Mark Beeson

... And Just Like "That" ...

 

I admire the man leading me through the woods.

He knows how to find his way, pick the best path and stay the course. He knows the difference between foolishness and fun. He humbly admits what he doesn't yet know and humbly adds value with what he does. He cares. He's a good companion in the woods and in life; he always gives more than he takes. 

The man in the picture is my son. We shared a big wilderness adventure last week and during those days my appreciation for Sheila went through-the-roof. In fact, my appreciation for all parents skyrocketed.

Raising children to know what's right, choose what's right and do right is wildly difficult. 

Those of you with children at home may feel like you're riding a runaway train, sometimes wondering if you'll derail before you get those kids to their destination and, at other other times, feeling so much pressure that you find yourself thinking, "We can't arrive at the Station soon enough. I just want this leg of the journey to end."

I get it. Sheila and I have three children and five grandchildren.

Parenting is really exhausting.
Once you have children, you may not have a good night's rest for five or ten years.

Parenting is really challenging. 
One kid changes everything in your life. Two kids, not so much; you've got two hands so grab a kid with each hand and move along. Three kids? Everything changes again, only this time you have to raise a kid with no hands. Good luck with that.

Then, before you know it, just like 'THAT,' your kids will be all grown up and this leg of the journey will be over. You kids will get off the train and you'll switch tracks. Oh sure, you'll still experience the simultaneous joys and sorrows of life; you'll still have mountaintop experiences in one area of your life at precisely the same time you'll experience dark difficult valleys in another, but those experiences will not be shared with your little dependent children. If those experiences are shared at all, they'll be shared with adult children who make their own choices and choose their own paths."

Cherish the days GOD gives you for parenting. Cherish them all. 

If the squeals and cries of little children fill your home, if parenting is difficult and it seems like the only thing you say is, "No," and you're saying, "No," a thousand-times-an-hour, don't let up. Lean in. Train them today so they can navigate tomorrow.

If teenagers are challenging everything you say and do, or it seems they're ignoring you completely, don't stop being the parent. Remember, there are many reasons that 15 year-old-kids can't sign legal contracts; mostly because they don't know which way is up. Oh, they know how to do things with their phones that will blow your mind, but what they don't know is the stuff GOD intends for parents to teach them: how to know and serve GOD, how to find peace for their souls, how to reject sin and keep their hearts pure, how stay faithful when they're tempted, what integrity looks like and where to turn when they've fallen and they can't get up. Teenagers need parents for all that stuff. Don't be intimidated because they have Google at their fingertips. They don't need you for information; they need your love, training in righteousness, discipline, wisdom and guidance; they need you to train them for success in friendship, marriage and family, and if you don't mentor them before they get off your train, they're headed for a life of hurt and heartache. Don't let 'em off the train until you arrive at the depot. Don't get derailed. Your kids need you to stay on track. Don't fail them just because they're talking and acting like teenagers; especially when they are teenagers.

Before you know it your kids will grow up, switch tracks and go their way. And just like "that" you'll go from driving them everywhere to praying they drive home to see you for the Holidays.

Cherish every minute GOD gives you with your children my friends. 

These days will end before we know it. 

Don't waste them.

 

Proverbs 22:6  -  Train children to live the right way, in God's path, and when they are old, they will not stray or depart from it.

 

Homecoming Memories "Refreshed"

 

 

 

When my family met at Amber's & Ryan's house to celebrate my 61^st Birthday, our fun "family" activities eventually put me streetside for the East Grand Rapids Homecoming parade. I found myself exactly where Providence required; I was with Sheila.

I dated her when she was Greenfield Central High School's Homecoming Queen. And now, married for decades, I find myself sitting on a curb with the love-of-my-life, wrangling our grandchildren as they scramble for the candy tossed their way by a passing parade of today's EGR Homecoming Court. 

This probably goes without saying, but if I could marry Sheila again, I would. 

 

Proverbs 12:4  -  A good and noble wife is like a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful wife is like a disease and rot in his bones.

 

The Week of My 61st Birthday

 

I'm beginning my 61st year with a fantastic "birthday week." 

