Biblical Studies, Leadership, Worship
John Beeson
Worship and Victory

We’ve all had moments in our lives where it seemed like all hope was lost. I remember sitting at my desk in high school, staring at an AP Chemistry test that might as well have been written in Latin. I felt so doomed. My mind spun. I was going to fail this test. I was going to fail the class. Would I have to take summer school? Would I be able to get into my dream college?  I catastrophized one test, thinking it would determine the trajectory of my future years.

We’ve all experienced failure and hopelessness: the creeping dread of loss.

Worship and Victory
Recommendations, Consumerism, Culture, Hospitality, Leadership, Relationships
John Beeson
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
Biblical Studies, Faith, Suffering
John Beeson
Faith Is Not Anonymous

She was desperate. The bleeding started 12 years ago. It began as a typical period and then just didn’t stop. The perpetual loss of blood left her weak and with constant cramping. Ceremonially unclean, she couldn’t go to the temple or the high holy days. She wasn’t allowed to touch her friends or family as she would make them unclean. Loneliness crept in. She went to doctor after doctor. She took herbs and minerals and oils. Her finances diminished as her desperation increased. She was lonely and depressed.

And then she heard about him: Jesus of Nazareth.

Faith Is Not Anonymous
Family, Faith, Parenting, Prayer, Wisdom
John Beeson
The De-Centering Joy of Parenting

Back in our children’s hometown of Princeton, New Jersey, our son Soren and his girlfriend, Viki, walked hand in hand down streets he had not visited in a decade. When they first started dating, he promised her he would take her there one day. On this rainy afternoon, that promise was fulfilled.

We sipped local coffee… as we wandered through familiar streets, greeted by linen-white dogwood blossoms. We shared memories as we passed childhood homes, old landmarks, and favorite gelato shops... We pulled over at the Princeton Battlefield and let Soren and Viki walk ahead as we hung back.  

The De-Centering Joy of Parenting
Recommendations
John Beeson
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.”

This Week's Recommendations

Gallup

, ,

Why We Don't Trust Pastors

, ,
Why We Don't Trust Pastors

Americans have spoken. We don’t trust pastors. A recent Gallup survey found that only 27% of Americans ranked pastors as “high” or “very high” regarding their honesty and ethical standards. We are outpaced by accountants, bankers, and mechanics with those in the military or medical professions more than doubling our score. Twenty years ago, pastors were ranked among the very highest.  Why the shift?

Over the past two decades, there has been a steady flow of news that has exposed leaders and institutions for sexual scandals and power abuses.  Thus, this shift as disheartening as it is, is not very surprising.

, , , , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Is your fatherhood like a Rubik’s Cube? This equally pertains to moms, “I call this The Rubik’s Cube Effect. One side starts to come together, but in the very act of bringing order there, something else is thrown out of place.”

  2. The paradox of the brightening path: Trevin Wax begins, “There’s a paradox you’ll encounter the longer you walk with Jesus. The more you experience the light of his love, the more clearly you see the remaining spots and stains in your life. Progress seems lacking. Stumbles continue to mark your journey. The more you know the Lord’s love for you, the more you feel your unworthiness and your dependence on his grace.”

, , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Go ahead, bring a knife to a gunfight: Tim Challies says, “They say you should never bring a knife to a gunfight. It’s a colorful little proverb that emphasizes the value of proper preparation, yet I’m not sure it’s a proverb God cares much for. I sometimes think of the biblical judge Shamgar, who entered a battle armed with only an ox-goad—a stick used to poke oxen to get them to comply with directions. Shamgar brought an ox-goad to a sword fight, yet emerged victorious and with 600 Philistines dead at his feet.

  2. Help! I think I’m a bad parent: Adam Griffin says, “Our inadequacy in parenting is a great gift. If we weren’t inadequate, when would we run to Jesus?

, ,

Why Are We All So Anxious?

, ,
Why Are We All So Anxious?

Gallup recently reported that, “The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29.0%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015. The percentage of Americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased, to 17.8%, up about seven points over the same period. Both rates are the highest recorded by Gallup since it began measuring depression using the current form of data collection in 2015.”

, ,

Paul's Advice To a College Freshman

, ,
Paul's Advice To a College Freshman

Today, I hand this space over to my daughter, Camille, a rising junior in college. I asked Camille what advice she would offer to those who are making the jump from high school to college. Even if it doesn’t apply to you, I bet you’ll be interested in what she has to say.

