Church, Culture
John Beeson
Disney Shirts and Being Part of Something Big

I was handed my Mickey Mouse shirt as we packed and told this was what I would wear (I would be matching our son, Soren). Camille and Angel, meanwhile, wore matching Minnie ears and red tank tops. It seemed a little over-the-top to me, but I’ll do anything for my family. On the day of our Disney adventure, we woke up early, got into the virtual queue for the Star Wars ride (which happened to be the best ride at the park—don’t miss it!), and strode out of our hotel down Disney Way. It was then I began to notice something: we were not alone. We passed group after group in matching outfits. “Ahhhh,” I thought, “this is what people do!”

Disney Shirts and Being Part of Something Big
Recommendations, Counseling, Wisdom
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. We’re living in the dystopian future Neil Postman predicted 40 years ago: Brett McCracken says, “From the rising of the sun to its going down, we scroll our way through the day. We scroll our way through life. And we are scrolling ourselves to death.”

  2. Five hard truths about marriage most couples learn too late: Psychologist Mark Travers’s findings echo truths in the Bible, “One of the biggest misconceptions about marriage is that truly compatible people don’t argue. But not only is conflict inevitable, it’s also essential.”

This Week's Recommendations
Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Death
John Beeson
Let not him who straps on his armor boast ...

We would do well to heed Ahab and Roosevelt’s warnings. In our contemporary world, shrunk by media, it is enticing to microwave hot takes for all types of issues. Geopolitical events, religious issues, and economic and social policies entice us to weigh in. We want to know what is right and wrong, good and evil, and we want to hold firm opinions in fields in which we have little to no experience.

Ben-hadad meant “son of Hadad,” the Syrian god of thunder. It’s a fitting name. He was booming and terrifying, but relatively harmless. There are a lot of Ben-hadads out there today, those who dial up every opinion to 100 decibels.

Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off
Culture, Identity
John Beeson
The Worthlessness of Cool

When I was in high school, swimming was my best sport. I still remember the first time I saw Gary Hall, Jr. swim. I was a freshman and he was a senior. We were at the hallowed grounds of the Plummer Aquatic Center at Arizona State University in Tempe. Gary Hall, Jr.’s father was an Olympic swimmer and Gary Hall Jr. would one day join that class. In fact, Hall would go on to win ten Olympic medals. I had never seen anything like Hall in a pool before. At 6’6” and probably 225 pounds, Hall looked more like a linebacker than a swimmer. In the water, his body rose above the water higher than anyone else’s, seemingly buoyed at his hips by an invisible force. He swam freestyle with a hitch, almost strutting through the water.

The Worthlessness of Cool
Recommendations, Christian Living, Nature, Culture
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. An age of extinction is coming. Here’s how to survive. Ross Douthat portends, “The bottleneck of the digital age is different: The new era is killing us softly, by drawing people out of the real and into the virtual, distracting us from the activities that sustain ordinary life, and finally making existence at a human scale seem obsolete.”

  2. Chickens, elephants, and the illusion of freedom. Donal shares a simple, but memorable story, ““the chicken is tied to a tree for so long, that when it is released, as long as it has the string on its ankle (do chickens have ankles?) it thinks it cannot go any further than the length of the original string. It is still attached in its own mind.”

This Week's Recommendations

Church

,

Disney Shirts and Being Part of Something Big

,
Disney Shirts and Being Part of Something Big

I was handed my Mickey Mouse shirt as we packed and told this was what I would wear (I would be matching our son, Soren). Camille and Angel, meanwhile, wore matching Minnie ears and red tank tops. It seemed a little over-the-top to me, but I’ll do anything for my family. On the day of our Disney adventure, we woke up early, got into the virtual queue for the Star Wars ride (which happened to be the best ride at the park—don’t miss it!), and strode out of our hotel down Disney Way. It was then I began to notice something: we were not alone. We passed group after group in matching outfits. “Ahhhh,” I thought, “this is what people do!”

, , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

1. Don’t scratch the itch: Brittany Allen begins, “I have a weird problem. When I get in the shower, my legs inevitably begin to itch like crazy. I cannot for the life of me find the self-control it takes to not scratch. I have a condition called dermatographism that causes my body to react to scratching with hives. By the time I step out of the steaming hot water, my thighs are covered with wheals. I scratched the itch and the itch only intensified.”

2. Should Christians plead the blood of Jesus? Wanjiru Ng’Ang’A explains the history of this prayer and then offers a warning,

, , , , ,

The Embarrassing Cry of Faith

, , , , ,
The Embarrassing Cry of Faith

The year was 1990. II was eleven years old, and skateboarding was HOT. Tony Hawk was soaring and Rodney Mullen was innovating street skating, popularizing tricks like the ollie. I watched in awe as kids jumped up and then slid down handrails (a grind). I dreamed of doing so myself.

