As the people near the Jordan and prepare to enter the land, God’s chosen leader send’s spies to gather intelligence. Unlike forty years earlier, when Moses had sent out twelve spies publicly, this mission will be very different. This will not be the people’s spies, but the leader’s personal spies. Joshua was not about to relive that. He secretly chose and sent two men with instructions to concentrate on Jericho. In Joshua 2 we can follow this mission.

The differences are evident from the beginning. In the first mission twelve men were chosen, one from each tribe, to spy out the land and bring back information on the people, the land and the strength of the cities. The tribes knew spies had gone out and saw this group as being their eyes and ears on the ground. They believed their report was for the purpose of determining whether they should try to take the land. This time was different—the people had nothing to do with picking, or sending out the men. They were hand selected by the man who would lead them into the land—a man, who had been one of the twelve earlier spies, and had been one of two not cowed by what they found. The people were not to be allowed to interfere with plans and were to be given no excuse for disobedience.

This mission also differs because he only sent two men. The earlier group of twelve was unwieldy, but probably necessary because they were to spy out the whole land. This small band was to concentrate on the first target—Jericho. With two there is less chance of the herd mentality when it comes time to report. Joshua was not going to risk another forty years in the desert. Another benefit of sending two—the two were able to get into a city and speak to the people. Twelve strangers showing up are likely to set off alarms so the earlier party probably had to stay outside the cities, simply seeing their strength from without. They had no way to determine the morale of the enemy as this smaller detachment did.

The conclusion of the spy mission is the most telling. While the first mission concluded with fear that they would be unable to take the land. This smaller, more direct, secret mission reported to Joshua: “The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting because of us.”

Today I took part in one of my favorite activities—browsing a bookstore. I went into a Christian bookstore to see if there was anything interesting by a particular author that I enjoy. I seldom go in stores looking for Christian books. Instead I find and order them through Amazon. Don’t get me wrong, as a Christian who loves to read I wish more believers would support these stores. But Christian bookstore shelves are too filled with claptrap. Three quarters of the book racks are filled with fiction and what I call touch-me-bless-me books. Since I don’t read fiction unless it is at least a century old and I steer clear of the other because they contain little more than pablum, there is seldom anything for me to read. Little did I know what I would find. Read the rest of this entry »

The hardest part of being a pastor is the feeling that you are always on a stage; always on display. People come to you with problems, with bits and pieces of their life and expect that you will react a certain way. Often, when you do not respond as expected, they get offended because their image of what a pastor is or what he is to be does not match up to what they see. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part VIII

The claim of being a Christian should be a guarantee of honesty and integrity in business matters. Unfortunately, it is easy to claim to be a Christian when you aren’t. Christians look just lie everyone else so how are you to tell if the person you are doing business with is truly saved? Is a fish symbol on their sign or business card enough? Does the scripture verse quoted in their marketing materials prove they run their business on Christian principles? In my experience picking a business or service by symbols or scriptures seldom works well. Those claiming to be Christians are not necessarily telling the truth while those who are do not always follow Christian principles in their business. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine, spending only three weeks in a city, before being driven out, but seeing a successful, persecution-resistant church planted. Paul was very successful, but we must resist the temptation to think that his success is beyond our reach. He was not magically endowed with the ability to plant churches. Yes, God called and equipped him to this ministry, but all of us are capable of similar success in our own callings. You may not have the same calling as Paul, but you can have the success that he had, if you will conduct your ministry as he did. In 1 Thessalonians 2 he gives us the ingredients of his ministry; I like to call it his Formula for Successful Service: Courage, Motivation, Self-sacrifice and Imitability. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part VII

If you’ve lived in a small town you understand how quickly news spreads. We lived in a town of about 450 people for four years. As the only resident pastor, I was constantly told stories of my son’s activities. Some people seemed to get a twisted pleasure in asking the pastor: “Do you know what your son did?” He never seemed to understand how dad could know the things he had done, and know so fast. Now don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t doing bad, cruel or illegal things. Neither was he being disobedient since most were not the sort of thing you would think to tell a kid not to do. He and a friend were simply being mischievous. We had moved to this small town so that, among other things, he could have fun and experience childhood—a boy’s childhood. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part VI

Language is a powerful device. Something as simple as a combination of sounds emanating from the human mouth can inspire and elevate, or repulse and infuriate. Words in church meant to inspire are salvation, love, devotion, deliverance, but one little word can shut the ears of the average congregation, causing them to hope no more is said. This word is discipline. Among a people striving for pleasure and comfort discipline is practically an obscenity. This aversion has left scores of churches in tatters, given a black eye to the image of Christ and shipwrecked the faith of many as leaders fall into temptation and sin. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part V

Paul commands that the elders of the church are to be the “husband of one wife.” This qualification has caused much contention and in our day of easy divorce it can be one of the greatest hurdles to finding qualified men. Some have interpreted this passage (in ascending severity) as disqualifying the polygamist, disqualifying the divorced who remarry, disqualifying the divorced even without remarriage, disqualifying remarried widowers. All of these share one trait, they are attempts to apply this positive passage negatively. Paul is not saying what the potential elder will not do, but what he will do. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part IV

In a world that assumes women’s presence in every endeavor, it seems backwards and hateful to restrict women from certain roles. In this fight, like all others, Christians must following scripture not the dictates of society. As we consider the qualifications of leaders in the church we must examine what scripture says about all areas, including those that are unpopular. Whether we limit leadership of the church to one gender or open it to both, we must have good strong biblical evidence for our view. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part III

With record low job approval ratings worldwide, we expect little good from our national leaders. Even in the church, bad leadership seems more the rule than the exception. Just like other problems faced by the church, the Bible has the solution. If the people of Christ would hold our leaders to the qualifications given in scripture we could transform the church overnight. Read the rest of this entry »