-John

, , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

LGBTQ+ population grows, especially among Gen Z: Aaron Earls reports, “When Gallup first measured LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S., 3.5% claimed a non-straight label in 2012. By 2020, 5.6% identified as such. That jumped to 7.1% in 2021 and has increased incrementally since then—7.2% in 2022 and 7.6% in 2023.”

  1. Can we forgive when the offender doesn’t repent? Mike Wittmer’s response is nuanced and wise, “Forgiveness is excruciating. Who wants to pardon the perpetrator who maliciously wounded us? Forgiveness can also be confusing. What should we do when the person who wronged us doesn’t repent? He doesn’t own what he did, say he’s sorry, and mean it. What then?”

,

An Upstream Community

,
An Upstream Community

Last fall we came home from a vacation on a dry day to water streaming down the window pane of our downstairs den in our split-level home. Oh dear.

 

Four months later our Humpty Dumpty house was put back together again. The burst pipe was repaired, the water and mold damage remediated, and the walls and flooring torn out and redone. It turns out that our home didn’t have a pressure regulating valve that would have prevented a massive spike in water pressure causing the pipe to burst. A $150 part could have saved us thousands of dollars in damage.

, , , , ,

You Don't Trust Me. What Now?

, , , , ,
You Don't Trust Me. What Now?

The world doesn’t trust me. It doesn’t trust you either. But don’t lose heart. Christ has overcome the world. And he calls us into the world with the assurance of his presence and his power. May we live in a manner that reflects his light to this dark world. Daniel promises that, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” May we shine for his glory, entrusting our reputation to God and God alone.

, , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. May a Christian Gamble? Jim Newheiser warns, “Gambling is an attempt to circumvent God’s way of gaining wealth. Even if you do not expect to become wealthy personally through gambling, you are participating in a system that undermines the work ethic of our entire society.”

  2. Public Trust in Pastors Falls to Historic Lows: Aaron Earls reports, “Trust in pastors fell for the third straight year and reached an all-time low. Around 1 in 3 Americans (34%) rate the honesty and ethical standards of clergy as high or very high, according to the latest Gallup survey.”

  3. Not Enough of Me to Go Around: Kristen Wetherel reflects, “I want so badly to “help [everyone] when [they want me to].” I have told my daughter that I’m not an octopus—but boy, do I wish I was. (At least in the sense of having eight capacities at once. I do not wish to become a sea creature with tentacles rather than arms…).”

  4. Why Should I Forgive? Guy Richards confesses, “Deep down inside, I don’t really want to forgive my wife, my son, or my co-worker—at least not initially. I want instead to hold on to my anger and pride, knowing that I really was right all along. I want to prop up my feelings of superiority and self-respect and to feel vindicated for acting the way that I did.”

  5. Local Man Crushing Bible-in-a-Year Plan After Switching to Jesus Storybook Bible: Funny stuff from the Babylon Bee.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations

1. Church Membership Falls Below 50% for the First Time: The latest Gallup poll reveals that only 47% of Americans report being part of a church, synagogue, or mosque. That number was at 70% in 1999. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who express no religious affiliation is on the rise, “Over the past two decades, the percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religion has grown from 8% in 1998-2000 to 13% in 2008-2010 and 21% over the past three years.”

2. Why You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat it in the Church: Stephen Kneale explains how a recent dust up at Buckingham Palace relates to the Christian life.

3. How the Bible Defines Anxiety: We are an anxious creatures. The Bible offers wisdom and hope for our anxiety. Cory Brock explains. “Anxiety is not mere concern. It is not the type of fear that helps us survive in a dangerous situation. It is not concern for the moment that we put our sixteen-year-old behind the wheel for the first time or for our sick child’s health. Rather, it is an ongoing, fearful restlessness wherein we imagine hypothetical circumstances of loss.”

4. No Bitter Root: Glenna Marshall’s article on bitterness made me pause to consider my own heart and the ways bitterness has grown up unawares. She reminds us that “bitterness doesn’t need my attention to grow.” You’ll appreciate her illuminating analogy.

5. I Met Messiah: A powerful (and funny) testimony of how Andrew Klavan met Jesus.

Sign up to get The Bee Hive delivered to your inbox and receive a free 50 Books That Changed My Life (and Might Change Yours, Too) download!