At the top of my Christmas list was, of course, a skateboard.

I counted down the days until I would unwrap my rad new board. I bolted up on Christmas morning, raced down to the tree, and, to my dismay did not locate anything that looked like a skateboard.

, , ,

Why We Should Give to Financially Mismanaged Organizations

, , ,
Why We Should Give to Financially Mismanaged Organizations

In 2007, the House Committee on Oversight investigated the “Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes and Help Hospitalized Veterans.” Something was seriously wrong with CEO Roger Chapin’s leadership (and it wasn’t just the absurdly long name of the charity). Chapin had raised nearly $170 million between 2004 and 2006, but only 25% of the money reached veterans. Over $125 million was funneled to Chapin and his cronies.

 

Whether at a national or local level, we don’t have to look long and hard for mismanagement of donations. There is nothing that breaks the trust of a donor more than seeing their hard-earned dollars misspent. We should care about where our giving goes. Churches ought to lead the way in financial transparency and accountability.

, , , , ,

Let Marriage Sustain Your Love

, , , , ,
Let Marriage Sustain Your Love

Yesterday we celebrated my parents’ 50th anniversary and offered words of thanks to them. Next Saturday I have the blessing of officiating a memorial service and a wedding. Preparing for these three events has had me reflecting on the weight of our choices and the gift of God’s design for marriage. In a world where marriages are often built on shifting sands—self-interest, emotional highs, or cultural expectations—Bonhoeffer’s sermon reminds us that marriage is not sustained by love alone but by God’s design and God’s love. What lessons can we draw from this sermon for today?

, , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. If I could change anything about the modern church: I won’t spoil Tim Challies’s recommendation, but it will likely surprise you.

  2. How to make friends in college (or anywhere): Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra explains, “Between 2003 and 2023, in-person socializing among those aged 15 to 24 dropped by more than 35 percent, Thompson reported. Younger millennials and Gen Z are less likely than previous generations were to go out without their parents, go on dates, get their driver’s licenses, try alcohol, and work for pay.”

, , , ,

Blessed to Multiply

, , , ,
Blessed to Multiply

Weeks before I received my first calling as a pastor, the elders decided that they were going to seek tWho wouldn’t want to experience God’s blessing? So, then, how can we step into the blessing of God? One of the straightforward ways the Bible teaches us that he blesses us is through children. Look, for instance, at the book of Genesis, where blessing is directly correlated to having children:

 

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28)

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Gen. 9:1)

The angel of the Lord also said to [Hagar], “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Gen. 16:10) acquire property and build a new facility for the church. They informed me that leading the relocation and capital campaign efforts would be part of my job. As a fresh seminary graduate, I had precisely zero requisite experience for the task. I had no experience in fundraising or contracting. And, of course, seminary did not include any preparation for the task.

 Over the course of those years, I had to learn a lot, but perhaps the most important lesson I learned was that leading a congregation through a capital campaign could be a significant spiritual blessing.

, , ,

You and the Universal Church

, , ,
You and the Universal Church

Healthy Christians know that the Church is bigger than their church. We call this the universal church, the collective body of all followers of Jesus worldwide and across history. This spiritual entity is invisible, transcending denominations.

Unhealthy churches and denominations communicate directly and indirectly that they are the only true church. Unsound churches make the opposite error: not drawing any boundaries for who is outside of the orthodox church.

But what does this mean for the ordinary Christian? For many Christians, it doesn’t mean much at all. Their only meaningful connection to the church is with their church.

, , , , ,

Fundraising for the Glory of God

, , , , ,
Fundraising for the Glory of God

Weeks before I received my first calling as a pastor, the elders decided that they were going to seek to acquire property and build a new facility for the church. They informed me that leading the relocation and capital campaign efforts would be part of my job. As a fresh seminary graduate, I had precisely zero requisite experience for the task. I had no experience in fundraising or contracting. And, of course, seminary did not include any preparation for the task.

 Over the course of those years, I had to learn a lot, but perhaps the most important lesson I learned was that leading a congregation through a capital campaign could be a significant spiritual blessing.

, , , ,

Worshiping Through Our Service

, , , ,
Worshiping Through Our Service

Most Sundays, like most churches, New Life Bible Fellowship gathers to sing, pray, and hear the Word of God preached. This is a beautiful, biblical rhythm (Acts 2:42). But what if, on occasion, the most faithful way to worship is not inside the walls of the church but outside, serving our community? Once a year, we gather to Love Tucson. Before we worship, pray, and hear God’s Word together, we serve at a partner school.

Love Tucson is one of my favorite Sundays of the year.

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!