Quote of the Week- Courage: The Backbone of Leadership

When we swallow reality and fake being nice, we don't make things better.  We make people sick, starting with ourselves.
(Courage: The Backbone of Leadership- Lee, p. 91)

God Calls Joshua to Lead Israel

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"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them"- Joshua 1:6

This wasn't the first time that Joshua had heard these words.  These are the same words that Moses spoke to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7-8.  These are the words that Moses spoke to pass his leadership of Israel over to Joshua.  Clearly God wants to make sure Joshua understands just how big and important his new job is.  He makes sure that Joshua understands that his is the call to fulfill one of the big promises God had made to His people.  A promise that had been made about 500 years before Joshua's lifetime:  The covenant that God had made with Abraham.  Joshua was the man chosen to make that promise a reality, and it wasn't going to be easy.

Thankfully, God speaks these same words to us.  He knows that He needs to constantly reassure us of this because He has given each of us a big job to do:  "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  This isn't some little assignment.  It isn't an easy assignment.  WE need to be strong and courageous.  He has called each of us to lead His people to the land He has promised they will inherit- Heaven.  "All nations" is a lot of people and not all of them will joyfully receive God's message of salvation, so be Strong and Courageous!


Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to obey everything in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.- Joshua 1:7-8

Why did Joshua need to be strong and courageous to obey God's law and meditate on it day and night?  Wouldn't it make sense that as the leader of God's chosen people he would just do this as a matter of course?  The answer is "Yes", but there were also going to be a lot of temptations and distractions for Joshua and the people once they entered Canaan.  It would seem like it wouldn't take a lot of courage for Joshua and the Israelites to stay faithful to God, but as history would prove once again, God knew exactly what He was doing and talking about.  The Israelites would continue to struggle with faithfully honoring God their entire existence, just as they had while wandering in the wilderness.  Sadly, Abraham's descendants still struggle with this command.  They don't believe the Scriptures so they continue to reject the Messiah- Jesus.

What about you?  How well do you honor these commands that God gave to Joshua?  They're pretty simple commands really:  Study God's Word everyday, talk about it, and obey everything that is says.  This is God's success formula that He has graciously shared with us.  He promises that when we do these three things we will be "prosperous and successful".  This isn't a commercial exchange between God and us.  He isn't saying, "If you do what I say, I will give you everything you want."
God is revealing one of the "natural laws" that He has put in place to govern our world.  When we study His Word daily and obey what it says, we will be blessed as a result.  This doesn't mean we will be given material success and prosperity, although He may choose to bless you that way.  It does mean that we will be blessed spiritually.  By honoring this command, our faith will grow stronger every day and we will have the assurance of the greatest blessing He has ever given- Eternal Life in heaven through Jesus!


Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."- Joshua 1:9

God says it one more time; assuring Joshua that the One true God, the triune God, will be with him.  He doesn't have to be terrified of the giants that live in the land.  He doesn't have to be terrified of the cities with high walls and strong defenses.  He doesn't have to be afraid of anything that scared the 10 unfaithful spies 40 years earlier.  God is with him.  Joshua is up to this call because God will be with him wherever he goes.  What a promise!  What encouragement!  What wondrous love!

What an awesome God we have!  This promise didn't die with Joshua.  Everyone of us has this same promise.  The Lord God will be with you wherever you go!  You don't have to be terrified of anything.  You don't have to be defeated by discouragement.  God is with you.  He will defeat all of your enemies for you.  This is the promise that lead Paul to write, "I can do anything through Him who gives me strength."  Praise the Lord!

And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Quote of the Week- The Theology of the Cross

What a horrible burden the soul carries around, whether recognized or not, when it refuses to repent.  That pain, however, is not the cross of God's sending, but the self-inflicted wound of the sinner who still holds fast to his sin.

(The Theology of the Cross- Deutschlander, pp.27-28)

Hold On to Your Faith

1 Timothy 1:18-19

I am entrusting this instruction to you, Timothy, my child, according to the prophecies about you, which were made earlier, so that by them you may fight the good fight, 19 with faith and a good conscience. By rejecting these, some people have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith...

There is a false Bible teaching that goes something like this: "Once saved, Always saved."  If that little saying were true, then why would Paul encourage Timothy to continue to "fight the good fight"?  If that saying were true, then once Timothy was baptized he should be good for the rest of his life.  He would be free to live however he wanted, and do whatever he wanted.  It wouldn't matter because "once he was saved, he would always be saved", no matter what.

That is why this, and all, false teaching is so dangerous.  False teachings destroy faith, and our reliance on Jesus.  Paul warns that to refuse to fight the good fight is to "shipwreck our faith".  I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a reassurance that "Once saved, Always saved".  It sounds like a warning to be diligent, because we can lose our faith.  Satan is constantly trying to lead us astray and kill our faith.

