Death, Easter, Heaven
John Beeson
The Resurrection of Jesus: An Eyewitness Account

Happy Easter!

Today we consider the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. What follows is a compilation of the eyewitness resurrection accounts of Jesus Christ as told by the authors of the gospels. They have been edited together to maintain the flow of the narrative and do not include Jesus’ multiple appearances following his resurrection. The accounts are framed by Paul’s extended reflection on the importance of the resurrection.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

The Resurrection of Jesus: An Eyewitness Account
Recommendations, Easter, Death, Heaven, Nature
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Eagles, fowl, and a Savior with wings: Kevin Burrell’s post makes my heart sing, “And a living, risen savior is still our covering today, to all those who by faith trust in his wings. In fact, we are clothed in his righteousness. He is oh-so willing to gather us under his wings.”

  2. Even to death: Jamaal Williams invites us to consider Jesus at the Mount of Olives, “Jesus models what it looks like to stumble into the presence of God—hurting but hopeful.”

This Week's Recommendations
Easter, Death, Heaven, Hell
John Beeson
The Crucifixion of Jesus: An Eyewitness Account

On this Tuesday of Holy Week, we consider the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. What follows is a compilation of the eyewitness crucifixion accounts of Jesus Christ as told by the four authors of the gospels. They have been edited together to maintain the flow of the narrative. The accounts are framed by the words of the 8th century BC prophet, Isaiah. On Sunday I will share the resurrection account of Jesus from the eyewitnesses.

The Crucifixion of Jesus: An Eyewitness Account
Christian Living, Church, Finance, Generosity
John Beeson
Why We Should Give to Financially Mismanaged ...

In 2007, the House Committee on Oversight investigated the “Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes and Help Hospitalized Veterans.” Something was seriously wrong with CEO Roger Chapin’s leadership (and it wasn’t just the absurdly long name of the charity). Chapin had raised nearly $170 million between 2004 and 2006, but only 25% of the money reached veterans. Over $125 million was funneled to Chapin and his cronies.

 

Whether at a national or local level, we don’t have to look long and hard for mismanagement of donations. There is nothing that breaks the trust of a donor more than seeing their hard-earned dollars misspent. We should care about where our giving goes. Churches ought to lead the way in financial transparency and accountability.

Why We Should Give to Financially Mismanaged Organizations
Recommendations, Nature, Evangelism, Parenting
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. 6 discouraging trends in global Christianity: Aaron Earls reports, “While Christianity continues to grow, Islamic growth continues to outpace the church’s growth. Christianity slightly outpaced the global rate of population growth (0.98% v. 0.88%), but Islam grew even faster (1.67%).”

  2. Wikipedia founder embraces Christianity: Trevin Wax reflects on Larry Sanger’s conversion, “Considering how many people are curious about the Bible these days, the increase in Bible sales, the interest in various philosophers and commentators providing their takes on the Scriptures,

This Week's Recommendations

Spiritual Growth

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How to Bring a Fresh Pow to Prayer Together

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How to Bring a Fresh Pow to Prayer Together

You look at the clock. Your discussion on the study has gone long again. What are you going to do? Go long again? Skip group prayer and tie things up with a prayer yourself?

You look at the clock. You started with prayer requests this time and now you’re an hour in and you haven’t even begun praying for each other.

What does healthy corporate prayer look like? How can you infuse it with dynamism? With purpose? With freshness?

I recently came back from a Pastors’ Prayer Summit. It’s the second Prayer Summit I’ve been to in my time back in Tucson. Both have been incredibly encouraging experiences. I’ve learned most about corporate prayer through my time with Christian Union, where we prayed an hour a day as a staff, and as well through the Prayer Summit and the leader of the summit, Dennis Fuqua.[i]

I am still a student with so much to learn about corporate prayer, but below are four things I’ve learned that I believe will add a fresh dynamism to group prayer. My hope is not only would they add new energy, but that they would direct your prayers with a purposefulness of praise go to our holy God.

