Identity, Mission, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, Vocation
John Beeson
God's Special Calling on Your Life

My heart was still beating fast from the rush of adrenaline from speaking to the crowd of several hundred teens. I stepped off the stage on that hot May night and an older man put his hand on my shoulder. “God has a calling on your life, son. You are going to bring revival to your generation.” I was eighteen years old.

The words churned in my heart and mind for many years. Sometimes they were an encouragement. Sometimes they were a burden. They were always aspirational: how amazing would it be to be part of leading revival?

God's Special Calling on Your Life
Recommendations, Culture, Parenting, Wisdom
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The class divide over screen time: O. Alan Noble notes that children in lower class households spend twice as much time per day on screens. He explains the five reasons why he believes this is the cases. For instance, “The reality is that the less income you have, the less resources you have to care for your children. This includes having less income to spend on childcare, but also less emotional and mental bandwidth to care for your children because of the burdens poverty places upon you.”

  2. Life will not get easier: Stephen Witmer begins, “There’s a lie we all want to believe — even against all available evidence. It trades on our God-given capacity for hope. It tempts even those with impeccable theology.

This Week's Recommendations
Easter, Death, Identity, Suffering
John Beeson
Behold, the Suffering Servant

Isaiah’s prophetic word to Israel contains four Servant Songs. You are probably familiar with the fourth of these, which you may well have read during Holy Week as we considered Christ’s sacrifice for us. As Christians we hold onto the incongruent truths that Christ was exalted and despised. But we sometimes miss the seemingly paradox that the Servant Songs refer to Jesus and us. What is true of Christ is true of us.

Behold, the Suffering Servant
Death, Easter, Heaven
John Beeson
The Resurrection of Jesus: An Eyewitness Account

Happy Easter!

Today we consider the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. What follows is a compilation of the eyewitness resurrection accounts of Jesus Christ as told by the authors of the gospels. They have been edited together to maintain the flow of the narrative and do not include Jesus’ multiple appearances following his resurrection. The accounts are framed by Paul’s extended reflection on the importance of the resurrection.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

The Resurrection of Jesus: An Eyewitness Account
Recommendations, Easter, Death, Heaven, Nature
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Eagles, fowl, and a Savior with wings: Kevin Burrell’s post makes my heart sing, “And a living, risen savior is still our covering today, to all those who by faith trust in his wings. In fact, we are clothed in his righteousness. He is oh-so willing to gather us under his wings.”

  2. Even to death: Jamaal Williams invites us to consider Jesus at the Mount of Olives, “Jesus models what it looks like to stumble into the presence of God—hurting but hopeful.”

This Week's Recommendations

Church

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Suffering and Satan's Purposes

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Suffering and Satan's Purposes

“I’m done with God.” “No one will ever understand.” “I’m never trusting anyone again.” “I can’t pray.” “I won’t pray.” I’ve heard all of these statements from people in the midst of suffering. The unrelenting blows of suffering can twist our hearts away from God.

Satan has purposes for your life. Satan has intentions for your suffering.

When you face suffering, remember that the enemy intends to use your suffering to draw you away from God. When Peter warns us of the work of the enemy, he cautions, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The enemy is not to be taken lightly. He desires to devour you.

The context of this warning is worth noting. Peter continues, “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:9). The enemy is prowling around those who are suffering. Like a wounded animal, when we suffer, the enemy smells blood.

Satan has used this blunt instrument since Job, and he uses it today. Don’t be ignorant of what the enemy wants to do with your suffering.

Satan intends for your suffering to cause you to:

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How to Get Your Teenager to Want to Go to Church

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How to Get Your Teenager to Want to Go to Church

Every other Sunday I pick up my twelve-year-old nephew at 6:30am. He piles into the car alongside my fifteen-year-old son and seventeen-year-old daughter. What could possibly drag these three students out of bed at such an hour? They serve on the tech team at New Life.

Do I have to cajole them? Beg them? Bribe them? Nope.

After we get back from a long Sunday morning, we’ll enjoy a late lunch, some time of recuperation, and then they’ll be headed back out of the house at 4:30 pm for our Student Ministry, where they will play on the worship team. They’ll also insist on going to the tech team hangout Monday night and they will be at church Thursday night for worship and tech team practice. They’ll do it all with joy.

