Tag: Bible

Gleanings in Joshua: Be Bold and Courageous

On By joshnnomiIn Gleanings in JoshuaLeave a comment

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In the C.S. Lewis classic, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, there is a memorable line, “in Narnia it is always winter but never Christmas.” I could imagine to Joshua and the people of Israel, 40 years of wandering in the wilderness started to feel like always winter but never Christmas. The idea of a promise land out there but never being able to attain it. Then we see Moses climbing a mountain to his death and the people of Israel are to go on without him. Could you imagine what they must be feeling? What will they do now? Who will lead them? Who will be their prophet? All of these questions must be swirling in their heads as they are on the brink of the promise land in what seems to be a leaderless and hopeless group, until we flip the page to Joshua chapter 1.

The Lord’s Work Continues

As soon as we flip the page to Joshua we learn, just because Moses died doesn’t mean the Lord’s work has died. The Lord’s work and purposes will continue and they will continue through Moses’ disciple, Joshua. The Lord always raises up leaders to continue his work. Many times we sit back and think what will happen to the Lord’s church if the Lord calls so and so home. You know what, The Lord’s work will continue and we must prepare those the Lord calls. Which is what we see with Moses and Joshua.

The Lord gives Joshua the mission of taking the land and what a task it will be.

Joshua 1:1-4 (ESV)
1  After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant,
2  “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
3  Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
4  From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

Given the massive mission, no wonder the Lord tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. He is about to lead a generation of wilderness wanders into war to take the promise land. Could you imagine what Joshua must be feeling? Scared? Nervous? Overwhelmed? Yet the Lord tells him to be strong and very courageous. How could Joshua stand tall, be strong and very courageous?

God’s Promise 

God has promised his people a land. We can go all the way back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and discover the promise he made concerning a prosperous land. He gave the same promise to Moses and now it is time for the Lord to fulfill his promise through Joshua. Joshua can be bold and courageous because the promises of God are yes and amen (1 Cor. 1:20).

God’s Presence

Joshua 1:5 (ESV)
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Can you imagine being around Moses? The man who the Lord uses to bring plagues on Egypt, bring Pharaoh and all his might to destruction, part the Red Sea, see God’s glory, speak with the Lord, deliver the law, bring water from a rock and we can go on and on. Now imagine the Lord says just like I was with Moses I will be with you. Joshua can be bold and courageous because God’s presence will never leave or forsake him.

God’s Precepts

Joshua 1:7-8 (ESV)
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

The Lord tells  Joshua that if he is going to be a man guided by God’s precepts he is going to need to be strong and very courageous. The law was all the Bible Joshua had and God told him to obey it, do not compromise, meditate on it day and night, and do it. In order to be a man driven by God’s precepts Joshua was going to have to be strong and courageous because Joshua and the people of Israel were the only ones following after Yahweh and his law. At the same time Joshua could be strong and courageous because if he is faithful to God’s precepts he was given the promise of success.

God’s People

Joshua 1:12-15 (ESV)
And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said,
“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’
Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them,
until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

At this point in Joshua, the people of Israel are at the brink of the Jordan, two and a half tribes of Israel would dwell in this land, the others would have to cross the Jordan. Joshua reminds those from the tribe of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh of the promise they gave Moses, to send their men into battle when they crossed the Jordan. Joshua was saying we need all of God’s people to fulfill the mission. Joshua could be strong and courageous because of the unity of God’s people.

How About You?

God has given his church, which is every person who follows Christ, a massive mission. The church is to preach the Gospel, make disciples of all nations, baptize and teach them how to follow Jesus. Yet many of us read the previous two sentences and crumble in fear.

The Lord’s message to you is be strong and very courageous because God’s word, Old and New Testament, are filled with promises for you and I. In 1 Corinthians we are told those promises are yes and amen in Christ (1:20). In Christ through the Spirit, God’s promises are yes and amen in our lives.

