Recommendations, Faith, Nature, Religion
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Six lies culture wants you to believe about aging: Jen Wilkin says, “The Bible instructs that aging is a completion, a deepening of identity. Older men and women are presented as the repositories of a generational wealth that can only be built by the passage of time and, in the case of the believer, by the work of the Spirit.”

  2. The first conspiracy theory and the dangers of hidden knowledge: Rachel Suffern says, “Rather than providing power that elevated men to the status of God, the knowledge of good and evil gave humans a choice between competing forces much stronger than they were capable of mastering.

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Faith, Fear, Hell, Prayer, Theology
John Beeson
When the Battle Rages, Seek Union

There is more going on around us than we can see. The physical world is surrounded by the spiritual realm. A spiritual battle rages around us.

I grew up during a time of heightened awareness of the spiritual realm. I remember lying in bed as a high school student, heart pounding and eyes glued to Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness. I recall driving past Hindu temples in Trinidad overwhelmed by a feeling of spiritual darkness. Our church hosted workshops based on Neil Anderson’s The Bondage Breaker. We were taught to put on the armor of God piece by piece and to claim the blood of Jesus when confronting dark spiritual forces.

When the Battle Rages, Seek Union
Forgiveness, Relationships, Spiritual Growth, Wisdom
John Beeson
Why Do I Have to Keep Forgiving?

“Why do I have to keep forgiving them?” It’s a question I’ve heard many times as a pastor, said in different ways and sometimes meaning different things.

It can be said with weariness and hurt, or anger and bitterness, or confusion and longing.

It can mean, “It hurts too much to keep forgiving them for repeated sins.”

It can mean, “Can’t I just overlook their sin against me?”

It can mean, “They hurt me so deeply they don’t deserve any more forgiveness.”

It can mean, “Why am I still hurting over a particular sin when I said I forgave them?”

Why Do I Have to Keep Forgiving?
Recommendations, Biblical Studies, Church, Counseling, Family, Suffering
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Are therapists to blame for the rise of adults cutting off their parents? Elizabeth Bernstein on a concerning issue I’ve posted on (see here), “After decades of urging families to communicate better and work on their issues together, some therapists are now taking an opposite tack: They’re encouraging estrangement as a means of self-care.”

  2. Wrestling with “Your will be done”: Kirsten Black says, “We can learn to process this pain and disappointment as a form of lament. God invites his children to cry out to him over and over. It rarely, if ever, will look like praying one time and the pain is resolved. Rather, it is approaching the throne of grace time and time again, knowing that our Father is good and kind, even though the circumstances of our lives feel anything but.”

This Week's Recommendations
Christian Living, Culture, Family, Fear, Hospitality, Relationships, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
The Cost of Awkward

The next day, the extended family hosted a party for us. As we drove up to the farm, the pressure of meeting a whole group of strangers began to mount. I felt like the boyfriend from the city visiting his girlfriend’s family farm in a Hallmark movie. To quote Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell), I was “shaking in my custom baby-seal leather boots.”

The men headed outside to lawn chairs while the women stayed inside. I drifted outside with a group of men I had never met and sat down. I had a beer in my left hand like the rest of the guys, but unlike everyone else…

The Cost of Awkward
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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Let me dwell in your tent forever: Wes Bredenhof explains how to understand David’s cry  in Psalm 61:4, “Let me dwell in your tent forever!” “Now here’s an important detail about the tabernacle:  no one was allowed to dwell in it.  It was God’s dwelling and God alone.  By God’s command, the High Priest came into the Most Holy Place once per year.”

  2. The body keeps score. But the mind and heart do too: Beth Claes says, “Being a Christian doesn’t prevent trauma or eliminate body-mind responses to it. But recognizing that God created us with an interconnected body, mind, and heart informs how we understand trauma

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Strange Questions for Your Future Pastor

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Strange Questions for Your Future Pastor

So, you’re looking for a church.  

I hope you’ve prayerfully considered why you’ve left your former church (I’ve written about the ten reasons to leave a church here). You’ve already watched a service online, read the church’s doctrinal statement, and visited the church. What comes next?

