Biblical Studies, Church, Education, History, Vocation, Theology
John Beeson
Preaching and Perspicuity

Monosyllabic.

Inflammable.

Abbreviation.

Phonetically.

Every one of these words are ironic. Monosyllabic means one syllable but contains five syllables. Inflammable means “easy to catch fire,” but looks like it means the opposite (not flammable). Abbreviation is not an abbreviation. And don’t phonetically should be spelled funetically, don’t you think?

Perspicuity means clarity or “ease of understanding” and yet isn’t very easy to understand. We’ll return to that later.

Roman Catholic theologians during the Middle Ages argued that the scripture was not perspicuous. Scripture was too veiled and obscure for the average person to understand, they contended.

Preaching and Perspicuity
Recommendations, Forgiveness, Parenting, Science
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. To be almost saved is to be completely lost: Tim Challies begins, “Along the coast of New York is a little town called East Hampton. And I recently read that there is a cemetery in East Hampton where you can find 12 identical graves that have been laid side by side. There’s a story behind them, of course.”

  2. All the ways I’ve hated myself: Brittany Allen shares, “This bully has been berating me for years. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever been rid of her. Because, as you probably already guessed, she is me.”

This Week's Recommendations
Counseling, Marriage, Family, Prayer, Relationships
John Beeson
Why Would I Go to Counseling?

I’m more faithful with oil changes than I am with annual visits. I’ve missed more annual well-checks to the doctor than I’ve made. It seems like a waste of time to tell the doctor that I’m not experiencing any physical difficulties, have him check my blood pressure only to confirm it is within the healthy range, and then pay on my way out the door for what I already knew.

Many of us feel the same way about counseling. Why would I go to a counselor unless things are falling apart?

There is a grain of truth in this impulse.

Why Would I Go to Counseling?
Worship
John Beeson
Lost in Literal

Today I get to share with you another poem from my daughter Camille. This poem is based on Nicodemus’s interaction with Jesus in  John 3:1-15. Enjoy! -John

Lost in Literal
Recommendations, Culture, Wisdom
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. When safety becomes a god: Christopher Cook warns, “We’re living in a cultural moment where safety has been enthroned as the highest virtue. You hear it everywhere: “I need to feel safe here.” “I need to feel seen.” “I need to feel welcome.” On the surface, these phrases sound kind. Compassionate, even. But beneath the sentimental polish, there’s often an unspoken expectation: ‘Don’t challenge me.’”

  2. A biblical pathway to emotional wisdom: Dan Brewer says, “Our emotions are not a flaw in God’s design. They are not a curse either—they are a gift.

This Week's Recommendations

Suffering

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. I will not forget you: Kathryn Butler offers hope in the midst of dementia, “Walking alongside Violet feels like watching death in slow motion. As the quirks and values and personality traits I’ve come to love about her fade away one by one, it’s as if I’m watching Violet herself dwindle and vanish.”

  2. Critical dynamics of criticism: Nick Batzig begins, “It is probably fair to draw the conclusion that there is a universal dislike for personal criticism and correction. Nothing reveals the pride that resides in each one of our hearts so much as being on the receiving end of criticism.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Signet, wax, and fire: Chris Martin considers a powerful analogy, “If we simply hammer our hearts with the truth of God’s Word over and over, our hard hearts will either be imprinted with some shallow facsimile of Truth or be cracked by its overwhelming weight.”

  2. The path away from pornography: Chris Hutchinson shares, “There is no “formula” for getting free from pornography: each person, and their situation, is unique. At the same time, just as sexual sin operates in certain patterns, so I’ve witnessed common patterns in the way the Lord breaks people free from its chains.”

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Our Rescue Story

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Our Rescue Story

“What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” It is not that Thomas doesn’t believe marriage can be a source of joy, but that we ask too much if we ask marriage to bring us our “happily ever after.” Joy will likely trail holiness if we make that the main aim in marriage, but if we aim at happiness, we will miss both happiness and holiness.

