Wisdom, Education, Family, Parenting
John Beeson
Not Enough Wisdom

It was a cool February afternoon three years ago, our family piled in our aptly named Escape heading East on the I-8. We weave our way through Laguna Summit and the Cleveland National Forest, summiting the final miles of California and her Santa Ana Mountains on our way back to our home in the Sonoran Desert.

We just visited Concordia University, Irvine, a Lutheran school where our eldest, Camille, was offered a generous scholarship. Camille fell in love with Concordia’s professors, mission, and solid theological foundation on the trip. We rejoiced at her finding such a perfect fit for her. And we mourned her impending departure.

Not Enough Wisdom
Nature, Worship
John Beeson
Grateful Dust

Today I have the privilege of sharing a poem from my daughter, Camille. She is currently working at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and composed this poem as a praise to the Lord, my Rock (praise to the Lord, my Rock (YHWH Tsuri, see Ps. 18:2, for instance). Note also that ebneezers are stone monuments that memorialize the Lord’s help (see 1 Sam. 7:12, for instance). Finally, “ranan” means “to shout for joy” in Hebrew. -John

Grateful Dust
Recommendations, Culture, Marriage, Leadership, Relationships
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Jesus doesn’t use fake plants: Casey McCall writes, “I get the appeal of fake plants. We want the fruit without the work, the aesthetic without the need to provide care. In my house, we’ve killed our fair share of indoor plants by neglecting to provide water and sunlight. Nonetheless, I’d rather have no plants than fake ones.”

  2. Discipline, delight, and staying on the path: Glenna Marshall begins, “My husband and I took our kids on a hike not too long ago, and before we hit the trail, we warned both of our sons to stay on the path at all times. The woods were filled with poison ivy, and one of my sons is quite the explorer.

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Prayer, Wisdom
John Beeson
Have You Given Me the Fountain, but Deny Me the ...

My co-lead pastor, Greg Lavine, and I lead discipleship groups that run concurrently through the school year. We take a group of men or women through a year of study that includes theological and spiritual formation. Currently we are in a stretch focused on the practice of prayer. In one of the weeks we use two books of compiled Puritan prayers: Valley of Vision and Piercing Heaven. The idea of utilizing Puritan prayers might sound as exciting as watching someone else fill out their tax returns, but I have found these books vibrant guides.

Have You Given Me the Fountain, but Deny Me the Stream?
Biblical Studies, Culture, Leadership
John Beeson
A Womb or Two for Every Man

What is distinctive about femininity and masculinity? Our culture is confused about what is distinctive about what it is to be a woman and what it is to be a man. Some have Christians parachuted in trying to provide clarity only to overstate or misstate how the Bible speaks to this question. The truth is that God’s Word blows up our narrowly defined cultural constructs and categories.

So long as we go hunting in scripture for proof of our expectations about masculinity and femininity, we are likely to create two-dimensional cut-outs in place of God’s three-dimensional realities.

A Womb or Two for Every Man

Christian Living

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The Light That Overcomes

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The Light That Overcomes

Were you afraid of the dark when you were a child? I was. The chore I dreaded most was taking the trash to the curb. The 25-yard walk down the driveway in the quiet darkness seemed more like a 2.5-mile gauntlet. I was sure that robbers and coyotes were crouching in the bushes, ready to spring their attack on me under the veil of darkness.

Later, at night, I would lie frozen in my bed, afraid of what lay behind my closet door. What monster lurked, waiting for me to fall asleep?

In George Lucas’s Star War universe, the Light and Dark sides of the force vie for power. The forces are equal in power, and the outcome is in jeopardy. There is no guaranteed victor.

Good thing we live in God’s universe and not Lucas’s! Christmas reminds us that history does not hang in the balance. The Light will overcome.

In his introduction to his gospel, John explains that Jesus is the light:

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. What to Say to Someone Suffering Like Job: Eric Ortlund encourages us, “First, remember that your friend might be so shell-shocked in the early days of his ordeal that he can barely hear you. Lecture him, and all he’ll give you is a glassy stare. Remember as well that he is probably receiving “help” from other Christians that is distinctly unhelpful. If your friend does not respond as well as you would like, or does not respond at all, it may be because he is simply unable to.”

  2. Hearts Painted by the Word Again and Again: Courtney Yantes compares reading the Bible to painting the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s a helpful analogy. She begins, “The job of painting the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is never-ending. I heard once that they paint it end-to-end, but by the time they get to the end—however many years that may take—it is time to start over. In reality, though, sections and portions of the bridge are prioritized according to need. Regardless of strategy, the bridge is never not being painted. It is one of the primary maintenance jobs.”

