Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Identity
John Beeson
The Worst Hall of Fame Ever!

Just recently my sister was inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame. Sarah is a phenomenal athlete who was a stand-out high school athlete in swimming and softball. She went on to play softball for Stanford University where she batted .350 with 28 home runs over her career and was a three-time All American, eventually playing on the US Women’s National Team.

You might be familiar with some of the other members of Stanford’s Hall of Fame: Tiger Woods and John Elway are two of the other inductees. Sarah My is also a member of the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame alongside Tucson greats like Steve Kerr, Lute Olsen, and Sean Elliott.

The Worst Hall of Fame Ever!
Fear, Parenting, Family
John Beeson
The Trap of Fear-Based Parenting

She was one day old with the brightest, bluest eyes, a bald head, and the cutest little ears that stuck nearly perpendicular out of her head.

We checked out at the hospital's front desk and walked to our car with our baby girl in the car seat. As the safety officer checked out the security of our car seat base, a wave of fear came over me. Why would they let us take this beautiful baby home?

To be a parent is to experience fear. Will they be safe? Will they be bullied? Will they make friends? Will they like me? Will they survive a sexually confused world?

The Trap of Fear-Based Parenting
Recommendations, Christian Living, Church, Religion
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. When bitterness becomes your religion, healing becomes heresy: Christopher Cook says, “But here’s the fruit of that belief system: the most anxious, entitled, bitter, and emotionally fragile generation in history. The world is not freer. It is more fractured. The culture of curated authenticity has not led us to peace, but to exhaustion.”

  2. Mortifying our desire: Keith Evans begins, “A young man once told me, “I never chose to feel this way. These attractions seem to have always been part of my life.” His honesty captures what so many experience—same-sex attraction often feels unchosen, even natural. But when we look to Scripture, we discover even that which may feel natural is not always good.”

This Week's Recommendations
Biblical Studies, Family, Suffering
John Beeson
Yesterday's Promise Might Be Today's Curse

Where would the bread come from?

Jacob heard his grandchildren’s whimpers as they rustled in the neighboring tents. He knew tears were running down their faces as their tiny empty bellies cried out.

Where would the next meal come from? The drought had devastated the crop.
Travelers from the North had spent the night. They carried bags of grain and shared news that the Pharaoh had storehouses of grain. They had met with his right-hand man, Zaphenath-paneah.

Seven years earlier, the Pharaoh was troubled. He couldn’t shake the nightmares. Skinny cows devouring fat cows, thin stalks of grain consuming fat stalks.

Yesterday's Promise Might Be Today's Curse
Christian Living, Gratitude, Relationships, Wisdom
John Beeson
Wanderlust and the Christian Life

“Oh the places you’ll go!” Dr. Seuss believed that the true achiever is an adventurer: “You’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air. Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.”

“We’re taking a vision trip to Florida,” our friends shared. Tired of the heat of the Sonoran Desert, they set out to find the perfect place for their family to settle. I’ve been part of several similar conversations. It’s healthy for couples to dream together. I’ve seen God weave those dreams into something that honors him and blesses others.

Wanderlust and the Christian Life
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How to Deal with Intrusive Thoughts: Four Questions to Ask

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How to Deal with Intrusive Thoughts: Four Questions to Ask

You’ve had it happen to you, haven’t you? That thought that jumps into your head, seemingly out of nowhere?

You’re driving along a winding mountain highway and you imagine what would happen if you yanked the steering wheel to the right: what would the crash look like? How would you tumble down the mountain?

Sometimes thoughts are born out of our curiosity. Other times intrusive thoughts enter that are born out of our hearts. We stew on our mistreatment from a colleague or friend and we imagine how we could put them in their place. We imagine harassing them, embarrassing them, even humiliating them.

Part of being a fallen human being is to have intrusive thoughts. An intrusive thought is a thought that enters our mind un-summoned. They might be morbid (imagining our death), violent (imagining injuring someone else), or sexual (imagining a sexual experience). Different people experience intrusive thoughts with different regularity. Different seasons of our lives can increase intrusive thoughts.

How do we deal with these thoughts? Let’s navigate four questions to ask ourselves when we experience intrusive thoughts. Next week we will consider some biblical wisdom on navigating these thoughts.

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Why You Shouldn't Give Up on the Church

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Why You Shouldn't Give Up on the Church

The blue screen of death: we’ve all experienced it. You’re plugging away on a paper or trying to load a website and whammo, your computer is toast. A few minutes and a hard restart later, you are back up and running, but not without consequences. You might have lost your train of thought or part of what you wrote. Ironically, I experienced the blue screen of death writing this post!