I'm with my son Aaron, and my nephew Josh, photographing remarkable Whitetails, enjoying the woods and making memories... all because of the outrageous generosity of my sister's husband's sister's husband.

Josh's Uncle Jan - and his wonderful Aunt Michele - booked two Whitetail Hunts a few months ago: one for Josh and one for Josh's brother, Joel. Since Joel's wife was scheduled to deliver their baby around the time of the hunt, he wisely elected to "pass" on the adventure, and Uncle Jan gave the trip of a lifetime to my son Aaron! 

Sheila encouraged me to go along, so I packed my cameras and headed off to spend my "birthday week" with the guys.

 

 

Hours and hours in a blind with Aaron made my "birthday week" wonderful.

 

I photographed this Trumpeter Swan at the nearby marsh.

Absolutely amazing.

Aaron's buck.

 

The guys in the field with my nephew Josh's buck.

Losing Velvet.

Aaron's buck in the truck: Josh is on our left & Aaron is on our right.

See the buck in the grass?

I took this picture a few hours ago.
I'll cherish the memories it triggers for the rest of my days.

 

Genesis 10:9  -  Since he was the greatest hunter in the world, his name became proverbial. People would say, “This man is like Nimrod, the greatest hunter in the world.” 

 

500+ Celebrate GCC's Family Fun Day

 

Chris Whitmire ran point on the Family Fun Day at GCC's Natural Playground this weekend. As our Director of GCC's Early Learning Center, she declared the day a smashing success.

More than 500 people spent hours talking with friends, feeding Llamas, bobbing for apples, taking wagon-rides, hammering golf-tees into pumpkins and playing on the playground. 

I had a blast talking with people and taking pictures.

 

 

 

My special thanks goes to my friend, Harold Zeltwanger.
He spent the day giving families wagon rides. 

 

 

 

 

          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Galatians 6:10  -  Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith

 

Trusted

 

 

Do you have a few trusted friends?

Sheila and I do, and Butch & Chris Whitmire are numbered among them. They have my confidence. They are faithful to Jesus, each other, their family and their work. They serve GOD with wholehearted devotion: Butch as the Chair of GCC's Administrative Council and Chris as the Director of GCC's Early Learning Center. 

When I saw them at GCC's Fall Family Fun Day this morning, I couldn't resist asking them to pause near the Natural Playground for a picture. 

Sheila and I trust them; you can too.

 

Luke 16:10a  -  Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.

 

Transformed in Groups

 

 

Sheila and I were traveling with friends a few months ago. We visited the Church of the Nativity to see the place Jesus was born. 

 

 

Our progress was delayed by priests cutting-in-line, but someone in our group started singing Away in a Manger and the atmosphere changed from frustration to joy. As we sang together, GOD turned our long delay into one of the highlights of our trip. 

GOD transforms us as we group-up and following Jesus with friends. That's one reason we launched more than 100 new groups last week ... and we're launching more this week.

It's smarter to travel in groups.  

It's not too late for you to group-up with some friends. You can get help grouping-up here. 

 

Psalm 68:4  -  “Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him...  his name is the Lord!” 

 

Perspective

 

- Strickland Auditorium, St. Simons Island, Georgia -

 

"Perhaps prevenient grace is summed up best by the famous interruption to a missionary who was lecturing in Africa about how the missionaries brought the Gospel to Africa. The African believer interrupted and said, 'The missionaries did not bring the Gospel to Africa; God brought the missionaries to Africa.' This insightful comment shifts the emphasis to God’s prior agency and the great missio dei (mission of God) whereby God is always the first actor in the great drama of redemption."  Dr. Tim Tennent, President: Asbury Theological Seminary

 

I took this picture a few weeks ago. Nobody needs to tell you the Cross of Jesus Christ towers high above the flag. Get perspective. The flag is proximate; the Cross is preeminent. The flag flies high; the Cross soars higher. 

Get perspective: GOD acts first.

GOD brought America her Founding Fathers and they signed a Declaration that said as much:

"... all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

GOD brought America her Founding Fathers and they believed the righteousness of America's cause was God's to judge.

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions,..."

