Christian Living, Consumerism, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
My Wandering Eye and Jesus' Single Eye

Who among us, if given the possibility, wouldn’t take an extra hour in the day or an extra day in the week?

We stuff life to the fullest and then sprinkle more on the top. Why put your kid in one club when you can put them in a club and a sport? Why follow one sport, when you can follow all the major sports? Why be smart, when you can be smart and healthy? Our flesh tempts us to pack more in; Jesus tells us to live with single priority.

My Wandering Eye and Jesus' Single Eye
Recommendations, Church, Counseling, Theology
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. How Christians can inadvertently moralize unpleasant emotions: Brad Hambrick asks, “’What percentage of our unpleasant emotions are accounted for by sin and how much by suffering?’ The simple answer is, “We don’t know.” If anyone says with confidence that most unpleasant emotions are caused by one or the other, they are merely revealing their bias.”

  2. Everything matters: Christa Threlfall says, “It’s not enough to eliminate the “big sins” that other people can see; Jesus wants every part of our being to belong to him.”

This Week's Recommendations
Culture, Wisdom
John Beeson
Johnny Depp and the One in Sixty Rule

What do you want in life? Fame? Power? Money? Beauty? There are few who check off more of these boxes than Johnny Depp. One of the most recognizable people on the planet, Depp is one of only four men to be twice named the Sexiest Man Alive. His net worth peaked at over $800 million.

Who wouldn’t want to be Johnny Depp?

And yet, all it takes is a quick scroll through the web to see that this man’s life inspires more pity than envy. A few year’s ago Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard accused Depp of domestic abuse. Depp fought back with a lawsuit charging Heard with abuse.

Johnny Depp and the One in Sixty Rule
Church, Hospitality, Leadership, Culture
John Beeson
Why I Stand by the Gate

Every Sunday at the front entrance of New Life Bible Fellowship on you’ll see my Co-Lead Pastor, Greg Lavine. If you have a child, then you’ll enter through the side gate where I will meet you. Regularly, first time attendees will express surprise after the service, either to myself or another New Lifer, that a pastor greeted them at the gate. Churchgoers often say they’ve never been to a church where a pastor serves as a greeter.

Many perceive greeters to be the bottom rung of ministry: the place you put warm bodies, those who don’t have the ability to teach, play an instrument, or run technical equipment. I disagree. Greeters are the first person a guest connects with.

Why I Stand by the Gate
Recommendations, History, Church, Finance, Nature, Suffering
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Take a closer look at Noah’s ark: Pete Lee says, “An analysis of its design indicates that the ark represents three things: a microcosm of creation, a temple-home, and an emblem of resurrection.”

  2. God is everywhere, why go to church? James Williams says, “Of course we can meet with God anywhere, but is that a good reason to dismiss ourselves from a local church? Thankfully, God’s word isn't silent.”

This Week's Recommendations

Wisdom

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Johnny Depp and the One in Sixty Rule

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Johnny Depp and the One in Sixty Rule

What do you want in life? Fame? Power? Money? Beauty? There are few who check off more of these boxes than Johnny Depp. One of the most recognizable people on the planet, Depp is one of only four men to be twice named the Sexiest Man Alive. His net worth peaked at over $800 million.

Who wouldn’t want to be Johnny Depp?

And yet, all it takes is a quick scroll through the web to see that this man’s life inspires more pity than envy. A few year’s ago Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard accused Depp of domestic abuse. Depp fought back with a lawsuit charging Heard with abuse.

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Servant Leadership and Decision Making

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Servant Leadership and Decision Making

What do you want for dinner tonight?

What do you want to watch?

What do you want to do this weekend?

Do you ever feel exhausted by making decisions? More than a few times, Angel and I have come home from hard days at work and looked at each other, “Would you please make a decision about what we are going to eat for dinner?” Researchers note that “by the time the average person goes to bed, they’ve made over 35,000 decisions and all of those decisions take time and energy.”

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Your Soccer Coach Has a Plan for Your Life

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Your Soccer Coach Has a Plan for Your Life

“The coach says that he has the talent to play D-1 one day.” A friend’s son had just tried out for an elite club soccer team and they were weighing the decision. The travel club came with a hefty price tag and a commitment to regular out-of-town tournaments. They would say yes to the club. In a few years their son would burn out from playing soccer. But the impact on their family couldn’t be undone. They had built the patterns of their family in their kids’ early years around healthy spiritual rhythms, including regular church attendance. Club soccer changed those patterns.

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Not Enough Wisdom

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Not Enough Wisdom

It was a cool February afternoon three years ago, our family piled in our aptly named Escape heading East on the I-8. We weave our way through Laguna Summit and the Cleveland National Forest, summiting the final miles of California and her Santa Ana Mountains on our way back to our home in the Sonoran Desert.

We just visited Concordia University, Irvine, a Lutheran school where our eldest, Camille, was offered a generous scholarship. Camille fell in love with Concordia’s professors, mission, and solid theological foundation on the trip. We rejoiced at her finding such a perfect fit for her. And we mourned her impending departure.

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Have You Given Me the Fountain, but Deny Me the Stream?

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Have You Given Me the Fountain, but Deny Me the Stream?

My co-lead pastor, Greg Lavine, and I lead discipleship groups that run concurrently through the school year. We take a group of men or women through a year of study that includes theological and spiritual formation. Currently we are in a stretch focused on the practice of prayer. In one of the weeks we use two books of compiled Puritan prayers: Valley of Vision and Piercing Heaven. The idea of utilizing Puritan prayers might sound as exciting as watching someone else fill out their tax returns, but I have found these books vibrant guides.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. When God says now: Christopher Cook says, “I understand the hesitation, but you and I need discernment for this hour. We are being called to submit. Our job is not to assess our readiness (according to our perspective). It is to step forward with clean hands, a yielded spirit, and a heart tethered to the will of the Father.”

  2. The secret things: Andrea Sanborn concludes, “Someday we’ll know the secret things that our mortality can’t fathom. “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known”, as the Apostle Paul explained it. But for now, it’s okay to rest in wonder. Because wonder, in the end, is worship.”

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A Pastoral Reflection on the Israel-Iran Conflict

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A Pastoral Reflection on the Israel-Iran Conflict

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.

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My Dogs Foolishness, My Foolishness

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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.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. We’re living in the dystopian future Neil Postman predicted 40 years ago: Brett McCracken says, “From the rising of the sun to its going down, we scroll our way through the day. We scroll our way through life. And we are scrolling ourselves to death.”

  2. Five hard truths about marriage most couples learn too late: Psychologist Mark Travers’s findings echo truths in the Bible, “One of the biggest misconceptions about marriage is that truly compatible people don’t argue. But not only is conflict inevitable, it’s also essential.”

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