Wednesday

Wednesday- Dare To Be Compassionate

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14 - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Compassion (God’s)
Joshua 10:13-14 - So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies… The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!

Joshua 24:14-15, 24 - But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

Quiet Time: Compassionate Courage and Passion
Scripture: Joshua 10:13-14, Philippians 2:1-11, II Corinthians 5:13-15
Thoughts: To do what no one else can do or is willing to do takes extreme motivation. Love is the greatest of motivators. To act on that love is compassion. God demonstrated His love from before the beginning and is still in the compassion business through our willingness to be courageously, passionately compassionate.
Define: Compassion, Love

Flagpole Devotional: Passionate, Courageous Compassion
Scripture: Matthew 10:8, 9:35-38, I Peter 3:8-10
Thoughts: God freely gave because He loved. Jesus feely acted because of compassion and we are commanded to act with compassion.
Define: Compassion, Love

Class: Dare To Be Compassionate
Scripture: Joshua 9-11, Jonah, Daniel
Application: Joshua 9-11-God’s Compassion for His people and His people’s Compassion (The Gibeonites, The Sun Stands Still, Israelite Domination),
Naomi’s Story (The Book of Ruth)
Define: Compassion, Love
Thoughts: Compassion is an action that is motivated by love. The author of love, God, commissioned His son, Jesus, to enter this world to love and show compassion. In demonstrating compassion, Jesus fulfilled His commission, to seek and save the lost. His ultimate act of compassion was to take our place for our guilt in rebelling against the author of love, God.
Supporting Scriptures: I Peter 3:8-9-How to Show Compassion
Ephesians 4:32-Compassion demands forgiving
I Kings 3:16-27-Compassion demands extraordinary action of love
II Corinthians 1:3-7-The God of Compassion and Comfort
I Corinthians 2:12-God freely Gave
I John 4:7-12-Love originates with God, we pass it on
I John 4:7-12-Love From God, love others
Matthew 22:37-39-Greatest Commands
Matthew 10:8-Freely received, freely give
Philippians 2-Jesus showed compassion for me in His death on the cross
II Corinthians 5:13-15-Christ's love compels

Morning Assembly: Letters To Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Compassionate (Love)
Scripture: Matthew 9:35-38, 14:12-14, 15:32-39, 20:29-32,
Mark 1:40-45,
Thoughts: Jesus was God’s gift of compassion and he, in turn, gave compassion. He received and he therefore gave, compassion.

Let's Talk: Soft-Hearted
Scripture: Luke 15:11-32
Thoughts: The choice is ours, do we give what is deserved or how we wish to be treated.

Evening Assembly: Gotta Act (Can’t Help It)
Scripture: II Corinthians 5:13-15
Thoughts: When we realize that God so loved and so gave, freely, for me, I am compelled, just as Paul, to love.

Flagpole Devotional: Can’t Help The Love (Crazy for God)
Scripture: II Corinthians 5:13-15, Matthew 7:9-12
Thoughts: Love, the motivation for compassion, when we realize the source we can’t refuse it and we are then compelled to pass it on.

Leadership Training: Encompassing Passion
Scripture: John 3:16, I John 3:16-18
Thoughts: The word “so” implies extreme desire, passion. The charge to lay down one’s life requires courageous passion.

Tuesday

Tuesday- Dare To Be Humble

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14 - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Humility
Joshua 5:13-15 - Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

Joshua 24:14-15, 24 - But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

Quiet Time: Humble Courage and Passion
Scripture: I Peter 5:5-7, Mark 9:35
Thoughts: To deny oneself for the benefit of others is a noble passion called humility.
Define: Humility, Humble, Servant

Flagpole Devotional: Courageous, Passionate Humility
Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-2, Titus 3:1-2
Thoughts: The call to courageous, passionate humility
Define: Humility, Humble, Servant

Class: Dare To Be Humble
Scripture: Joshua 5-8, Daniel
Application: Joshua 5-8-The Humble and Prideful Nature of God’s People (The Walls of Jericho, Achan’s sin, The Fall of Ai),
Mary’s Story (Matthew 1, Mark 15, 16, Luke 1, 2, 24, Acts 1)
Define: Humility, Humble, Servant
Thoughts: The examples of God’s Chosen to be humble in an effective manner are the result of choices made to serve God by serving others. The result of their humility was not what any of them expected. Expectations are exceeded when we become “me-less” and passionately become “thee-ful”.
Supporting Scriptures: Mark 9:35-Attitude of Humility-Servant hood
Exodus 10:3-4-Consequences of lack of humility
Numbers 12:3-Moses, the humble
Ephesians 4:1-2-Call to humility
I Peter 5:5-7-Humble clothing will lift up
Acts 20:17-20-Paul serves humbly
Phil. 3:7-11-Paul counts personal accomplishment garbage
Titus 3:1-2-Call to humble lifestyle

Morning Assembly: Letters To Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Humble
Scripture: Luke 22:42-43, John 6:38-39, Philippians 2
Thoughts: God, the Father, sent His humble son, Jesus, to be what we cannot be, but desire to be. Jesus’ passionate humility led Him to courageously sacrifice His physical life for our Spiritual life.

Let's Talk: Selfless
Scripture: James 3:13, Proverbs 11:2
Thoughts: A selfless lifestyle is a wise, natural choice for the spiritually “selfish”.

Evening Assembly: After You, “Interesting”
Scripture: Philippians 2
Thoughts: Looking out for the interests of others, a courageously humble passion.

Flagpole Devotional: You, Not Me
Scripture: Matthew 28:11-30
Thoughts: “I AM me, the incarnate God to facilitate you growing from lost to found.”—Jesus

Leadership Training: It’s Not About Me
Scripture: James 4:6-10
Thoughts: “I”, the fallacious lifestyle of the “abundance affliction” we live in is in contrast to the “you” mentality of Christians.

Monday

Monday-Dare To Be Kind, Faithful

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14 - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Kindness (God’s)
Joshua 4:23-24 - The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
Joshua 24:14-15, 24 - But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

Quiet Time: Kind, Faithful Courage and Passion
Scripture: Joshua 4:23-24, Titus 3:3-8
Thoughts: God is passionate in demonstrating His Kindness to us. Our response should be to courageously accept God’s gifts and pass them on relentlessly.
Define: Kindness, Faithful, Faith

Flagpole Devotional: Courageous, Passionate Kindness and Faithfulness
Scripture: Acts 14:14-17, Exodus 14:13, Joshua 4:23-24
Thoughts: God provides, passionately. How do we receive and do we respond with courage or timidity?
Define: Kindness, Faithful, Faith

Class: Dare To Be Kind, Faithful
Scripture: Joshua 2-4, Daniel
Application: Joshua 2-4-God’s Faithful Kindness to His People (Spies, Rahab, Crossing the Jordan),
Ruth’s Story (The Book of Ruth)
Define: Kindness, Faithful, Faith
Thoughts: God doesn't judge on what you did in the past, your nationality, or how pretty or ugly you are. He wants our present faith and obedience so that we can "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." The effect of courageous faith changes not just the story of the life of that person who dares to believe, but their passion can have a transforming effect on the destiny of an entire clan.
Supporting Scriptures: I Corinthians 13:4-Love is Kind
Exodus 14:13-God’s Kindness
Titus 3:3-8-God’s Kindness—our benefit
Acts 28:1-2-Example of Kindness
Acts 14:14-17-Gods Kindness
Proverbs 28:8-Kindness to Others
I Thessalonians 5:12-15-How to be Kind
Titus 2:3-5-Older women teach the younger to be Kind

Morning Assembly: Letters To Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Kind and Faithful
Scripture: Acts 4:8-12
Thoughts: God’s passionate kindness is manifest through Jesus and demonstrated on us, lavishly.

Let's Talk: Sweetness
Scripture: Ephesians 4:32
Thoughts: The kindness shown through forgiveness requires a passion that is not of human nature (origin).

Evening Assembly: A Cup of Water
Scripture: Mark 9:41, I Corinthians 3:13, John 13:2-17
Thoughts: Kindness is exemplified by the position of one’s heart at the time of demonstration, not the gift or any circumstances surrounding it. Our success in life is determined by the courage of our resolve and our passion to be kind to all of God’s creation (people, animal, nature)

Flagpole Devotional: RAK, You Gotta Believe and Stay the Course
Scripture: II Timothy 2:22-26
Thoughts: Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) are not random; they are deliberate acts originating from the heart of a believer that is in the process of surrendering their will to the Creator and Sustainer of all areas of life (physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual).

