Wisdom, Christian Living, Culture, Death, Fear, Politics
John Beeson
A Pastoral Reflection on the Israel-Iran ...

October 7, 2023 Iranian backed Hamas terrorists waged the deadliest attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The moment I heard, I buried my head in my hands grieving that again great suffering had begun.

From that day, I have prayed anew for peace and justice as this round of tensions between Israel and Iran unfolds. Gaza, Hezbollah in the north, all of it is, at its root, the same conflict.

Then, on Saturday afternoon, like many of you, I read that American B-2 bombers dropped 14 “bunker buster” bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities. We joined the conflict. Some call it a war.

A Pastoral Reflection on the Israel-Iran Conflict
Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Culture, Sexuality
John Beeson
Rainbows, Pride Months, and the Flood

Rainbow flags might be filling store windows in your town this June. In 1978, Harvey Milk, a prominent gay politician and activist, commissioned Gilbert Baker to create a visual symbol for the gay community. Baker designed a rainbow flag with eight colors. The flag was flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade and quickly became a symbol of pride and visibility for the LGBTQ+ community.

Of course, the LGBTQ+ community was not the first community to claim the rainbow as a symbol. God gave the rainbow to Noah and his family following the flood as a promise that he would be merciful in his judgment.

Rainbows, Pride Months, and the Flood
Recommendations, Church, Culture, Identity, Parenting
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Three truths your daughter needs to hear about beauty: Kristen Wetherell begins, “The first comment we make to other women is usually about their looks.”

  2. Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac: Abraham Kuruvilla answers that question movingly in this video.

  3. How to know if your church is life-giving: Dustin DeJong begins, “I’ve worked at five different churches over the past few decades. They’ve ranged from small and scrappy to mega-sized and polished.

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Wisdom, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
My Dogs Foolishness, My Foolishness

I’m working from home today. It’s a great working environment: calm and focused. Our dog lies peacefully at my feet. Until a vehicle dares to enter our cul-de-sac, that is. Then our 25-pound Australian Labradoodle leaps to the window, both paws on the window sill, and turns into a ferocious beast.

The Amazon delivery guy pulls up to the curb, jumps out with a package in tow, and places it at the front door. Our dog howls as though a cadre of gunmen have encircled our property. This is no sociable bark to his neighborhood doggie friends: this is a protect-the-house-at-all-costs-bay. The deliveryman hustles back to his van and pulls out of the cul-de-sac.

My Dogs Foolishness, My Foolishness
Family, Parenting, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Advice to a Young Father

Three. That is how many days we get our girl home from Easter until Thanksgiving. Camille just finished her junior year in college, and Soren (our son) just finished his freshman year. We are so proud of Camile and Soren. They are earnestly pursuing the Lord, filled with his grace, and just delightful people.

A parent’s role never ends; it just changes. Every time I hold a child in my arms on a dedication Sunday, I reflect on the holy and weighty call of a parent. If I had the opportunity to sit with myself over coffee on the day we dedicated our children, here is what I would say.

Advice to a Young Father
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In Defense of Hymns

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In Defense of Hymns

It was probably because of my background that hymns never felt boring or old or stodgy to me. I grew up in a megachurch where we sang the popular fare of choruses of the day, not hymns. “Awesome God,” “As the Deer,” and “Shout to the Lord” were the songs of my childhood.

It was in college, then, that I really experienced hymns for the first time. They felt so fresh and different from what I grew up with. I attended an historic Congregational church replete with eighteenth century pews, an organ, and a hymn board (some of you knew exactly what hymns were being sung just by their numbers, didn’t you?). It was there that I began to learn of the rich treasure trove of hymns the church had been blessed with by centuries of saints.

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Saul, the Witch at Endor, and the Will of God

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Saul, the Witch at Endor, and the Will of God

Do ghosts exist? Do we have access to the spirit world? If so, what does that mean for our spiritual life?

 

Not long ago I was asked by a congregant to make sense of the bizarre story of Saul and the Medium at En-Dor.  This story is understandably confusing, and one of the strangest in scripture. 

