Identity, Reading, Recommendations
John Beeson
Who are You?

Do you want to know God better? Know yourself better. You, after all, were made in his image. Do you want to know yourself better? Know God better.

My wife Angel and I wrote Trading Faces: Removing the Masks that Hide Your God-Given Identity in order to combat the lies we are tempted to believe about who we are and press into God’s Word to hear his truth.

Many have asked when the audiobook will release. We are delighted to share that the Trading Faces audiobook is now available!

Who are You?
Recommendations, Church, Family, Religion
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Will I ever love a church again? Brittany Allen asks, “Could I reclaim that vulnerability that once came so naturally to me after it had been used as a weapon pointed at my own heart? Could God rebuild my faith in his Bride and redeem what had been lost?”

  2. The hidden curriculum of the wilderness: Christopher Cook says, “When you’re in that space—the wilderness between who you were and who you’re becoming—you will be tempted to mislabel it; to call it punishment; to rebuke it like it’s an attack; even, to distract yourself from it.

This Week's Recommendations
Generosity, Church, Gratitude, Leadership
John Beeson
Invisible Generosity

I’m normally the second person to arrive at church on Sunday morning. Nick is always first. Nick arrives at 5am, straps on his blower, and cleans the sidewalks and patios. What a heart of hospitality: to volunteer to make sure that the church is looking her best come Sunday morning.

This is one notable act of service among countless others. A few years ago, two members of our connection group showed up within an hour of my text to help me move a jacuzzi. In our two local moves, we’ve had more than two dozen help us. Our connection group dropped off meals at our doorstep when we had Covid.

Invisible Generosity
Culture, Death, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Planned Obsolescence and My Backpack

I’ve had four bags in my (nearly) ten years of pastoral ministry at New Life. I bought a leather briefcase that was too small and came apart at the seams followed by a leather briefcase that was too large and stiff. I gave up on the briefcase experiment and for the past three years I have used my son’s hand-me-down backpack from his middle school years. My wife and kids constantly teased me about my middle school backpack. But you know,

Four years ago, I was tagging along on my wife’s shopping trip and found a backpack tucked away on a clearance rack. It was love at first sight, and not just because of the 60% off tag.

Planned Obsolescence and My Backpack
Recommendations, Christian Living, Culture, Heaven
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Four good questions to ask your tech: Tim Challies says, “We are in constant communication with our devices and through our devices. And since we are already in the habit of asking them our deep and personal questions, perhaps it would do us good to ask them some good and honest questions about themselves. Here are four questions I propose we ask of any technology that has become (or has the potential to become) deeply embedded in our lives.”

  2. Embracing the silence: Christopher Cook says, “We’re spiritually exhausted, disoriented, and desperate to hear from God. And in our desperation, we turn up the volume, hoping that more input will lead to more clarity. But the Lord doesn’t compete with the chaos. His voice doesn’t cut through the noise. It waits for stillness.”

This Week's Recommendations

Nature

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. My Son Did Not Live One Day More or Less Than God Planned: Erik Reed shares the powerful story of grieving over his 15-year-old son's death and holding onto the truth of God's sovereignty. He shares, "Before Kaleb existed in the womb, he existed in the mind of God. From the foundation of the world, God determined that Kaleb Reed be born on March 8, 2004. Not only is this true, but He wrote the days of Kaleb’s life in His book, before one single day came to pass. God wrote the days of his life in His book and He didn’t write it in pencil."

2. Medical Ethics, Gender Identity, and Children: Robert George and Ryan Anderson weigh in on this complicated issue. They conclude, "Prudent legislation is needed to prevent adults from interfering with a child’s normal, natural bodily development. “Gender affirmation” procedures violate sound medical ethics. It is profoundly unethical to intervene in the normal physical development of a child as part of “affirming” a “gender identity” at odds with bodily sex."

3. Come to Me All Who Have COVID Weariness: My friend Benjamin Vrbicek with a timely and poignant post. He says, “The flowing current of COVID sadness can drown the strongest swimmer. You might already be gasping for air. If you feel this way, come to Jesus. Pray to him. Read his word. Belong to his church... Come and enjoy the freedom found in being loved by the Savior, not controlled by a harsh slave master.”

4. Navigating Different COVID-19 Recovery Convictions: I have felt the heat of different convictions and share Costi Hinn’s concern that “one of the ways the enemy will seek to divide our ranks within the church is tempting us to use our opinions against each other. IF the Devil has his way, we’ll be throwing stones of accusation from all sides, calling the cautious people ‘soft,’ labeling the optimists of being ‘reckless.’”