Leadership Training: Courageous RAK (Random Acts of Kindness)
Scripture: Ephesians 2:10
Thoughts: Be aware. God has provided the opportunities for you to act with passion in kindness. Are you aware?

Sunday

Week’s Theme: Dare To Be…

Sunday- Dare To Be God’s Chosen-Passionate and Courageous

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14 - Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Passionate Courage
Joshua 1:16-18 - Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only be strong and courageous!"

Quiet Time: Passion and Courage
Scriptures: Joshua 1, Daniel
Thoughts: Passion to do what God asks one to do and Courage to be what God asks one to do. Obey and Trust…There is no other way.
Define: Passion, Courage

Evening Assembly: 2nd Mile
Scripture: Joshua 1, Matthew 5:41
Thoughts: When called will I “Step up or Join up”, will I “Step up to the plate or Join the crowd”. Recognize that being “called” is a moment-by-moment occurrence. Character is developed on a moment-by-moment basis.

Flagpole Devotional: Passionate Courage
Scripture: Joshua 1:16-18, Colossians 3:12-14
Thoughts: “Ya Gotta Wanna”. The motivation of courage is passion. Fortresses are what people trust in when they don't trust quite enough in God. His people are, when they behave as courageously as he would have them behave, marching at the gates of their enemies.
Define: Passion, Courage

Leadership Training: Courageous Passion
Scripture: Joshua 1:16-18, Colossians 3:12-14
Thoughts: One must have courage to do what one has to do (passion). God has demonstrated a habit of developing passionate and courageous leadership by placing young people, in the role of a servant, with passionate and courageous people.

A community of informed judgment

So far, Steve and Jason H. have proposed curriculum ideas for our week at camp. David, Jason R., and I have responded with interpretations of the text and specific illustrations to help with those curriculum ideas.

What I want us to consider is what Frederick Aquino calls a "community of informed judgment." To pick on me for a minute, the interpretations of the text which I have brought forward range from good to mediocre. In some cases, even though the solution I propose might be correct, it is not the only possibility.

In a community of informed judgment, more than one informed point of view is not only desirable, it is necessary. But what does informed mean? Informed by life, informed by training, informed by study, informed by inspiration. Everyone has an informed perspective. A teacher will look at the text one way, a mother another. For example, if a farmer, a politician, a rancher, and a theologian were all to read 1 Sam 6, all of them would most probably find a different point of interest to bring to the table. The same thing is true of reading Joshua (or any other text, biblical or not).

When we discuss our perspectives together, we get the entire picture, not just part of it. Otherwise we risk being like the blind men who are examining the elephant: totally clueless about reality. Together, we can come closer to the truth than we would as individuals (this is why the blog is so important). And that is also why I quote so many other people: in order to bring more people to our table.

Therefore, please see your point of view as being valuable. Please see that your contribution will (not can) make a difference in how all of us see these lessons, and in how all of us might together teach them. Speak up! The process of writing your thoughts in a blog will help clarify your thinking and implant thoughts in your mind that will still be there when you get ready to teach class. After you write, your thinking process continues and ideas will continue to develop (ironic, isn't it?).

I have spent about one hour per day (some days two) over the month-long life of this blog thinking about camp and putting ideas on this blog. I see that as being preparatory work on Steve's foundation for what we're going to do. We have about six weeks to talk about these lessons and prepare our minds and our hearts for the task close to hand. Let's get to work!

One brother with one opinion, longing to be a part of a community of informed judgment,

Ron

Quote for the day . . .

"There is no such thing as defeat except when it comes from within. As long as a person doesn't admit he is defeated, he is not defeated--he's just a little behind and isn't through fighting." - Darrell K Royal

Flash forward

Through the thread of our discussions, the idea of story, and our place in it, has surfaced again and again. For a moment, I want to flash forward in the story because I believe that the ending reveals why we need to live a passionately courageous life.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life [He will satisfy the desires of those who have passionately sought him]. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son [He will reward those who have courageously served him].”

Rev 21:1-7 (NIV) Emphasis and parenthetical insertions mine, rkb.

Jeremiah 20

O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived;
you overpowered me and prevailed.
I am ridiculed all day long;
everyone mocks me.
Whenever I speak, I cry out
proclaiming violence and destruction.
So the word of the LORD has brought me
insult and reproach all day long.
But if I say, "I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,"
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
I hear many whispering,
"Terror on every side!
Report him! Let's report him!"
All my friends
are waiting for me to slip, saying,
"Perhaps he will be deceived;
then we will prevail over him
and take our revenge on him."

But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior;
so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced;
their dishonor will never be forgotten.
O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous
and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.

Jer 20:7-12 (NIV)

Quote for the day . . .

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." - C. S. Lewis

Napoleon and desire

We might, after all this discussion, wonder if the kids we are working with are consciously thinking about their desires all that much. I think that there are several clues that they are seriously thinking, not just about desires, but how to rightly obtain them.

For those of you who have seen it, you will remember that in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon's friend, Pedro, is running for Class President. Pedro's competition, Summer (the popular girl), has made both frivolous and substantial promises (new cheerleader uniforms, and it will be "Summer" all year long), and Pedro is ready to give up. But Napoleon turns to him and says, "Just listen to your heart; that's what I do." Pedro goes on to make his speech, and although it is not awe-inspiring, it closes with the words, "Vote for me, and all of your wildest dreams will come true."

I don't think that any of the students that heard the speech believed that Pedro could do all of that, but at least he was tuned into their desires, and the reality that those desires were individual. Not everyone wants just two or three cookie-cutter type things out of life.

Pedro wins because he understands the hearts of young people (I have a hard time believing that it was all because of Napoleon's dance). Are we tuned in to the hearts of our kids?

"Why do you love me?
Why do you need me . . ."

Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Ps 37:1-4 (NIV)

Options for desire

"Contentment is not freedom from desire, but freedom of desire. To be content is not pretending that everything is the way you wish it would be, nor is it acting as though you have no wishes. Rather, it is no longer being ruled by your desires.

We are on a journey of desire. But we are not yet home.

The fact is, at this point in our journey, we have only three options:

to be alive and thirsty,
to be dead in our soul,
to be addicted.

There are no other choices.

Most of the world lives in addiction; most of the church has chosen deadness. But the Christian is called to the life of holy longing."

John Eldredge, Dare to Desire: An Invitation to Fulfill Your Deepest Dreams (Nashville: J. Countryman, 2002), 78-79.

Quote for the day . . .

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

More Eldredge on desire

"God has rigged the world so that it only works when we embrace risk as the theme of our lives, when we live by faith. All attempts to find a safe life, to live by the expectations of others, just kill the soul in the end. That's now how we find life.
. . .
So, let me now ask you the question: If you had permission to do what you really want to do, what would do?

Don't ask how--that will cut your desire off at the knees. How is never the right question. How is a faithless question. It means 'unless I can se my way clearly I won't venture forth.' When the angel told Zacharias that his ancient wife would bear him a son named John, Zacharias asked how and was struck dumb for it.

How is God's department: He is asking you what. What is written in your heart? What makes you come alive? If you could do what you've always wanted to do, what would it be?"

John Eldredge, Dare to Desire: An Invitation to Fulfill Your Deepest Dreams (Nashville: J. Countryman, 2002), 40-41.

Quote for the day . . .

"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through, no matter what." - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

A funeral

I went to a funeral today. Jerrol Harmon has achieved the deepest desire of his heart, and has gone home with God. Ron Stough did one of the most passionate funeral services I have ever seen him perform (and that's probably close to 100).

In the midst of the lesson, Ron said something that struck a chord with the quote from Eldredge (see Eldredge on Desire). He said that many people are born, go through life, and die; it is hard to think of anything good that has come from their lives. But in Jerrol's case, the difficulty was not in thinking of the good, but selecting which good things there was enough time to talk about. I think that this was because Jerrol lived life, not as an automaton, but as a person passionately seeking God. The desire of his heart was to get to heaven and take all of his family with him. At the same time, he knew that heaven could be had here, too, and sought, with God's good help, to create that for his family.

Each family member had written a note that Ron read out loud after the obituary. Those notes were so touching, so passionate, about the life of this godly man that the normally stoic Stough struggled fiercely to contain his emotion so as to be able to finish. This is a life that mattered, and still does. That is the difference that following the desires of your heart makes.

Eldredge on desire

"It's not that we have desire--we are desire.

Desire is the essence of the human soul, the secret of our existence. Absolutely nothing of human greatness was every accomplished without it. Not a symphony has ever been written, a mountain climbed, an injustice fought, or a love sustained apart from desire. Desire fuels our search for the life we prize.

We cannot solve the riddle of our existence, nor can be find the answer to our deepest questions without these deepest desires of out heart.

