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
Church, Culture, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Diversity, Pentecost, and God’s Glory

There is a temptation for Christians to reject what the world values. Understandably, we would be suspicious of those things which secularism honors. But sometimes there is a baby in the bathwater.

There are few things more sacred in the modern West than diversity. But this is a baby worth preserving. Diversity was God’s before it was the world’s.

Let’s consider God’s glorious plan for diversity.

Ethnic diversity enters the biblical picture in a strange fashion, with the odd story of the Tower of Babel. As the descendants of Noah multiply, they form plans to protect their legacy.

Diversity, Pentecost, and God’s Glory

Book Reviews

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A Summer Read for Everyone

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A Summer Read for Everyone

Summer is here! I hope it brings some extra sun, water, and books into your life.

Here are six suggestions I recommend.

For Fun

Rule of Law by Randy Singer

When a SEAL Team Six mission ordered by the president goes awry, lives are devastated. Who is to blame? What political wheeling and dealing is happening behind-the-scenes?

Rule of Law is another strong addition to the Randy Singer file of legal dramas. At the center of this drama is a young lawyer, Paige Chambers, who takes on the US Government. Singer does an excellent job of humanizing each of his characters and dealing fairly with the nuances and challenges of international law. My favorite thing about Rule of Law was the appearance of a handful of characters from earlier Singer novels.

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Do You Want to Be Wise?

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Do You Want to Be Wise?

I was never the biggest fan of the book of Proverbs. The 31 chapters packed full of aphorisms felt a little too self-helpy for my taste. I struggled with what felt like the lack of grace in the book, the apparent void of the need of the redeeming work of Christ. I was challenged by the fact that it felt like there wasn’t enough nuance. I found myself scratching my head in response to verses like “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (Prov 10:4), and asking, “But what about the diligent born in Venezuela?”[i]

But now I get it!

As so often happens, when you’re forced to sit in a book in prayer, the book comes to life in fresh ways. We’ve had the gift of preaching through the book of Proverbs over the past month. You can check out the series here, if you want to follow our journey through the book of Proverbs. I’ve felt the book coming to life in ways I never have before.

I want to proclaim the joy and power of Proverbs from the rooftops. Who doesn’t want to be wise? I long for wisdom, and Proverbs has made me thirst for wisdom and the author of wisdom all the more.

If you long for wisdom, I encourage you to sink your teeth into Proverbs. If, like me, you need some companions along the way to help you appreciate the book more, I encourage you to check out these two great introductions to the book of Proverbs.

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Why Esther Is a Troubling Hero

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Why Esther Is a Troubling Hero

Any evangelical who has a passing knowledge of the book of Esther immediately thinks of Esther and her Uncle Mordecai’s courage and exemplary moral character. Children shows like Veggie Tales and film adaptations such as One Night with the King reinforce this interpretation.

About a year ago, I listened to a podcast where Mike Cosper suggested that the book of Esther provided unique insight to our cultural situation not because of her courage and moral fiber, but because of her lack of both. I was intrigued.

Cosper delivers in spades on this promise in Faith Among the Faithless. Among the parallels Cosper notes between our situation and Esther’s is the secular-exilic environment of both. In our secular world we have shrunk the place for the transcendent. Cosper notes, “Secularism is today’s incontestable god.” He continues, “We’re creatures looking for meaning and purpose, and these pursuits can quickly become pseudo-religions that offer some sense of meaning or a hint of longed-for transcendence.”

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Spiritual Disciplines and Blogging

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Spiritual Disciplines and Blogging

Today I’m thrilled to announce that our audiobook for Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World has hit the virtual shelves at Amazon. My co-author, Benjamin Vrbicek and I have lowered the price of the audiobook and the regular book for the launch, so grab a copy and share the link with someone who might benefit.

Below is a portion of one of the chapters in the book: Spiritual Disciplines and Blogging. I hope it whets your appetite! (And check out the very end of this post for an opportunity to win a free audiobook.)

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES AND BLOGGING

I was told not to equate preparing for sermons with devotional Bible reading. There is truth in that encouragement. If we professionalize spiritual disciplines, then our spiritual life tends to become stuffy and transactional from expecting that clocking in yields certain results. On the other hand, I’ve learned if the posture of my heart in my sermon preparation isn’t devotional, then my preaching becomes dry and academic. If I am not growing spiritually through my pastoral ministry, I’m not pastoring as God intended. I would say the same thing to engineers, teachers, stay-at-home moms, and salespeople. I’d say the same thing to bloggers.

Blogging ought to grow us in holiness. When we blog for God’s glory, the discipline of writing becomes integrated into the web of our spiritual disciplines. We believe blogging can be cultivated as a companion to spiritual disciplines and even as a spiritual discipline in its own right. Before we consider this, we want to send up a warning flare: challenges for the Christian blogger abound.

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Digging Deeper into Rest

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Digging Deeper into Rest

We have been navigating a sermon series that has been a while in the making here at New Life. It is called Rest. If you’re interested in digging into the sermon series, you can find it here. Sabbath has been an interest of Greg’s for years. In fact, growing up Jewish, understanding a Christian perspective on Sabbath was a stumbling block to Greg’s conversion.

As a type A overachiever, rest has been a very personal challenge to me. The do’s of Christianity come more naturally than the invitation to rest. Our culture struggles with rest. What passes for rest is usually recreation and entertainment. Good things, but not rest.