5. Do We Really Want to Go Back to Normal: Trevin Wax considers some of the ways he hopes that COVID-19 re-shapes us. He says, “What if this period of forced isolation can help us see the end result of radical individualism’s trajectory, so that in the end we come out of our enclaves and homes with a stronger commitment to our communities, our churches, and our country?”

6. Behind the Scenes of One of the World’s Top Nature Photographers: I love the combination of skill, creativity, and perseverance Yarrow demonstrates in his craft.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. The Problem with 'Spiritual But Not Religious': This phrase actually masks what the person is trying to say, David Qaoud asserts. His argument is simple and helpful.

2. Think Maturity Rather Than Change: My friend John Starke offers wise counsel. He begins, "Many Christians want to change. We do not like what we are prone to do or the behavioral impulses we display. We long to be different. The New Testament gives us good reason to think we can. “Transformation” is the imagery it often uses."

3. Possibilities and Preferences as We Adjust Our New Normal: My friend Jeff Johnson tells the story of how the chicory root made its way into coffee and how that changed the taste of a long line of coffee drinkers. He concludes, “A crisis induces variation – which is the first step in a successful innovation process. Maybe necessity is not the mother of invention, but the mother of variation. It reshuffles the raw ingredients you have to work with, and the present crisis is doing just that. Not returning to the way things looked before, but to a better version, informed by what we’ve learned – we can hope that that becomes true along many dimensions of our society.”

4. The Handshake: A Eulogy: Tyler Grant believes that the handshake will be one of the victims of COVID-19: a social custom that may never return. He considers what a handshake meant, “There was an intimacy engrained in a handshake — one between people that was culturally acceptable, before now, and allowed you to look someone in the eye while skin-to-skin. This brief touch had always been instructive. Who exudes gravitas. Who projects safety. Who hasn’t worked with their hands.”

5. The Amazing Hummingbird: The engineering of the hummingbird defies the imagination.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. Like Lovers, Parted by War: Rebecca McLaughlin compares the departure of an American soldier in WWII to the socially distanced church. She concludes, “While we’re forced to be apart, let’s long for the day when we come together again. Let’s long like Steve Vlaskamp longed for his wife, and like Captain Harville longed for his family. Let’s set our sights on the soon-to-come day when we’ll be back in church once more. And in this time of short-term deprivation, let’s long for the long-term: when we’ll gather from every tribe and tongue and nation to worship Jesus as one body together (Revelation 7:9), when the Lamb will be on his throne, and final peacetime will – at last – have come.”

2. Banning Plastic Bags Isn't Going to Save the Planet: Bjorn Lomborg with a controversial opinion about why this slogan doesn't deal with the actual issue.

3. How the Virus Got Out: This is stunning work by the New York Times that visually depicts the spread of COVID-19 from one seafood market in Wuhan to every corner of the globe. You need a NYT account, but can get one for free right now.

4. How Porn Kills Healthy Sexual Relationships: Tim Barnett begins, "Neuroscience is clear: porn affects your brain. But it does more than that. It also affects your heart. That is, it changes how we relate to other people... For instance, husbands who regularly use pornography have trouble connecting sexually with their wife."

5. 5 Signs Your Character is Slowly Imploding: Carey Niewhof shares that we need to be aware of the gap between our public and private life, "Character rarely implodes suddenly. Instead, there’s almost always a slow erosion until eventually your character implodes. Consequently, wise leaders keep an eye on any gaps between what they say publicly and how they live privately."

6. There Once Was a Farmer: Are you struggling with discouragement? This post by Christ Thomas is one of the best pieces of writing I've read in a while, and profound.

7. The Deep Sea: This interactive page is fabulous! You're going to love it.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. 1 in 3 Teens Say They're Religiously Unaffiliated: Aaron Earls reports on findings about teens and religion. One of the interesting notes is that, "Among those who dropped out between the ages of 18 and 22, only 31% say they now attend church regularly."

2. A Tale of Two Failures: My friend Jeff Johnson with a reflection on true engineering failures and why they ought to make us rethink the "fail fast" motto adopted by many in the business world.

3. 12 Things I'd Tell My 25 Year-Old Self About Life and Leadership: Such a great list by Carey Niewhof. He begins with an invitation to trust and submit to the Bible: "For almost my entire life, I have believed that the Word of God is just that – the Word of God. I always landed on the side that trusts the authority of scripture. But I would read certain passages and say to myself “Come on….really?” I thought I knew better."