That's why the greatest human tragedy of all is to abandon the desires of your heart, to give up searching for life. For in those hidden desires, you will discover the person you were meant to be and the life you were meant to live."

John Eldredge, Dare to Desire: An Invitation to Fulfill Your Deepest Dreams (Nashville: J. Countryman, 2002), 20-21.

Quote for the day . . .

"It's the soul's duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion." - Rebecca West

Horseless head man (bonus points)

The instructions God gives to Joshua for the prosecution of war in Canaan make sense for the most part, even if some instructions seem harsh. But then, in the midst of a series of battles, a new order comes from the Lord:

"Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots." Josh 11.6

The significance of this might elude us. This rule appears to produce one more heap of destruction in the wake of the Israelite army. But see what might have been! Look at the opportunity! Horse-drawn chariots, the high-tech weapon delivery system of choice in the Bronze Age. A line of these was equal to your Cobra copter, your Aegis destroyer, your Virginia-class submarine. It would be roughly another 1000 years before Alexander the Great developed a strategy that obsolesced the chariot. So why not teach your army how to use them and turn them on the enemy so as to expedite this war and get down to eating huge clusters of grapes?

This rule is more about God than war. God did not want his people dependent on human or worldly power, but his. He is the mighty warrior. "Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the Lord, the God of Israel, fought for Israel" (Josh 10.42). To rely upon horses or chariots shows a lack of faith in the power of the Mighty One of Israel.

This also could be a warning about alliances with other nations. For centuries to come, the primary source of good horseflesh would be Egypt. It doesn't take a very in-depth examination of scripture to see what God thinks about alliances with Egypt. Such alliances would be one more failure to rely upon God's strength.

But there is more to it than this. This rule has to do with justice. God did not want his leaders to oppress his people in order to maintain their leadership or their armies. When horses are not engaged in battle, they do three things (but in this case Coach Royal, none of them are necessarily good). They eat, they dispose of that which they have eaten, and they make baby horses. This is a problem, because: (1) somebody has to feed them (which means that someone is probably doing without food in order to have food to feed the horses), (2) somebody has to clean up after them (see Hercules, the Labor of the Aegean stables), and (3) more horses mean more of problems (1) and (2).

So, when God anticipates that Israel will eventually want kings, he establishes rules for them (Deut 17.14ff) which specifically prohibit keeping many horses. And it is one of the reasons that Samuel rebukes Israel for wanting a king because maintenance of a standing army to protect a king and his court requires resources which will become oppressive to a people (1 Sam 8). A modern example of this is Saddam Hussein. (Has anybody noticed what has happened to every king named in the book of Joshua?)

It takes a bold and faithful courage to fight spiritual battles on God's terms. We will be tempted to use means and resources he has prohibited, but we must trust in God's wisdom. And we must teach our children to become leaders who are not oppressive with their leadership, but who lead with a light but faithful hand.

God grant that we can be like Joshua, who was unafraid to be the leader, the head man, and courageous enough to do it without horses.

Class, we will give extra points to the student who can guess the name of the author of a story called "Horseless head man". Post your answers here.

Echoes of Joshua

"Gentlemen may cry peace, peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the North will bring to our ears the clash of resoundng arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

Patrick Henry
Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775

Quote for the day . . .

"To love someone more deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage." - Lao-Tzu

A leader's pledge

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty."

John F. Kennedy
Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961

Would that we, as God's people, might pledge the same for the spiritual liberty of the world.

The strenuous life

"I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life. The life of toil and effort, of labor gold strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph. A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which springs merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive after great things, is as little worthy of a nation as of an individual . . . . We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort; who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."

Theodore Roosevelt
quoted by Caroline Kennedy, A Patriot's Handbook (New York: Hyperion, 2003), 49-50.

Particular passions

There is one other pile of rocks that I did not discuss in a previous post (Rock Piles). Near the end of Joshua's story (Josh 22), the land had been taken and the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh prepared to cross back over to the east side of the Jordan to take their allotment of land. There they built an "imposing" altar. Concerned that religion in the promised land had already become deviant, the rest of Israel came swooping in, fully prepared to wipe the non-conformists off the map, just as they had the population of Jericho.

But that which the 2 1/2 tribes had so purposefully and passionately constructed was not an altar which would divide God's children, but a memorial intended to bond the tribes of Israel together. How ironic.

Just because someone's heritage, or geography, or passion drives them to serve God or his people in a way different than that which we would choose, it does not make them wrong. Their passion might even scare us because of its unfamiliarity or its intensity, but that does not mean that they deserve our condemnation, rejection, or punishment.

Because they (here comes the key word) listened (that was the key word), a disaster (whether of disfellowship or death) was avoided. With passions in the church as high as they are now, is there not a lesson in this for God's people today?

Quote for the day . . .

"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare." - Mark Twain

A challenge to all blog members!

I would like to challenge every blog member, whether you've responded yet or not, to respond to this blog by sharing with us the answer to the following question:

What is the one concept that I feel is most important for me to passionately share with the kids at Peak Week this summer?

You can either create a separate post, or just add a comment to this one. Thanks for your input.

Ron

Quote for the day . . .

"Passion, though a bad regulator, is a powerful spring." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

A piece of history

Just months before the beginning of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met on the decks of a battleship off the shores of Newfoundland. After several days of meetings, they were scheduled to depart on a Sunday. Churchill carefully planned the worship for that morning. Two of the songs sung on the deck of the Prince of Wales were: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" [looking to the past], and "Onward, Christian Soldiers [hopefully gazing into the future]. The biblical text? Joshua.

For years, soldiers have steeled themselves with the words of this book, both using and abusing it. When we go to Lu-Jo, our kids have a week-long cease-fire from their daily spritual war. Let's wisely use this text to prepare them to passionately carry out God's plans for his people, wisely avoiding battles God has not chosen, and courageously engaging in the battles he has.

An obedient passion

Sometimes we tend to believe that passion does not respect boundaries, that those who passionately promote a cause disregard plans, policies, or rules.

But such was not the case with Joshua. Joshua listened to the commandments of God, not just those he had heard personally, but those instructions of God delivered through Moses. Read the requirements for worship outlined by Moses in Deut 27.1-12, and then see how Joshua honors them in Josh 8.30-35. The war was carried out according to the instructions of Moses to Israel; Deut 20 is echoed in the actions of Joshua reported in Josh 11.10-14. Ultimately, the historian records in verse 15:

"As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses."

So we ought to conform our passion to God's will by showing obedience to one of the commands of Moses applying still to us today:

"In the future, when your child asks you, 'What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees, and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?' tell him, 'We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.'" Deut 6.20-21

When our children ask us questions about our faith, let's tell them the story of God's people, and glorify God's mighty and saving hand.

Quote for the day . . .

"Without belittling the courage with which men have died, we should not forget those acts of courage with which men . . . have lived. The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must--in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures--and that is the basis of all human morality . . . . In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience--the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men--each man must decide for himself the course he will follow. The stories of past courage can define that ingredient--they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul."
John F. Kennedy

Receiving invitations

I have conducted a little experiment and discovered that some of those who have been invited may not have received their invitations because their e-mail accounts may have diverted the e-mail from Blogger to their spam account (or in some cases, it may have been blow away altogether).

Especially those with AOL accounts should look in their spam folder. We're trying to get everyone connected!

Following God's passion

From Aram Balak has brought me,
The king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
Come, curse Jacob for me,
Come, be incensed at Israel!
How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I be incensed if God is not incensed?

Numbers 23:7-8

Passion, emotion, and the spirit

"It is as nonbiblical to separate emotion or passion from spirit as it is to disparage emotion or passion. The disparagement of emotion was made possible by ascribing to the rational faculty a power of sovereignty over the objects of its comprehension, thought be the active, moving principle, and the objects of knowledge the passive, inert material of comprehension. However, the act of thinking of an object is in itself an act of being moved by the object. In thinking we do not create an object; we are challenged by it . . . .

Emotion is inseparable from being filled with the spirit, which is above all a state of being moved. Often the spirit releases passion, an excessive discharge of nervous energy, enhanced vitality, increased inner strength, increased motor activity, a drive.

While spirit includes passion or emotion, it must not be reduced to either. Spirit implies the sense of sharing a supreme superindividual power, will, or wisdom."

Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets (New York: HarperCollins, 1962), 405.