I encourage you to be like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-15) and search Scripture every day.  When you hear these quaint little catch-phrases, check them against what Scripture says.  Fight the good fight, be diligent about studying and knowing God's Word so that you can protect your faith and not allow it to be shipwrecked.

God bless
Jason Fredrick

Quote of the Week: Mike Maloney

Gold is the money of kings.
Silver is the money of the common man.
Debt is the money of slaves.

(Mike Maloney, Hidden Secrets of Money and GoldSilver.com)

Korah's Rebellion

Numbers 16:1-11

Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.  They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

When Moses heard this, he fell face down. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him. You, Korah, and all your followers are to do this: Take censers and tomorrow put burning coals and incense in them before the Lord. The man the Lord chooses will be the one who is holy. You Levites have gone too far!”

Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you Levites! Isn’t it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the Israelite community and brought you near himself to do the work at the Lord’s tabernacle and to stand before the community and minister to them? He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near himself, but now you are trying to get the priesthood too. It is against the Lord that you and all your followers have banded together. Who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?”

Rebellion.  It's nothing new.  God has been dealing with man's rebellion since just after the creation of the world (Genesis 3).  This rebellion shouldn't surprise us all that much.  It comes shortly after Moses sent the 12 spies into Canaan.  It seems that Moses's whole reign as the leader of Israel is the story of putting down one rebellion after another.  If you are familiar with Israel's history, starting with Adam and Eve; this is the theme of the nation of Israel.  If you disagree with that just read Genesis through 2 Chronicles.  Read the prophets.  Read the gospels and pay attention to how the leaders of Israel respond and interact with Jesus, the Apostles, and John the Baptist.  Look at the Israelites today and see how they are still rebelling against God.  They still reject Jesus as the promised Messiah!

But, back on point...Korah.  Korah and his band of Levites had enough of Moses being God's chosen leader.  They decided that they wanted some of his authority.  They wanted to be the ones ruling over God's people.  There was only one problem- God had chosen Moses, not Korah and his band of usurpers.

I love how Moses points out that all rebellion is rebellion against God.  Moses makes the point in verse 11, "who is Aaron that you should grumble against him?"  Moses and Aaron were just men.  They were just obeying God's commands and call.  Moses didn't even want this responsibility (see Exodus 3).  Everybody wants to be the leader until it comes time to be held accountable before the Lord.  Just like Eve, no one wants to be the leader then.

God calls and appoints men to positions of leadership and authority in our world.  Any rebellion against that authority is first, and foremost, a rebellion against God (I will include some verses at the end to drive home this point).  Like Moses, not all leaders are in their position because they sought it or the power that comes with it.  Some have been pulled into leadership reluctantly.  They would be just fine following and letting someone else lead, if only God had called someone else.  Christian leaders faithfully answer that call to leadership despite their personal preferences, the obstacles they face, or the flaming arrows that are constantly shot at them by the cowardly critics.

The reality is that God has called ALL of us to follower-ship, and only a select few to high-profile leadership.  The best leaders in every field start out by following good leaders.  If you're not in the position of leadership that you want, then it's time to become a better follower.  You clearly still have some things to learn.  Submit to the authorities that God has place in your life and learn all you can from them.  The biggest lesson you will learn is humility, because Godly submission cannot be achieved without it.
Finally, don't worry about your own aspirations.  Instead look for the doors that the Holy Spirit has opened to you; and serve Christ's Church with everything you've got, right where you're at!

The Fourth Commandment

Honor your father and mother, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God that we do not dishonor or anger our parents and others in authority, but honor, serve, and obey them, and give them love and respect. ( Martin Luther, Small Catechism)

Hebrews 13:17

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.  They keep watch over you as men who must give account.  Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Romans 13:1-2

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God.  Consequently, he who rebels against he authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

1 Peter 2:13-17

 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the king as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those who have been sent by him to punish those who do what is wrong and to praise those who do what is right. 15 For this is God’s will: that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Do this as free people, and do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but use it as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood.[a] Fear God. Honor the king.

God bless

Jason Fredrick

God Is Patient

Do you ever wish that God wasn't patient?  Do you ever wish he would deliver swift justice like he did in the days of Moses?  Jonah certainly wasn't happy about God's patience.  Like Jonah, sometimes God's patience can be really inconvenient for us.

Instead of thanking God for his patience and the opportunities they afford, too often we miss those opportunities because we are busy doing God's job of judging "sinners".  Sadly, our faith, which is a gift from God, can make us vulnerable to arrogance- especially if we were given faith as a small child and that is all we have ever known.  The only difference between us and those people we are judging is that we have been loved enough that someone shared Jesus with us; those people you are judging need the same amount of love.  God is patiently waiting for you to love them.  He doesn't want anyone to perish.

