by steve | Aug 4, 2023 | Kingdom Living, Men
Four times in Joshua chapter one, the great leader was exhorted to be strong and courageous. I find that interesting. Why would this be such an urgency? Because apparently, Joshua wasn’t very heroic then. The nation of Israel was about to head into the Promised Land. This military campaign was something they had not done before, and Joshua was charged with leading them. The possibility of fear was substantial. The danger was immense. The unknown was profound. God’s odd battle plan of marching around Jericho to take the city seemed ludicrous. Wouldn’t an artillery bombardment and Marine frontal attack make more sense? The “What ifs” were compounding by the moment. (more…)
by steve | Jun 17, 2023 | Just Life, Kingdom Living, Men
Growing up, I thought the Marine Corps had the best recruiting commercials out of all the armed services. Maybe that’s why I spent so much time in the Marine Recruiting office in middle school. However, I followed God to Bible College rather than going to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego after High School and a year at Junior College. There’s something inspirational, though, in the thought of being the “tip of the spear” and thus saving the world. Something almost unexplainable rises inside of me when I think about the values of the Marine Corps.
But maybe that’s not you. Perhaps God has placed something different in your soul, which initiates vision and life. I think John Elbridge got it right when he noted, “Adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness, is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of man.” Today though, noble manhood has fallen on tough times in many quarters of our culture. As we approach Father’s Day in 2023, the problem is much more exasperated. (more…)
by steve | Jan 28, 2020 | Just Life, Kingdom Living
Sometimes
the best thing to do when you’re at the end of the rope is to trust God and
just do the next thing. A while back on a Sunday afternoon, I was physically
exhausted and emotionally spent after preaching that morning. I was also
handling a number of church projects and concerns that felt like a
mountaineering backpack filled with lead, all the while knowing I had an
important meeting that night. But after a short crash on my bed and watching my
favorite football team get beat, I threw some water on my face, stood still for
a moment, asked Jesus for physical help, and put one foot in front of the
other.
We
don’t see that a lot in the Bible, but that’s pretty much what life is. We like
the action stories of David whopping Goliath, but we silently ignore all the
days that David was in the desert waiting on God. Eventually, God worked
through that normal Hebrew teenager who was stepping out in faith on a daily
basis.
It
was a good meeting and teaching time that Sunday night. I was still physically
beat when I got home, but there was more of a smile on my face than when I
left. I’m not sure what caused the positive change in my demeanor that night.
It could have been something as simple as the additional dopamine in my brain
chemistry caused by the physical action of getting up and moving. Maybe it was
a swath of encouragement from the Holy Spirit. Or maybe it was just a sense
that if I kept climbing, I’d eventually reach the summit of the mountain, and
that’s a good thought.
What is the next step before you today? What will it cost you to take it? What will it cost you if you do not take it?
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You can find more encouraging narratives in the book, Confessions: “Finding Hope Through One Pastor’s Doubt.”
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