November 14th, 2008 by Kristi Stephens

Before we begin, open your Bible (or pull up the passage from the link on the left side of the blog) and skim through Joshua chapters 13-19.

Seriously… do that! :)

Riveting reading, isn’t it? Why is so much ink spilled on supremely boring information? There really is a point – God is keeping His promises. The land is theirs, and they are dividing it among the tribes! I love the summary in 21:43-45.

So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Amen. Our God is faithful. In the words of Beth Moore, God is who He says He is, and He can do what He says He can do!

[Note that the entire nation wiped out the major coalitions and cities. "Mop up" operations are left to the individual tribes to complete as they conquer their own territories allotted to them by God. We'll come back to this in the next post.]

In the midst of this land discussion is tucked an awesome little story about Caleb. Remember back to Numbers – Joshua and Caleb were the only two men out of their entire generation who were allowed to enter the land. They were the only ones who believed God and wanted to enter the land the first time around. The rest of the nation refused to believe, and as a result, they all wandered around the desert for 40 years waiting for the rest of them to die off. I’m sure it had been a LONG 40 years of wandering for Joshua and Caleb.

Now, also remember what had scared everyone away from believing God-

“…the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there… all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:28, 32b-33)

The Anakites! Only Caleb and Joshua had the eyes of faith to see these men as what they were – big men against a much bigger God.

Flip back and read Numbers 14:6-15. Please read the whole section – we’ll just highlight a portion of it here.

“And now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today… Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the Lord has spoken.” (Joshua 14:10, 12)

I absolutely love this. Caleb, an 85 year old man, goes to Joshua and asks that the portion of the land where the Anakites live be given to him. Caleb still understands. He still sees through eyes of faith – he might be just one 85 year-old man, but fortified cities of giants cannot stand against His God. Joshua 15 fills in the rest of the story for us:

“And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak.” (Joshua 15:14)

What a bittersweet story for Caleb – if only the people had believed 45 years ago. If only they had seen how big their God really was.

What are the giants in your life today? Do some problems, sinful patterns, or wounds in your heart seem so huge that they are insurmountable? That you feel like a grasshopper in your own eyes, so to speak?

Our God is bigger. Believe Him.

“Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
Joshua 21:45

November 13th, 2008 by Kristi Stephens

By request, I will be occasionally adding some of my favorite recipes to the blog. Enjoy!

Mint Brownies
(my mom has made these for years and they’re awesome!)

Brownie mix of your choice [for a 9x13 pan]

Filling:
1 cu powdered sugar
1 stick softened butter
1 Tbsp water
5 drops green food coloring
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Chocolate topping:
1 cu chocolate chips
6 Tbsp butter

Make brownies from mix; cool.
Mix filling ingredients until smooth and spread on brownies.
Melt chocolate chips and butter together and spread over mint layer.
Refrigerate to set chocolate.

November 12th, 2008 by Kristi Stephens

Remember that God had given the Israelites very specific instructions about the battle against Jericho - and He was very specific about the plunder from that battle: it all belonged to Him. They were to dedicate it all the the Lord -

And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. (Joshua 6:18)

In words that come out of my mouth about 1,000 times per day at this stage, “NO TOUCH!”

Unfortunately, one man had the self-control of my 9 month old, and it did not turn out well.

But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed things; so the anger of the LORD burned against the children of Israel. (Joshua 7:1)

Now, Achan is the only one who knows what happened at this point. Joshua just knows that they had a huge victory at Jericho, and that they are on to the next battle: Ai. (Usually pronounced like the letters! A – I) He sends some spies, and they tell him that Ai is small, and that they didn’t need the whole army. Two to three thousand men were plenty to take care of this.

So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads. And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan! O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?” (Joshua 7:4-9)

36 out of 3,000 doesn’t seem like that bad of a loss. Why is Joshua so panicked? 36 people would be a big loss for those 36 families, yes, but Joshua recognizes the bigger issue: Why is God not fighting for us? Something is wrong! If He isn’t with us we’re toast!