At the heart of this text is a critical question: will you obey God?

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. If you use any of these 9 phrases every day, ‘you’re more emotionally secure than most’: 8 of Dr. Cortney Warren’s list of 9 are excellent (I’ll let you spot which one is problematic). Here are two good ones:“Let me think about that before I respond,” and “Am I like that?”

  2. Christian unity is deeper than ‘getting along’: Trevin Wax reflects on the riches of Jesus’ prayer in John 17, “Jesus wants his followers to be one as a way of participating in the oneness of the triune God.”

  3. Social media is causing our children to suffer: Joe Carter reports, “The U.S. surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, has issued a warning about the potential risks of social media on children’s mental health. Here’s why Christian parents should be concerned—and what we can do to protect our kids.”

  4. Gospel-shaped leaders communicate with grace-filled candor: Scott Thomas’s visual is helpful in considering how to move toward Christ-honoring communication. He says, “The goal of grace-filled candor is to find a solution to the conflict while deepening relationships with others.”

  5. The most common dad joke in each US state: This is pretty great. Although, I cry foul on a bunch of aphorisms masquerading as supposed “jokes.” Pennsylvania takes the cake as the most prolific dad-joking state with Oregon and Mississippi taking a strong anti-dad-joke stand.

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Sabbatical Gratitude

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Sabbatical Gratitude

I’m back! My first sabbatical was a wonderful experience. We spent twenty-four days on the road visiting eight national parks. Beauty met us at every turn. Many have asked what I learned on sabbatical. I’m not sure I can answer that question. But I’ve experienced truths about who I know God is more deeply: his grandeur, his bigness, his beauty.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The shriveling of the American soul: Trevin Wax comments on an alarming report“In 1998, 70 percent of respondents said patriotism was very important and 62 percent said the same about religion. Today, it’s only 38 percent and 39 percent. Having children? A drop from 59 percent to 30 percent. What about community involvement? From 62 percent to 27 percent.”

  2. With the wild animals: Mitch Case ponders why Mark tells us that Jesus was with the wild animals in the wilderness. “Jesus is among the beasts and the Ancient Serpent himself. But the wilderness will not dominate the Son of David. Jesus is the Last Adam, and he enters the wilderness with the power to subdue and renew.”

  3. The God who knows: Tim Challies encourages us, “We are so weak. Life is so hard. Our enemies are so vicious. But God is so good. For it’s to weak people, not strong or self-sufficient people, that the Bible assures us that Jesus knows. He knows the facts of your weaknesses, and even better, he knows the experience of your weaknesses.”

  4. A gentle reminder: Anne Imboden on the power of gentleness, “When we are tempted to react rather than respond, let’s remember that relationships and the hearts they embody are fragile. Tenderness is key to their protection.”

  5. Most churchgoers say they want to serve, fewer actually do: Marissa Postell Sullivan shares a data from a sobering survey, “Despite saying they want to serve people who are not a part of their church, few churchgoers are even serving within the context of their own churches. Two in 3 (66%) churchgoers say they have not volunteered for a charity (ministry, church or non-ministry) in the previous year.”

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Constructing Culture: Healthy Churches Multiply

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Constructing Culture: Healthy Churches Multiply

In the sixty-five-year history of New Life we’ve planted five churches intentionally and at least three unintentionally. I’ve heard the unintentional church plant called a “splant”—a conflation of “split” and “plant.” If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you’ve probably lived through one…

…Planting churches is taxing on the mother church. It takes time, energy, finances, and (most significantly) people. It’s painful. But it’s biblical.

Churches, like people, are intended to be streams not ponds, highways, not cul-de-sacs.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Too busy for beauty: Paul Twiss asks us to consider how productivity can starve a soul. “We have trained ourselves in efficiency; we must also train our minds in the discipline of beholding in order to contemplate glory. For when the soul beholds beauty, it grows wings.”

  2. Ever Yours, Sin: Hannah Le Cras with a Screwtape-esque letter written from the perspective of sin, “Dear Soul, I am concerned that you have developed such a hostile attitude towards me of late. As you know, I have been with you all your life and always do my utmost to bring you pleasure. Yet you seem to have been persuaded that somehow I am out to destroy you! This grieves me very much.”

