Recommendations, Christian Living, Culture, Death, Faith, Finance, Science, Theology
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The grief we learn to carry: Stacy MacLaren says, “Grief research has given us language for something grieving people have known in their bones forever: losing someone you deeply love isn't like sustaining an injury that eventually disappears once you've healed correctly. Grief is, in part, a massive act of learning.”

  2. Some of the strangest Old Testament laws and what they mean: Christine Palmer explains, ““You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes” (Lev. 19:26). To remain in right standing with the Lord, under no circumstances may the cove­nant people eat meat with its blood,

This Week's Recommendations
Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Faith
John Beeson
Saul, the Witch at En-dor, and the Will of God

Do ghosts exist? Do we have access to the spirit world? If so, what does that mean for our spiritual life? The bizarre story of Saul and the Medium at En-Dor, while challenging, addresses these questions.

 

At the heart of this text is a critical question: will you obey God?

Here is the story:

The Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem. And Saul gathered all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him,

Saul, the Witch at En-dor, and the Will of God
Faith, Fear, Prayer
John Beeson
Come, You Who Are Anxious

Anxiety comes in many shapes and forms. Do you ever have a feeling of dread? Does your chest ever tighten in fear? Do you feel like you can’t slow down your mind?

How can we escape anxiety’s clutches? Let’s look at how Jesus responds to those gripped by fear.

Jesus first points us to the sovereignty of God. As Jesus departs the upper room where he and his disciples ate the Last Supper and he stooped and washed their feet, the hearts of the eleven were in turmoil. Jesus had shared the frightening news that Judas had allowed Satan to enter his heart and that Peter would deny him

Come, You Who Are Anxious
Recommendations, Consumerism, Culture, Faith, Fear, Finance
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Why the internet is making men and women hate each other: Samuel James writes, “We’re on the threshold of a vicious cycle. Men and women are declining relationships with each other, which means they are more likely to be suckered in by the algorithmic gender silo. But the more they take in a biased, imbalanced view of the other, the less interested they are in relationship.”

  2. Mutant virtues: Jacob Crouch says, “These mutant virtues parade themselves out in the public square as though they are the real thing. So-called justice, instead of being the righteousness of God on display,

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Family, Marriage, Relationships, Science, Wisdom
John Beeson
Seasons of Marriage

You are on a date night with your wife, observing the people around you.

“First date?” you ask. “For sure!” she says, noticing the telltale signs. The young lady carries a single rose. The young man is a little nervous. They are slightly overdressed for the restaurant. Eyes locked, their attention is rapt on one another. Cell phones never make an appearance.

 Young love.

A mom and dad in their late thirties burst into the restaurant with three boisterous children guffawing at a joke. They divide and conquer: dad takes the two boys to the bathroom while mom settles herself and their daughter into the chair.

Seasons of Marriage

Spiritual Warfare

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When the Battle Rages, Seek Union

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When the Battle Rages, Seek Union

There is more going on around us than we can see. The physical world is surrounded by the spiritual realm. A spiritual battle rages around us.

I grew up during a time of heightened awareness of the spiritual realm. I remember lying in bed as a high school student, heart pounding and eyes glued to Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness. I recall driving past Hindu temples in Trinidad overwhelmed by a feeling of spiritual darkness. Our church hosted workshops based on Neil Anderson’s The Bondage Breaker. We were taught to put on the armor of God piece by piece and to claim the blood of Jesus when confronting dark spiritual forces.

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Quietly Fighting the Most Important Battle

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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.

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The Front Lines

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The Front Lines

In JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, two of Frodo’s hobbit companions, Merry and Pippin, get kidnapped by the orcs and eventually are rescued by the Ent, Treebeard. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship prepare to confront Saruman and his forces at Isengard, attempting to weaken him so that Frodo and Sam can complete their mission to destroy the ring. In Peter Jackson’s movie adaptation, Merry and Pippin beg the council of Ents (called Entmoot) to make haste so that they can join their friends on the verge of war.

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Tempted and Able

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Tempted and Able

The first thing Lauren told me after I was baptized, besides, “I'm proud of you,” and, “I love you,” was, “Be prepared.” I thought that odd, considering.  At that time in my walk with Christ, I was no stranger to naïveté and had reassured myself in the quiet place that baptism would scare away all my demons, that I would be made whole by the water grave, never to fall from grace again.  On the contrary, my bride's words bore much truth.  I had not prepared myself in the least.  I did not understand the battle that was being waged over my flesh.

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The Air Raid Siren

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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.

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Believer, beware

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Believer, beware

I grew up in the age of Neil Anderson and Frank Peretti, two Christian authors who used their pens to try to enlighten their audiences about the power and pervasiveness of the spiritual world. I can still picture the claws descending from heaven on the cover of Peretti’s This Present Darkness that spooked me as a child.

 As I developed theologically, especially through the influence of Reformed thinkers, I began to set aside these influences, which now felt naïve. To focus on the demonic forces of the world seemed to leave people with magical worldviews, where they held very little power over their own actions, and diminished the importance of mortifying the flesh as disciples of Jesus.

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The Front Lines

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The Front Lines

In JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, two of Frodo’s hobbit companions, Merry and Pippin, get kidnapped by the orcs and eventually are rescued by the Ent, Treebeard. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship prepare to confront Saruman and his forces at Isengard, attempting to weaken him so that Frodo and Sam can complete their mission to destroy the ring. In Peter Jackson’s movie adaptation, Merry and Pippin beg the council of Ents (called Entmoot) to make haste so that they can join their friends on the verge of war. They can’t bear to think of not being able to engage side-by-side with their comrades in a fight with such high stakes.

Do you ever feel like you are stuck at Entmoot, watching slow-footed and slow-tongued friends confused about the difference between orcs and hobbits, good and evil, and unsure whether a battle at distant Isengard has anything to do with them? It sometimes feels that we Americans are far from the front lines of the spiritual battle. We are slow-footed and lack urgency.

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