COVID-19 was a cultural blue screen of death. Work, school, and church rhythms were all disrupted. And all of them have changed as a result. People’s connection to church has changed. Nearly every pastor I’ve spoken with affirms that church attendance today is lower than it was 18 months ago.

For some, having the blue screen of COVID hit made them re-think how important church was for them.

More than a handful have decided that other spiritual practices can take the place of church. Jen Hatmaker recently shared about a conversation she had with her therapist where she came to the realization that “Church for me right now feels like my best friends, my porch bed, my children, and my parents and my siblings. It feels like meditations and all these leaves on my 12 pecan trees. It feels like Ben Rector on repeat. It feels like my kitchen, and my table, and my porch. It feels like Jesus who never asked me to meet him anywhere but in my heart.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. 4 Traits to Seek in a Spouse: David Qaoud concludes his sound advice with this, “Everyone marries the wrong person. Everyone is wrong because of sin. But a robust view of total depravity, and a firm understanding of providence, doesn’t mean you should have low standards for who you marry.”

2. I Am My Father’s Son: This is a powerful story of hope from Greg Lucas, who had a terrible relationship with his father. He concludes, “Like my dad, and failing fathers everywhere, I rest in the promises of the gospel. The promise of redemption, forgiveness, and grace. And through these promises I can proclaim with confidence and joy, I am my Father’s son.

3. Sometimes I Think I Hear Singing: Andrea Sanborn encourages us to have ears to hear God’s singing… I read this one twice it was so perfect. She says, “We look for the spectacular, for a jolt of awareness. For miracles. But God, who clothed himself in ordinary flesh, also comes on ordinary days, in just a subtle stirring in the soul; a hint of heaven. Can you sense it?”

4. River Runner: How cool is this tool? Let a raindrop fall anywhere you want in the United States and see where it ends up.

5. America’s Racial History and Christians: In this video, Justin Giboney with a thoughtful response to an important issues for all American Christians. He argues that, to speak faithfully and biblically, “We must not only confront the lies that offend us, but also the lies that serve us.”

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Happy Dependence Day!

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Happy Dependence Day!

This week we celebrate Independence Day. I am grateful to be an American for many reasons. I appreciate the protection I have of writing without the fear of censorship hanging over me. I am thankful that we gather together weekly in corporate worship: an act for which I’ve never been threatened. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to vote for local and national officials at every election since I’ve turned 18. Democracy is a gift. There’s much to be grateful for this Independence Day.

But my national citizenship is not ultimate. When God rescued me, I was granted new citizenship. The Kingdom of Heaven is of infinitely more value than the United States of America. A perfect King rules the Kingdom of Heaven: its laws flawless, and its systems just. None live in poverty. Its citizens wake up every day with joy.

As an American citizen, I celebrate my rights and freedoms. As a citizen of the Kingdom of God, I celebrate the one to whom I have surrendered my rights and liberties. As a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom, I acknowledge my profound dependence, not independence.

If your faith is in Christ, you are a subject of the King. We are dependent on him for life, for hope, for all things. Independence, spiritually speaking, is spiritual death.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

1. How to Meet God at Your Lowest Point: Jane Marczewski guest posts over on Ann Voskamp’s blog. She has cancer and has been given only a 2% chance of survival. Jane recently auditioned on America’s Got Talent and received the golden buzzer. You’ll want to read her post and then watch her memorable performance. She writes, “I have heard it said that some people can’t see God because they won’t look low enough, and it’s true. Look lower.”

2. Not this Man, but Barabbas! Keith Mathison nails it here, “I hear and read Christians almost every day saying that their biggest concern is the direction in which the United States is headed. Or they are most concerned about the collapse of Western civilization. Granted, many people are concerned about these things because of their love for their children or grandchildren… The problem occurs when our main concern is fundamentally a political concern.”

3. 5 Cultural Shifts We Need to Know to Reach Our Neighbors: Mark Clark begins with this truth, “The highest good is now individual freedom and happiness.” All five are helpful in considering how to reach our neighbors with the gospel.

4. Romanticizing Death: A fellow Tucson pastor, Rod Hugen reminds us that to understand the power of Jesus conquering death we must come face to face with the ugliness of death. He concludes, “I live in the time when death is still the enemy, but with the sure knowledge that death is defeated and will one day be no more. It is an exhilarating time, freeing me to seize life and to take joy in the journey, knowing that Christ’s resurrection is a reality. Death defeated is far superior to death romanticized.”

5. PT Barnum’s 10 Most Famous Human “Freak” Show Attractions: If you’ve seen The Greatest Showman you’ll appreciate how this video humanizes the various people that Barnum promoted (and often exploited) in his show.

