Gratitude, Prayer, Spiritual Growth, Suffering
John Beeson
Thankful in 2024

Have you had hard 2024? Are you looking forward to the page turning to a new year? I think of dear people in our family at New Life who have lost loved ones, who are battling cancer, mental illness, whose marriages ended, or who have lost jobs. I’m so sorry if 2024 was a hard year for you.

May I invite James to one of the open seats at your Thanksgiving table? Let me warn you, though, James is the uncle who shoots straight. You might not like what he has to say. But you know he always speaks truthfully and with a heart of love for you.

Thankful in 2024
Christian Living, Culture, Politics, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Vulgar Authenticity

Who is your favorite celebrity? Your favorite political pundit? Your favorite politician?

Why are you drawn to these individuals? Maybe it is their personality. Perhaps it is because you respect their convictions. Possibly, it is because of their unique style.

Taylor Swift might be the most beloved celebrity in the world. Many have commented that one of the reasons that Swift has cultivated such a devoted following is her accessibility and down-to-earth qualities, from what she wears to the love stories she writes about in her music.

Vulgar Authenticity
Christian Living, Biblical Studies, Religion, Spiritual Growth, Theology
John Beeson
The Faith of Unbelief

Bart Ehrman has perhaps done more to undermine the credibility of the Bible than anyone else in my lifetime. But his story didn’t begin that way. Ehrman is a New Testament scholar and skeptic. Ehrman grew up in a Christian home, attended a conservative Bible school, and then found his way to a liberal seminary where his faith in the God of the Bible unraveled. That seminary happens to be the seminary I would attend a couple of decades later.

For Ehrman, everywhere he looks he sees holes in the biblical story. The inconsistencies that he sees have led him to determine that he cannot trust in the God of the Bible.

The Faith of Unbelief
Christian Living, Culture, Spiritual Growth
John Beeson
Don't Numb Your Feelings

“Don’t listen to your feelings; remember what Jesus did for you!”

“Don’t be guided by your feelings; listen to what God commands you to do!”

In just the past week, I heard both of these warnings. Two very different Christian speakers urged their audiences to shut down their feelings. These admonitions resonate. They contain truth. It is correct that our feelings don’t override truth, nor do our emotions negate what God has done. Neither do our feelings give us an out for what God commands us to do.

Don't Numb Your Feelings
History, Spiritual Growth, Suffering, Wisdom
John Beeson
Lord, Reach Your Justice Down

I had outsized emotions as a child. Games, especially, would get the best of me, whether cards or boardgames or sports. In response to a stroke of bad luck, a hot surge of anger would erupt, followed quickly by tears and then embarrassment.

Emotions are God’s gift to us in many ways. They are one of his kind ways of showing us where our deep attachments lie.

Our son started his freshman year at the University of Arizona this fall. It’s been a great experience for him, but not without its adjustments. The climate of a secular school is quite different than the Christian school he graduated from

Lord, Reach Your Justice Down

Christian Living

, , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Finding rest in God’s eternality: Lara d’Entremont reflects, “On days like this, I long for eternal strength. I wish I never became weak or faint. I wish I could stay up into the late hours of the night finishing all these projects without taking a break. Sometimes I even try to push through, knowing I’ll pay for it that night as I try to fall asleep with a racing mind and throbbing feet.”

  2. Is the Bible pro-life? Scott Klusendorf begins, “Abortion-choice advocates with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and Planned Parenthood Federation of America contend that the Bible is silent on abortion, and that none of the Scriptures traditionally cited by pro-life advocates establishes the humanity of the unborn.

, ,

The Fractured Horocruxes of Sexual Sin

, ,
The Fractured Horocruxes of Sexual Sin

In the Harry Potter series, the villain Voldemort, longing for immortality, breaks his soul into seven pieces. He believes that if he can split his soul into seven objects, even if one part is destroyed, the other parts will live on. But the consequence of creating a Horocrux was unspeakable. A fractured soul is an un-whole self, broken beyond comprehension. In Albus Dumbledore’s words, Voldemort was a “maimed and diminished soul.”

Sexual sin offers a similar lie to us. Sexual temptation suggests that fidelity won’t satisfy. If one sexual partner is good, more partners will be better. Why not experience pleasure with multiple partners? Think of what you are missing out on. Consider what that one partner doesn’t give you. Or, if you’re not married, how do you know you will ever be married? What does it hurt to fast forward that pleasure to now?