4. How is Your Prayer Life? Crossway asked that question to Americans and got a helpful glimpse into the average American's prayer life.

5. Interactive Fireflies: This is a fun and interactive explanation of how fireflies can synchronize.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       The Average American Hasn't Made a Friend in Five Years: Oh my, this is disturbing news in a new study commissioned by Evite. And the friends we do have don't appear to be that close: "So what about the friends we already have? According to the survey, the average adult has 16 current, active friendships. Of those friends, three are considered friends for life, five are worthy of a one-on-one hang out session, and eight are generally well-liked but not enough to hang out with in person all that often."

2.       What Are Your Sexpectations? Expectations regarding couples' sex lives can be destructive. I appreciate this article's comparison of cultural verse biblical expectations for sex.

3.       5 Keys to a Great Apology: Carey Niewhof begins, " Two of the most powerful words a leader can utter are simply “I apologize”."

4.       Things Stay-at-Home Mothers Aren't Allowed to Talk About: Melissa Edgington concludes this thoughtful post with this perfect conclusion, " Emerald made me a card this weekend, saying she loves it that I “didn’t want a job.” I have never specifically talked with her about being a stay-at-home mom, but at seven years old she is already understanding a little bit of my heart when it comes to our family. I don’t know if she’ll wind up being the PTO President or a CEO, but if she chooses to stay home with babies, I pray that she will find in it the complete joy that I have. Because this world needs kind and artistic and smart and funny women like her in the kitchens and the laundry rooms and the carpool lines, and there is nothing at all wrong with her giving herself to her family, undivided."

5.       Vorticity: Mesmerizing cloud formations.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       3 Lies Our Life Online Tells Us: Samuel James digs beneath the surface to three lies that a life of constant connectivity speaks to us. The third is "I have to say something!" James explains, " Because digital space is without any embodied presence, people tend to be reduced to their input — who they are is what they post. This means that a major liturgy of online culture is that silence is a problem."

2.       52 Things I Learned in 2019: This is a cool list by Tom Whitwell. There are lots of fun gems like this one, "Harbinger customers are customers who buy products that tend to fail. They group together, forming harbinger zip codes. If households in those zip codes buy a product, it is likely to fail. If they back a political candidate, they are likely to lose the election."

3.       How Do You Face Crippling Anxiety? My friend Brie Wetherbee with five pieces of practical and hope-filled advice.

4.       Is God Guilty of Genocide? What do we with the conquest narratives in the Old Testament? Michael Kruger begins, "When the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, was it not God who commanded them to wipe out all the indigenous people (Deut. 20:17)? Is God not guilty of genocide? It makes me think of the famous bumper-sticker quote, 'The only difference between God and Adolf Hitler is that God is more proficient at genocide.'"

5.       The Size of Space: You won't want to miss this awesome interactive site. Our Creator is inconceivable!

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       44% of Americans Believe that Clergy Have a Negative Impact on Society: Ouch! Meanwhile, teachers, doctors, scientists, and military members all have 75%+ who believe they have a positive impact.

2.       The Pros and Cons of Screens Regarding Learning: Nicole Beurkens, a Clinical Psychologist, weighs in on the impact of screen time. She says that "Research also shows  that while some cognitive skills can be strengthened with online  learning games, higher level skills such as critical thinking,  imagination, and the ability to reflect can actually get weaker."

3.       Busyness and Rest: Kevin DeYoung reflects on Jesus maneuvering the demands of the world in a godly way, "Don’t think Jesus is some kind of esoteric teacher who spent His life solely in contemplation. If Jesus ministered in the flesh today, He’d get more emails than any of us. He would have people and the media clamoring for His attention. Jesus did not float above the fray, untouched by the pressures of normal human existence. Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). And that includes the temptation to be sinfully busy. But He wasn’t."

4.       Your Capacity is Defined by Your Character, Not Your Competency: Grateful to Carey Niewhof for this word. "Nobody is going to ever pay you to work on your character. They’ll just fire you if you don’t. The same is also true in your life. Think about it. Nobody is ever going to pay you to work on your character. They’ll just leave you if you don’t. The truth isn’t pretty, but this is how divorce happens, how families fall apart, how kids end up disliking their parents and parents end up resenting their kids. It’s how you find yourself without many friends."