GOD brought America her Founding Fathers and they declared their utter dependence on GOD, as well as their total commitment to each other: 

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Commonsense is increasingly uncommon, but it's reasonable to assume those declaring their nation is blessed by GOD, judged by GOD and dependent on GOD will behave differently than people convinced GOD depends on their nation.

What are people capable of doing if they believe their nation has superiority and preeminence over GOD. What might religious people do with their own sovereignty?

America's Founding Fathers knew GOD is always the first mover. GOD is first in causality: GOD initiates redemption and restoration, though GOD is not moved by any prior action or any prior cause. In supremacy, ascendancy and incomparable authority, GOD is high above the nations. 

We're not likely to become a godless nation. I suspect we're more inclined to trend toward the spirituality of the Samaritans who lived 1,300 years ago. They knew how to worship GOD but they worshipped other gods too and "made gods of their own (2 Kings 17:28-29)." Those people actually "burned their own children on the altars of their gods.(2 Kings 17:31)" I tremble at the prospect of becoming a nation filled with the gods of our own making.

In his book, SOUL KEEPING, John Ortberg recently wrote, "We are not lost because we are going to wind up in the wrong place. We are going to end up in the wrong place because we are lost." 

Do you have perspective on this?

The gods we make cannot save us. 

 

Jeremiah 10:5  -  There stands their god like a helpless scarecrow in a garden! It cannot speak, and it must be carried, for it cannot walk. Don’t be afraid of such a god, for it can neither harm nor help nor do you any good.

 

Grouped-Up in LaPorte

 

 

Sheila and I had a great time meeting with friends in LaPorte last night. 

Once everyone got the The Civic Auditorium (where GCC LaPorte meets every Sunday morning at 10:30 CENTRAL TIME), we jostled together for a "family photo."

I gave an update on our ministry: focused on current realities, GOD's blessing and future possibilities. And yes, I also talked for a while about following Jesus. 

More than 1,000 people are beginning the TRANSFORMED journey this week, and four dozen are grouping-up with GCC Laporte. More than 100 Groups are launching, so if you haven't yet registered to group-up with some friends, go here and sign up.

 

Acts 2:46-47  -  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

 

BREAKTHROUGH Begins at GCC

 

The ARTS matter.

The ARTISTS who bring the ARTS matter.

I will always thank GOD for those who offer their artistic and technical abilities to GOD. As ARTISTS "group-up" and devote themselves to worship, they help me examine myself more honestly, confess my sin more thoroughly, repent more deeply, sing more confidently and praise GOD more passionately. 

I have some pictures of a few of the ARTISTS who took us with them into worship this weekend. They have my deepest gratitude.

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

 

 

Psalm 66:1-4

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;

      Sing the glory of His name;
            Make His praise glorious.

      Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!
            Because of the greatness of Your power
       Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.

      All the earth will worship You,
            And will sing praises to You;
            They will sing praises to Your name."

 

Grouped-up with a few friends....

 

 

We launched BREAKTHROUGH this weekend and when all the services were finished, Sheila and I met some friends at the lake. We shared an old-school "pitch-in" and finished our meal in time to pile into Marv's boat and get out on the water before sunset. 

This is my friend Dave Moore. 

I don't think it was Dave's first time on water skis.

 

Ecclesiastes 10:10b  -  Skill will bring success.

 

... and then Charlie said, ...

 

 

I was talking with my grandson Charlie, while he was digging up the beach with a little toy. He's a bright kid.

I said, "I'm really looking forward to the next few months. Everyone at GCC is grouping-up so we can help each other take steps toward Christ."

He laid his tiny shovel on the sand and said, "Great idea Papa. It's biblical, theologically orthodox and well within a mainstream ecclesiology of the historical Church."

I said, "Yeah."

He said, "Describe your syllabus. Will there be opportunity to engage practical applications of the studied theories? Is this to be a practicum or merely an intellectual, academic exercise?"

I said, "Check this Charlie. We're launching groups with some of Rick Warren's materials. He's the guy that wrote The Purpose Driven Life. So we'll be learning 'how to live,' not simply, 'how to think.'"