Studies show us the challenge it is to keep young adults engaged in church following their high school graduation.[i] 66% of 18-22 year-olds who regularly attended church during high school dropped out for at least a year during those transitional years. How can we do a better job of launching teens into a commitment to Christ and his church following high school?

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1+ 36 Prayers of Repentance for Pastors

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1+ 36 Prayers of Repentance for Pastors

An Indian pastor friend recently shared with me a series of prayers of repentance he wrote for himself and his fellow Indian pastors.[i] I’ve benefited from praying these prayers. It came at a good time as I’ve been walking through Piercing Heaven, a wonderful book of prayers from the Puritans that has strengthened my prayer life. Below is a prayer of repentance from Piercing Heaven, and the 37 prayers from my friend. I would encourage you to tailor each as prayers for yourself and your leaders.

My Sins! My Sins!

My heart is a sin-pool; I cannot even count the swarms of sinful thoughts, words, and actions that have flowed from it.

My head and my heart are full from the load of guilt that is on my soul. My mind and body are full of sin.

My sins, they stare at me! My creditors are upon me. Every commandment takes hold of me, for more than ten thousand talents, yes, ten thousand times ten thousand.

How endless then is the sum of my debts!

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The Long View

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The Long View

I can hear the emotion in my son’s voice over the phone. “Dad, please let me get my braces off. They say that they want to work on my bite for a bit longer, but I think it looks great.” He’s had his braces on for three and a half years. They’ve pushed back the date he’ll get his braces off at least four times already. He’s tired of the toll of time and pain. Tired of the food restrictions. Tired of the adjustments.

“God, please end COVID. Please wipe it out. Please let us find a new normal.” It’s a prayer I’ve prayed dozens of times over the past year. I’m tired of the emotional and spiritual toll of walking alongside people who have become sick or have lost loved ones. I’m tired of leading a congregation divided by restrictions: mask mandates and physical distancing. I’m tired of the never-ending adjustments: online, in-person, cleaning, distancing, closures.

I wore braces as a kid. My upper teeth benefited: they run a reasonably straight line, with equal spacing. My lower teeth didn’t: they run a jagged line, angling for space.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. 10 Things You Should Know About the Sexual Revolution: A helpful post from one of the leading evangelical thinkers on the issue, Carl Trueman. One point he makes is, “The sexual revolution is simply one manifestation of a broader culture of what we might call expressive individualism.” Later, he continues, “We all tend to conceive of happiness in psychological terms today. We all bristle under any kind of external authority. We all like to think we are masters of our own identities. That is essentially what the sexual revolution is about.”

2. The Handwriting is on the Wall for the Abortion Industry: An encouraging report from George Grant. He writes, “Although abortion is heralded by the industry lobby as both “safe and legal,” it has become increasingly apparent that abortion is merely “legal.” The complications of this, the most commonly performed medical procedure in America today, are legion.”

3. The Wisdom in Restraining our Lips: Lara d’Entremont offers a heaping of wisdom regarding our words. She shares, “All of our words may be truthful, but they might not be timely.”

4. Expecting Less from Church: Ed Welch shares a conversation following a sermon he didn’t get much from. Welch asks, “Why do we go to church? It’s a question worth revisiting more often, especially now. It raises the related question: What are we expecting? What implicit—and wrong—standards do I have for judging a church?”

5. What to do When the Pain of Others Overwhelms You: Andrea Lee begins her helpful article, “Empathy is a good gift that can go terribly wrong: people with sensitive consciences, vivid imaginations, and caring hearts are often plunged from compassion to poisonous despair by the suffering of others. How does this happen and what can we do about it?”

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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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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. One in Three Practicing Christians Has Stopped Participating in Church: A sobering report from Barna.

