DID JOSHUA FIGHT JERICHO BAREFOOT?

I remember being a kid in Sunday school when I first heard about Joshua and the battle of Jericho. Jonah getting swallowed by a whale, Saul seeing a really bright light, and Jesus feeding a lot of people didn’t compare to the war stories of the blood hurling courage and vigorous aggression of Joshua’s commanding leadership. Little men, big walls, and loud trumpets; it doesn’t get more exciting than that for a 5 year old boy with way too much testosterone. Anything that I could act out later in the back yard was a thrilling new challenge. There was even a song that went along with it:

Joshua fought the battle of Jericho… Jericho… Jericho.
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down.

To this day I can’t read Joshua 6 without the tunes of my youth as the soundtrack (although at the time I thought the song said: Joshua fought the battle of Cherry Coke). But there is an event that occurs prior to the well known conquering of Jericho that I always rush through with the excitement of my battle music building in the background and I ignore the significance of its occurrence:

As Joshua approached the city of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man facing him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you a friend or foe?”

Like Joshua, I don’t like a person getting in my way, especially when I am trying to accomplish what I think is a good purpose. When something or someone becomes an obstacle to what I view as a righteous objective, they immediately become an enemy. In fact, there are many occasions when the Lord gets in my way and I don’t recognize that it’s Him. I get frustrated because I am trying to accomplish His work and the outcome is that He ends up as an enemy to my virtuous intentions. I am trying to be a good husband, I am trying to be a good father, I am trying to be a good teacher, or I am trying to help out my church but there are inconveniences that occur. Those inconveniences appear to be keeping me from my goal and, therefore, become my foe. I can become too focused on the destination of my heading and forget the reason I was heading there in the first place. If God is why I am pursuing, than only God should be why I hesitate or stop. Joshua was so fixed on his target that he didn’t recognize that it was the Lord who was right in front of him. He misinterpreted God’s inconvenience as a possible enemy.

The result of Joshua’s confusion was irreverence. When he found out that it was the commander of the Lord’s army in his way, he fell on his face and asked, “What do you want me to do?”

The Lord’s reply:

Take off your sandals, for this is holy ground.

My response would have been, “Are you kidding me? Don’t you see that I am in the middle of something? I am trying to conquer Jericho, which You told me to do in the first place! So make up Your mind. Are you for me or against me? Are you a friend or a foe?”

Joshua’s response was much more humble. He did as he was told. Then he proceeded to whip the pants off of Jericho (scripture never mentions whether or not Joshua put his sandals back on before he continued).

True courageous leadership is having a vision from God, but also knowing that God’s vision is never more important than God himself. And we should never allow that vision to be reason enough to treat our gracious Lord with irreverence by forgetting what He looks like. Many of the inconveniences in our lives are the sovereign act of God to stop us dead in our tracks and remind us why we are doing what we are doing. He uses those times to build character and keep our zeal for a vision from replacing our zeal for His glory first.

GEORGIA CALLS ME CHUCK

I just finished up teaching at Lafayette High School in North Georgia.  The guys there like to call me Chuck.  Every day they would gather around the front of the stage and ask me questions about music, movies, and girls.  They were desperate for attention.

I tried to give them hope to make healthy choices and show them that there are other ways to have fun with the opposite gender other than just by having sex.  For example:

chatting…

 

…or star gazing.

I’M A FAKE!

In Jeremiah chapter 45, Baruch was handed an astounding opportunity for leadership and administration as a messenger for the very mouth of God.  Jeremiah dictated the Lord’s warning to Israel as Baruch wrote down everything with the command to read it in the Temple on a day when large crowds would be gathered there from all over Judah.  Every word was meant as an attempt to provoke repentance upon a rebellious nation.

Baruch was handed the chance of a lifetime.  He could break away from this event with immense respect and a high position among the people of God as His messenger.  I can only imagine his excitement and sense of purpose as he was given the task.  The temptation of a young ambitious man to achieve deference among his peers no doubt was tugging at his own aspirations, and Jeremiah wasn’t hesitant to call him out on the matter.

Are you seeking great things for yourself?  Don’t do it!

(Jeremiah 45:5)

Jeremiah’s experience allowed him to understand something that Baruch and I both had never grasped.  True leadership is realizing that God’s highest potential for our lives is the most humble position we could ever assume.  When our ambition is to be effective in the service of the almighty Creator, it must be void of self-promotion and centered on the glory of God and welfare of the church.

I was slapped in the face this morning when I realized how much I can relate to Baruch.  I am a fake and a self-seeker of social visibility.  Instead of realizing God’s highest potential for my life, I have sought out His highest position for my life.  While Paul called leadership an “honorable position” (1 Timothy 3:1), it is inexcusable if your motivation is godly popularity.

The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only the quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart.

Samuel Brengle, Salvation Army Revival Preacher

Too many times have I lived vainly in search of leadership for the sole reason of man’s respect.  I have been God’s messenger with the purpose of self-recognition.  Too many times I have wanted to become great, I have refused to lower myself, and I have wanted to rule.  The consequence is that Jesus became small, He humbled Himself, and He came to serve.  God forgive me!

