John Beeson

“That isn’t a toy!” parents warn a child playing with a knife or a hammer. Pharaoh thought he could play a game with God and win. He lost. Your heart is not a toy. The story of God’s battle with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is the story of the consequences of a hardened heart. It’s the story of someone who thought they could toy with God and with their heart. We cannot. In the first five plagues, Pharaoh’s hardens his heart three times and his heart “is hardened” (it’s ambiguous who is doing...

She was one day old with the brightest bluest eyes, a bald head, and the cutest little ears that stuck nearly perpendicular out of her head. We checked out of the hospital's front desk, and we walked to our car with our baby girl in the car seat. As the safety officer checked out the security of our car seat base, a wave of fear came over me. Why would they let us take this beautiful baby home? Hi, my names is John Beeson. Welcome to the Beehive. To be a parent is to experience fear. Will...

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Where would the bread come from? Jacob heard his grandchildren’s whimpers as they rustled in the neighboring tents. He knew tears were running down their faces as their tiny empty bellies cried out. Where would the next meal come from? The drought had devastated the crop. Travelers from the North had spent the night. They carried bags of grain and shared news that the Pharaoh had storehouses of grain. They had met with his right-hand man, Zaphenath-paneah. Seven years earlier, the Pharaoh was...

Oh, the places you'll go. Dr. Seuss believed that the true achiever is an adventure. You'll head straight out of town. It/s opener there in the wide open air. Out there, things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. Seuss said it, and many agree. We're taking a vision trip to Florida, our friend shared. Tired of the heat of the Sonoran Desert, they set out to find the perfect place for their family to settle. I've been part of several similar conversations. It's...

: M&M update: 64% commitments. $1.67M. Campus is a go. Discernment around next steps. Infastructure/canvas. Commit. Give. Pray. A: Last year 60 million Americans suffered from mental health issues. One in five. Maybe it’s you. Maybe a friend. What do we do? Does the Bible have anything to say about mental health? Yes. For some, the church has stigmatized mental health. The church should be the most transparent place on earth. We should be the place it’s safest to answer, “How are you...

Kraft singles: unnatural. Evangelical culture: something is wrong with you if you’re not married. “What’s wrong with you?” Expectation: milestone. The Bible? Singles are natural. 46% of adults are single. Dangers: Culture: use your singleness for you. Good news for the real world. 1 Cor 7:7: Paul: single. Widower? Abandoned? Radical! Jewish men were required to get married and beget children. Rabbi Eleazar (2nd C): “Any man who has no wife is no proper man.” Singleness is natural. Jesus....

1 Corinthians 7 Kraft Singles. I'm sorry to start on such a divisive topic this morning. I have very strong feelings about Kraft Singles. I don't know how you feel about them. You might love them. I'm just gonna say they feel unnatural to me. Not real. I mean, like, they say they're cheese, but are they really cheese Craft singles. You don't go to somebody's a fancy dinner party and they bring out a charcuterie board with the, you know, the dried meats and the olives and then the cheeses. And...

Feelings matter. Even if we are certain that truth is firmly in our grasp, it isn’t appropriate to use it like a whip on the back of the skeptic. In a desire to restore the balance of perceived power, contemporary Western culture has offered a wider berth for those who have historically wielded less power. Our culture declares that our privilege determines whether or not we are allowed to share “our truth.” Intersectionality doles out chips based on a group’s power. Those who come from...