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.

Joshua Was a Southerner

I'm reading in Joshua 3 and I come across these verses:

"Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground."

When I saw those words I knew Joshua had to be from The South. Who else would call all of that backed-up water up a "heap"? I could just hear him, "Hoooowdy boys, look at that heap of water! That's some pile of water, ain't it!"

And I realize that only God can make a heap of water. I've piled a lot of stuff in heaps in my life, but I've never managed to pile water in a heap.

How many different ways would I be sinning?

We had a ton of garbage out front by the road and it was chewed open and scattered all over the yard two or three times by the neighbors' dogs. If I went to these neighbors' homes and ripped open their garbage bags and scattered the garbage all over the yard, how many different ways would I be sinning? Would it totally ruin any opportunities for sharing the gospel with them?

The Creative Spirit

Early this morning I was reading from Luke 1 in The Message. Mary asked the angel exactly how she was going to give birth to one called "Son of the Highest", seeing as how she had "never slept with a man". The angel responded, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you." When I read that I immediately thought of Genesis 1:2, and how the Spirit of God was "brooding" or "hovering" over the formless, dark world. Then God spoke light and the Word made light. So when the Father sent the Word into the world as flesh, He did so by the brooding/hovering power of the Holy Spirit. I began to think, not only is God the Creator, He is also amazingly creative. I tend to be a little more comfortable with His role as Creator, since that seems to be mostly past tense. When I think of Him as creative, I realize that He is not going to work according to my tame script and is going to do "more than I ask or imagine." That can be a bit scary, but I find myself praying, "Father, may the Holy Spirit brood over my life and may Your Word creatively transform my heart as only You in Your expansive wisdom and power can!"

Lower your head and run: Part 2

As I listened to Charles Stanley talk about obeying God and leaving the consequences to Him, I realized that I had heard him say the very same thing way back in the late 80's. I've also heard his son Andy say the very same thing. Obviously this has been a continuing theme in his life for many years and he sought to instill it in his son. This has led me to ask myself a few questions many times lately. Is there a particular truth or encouragement that my kids will one day use to sum up my life? If I could pass on one sentence to my kids, knowing that it would change their lives and they would pass it on to their kids in some form, what would that sentence be?

Lower your head and run!

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Drive 2006 Conference at North Point Community Church. I thought I would do a few posts about some of the amazing messages I heard. I took a ton of notes, so I'll have to pare them down a whole lot.

Charles Stanley spoke on the last morning of the conference. He told the story of getting on a bus as a kid and going to visit his grandfather. His grandfather was an evangelist and Charles felt the need to go and just listen to him. One thing his grandfather told him was, "If God tells you to run through a brick wall, just lower your head and run and God will make a hole in the wall for your head." Charles said that on the way home he realized what his grandfather was telling him: 'Obey God and leave the consequences to Him.' I was very challenged and encouraged as he told us that God assumes full responsibility for my obedience and He works on behalf of those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4). "Omnipotence is on the side of obedience."

Stanley went on to tie this in to conflict, specifically to pastors and conflict in the church. The tendency is to run and hide from conflict, to allow it to distract us and destroy our focus. But Stanley encouraged us to run towards conflict while allowing God to take care of the consequences. "If I run from conflict, when will I stop? Runners never make an impact. There is not enough conflict in the world to defeat the power of God!"