Pastor's Blog (Page 20)

This is not who we are! How many times in the last 12 months have you heard people say about the rage-filled protests, violence, arson, and killings, “This is not who we are”? They seem to imply that such behaviors are extraordinarily rare and in no way characteristic of us. But do you know something? The more I hear that statement, the more it has struck me:…

Let’s give some thought to that last phrase: He will save His people from their sins. Often the Bible mentions our “sin” in a singular, collective sense, gathering them all into one giant mass. But here the angel uses that great plural “sins.” Every variety, every kind, yes, every single sin is included: thoughts, words, deeds,…

Let this be a sign among you . . . Joshua 4:6 Whose idea was it for 12 men to take 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River and set them up in the camp as a memorial? God’s, of course. He wanted His people and their successive generations to have a tangible reminder of the miraculous dry-ground crossing of the flood-stage Jordan. And this wasn’t unique.…

Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you…Joshua 5:9 How often have you just needed a fresh start? A clean break from the past? Like when your middle school peers wouldn’t let you forget that mortifyingly embarrassing incident. Or that boss who could never see you as management material after the shenanigan you pulled that time. Maybe,…

If you’re following the Joshua Scripture memory calendar, you may be puzzled and shaking your head about some of the verses I chose: Take only a few… Take the whole army… (7:3; 8:1)…but not by your sword or bow. (24:12)…you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. (8:2)  Yes, I see why you might think they are rather random…

I gave you a land on which you had not labored. . . cities which you had not built. . . vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant. . . Joshua 24:13 We humans are infected by two serious plagues. One is the plague of blessings forgotten, and the other is the plague of the half-empty glass. The plague of blessings forgotten amounts to losing…