Focused?

Lately I've been reading books and listening to messages about focus. I've been thinking about focus a lot. Howard Hendricks said, "The secret of concentration is elimination". As one who sometimes struggles with concentration, (OK, I struggle a lot with concentration!) it isn't just the difficulty of keeping my mind on a task. It's the difficulty of eliminating tasks that someone else could do in favor of doing only what I can and should do that will bring the greatest benefit to my family, the church and me.

So here's some questions about focus I've been asking, in relation to this blog:

• If I were really focused would I be posting more to this blog?
• If I were really focused would this blog exist at all?
• If this blog truly should exist, what should its focus be in order for it to be the most fruitful?

I'm hoping to have these questions answered in the next week or two.

Not only was he a Southerner...

...but he was also exalted in the eyes of the people. Verse seven of Joshua says something that could be a bit troubling, depending on how it comes about. "And the LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses." If the Lord is doing the exalting, then a good thing is happening. That's a sign the leader is humble and obedient and the Lord is doing great things. If the leader is doing the exalting, a bad thing is happening. That's a sign the leader is prideful and/or insecure. The priests were the first to stick their toes in the water. They stood on dry ground looking at a huge heap of water while the whole nation walked through the riverbed. The people had to trust that the heap wasn't going to fall on them. So there was faith all around. But Joshua was the one who heard some really audacious instructions from the Lord, believed the Lord was trustworthy, and gave those instructions to the people. They followed and were amazed by the Lord's power and the nation thought Joshua was great. That was a good thing because it was greatness achieved the right way.