Biblical Studies, History, Religion
John Beeson
The Pillaging of Hezekiah

The aged prophet Isaiah showed up at the bedside of the middle-aged king. Hezekiah was only about 39 years old and terminally ill. But the prophet was not bringing good news, “Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover” (Is. 38:1).

The weak king cried out to God, “’ Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight’. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” (Is. 38:3).

The Pillaging of Hezekiah
Church, Culture, Book Reviews
John Beeson
The Long Journey of Self-Knowledge in a Culture ...

“We are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in US history. It is greater than the First and Second Great Awakening and every revival in our country combined...but in the opposite direction.” This is the conclusion of the largest and most comprehensive study of dechurching in America by sociologists Ryan Burge and Paul Djupe. In The Great DeChurching, pastors Jim Davis and Michael Graham unpack why and how over the past twenty-five years, forty million of those who formerly attended church no longer do so.

The Long Journey of Self-Knowledge in a Culture of Confusion
Christian Living, Prayer
John Beeson
The Air Raid Siren

Jerusalem, Israel

3:15 am, April 13

 

I sat up in bed to a wailing sound I had never heard before, but knew immediately: an air raid siren. Our building rattled to the booms of interceptors from Israel’s missile defense system hitting their inbound targets. I pulled back the curtains and watched as sprays of light streaked the sky.

 Iran launched 170 drones, 20 cruise missiles, and 120 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for Israel’s purported attack on an Iranian embassy in Syria.

The Air Raid Siren
Christian Living, Nature
John Beeson
The Ground Where Saguaros Thrive

Nothing is more iconic to the Tucson landscape than the saguaro. The emblematic cactus is to the Sonoran Desert what the palm tree is to Miami: hard to imagine without it. Saguaros typically live between one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five years, not sprouting its trademark arms until around thirty to seventy years of its life and growing to around fifty feet tall.

For those Sonoran Desert natives, we intuitively know where saguaros thrive. They love the rocky (both granite and volcanic) soil at the foothills of the five beautiful mountain ranges that surround Tucson.

The Ground Where Saguaros Thrive
Leadership, Wisdom, Vocation
John Beeson
Anger, Retaliation, and My Scion xB

I drove a little manual 2005 Scion xB for about eight years. It finally gave out after 230,000 miles. I loved that little car. It was fuel-efficient and required minimal maintenance. But it is undeniably close to the least powerful car on the road. I’m pretty sure that on its specs, next to 0-60mph, it says, “Eventually!”

Unless I was lined up against someone from a nearby retirement community, I was the last car to reach the speed limit coming off a stoplight. Unsurprisingly, more aggressive drivers with more powerful vehicles tended to treat my little Scion like a safety cone on the road, more like an obstacle than a fellow traveler.

Anger, Retaliation, and My Scion xB

Luke 23:42-43

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Feeling Good Friday

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Feeling Good Friday

My wife and I curled up on our daughter’s first big girl bed. Camille was three at the time and Soren was just one year old. We picked up where we were in their children’s Bible as we read to them before they slept. I flipped the cardboard page past the story of the Last Supper to the crucifixion.

Alongside the picture of Christ hanging on a cross, the author explained, “Then bad men who didn’t like Jesus put him on a cross.”

Angel and I looked at each other quizzically. That’s it? That’s the crucifixion story? I flipped the page where the story continued with the story of the resurrection of Christ. That didn’t help. The author hadn’t even explained that Jesus had died. And what was the reason he died? Because “bad men” didn’t like him?

We both realized we would have to go off script for this story. There was much more to share about Jesus’ crucifixion with our kids than the author thought was necessary.

As a culture, we cringe at sharing hard things with our kids. We brush over disappointment and sadness and shut down negative emotions in our children. For many, this is a learned behavior. We were taught that we were only allowed to share good things with our families.

It’s not surprising, then, that we have a hard time going to dark places with God in our lives, then. But to the heights of the rescue of Christ, we must also experience the valleys of his death. God invites us to walk with Jesus into the emotions of the cross. The crucifixion of Christ isn’t a static spiritual reality, but a physical, emotional, and spiritual experience God invites us into.

The Passion of the Christ hit box offices in February of 2004 to mixed reviews. Some criticized the movie for being overly graphic in its depiction of Christ’s death. Because of their understanding of the second commandment where God instructs his people not to make any graven images, other Christians were uneasy with a depiction of Christ on screen.

Whether you loved or hated The Passion of the Christ, if you watched the movie, I doubt you forgot it. The movie flattened me emotionally and spiritually. For that, I’m grateful.

As we approach Good Friday, I invite you to experience the cross again. As you read Matthew’s account, what emotions do you think Jesus was feeling? The thief on the cross? Mary? John? The Centurion?

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