One of Jesus’ greatest promises is I will never leave or forsake you (Heb. 13:5). Just like Joshua we have the promise of God’s presence. The reality of God’s presence being with us always should emboldened us to be strong and courageous.

Just like Joshua, we too must be people driven by God’s precepts, especially in an era when it is very unpopular to stand with truth. We must be Bible people. Bible people meditate, obey and speak God’s word. It takes strength and courage to be a Bible person and yet at the same time we are strengthened and given courage because we are Bible people.

Finally, Jesus prayed for the unity of His church before he left this world,

John 17:20-21 (ESV)
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Jesus prayed that the church, would be one like the Father and Jesus are one. That is amazing unity. You need God’s people, God’s people need you. As we are united in serving one another we testify to the world that God the Father sent the Son into this world for the purpose of unifying a people under the Lordship of Jesus, for his glory.

We can be bold and very courageous because we too have God’s promises, God’s presence, God’s precepts and God’s people.

Until next time

Soli Deo Gloria

The Early Bird Gets The Link 

On By joshnnomiIn Around the WebLeave a comment

The Early Bird Gets The Link is a daily roundup of interesting and thought provoking articles, videos, or audio clips.

How Can Your Church Serve Unemployed Men?

Worth the read. “Here I was, newly married and a seminary student, with no work. Every month, until I was back on my feet, a check would arrive from my home church, from an anonymous donor, sending me money.”

From Flight to Fight

But as Christians, our retreating from sin is not a retreating from war. Our flight from sin is as purposeful as it is active — like Tolkien’s depiction of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers.

The Source and Sufficiency of Scripture

We can’t expect to turn God’s Word into a personal flashlight for our own chosen path. We must walk God’s path and there alone we will have the assurance of the enlightened way. 

Saved People Love to Sing

There are many ways Christians are a peculiar people. One of them is that we almost always sing when we’re together.

5 Ways to Live the God-Centered Life

How can we live the God-centered life in this contemporary age? You could answer this question in a way that’s understandable to a child, as well as in a way that would strike a Harvard professor as intellectually credible.

What Is the Longest Book in the Bible? (Hint: It’s Not the Psalms)

Very interesting

Things I Wish Andy Stanley Wouldn’t Say

On By joshnnomiIn The BibleLeave a comment


The Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission (ERLC) national conference kicked off yesterday and the theme of the conference is how to engage culture effectively with the Gospel. Dr. Russell Moore sat with Pastor Andy Stanley to discuss leadership, preaching and cultural engagement. 

In their conversation Pastor Andy Stanley speaking to pastors said “I would tell pastors to get the spotlight off the Bible and back on the resurrection.” As you can imagine Pastor Andy Stanley’s statement sent shockwaves throughout the twitter sphere. When I heard it I cringed a little and when ERLC releases the conference video I plan on relistening to their convertsation. But as I sat and contemplated what I heard of the conversation, I must say, Pastor Andy Stanley’s statement puts forth a false dichotomy. 

The Bible and the ressurection of Christ are not at odds with each other. The Bible is the spotlight a “lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19). What is the Bible spotlighting? The life, death and ressurection of Jesus Christ. We would have no idea of the ressurection of Jesus without Spirit inspired writers informing us of the historical event.

One day when Jesus was engaging the religious culture of his day he said, 

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. – John 5:39-40

Jesus was pointing out that the Old Testament Scriptures, which they studied profusely, bore witness to Christ. The Bible wasn’t at fault for their lack of recognition of truth it was their refusal to come. Jesus pointed out it was their hearts, which refused to come, as the reason they didn’t find life in Christ. So if you follow the thread in the passage, accepting Christ leads to life, but the only way we know about that life is through the Scriptures. The Bible and Jesus Christ are forever linked, you can’t come to Christ without the Gospel which the Scriptures proclaim and you will not understand the Scriptures without Jesus Christ. 

