Family, Finance, Marriage, Parenting
John Beeson
Choosing Eight

I am blessed to have many special people in my life. My sister (Sarah) and her husband (Anders) are such people. At age 22, they might have been two of the least likely people you could have imagined to be where they are today: homeschool parents of eight kids. Neither their background nor their career trajectory would have given you a hint they would choose to have eight kids. Both came from families of four and Sarah was enrolled in medical school on the way to becoming a doctor. I had the opportunity to sit down with Sarah and Anders and listen to how God led them to choose to have eight kids.

Choosing Eight
Recommendations, Apologetics, Marriage, Family
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. The thief’s good works: Jackson Gravvitt considers two different perspectives on the thief on the cross: does the thief demonstrate that our faith is solely because of Christ’s work or through our good works that flow from Christ’s work?

  2. Lessons from caring for a disabled child: Jamie MacGregor shares, “At first, we were told to terminate the pregnancy since it was likely that she would have disabilities. We responded that abortion was not an option. Then, we were told that we have no idea what it would be like to raise a child with special needs. The doctors were right. We had no idea how difficult it would be.”

This Week's Recommendations
Church, Family, Marriage, Orphan Care, Parenting
John Beeson
Blessed to Multiply

Weeks before I received my first calling as a pastor, the elders decided that they were going to seek tWho wouldn’t want to experience God’s blessing? So, then, how can we step into the blessing of God? One of the straightforward ways the Bible teaches us that he blesses us is through children. Look, for instance, at the book of Genesis, where blessing is directly correlated to having children:

 

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28)

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Gen. 9:1)

The angel of the Lord also said to [Hagar], “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Gen. 16:10) acquire property and build a new facility for the church. They informed me that leading the relocation and capital campaign efforts would be part of my job. As a fresh seminary graduate, I had precisely zero requisite experience for the task. I had no experience in fundraising or contracting. And, of course, seminary did not include any preparation for the task.

 Over the course of those years, I had to learn a lot, but perhaps the most important lesson I learned was that leading a congregation through a capital campaign could be a significant spiritual blessing.

Blessed to Multiply
Church, Gratitude, Prayer, Religion
John Beeson
You and the Universal Church

Healthy Christians know that the Church is bigger than their church. We call this the universal church, the collective body of all followers of Jesus worldwide and across history. This spiritual entity is invisible, transcending denominations.

Unhealthy churches and denominations communicate directly and indirectly that they are the only true church. Unsound churches make the opposite error: not drawing any boundaries for who is outside of the orthodox church.

But what does this mean for the ordinary Christian? For many Christians, it doesn’t mean much at all. Their only meaningful connection to the church is with their church.

You and the Universal Church
Recommendations, Culture, Music, Prayer, Science
John Beeson
This Week's Recommendations

  1. What ‘gentle parenting’ misunderstands about human nature: Michael Reneau and Megan Dent explain, “A core feature of Jesus’ gentleness to sinners was his understanding that they were trapped in a world in which the sinful parts of their nature were likely to be tempted and exploited, again and again. In this sense, sinners were indeed victims. But Jesus suggests that their problem was not that other human beings weren’t catering to their every emotional need (and in the process, eliding their own), but rather that they had become lost in a longing that Augustine called concupiscence: an immense desire, or ardent longing for fulfilment that often leads one astray, toward hubris, power, violence, lust, or material greed.”

This Week's Recommendations

Wisdom

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The Seat of the Scoffers

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The Seat of the Scoffers

How loud are the voices of scoffers in your life? The mockers, the angry, the rude, the crass. How much ear do you give to those who tear you down rather than gently exhort or build you up?

Ours is the age of the scoffer. Hop on YouTube and type in anything remotely political and you’ll get a stream of scornful headlines:

  • Shapiro destroys feminist

  • Ocasio-Cortez slaps down Fox News

  • Jordan Peterson obliterates woke liberals

  • Whoopi Goldberg demands Meghan McCain stop talking

It’s not just YouTube. Briefly perusing popular shows over the past decade demonstrates just how harsh, dark, and biting our world is.

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This Week's Recommendations

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This Week's Recommendations

  1. The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power: Fun story about Gastrodiplomacy (it explains the explosion of Thai restaurants as well). “Gastrodiplomacy, a term first coined by The Economist in 2002, happens when governments try to increase the value and knowledge of their nation through food.”

  2. Daniel’s three tips for surviving the university of Babylon: Catie Robertson and Andrew Selby offer lots of wisdom in this article, “As young men, Daniel and his friends in Babylon studied alongside unbelieving peers to receive a rigorous secular education under a regime that demanded obedience. Daniel’s story can help believing college students not only survive but thrive in their own Babylons. Let’s consider his advice.”

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How to Waste Your Counseling

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How to Waste Your Counseling

I forgot that I knew him. Our pre-marital counselor sat behind his oak desk with a large smile peeking out from under his white mustache. His gentle eyes reassured me. Angel and I slid into the love seat, facing him. It was my first counseling session. Angel’s, too. We were here for pre-marital counseling.

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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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Worship and Victory

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Worship and Victory

We’ve all had moments in our lives where it seemed like all hope was lost. I remember sitting at my desk in high school, staring at an AP Chemistry test that might as well have been written in Latin. I felt so doomed. My mind spun. I was going to fail this test. I was going to fail the class. Would I have to take summer school? Would I be able to get into my dream college?  I had catastrophized this one test into determining the trajectory of my future years.

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The Stories We Tell Ourselves

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The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Imagine you are standing at a bus stop headed to an interview when a bicyclist rides by and splashes mud on you. What is the story you tell yourself? About the bicyclist? About how you think your interview will play out? What impression do you think the interviewer will now have about you?

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Keeping Our Eyes on Today, not Tomorrow

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Keeping Our Eyes on Today, not Tomorrow

I love dreaming about and planning for tomorrow. Want to draw up a strategic plan? Count me in. Want to talk about which young basketball or football star will have the best career? Let’s go. Do you have predictions about the 2024 presidential election? Pull up a chair. Want to prognosticate about what the church is going to look like in 20 years? I would love to hear your thoughts.

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My Son Can’t Ride a Bike: Failures in Parenting

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My Son Can’t Ride a Bike: Failures in Parenting

Our son Soren is seventeen years old. And he doesn’t know how to ride his bike. I share this as a confession. Soren is more comfortable with this fact than I am. As parents, we feel responsible for equipping our kids for the world. But what does it mean to prepare our children for life? What does it mean to be a successful parent? When you think of it, the demands are overwhelming, isn’t it?

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The Madman

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The Madman

How do we make sense of God and the world when we feel so hurt by them? Doesn’t the world make more sense without a God who would allow the evil that we see and experience?

Friedrich Nietzsche, a prophet ahead of his time, saw the allure of the modern rejection of God. But he also recognized the serious consequences of such a conclusion. If Soren Kierkegaard demanded the Christian to take a “leap of faith” toward God, Nietzsche demanded that the atheist take a leap of faith into the abyss.

Faith is required of both the Christian and the atheist.

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An Honorable Ambition

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An Honorable Ambition

Should we desire to lead? Paul shared with Timothy, “To aspire to leadership is an honorable ambition” (1 Tim. 3:1). And yet, Jeremiah tells us, “Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not” (Jer. 45:5). Should we run toward or away from leadership, then?

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