Passion of God in the OT

Consider these words of Abraham Heschel, a Jewish scholar, about the God of the prophets as compared to Greek gods:

"The God of the philosophers is like the Greek ananke, unknown and indifferent to man; He thinks, but does not speak; He is conscious of Himself, but oblivious of the world; while the God of Israel is a God Who loves, and God Who is known to, and concerned with, man. He not only rules the world in the majesty of His might and wisdom, but reacts intimately to the events of history. He does not judge men's deeds impassively and with aloofness; His judgment is imbued with the attitude of One to Whom those actions are of the most intimate and profound concern. God does not stand outside the range of human suffering and sorrow. He is personally involved in, even stirred by, the conduct and fate of man.

Pathos denotes, not an idea of goodness, but a living care; not an immutable example, but an outgoing challenge, a dynamic relation between God and man; not mere feeling or passive affection, but an act or attitude composed of various spiritual elements; no mere contemplative survey of the world, but a passionate summons."

Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets (New York: HarperCollins, 1962), 289.

Quote for the day . . .

"I have no special gift; I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

Tentative Curriculum for Saturday

This is the tentative Curriculum for Saturday. Notice that the "thought" is a quote from the Blog. Several quotes are included in the final curriculum. Thank you for the direction. Keep it going.


Week’s Theme: Dare To Be…

Saturday- Dare to Be “One” (Unity)

Flagpole Devotional: Dare To Be “One”
Scripture: Joshua 24, Psalm 133:1, John 17:20-23, Romans 15:5-6, Ephesians 4:1-3, Colossians 3:12-14
Thoughts: Nothing spurs humanity to courage more than the realization that we are not in this alone. We draw strength from each other, and we fear disappointing each other and that urges us on. But our baptism marks us as a people set apart, a people with our story. Let us draw courage from each other, and from the memory that we stand with every other person who has ever obeyed God in this way (including Jesus, the Christ).

Tentative Curriculum for Friday

This is Friday's Tentative Curriculum. It is a bit more indepth than the previous days because I have begun to "flesh it out" beginning with Saturday and working back to Monday. I realize this has the the appearance of an elephant at first. Please remember that a bite at a time is appropriate. Thank you for your input and challenging thoughts. Remember you are "world famous".

Week’s Theme: Dare To Be…

Friday- Dare To Be Gentle

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Joshua 23:14-15 God’s Gentleness-Keeping Promises
"Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.
Joshua 24:14-15, 24
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

Quiet Time: Gentle Courage and Passion
Scripture: Joshua 23:14-15, 24:14-15, 24, I Peter 3:13-17
Thoughts: Our response to God’s gentleness is to mimic His gentleness in our life toward ourselves and others; to glorify God (Build Him up in the hearts and minds of ourselves and others).
Define: Gentle

Flagpole Devotional: Courageous and Passionate Gentleness
Scripture: Matthew 11:28-30, Ephesians 4:1-2
Thoughts: Courage is necessary to passionately pursue the gentle lifestyle of “The Gentle Jesus”.
Define: Gentle

Class: Dare To Be Gentle
Scripture: Joshua 20-23, I Corinthians 16:13-14, Ephesians 4:1-2, Matthew 11:29-30, II Corinthians 10:1-6, Galatians 5:23, Philippians 4:4-5, I Timothy 6:11-12, I Peter 3:13-17, I Kings 19:11-13, Proverbs 15:1, 25:15, Matthew 11:28-30, I Thessalonians 2:6-9, I Timothy 3:1-7, I Peter 3:1-6, I Thessalonians 4:11-12
Thoughts:
Objectives:
-Define: Gentle, (Quiet)
-Objectives
-Application: Sarah’s Story (Genesis 11-12, 16-21, 23-25, Romans 9, Hebrews 11, I Peter 3)

Morning Assembly: Letters to Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Gentle
Scripture: Galatians 5:22-26
Thoughts: The gentleness of Jesus is a goal of those on the journey to Christian maturity as manifest in on of the descriptions of Spiritual fruit.

Let's Talk: Sensitive
Scripture: I Thessalonians 2:6-9
Thoughts: Gentleness is likened to a mother’s care and concern. The real sensitivity of a Christian is the care and concern for souls through one’s emotional, physical and intellectual sensitivity.

Evening Assembly: Beach Breakfast
Scripture: John 21
Thoughts: Jesus defines gentleness in the place of justified revenge. The empowering nature of gentleness is manifest in gentle forgiveness, an example CHRIST-oneness.


Flagpole Devotional: Softly and Tenderly
Scripture: I Kings 19:11-13, I Thessalonians 4:11-12
Thoughts: God manifests Himself in many ways. He most often allows the manner of His presentation to be determined by the actions of the people he is attempting to discipline (guide). When given the opportunity to “be Himself”, he shows up as a “gentle whisper”. The power of God is absolutely soft and tender. Our lives should reflect His example in a quiet lifestyle.

Leadership Training: Steel and Velvet
Scripture: Proverbs 15:1, 25:15, II Corinthians 10:1-6
Thoughts: To be strong and gentle simultaneously is a Christian attribute in contrast to the ways of popular society.

Archiving

The blog has gotten large enough now that I have archived it. The main page of the blog has the last 12 days of dialogue. You can access the days previous to that by going to the archives via the links on the left side of the page.

Quote for the day . . .

"A man [or woman] without passion is only a latent force, only a possiblity, like a stone waiting for the blow from the iron to give forth sparks." - Henri Frederic Amiel

Just checking in...

Guys,

I have just been reading through what the curriculum is shaping up to be. It looks good to me.

I know I am getting excited about what God will do through us this year at camp.

Steve,
Have you thought about teaching assignments yet? And, or other staff placements?
Just curious where you were at this point in all of this.

Ron,
You asked somewhere in one of these posts or a comment somewhere, about if you were doing flag pole in the evening again. A couple of my teens commented last year about evening flag pole devotional and the guy who spoke, as being awesome. Thought that might help. It's amazing how our words impact our younger listeners. Sometimes when I wonder if they are getting it, one of them will mention something I said weeks or even months ago, and they recall it with such clarity, and I am reminded of the power of the words, and the power of the lives we live.

Steve and Ron, and the Lu Jo staffers (world famous to be correct)
I do really appreciate what you both do for the kingdom, and especially for your love for kids. It is contagious!

Evening flagpole

Here's a summary of what we have for the evening flagpole for Dare to Be.

Sunday Josh 1.16-18 "Ya gotta wanna" Courage motivated by passion
Monday "Random acts of kindness" Believe and stay the course
Tuesday "You, not me" Humble
Wednesday "Can't help the love" Compassion
Thursday "Wait on the Lord" Patience
Friday "Softly and tenderly" Gentleness

This is just a different way of organizing what Steve has laid out so that it's easier to check the direction of it. Is there an intended progression? I'm trying to look at this not so much linearly, but trying at least to leave a way for the person leading the flagpole to connect the dots at the end.

Is anyone out there and Thursday's tentative curriculum

Is anyone out there? Not much comment in the last few hours. We are posting the daily tentative curriculum as each day arrives. This is Thursday's tentative curriculum. Hopefully at the beginning of next week the curriculum will be to the point of proofing and publishing.

Week’s Theme: Dare To Be..

Thursday- Dare To Be Patient

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Joshua 14:7-9, 11, 14 Patience
Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my brothers who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear. I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly. I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the LORD, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.
Joshua 24:14-15, 24
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."


Quiet Time: Patient Courage and Passion
Scripture:
Thoughts:
Define: Patience

Flagpole Devotional: Courageous, Passionate Patience
Scripture:
Thoughts:
Define: Patience

Class: Dare To Be Patient
Scripture: Joshua 13-19, Psalm 27:13-14, Jeremiah 1:17-19, II Samuel 7:27-28, James 5:7-10, I Peter 3:8-9, Proverbs 14:29, 15:18, 16:32, Matthew 18:21-35, Romans 12:12, I Corinthians 13:4, II Corinthians 1:3-7, Ephesians 4:2, I Thessalonians 5:12-14, II Peter 3:9, 14-15, Proverbs 19:11, Proverbs 25:15, Ecclesiastes 7:8, Romans 2:1-4, Galatians 5:22, Colossians 1:9-14, I Timothy 1:15-17, II Timothy 4:2, Hebrews 6:9-12, I Corinthians 4:18-21,
Thoughts: Depend on God leading to courage leading to obedience leading to inheritance.Or depend on self leading to discouragement leading to disobedience leading to death. People still have the same choice today.
Objectives:
-Define: Patience, Trust
-Objectives
-Application: Hannah’s Story (I Samuel 1-2)

Morning Assembly: Letters To Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Patient
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Let's Talk: Self-Control
Thoughts:

Evening Assembly: Not Yet
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Flagpole Devotional: Wait On The Lord
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Leadership Training: Give IT Time
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Quote for the day . . .