Thankfully, God is patient.  I know that I try that patience everyday.  If I am honest with myself, I see that I am no better than the atheist, the prostitute, or the drug dealer.  I sin everyday and rebel against God's commands for my own selfish reasons.  Thankfully, God is patient...and merciful.  He loves me.  He loves you.  He loves all of those "sinners" that we judge everyday and withhold his saving Word from.

Today, let's remember that "God so loved the world...".  And accordingly, let's tell the world, "Jesus died for them.  Their sins are forgiven."  Amen.

Quote of the Day: Courage- The Backbone of Leadership

Courage is a stunning quality: it is learnable.
...training and practice reverse the habits of fear.  It is the only way that courage is learned.

Courage is a deep-seated, fundamental human competence that leverages our other abilities.  It invokes within us our absolute best selves.

God So Loved the World He Delivered Us From Fear

Numbers 14:36-38

36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— 37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

This is the account of Moses sending the 12 spies into Canaan to scout out the land and to see what the Israelite armies would be dealing with.  Unfortunately, 10 of the spies came back with a report that convinced the people that they were over-matched.  They got the people all worked up that there was no way they would be able to defeat the people living in the land.  The people were too big, their cities were too well fortified, and the people were just too strong.

Joshua and Caleb, however, had a different interpretation of the facts.  They acknowledged that yes the people were big and strong, yes the cities were well fortified; but God is bigger and stronger.  They encouraged the people to trust God to do what He had promised: to deliver the people of Canaan into their hands.  They reminded the people that God would fight for them.  

Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.  The people were already in full-blown rebellion against God and Moses and Aaron.  They grumbled once again about how it would have been better for them to have stayed in Egypt.  If you are familiar with this account of the nation of Israel from the book of Exodus all the way up to this point in Numbers, you will remember that when the Israelites were in Egypt they cried out to God because of the oppression they were dealing with there.  They were a people, not unlike ourselves, who were never happy no matter what God did for them.  They cried out when they were in slavery.  They grumbled against Moses and God at every challenge once they left Egypt.  Here they are grumbling once again because they just did not trust God.

With our Scripture text from above, God makes it very clear that there are consequences for faithless rebellion.  The consequences for the 10 unfaithful spies was immediate judgement, God struck them down with a plague.

Here's the lesson for us:

We are just as guilty as those 10 unfaithful spies, at times.  We whine and complain.  We grumble against God because He hasn't blessed us the way that we want to be blessed.  We can judge the Israelites and those spies, but we are no better.  Just as those men had no excuse because they had constantly witnessed first hand God's love for them, and His almighty power; we also have no excuse to not trust God.  We have the hindsight to see their mistakes and God's reaction to them.  We also have the benefit of seeing how God worked out everything for the Israelites, and how all of the problems they experienced from 1500 B.C until today, is entirely of their own making.

The same is true for us.  None of our problems in life are God's fault.  They are entirely our fault.  First, because every problem is a result of sin.  Sin came into the world through man.  God's creation was perfect until man ruined it with rebellion.

Second, most of our problems are the direct result of us trying to do things on our own, for our own desires.  Problems come when we forget about God's plan and invest much, or all, of our time into pleasing ourselves.  Chasing after our own ideas and desires.

Finally, there is no greater stress in life than not trusting God to faithfully care for us the way He has promised.  God is faithful.  We don't need to worry about every little detail of our lives.  When challenges arise, we can be sure that God will see us through; as well as, using it for our good.  We can trust that God will use this challenge for our good, for His glory, according to His infinite wisdom and divine plan.

The biggest reason we have no excuse:  JESUS!

We have seen God's greatest promise fulfilled.  The promise of a Savior.  The Israelites didn't have that.  They had to trust that God would one day send a Savior into the world.  So even more so, we have no excuse to not trust God.  He has already fulfilled His greatest promise.  

Graciously, it is because of Jesus that we can trust God in everything.  It is Jesus who gives us that power and ability.

Thankfully, it is also because of Jesus that we are assured that when we do grumble and rebel against God, He forgives us.  Jesus has payed for all of our sins.  Thankfully, we are forgiven for our selfishness and lack of faith at times.  

What a loving God we have who would send His own Son to be the sacrifice for our sins so that we can be saved.  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

God bless

Jason Fredrick

Quote of the Day: The Theology of the Cross

The getting of one's own way, the accomplishment of one's own will, getting things, getting ahead even at the expense of another, all of these are basically the same thing.  They are the outward evidence of the assertion, indeed the worship, of self.
The only real difference between the one considered a pathological egomaniac and the rest of us is that he has not been able to hide his passionate love affair with self as successfully as those not so described.
(The Theology of the Cross- Daniel Deutschlander [p.15])