If you want to dig deeper into rest, here are some books that have helped me in growing in what it means to follow the way of Christ. I hope they help you as well

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The Dividing Wall of Hostility

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The Dividing Wall of Hostility

I hope you had a meaningful Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Among the many challenges in 2020, the issue of racism reared its ugly head again. Sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others, the conversation around racism heated to a boiling point.

As citizens of the Kingdom of God, the issue of racism ought to be personal to each one of us. The early church struggled over the issue of racism between Jews and Gentiles. We can trace the challenge through the book of Acts as well as Paul’s letters. Paul tells us that in Christ, the “dividing wall of hostility” has been “broken down” in Jesus Christ, who is “our peace” (Eph 2:14). John shares with us a multi-racial picture of the new heavens and the new earth, where those “From every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” gather in worship at Jesus’ throne (Rev 7:9). Our ethnicity will not dissolve in heaven, but rather, God will delight in our ethnic diversity gathered before him in praise.

The events of 2020 challenged me to consider how I can participate better in Christ’s reconciling work. With a heart toward growing in understanding and empathy, I spent a significant amount of time listening to various voices: some Christian, some not. While I learned from everyone, I was particularly grateful for Christian brothers and sisters who have written on this area.

What I have discovered traces the following path: learning, navigating hurt, creating gospel friendships, and working to undo injustice.

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What I Read in 2020 (and What You Might Want to Read in 2021)

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What I Read in 2020 (and What You Might Want to Read in 2021)

In 2019 I read 101 books, which was a personal high for me, at least since I’ve been keeping track. I expected to tail off that number in 2020. And then COVID-19 struck. With fewer social gatherings than ever and more quiet nights at home, my reading actually increased. A new high-water mark for books resulted: 115.

2020 was also a year that provided plenty of internal reasons to need the companion of books. I read loads from other pastors and leaders on how they were navigating leading through COVID (given the immediacy of the issue, most of that was by way of blogs, not books). The fracturing of the nation over issues of race and racism had me diving deep on that topic. I’m still processing much of that, but I do plan on sharing more about what I’m learning about race and racism on my blog in the future.

2020 also saw the publication of my first book (co-authored with Benjamin Vrbicek), giving me a new appreciation for the labor of love every author has in bringing a book into the world. Thank you to those who read Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World. I’m grateful you let Benjamin and I spend several hours with you.

Let me start with my three favorite books of 2020.

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Words of Wow

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Words of Wow

Any writer knows that sending something you wrote into the world makes you feel pretty naked. “Did anyone find it helpful?” “How many typos did I overlook?” “Did I glorify God?”

For some reason publishing something in book form only heightened that feeling for me. Last week Benjamin Vrbicek and I released Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World. The response has been overwhelming. I am so grateful that the book has been a source of encouragement and help to fellow writers.

Here is how some readers have responded:

“I’ve longed for voices like Benjamin and John’s, filled with seasoned wisdom and an unwavering resolve to elevate the glory of God over all other aims. Forged out of the hard hours of reading carefully, working the keyboards, and humbly connecting with other writers, this book proves that Benjamin and John are fast becoming two voices to heed in whatever lies ahead.”

++Chris Thomas, ploughmansrest.com

“As a blogger who has been writing for over five years now, I found tips I hadn’t known about and was bolstered in my purpose as a writer.”

++Brianna Lambert, lookingtotheharvest.com

“John and Benjamin are reliable guides to how you can still blog to the glory of God.”

++Collin Hansen, thegospelcoalition.org

“Immensely practical and engaging, this book is for bloggers of every age and stage.”
++Glenna Marshall, glennamarshall.com

“With this book Benjamin Vrbicek and John Beeson create a needed community.”
++Jen Oshman, jenoshman.com

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How to Find Your Purpose as a Writer

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How to Find Your Purpose as a Writer

About four years ago, my co-author, Benjamin Vrbicek, helped me think through what it would take to launch a blog: navigating me through the logistics, the challenges ahead, and my reasons for blogging.

Today, Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World releases. The seeds of this book were in those conversations. Our hope is that the book would serve as a guide for other writers and aspiring Christian writers. Have you ever considered blogging? I think this book will serve you well.

Below is the first chapter, a chapter that addresses these questions: why am I blogging, and who am I trying to reach?

Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World

CHAPTER 1: PURPOSE

I got the itch to write when I was a fourth grader in Ms. Reeves’s class. We had free writing time and once a week we read our creations to the class. I was reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit for the first time and had a serious case of Middle-earth-itis. Another boy in my class had caught the Middle-earth bug as well.

We were off, each of us writing facsimiles of The Hobbit. Only, he had the imaginative horsepower to create something that could stand on its own two feet. He wove into his story students in our class, our teacher, and our principal. When he took the storytelling stool, he sat up straight, his eyes sparkled, and the class leaned forward in anticipation.

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What is the Shape of Jesus' Heart?

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What is the Shape of Jesus' Heart?

Do you know Jesus’ heart? How do you think his heart is inclined toward you? Does that thought make you flinch?

In Gentle and Lowly Dane Ortlund wants us to get to know God’s heart. Ortlund believes that many of us misunderstand God’s heart. We think he’s frustrated and disappointed with us, irritated with our lack of obedience.

Ortlund takes us to Matthew 11, where Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Here Jesus tells us about his heart. In fact, Ortlund tells us, it’s the only time he speaks about his heart in the Bible. And what does Jesus say characterizes his heart? That he is “gentle and lowly.”

Is that how you think about Jesus’ heart in relation to you? Jesus’ heart is gentle and lowly. It is love incarnate. Thomas Goodwin said, “Christ is love covered over in flesh.”

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