Recommendations, Culture, Death, Suffering, Wisdom
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Are we the idols? Andrew Noble says, “It is strange to become an idol, isn’t it? It’s hard to wrap your mind around. Yet every day, people are morphing into something like mud. Instead of functioning as images of God, they worship idols and turn into lifeless dust. Life goes wrong when we don’t worship right.”

  2. Weakness in God’s economy: Kirsten shares, “As I consider my heart, my struggle does not come in whether or not I believe that God is able to heal; I believe that God is able to do all that pleases him. Rather, my struggle comes in believing whether or not God is willing; at least in the timeframe I am hoping and praying.”

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Gratitude
John Beeson
How Hard Is Your Heart?

You can tell a good piece of fruit or vegetable by its color and by its feel. The avocado, though, is tricky. A novice might think that a bright green, hard avocado is the best, but counter-intuitively, the best avocados are dark, with shades of brown, giving easily to the touch. The heart of a growing Christian also gives easily to the touch.

When we seek out counsel, the state of our hearts can resist the very thing we want. A soft heart can turn mediocre counsel into pearls of wisdom. A hard heart will turn the wisest counsel into sawdust.

How Hard Is Your Heart?
Prayer, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Is Jesus the Chaplain of Your Status Quo?

When was the last time you prayed for a miracle?

Do you ever find yourself struggling to pray boldly in your prayers? I do.

Recently the New Life elders had the blessing of praying for a man with multiple sclerosis. I found myself battling over how assertive my prayers for healing ought to be. Should I be praying more for physical healing, or more for strength and faith as he battles the autoimmune disease?

We hold both of these impulses in prayer. To only pray for the miraculous and neglect the formative aspects of suffering is to fall into the lie of the prosperity gospel…

Is Jesus the Chaplain of Your Status Quo?
Recommendations
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Some therapists aren’t telling you the truth: Christopher Cook begins, “Somewhere along the way, a cadre of therapists stopped telling people the truth. What began as a space for self-examination, emotional healing, and forward movement has slowly morphed into a mirror, one that reflects dysfunction and calls it authenticity.”

  2. School choice participation up 25%: Adam Wittenberg reports that, “These gains mark a seismic shift in how America educates its children.”

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Prayer, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Listen to Your Life

My wife is very comfortable with quiet. I admire her ability to sit peacefully and listen to God. 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 that I live in. It means that I input quite a lot of information. I benefit from many wise voices and am grateful for the gift of music which inspires, soothes, and provokes.

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

Listen to Your Life
, , ,

Thanksgiving Recommendations

, , ,
Thanksgiving Recommendations

1.       7 Ideas to Make Thanks Last Longer Than Thanksgiving: This is a nice family-friendly list of ideas. I particularly like “inspire awe of God,” with the reminder that, “The more intimately we know someone, the more grateful we tend to be when we receive gifts from them. “

2.       Gratefulness and God’s Sovereign Goodness: Eric Alexander reminds us, “For the Christian, ingratitude is not just a failure in manners. It is a sin against the God who did not spare even His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.”

3.       Worthy? This is a simple but beautiful reflection by Mike Emlet. He concludes, “Are you worthy? No. But Jesus doesn’t require fitness from you. You only have to feel your need of him. You only have to see that his worthiness is sufficient for you. And this means that no matter your need, you can come to him boldly today.”

4.       Holding a Grudge Can Make You Sick: Ashley Abramson approaches the issue of unforgiveness from a scientific perspective. Abramson explains, “Many of the positive outcomes are psychological — forgiveness is a form of emotional regulation, since forgiving someone is an alternative to negative thought processes like ruminating on offenses or holding in negative feelings, both of which can lead to chronic stress.”

5.       The Quiet Liturgy of Fred Rogers: I’ve been looking forward to watching “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” and this only piques my interest more. Ryan Pemberton concludes, “Fred Rogers’s life represents a liturgical invitation to embody the story of one who was a neighbor when a neighbor was needed—that others might receive the invitation to be a neighbor. It’s an invitation we refuse at risk of our own destruction.”