You will, of course, want to understand the church’s doctrine and affiliation. If you have kids, you will definitely ask, “Are the children’s and students’ ministries biblically grounded, safe, and engaging?” You might want to know about their outreach strategy.

What if I told you that while these issues are important, there might be a different set of questions

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Destructive Play

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Destructive Play

Any parent knows that before a child learns to build, he learns to tear down. Our children are two years apart. I still remember our eldest, Camille, running into our room with tears when she was four years old. Her little brother, Soren, had just knocked down her latest block creation.

Psychologists describe this stage as destructive play. Before toddlers can construct something with intention, they are learning cause and effect, physics, spatial reasoning, and fine motor control. Every parent remembers the stage when their toddler begins throwing the spoon, fork, or bowl onto the floor, watching with fascination as gravity does its work.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Why so many of us claim to be ‘not very happy’: Jen Oshman says, “Herein lies the fundamental reason happiness feels out of reach: We tend to aim for the wrong kind of happiness. Most Americans aim for happiness, which, unbeknownst to them, can be shaken or taken.”

  2. Three ways to lead your boss: Simple advice Eric Geiger draws from Nehemiah’s story, “If you want more credibility with your leader, don’t be the perpetually sad person, care about what your leader cares about, and be really clear.”

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How To Spiritually Lead Your Family

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How To Spiritually Lead Your Family

‍Our kids are 22 and 20. Our daughter, Camille, just graduated from college, and our son, Soren, is engaged and preparing for his wedding in December. This has been a season of reflection for Angel and I as parents.

I have experienced ebbs and flows of successes and failures as the spiritual leader of our family. By God’s grace, our kids are faithfully following Christ and vibrantly living out spiritual lives. Angel and I give God all the credit and glory for the ways in which we have been able to encourage Camille and Soren’s spiritual development;

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Remember Not

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Remember Not

As we wrapped up our five-day jaunt in a cozy extended-stay just inside Scottsdale suburbia I was on the verge of mental and physical collapse, whereas the boys, as the Energizer Bunny proffered, just kept going and going and going. I couldn't keep up. In fact I didn't. Their enthusiasm met my exhaustion. I raised my voice at the boys, and in an instant, their elation turned to fear and shame.  

Scientists argue that our brains have adopted a defense mechanism called the 'negativity bias' to help us avoid danger or avoid repeating past blunders.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. How much do you know about the US flag? Test your knowledge with this AP Quiz.

  2. A theology of awkwardness: Emily Stimpson Chapman says, “We are terrified of saying and doing the wrong thing, coming off the fool, finding ourselves humiliated through our own inadequacy, and not measuring up. Awkwardness is also what makes so many forms of technology—artificial and otherwise—so appealing.

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The Joy of Patriotism

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The Joy of Patriotism

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I was 22 years old when Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network al Qaeda orchestrated attacks on New York City and Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001. What followed was the most significant swell of patriotism I have ever experienced. 79% of adults displayed an American flag, “God Bless America” was inserted into every baseball game, and “United We Stand” was emblazoned on shirts everywhere….

If you are too young to remember the 911 attacks, you likely struggle to imagine a country so united in its patriotism. In our divided age, we’ve almost become numb to the possibility of patriotism.

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A Healing Place

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A Healing Place

It was a long week. I felt sniped at by a handful of complaints from congregants. I was fighting for a spirit of gratitude as frustration grew in my heart. I stepped into a meeting and did my best to be present, but the inner critic’s voice was loud. I asked a simple question to kick things off: “Where is God growing you?” Tears welled in the eyes of the woman across from me. “New Life is my safe place, my growing place. New Life is my healing place. Every time I come to church, it feels like a hug.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Sitting down in victory: Beth Ferguson says, “When Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father, something decisive happened not only in heaven, but for us. When we lose sight of that throne, discipleship begins to feel heavier than it was ever meant to be.”

  2. Knowing yourself is not the same thing as changing yourself: The post begins, “Here’s a controversial fact: Despite their popularity as leadership development tools, personality assessments fail to make leaders better.”

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