"The highest passion in a human being is faith."- Soren Kierkegaard

Wednesday's Curriculum

This is Wednesday's tentative curriculum and scriptures to date.

Week’s Theme: Dare To Be..

Wednesday- Dare To Be Compassionate

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Joshua 10:13-14 Compassion(God’s)
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!
Joshua 24:14-15, 24
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

Quiet Time: Compassionate Courage
Scripture:
Thoughts:
Define: Compassion

Flagpole Devotional: Courageous Compassion
Scripture:
Thoughts:
Define: Compassion

Class: Dare To Be Compassionate
Scripture: Joshua 9-11, I Corinthians 15:58, I Peter 3:8-9, I Kings 3:16-27, Matthew 9:35-38, 14:12-14, 15:32-39, 30:29-34, Mark1:40-45, Luke 15:11-32, II Corinthians 1:3-7, Philippians 2:1-4, Jonah, Ephesians 4:32,
Thoughts:
Objectives:
-Define: Compassion
-Objectives
-Application: Naomi’s Story (The Book of Ruth)

Morning Assembly: Letters to Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Compassionate
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Let's Talk: Soft-Hearted
Thoughts:

Evening Assembly: Gotta Act
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Flagpole Devotional: Can’t Help The Love
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Leadership Training: Encompassing Passion
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Tuesday's Tentative Curriculum

Here are the present thoughts and scriptures to this date for Tuesday's curriculum.

Week’s Theme: Dare To Be…

Tuesday- Dare To Be Humble

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Joshua 5:13-15 Humility
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"
"Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"
The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.
Joshua 24:14-15, 24
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."


Quiet Time: Humble Courage and Passion
Scripture:
Thoughts:
Define: Humility

Flagpole Devotional: Courageous, Passionate Humility
Scripture: Joshua 5-8
Thoughts:
Define: Humility

Class: Dare To Be Humble
Scripture: Joshua 5-8, Mark 9:35, Luke 22:42, John 6:38, Revelation 2:26, Exodus 10:3-4, Numbers 12:3, Deuteronomy 8, Matthew 11:29-30, Ephesians 4:1-2, James 4:4-10, I Peter 5:5-7, Acts 20:17-20, Philippians 2:1-4, Titus 3:1-2, James 3:13, Proverbs 11:2
Thoughts:
Objectives:
-Define: Humility
-Objectives
-Application: Mary’s Story (Matthew 1, Mark 15, 16, Luke 1, 2, 24, Acts 1)

Morning Assembly: Letters to Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Humble
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Let's Talk: Selfless
Thoughts:

Evening Assembly: After You
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Flagpole Devotional: You, Not Me
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Leadership Training: It’s Not About Me
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Dean on passion (again)

"God's passion is not synonymous with human passion--divine freedom allows God to choose a pathos that lies beyond either the incapacity for suffering or fateful subjection to it. This 'third form of suffering,' observes Richard Bauckham, is the 'voluntary laying oneself open to another and allowing oneself to be intimately affected by him, that is to say, the suffering of passionate love.'

The church, therefore, came to teach many passions. The suffering Passion of Christ inspires a life of passion for Christ, by which the disordered passion (or desires or appetites) of being human become realigned with the holy passion (or self-giving love) of God. To simplify, we can think of 'passion' . . . as loving something enough to suffer for it. The 'suffering' implied here is the willingness to place that which we love on Abraham's altar, our willing surrender of ego in actions that give witness (marturia) to the self-giving love of God. 'Dying to self" in the biblical sense restores one's true identity as God's beloved . . . .

Human passion, in other words, is imprinted with the divine passion even when human desires run amuck. While 'the passions' (plural) have historically described uncoverted human desires or appetites, passion (singular) reflects a deep yearning to love and be loved authentically, a universal human longing to be united with the One who makes 'something out of nothing'--whose love can negate adolescents' overwhelming sense of negation. Passion also impels young people, often in ways that go unrecognized to keep looking for 'true love' even when human love fails them. Since adolescents seek a caliber of love no human can possibly sustain without disappointment, the discovery of the one Love who really is worthy of sacrifice . . . is a discovery that reorders the self.

Passion, then, is not primarily about suffering, but about love--the love God gives and the love God longs to have returned."

Kenda Creasy Dean, Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004), 20.

Passion and the person

As we discuss passion, I think that it is really important to have a proper view of how that connects to being a person. Greek thought, and most Western thought since then, has been dualist, that is, humans have a body and a soul, and those entities, though connected, exist and behave in two different worlds, the physical and spiritual (see attached comment about Plato). The problem with this is that passion typically gets assigned to the physical part of humanity, and thus is looked down on by Christian and non-Christian alike. In Hellenistic societies, passion was considered to be so low that they believed that their gods (little g) were impassible, that is, these gods did not experience any passions. Some in the church after the third century began to believe that our God was impassible also (I have attached to this post a rather lengthy comment that responds to this line of thought). We in the church have largely bought into the Greek (Hellenistic) way of thinking without noting that the Bible has a different perspective.

In the Bible, the body and the spirit are together, a soul. God breathed his spirit into Adam and he became a soul. The body is affected by the spirit and the spirit by the body. At first, this may seem like a distinction without a difference, but to me, this means that not only did God make our passions, he created them with a noble purpose. God expects us to direct them into channels that drive us to him (instead of the opposite).

Thus, the godly thing to do is not to suppress our passion, but to direct or redirect it into ways and uses that glorify God.

Quote for the day . . .

Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life." - E. M. Forster

Monday's Tentative Curriculum

This is Monday's proposed set of lessons. Please note the list of scriptures in the Class section. These will be attached to the various topics in Monday's different sessions after the blog discussion ends. Please edit and add.

Week’s Theme: Dare To Be…

Monday- Dare To Be Kind, Faithful

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Joshua 4:23-24 Kindness (God’s)
The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."
Joshua 24:14-15, 24
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him."

Quiet Time: Kind, Faithful Courage and Passion
Scripture:
Thoughts:
Define: Kindness, Faithful, Faith

Flagpole Devotional: Courageous, Passionate Kindness and Faithfulness
Scripture:
Thoughts:
Define: Kindness, Faithful, Faith

Class: Dare To Be Kind, Faithful
Scripture: Joshua 2-4, I Corinthians 13:4, II Corinthians 2:5-11, Exodus 14:13, Titus 3:3-8, Acts 27:3, 28:1-6, Romans 2:1-4, 11:17-24, Acts 4:8-12, 14:14-18, Proverbs 28:8, Ephesians 4:32, I Thessalonians 5:12-15, II Timothy 2:22-26, Titus 2:3-5
Thoughts: God doesn't judge on what you did in the past, your nationality, or how pretty or ugly you are. He wants our present faith and obedience so that we can "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." The effect of courageous faith changes not just the story of the life of that person who dares to believe, but their passion can have a tranforming effect on the destiny of an entire clan.
Objectives:
-Define: Kindness, Faithful, Faith
-Objectives
-Application: Ruth’s Story (The Book of Ruth)

Morning Assembly: Letters To Lu-Jo About Jesus, The Kind and Faithful
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Let's Talk: Sweetness
Thoughts:

Evening Assembly: A Cup of Water
Scripture: Mark 9:41, I Corinthians 3:13, John 13:2-17
Thoughts: Kindness is exemplified by the position of one’s heart at the time of demonstration, not the gift or any circumstances surrounding it. Our success in life is determined by the courage of our resolve and our passion to be kind to all of God’s creation (people, animal, nature)

Flagpole Devotional: RAK, You Gotta Believe and Stay the Course
Scripture:
Thoughts:

Leadership Training: Courageous RAK (Random Acts of Kindness)
Scripture:
Thoughts:

New look

Bailey thought that our blog was too dull looking, so changes had to be made.

Dean on passion

"From the dawn of time, people have described passion in terms of fire to distinguish it from cuddly sentimentalism. Passion devastates. It is 'to die for.' And it is not to be denied--which is precisely why it leads us to God. Most of us spend our lives looking for ways to rekindle the passion of youth: the burning desire to be engulfed by love, to be ignited by a purpose, to radiate light because the love of another shines within us." (xiv)

"Adolescents are searching for something, for someone, 'to die for,' to use Erik Erikson's haunting phrase: a cause worthy of their suffering , a love worthy of a life-time and not just a Sunday night. In short, they are seaching for passion, even--maybe especially--in church. Teenagers will not settle for a God who asks for anything less. If we are honest, neither will we." (2)

"It is an obvious question: If adolescents and Christianity are both so full of passion, then why aren't young people flocking to church? Maybe it is because the church, like the greeting card industry, has largely sanitized love of suffering, leaving Christianity with a mealy-mouthed niceness that fails to ring true to young people who know in their bones that love and heartache go together. Or maybe it is because the church . . . has not been completely forthcoming about sacrificial love where teenagers are concerned, oblivious to the connection between the passion of youth and the passion of faith." (4-5)

"If adolescents search for something and someone to whom they can pledge their troth, the object of this devotion must be worthy of their lives, nothing less. Passion asks something of young people; in fact, it asks everything of them. This does not mean that youth invest their passions wisely. On the contrary, inexperience is an investor's worst enemy, and most of us have some notoriously bad investments in our emotional portfolio, especially during adolescence." (6)

Kenda Creasy Dean, Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004)

Quote for the day . . .