,

Grumbling to Gratitude

,
Grumbling to Gratitude

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a time where God’s powerful and miraculous hand was impossible to deny? Such were the days of the Israelites who lived during Moses’s lifetime.

The books of Exodus and Numbers track God’s miraculous rescue of Israel out of the clutches of centuries of Egyptian enslavement. God isn’t only going to rescue his people; he is taking them to the long-awaited Promised Land.

There is only one obstacle preventing Israel from escaping from Egypt and seizing the Promised Land. That obstacle isn’t Pharaoh and his massive army. It isn’t the imposing Red Sea. It isn’t even the entrenched Canaanite forces.

The only obstacle is the grumbling hearts of the Israelites.

The two words in Hebrew that are translated “grumble” are lun and ragan. Lun has the connotation of growling. Ragan has the connotation of whispered rebellion. The word in Greek that is translated as grumble is a fun word to say: gogguzo. The word sits in the back of your throat and you have to spit it out. Just for fun say it out loud now (a nice scowl makes it even better).

Each of these three words captures the state of each of our hearts in the midst of our grumbling. When we grumble we growl against God. Recently a congregant showed me the 22 stitches he received when a dog thought he was a threat. Like an angry dog who misperceives your kind intentions to pet it, we growl against our gentle and kind Heavenly Father wanting to love and care for us. When we grumble, we rebel against God’s rule. Our grumbling declares our distrust of God’s sovereign rule over our lives. “Not good enough!” we spit at the Almighty.

,

Interested in a Book for Advent?

,
Interested in a Book for Advent?

Christmas is in the air! I know, I know… Thanksgiving is first. But if you are thinking about a Christmas read or an Advent plan for Christmas, I wanted to get this to you earlier rather than later. One of our favorite things to do for Advent as a family is to use a book to guide our time as preparation. If you haven’t tried it, I encourage you to see if it is a blessing to you.

I asked friends for their favorites and compiled this list for you. I would love for your feedback on some of your favorite Christmas and Advent favorites.

, , , , , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , , , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

1.       The Worst Sales Promotion in History: You could say that this idea in the early 90's from the desperate leaders at Hoover totally sucked.

2.       Life After the Death of My Son: Simonetta Carr on the importance of ordinary faithfulness following tragedy. She says, "’[God's] not too busy to be with me in seemingly insignificant moments while he turns the wheels of history. This might not always be evident to my limited perception, but the same Christ who rose from the dead tells me it’s a reality on which I can count."

3.       Why I Wish We Hadn't Lived Together Before Marriage: Helpful article from Lisa Lakey. She concludes, " Doing things His way will always end better than me seeking my own will. No matter how right my way seems to me."

4.       4 Ways Conflict Can Help Your Church (and People) Grow: Dillon Smith packs in a lot of great wisdom here, " I’ve had to learn that minor moments of healthy conflict help you avoid massive moments of division that lead to disaster."

5.       Alive Again: I’ve just been introduced to Ahi and am loving getting to know his raspy, soulful voice.

,

The Top Ten Ways to Lead in Your Home (and Organization, too)!

,
The Top Ten Ways to Lead in Your Home (and Organization, too)!

Last week we considered the biblical priority of leading in our homes before stepping into leadership callings outside of our home.

When I was asked to speak to our Mom’s Matter group on leading well in the home I was a bit intimidated. I felt far from equipped to speak as a man to women on the topic of leadership. And so, I did the only thing I could think of: I asked wise, godly women who were also great leaders. Starting with my wife, I began to listen to the advice my female friends offered on leadership in the home and beyond.

I discovered a few things. First, I was surprised how home-centric their advice was. These women are leaders in and out of their homes, but their focus was on the home. They intuited the biblical priority of the home that we considered in last week’s post. Second, I couldn’t believe how aligned their wisdom was. I presumed that I would have to significantly trim the advice they offered, but what I found was that there were strong echoes of their collective wisdom. Third, I was surprised by how relatively gender-neutral their wisdom was. If I was to give a talk to men on leadership in their home, I couldn’t improve on their list.

