Christian Living, Identity, Wisdom
John Beeson
To My Freshman Self: Look More Like Jesus, Even ...

This week I have the blessing of sharing a post from my daughter, Camille. Camille just graduated from college. In her post below, which she wrote as a college freshman, she offers wisdom for herself as a high school freshman. I’m sure you’ll be blessed by the hard truths she wrestles with. -John

Hi high school freshman me! It is freshman college me, writing to encourage you in hard truths that you will wrestle with over the next four years.  

As I begin college, I am borderline overwhelmed with the repercussions and magnitude of my sin patterns.

To My Freshman Self: Look More Like Jesus, Even if it Means Rejection
Recommendations, Marriage, Prayer, Vocation
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. What it means that Christ is praying for you today: Dave Harvey says, “Now, because of our Advocate, we receive what Christ deserved: a full hearing before our loving Father. We are not beggars hoping heaven might notice us. We are beloved children invited to make our requests known to God (Phil. 4:6). Christ was forsaken so we could be heard. His advocacy means our prayers reach the throne.”

  2. One at a time: Andrea Sanborn wants us to consider something about how Jesus performed his miracles, “Most of his healing miracles were simply performed for one person.

This Week's Recommendations
Church, Prayer
John Beeson
Quietly Fighting the Most Important Battle

Christians know that the realities of this world are beyond what we see. Paul reminds us that, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 4:12).

But what do we do with such knowledge of an invisible war being waged?

May I suggest one very simple way to participate in this war? Join your pre-service prayer team.

Every Sunday at New Life at both campuses, we gather at 7:30 to spend time in prayer for the day ahead.

Quietly Fighting the Most Important Battle
Recommendations, Spiritual Growth, Christian Living
John Beeson
The Bee Hive In Video

Greetings, faithful readers!

Do you know that we publish The Bee Hive in video and podcast form? Check out The Bee Hive’s playlist on New Life Bible Fellowship’s YouTube page or search for New Life Bible Fellowship on whatever podcast platform you use.

Here are a few samples of the videos on YouTube. Enjoy!

The threat of passivity
 The croucher
Why we don’t trust pastors

The Bee Hive In Video
Recommendations, Christian Living, Faith, Fear
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Let me dwell in your tent forever: Wes Bredenhof explains how to understand David’s cry  in Psalm 61:4, “Let me dwell in your tent forever!” “Now here’s an important detail about the tabernacle:  no one was allowed to dwell in it.  It was God’s dwelling and God alone.  By God’s command, the High Priest came into the Most Holy Place once per year.”

  2. The body keeps score. But the mind and heart do too: Beth Claes says, “Being a Christian doesn’t prevent trauma or eliminate body-mind responses to it. But recognizing that God created us with an interconnected body, mind, and heart informs how we understand trauma

This Week's Recommendations

Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. What it means that Christ is praying for you today: Dave Harvey says, “Now, because of our Advocate, we receive what Christ deserved: a full hearing before our loving Father. We are not beggars hoping heaven might notice us. We are beloved children invited to make our requests known to God (Phil. 4:6). Christ was forsaken so we could be heard. His advocacy means our prayers reach the throne.”

  2. One at a time: Andrea Sanborn wants us to consider something about how Jesus performed his miracles, “Most of his healing miracles were simply performed for one person.

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The Bee Hive In Video

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The Bee Hive In Video

Greetings, faithful readers!

Do you know that we publish The Bee Hive in video and podcast form? Check out The Bee Hive’s playlist on New Life Bible Fellowship’s YouTube page or search for New Life Bible Fellowship on whatever podcast platform you use.

Here are a few samples of the videos on YouTube. Enjoy!

The threat of passivity
 The croucher
Why we don’t trust pastors

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Let me dwell in your tent forever: Wes Bredenhof explains how to understand David’s cry  in Psalm 61:4, “Let me dwell in your tent forever!” “Now here’s an important detail about the tabernacle:  no one was allowed to dwell in it.  It was God’s dwelling and God alone.  By God’s command, the High Priest came into the Most Holy Place once per year.”

  2. The body keeps score. But the mind and heart do too: Beth Claes says, “Being a Christian doesn’t prevent trauma or eliminate body-mind responses to it. But recognizing that God created us with an interconnected body, mind, and heart informs how we understand trauma

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Why so many of us claim to be ‘not very happy’: Jen Oshman says, “Herein lies the fundamental reason happiness feels out of reach: We tend to aim for the wrong kind of happiness. Most Americans aim for happiness, which, unbeknownst to them, can be shaken or taken.”

  2. Three ways to lead your boss: Simple advice Eric Geiger draws from Nehemiah’s story, “If you want more credibility with your leader, don’t be the perpetually sad person, care about what your leader cares about, and be really clear.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. How much do you know about the US flag? Test your knowledge with this AP Quiz.

  2. A theology of awkwardness: Emily Stimpson Chapman says, “We are terrified of saying and doing the wrong thing, coming off the fool, finding ourselves humiliated through our own inadequacy, and not measuring up. Awkwardness is also what makes so many forms of technology—artificial and otherwise—so appealing.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Sitting down in victory: Beth Ferguson says, “When Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father, something decisive happened not only in heaven, but for us. When we lose sight of that throne, discipleship begins to feel heavier than it was ever meant to be.”

  2. Knowing yourself is not the same thing as changing yourself: The post begins, “Here’s a controversial fact: Despite their popularity as leadership development tools, personality assessments fail to make leaders better.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Should Christians flip tables like Jesus? Alan Noble concludes, “Scripture intentionally emphasizes humility and servanthood over anger and strong language. We should do likewise. We must follow Jesus knowing his actions are different from our own. We do not need to imitate his every act to be his faithful follower.”

  2. Burnout looks different across the org chart: watch for these signs: Daisy Auger-Dominguez begins, “Workplace burnout is often discussed as if it were a single condition with a single solution: fewer hours, better boundaries, more resilience. That framing is incomplete and misleading.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Jesus is awkwardly exclusive, radically inclusive, and stubbornly objective: Rebecca McLaughlin says, “Jesus never ruled an empire, raised an army, or even wrote a book. Most of his followers were poor. They weren’t the power brokers of their day. And yet, the Christian movement spread like wildfire after Jesus’s death, and it’s been growing ever since.”

  2. It’s not about you: Laura Story says, “We have to admit that oftentimes our spiritual lives tend to be self-centered rather than God-centered… If God answered every one of your prayers, would it change the world or simply change your world?”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The quiet grief of adult friendship: Pranav Jain reflects, “Somewhere between “Let’s catch up soon” and “Sorry, life has been hectic”, adult friendship became one of the most emotionally significant and least discussed losses of modern life.

  2. Created to play: Brianna Lambert says, “Scientists admit that of all creatures, humans play the most, noting, “We are built to play and built through play” (Stuart Brown, Play). And God does just that. He builds us through our hobbies and gives us his own titles.”

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations

  1. Do Americans think spiritual revival is coming? Barna’s report says yes: especially among young people. “Nearly 3 in 10 U.S. adults (29%) say a spiritual revival could be coming, with Gen Z the most likely of any generation to anticipate such a movement (38%).”

  2. Am I defined by who I am or what I do? Justin Poythress says, “Is your identity a deep and settled persona? Or is it what you do—the sum of your choices which you can always redirect? It’s both. The errors of these two identity convictions are self-determination and fatalism. Neither is true because internal and external identities interconnect.”

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