Bethany Cseh

Nov 10, 2024 | lostcoastoutpost.com | Bethany Cseh

Everyone has blind spots. There are perspectives we just can’t see. Even when we’re told and shown that they’re there, it can still be really hard to see them. We have to work at seeing what isn’t obvious to us. We have to work at believing other people when they tell us what they can see, even if it’s never been our experience. Knowing we have blind spots keeps us humble.

Nov 3, 2024 | lostcoastoutpost.com | Bethany Cseh

###PREVIOUSLY:Jonah Escaped the Whale, But the Point of the Story is What He Escaped After ThatJonah, Part II — Or, Denial is the Reason We Sink to the BottomJonah, Part III — Or, Look Toward the TempleJonah, Part IV — Or, The Things You Can Find in the Dirt###We’ve heard a lot of rhetoric around “America First” for a long time, but especially this past decade.

Oct 27, 2024 | lostcoastoutpost.com | Bethany Cseh

######After spending three days and nights inside a watery, claustrophobic tomb, praying and crying out to the God he still believed in, Jonah was vomited out of that big fish and onto a beach. I can imagine him kissing the earth in gratitude to be alive, raising his arms up high and stretching out his sore back. Stumbling from hunger and seasickness, he looked around, hoping to find a nearby village where he could rest and reorient himself.

Oct 20, 2024 | lostcoastoutpost.com | Bethany Cseh

PREVIOUSLY:PASTOR BETHANY: Jonah Escaped the Whale, But the Point of the Story is What He Escaped After ThatPASTOR BETHANY: Jonah, Part II — Or, Denial is the Reason We Sink to the BottomBiblical characters are often seen as two-dimensional, lacking background or nuance. But Jonah had a story. Knowing a person’s history and hardship has the potential to soften our own hearts and relate to that person differently, bringing empathy.

Sep 29, 2024 | lostcoastoutpost.com | Bethany Cseh

Jonah is a short story in the Bible consisting of four small chapters. If you’ve heard about this story, I’m sure you’ve known it to be about a guy and a whale, even inspiring Geppetto’s experience of Monstro, the enormous whale in Pinocchio’s story. It is often relegated to cartoonishly drawn nursery room walls in old Church buildings or into a beloved VeggieTale’s movie.