and clouds, when asked to imagine heaven.

How Changing Your View of Heaven Transforms the Way You Live Today

Parenting

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Dads, First You're a Son

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Dads, First You're a Son

I’m a husband, a father, a pastor, a son, a brother, and a friend. If we lived in a world where an omniscient teacher handed out grades for our performance, I’m pretty sure I would get my highest marks as a dad. I love being a dad.

It’s supposed to be that way. God has granted us a gift in allowing us to take on the role of being a father. There is only one true Father. God graciously allows us to reflect his fatherly relationship with us to our children. What a weighty responsibility!

For some of you, that burden brings you shame this week. Father’s Day reminds you of the ways you have neglected your kids. Perhaps your neglect came through your cutting tongue, which spoke harsh words which hurt your children (Eph. 6:4). Perhaps you damaged your children by your poor example. Perhaps your kids were negatively impacted by your absence. The cloud of guilt and shame might lay thick on you this Father’s Day as you consider how you squandered the opportunity God gave you as a father.

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Moms and Dads: Show Your Need

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Moms and Dads: Show Your Need

“I have one regret of how I parented,” my friend David Towne told me. I leaned forward. David is a godly man married to a godly wife. He’s kind and gentle and wise. As an educator, he’s witnessed a lot of parenting, good and bad, in his day. His adult children have had their struggles but are good people. I would ask him for parenting advice in a second. What was his greatest regret?

“I wish I would’ve shown my kids my need for Christ more. I worked so hard to show them my godliness that I didn’t show them my need. I should have been more transparent. I should have shown them just how much I needed Jesus.”

In the early years of parenting it’s easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of strategies. You can parent with a positive approach, the whole-brain approach, the attachment method, the Montessori method or the Waldorf method, or the love and logic philosophy. The options can feel overwhelming. Proponents of each method tend to focus on methodology. As a young parent, it’s easy to think that your decisions around how to respond to your crying infant or how to discipline your disobedient toddler are definitive forks in the road.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. When to Confront Another’s Sins: Brady Goodwin’s post is loaded with wisdom on this difficult question. He begins by sharing the importance of discerning the other person’s motivations, “If you are unsure of a person’s motivations, seek to cover their offense with love wherever possible. Extend grace, wait with patience, pray for insight and understanding, and strive to love them as Christ does.”

2. Nearly There: My friend Chris Thomas with a moving reflection on his son’s birth and recent departure from the faith. He says, “Two decades later and my son is gone. No gravestone marks his death, or memorial service to recall in our grief. Instead, my son lives apart from us. His path, he said, forked away from faith, and as he walked that wide way, it lead him away from us.”

3. Where and How Progressive Christians Differ from Jesus: I appreciate not just the content of Colton Hinson’s post, but also the tone. He says, “Most of the progressives I met were genuinely compassionate people who love Jesus (or at least their idea of him) and the Bible.”

4. 3 Crises Churches Must Address to Meet the Next Generation: Charles Holmes begins with the challenge of social media. He says, “We’ve often thought that providing students with better Christian media is the solution to winning their attention amid the barraging media of the day. But what if a better way wasn’t us trying to compete with secular content (in which, if we are honest, we will lose every time) but transcending it?”

5. Beautiful Numbers: Need some encouragement today? This is a reminder that, in spite of all of the challenges in today’s world, so much progress has been made (thank you God for your mercy to us, the undeserved!)

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Are Teens Influencing or Being Influenced by the World?

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Are Teens Influencing or Being Influenced by the World?

Are you encouraged or discouraged about teens? If you’re a teen, what is your perception of your peers? Are you hopeful? Or pessimistic? A massive global study on the state of teens worldwide was just released from One Hope.[i] In the report, we find reasons to be encouraged and causes for concern.

Spending time reflecting on what teens believe and do ought to help shape the way we pray for them and relate to them. I’ll process five sections of the report: Christian practice, struggles, social media, sexuality, and the meaning of life in teens’ lives and then draw some conclusions.

On Christian Practice:

  • 51% of US teens claimed to be Christian, yet only 8% display the beliefs and habits of a committed Christian.

  • 46% of Christian teens never read the Bible.

  • 58% of Christian teens believe they don’t have a responsibility to share their faith.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

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.

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The Secret Ingredients to Helping Your Teens Thrive in Their Faith

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The Secret Ingredients to Helping Your Teens Thrive in Their Faith

Last week, we considered the challenge of helping teenagers make the transition from going to church to being engaged in church in such a way that ultimately helps them choose to stay engaged in the church as adults.

Last week we considered the power of ownership: inviting students to use their gifts and have ownership in the ministry of the church. This week we flip the coin to a second powerful ingredient in helping your teenager want to go to church.

That ingredient is your engagement in the faith and the church.

A recent poll by Lifeway Research[i] reported that teenagers who dropped out of church are less likely to say their parents:

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How to Get Your Teenager to Want to Go to Church

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How to Get Your Teenager to Want to Go to Church

Every other Sunday I pick up my twelve-year-old nephew at 6:30am. He piles into the car alongside my fifteen-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughter. What could possibly drag these three students out of bed at such an hour? They serve on the tech team at New Life.

Do I have to cajole them? Beg them? Bribe them? Nope.

After we get back from a long Sunday morning, we’ll enjoy a late lunch, some time of recuperation, and then they’ll be headed back out of the house at 4:30 pm for our Student Ministry, where they will play on the worship team. They’ll also insist on going to the tech team hangout Monday night and they will be at church Thursday night for worship and tech team practice. They’ll do it all with joy.

Studies show us the challenge it is to keep young adults engaged in church following their high school graduation.[i] 66% of 18-22 year-olds who regularly attended church during high school dropped out for at least a year during those transitional years. How can we do a better job of launching teens into a commitment to Christ and his church following high school?