"What we label courage is a strong emotional commitment--and the key word is emotional--to some ideas. Those ideas could be called a vision for where we're trying to drive the enterprise [or they could be called passion], they could be called values for what we think is important to life, they could be called principles of what is right and wrong. When people don't just have an intellectual sense that these are logically good, but are deeply committed to them, they're developing courage. When you run up against barriers that keep you from those ideals, the stronger your commitment, the more likely you are to take action consistent with those ideals. Even if it's against your your short-term best interests. And other people will look at that and say, 'Wow, that's courageous.'" - John Kotter

A Reflection

On Saturday I was able to sit and study the blog and the Bible as I was prompted. I began my review of the blog at the top, the most recent postings and proceeded down to the earliest postings. As I got to the bottom I reread the original posting by Ron and was reminded that the blog could viewed by many, but only commented on and enriched by few. Those few, you, the staff of Peak Week, my dear friends. We have been given a little corner of the e-world to be solely ours, and God's. I was moved to emotion as I began to believe that this was a special place, "holy ground". Thank you, Lord for giving us the place and time to be closer to each other and you in this amazing way. May we use this gift to bring each other and our daily contacts in closer contact with the God of Creation, the Saviour of our Souls and the Guiding Spirit.

Sunday - tentative curriculum

We are posting the tentative curriculum for Sunday of Peak Week. This is tentative. We will be keeping the Bolg going until the end of this week, Saturday, April 23. Please, please participate with us. Give us your ideas. This curriculum is fluid and evolving as God directs us. Please join us.

Week’s Theme: Dare To Be…

Sunday- Dare To Be God’s Chosen

Memory Opportunity:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Joshua 1:16-18 Passionate Courage
Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only be strong and courageous!"

Quiet Time: Passion and Courage
Scriptures: Joshua 1
Thoughts: Passion to do what God asks one to do and Courage to be what God asks one to do. Obey and Trust…There is no other way.
Define: Passion, Courage

Evening Assembly: 2nd Mile
Scripture: Joshua 1, Matthew 5:41
Thoughts: When called to will I “Step up or Join up”, will I “Step up to the plate or Join the crowd”. Recognize that being “called” is a moment-by-moment occurrence. Character is developed on a moment-by-moment basis.

Flagpole Devotional: Passionate Courage
Scripture: Joshua 1:16-18, Colossians 3:12-14
Thoughts: “Ya Gotta Wanna”. The motivation of courage is passion. Fortresses are what people trust in when they don't trust quite enough in God. His people are, when they behave as courageously as he would have them behave, marching at the gates of their enemies.
Define: Passion, Courage

Leadership Training: Courageous Passion
Scripture: Joshua 1:16-18, Colossians 3:12-14
Thoughts: One must have courage to do what one has to do (passion). God has demonstrated a habit of developing passionate and courageous leadership by placing young people, in the role of a servant, with passionate and courageous people.

Dimensions of passion

Spiritual passion in teens (click to enlarge) 

Seven days at Jericho

Thirteen laps. One circuit of Jericho per day for six days, and then, on day seven, seven trips around the city. Seven priests. Seven shofar. The city fell, and the Israelites claimed the first piece of their promise.

Have you ever wondered where the Sabbath fit in all of this? Wasn't the seventh day supposed to be a day of rest? Why was the longest hike (seven laps) on the seventh day?

Many scholars feel that the acts of Israel and the writer of Joshua are emphasizing that the promised land was the land of rest for the Israelites. The number seven emphasizes both a completeness on heaven and earth, and it signifies the day of rest as well. Here, that land of rest, that day of rest, follows a lifetime of courageously patient persistence.

And we get mad when we can't change the church to conform to our vision in one week.

Quote for the day . . .

"Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount." - Clare Boothe Luce

Prerequisite to patience

God knows that Joshua was a patient man. For 38 years he waited for a promise to be fulfilled that, if fairness to an individual were more important than justice to a people, he deserved to receive after his first excursion into Canaan. Yet he waited, patiently serving Moses, patiently caring for the people whose faithlessness had blockaded his blessing, patiently waiting for God's good time.

And when that time came, he faithfully and courageously sought God's will. Until Joshua 7. Without waiting for word from God, Joshua sent spies up to Ai, and then began the attack based on their witness. Disaster follows. Achan is responsible for his own death, and the deaths of his family, but it may be that as a leader Joshua shares in the responsibility of the deaths of the 36 lost in the first attack on Ai. Perhaps if the Lord had been approached in advance, the sin of Achan could have been discovered without such a great cost [It's so easy to question the decisions of a leader after the fact, isn't it?]

Patience is an important part of courageous leadership. Sometimes a person's passion for a cause drives them to so relentlessly pursue their objectives that they fail to correctly assess and patiently cope with obstacles blocking that pursuit. Sometimes we just flat out want God to do things on our timetable and not his. As antithetical as passion and patience seem to be on the surface, one without the other either goes nowhere at all or ends in a dramatic crash. "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than a man who takes a city" (Prov 16.32).

Steve's selection of a key text for the week highlights patience as a component of courage (Col 3:12-14). "Clothe yourselves with . . . patience." [See also today's "Quote for the day . . ."] But just as passion cannot stand long without patience, patience is dependent on one more virtue.

You cannot have patience without trust. I can wait upon the Lord because I can trust him to keep his promises. I may not understand his timing, I may not understand the path, and I certainly may not understand the obstacles, but still I can be patient because of trust. When I become impatient with God, isn't that a sign that I have stopped trusting in him and have elevated my wisdom and desires above his faithfulness?

We can't be patient with people without trust either. I can be patient with Judy to put dinner on the table at camp, because I trust her to finish a wonderful meal at the right time. I can be patient listening to one of Steve's lessons because I trust that, just as there is something in it for the fourth grader, there is something in it for me as well. I can be patient with the kids, because I can trust that God is active in their lives as well. And if I can't yet trust a person, I can trust that God will help me deal with them.

So when we find ourselves being impatient, it may be important to understand what is irritating us, but there is something more important. The key is to understand who it is that we are not trusting. When we discover than, we are on the path to peace.

Rock piles

Everywhere you turn in the book of Joshua, there are rocks. Sometimes they are single stones, sometimes they are stacked with a particular number, sometimes they are just a massive pile of rocks.

Twelve stones are brought from the bed of the Jordan to serve as a memorial of the crossing of the twelve tribes (Josh 4). Knives are made from stone to make the people holy and one (Josh 5.2-8). This caused the reproach of Egypt to be rolled away like a stone (Josh 5.9). Jericho (Josh 6) fell into a heap of stones [except the stones of Rahab's house remained standing, the original witness protection plan]. When Achan erred, he was stoned and buried under a pile of stones (Josh 7) so that his error would not quickly be forgotten. When Ai fell (Josh 8), not only was it left as a heap of burnt rocks, its king was buried under a pile of rocks (Josh 8.29). Then, on top of Mount Ebal, an altar of uncut stones is built to worship God, and Joshua copies the Book of the Law onto stones (Josh 8.30-35). When the five kings of the Amorites come against Israel, God makes even water into rocks, and more Amorites die from hailstones than from the sword (Josh 10.5-11). When those kings hide in a cave, they are trapped inside with rocks, and after their deaths, that same cave is made into a tomb sealed with those rocks (Josh 10.16-27). A stone memorializing Bohan, son of Reuben, is made into a boundary marker (Josh 15.6; 18.17) and a silent reminder of a promise fulfilled.

Surely this has the least curious of us asking, "Why all of these rocks?" It might just be that the promised land has lots of rocks, and although that is true, it does not explain why the writer of this story bothered to tell us about them. Why all of these rocks?

The answer comes at the end of the book and the end of the life of Joshua. Joshua sets up a large stone near an oak near the holy place of the Lord (Josh 24.26). He then says, "See . . . this stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God." You have all heard the expressions: "If these walls could talk . . ." or "If these rocks could speak . . . ." For the people of God, all of nature stands as a witness to the acts of God through his people, and their own acts of wilfulness.