We must engage culture with the Gospel, which we find in the Bible. The content of our message is immutable, but how we engage the culture is crucial to being effective Gospel witnesses in the 21st century. Peter exhorts us to engage the culture with gentleness and respect. 

In the past our methods of engaging people with the Gospel have been cringe worthy. Instead of being Gospel people witnessing with gentleness and respect we have repelled people by our witness. I don’t know how many times I have heard “God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve.” Do we actually believe a comment like that will actually bring the LGBQT community to the table to discuss the Gospel. What about referring to those of another race as “those people” or racial slurs, do we really believe we are speaking with gentleness and respect? In our increasingly pluralistic and diverse society we must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The Gospel is offensive do not add to the offense by how you engage the culture. 

You can livestream the conference which kicks off at 8:30 am on Friday. 

Until Next Time 

Solo Deo Gloria

The Early Bird Gets The Link

On By joshnnomiIn Around the WebLeave a comment

Recognizing Foolish Leaders 

“How do we know if a potential leader is foolish? The principle is in this statement that Jesus made: “every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). We must examine the fruit. And the Bible is quite clear on what the diseased fruit of foolishness looks like:”

Too Sexy For This Selfie 

Very interesting article, may have to get the book.

“Studies estimate American teenagers spend an average of nine hours a day using screens. That’s two hours more than they spend sleeping. Many of these hours are devoted to social media, which some teens admit to checking at least 100 times a day.”

  
How Not to Teach Your Kids the Bible

“Essentially, I was teaching them there is little difference between the power of the gospel and the power of Grayskull. I needed to make changes. My children needed to learn to read and understand the Bible on its own terms.”

Donald Trump’s Surprising Success with Southern Evangelicals

I continue to be baffled by the support Trump receives, especially from people who describe themselves as Evangelical. 

Called… Beloved… Kept…

On By joshnnomiIn Insights from Jude3 Comments

When I was younger, in my teens and early twenties, when I would buy a book I would skip the forward and introduction and go straight to the meat of the book. Until one day, my lovely wife, asked me “why do you do that?” I told her “I bought the book for what’s in the chapters not the introduction.” So that day we sat and read the forward and introduction of the book and I was shocked, there was so much good information and material in there that I regretted not reading introductions sooner.

Sometimes the way we treat the greetings sections in the epistles, is the way I treated introductions and forwards in books, just blow right by them without giving them a second thought. Oh what a mistake we make when we do this, especially when we believe in the verbal (every word) plenary (fully authoritative) inspiration of scripture.

Take for example, the book of Jude verse 1;
“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

These two verses are so rich with meaning. Jude writing to believers, let’s them know I am writing to those who are Called. Jude let’s his audience know if your a believer it is because God has called you out of the darkness into his glorious light. Called you and chosen you out of the orphanage into the family of God as His son or daughter.

Jude, also shares with his audience of believers that not only are they called they are Beloved. Jude tells us we are beloved by the Father, how did the Father show us his love? “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) For the Father so loved He gave His only Son so that many can be called to become sons and daughters and be welcomed into the the arms of a Father who lavishes his love on those He calls. Oh what love the Father has lavished on those whom he has called.

As if that wasn’t enough, Jude continues and tells his audience that they are Kept. God calls us, loves us, and He keeps us in His family. Our salvation from beginning to end, from the moment of God’s calling to final glorification is dependent on God. Out of the Fathers great love, He calls us and keeps us.Why does God do this? For the glory of the Son, Jesus Christ.

Jude told his audience that they were called, beloved and kept, for the glory of Jesus Christ. In verse 3 we read that he was “eager to tell them more about the salvation we share”, but there were other issues pressing that needed to be addressed. But Jude told them all they needed to know, friends you are called, you are beloved and you are kept for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Now as we read it, we are Jude’s audience and he tells us, friends you are called, beloved, and kept for the glory of Jesus Christ. More to come next week as we finish this look into the greetings from Jude