Joshua’s final remarks to the Israelites are sprinkled with important reminders. I’ve posted three of the prominent ones this week. At the end of that came his call to commitment, found in the famous words of Joshua 24:14-15, “So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when…
Category: Dawning of a New Day
I Can Only Speak for Me:: 4
“‘I brought you to the land of the Amorites who lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you, and you took possession of their land. When Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, prepared to fight against Israel, he sent…
I Can Only Speak for Me:: 3
The final words of Joshua have been captured and recorded in chapters 23-24 of the book that bears his name. Yesterday I remarked that the first thing he reiterated was that the people were to remain committed to the Book of Instruction. The second reflection he mentioned was that the people should remember that God…
I Can Only Speak for Me:: 2
Joshua spent the lion’s share of two chapters giving his final sermon to the children of Israel. Most of his points simply reiterate principles that he had previously shared with the people. For example, in chapter 23 verse 6, Joshua reminded the people to be careful to follow the book of instruction given to them…
I Can Only Speak for Me
Who do you speak for? Last week I had to fill out some forms for my daughter who was having a surgical procedure done at the office of an oral surgeon. Before we arrived I downloaded a small stack of forms to complete and sign. At the bottom of each form was a place for…
Finding Your Element:: 3
Yesterday I pointed out that two of the becoming elements of Caleb’s life were his character and his God-confidence. The final observation I want to make concerns his PASSION. If you read the story carefully, Caleb was promised the region of land that had captured his imagination 45 years earlier when he walked through it…
Finding Your Element:: 2
What made Caleb stand out? CHARACTER Three times in the story it speaks of the fact that he wholeheartedly followed the Lord. In other words, he was a person of integrity. The word integrity comes from the root word that provides us the mathematical term “integer.” An integer is a whole number. Thus, integrity has…
Finding Your Element
A delegation from the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb said to Joshua, “Remember what the LORD said to Moses, the man of God, about you and me when we were at Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of the…
Why Discernment is Important:: 3
This week I’ve been sharing about the importance of corporate prayer in congregational life. Yesterday I made two observations, first, that prayer unifies the church with God’s purposes, and second, that prayer enables congregations to discover God’s direction for their particular church. Today I offer a third and final observation, that being that corporate prayer…
Why Discernment is Important:: 2
No great movement of God has ever been undertaken without prayer. Think about the early church. There, the disciples watched as Jesus ascended up into the heavens. As they stared into the sky with their mouths hanging open, an angel appeared and admonished them to remember that Jesus would one day return in like fashion….
