Christian Living, Family, Hospitality, Relationships
John Beeson
A Candy Shop Owner, a Customs Officer, and a ...

We stepped into the candy shop and could feel it immediately. We were welcome here. And no, it wasn’t just the aroma of chocolate wafting through the air (although that helped!). It was in the kind eyes of the shop owner, in the smile of her employee as she swept the floor. The sign outside said the shop closed five minutes earlier. “Are you sure it’s okay we come in?” I cautiously asked. “Of course!” she said. And I could feel that she meant it.

The atmosphere in her candy shop stood in stark contrast to the cold, unwelcoming atmosphere of several other shops we had visited

A Candy Shop Owner, a Customs Officer, and a Beloved Family
Family, History, Parenting, Politics, Recommendations
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The Chocolate Lady: Andrea Sanborn shares, “Parents of people with disabilities long for our children to be welcomed and included. Any effort in that direction can quite literally bring us to tears. But those of us who parent the socially challenging ones are especially moved when a person makes a concerted effort to befriend our children. Most people, understandably, back off when they’re rebuffed. But a precious few strive to understand and are willing to persevere to befriend our children in spite of their behavior.”

  2. Learning from King David’s midlife failure: Jim Newheiser says,

This Week's Recommendations
Culture, Faith, Parenting, Politics, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
The seat of the Scoffers

How loud are the voices of scoffers in your life? The mockers, the angry, the rude, the crass. How much ear do you give to those who tear you down rather than gently exhort or build you up?

Ours is the age of the scoffer. Election season magnifies the scorn that lies just beneath the surface. TikTok, X, YouTube, and Facebook serve our prurient interest in watching others be “slammed,” “knocked down,” and “exposed.” The equation seems simple: the harsher the persona, the more views.

The longest book of the Bible, the songbook of the people of God,

The seat of the Scoffers
Recommendations, Consumerism, Family, Gratitude, Parenting, Spiritual Growth, Suffering, Wisdom, Worship
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Suffer and do not sin: Andrea Mathews says, “Our suffering has stretched us. It has caused us to cling to Christ. It has brought us a deeper awareness of our dependency on God and dismantled the illusion of control we once thought we had over our lives. But suffering also has brought a particular array of temptations to sin, and I have often succumbed.

  2. How does wonder lead us to worship and wisdom? Eric Lynum says, “To wonder, in the biblical sense, is to think about God doing what only God can do. We sense the magnitude of his creativity as we stand beneath a canopy of trees,

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Consumerism, Relationships, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Oatmeal Cookies Don't Make You Healthy

Trigger warning: I love oatmeal cookies. I don’t just put up with them. I like the average oatmeal cookie better than the average chocolate chip cookie.

If I haven’t lost you yet, I’ll admit that beyond loving the taste and texture of oatmeal cookies, I’ll confess there is also the ancillary benefit of feeling healthy when you eat oatmeal cookies. I mean, you’ve got your whole grains, your dried fruit, your nuts. They’re practically health food, right?

A quick search on the internet proves otherwise: one Costco oatmeal cookie clocks in at 230 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 20 grams of carbs.

Oatmeal Cookies Don't Make You Healthy

Can we choose our identity?

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Can We Choose Our Identity?

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Can We Choose Our Identity?

I was fourteen years old, 5’9” and 130 pounds. My backpack hung loosely over my shoulders and butterflies filled my stomach. It was the first day of high school. I navigated the path from my fourth period class toward the cafeteria in a sea of three thousand mostly new faces. Who would I sit with? I saw the group of guys I had hung around with in middle school: jocks who had made those three years fairly miserable for me.

I scanned the grass and picked out the groups: band kids, several kids playing chess, kids playing pick-up basketball. I saw one gathering playing Dungeons and Dragons.

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Can We Choose Our Identity?

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Can We Choose Our Identity?

On October 17, Angel and my first book, Trading Faces: Removing the Masks that Hide Your God-Given Identity releases. Below is an excerpt. May God invite us deeper in knowing him as we discover who we are in him.

 

Daniel Day Lewis is known as one of the most committed method actors of our time. When he takes on a role, he embodies the character not only on camera but off camera, and he only responds to his character’s name. For the movie In the Name of the Father, Day-Lewis lost fifty pounds and spent three days in solitary confinement without water.

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