Josh Benner

Tag: Minnesota

  • What Minnesota taught me about heaven

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    It was a year ago today that I moved from Minnesota. I had a wonderful 2 and a half years in the Land of 10,000 lakes and it’s a place that will always be special to me.

    When I first moved to Minnesota, I was single. On my days off, I used to drive around different parts of the state photographing lakes. I photographed around 300 in my time there.

    I photographed lakes at sunrise and sunset. Lakes that were frozen over in the winter. Lakes that were muddy and lakes that were crystal clear. I photographed lakes that seemed like glorified ponds and lakes that seemed like oceans. Lakes where the water was choppy, and lakes where the water was as still.

    Honestly, those are the most fun times I ever had by myself. Somedays, I’d photograph 20 lakes in just one day. I’d be out for hours.

    What the world can teach us about heaven 

    In our popular culture, the images of heaven are often so boring. Cartoons and movies often depict heaven as this place in the clouds where everyone is in white robes.

    But I think of the incredible beauty that’s in our world. I think of the incredible beauty I found in just one part of one state. And heaven isn’t going to be a step down from that. It’s a step up to a place of infinitely greater beauty and perfection.

    I think of the tremendous beauty in our world. The vastness of the great canyons and valleys. The greatness of the mountains. The kaleidoscope of colors in the oceans and seas. And as wonderful as the beauty is that we have in our fallen world, it is merely a foretaste of a place far greater.

    (below are some of my favorite lake photos I took in Minnesota).

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    Long Lake – Otter Tail County, MN
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    Lake Lizzie – Otter Tail County, MN
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    Bass Lake – Otter Tail County, MN
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    West Battle Lake – Otter Tail County, MN
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    Beers Lake – Maplewood State Park
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    Round Lake – Cass County, MN

     

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    Hoot Lake – Fergus Falls, MN 
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    Schmidt Lake – Otter Tail County, MN 
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    Lake Minnewaska – Pope County, MN 
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    Lake Miltona – Douglas County, MN 
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    Hungry Man Lake – Two Inlets State Forest 

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the pastor of Christian Bible Church in Cissna Park, Illinois. He has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He has an awesome wife named Kari.

  • What the Mayo Clinic can teach us about personal growth

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    Last weekend, I watched “The May Clinic: Faith, Hope, and Science” by Ken Burns. I’ve always been a fan of Ken Burns’ work, and this documentary was a fascinating look into one of the greatest hospitals on earth, its history, innovation, and the people they’ve helped. At times, it was very touching.

    The Mayo clinic is named after founding doctors William Mayo and his sons William and Charles. One of the things that struck me about the documentary was their commitment to learning and teaching. They made medicine collaborative. In the documentary, medical historians argue that in their day, doctors weren’t always keen on sharing what worked with other doctors out of fear that someone could just turn around and use their techniques. (more…)

  • The day I met my wife

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    I talked to my wife for the first time two years ago today.

    As I reflect this year, the thing that still amazes me is that I woke up that Monday morning, and it was just a typical day. Took care of some stuff for work, went to the gym, helped some friends move. I had no idea that it was one of the most important days of my life. (more…)

  • Moving day – one chapter closes, another begins

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    Moving day today. I finished up my pastoral residency in Minnesota.

    I think of the places where I’ve lived. Columbus, Ohio, my hometown. The place that will always be home.

    Bowling Green, Ohio, where I went to college and had some of the greatest times of my life. So much of who I am today I attribute to my time in college.

    Deerfield, Illinois for seminary, just outside of Chicago, one of the greatest cities in the world. Even though I was there for four years, I still feel like I barely scratched the surface on all Chicago had to offer.

    Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Beautiful part of a beautiful state. Perhaps more than any of these other cities, Fergus Falls felt the most like an adventure when I moved there.

    Moving by myself hundreds of miles away to a town that I had never heard of until about three months before I moved there. When I told people I was moving to Minnesota, the response was always “MINNESOTA?! It’s so cold there!”

    The legends were true. It was cold. (Although not as much snow as you’d probably think). Although it was also fitting that as we packed up our last things into the truck, I spent my last few hours in windy, sub-zero temperatures. Felt like it was my final exam as a Minnesotan.

    It was the smallest place I’d ever lived, but it never really felt like that small of a town to me. I always thought there was so much to do. When I first moved there, I had just gotten into photography. On my days off, I’d find a forest in a different part of the state, drive there, taking pictures all along the way. I’d spend hours just taking pictures. Sometimes on a nice night, I’d go out and take pictures for a couple hours around town. Those are honestly some of the greatest times I had in Minnesota. I loved it. The county had over a thousand lakes. But the sunsets were just as awesome over the farmland.

    It was love at first sight. I always thought the area was breathtaking.

    It was the first place where I lived with my wife after getting married. She wasn’t from Fergus Falls either. But was just as enamored with the area when she moved there too. It was the first place we lived after getting married.

    As I think of all of the art things about the places where I’ve lived, more than anything, the things I enjoy most about these places is the people and the relationships. Everywhere I’ve lived I’ve loved. Because everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve met a lot of people I loved.

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner  has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.

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  • Election of firsts – but you have to be the right first to get attention

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    Update: there have been chances in vote leaders in certain elections since the writing of this article. Martha McSally and Young Kim would go on to lose their elections.  

    I’ve seen a lot of posts and Tweets about the diverse candidates who were elected on Tuesday. Van Jones of CNN said the election didn’t turn out to be a blue wave but it was a rainbow wave.

    Many are celebrating that the first female Muslims were elected to congress, the first openly gay governor was elected, the first two Native American women were elected to congress, the youngest woman ever was elected to congress.

    Young Kim was narrowly elected to California’s 39th congressional district. I don’t see her on the list. But she’s the first Korean American elected to the US congress. She’s a republican so that doesn’t get celebrated with the others. I did a search on Twitter for these lists that also happen to mention the first Korean American woman. I found five. TOTAL. On all of Twitter.

    But that makes the celebration seem disingenuous to me. Diversity gets celebrated but only if it’s the right people, otherwise it gets ignored. Martha McSally was elected to the senate in Arizona. She was a pilot in the air force and the first female to fly as a fighter pilot. When she retired from her 22 year military career, McSally was a colonel and one of the highest ranking female pilots in Air Force history. A remarkable woman. But she’s a republican so she gets largely ignored.

    Essentially it doesn’t matter to people who celebrate it. It’s not about any of these diverse candidates who won. If it were, Young Kim would also be celebrated. What matters is people who adhere to a certain political ideology. And if they happen to check intersectional boxes, that’s great. If they check those boxes and aren’t progressive, they’re ignored.

    Also, why the need to front load things with a person’s race, gender, or orientation instead of their plans to govern?

    Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe! 

    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.

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