Charlie said, "I bought The Purpose Driven Life when it first came out. Got it; read it; did it. Rick planted Saddleback Church when he was only 26 years old, and his congregation didn't have their own permanent building until they had more than 10,000 people."

I said, "Oh."

He said, "That man has some serious credibility Papa. You should think about leading everyone at GCC to group-up and use Rick's new TRANSFORMED book as a daily devotional and study guide. People could meet together, encourage each other and take some real steps toward Christ together."

I said, "OK. Thanks Charlie. Anything else?"

He said, "Too many people are looking for one big step that will transform the rest of their lives. The truth of the matter is that lives are more often improved when people turn a good direction and start taking steps. Even if the steps seem small, when folks take enough steps in the right direction, their lives are changed. It's true. When people accept GOD's help, and group-up with friends to help each other follow Jesus and do the next right thing, they are transformed!"

Charlie went on-and-on, saying things about the true essence of the Church that I didn't really understand.

My grandson sat in the sand and talked about, "... whether the Church is, at its core, a community ... suggesting an ecclesiology that opens itself to ecumenism, and whether the interpersonal aspects of the Church are always manifest as the Body of Christ subsisting in a visible society, or whether that thesis is flawed, and the ultimate reality of the Church can be a community of Christ's followers in true fellowship, whether visible or not."

Cute kid.

Charlie eventually finished his monologue, reached down, grabbed a handful of sand and put it in his mouth so I pulled out my iPhone and went to gccwired.com. I wanted to get my own TRANSFORMED book and group-up with some friends to see if GOD might have a breakthrough planned for me.

 

Romans 12:2  -  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 

 

Avoiding the Web of Personal Deceit

 

 

I was preparing this weekend's talk about the wisdom of "grouping-up" when I read these words from Thomas à Kempis. 

"Nature is deceitful and draws away, ensnares, and deceives many, and always has self for her end; but grace walks in simplicity and turns away from every appearance of evil, makes no false pretenses, and does all entirely for the sake of God."

To protect against personal vulnerabilities, and avoid being "ensnared" by his own web of self deceit, à Kempis asked his friends to bravely follow Jesus with him. 

"Come, my friends, let us together go forward. Jesus will be with us. For Jesus' sake have we taken up this cross, for Jesus' sake let us persevere in the cross. He will be our helper, who was our captain and forerunner. Our King enters before us, and He will fight for us. Let us follow bravely."

More than 1000 GCC'ers have already registered to "group-up" for GCC's launch of more than 100 groups this weekend. You can participate too. Get your daily journal/study guide book here and register for a GCC group here.

Let us together go forward.

We begin this weekend. 

 

Proverbs 29:6  -  By transgression an evil man is ensnared, but the righteous sings and rejoices.

 

Some Labor Day Weekend Pictures from GCC

 

I was able to experience all four services at the Granger Campus on Labor Day Weekend. I wandered around and talked with a zillion people ... and snapped a few pictures between conversations. 

Seth Abram led worship and Jason Miller delivered the final talk on HELP: Get Some. Give Some.

Jason nailed it. He set the bar high for next weekend's launch of TRANSFORMED. 

Jason suggested GOD is fiercely intentional, yet insists on our freedom.

First. In 1973, Brandon Carter proposed The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, audaciously proclaiming that humanity holds a special place in the Universe. God's fiercely intentional love is apparent in this: "The Universe must have those properties which allow life to develop within it at some stage in its history."  

Second. God insists on our freedom, "acting strongly and sweetly" to restrain His omnipotence. This is Kenotic Love: holding back, self-restrained and willingly limited. Paul clarifies Kenosis in his epistle to the Roman Church: "Jesus has always been as God is. But He did not hold to His rights and power as God."

We're going to group-up this fall so we can participate in the Paradox of Divine Love (fiercely intentional and self-restrained to make room). 

Get the TRANSFORMED book by Rick Warren here.
I encourage you to buy an extra book and help cover the $15 cost for someone needing a little help. Bring your money next week and buy TRANSFORMED before worship because we'll use it in the services!

Group-up with friends to discuss each weekly topic. Pick a group here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Philippians 2:3-5  -  

   Do nothing from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves]. 
   Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others.
   Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]