Why Do Billionaires Want to Live Forever: Tim Challies begins a deep reflection with this question, “Why is it that billionaires always seem to want to live forever? Why is it that the 1% of the 1% almost always seem to veer from their core businesses into attempts to prolong their lives indefinitely?”
Why Mainstream Scholars often Differ with Evangelical Pastors on the Gospel: Having attended a mainline seminary, I resonated with George Sinclair’s reasoning here. Near the end of the post he shares, “There is a rich, thick, deep history and literature of Christian thought which shows not just the truth and reasonableness of miracles, but the importance of them for a wide, humane, and beautiful understanding of the world—one which leads to human flourishing.”
Fertility is Not a Disease: D Eaton writes, “This desire to have sexual pleasure without constraint has culture suppressing the truth of not only biblical revelation but also science. To justify the extermination of the child, we must classify the child in the womb as either not a human in its natural course of existence or not alive. It is impossible to deny either scientifically, yet logic and truth must be sacrificed on the altar of sexual autonomy.”
The Last Gift My Father Gave Me: This is an excellent piece from Mike Cosper. He shares how his father’s death allowed him to finally experience the gift of grief.
Your Money Will Trick You: Trevin Wax reminds us, “Jesus says ‘Watch out!’ and ‘Be on guard’ as if there’s a silent, stealthy enemy creeping up on an unsuspecting person, ready to pounce. We like to think of wealth and possessions as inanimate objects, helpful to us if we use them correctly, but basically neutral.”
This Week's Recommendations
Why Do Billionaires Want to Live Forever: Tim Challies begins a deep reflection with this question, “Why is it that billionaires always seem to want to live forever? Why is it that the 1% of the 1% almost always seem to veer from their core businesses into attempts to prolong their lives indefinitely?”
Why Mainstream Scholars often Differ with Evangelical Pastors on the Gospel: Having attended a mainline seminary, I resonated with George Sinclair’s reasoning here. Near the end of the post he shares, “There is a rich, thick, deep history and literature of Christian thought which shows not just the truth and reasonableness of miracles, but the importance of them for a wide, humane, and beautiful understanding of the world—one which leads to human flourishing.”
Fertility is Not a Disease: D Eaton writes, “This desire to have sexual pleasure without constraint has culture suppressing the truth of not only biblical revelation but also science. To justify the extermination of the child, we must classify the child in the womb as either not a human in its natural course of existence or not alive. It is impossible to deny either scientifically, yet logic and truth must be sacrificed on the altar of sexual autonomy.”
The Last Gift My Father Gave Me: This is an excellent piece from Mike Cosper. He shares how his father’s death allowed him to finally experience the gift of grief.
Your Money Will Trick You: Trevin Wax reminds us, “Jesus says ‘Watch out!’ and ‘Be on guard’ as if there’s a silent, stealthy enemy creeping up on an unsuspecting person, ready to pounce. We like to think of wealth and possessions as inanimate objects, helpful to us if we use them correctly, but basically neutral.”
What Our Two-Year-Old Foster Child Taught Me About Care
With our daughter’s recent graduation, I’ve been thinking a lot about parenting and was reminded of this post that I wrote several years ago. I hope it’s helpful to you.
Valentijn was hand-in-hand with the Department of Childhood Services worker. Chubby Romeo snuggled in the crook of her arm. The aid had just driven the boys from the shelter, where they had spent three weeks. Cute roly-poly Romeo was ten months old at the time and well adjusted. It was two-year old Valentijn who had been impacted the most significantly. This was the third time Valentijn had been removed from his home. He was affectionate but fragile and without boundaries.
As the Department of Childcare Services Specialist filled out the transfer paperwork to make our foster care official, Valentijn sat on my lap and pulled out the decorative pine cones from the bowl on the table and chucked them to the ground, one by one.
Not knowing what it looked like to love and discipline him well, I sat there, frozen, and let him disassemble my wife’s handiwork. From that first moment, I knew parenting these two would prove to be a much different task than raising our two biological children.
Our first nights with the boys were a disaster. Accustomed to the environment of the shelter, Valentijn wanted the lights on and woke up often through the night. Learning how to put Valentijn to bed over the next months provided a crash course in how to care well. Learning how to care for this traumatized boy was a steep curve.
This Week's Recommendations
Is Evangelicalism Today Truly Evangelical? It’s a good question Michael Reeves asks. His answer? Not very. “In country after country, we hear stories of abusive and self-serving evangelical leaders. And they are surely only the more noticeable symptoms of a deeper malaise. The same spiritual emptiness that causes dramatic and high-profile falls from grace also stifles heartfelt worship in the pew.”
Does Romans 7 Describe a Christian? John Piper considers whether Paul’s depiction of his struggle against sin is when he was a follower of Jesus or not. “This is a response to the objection from Romans 7:24. Can a real Christian cry out,’“Who will set me free from the body of this death?” To which my response is, Can a real Christian not cry out, ‘Who will set me free from this body of death’?”
If God Really Loved Me, He Would… Sarah Walton begins, “Why are we surprised when trials come? Why do we quickly question God’s goodness, love, and control when we experience the pain of this world? For me, I think it’s because there is a pervasive belief that subtly infiltrates my thought life. One that, deep down, still believes God would keep me from harm and rescue me from pain if he truly loved me.
When Good Things Spiritually Harm Our Kids: Melissa Edgington considers the threat of good things to our kids’ souls. She says, “No true Christian who is a parent would ever in a million years say that an extra-curricular is worth their child’s soul. Yet, what seems like no big deal can result in a lifetime of faithlessness.”
Detailed View of a Crater on Mars: The wonders in our universe!
