Terry Beckerman

[RELEVANT @RELEVANT]

Surveys show the unchurched aren’t as resistant as we think. It seems like the real barrier to church growth is Christians.
https://t.co/UZb7apW54u

[Leonard Sweet @lensweet]

The church is the rolled-away stone of our time—the Open Sesame to a world reborn in beauty, truth, and goodness. Have we forgotten the password that opens the Living Doorway to Life? It's the oldest confession: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. #opensesame

[Leonard Sweet @lensweet]

E = Emmanuel: The Divine Equation of True Humanity
The difference between human and humane isn’t a typo. It’s the difference between a mob screaming, “Crucify Him! Give us Barabbas!” and a Savior whispering, “Father, forgive them.”
Strip God out of the equation, and humanity collapses into the calculus of the crowd:
Addition by subtraction.
Multiplication by division.
Peace through pieces.
Unity through elimination.
The math of the mob never balances. Hatred squared only multiplies loss. Violence times violence is always zero-sum. The missing variable? The Divine “WITH.” Emmanuel.
Add God-with-us, and everything changes:
The victim becomes Victor.
The crucified wears the crown.
The bleeding turns into blessing.
With Emmanuel, true humanity emerges:
Forgiveness instead of payback.
Blessing instead of cursing.
Love that divides hatred until only grace remains.
The “E” in humane is the Eternal equation:
Empathy instead of enmity.
Embrace instead of elimination.
Eternity’s horizon instead of earth’s shortsightedness.
Without Emmanuel, we stay merely human—violent, fearful, vengeful.
With Emmanuel, we become humane—merciful, loving, free.
E = Emmanuel. Emmanuel = Everything.
The math is solved. The answer is love.
The choice is ours.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
#Emmanuel #OComeOComeEmmanuel

[CLeach @Herculeach92]

Can’t imagine why anyone would want to make politics part of their personality, either side. I understand caring and having an opinion and sharing but there’s too many people who make their political leaning all they want to talk about and get worked up whenever anyone disagrees.

[Terry Beckerman @maplehill82]

@Cardinals #STLCards #HitTheBudsSweepstakes

[Leonard Sweet @lensweet]

In "Blessed Assurance," recent research in cognitive science is proving Fanny Crosby to be right: "This is my story, this is my song." Story and song synchronize brains, creating neural resonance among those present through narrative and rhythm. Verses and views, principles and propositions align minds only when infused with rhythm, emotion, musical qualities like cadence and chant, or shared meaning. But even then they lack the universal pull of tales and tunes. The church is built from the sound up—its foundations laid in shared stories sung together, where theology becomes embodied experience rather than mere intellectual assent. #soundtheology #StorySong #FannyCrosby

[Leonard Sweet @lensweet]

I cranked up that old hymn “Victory In Jesus” this morning—a sonic time machine that rockets us back to a truth we’ve let molder in the attic. The cross? It’s no gallows of gloom—it’s a thunderclap of triumph ripping through eternity. Christus Victor doesn’t slump as Christus Victim. When Jesus belts out Psalm 22 from that blood-soaked beam, He’s not whimpering—He’s roaring, the sin-slaying, death-defying King of kings, Lord of lords, staking His claim over all.
That rugged tree? Forget the sob story—it’s heaven’s ultimate power move, a cosmic checkmate. We’re no scarred survivors nursing our wounds. We’re “more than co-conquerors,” woven tight into Jesus’ epic smackdown of sin and Satan. Our DNA’s recoded—not by the bruises we’ve taken, but by the seismic pulse of the risen, rising, reigning, returning Lord who dropkicked death into oblivion. We don’t shuffle along with a dying Jesus; we sing, we strut, we storm the gates with the Death-Crusher Himself.
The cross is no oversized plus sign tacked on for math class. It’s God’s spike in the heart of evil, a rebel yell of liberation that shatters our chains and sets us free to live loud in His victory—unbowed, unbroken, unstoppable.
#CrossThunder #VictoryVibe #DeathCrusher #ChristusVictor #SinSlayer #RisenPulse #EpicWinDNA #NoVictimHere #PowerMoveCross

[Strong Towns @StrongTowns]

Walk around your town. Meet your neighbors. Support local businesses. Show up for people who want to make that dangerous intersection safer. Share your ideas about how to meet your town’s housing needs. Do the next smallest thing to address your town’s struggles.

Do it now.

[Main Street America @NatlMainStreet]

Young adults prioritize walkability the most, with 90 percent of Gen Z and millennial respondents indicating they’d pay more for a home in a walkable community; a third say they’d ‘pay a lot more.'"
https://t.co/1EKMfF1eBr

[Main Street America @NatlMainStreet]

Today, T-Mobile named its next 25 Hometown Grant recipients. The company has now given more than $10 million to kickstart community development ideas across 42 states.

View the recipients here: https://t.co/IDjSSGC1T8

[Strong Towns @StrongTowns]

"Public restrooms are fundamental to human dignity and health in cities." - Edward Erfurt

https://t.co/vFLRIcDfQx

[Main Street America @NatlMainStreet]

“Increase Your Holiday Sales Using Google Tools,” a small business workshop with Grow with Google, is now available on-demand. Click here to tune in: https://t.co/cRc27Qs0SB

[Strong Towns @StrongTowns]

Wanna support small businesses? Then advocate for building more livable neighborhoods filled with people walking and biking. We can do this by:

- ending parking mandates
- allowing incremental, mixed-use buildings everywhere
- creating safe, productive streets for everyone

[Terry Beckerman @maplehill82]

@MakersMark Mt. Carmel, on the Wabash in SE IL, has begun/finished 3 major quality of life projects in 2020. But Christmas is our heart & COVID takes away Christmas Uptown, always attended by thousands. The gift of Christmas beauty would transform Christmas and #makeitremarkable

[Franklin Graham @Franklin_Graham]

.@HerschelWalker tweeted: “Why are we penalizing people for what their ancestors did?” If we look back far enough, each of us—no matter our race—would find something wrong in our predecessors’ lives. What’s important is how we live our lives today. https://t.co/jyuDwKr8ZP

[Shai Linne @ShaiLinne]

“Conservative” and “Liberal” are political categories, not biblical ones. While there may be some overlap, neither fit 100% neatly into a biblical worldview.

[Terry Beckerman @maplehill82]

First National Bank Donates To Uptown Amphitheater Project https://t.co/RwkxEsMftF

[Joy Sherman @joylsherman]

Got a Bucket List? Jesus did. If u want 2 know what was on His list, join us each Sunday during Lent at 10:30a to find out! #BucketList

[Jon Acuff @JonAcuff]

Remember, happy people don’t spread hate. Whether it’s political, religious, economical or any other variety, outward hate is always an expression of inward self abuse. Whole people don’t tear others to pieces.

[Jon Acuff @JonAcuff]

Remember, the best way to fix the community you live in is to yell at strangers online who don’t live there.