 Angel and I can testify to how fragile marriage is. In the summer of 2009, our marriage began unraveling after my first three years of pastoral ministry—years I neglected Angel for my mistress, the church.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. A sickness in pursuing health: Trevin Wax considers some of the excesses of the movement toward long and healthy living. “If this life is all there is, then the pressure to optimize your body and extend your life as long as possible makes sense. But if there’s more to life than this existence and more to “making the most” of life than physical prowess, then the pursuit of longevity and health can sabotage itself.”

  2. When God takes his time: I love everything Glenna Marshall writes. This is so filled with wisdom, “The problem is this: we rarely assume that God is purposeful and kind in his long game.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Was anyone more alone? Charisse Compton reflects, “I am hardly alone in my loneliness. About one in four adults across the world suffers from a similar hunger. Bankrupt of any long-term solutions, the world suggests increased human interactions to alleviate the suffering. But for all our digital connectedness, the loneliness epidemic persists and grows.”

  2. When I have intrusive thoughts: This is a subject I’ve done a lot of thinking about as well. Lara D’Entremont offers solid counsel, “Through therapy, I learned that fighting against intrusive thoughts is like trying to stop water from gushing out of your faucet with your hands—it will continue to burst through, perhaps even explosively.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Six categories of the cross: JI Packer begins, “Jesus Christ is, in fact, an expression of the temper of the whole New Testament. For explaining the cross, the New Testament uses many images, many categories, many modes of thought blended together. These various categories and modes of thought serve to enrich our understanding of the cross and its meaning.”

  2. A game of hide-and-seek: how shame keeps us from the Father’s love: Bethany Broderick shares a moment with her daughter, “The angry speech I was ready to give her melts away, and I drop to the ground next to her. I pull her close, and she cries against me. She is broken over her sin, yet she doesn’t know what to do other than try to hide.”

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Tragedy and Holy Week

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Tragedy and Holy Week

This past week has been one of the hardest in my calling as a pastor. Within 24 hours we had three deaths in our congregation: one by cancer, one took his own life, and the other two by a murder-suicide.

There is no sufficient response to these tragedies on this side of heaven. There are no answers, no sense to be made of such senseless loss. There is only grief and the promise that God is sovereign and he grieves with us.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. Every nightmare starts as a dream: Erik Raymond warns us, “No one sets out to bring misery upon themselves. Quite the opposite. They are looking for fulfillment. They want happiness. They are chasing the dream. But remember, every nightmare starts as a dream.”

  2. Pain needs interpreting: Simon Arscott, “My job is to help people interpret their pain. Pain itself – though very unpleasant – doesn’t tell us much. It hurts. It’s uncomfortable. It’s upsetting. We don’t want it. Often, we just want it to go away! But good spiritual care requires interpretation of our pain.”

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The top ten fears in America: Chapman University finds, “The top 10 fears in the 2023 survey suggest that Americans’ fears center on five main topics: corruption in government (number 1), economic concerns (numbers 2 & 10), war and terror (numbers 3, 4, 8, & 9), the harming or death of loved ones (numbers 4 & 5), and pollution of drinking water (number 7).”

  2. As the outer is peeled away: Tim Challies reflects, “In the past few years, I have watched a number of dear friends grapple with terrible and ultimately terminal illnesses. I have watched people I only ever knew to be whole and strong fade until they were broken and weak.

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A Persecuted, but Thriving Church

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A Persecuted, but Thriving Church

We just returned from two weeks in southern India. Down is still up and up is still down. And I’m not just talking about jet lag (although that is very real, too). India is a country that is not only physically distant, but also spiritually distant. That is both a hard thing and a good thing.

India is one of the most antagonistic nations on earth toward Christians. In Open Doors’ recently published World Watch list, India is listed as the 11th most persecuted nation on earth for Christians, including a 99% rating for violence.

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