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50 Books That Changed My Life (and Might Change Yours, Too)

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50 Books That Changed My Life (and Might Change Yours, Too)

Books hold a unique power to change. Even the infrequent reader can remember the time when a book grabbed their heart. Whose eyes didn’t brim with tears as Wilson Rawls paints the picture of Old Dan’s sacrificial death in Where the Red Fern Grows? Who doesn’t remember the first time they went through the wardrobe into Narnia?

Through books we get to sit at the feet of some of the smartest and godliest men and women ever to lived and learn from them. Books have changed my opinion of myself and God. Books have taken me to places I’ve never been. I’ve grown in faith and empathy through what I’ve read.

Books have changed my life. Here are the fifty books I believe have changed my life the most. I offer them to you with the hope that they might change your life, too.

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Dads, First You're a Son

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Dads, First You're a Son

I’m a husband, a father, a pastor, a son, a brother, and a friend. If we lived in a world where an omniscient teacher handed out grades for our performance, I’m pretty sure I would get my highest marks as a dad. I love being a dad.

It’s supposed to be that way. God has granted us a gift in allowing us to take on the role of being a father. There is only one true Father. God graciously allows us to reflect his fatherly relationship with us to our children. What a weighty responsibility!

For some of you, that burden brings you shame this week. Father’s Day reminds you of the ways you have neglected your kids. Perhaps your neglect came through your cutting tongue, which spoke harsh words which hurt your children (Eph. 6:4). Perhaps you damaged your children by your poor example. Perhaps your kids were negatively impacted by your absence. The cloud of guilt and shame might lay thick on you this Father’s Day as you consider how you squandered the opportunity God gave you as a father.

This Week's Recommendations

This Week's Recommendations

1. 4 Romance Myths Couples Should Bust: Les and Leslie Parrott begin here, “Couples need to know that being in love does not mean their expectations align. In fact, each individual’s expectations may lead to tension down the road.”

2. If Necessary, You Have Been Grieved: D. Eaton reminds us that God has purposes for our trials. He says, “God never afflicts us without cause. He is always doing a good work.” There is so much encouragement for sufferers, here.

3. Pastoral PTSD: This podcast is helpful not just for pastors, but congregants too. Jeff Medders considers the ongoing impact conflict, stress, and other ministry hazards can have on the mind, soul, and body of the local pastor. I was grateful for his encouragement to both pastors and congregants near the end.

4. Music Maps: Stuck in a music rut? This is a great website to discover artists you might not find otherwise. Do you love Lauren Daigle? Maybe you will like Moriah Peters or Capital Kings. Is Frank Sinatra your favorite? Have you listened to the Inkspots or Sarah Vaughan? Is Ed Sheeran your jam? Give Birdy or Greg Holden a try.

5. 2021 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards: This is sure to make you smile. I love #11 “Houston We’ve Had a Problem”—the expression on that poor fish is priceless. What’s your favorite?

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Moms and Dads: Show Your Need

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Moms and Dads: Show Your Need

“I have one regret of how I parented,” my friend David Towne told me. I leaned forward. David is a godly man married to a godly wife. He’s kind and gentle and wise. As an educator, he’s witnessed a lot of parenting, good and bad, in his day. His adult children have had their struggles but are good people. I would ask him for parenting advice in a second. What was his greatest regret?

“I wish I would’ve shown my kids my need for Christ more. I worked so hard to show them my godliness that I didn’t show them my need. I should have been more transparent. I should have shown them just how much I needed Jesus.”

In the early years of parenting it’s easy to get caught up in a whirlwind of strategies. You can parent with a positive approach, the whole-brain approach, the attachment method, the Montessori method or the Waldorf method, or the love and logic philosophy. The options can feel overwhelming. Proponents of each method tend to focus on methodology. As a young parent, it’s easy to think that your decisions around how to respond to your crying infant or how to discipline your disobedient toddler are definitive forks in the road.

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Dear Graduate, Where You Go Doesn't Define Who You Are

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Dear Graduate, Where You Go Doesn't Define Who You Are

Congratulations class of 2021! You did it! Few graduating classes have been through stranger years before they donned their caps and gowns.

As high school graduates of the class of 1997 and 1999, the most significant thing to happen during our high school years was probably the rise of AOL (ask your mom and dad about the joys of dial-up internet). Your COVID-19 years have us beat . . . by a long shot.

Whether you are graduating high school or college, you’ve been asked countless times and will be asked countless more: what’s next? Where are you going?

Maybe you have a set course. You are already rocking that U of A t-shirt and you are confident in four short years your photo will flash on the jumbotron at Arizona Stadium as you walk across the platform, Mechanical Engineering degree in hand. Or, as a college grad, maybe you’ve already said yes to that job offer from Tucson Unified School District and you’re ready to take on the world and 24 third graders.

Maybe you have no clue. You rack your brain to find clarity when Uncle Ryan prods, “So, what’s next?”

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