  3. 11 Doctrines Pastors Can’t Assume Church Attenders Understand: Based on recent surveys, Marissa Postell urges pastors not to presume that those they are speaking to understand the basics of Christian faith. For instance, “53% of Americans say Jesus was a great teacher but not God. While fewer evangelicals say the same, many still believe Jesus is not God. Only 54% of evangelicals disagree with the statement: ‘Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God.’”

  4. 5 Myths about How We Got the Bible: Peter Gurry and John Meade take on popular disinformation about the formation of the canon, for instance that a council chose the books in the New Testament, “ There was no vote on the canon at Nicaea, and Constantine never decreed what books belonged in the Bible.”

  5. Your Tears Have Good Company: Chris Thomas answers the question “Why would Jesus weep?” this way, “Because he knows your pain. He understands your sorrow. He shares in your loss. He is familiar with separation.”

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Listen To Your Life

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Listen To Your Life

My wife, Angel, is very comfortable with quiet. I admire her ability to sit peacefully and listen to God. She intentionally shut down social media over a year and a half ago. Me? Not so much. I work out with audiobooks or podcasts as my audio backdrop. I write with music on.

There are benefits to this audio soundscape in which I live. It means that I input quite a lot of information. I benefit from the teaching of many wise voices and am grateful for the gift of music, which inspires, soothes, and convicts me through the Holy Spirit.

The problem with a life of input is that it can choke out self-reflection and even the voice of God.

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Injustice: The Gratitude Snatcher

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Injustice: The Gratitude Snatcher

I pray you had a blessed Thanksgiving. I hope your heart entered into this past week with a spirit of gratitude and that your time with friends, family, and God only heightened that gratitude.

No one wants to walk in ingratitude, and yet gratitude can be so quickly snatched from us.

What destroys thanksgiving? There are many threats: envy, pride, and selfishness. But one sneaky snatcher of gratitude is injustice. When the earth quake with injustice, its tremors rattle our hearts and our trust.

When we experience injustice, questions swirl: Why would God allow this wrong to happen? Doesn’t God care about me? Won’t the wrongdoer be punished? Won’t the victim receive restitution?

Our hearts cry out: but why God? When the solid ground beneath us breaks in the earthquake of injustice, we can be left feeling uncertain, shaken, and fearful. In this broken soil, gratitude can slip away.

When the people of Nineveh repent and God forgives them, Jonah is dismayed. How could a just God let the Ninevites off the hook? They were a city of “unceasing evil” (Nah. 3:19), filled with violence, cruelty, sexual debauchery, and idolatry. Jonah is indignant.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Will My Spouse be My Best Friend in Heaven? John Piper responds to a new widow who asks a heartfelt question, “Can’t I at least be guaranteed that my husband will still be my best friend in heaven? Will he even be excited to see me when I get there? In marriage, two become one. Am I just half a person left behind? I know when I get to heaven and enter God’s presence, none of these questions will matter. But they matter now. And I struggle to find wisdom and comfort as to how I must approach my remaining years on earth.”

  2. The Age of Ingratitude: Carl Trueman warns us, “We live in an age marked by infantile ingratitude. And if Scruton is right, that means we live in an age when we do not really know how to live at all. Ingratitude has dehumanized us.”

  3. A Word About the Spark in Marriage: Lauren Washer with a short post encouraging us to consider what really keeps love alive in marriage, “Think about what draws us to a fire. Dancing flames. Unpredictable patterns and colors. We can’t turn our eyes away from a fire’s beauty and its glory mesmerizes us. But the embers—the non-flashy red hot coals at the base of the fire—these hold the most heat. The glowing bits of heat tucked away beneath the wood aren’t noticeable until the flames die down. Embers are constant, though.”

  4. How Did the Pandemic Affect Church Swapping and Switching? Aaron Earls reports on big jumps of church swapping and switching during Covid. He also reports that, “At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, 58% of all Americans and 39% of U.S. evangelicals by belief said worshipping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church. In 2022, that jumped to 66% of Americans and 54% of evangelicals by belief.”

  5. What Does My Dog Think I Do All Day? Chris’s post offers a simple but illuminating metaphor. He begins, “My dog lives to play. She likes tug of war and fetch—though she has yet to realize if she gives you the ball back, you can throw it again. Her very favorite thing is her frisbee.”

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Fasting for Thanksgiving

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Fasting for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost here! While not a biblical holiday, Thanksgiving is a gift to the Christian. It is an opportunity to grow in gratitude. A heart of gratitude is a heart of worship. In the belly of the fish, Jonah sings to God, “But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’” (Jonah 2:9). Jonah’s hardened heart is softened in thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, God invites us to align our hearts in praise.