2. Biblical Archaeology’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2020: I always appreciate these recaps from Christianity Today. Gordon Govier reports, “Turkish archaeologist Celal Şimşek discovered sacred items used in Christian worship while excavating a house in Laodicea. The peristyle house—built around a central garden or courtyard—was located next to a theater and was likely owned by wealthy people. The apostle Paul sent an epistle to the church at Laodicea, which is mentioned in Colossians but appears to have been lost. The church is also mentioned in Revelation…”

3. Don’t Be an Esau: Ray Majoran exhorts us to not sell our birthright for stew. He says, “In 2020, I saw many (professed) Christians giving up their birthright for a bowl of soup.”

4. Wait for it: Susan Lafferty with a delightful reflection on anticipating what we’ve already seen.

5. When God Goes Big and I Go Small: Tim Challies says that our impulse to wriggle out of sweeping biblical commands is dangerous. He says, “The Bible speaks in broad words, in great sweeping statements. There are times to interpret those words and statements, to apply wisdom to them. But first we must deal with them as they are, to allow them to hit with all of their force, all of their impact. Then, and only then, do we ask our “what if” questions.”

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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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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. COVID Vaccines May Work, but are They Safe? I appreciate this well-considered conversation of vaccines by Dr. Charles Horton at World. He explains how the vaccines work and whether or not they are ethically sourced. If you like this piece, I recommend subscribing to the World and Everything In It podcast.

2. When Looking for a Church, Beware the ‘Right Fit’: Excellent piece by Australian pastor, Murray Campbell. He shares, “There are good reasons for joining and leaving a church, and not so good reasons. There are sensible reasons and sinful reasons. But among the most common is what I often call a spiritualized version of natural selection.”

3. In Praise of the Average Pastor: Darryl Dash with a moving post. He begins, “Few search committees look for one. Few young men aspire to become one. But it’s what most churches need. I’m grateful for the average pastor.”

4. Should We Expect Our Jobs to Make us Happy? Barnabas Piper uses a great metaphor of weak household hooks and compares them to the weight of our happiness we try to hang on our jobs.

5. Do Not Trust Your Anger: Ray Ortlund begins, “Our world, including our Christian circles, gives us opportunities galore for anger. It’s not as though provocations lie on only one side of the theological, political, or cultural divides. Bob Dylan was right: ‘Everything is broken.’ No wonder, then, that a whole lot can light the fuse of our anger.”

6. Think Twice Before Changing Churches: 2020 might feel like exactly the right time to change churches. Ivan Mesa argues why that isn’t the case. He concludes, “Sometimes faithfulness means walking out. More often than not, though, it means staying put.”

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Would you Extend Grace to Your Pastor?

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Would you Extend Grace to Your Pastor?

I may or may not know your pastor. But I know one thing: your pastor is tired.

I have the blessing of being a part of a couple of local pastors’ groups and am friends with a number of pastors outside of those groups. While we come from a broad spectrum theologically and denominationally, we all share the same experience of leading a church through COVID-19. We are worn out.

I know you’re tired as well. This has been an exhausting stretch for all of us. My heart with this post isn’t to have you pull out your violin for pastors, nor is it to diminish the challenges of non-pastors during this time. My heart is to give you a peek behind the curtains so that we might grow in grace with one another.

I will first explain six reasons why this season has been so hard for your pastor, and then I will share six ways you can show your pastor grace.

Why has this season been particularly trying?

1. COVID-19

Pastoring the sick when you can’t visit a hospital is frustrating. Pastoring those who are at risk and are fearful has been a challenge, especially when you can’t meet with them face-to-face.

2. Masks

Whatever decision you make as a church about wearing masks will meet heavy criticism from some contingent. We’ve lost several people (we know of) from our congregation over our decisions around masks. It’s heartbreaking.

3. Politics

Everything seems to be viewed through the lens of politics: masks, race, decisions to open your church facility or not. Data tells us that Americans are consuming massive amounts of news coverage. Many view the world through red or blue-tinted glasses. One of my pastor friends recently texted me, “Polarization tells people to bundle every possible statement as part of some partisan agenda, which makes saying anything a losing position. The bind I wrestle with is how to simultaneously be a human (who has my convictions and thoughts on everything), a pastor, and non-polarizing.” Most pastors believe that the Bible speaks in contradistinction to both American political parties. Both are out of step in their own way with a biblical vision of governance and justice. But to speak as a follower of Jesus, not the Republican or Democratic party, sets your pastor at odds with both.

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