Faith, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, Wisdom, Identity
John Beeson
The Croucher

I was two years out of college, working as a Detention Officer at Madison Street Jail in downtown Phoenix. I was assigned to the juvenile unit, one of the most volatile units in the jail.

One particularly mouthy teen had been in the unit for only a week. He decided the best way to prove himself in front of the other juveniles was to try to provoke me. I tried not to take the bait.

Until I did.

I was gathering the juveniles from visitation when he refused to leave. He cursed me, mocked me, and then, once I uncuffed him from his visit, he ran,

The Croucher
Christian Living, Family, Leadership, Marriage, Wisdom
John Beeson
The Threat of Passivity

Everyone loves a great reveal.

If you saw it, you likely haven’t forgotten the penultimate scene in The Sixth Sense, when everything you thought you understood was suddenly turned upside down. Or the final scene in The Usual Suspects, when the mystery of Keyser Soze turns out to be right in front of you the whole time.

Genesis 3 contains one of the most devastating reveals in all of Scripture. As the passage unfolds, Moses forces us to reread the whole scene with new eyes.

The scene opens with the serpent: “Now the serpent was more crafty…”

The Threat of Passivity
Recommendations, Culture, Leadership, Relationships, Wisdom
John Beeson
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.”

This Week's Recommendations
Consumerism, Culture, Gratitude, Identity, Spiritual Growth, Wisdom
John Beeson
The Joy Thief

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Who is the person you compare yourself to most often? Perhaps it is a family member, friend or a co-worker, perhaps it is even a celebrity.

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We human beings are comparison machines. We’re constantly evaluating the stimuli around us.  Social media has exacerbated the issue, giving us instant access into the highlight reels of thousands of friends and celebrities. Psychology Today reports that, “According to some studies, as much as 10 percent of our thoughts involve comparisons of some kind.”  Friend, this kind of toxic comparison is harmful.

Much has been written on the threat of comparison

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The Joy Thief
Recommendations, Christian Living, Culture, Finance
John Beeson
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?”

This Week's Recommendations

Crouching anger

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The Croucher

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The Croucher

I was two years out of college, working as a Detention Officer at Madison Street Jail in downtown Phoenix. I was assigned to the juvenile unit, one of the most volatile units in the jail.

One particularly mouthy teen had been in the unit for only a week. He decided the best way to prove himself in front of the other juveniles was to try to provoke me. I tried not to take the bait.

Until I did.

I was gathering the juveniles from visitation when he refused to leave. He cursed me, mocked me, and then, once I uncuffed him from his visit, he ran,

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