Would you like to maximize your gratitude this Thanksgiving? I encourage you to consider fasting. Fasting?! That’s right. Would you consider joining me tomorrow in a day of prayer and fasting so that we may prepare our hearts for the joy of worshipful gratitude?

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Forgiving Like a Child

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Forgiving Like a Child

A transformation happened nearly every night we put our sweet foster boy down for bed. Minutes after the cherubic toddler was happily reading books with me, and seconds after he sweetly swayed in my arms as I sang to him, he transformed. The moment of metamorphosis occurred as I placed him in his crib. He would roll over and, with big tears rolling down his fat cheeks, wail. As I left the room and closed the door, he would stand in the crib, looking at me with pleading eyes. “How could you abandon me?” his eyes would ask.

The sun would set, the moon would rise and set, and the sun would rise again. I open his door to find him sleeping. I turn off the sound machine and open the window shade. He hikes up his cute bottom in the air, rolls over, pulls himself up, and greets me with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. I smile back and he giggles.

Forgiven.

Fast forward several hours, and a couple sits on my couch in my office. He can’t move past the fact that she won’t make love to him. She can’t move past the fact she caught him watching porn.[i]

Not forgiven.

The claws of unforgiveness are sharp and relentless.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. What Have Theologians Said About the Fall of Satan? I don’t love the title of this article, as there is quite a number of challenges in the passages cited, including the fact that several clearly first reference human beings (they might also reference Satan). But Dustin Benge does a good job of laying out the way many theologians have constructed the story from what we have.

  2. Three Times Jesus Told Us He Was God Without Saying It: Rebecca McLaughlin is always so good. She says, “What does it mean for us that the Creator God became a man in Jesus Christ? It means that you and I are fully and completely known. It means we’re known more fully than a mother knows her baby, than an artist knows his paintings, than a novelist knows her imaginary world.”

  3. Seeds and Sunflowers: Seth Lewis invites us to wonder, “Imagine showing someone who had never seen a sunflower that tiny seed in its tiny shell and trying to describe to them what would happen if they planted it in the ground. Imagine being the person that had never seen a sunflower, and trying to get your head around the idea that the little grey nothing in your hand could transform so completely into something so impressive and colourful. If all you knew was the seed, how could you ever guess the flower?”

  4. Beware the New Seeker Sensitivity: Trevin Wax takes this post in a direction I didn’t expect at all from the title. He begins, “For decades now, I’ve heard pastors, preachers, and theologians preach against ‘seeker sensitivity’ as a ministry philosophy…It’s ironic, then, to see some of the same voices become known as much for their political punditry as their gospel proclamation.”

  5. 8 Ways We Normalize the Abnormal: Paul David Tripp asks us to consider those things which have become normalized that the Christian should fight against. For instance, emotionally-driven and self-righteous responses.

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Partners in the Gospel

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Partners in the Gospel

“We won!” If you’re a sports fan, you might have bellowed those words when your favorite team emerged victorious from an epic showdown.

But of course, we know that we didn’t win at all. I sat on my couch and cheered for my Chiefs. But it was Andy Reid who drew up the play, Patrick Maholmes who threw the pass, and Travis Kelce who caught it.

They, not we, won.

Many of us have come to believe the opposite lie regarding the church. It’s easy to think they are doing the work of the gospel. In a celebrity culture, it’s easy to get sucked into thinking that pastors do ministry and preachers do gospel work. This isn’t true. God’s ministry is advanced by his people collectively.

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Welcome to the Fishbowl

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Welcome to the Fishbowl

Not long ago, Southern Baptist Convention President Paige Patterson was ousted from his post at Southwestern Seminary.[i] The firing began not with a dramatic revelation, but with a public statement Patterson made some 18 years ago. In that statement, Patterson said that he had never counseled couples to separate or divorce.[ii] The trickle turned into a stream and then a torrent as other statements and counsel surfaced (including discouraging a female student from reporting a sexual assault on his campus). The external pressure from the mounting claims made Patterson’s firing all but inevitable.

I believe the outcome was just. Paige Patterson’s record is marked with ongoing abuses of power. And yet, there was a time not so long ago when he wouldn’t have lost his job. It is only in today’s world that the voices of those injured by Patterson or upset with the trustees at Southwestern Seminary would have been heard so quickly and had such an impact.[iii]There are benefits to the age of the fishbowl.

But there are dangers of fishbowl living as well. We live in a day and age where every statement is public and permanent.

Every word is public.

Every word is permanent.

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