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Breaking the Power of Shame

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Breaking the Power of Shame

I was eleven years old and our Little League season had just come to an end. At my insistence, my parents dropped me off at the mall with my teammates to hang out. Not long after the parents had left, my friends hatched a plan: they wanted to go to see the hit new movie Die Hard 2. A knot formed in my stomach as the plan was hatched. Die Hard was rated R. I’m not sure I had seen a PG-13 movie. I told them that we couldn’t see it because we were too young. My friends scoffed: “I go to rated R movies all the time! They never stop me.” I shrunk back. We paid and walked in.

I felt sick through the whole movie and afterward. When my parents picked me up and asked what we did, I doubled down with a lie, “we just hung out.” I felt sicker.

Even after asking for forgiveness, the cloud over my heart remained. Guilt was gone. Shame remained.

Shame has power.

Shame is one of the most destructive forces on this earth. Shame is destructive because it attacks our spiritual and emotional life.

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Port au Prince and Antioch

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Port au Prince and Antioch

It was only 72 hours ago I was on Haitian soil. I have the vivid memories and the jet lag to prove it. 48 hours ago, on Tucson soil, Pastor Greg preached out of Acts 11 about the Antioch church and our call to be a church on God's multiplying mission. The sermon hadn't been planned to coincide with the return of our team, but the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

I'll return to Antioch in a second, but first let me share about a little about our trip. We had two primary objectives in our partnership with Cross to Light Ministries. The first was that we led a group of students through a week-long study of the book of Job (this study filled our mornings). The second was that we hosted medical clinics in the afternoon. By God's grace, both were successful.

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Headed to Haiti

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Headed to Haiti

Haiti was thrown into the public spotlight recently under unfortunately circumstances. It is disputed whether or not President Trump called Haiti “a %*$&hole country,” but it is not disputed that those sentiments reflect the attitude of many Americans toward Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.  

Friday I head off with a New Life group to Haiti. It will be my first time in Haiti, but Haiti has been close to my heart for many years. Our church in Princeton had a close relationship with Haiti and we have a friend who currently serves as a missionary in Haiti I have been hoping to be able to visit for many years.

I would be grateful for your partnership in prayer as we continue our partnership with Cross to Light Ministries. Cross to Light trains up indigenous pastors and has planted dozens of churches in Haiti (below is a picture of Pastor Kyle with students at the Bible Training Center from a previous trip). I look forward to teaching at the center with Pastor Kyle, helping at medical clinics in the tent cities and villages, and assisting in construction projects.

Haiti has struggled as a people and country for over two hundred years.

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The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

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The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes

Richard Sibbes was born in Suffolk, England in 1577 and was a minister of the gospel until his death in 1635. Perhaps the gentlest of the Puritans, The Bruised Reed speaks gospel comfort to those struggling with their faith. "Sibbes never wastes the student's time," wrote Charles Spurgeon, "he scatters pearls and diamonds with both hands."

Following his compassionate healing of a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, Matthew quotes from Isaiah 42 and says that Jesus will not break off "a bruised reed" and "a smoking flax he shall not quench." Jesus is filled with tenderness and mercy to those who are hurt, broken, and weak. The bruising is, in fact, from him. Sibbes shares that "After conversion we need bruising so that reeds may show themselves to be reeds, and not oaks." This bruising shows us that "we live by mercy."

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Keep Giving Thanks

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Keep Giving Thanks

Before Thanksgiving, my aunt’s rotary club hosted a speaker from the University of Arizona Center on Conflict Resolution who presented tips on how to navigate a Thanksgiving conversation that avoids conflict. What a low bar we’ve set for ourselves: our definition of success is simply escaping a holiday gathering without offending someone.  Thanksgiving ought to come not from that superficial posture, but from a heart that is engaged and transparent.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Not a “glad-I-survived-that” kind of Thanksgiving, but one that truly allowed you to stop and cultivate gratitude in your heart.