WHOLE ‘NOTHER DEAL

The school bell rang.  “I see you like the Rolling Stones!”  I noticed that his black binder was displaying a large red tongue pertruding from big red juicy lips – a symbol any rock ‘n roll fan has grown to know and love.  In my own awkwardness, it was the only thing I could think of to spark conversation.

Zach is a tall, skinny kid with long black hair and mustache.  He is way too young to be sporting a mustache.  He sat in the back of class every day at school without saying a word to anyone.  He showed up wearing the same thing every morning – army pants and a black hoody with the picture of an electric guitar slapped from across the waist up over the right shoulder.  The dirt between his fingernails said a lot less than his wide blue eyes.  He was so excited that I was talking to him.

“Charlie, I really liked your presentation!”  he said.  I don’t know if he really liked it or not, but he sure did want my attention.  “Thanks!” I said, as my brain began scattering for other words to show that I cared he was talking and yet still not cross that imaginary guy-to-guy line of speaking too intimately (you know the one…  it’s like saying, “I like your hair” to another guy but making sure you don’t take another step further by saying, “do you think you could show me how to do it sometime?”)

We exchanged a few more hesitant words and then went our separate ways.  I couldn’t let go of that look in eyes, though.  I ran to my car, pressed eject, and then pulled a CD from the console.  It was one of my favorites.  I have rocked many miles on those brilliant tunes.

Returning quickly to the classroom, I handed him my past times and said, “I think you might like this.”

I hope he likes it.  I really hope that maybe he will hear what my heart couldn’t tell him.  Most of all, I hope he hears a God who knows him beyond that guy-to-guy line.  But, I guess that’s a Whole ‘Nother Deal…

HERE’S TO THE MEMORIES

I am usually not prone to offer highlights or recaps from the previous year and I absolutely loathe New Year’s resolutions.  It’s a bit cliché, however I was cornered into it by this cool hippie.  So here goes…

My 5 most significant memories of 2007:

1.   My wife and I completed over 3 years of marriage and we are more intimate lovers and even better friends (click here).

2.   My manhood was peaked by the birth of our daughter, Norah (click here).  I love my girls!

3.   God placed me in the middle of a fantastic job.

4.   We finally moved into the home that we have been remodeling now for the last 3 years, although there is still work to be done (click here).

5.   I started blogging (don’t click; just read)!

LESSONS FROM FREDDIE

I have a friend named Freddie.   He is an older man, but as strong as an ox and you can barely understand what he is mumbling due to the lack of teeth hidden by his grey beard.  He has been looking for work so we took a drive downtown the day after Christmas to offer him a job fixing the eaves on one of my father’s houses.

During the trip, I realized that Freddie had a lot of knowledge about life and that I could learn a lot by listening to him.  He taught me that you don’t need a lot to be happy.  “If I’ve got a roof o’er my head and a meal, than I am blessed,” he said.  “That’s all I can really ask fo’.  You know what I’m sayin’?  I mean, I got a truck that’ll get me to a job.  I don’t need much mo’ than that.”

I knew what he was saying…

I also learned that we should respect the animals.  “You hear ’bout that tiger that got loose and killed some dude walkin’ down the street!  He didn’t know what comin’.  I mean it one thin’ if you bein’ chased by a dog.  But a tiger…  shit!  You know what I’m sayin’?”

I knew what he was saying.  He was saying you can’t out run death and you never know when you’re going to die.  He was also saying that tigers are a lot more scary than dogs, and that’s a good lesson to learn. 

“I be watchin’ National Geographic and shit on TV.”  That’s the other thing that Freddie taught me, we should leave things like we found them.  “They still findin’ stuff up in caves in the mountains, you know.  They some crazy shit too.”  He mentioned something about Steve Irwin and how he could never get that close to some of those animals, “I mean, I’ll hold the camera but I ain’t getting that close to that thing.  That snake just wants to choke the shit out of you and have you fo’ supper.  You know what I’m sayin’?”  I think I made a joke about sting rays, but it wasn’t very funny.

By the end of the trip he had a job and I had learned a lot more than I was expecting.  Freddie helped me realize some important things in life:  a meal is enough to be thankful for even if you don’t have the teeth to chew it… animals have a purpose on this earth and we shouldn’t get in the way of it… always look over your shoulder for a tiger… live everyday as if it were your last… and sting rays are not very funny.

12 GIFT IDEAS FOR 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

1.     Purchase someone’s groceries.

2.     Pay for the food of the person behind you at the drive thru. 

3.     Warm hats, coats, and socks for the homeless here.

4.     Buy someone a tank of gas.

5.     Make a donation for someone’s medication.

6.     Help a missionary or a non-profit organization that you really believe in.

7.     Invite the lonely to dinner. 

8.     Pay someone’s utility bill.

9.     Relieve someone of their credit card debt.

10.    Give one of your cars away to someone who needs it more than you.

11.    Feed a hungry child here or here.

12.    Help empower entrepenuers in Uganda with no means to lift themselves out of poverty here.