Not far from Lu-Jo stands a rock, a stone not likely to be moved by the hands of men. It stands as a witness to the lives of a father and his son and their God, and their relationship with one another. Its testimony would help you understand how close these three have become because of the events that happened in its presence some time ago. Triumph. Disaster. Pain. Hope. Fear. Courage. Power. Exhaustion. Salvation. And every time that this father and son return with their God, that stone's testimony is heard again in all three hearts.

What testimony will the rocks and trees at Lu-Jo give about our time there? God only knows now, but if we are truly passionate about our children and our God, now is the time for us to think and plan and prepare for those moments so that we can have some assurance that God will be glorified by that testimony.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12.1,2

Quote for the day . . .

"Courage is the capacity to wait until you've learned as much as you can and then take action. You're never sure of the results until you do it. You're still not going to know everything. You have to take gambles and learn more. Queen Elizabeth I wanted to put off most decisions as long as she could. She didn't make a decision until she had to." - Warren Bennis

Quote for the day . . .

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." - Martin Luther King

T shirt ideas...

"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps" 1 Peter 2:21 

I just a had a crazy idea of a t-shirt design, something with sandals or footprints of Christ serving as a reminder to walk in his footsteps down the path of courage and passion

t shirt idea 

Joshua 6-7

Joshua 6

On the other side of the Jordan, Jericho before them, God told Joshua and the Israelites His battle plans. Marching around the city once for six days, and then on the seventh day, trumpet blasts followed by shouts and the walls of this mighty fortress fell. Notice, there were no battering rams, or heavy equipment, just obedience to God's Word.

Observation: Sometimes trusting God, really taking Him at His Word will push us into unchartered waters. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8)

Joshua 6-7
Part of the plan to plunder the great fortified city of Jericho was to make sure that they kept away from the devoted things, so that they will not bring destruction on themselves. All the silver and gold and articles of bronze were to go into the Lord's treasury.

One man (Achan) coveted material possessions, which made the whole nation guilty and Joshua deals with this man's sin according to what the Lord told him.

Before we get to Achan's death, Joshua sends out the troops into battle and they are defeated and Joshua not knowing that Achan had sinned, falls face down before God and prays. (7:6-9). This text spoke to me of the passion and courage it takes to go before God in prayer. Sure some of us have approached prayer lightly, but let us never forget that when we pray, we enter the throne room of God. We go where no man before us was ever able to go. Sure Isaiah caught a glimpse of God in a vision, Ezekiel, spoke of things almost to wonderful for paper, and John was ovrewhelmed with what He saw. When we pray, we are in the presence of the Almighty.

I am not sure where I am going with this, but the spritual disciplines seem to keeping surfacing in my mind (meditation, prayer, fasting, etc.,) Courage and Passion are needed to go deep with God.

Another thought from Joshua 7
We know that Achan' sin found him out. He admitted that he had coveted material wordly wealth (7:20-21). It took great courage and passion for Joshua and the community of Israel to deal with the sin among them. And Achan serves as a warning to us to not love the world or anything in the world. James 4:4 puts it this way, "you adulterous people, don't you know that friendship wit the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

It takes passion and courage to be a friend of God. James calls Abraham a friend of God (James 2:23). Daring to be people of passion and courage will demand that we are different from our neighbors. Not a holier than thou attitude, but "I am sold out to Jesus Christ, no matter what" attitude.

Courage and Passion in Acts 3-5

I know we could find many pertinent stories in Acts, but two jump out at me initially.

1. Acts 3:1-4:31 -- Peter and John are told to stop talking about Jesus, and the fire and passion that burned within them blazed uncontrollably in their hearts and they couldn't keep quiet about Jesus and what He had done

2. Acts 5

The Apostles are arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin, told to stop again, beaten severly because they wouldn't shut up about Jesus, and then leave rejoicing that they were considered worthy to share in suffering for the name.

How refreshing a contrast is that in our day and age?! Not ashamed to share Christ in a world that is hostile to truth choosing to take God at His word over being intimidated by beatings, name-calling and the like.

It takes courage and passion to choose to share the name of Christ with our non-christian peers. Only may we be as bold and courageous as these early disciples were. Something so stirred the early church to talk about Jesus all the time. The gospel indeed has the power to change lives. Will we be courageous enough to share its passion and grandeur?

Quote for the day . . .

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not absence of fear. Consider the flea! Incomparably the bravest of all the creatures of God, if ignorance of fear were courage." - Mark Twain

The fortress of Jericho

Has it ever struck you as odd that Joshua places a curse on a city in his own land? Why would you place a curse on the first piece of land which you took into possession? Either Hiel didn't know the story of the curse, or he didn't take the stories of his people very seriously, because he ignored the curse at a very high cost (I Kings 16.34).

There are several good reasons for Joshua's action. First, he was wise enough to know that there would be some who would think that this was an ideal spot and stop to rebuild and live. Long live the status quo! After all, most cities in the middle east are not built on new ground, but from the rubble of pre-existing cities. After 40 years in the wilderness, this place had to look good. But the people of Israel still had far too much territory to conquer to put down roots yet.

Or it could be that he was concerned that they would be tempted to rebuild the fortress and try to hide out in it when things got tough. But God has never been inclined to have a fortress mentality. Fortresses are what people trust in when they don't trust quite enough in God. His people are, when they behave as courageously as he would have them behave, marching at the gates of their enemies.

This is an important lesson for our kids to learn as leaders of the church. The church was never designed to have a fortress mentality, a defense of the status quo, with arrows for those who dare to march outside, but within bowshot. Instead, the church is intended to attack the very gates of hell, gate by gate.

"...for the place you are standing is holy." Joshua 5:15 part II

A couple of other things we did while we were there that were experiential were to go to different stations.

For example, one station was a cross where we read Matthew 27:32-44, and we were to imagine ourself at the scene. What is going through your mind? The sin of all human beings made Jesus go the cross, not the Roman soldiers who arrested and heat him. His love for sinful human beings held him there. He could have answered the taunts by calling the angels of heaven to bring him down, but he didn't, he chose to stay.

Near you are several pieces of paper and pens. Think of a sin in your life, possibly something terrible you have done in the past or something you should have done but didn't, possibly an attitude your heart tells you is disappointing to God. Write it down on a piece of paper.

Fold the paper in half. Pick up a hammer and a nail. Nail your sin to the cross of Jesus. As you nail it, think about how your sins were nailed to the cross that day in history. With each stroke, remember Jesus' words: "It is finished." He bore the pain of the cross os you could be forgiven and set free from slavery to your sin.

Other ways to spend time at the cross: simply praising God, reading, and resting in Scriptures, sitting in silence reflecting, submitting to Christ (Luke 9:23).

This is just a sample of a few experiential things that we got participate in.

I think something like this might work well with our campers.

"...for the place you are standing is holy." Joshua 5:15

I had mentioned it to Steve earlier, but thought I would use this forum for another mention.

At Winterfest this year, we got to some contemplative worship experiences.

The adult class participated with lectio divina (prayer meditative reading) -- I have used this practice with my teens in our Tuesday night Bible studies, and they love it.

An Ancient Way of Praying with Scripture
Lectio Divina refers in Latin to the practice of "divine reading." This form of spiritual reading originated in the Benedictine tradition and involves a deeply personal and prayerful encounter with the presence of God through sacred scripture. Lectio invites us to listen to the word of God with our whole being and our longing to be touched, healed and transformed by the Holy Spirit.

In order to practice lectio divina, select a time and place that is peaceful and in which you may be alert and prayerfully attentive. Dispose yourself for prayer in whatever way is natural for you. This may be a spoken prayer to God to open you more fully to the Spirit, a gentle relaxation process that focuses on breathing, singing or chanting, or simply a few minutes of silence to empty yourself of thoughts, images, and emotions.

Reading (lectio) - Slowly begin reading a biblical passage as if it were a long awaited love letter addressed to you. Approach it reverentially and expectantly, in a way that savors each word and phrase. Read the passage until you hear a word or phrase that touches you, resonates, attracts or even disturbs you.

Reflecting (meditatio) - Ponder this word or phrase for a few minutes. Let it sink in slowly and deeply until you are resting in it. Listen for what the word or phrase is saying to you at this moment in your life, what it may be offering to you, what it may be demanding of you.

Expressing (oratio) - When you feel ready, openly and honestly express to God the prayers that arise spontaneously within you from your experience of this word or phrase. These may be prayers of thanksgiving, petition, intercession, lament, or praise.