  3. Will my marriage ever be more? Ed Welch offers some very practical advice. “One reason we are hopeless in marriage is because there is nothing else we can do, so we resign ourselves and try to build a more independent life. But when we have confidence that the Spirit will use us, we become more resilient, creative, and engaged.”

  4. You cannot out-sin the cross: Jonathan Woodyard comments on Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, “Notice what Peter did not say. He did not say, ‘Well, it’s too late. You’ve messed up too much. You killed the Messiah. There is simply no hope. Your sin is too great.’”

  5. More than you can handle: Seth Lewis suggests that no, God does not “give us more than we can handle.” “If you belong to Jesus, you can rest assured that he will absolutely give you tasks that are far beyond what you can handle. An honest look at his commands will show you that he already has. Don’t worry about that. The size of your lunch, or your ability, or your strength, is never the point. Bring your insufficiency to Jesus, and take the next step into impossible obedience. He will do the providing. He can handle it.”

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Constructing Culture: Big Church, Small Feel

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Constructing Culture: Big Church, Small Feel

What’s the perfect size for a church? 50? 500? 5000?

You could argue why each of these church sizes is optimal. You will have an intimate relationship with your pastor at the church of fifty. You might be in the same small group, he will be there for your child’s graduation, and when you come to a worship service, you’ll probably know everyone (except that one new family) by name. You’re going to be able to step into leadership roles and shape the direction of the church even if you don’t have a lot of experience in leadership. You feel the blessing that your church is making a profound impact in the lives of a handful of people and you know their stories.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Why pineapples used to cost $8,000: Suzanne Raga with the intriguing history of pineapples, which were considered so luxurious and exotic at one time they were rented. She begins, “Though native to South America, pineapples (scientific name: Ananas comosus) made their way to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, and it was here that Christopher Columbus first spotted their spiky crowns in 1493. Columbus and his crew took pineapples back to Spain, where everyone loved how sweet this new, exotic fruit tasted.”

  2. A normal life includes a great deal of suffering: Alan Noble asks us to consider, “Think about someone you know who is living the good life: someone well dressed, confident, smiling, high achieving, maybe even attractive and intelligent and funny. Nine times out of ten, they are carrying around something unspeakably painful. And often, when you learn what that pain is, it’ll be something completely unexpected. You weren’t even aware that people could suffer like that.”

  3. Standing on the shoulder of nobodies: Brianna Lambert considers the humble fiddler crab and concludes, “It’s true, our hard work may still feel small and forgotten. To the world it may look inconsequential like those tiny fiddler crabs. But we know our lives are not singular. We know that God has linked our small acts of service to an immensely valuable mission.”

  4. 14 facts about biblical life: Here is one, “Balm is a kind of resin taken from trees by cutting the bark. People used it as a perfume. And the community also considered it a medicine (Jer. 51:8). Although Gilead is mentioned together with balm (Jer. 8:22; 46:11), the substance was not produced in Gilead.”

  5. We are defined not by our failures, but by Christ’s victory: Jen Oshman tells the amazing story of a forgotten missionary couple. What appeared to be the end of the story was this (but it was far from the end!): “It’s not totally clear what happened, but records show that after 17 years Dr. Leslie and his wife were asked by local tribal leaders to leave. There had been some kind of falling out and they were no longer welcome in or around Vanga. The Leslies abandoned their mission outpost and returned to the U.S. defeated—believing they had failed.”

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Constructing Culture: Life Is Better Together

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Constructing Culture: Life Is Better Together

“Wilson, where are you? Wilson! Wilson! I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Wilson. Wilson, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Wilson! I can’t!”

If you’ve seen Cast Away, this scene is likely etched in your memory. Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks) is on his rudimentary raft trying to paddle to freedom when his beach volleyball companion falls off and begins floating away. Stranded on a deserted island for four years, the volleyball is Noland’s only friend. Your heart breaks as Noland’s inanimate friend drifts away.

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