I sorted their wisdom into the top ten ways to lead in the home. I will share that, and then, return to the list and consider it with eyes beyond the home. What components of this list relate to outside of the home as well? What is different?

, , , , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , , , ,
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!

, ,

Leadership in the Home and Beyond

, ,
Leadership in the Home and Beyond

Who are the most influential leaders in your life? What made them such great leaders?

I fear that our cultural understanding of leadership is going further and further astray from what true leadership is. We Americans seem to have a bizarre attraction to two types of leaders: celebrities and powerful communicators with bold, brash opinions. We judge leaders by the size of their platform.

I was recently asked to speak to the Mom’s Matter group in our church about what healthy leadership in the home and beyond looks like. One of the comments by the leadership team that was made to me was that many moms believe they “don’t need to be or can’t be a leader because they are just moms.”

I believe that’s an issue with men and women alike. The task of leadership feels daunting and we feel like we are unequal to the task, and so we shrink back from it.

If leadership is influence, then every one of us is called to leadership. God has gifted you with influence. God has called and equipped you to influence your family. God has called and equipped you to influence your friends. God has called and equipped you to influence your church.

You are called to lead.

But the order of how we develop as leaders is important. We are called to lead our home first and that leadership is intended to cascade outward.

, , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , ,
This Week's Recommendations

1.       Her Stillborn, Him Sovereign: Lianna Davis with a profound reflection on her daughter's stillbirth. Everyone should read this post. She concludes, " I do not know the total sum of sovereign goodness He plans from our child’s early departure from this world; His ways are mysterious. But I do know enough of Him to be sure that, whatever the sum is, He will yield it: “Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame” (Psalm 25:3)."

2.       First, Understand: Simple, but profound advice from Glen Elliott, "we are at our best as a leader and as a person when we seek to 'understand before being understood.' Our human pride that feeds our brokenness wants others to understand how we feel, why we did what we did or didn’t do first. But the key to great leaders is that they, out of humility, seek first to understand before being understood."

3.       An $8.2M Judgment, Over $8.2M Given Away, and God's Sovereign Grace: Randy Alcorn's amazing story of how an $8.2M judgment against him set off a different trajectory for him and his wife and God's incredible grace in the midst of what seemed to be horrible and unjust news. 

4.       Cremation: Why and Why Not: Jon Dykstra with a thoughtful analysis of the biblical argument for and against cremation.

5.       Audobon Photography Award Winners: Holy moly, these photos are incredible. 

, ,

Things Not to Say About Science

, ,
Things Not to Say About Science

My kids just got into the Jubilee channel on YouTube. Each episode of Jubilee brings people who have disagreements together to try to hash out their opposing opinions. They have shows about everything from abortion to immigration to everything in between. On one of the episodes, two sides debate whether the earth is flat or not. Of the three proponents that the earth is flat, two of the three were Christians. The three opponents were all scientists.

How did we get here?

Christian friends, we’ve got to do better.

A Rich History

For many today, the perception is that you must choose between Christianity and science. How sad. Christianity used to be the leading institution on earth for scientific inquiry.

, , , , , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , , , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

1.       You Might Be a Snowplow Parent if... Jen Goins reflects on a trip to Minnesota that has her thinking about how we can easily mess up the objective of our parenting. Two of her six mistakes are: "A snowplow parent shovels away responsibility," and "A snowplow parent clears the path of negative consequences."

2.      Longer Than: This is masterful writing from Jennie Cesario about the how love grows as marriage ages. You won't be disappointed.

3.      What Does the Book of Job Tell us About the Unborn? Jared Wilson suggests that Job 31 tells us three things about the unborn. 

4.      7 Encouraging Reasons to Pray: Colin Smith reminds us what an incredible privilege it is to pray and what God does when we pray... and I love how he concludes this article. What an incredible perspective of heaven!

5.      The Wake of Innovation: From the tractor to talking robots, society has feared innovations. But usefulness usually overcomes resistance. Is today any different from the past?

6.      The Rat Apocalypse in New Zealand: A rat apocalypse? Sounds Like real-life Halloween. Yikes.

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!