The Russell Moore Show Podcast: Rachel Denhollander Calls for a Southern Baptist Reckoning: Russell Moore and Rachel Denhollander reflect on the devastating investigation.
Slow Down: a Dad's Reflection
Our kids just finished fifth and seventh grade. Unless God has unexpected plans for us, elementary school is now in our rear view mirror. The week of my son’s fifth grade promotion, Nicole Nordeman’s “Slow Down” came on. I froze as I listened and welled up.
Not Enough Wisdom
“What is your best wisdom for my college years?” Camille asks.
What more wisdom can I offer? What bullets are left in the chamber? What gold nuggets are left in the chest? I search and come up empty.
I’ve given you everything I have, Camille. I don’t have anything left. I’ve poured my heart into yours. You already know the best of what I know. I’ve taught you from the heights of my proudest achievements and from the valleys of my most profound failures. Looking back, those vantage points seem desperately inadequate.
Growing In Our Faith Together
Recently one of the members of our connection group courageously poured out her heart. She felt disconnected from God and bruised by a challenging season of life. “How can I feel like God isn’t so distant?” What a profound question…
Community is the context of vibrant and growing faith. God doesn’t tell us the only way we ought to be praying or reading his Word is individually. On the contrary! God invites us to step into community.
Studies show that people are much more likely to follow through on commitments to exercise and eat healthier when they do so with a partner. I’ve found the same to be true for my spiritual disciplines. While I daily read the Bible alone and pray alone, I find tremendous joy in reading the Bible as a family and praying as a family.
Johnny Depp and a Few Degrees Off Course
Who wouldn’t want to be Johnny Depp?
And yet, all it takes is a quick scroll through the news to see that this man’s life inspires more pity than envy. Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard has accused Depp of domestic abuse. Depp has fought back with a lawsuit charging Heard with abuse. Whatever the truth of who initiated the violence, one can’t help but be sad for Heard and Depp. Physical endangerment, drug and alcohol abuse, and violent, vulgar words marked their toxic and tumultuous relationship.
It has also been reported that Depp managed to blow through $650 million of his $800+ million net worth. One can’t help but scratch your head and wonder how spending that kind of money in a decade is even possible. One gets the sense that Depp has become the living version of his big screen caricature: intoxicated and unmoored.
Who would want to be Johnny Depp?
I think of my daughter and her friends in the final months of their senior year. These are days where they are peppered with questions about their future, “What are your plans?” “Where are you going?” “What are you going to do next?”
Setting one’s sights even slightly off course can result in significant error down the path. Air navigation experts refer to the one in sixty rule, which means that for every degree a plane veers off course initially it will miss its target destination by one mile for every sixty miles flown. The results can be fatal.
Farewell, Sweet Easter Lily
Maundy Thursday, 4pm, 2018
“Angel, give me a call ASAP. We need to talk.”
This is not a text you want to receive from your DCS case worker.
We called immediately.
“We’ve decided to move Lily to a home closer to her half-sister.”
We hadn’t been notified that was even a possibility.
“Can we pick her up tonight?”
We talked the case worker out of that idea and into waiting until Monday.
We hung up the phone and sat in silence, shocked.
Jesus took the unleavened bread that Passover night and he gave it to his disciples, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”[i]
Our bond with Lily had come so naturally. She had been with us less than four months, but we were a mutual admiration society. After a couple of weeks of trauma-induced non-responsive behavior, she opened up (I reflected on that miracle here). It wasn’t long before her squeals and belly laughs filled our home. We kissed her, squeezed her, and sung and prayed over her.
We dreamed of the possibility of adopting Lilly. We didn’t know if that would be possible, but we knew that the case would be a long one. We would get to enjoy her for at least another year.
The Best of the Bee Hive in 2021
My heart with my blogging ministry at The Bee Hive is to pastor through words. When I launched The Bee Hive, I wasn’t sure how many I would be able to shepherd through my writing.
In my first year of blogging, 2017, I was encouraged to have 1,767 unique visitors to my website with 3,939 page views. I was glad that my writing was being read and hopeful that it was helpful. I was concerned, though, that maybe after an acquaintance read the blog a couple times, the interest would diminish, and the impact would wane.
That fear was answered in 2018, when I saw the first year’s numbers nearly double, with 3,463 unique visitors and 6,398 page views. In 2019, I was shocked to double those numbers again with 8,500 unique visitors and over 13,600 page views. In 2020, those numbers grew to 12,000 unique visitors and 17,000 page views. And this year, my blog grew to 28,000 unique visitors and 49,000 page views.
On top of that are my faithful subscribers (thank you!) who read my posts via email. Mailchimp tells me 59% of you often read my posts, which means that in this past year, around 46,000 posts were read via email.
All of this is a surprise and a great encouragement to me.
Sometimes readers will ask how they can support me. That is a kind question. I would offer four meaningful ways to encourage me as a pastor-writer:
Subscribe. Subscribing to my emails lets me know you’re in. In a context where social media outlets depress the visibility of bloggers, subscribing helps me know my blog is reaching my readers. You can subscribe at the top of the home page.
Share. It’s so encouraging when you share content with your friends that is meaningful to you.
Comment. Your words of affirmation mean so much to me.
Support. The elders of New Life Bible Fellowship are generous enough to allow me to write as part of my role as pastor. It is for that reason I do not ask for personal financial support. If you have felt blessed by this ministry of New Life, I would encourage you to consider supporting our church. You may do so here.
My seven most-read posts of 2021 follow. It is always interesting to me which of my posts resonate with readers. If any of these posts blessed you, would you share it with a friend?
Please know how grateful I am for you. Thank you for your support and for investing your time and energy in reading The Bee Hive.