God tells Joshua that someone has sinned and taken from the “accursed things.” So, they all assemble, God identifies the tribe of the sinner, then the family, then the household, then the man himself: Achan. [I definitely would not have wanted to be in his shoes while this was happening!!] The nation stones him because of his sin.

Now, I want to draw a contrast here between Achan and Rahab. We didn’t specifically talk about Rahab, so if you haven’t read this story before, or aren’t very familiar with it, please take a minute to read Joshua chapter 2.

Between Achan and Rahab, who should have come out better in the end?

Achan was a Judahite. If you’re an Israelite at this time, being from the tribe of Judah is a great place to be – it’s the tribe where rulers come from, and specifically, where THE Leader was prophesied to come from! His future? He could have been in the lineage of Christ! He, as a member of the nation of Israel, had been promised by God that he could live in the promised land. He was watching the unfolding of God’s covenant with Abraham right before his eyes!

Rahab was a Canaanite. No promises to her. Really, the only guarantee was that she and her people would be wiped out for their idolatry and immorality and that God would supernaturally give the land to His people. She was also not that great even as Canaanites went – she was a prostitute! Her future? She was supposed to be dead under the rocks as the walls of Jericho fell.

The interesting thing here is that the outcomes of these two stories are flipped – Achan dies under the rocks, and Rahab lives in the land and actually ends up in the lineage of Christ (take a look at Matthew 1)!

What’s the lesson? Achan had the right “pedigree.” He should have been the one inheriting all these blessings, right? I think between the two, it is obvious that Rahab had genuine faith in the God of Israel (Josh. 2:9-11). If Achan had faith it is certainly not apparent in his actions.

I am convinced that there are many people in our churches today who feel like they are entitled to access to heaven: their parents were Christians, they know a lot about God and the Bible, they do good things. But, they don’t have true faith – and it will not work out well for them in the end. On the flip side, I think there are a lot of people who don’t believe they are “good enough” to be saved. They have a past. They’ve made terrible choices. They don’t have a shot.

Guess what, people? Pedigree doesn’t matter. What matters is your faith. Rahab, a prostitute from a pagan nation had genuine faith in God – and God delivered her from certain death and grafted her right into His people – and eventually into the lineage of Jesus Christ Himself! No matter how bad you think you are, what a mess you’ve made of your life – God is big enough to redeem it.

One more comment about Rahab – I wonder how the Israelites reacted to her when she joined them in their journeys? When I taught high school Bible, I remember talking to one of my classes after we had watched a Focus on the Family film about serial killer Ted Bundy and his interview with Dr. Dobson – he professed that he had come to know Christ as Savior while in jail and was sharing his story before his execution. Several of my students (who, I might add, were not shining examples of love for Christ) were outraged at the idea that Ted Bundy might be in heaven with them. How could God forgive such grievous sin?

That whole conversation left me sick and often comes to mind. We have such a perverted idea of grace. Have I killed anyone? No. Is the sin of a serial killer horrific? Yes. However, does my “lesser sin” make me any more deserving of heaven? No way! All of us deserve hell! I remember one of my former pastors talking about grace – if we all lined up on the edge of the grand canyon and attempted to jump across it, you might jump farther than me, I might jump farther than someone else, but the fact of the matter is that none of us will make it across! Our fate is sealed! Our relative goodness to one another doesn’t matter as we think about salvation – the fact of the matter is that we’re all plummeting to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and there is only One who is able to save us. Sadly, many will ignore His offer of salvation believing that they are able to jump the chasm alone.

There are some shady characters in the lineage of Christ! Jacob, the ultimate schemer and deceiver. Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah who dressed as a prostitute in order to trick Judah into fathering a child through her. Rahab the prostitute from Jericho. David and Bathsheba and their son Solomon.

God isn’t interested in people who think they’re good enough to know Him on their own. He desires the broken ones – the ones who know they could never earn it, were never “good enough.” The ones who will proclaim His grace to the world.