, ,

Your Secrets Keep You Sick

, ,
Your Secrets Keep You Sick

We were stuck. “I’m done with the marriage,” she said. Years of subtle neglect had shut her down. She would remain married, but there would be no marriage. He was desperate. He heard his wife’s hurt and confessed his neglect. He was willing to change. In our sessions thereafter, he appeared earnest and his actions seemed to prove his sincerity. But she didn’t trust him and wouldn’t let down her guard.

Deep down, I felt something was amiss, but I didn’t know what it was. Several times she assured us that there was no other man involved.

, ,

This Week's Recommendations

, ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. Why are people so fascinated with ‘lost’ books of the Bible? Michael Kruger takes this one on. “In the Western world, particularly in America, there is a perpetual distrust of authority, particularly religious authority. Jenkins writes: ‘Also quintessentially American is the distrust of external authorities such as the clergy, and the sense that through their affected learning, the priests have hidden the truth from the people.’”

  2. Odd one out: Another fun game by Google Arts

, ,

Of Mice and Men’s 3.9 Goodreads Rating and Handling Criticism

, ,
Of Mice and Men’s 3.9 Goodreads Rating and Handling Criticism

One of my favorite all-time books is the great American novel Of Mice and Men. A couple of years back, I  went on a bit of a John Steinbeck binge. I picked up some of his classics that I enjoyed in years past, and I’ve picked up a couple that were new to me. I picked up Of Mice and Men for the first time in twenty-five years and dropped myself into the world of George and Lennie. It was just as immersive and heart-wrenching as the first time I read it as a fifteen-year-old. No, it was better. It is as perfect a novel as has ever been written.

,

The Day Before

,
The Day Before

In high school, I swam competitively. The day before a swim meet was "holy." Some would say, more holy than the meet itself.  From the second I woke up to the moment my head hit the pillow, I was 'in the zone.'  Even though I was present for class and for conversations, I wasn't, not really.  I was at the meet.  I was in the pool.  I was pulling my strokes.  There were nerves in that place, excitement, expectation.  At practice that night, we wouldn't go as hard; we would go for a longer distance to boost the stamina of our lungs.  

, ,

This Week's Recommendations

, ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. What are non-Christians’ view of God? Barna reports, “While a significant 30 percent of non-Christians who are not spiritually open is simply unsure what they believe about God, about half (47%) firmly do not believe there is a God or higher power.”

  2. How the customer review changed the world: Samuel James nails the impact of democratization on the contemporary world, “The word for this is democratization. Democratization is literally the process of democracy, or the process by which democracy emerges.

, ,

A Nail Driven Out by Another Nail

, ,
A Nail Driven Out by Another Nail

Habits can be the worst. I grew up eating a bowl of ice cream after dinner every day. I kind of thought that’s what everyone did. As a skinny-as-a-rail kid engaged in all types of sports, that habit didn’t catch up to me until my freshman year of college when, with free access to a frozen yogurt maker and an assortment of unfairly delicious baked goods, I began to pack on the pounds.

 

Habits can be the best. Waking up every day by opening your Bible, going to the gym after work, or sharing family meals can be formative of a healthy life. They set on auto-repeat the beneficial things you want to be doing. They create productive ruts that can even reshape your desires.

,

Are Your Resolutions Slipping?

,
Are Your Resolutions Slipping?

Did you set any New Year’s resolutions for yourself this year? Perhaps you committed to a diet, to a workout plan, or to regular devotional times.

 

Are you as devoted as much now to your resolution as you were four weeks ago?

 

Perhaps you’ve dropped the ball and become frustrated with yourself. Or you decided not to even make resolutions this year because you have failed to keep them in past years. So why not just give up on making resolutions forever? Because a good and wholesome character is the outcome of consistently and healthfully formed habits. Author James Clear encourages us, “Every action you take is a vote for the kind of person you wish to become.” Educational expert Sean Covey doubles down, “We become what we repeatedly do.”

, , , ,

This Week's Recommendations

, , , ,
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The question your kids shouldn’t be asking: Melissa Edgington begins, “Sometimes Christian parents feel a bit lost in the culture while raising kids. You wonder how to handle the internet, social media, shows, and music. You wonder how much to tell your kids about some of the things they’re encountering in their social circles, like gender and sexuality. You aren’t even sure what you think about some of these things or what a biblical response is to some of the more complicated questions and demands of the culture they’re experiencing. But there is one decision you can make as a Christian parent that is easy.”

  2. America’s abandoned megaprojects: Did you know that a dome was almost built over Manhattan?

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!