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. There are Not Enough Atoms in the Universe to Model Your Brain: Gene Veith responds to this, “Elon Musk, our real-life Tony Stark, plans to announce this week the progress of his company Neuralink, whichi s dedicated to developing a Body Machine Interface; specifically, implanting a computer connection into the human brain.” In response, he shares this incredible fact, “There aren’t enough atoms in the universe to build a full model of what every cell is doing [in the brain].” Wow.

2. Five Ways God’s Anger is Not Like Ours: Colin Smith says that the theme of God’s wrath “is so interwoven with the hope of our peace with one another and with God that, if we lose our grasp on the one, we lose our hope of the other.” He goes on and explains why God’s wrath isn’t like our own. I love his conclusion.

3. Can I Trust the Bible? Timothy Paul Jones answers this question with four clear proofs.

4. 6 Ways to Ruin Your Children: Jeff Robinson’s article is simple and important. He shares, “I am at my worst as a father when I assume the role of sinless savior. That place belongs to Christ alone. When I say things like, “I didn’t act that way when I was your age” (a lie if ever there was one), then I confuse them as to why they need the gospel in the first place. And I become a whitewashed tomb.”

5. What John Piper Thinks About the Election: Piper on the challenging decision for the Christian. He concludes, “I will not develop some calculus to determine which path of destruction I will support. That is not my duty. My calling is to lead people to see Jesus Christ, trust his forgiveness for sins, treasure him above everything in this world, live in a way that shows his all-satisfying value, and help them make it to heaven with love and holiness. That calling is contradicted by supporting either pathway to cultural corruption and eternal ruin.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. How to 'Disciple' Your Kids into Church Dropout Status: Jared Wilson shares six ways that, by going along with cultural Christianity, we de-church our kids. His fifth way is by church hopping, He explains, "But families that hop from church to church as kids grow or tastes change or disappointments accumulate train their kids to treat church not like a family one commits to through thick and thin but like a consumeristic product one can always throw away for a perceived upgrade. And this is just one step away from deciding church in general isn’t useful."

2. Why the Current Loneliness Epidemic is a Gospel Opportunity: Sam Kim wonders, "Perhaps our culture’s current crushing opioid crisis, porn addiction, and the rise of Tinder are all part of this holy searching gone horribly wrong."

3. The Celebrity Pastor We've Never Known: Tim Challies helps us open our eyes to another kind of pastor who ought to be famous, "When we remember those men who most faithfully pastored us, we probably think of more than their sermons. And there’s a reason for that. The faithful pastor serves his people faithfully not just in the most public element of his ministry, but also in the most private."

4. 4 Theological Questions Your Church Has About Regathering: Kent Annan and Jamie Aten ask four timely questions: “1) Is not going back to church asking out of fear instead of faith?” “2) If I wear a mask, am I acting out of fear than faith?” “3) Is it rude to ask people to wear masks to church?” “4) Should we stay united in Christ even when we disagree?”

5. A #2020 Confession: Molly Montana’s prayer is simple and poignant.

6. One of the Most Misused Words Today: Craig Troxel tells us how we misuse the word heart today.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. Confessions of a Recovering Political Idolater: I resonated with Jared Wilson's post. He says, "I have to stay aware of them, because when I am not consciously and intentionally directing my gaze to the glory of Christ, I can very easily get swept up in the winds of political discourse. I can get too animated by the rise and fall of those who cannot thwart God's purposes. I can get too angry or too disappointed in or too fearful of brothers and sisters who don't think about these things exactly like I do."

2. 4 Types of Churches in Dealing with Politics: Eric Geiger reflects on how churches tend to engage politics. Most importantly, we need to be those who can be offended and changed when the Bible confronts even our political ideologies. “I heard Tim Keller say in a sermon about the Bible: ‘If the Bible really came from God, and wasn’t the product of any one culture, wouldn’t it offend every culture in some way?’ He was not speaking about the Republican and Democrat parties/culture, but I believe the quote applies.”

3. How to Avoid Becoming the Leader Everyone Resents: Helpful advice from Carey Niewhof. He begins, "There is no level of leadership that exempts you from your weaknesses. You can lead one of the largest organizations in the world. You will still have weaknesses and frustrate your team. In fact, higher levels of leadership don’t mask your weaknesses, it exposes them."

4. Still Growing: Melissa Edgington always puts simple truths elegantly. Here she reflects on 21 years of marriage, "When I stepped through the back doors of the church back in 1999 and saw that precious boy that I loved standing at altar, I had no idea that knowing him was going to make me more like Jesus. We have grown. And we’re just getting started."

5. 2 in 5 Churchgoers Regularly Attend Multiple Churches: And four other church trends. An eye-opening read. Aaron Earls reports. In more encouraging news, "Two-thirds of churched adults (65%) and 82% of practicing Christians say they attend church because they “'enjoy doing it.'”

6. For Passion’s Sake: My friend, Anne Imboden just launched her blog at Glory in the Grind. You should subscribe. Her storytelling and sense of humor are great. Here she reflects on her kids and the worthwhile cost of fostering their passions, “It’s both inspiring and exhausting to have a 5 year old who loves to cook. Fueling his fire and encouraging his dream means I need to learn to share my kitchen and resign to the fact that it will never truly be clean again. It means I need to include him on my menu planning, letting him choose recipes from his own cookbooks and kits. It means I need to start preparing dinner at least 30 minutes earlier than usual to allow time to show him each step, wait on his slower motor skills, and clean up mistakes. It means I need to die to myself a little and let go of control, for the sake of supporting his passion… He is capable, and I need to give him opportunities to prove it. (Dinner was delicious.)”

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