Before we move on to Christmas shopping and parties, I want us to stop and pause just a bit longer and consider how we can nurture a heart of thankfulness.

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Paul's Strange Reasons for Generosity: True Prosperity

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Paul's Strange Reasons for Generosity: True Prosperity

The famous minister, Benny Hinn, is one of many who promises that if you are generous, God will reward you financially. “Divine prosperity is God’s will for every believer!” Hinn says, “All we must do to receive God’s blessings and abundance is to obey him.” How do we obey God? By giving. “Sow seed with great expectation of a powerful overflow in your life. Then get ready for it to be multiplied back to you abundantly. Yes, a seed may seem small in your hand, but when you sow seed in expectant faith, you release its God-given potential to produce a supernatural outpouring: ‘He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully’ (2 Corinthians 9:6).”[i]

The fourth reason Paul offers for giving is found here in 2 Corinthians 9:6, the promise that the one who “sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” That’s a pretty wild promise. Are Hinn and the other prosperity preachers correct in asserting that God promises financial reward for those who give?

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Paul's Strange Reasons for Generosity: Show them God!

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Paul's Strange Reasons for Generosity: Show them God!

Why do we give? The first hit when you Google “why should I be generous?” is this article which lays our four reasons:

1)      Giving frees you from the “burden of materialism”

2)      Giving helps you “to feel better about yourself”

3)      Giving makes you less self-centered

4)      Giving helps make people like you.

Do you find those reasons compelling? Two of them (1 &3) have echoes of biblical truth in them. But 2 & 4 are shockingly empty reasons.

Paul also has four reasons for giving: none of which overlap with this list. Here is Paul’s list:

1)      Give because giving is a grace

2)      Give because it proves your love of Jesus

3)      Give because Jesus first gave

4)      Give because you will be blessed.

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Paul’s Strange Reasons for Generosity: Giving as Grace

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Paul’s Strange Reasons for Generosity: Giving as Grace

Our doorbell rang – an odd occasion –I got up from the dinner table and walked toward the door. My step hitched halfway to the door as I realized it was likely a child selling something… too late. I opened the door and a high schooler stood in front of me, fundraising for his baseball team.

Being asked for money makes me uncomfortable.

There is something reasonable about being uncomfortable when we’re asked for money. The pang might speak to whether we are giving thoughtfully. But the reality is that far too often that twinge of discomfort points not to the worth of the cause, but the grip our hearts have on our money.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us that God doesn’t wasn’t uncomfortable givers, he wants cheerful givers. The way to cheerfulness isn’t by willing ourselves there, it’s by reshaping our affections. In this series we’re going to unpack four transformative reasons about generosity and then unpack Paul’s instructions for how we ought to give.

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Lessons from an Anti-Hero: Speak

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Lessons from an Anti-Hero: Speak

Jonah doesn’t get much right. Not much at all. God called him to arise and go to Nineveh. Nope and nope. Jonah up and ran the opposite direction. But after God gets Jonah’s attention, Jonah ever-so-tentatively leans into what God calls him to.

The third call God placed on Jonah’s life was that he “call out against” Nineveh “the message that I tell you.” After being spit up by the fish and told a second time to “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you,” Jonah heads to Nineveh. We aren’t told what God tells Jonah to tell the Ninevites, all we have are Jonah’s words: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”[i]

Just imagine what this must have looked like. We don’t know whether Jonah delivered this message once or multiple times as he walked through the city. The text is ambiguous about that. But it’s not ambiguous about how it must have been delivered. All we need to do is look one chapter further to see that Jonah’s heart was not at all in his message. After he delivers the message, Jonah sits perched on an overlook, anticipating the destruction of the city. In fact, if there was any pep in Jonah’s step as he delivered his message, it was that he was pouring salt into Nineveh’s terminal wound.

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