5.       Most Americans Want Little Influence from Religious Leaders: Yikes. This speaks to the steep hill we as religious leaders need to climb to speak into the lives of our neighbors and communities. We shouldn't assume that our voice is welcomed. 

6.       Kidnapper Ants Steal Other Ants Babies--and Brainwash Them: Isn't God's creation wild? You can't make this stuff up.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       Your Sin is Not Your Friend: Scott Slayton reminds us that, " While the lure of sin looks shiny and desirable, the hook sinks deep and it harms our witness, steals our joy, and stifles our walk with the Lord.."

2.       Eve's Nakedness and Your Broken Body: Brianna McClean begins, "80% of 10 year old girls list ‘being overweight’ as one of their biggest fears." She offers biblical hope to the pervasive body image issues many women suffer from and concludes with practical advice.

3.       Dear America, You and I Have a Complicated Relationship: Amy Medina, who grew up as a missionary kid and now is back on the field overseas as a missionary brings a unique perspective to America's strengths and weaknesses. She concludes, " You, my country, are complicated. But so is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in a fallen world."

4.       Understanding Transgender Philosophy: A helpful excerpt from Vaughan Roberts' book. He says, "Behind the different points of view are not only different worldviews but different gospels: different understandings of what leads to freedom and fulfilment. The “gospel” story which the world tells us goes something like this: For years our spirits have been suffocated by restrictive traditions and morality. But now we must have the courage to follow our own light. We must resist anyone or anything that stands in our way. We must discover the hero inside ourselves and enter into the freedom that comes when we become who we really are."

5.       Wildlife Photographer of the Year: There are some jaw-dropping photos here. Check out that leopard seal and penguin!

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       10 Ways Leaders Shape Their Teams: Eric Geiger with excellent advice to each of us leaders. His tenth is "Sacrifice of the leader, sacrifice of the team. Leaders who make sacrifices for the mission of the team have credibility to invite others to do the same. And the others are often inspired by the leader to make sacrifices themselves."

2.       The BBC Reveals 100 Genders: Stephen McAlpine's opines, " I’m tempted to just get out the popcorn and sit and watch the train-wreck, but it’s too sad for that.  It’s just a sign of the cultural/intellectual suicide we’re seeing in a society that has no base other than the individuated self.   The bodies – whatever gender they deem themselves to be  – will start to wash up on our cultural shores at some stage.  I just hope there are enough people willing to care for these broken, confused souls."

3.       Why God Made Your Mouth: Scott Hubbard begins, " The average person speaks at least 7,000 words a day, or about 50,000 words a week — the length of a short book. We are authors, all of us, publishing 52 books a year from this printing press called the mouth."

4.       The Reward of Sin: This is a short but powerful analogy about our relationship with sin.

5.       The Most Beautiful Natural Wonder in Every State: What a beautiful nation we live in! This will do just fine as a travel itinerary ;-).

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1.       Americans Opinion of the Church Continues to Fall: Aaron Earls reports that "Today, 36% of Americans say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the church or organized religion—an all-time low." Included in the report is a break-down on gender and generational opinions as well as the most significant young people leave the church: a political disagreement.

2.       Blood Calls to Blood: Samuel James reflects on how the messiness of God's redemptive crushes the siren's call toward the fuzzy spirituality of America. He begins, "This is embarrassing to admit, but here goes. If I were not a Christian, I’m pretty sure I would be a Unitarian Universalist, or something like one... For me, this exercise is hypothetical. For a lot of people, it’s where they actually are. A whopping 72% of Americans believe in heaven; 58% believe in hell. That 14-point gap is one of the most seductive places I can imagine. Who wouldn’t sell all they had to live in a world of just heaven, no hell?"

3.       6 Ways You Might Be Sabotaging Your Team: Daniel Darling asks important and pointed questions for us to consider. One of the six is "neglecting intentional encouragement." He says, " You’d be surprised how even seemingly confident employees or volunteers go home wondering, Do they like me here? Do they value my work?"

4.       4 Promises for Same-Sex Attracted Christians: Helpful and biblical wisdom from a partner on the journey, Christopher Asmus. He concludes, "If you’re a Christian struggling with same-sex attractions, know that you are not defined by your sin. Your identity is not determined by your temptations. “Embrace who you really are” by embracing Jesus Christ and your new life found in him (2 Corinthians 5:17) and enjoying the freedoms Christ purchased for you with his blood."

5.       Nature's Uprising: This video by Thomas Blanchard comes with my guarantee: if it doesn't wow you, you can give me a topic to write a post on and I’ll do it!

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