I will close with the words of a simple shepherd boy turned king turned adulterer turned murderer… turned repentant man after God’s own heart: {David}

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
(Psalm 51:16-17)

November 5th, 2008 by Kristi Stephens

NP and I sat on the couch last night in silence watching the election results come in. Just like many of you, I felt disappointed, sad, and slightly anxious, but most of all I was in a state of disbelief. I know that today’s America is nowhere near the ideals of the Puritans or the founding fathers, but deep down I was hoping and praying that the remnant of believers would hold fast to Truth. I don’t think that happened in many cases.

I keep thinking about the book of Exodus. One of the amazing things to me about Exodus was that despite the severity of their oppression in Egypt, despite the fact that they had been forced to throw their tiny, helpless infants into a watery grave, the Israelites wanted to go back. They felt that the cruelty and murderous rage of Pharaoh was better than God’s provision in the wilderness. It was better than having to rely on Him alone.

As I write this I am tearing up, for I feel that this is exactly where we are as a nation. We don’t want God. We don’t want to be a nation “under Him.” We don’t want to bow the knee and recognize Him as the source of Truth, justice, and all that is right and good. We would rather go to a human being for some sense of refuge. Even a man who finds it acceptable, if not good, to murder helpless infants. In our perverted reasoning, we think we can separate a man’s morality from his ability to rule in a right and just manner.

I wish that I could say it was the fact that Christians are in the minority and that we were outvoted by “pagans” that caused the election to turn out as it did. However, I have been appalled at the number of Christians who I have heard of, directly or indirectly, who were planning to vote for Obama. Have we so lost our compass of truth that he seemed to us the best choice? Whatever the reason – economic strategy, health care plan, position on education. We were willing to overlook what should have deeply unsettled us about this man in favor of fringe issues. And yes, I consider those fringe issues. It is from the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks, our mind thinks, our hands act – religion and morality are not distinguishable from ability to rule justly.

I do want to say that I could care less the color of the man’s skin. I did not vote against him because he was black, and neither should people have voted for him because he was black. In our postmodern culture, we threw the substance of his words (or lack thereof) out the window in favor of a good story – we’re making history, we’re voting for change, and it’s exhilarating! And so, we put one of the most liberal men in the senate in the power seat of our country. Many seemed to be closing their eyes and hoping for the best.

As we watched last night, I was deeply disturbed by an interview with Oprah Winfrey. She passionately talked about this election, and said that four years ago when she first met Barack Obama that something had “stirred inside of her.” She seemed to be searching for words to express the depth of this feeling she had that he would one day be the president of the United States. She said that from that point on, she began to introduce him to people as a man who would one day run for president.

The most sickening thing to me was to hear her quote Matthew 16:26 (For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?) as her reasoning for promoting him so heavily. She said that she knew that she would “lose her soul” if she were to ignore the prompting within her.

Oprah, perhaps you have never bothered to read the rest of that passage, or even the verse before it.

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
(Matthew 16:21-26)

You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. Unfortunately, I think that is an accurate rebuke of the vast majority of us these days. Even when we slap a Bible verse on top and claim that we were moved by the Lord to do this or that.

I cannot tell you exactly what God’s position is on the minutia of the issues of health care reform, economic regulation, or foreign policy. But I can easily tell you God’s position on human life: murdering a human being for our own lifestyle, “mental health,” or avoiding the logical outcomes of sinful living is wrong. And we just picked a man who is as liberal as they get on this issue. I can also tell you that God definitely is anti-race discrimination! …and I think the church’s painful history with mishandling and outright mistreating this issue is much to blame for what happened yesterday.

So, what now? What do we as believers do from November 5th onward?

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
Titus 3:1

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
Romans 13:1

We will speak about and treat Barack Obama with the respect he is due as the president-elect of our country. We will pray. Pray for the Obama family to come into saving, transforming faith in the one and only Messiah who can save the people from their sins. Pray for our nation to be deeply convicted of sin and come to repentance. Pray for our churches to hold fast to Truth and not compromise in a difficult age.

And oh, Lord Jesus, come quickly. We long to see you, to live in your presence, to bow down before you.

And in the words of Hannah,
My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord.
I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the Lord is the God of knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty men are broken, And those who stumbled are girded with strength.
2 Samuel 2:1-4