April 21, 2011

4-21-11 Thursday, 6:20 am Springfield, 47 degrees, cloudy with rain predicted.

Holy week continues. Yesterday morning I enjoyed breakfast with a friend who has begun a blog and he showed me how to link this blog with my Facebook account. I will try to do that today. My goal with this writing is to daily record aspects of my walk with God and to provide a window into my soul. Yesterday afternoon I worked with two Wesley leaders on writing a new vision statement, utilizing the work of our Day of Visioning in February. Last night the Wow meal (pork chops!) provided a good context for visiting and fellowship with the gathered faith community. On the way home I stopped by an Alzheimer’s unit where one of our members was admitted yesterday, which is hard for him at 61 and for his wife. I will plan to visit as the weeks and months unfold.

This morning I will give a radio interview at KTTS, host 2 pastors in my office for prayer, and then I have flexible time to return phone calls and emails, work on my Easter message and prepare for the weekend At 3:00 we will walk through the Wesley Easter services. Tonight I will attend the Maundy Thursday service led by Pastor Jim Massey and the Holy Land pilgrims.

Joshua 22:21-23:16

This reading has two parts. The first involves a somewhat obscure incident with the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, whose land was on the east side of the Jordan, per their request to Moses, and who had fought with the other tribes in the conquest of the Promised Land. Word had come to those other tribes that there was an altar built on the east side of the Jordan. Gathering at Shiloh to go to war against their fellow tribes because they had built a “competing altar”, wisely they decided to send a delegation to investigate. The leaders of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh explained that they did not build this altar for making sacrifices (which would have been in direct disobedience to God), but as a memorial to remind future generations that although the Jordan River divided them, they were undivided in their worship of God. This satisfied the delegation and they returned to Shiloh, and there was no war.

There are so many implications and applications of this incident. For me the most obvious is to be careful when assuming motives for the actions of other people. I am impressed with the foresight of the builders of this replica altar as they sought to remind future generations of the oneness they experienced.

Joshua 23:1-16 records the words of the elderly Joshua as the years have passed. He realizes he will soon die “going the way of everything on earth”. His basic message to the gathered elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel is to “be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left.” (23:6)
His message to his people is a vital and relevant message to all followers of God: “cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now.” (23:8) I desire to follow Joshua’s advice, and to teach it to this generation with whom I serve. It is always so easy to loosen one’s grip, especially when life is easier, and the daily journey appears to require less faith.

I am reading the account of a Russian Christian who experienced fierce persecution in the 1970s and 80s. His faith was refined as gold in a fire. Guide me Lord as I walk in faith on April 21, 2011 in Springfield Missouri. I am clinging tightly to You.