Resting (contemplatio) - Allow yourself to simply rest silently with God for a time in the stillness of your heart remaining open to the quiet fullness of God's love and peace. This is like the silence of communion between the mother holding her sleeping infant child or between lovers whose communication with each other passes beyond words.

These four movements of lectio divina may not always follow a linear progression. Allow yourself freedom and pray as you can. The aim is to move into the depths of silence and stillness where we can hear the Word spoken to us in love and respond to this Word with our love and our life. This is a gentle invitation into a movement from silence into the Word and back into silence, dwelling there in the presence of God.

Quote for the day . . .

"You have to have a gang of believers, folks who can take on the resistance and share in some of the courageous acts with you. Otherwise, it's too lonely and you can't make it." - Noel Tichy

The foundation of faith legacy : "Celebration, consecration, and conquest"

Again, more notes from this year's youth minister conference via Reg Cox

-Celebration transforms us
-we are poor at celebration
-But celebrating the micro-steps plunges us forward, it gives us strength today

Why celebrate?
-It transforms our character
-Celebration and thanksgiving build our character. It takes our eyes (focus) off what we do not have, and places our focus, our trust and hope on what we do have

-Slave thinking has got to be eradicated from our lives, before there is crossing

4 Stages in transformation : foundation for faith legacy
1. commeration (4:1) Remembering with respect
-involved standing stones "masseboth" (mass E bah)
-commeration involves celebration
-archaeologists discovered over 167 "masseboth" pile of stones ---> commerate

These stone piles were erected for two reasons:
a. sign of a covenant between 2 groups
b. to evoke questions, to stimulate stories

-Joshua 4 -- "the masseboth" is a testimony of the power of God

(just a note here: I thought it would be neat if each day somewhere in the day, if we could collectively assemble a masseboth to commerate what God has done for us each day while we are camp and let it serve as a perpetual reminder of God's working at LU JO!!)

-600 years of waiting, the nation now commerates the fulfillment of God's promises

2. The crossing (4:10 ff)
-the crossing signals the shift in character, identity
-4:13 -- on the west side of the Jordan -- no longer idenitfied by the cruel things done to them in the past

3. Confirmation:
-to verify, to establish the certainty of
-Joshua 8:30-35 -- the confirmation involved the whole nation
-faith legacy is borne sustained by the Word of God
-"Renewing our vows" if you will
-They affirmed their desire to be God's and God's alone!

4. Consercration: to be set apart as sacred (:5:2 ff) [Ron does a great job reflecting on this weird male bonding moment]
-Most challenging
-Set themselves apart as different, embarassing, bloody buisness
-God renamed the place to signify that He rolled way the shame of Egypt "Gilgal"

More thoughts from Joshua

Again more notes from the conference via Reg Cox:

More about Joshua
-aid to Moses
-military leader -- a good one
-had a special connection to God's Word (Ex 17:14)
-first person whose faith is shaped by the written word
-He is our direct faith ancestor


Joshua 1-3

God desires a presence in our lives

The conquest of the promised land presents a faith problem
- God made a promise 600 years earlier to Abraham, the land was theirs but it would require effort on their part

The question is bound to be asked, why the 600 years between the promise and the fulfillment?

3 faith tests
-foundation for faith legacy begins in our hearts and we see this in the story of Joshua and the Israelites in three faith tests

1.courage
2. cunning
3. crossing

1. God leads Joshua to a private test of spiritual trust
"Moses my servant is dead" -- God's power doesn't die with his leaders
-the private test : "Are you ready to trust my leadership and my word Joshua?"
-Will you step out into the risk even if it costs you?
-Johsua 1:3 -- "I will give you every place where your foot touches"
-the word give requires risk, action, and radical trust

2. God leads Joshua to a public test of spiritual trust
-Joshua 2:1 -- Back in "Shittim" - Nu. 25 Israelites men had sex with Moabite women and bowed down to their gods
-Now in Johsua 2:1 God brings them back to a place of former failure and Joshua sends two spies and they go to a prostitutes house and everyone in Jericho knows where the spies went
-the spies stay gone for three days (Joshua was told in three days they were leaving)
-the spies show up in the last minute

3. God leads Joshua and the people to a test of faith
-Joshua 3 -- 600 years of hope in an unseen promise hangs on the faith of one trusting man
-Application: Circumstances may appear overwhelming, but despite what it looks like, God wants us to trust Him and what He says
-On one side of the Jordan, the people were bricklaying boot kissers -- one step in the river transforms the people, this moment literally transforms the nation

Notes from this years NCYM

Excuse my zeal here, but I had to share some of notes I was able to take at this year's NCYM (the National Conference on Youth Ministries).

These notes are from Reg Cox's morning devotional times.

What we learn from Joshua:
-He is more impressed with the size of God than the size of the enemy
-He wasn't afraid to face a fight in order to proclaim the promises of God.
-He realized that fear is rebellion...an indictment against God's love
-Joshua given his name -- defines his character; "God is salvation"

Men and weird bonding experiences

So they cross the river and scare the living daylights out of every king in Canaan (Josh 5). What do they do next? Nothing I've ever heard of any other army ever doing. They stop and circumcise every single one of them. Even though they allow time for recovery, in a sense, every warrior in the battle begins wounded (think about that).

The first reaction is to see this as some sort of weird male bonding experience (but what human male would pick this one?). For women who think MBE's are strange, perhaps they ought consider their own (see Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood). And our good Bible answer prompts us to say, God had them to do this so that they could be a holy people, and that is true. But what is a holy people? Literally a holy people is a nation set apart, marked for special service.

After this day, every last man in Israel could say that they had experienced the same thing, and not only that, they had experienced it together. They were marked, so that if captured in battle there would be no denying that they were Israelite. No need for an interrogation when an examination will do. But nothing spurs humanity to courage more than the realization that we are not in this alone. We draw strength from each other, and we fear disappointing each other and that urges us on.

Now, circumcision does not equal baptism. But our baptism marks us as a people set apart, a people with our story. Let us draw courage from each other, and from the memory that we stand with every other person who has ever obeyed God in this way (including Jesus, the Christ).

Passionate leadership and humble service

Joshua doesn't just pop up in the story, making a sudden appearance from nowhere. Not content to be one of the faithful spies on the first Israeli espionage mission, he ministers to Moses throughout Moses' career as a leader (Num 1124-34; Ex 24.12-14, 33.7-11). The same Hebrew word (sharet) is used to describe Joshua's role as a minister as is used about Joseph's service under Potiphar (Gen 39), Samuel's service under Eli (1 Sam 3.1), and Elisha's service to Elijah (1 Kings 19:19-21ff).

God has demonstrated a habit of developing passionate and courageous leadership by placing young people, in the role of a servant, with passionate and courageous people.

Perhaps our hope and prayer ought to be that, for at least one week if not longer, God can use us as mentors to the passionate and courageous leadership that even now emerges from his church.

Our place in the story

God deliberately communicates to Joshua an awareness of his place in the story of God's people, in history. Not only does God speak to Joshua through Moses' words (Deut 31:22-23), but he hammers home the message in a personal communication (Josh 1.1-9). In short, "Remember the promise, remember how I was with Moses, because now I am going to be with you and use you as a tool to bring about this promise. I am going to use you to change history. Now that you understand this, be strong and courageous."

This is precisely where passion and courage come in. When we understand our place in the story, passion and courage are required. When God's children truly see the possibillities that God places before them to change the world, the godly response of their heart is the passion that drives them to pursue that dream, that opportunity for God to glorify himself through them.

At the same time, when that dream is tested (and God will allow it to be), courage is what is required to persevere. Our passion pushes us to finish the course even though it presents obstacles that our vision (but not God's) did not allow us to see at the beginning. Our godly courage keeps us in the boat precisely when the human part of us wants to bail.

Let's try to find our place in the story, and for our children's sake, let's help them to passionately seek and courageously discover their place (it won't be the same as ours) as well.

Interesting parallels

"Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: "Be strong and bold, for you are the one who will go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their ancestors to give them; and you will put them in possession of it. It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." - Deut 31.7-8 NRSV

"I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" - Ps 27.13-14 NRSV

"But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I command you. Do not break down before them, or I will break you before them. And I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pilllar, and a bronze wall, against the whole land--against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you." - Jer 1:17-19 NRSV

One t-shirt idea 

A suggestion for us

A number of outstanding ideas are already on the table. To help us better work with the concepts we have and further develop them, I suggest that we all do our best to read through the book of Joshua this week. It is not a huge text, but it is rich. Such a foundation for the beginning of our work will, I think, help us make good use of the building materials already on the site, and those you will be soon placing here.