Twice last week God brought Australia into my path. Once at a gas station as I eavesdropped on a conversation the cashier was having with a co-worker and then at the local paint shop as I picked up some metal work that I had contracted out. “Where did you get those two stuffed koalas?” I asked the woman at the counter. “A friend gave them to me when he visited Sydney recently.” “Ohhh, very interesting” I remarked. Australia follows me around everywhere I go. ‘Sign posts on the way down the intercontinental freeway of missions’, I like to refer to them.

Two weeks ago I was listening to Pastor Hans from Calvary Sequim teach in Joshua six and felt the Spirit really applying the story to our situation. The chapter focuses on the strategy to attack a city (Jericho), a strategy that is illogical and impractical. A plan that no person could ever come up with in order to knock down walls of opposition and to save a harlot and her family. Does this sound vaguely familiar to anyone? There’s a land that God has called us to, a people who’re lost like Rahab and being ripped off by the enemy. There are numerous cities all needing to be filled with hope, purpose, salvation, and godly living. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How is God going to reach this country for Christ? One city at a time and since every campaign has to start with an opening battle and victory, Sydney is in the cross-hairs.

So, as I meditated on this parallel, I wondered out loud, “Where are we in this process?” Not in the wilderness, I’m pretty certain of that. We launched out with YWAM and spent a year in Townsville. That speaks to me of crossing the Jordan and watching the miraculous works of God in the process. Or, come to think of it, maybe we’re just in the process of spying out the land? Hmm…no, I think we spied out the land when we visited the Gold Coast the first time around…I’ll visit this question later.

Last weekend I had the privilege of leading the service at Calvary Chapel Port Angeles and knew that the Lord was going to have me in Joshua. I spent some time in prayer leading up to the study and in my prep time began surveying through the first six chapters. I summarized each one and felt the Lord speaking to me throughout. Chapters one through three and six I’ve discussed a little already and chapter four and five? Well, one of the brothers from CCPA asked me about the songs that I have written over the years, about how I put them together and how I chose the verses that make them up. I thought for a second trying to find the right words and Joshua four came to my mind. “They’re stones of remembrance” I said in response. I have memories of God’s amazing provision and safety at various precarious points in our experience over the last couple of years and I relate those to the set of stones placed in the middle of the Jordan. But, the stones placed in Gilgal to me, are the verses that God’s given us over the years that have encouraged us, given us direction, and called us into the mission. Many of these are now songs and remain fresh in our memories as a result.

That leaves chapter five, Gilgal. Here are some of the thoughts/points/applications that the Lord gave me.

→So Israel is poised ready to launch out into battle…Our natural tendency when God has called us into a new work or some other opportunity is to jump in with both feet and hit the ground running…

ANALOGY: A Building Project/Planting a Garden: Things need to happen before we can proceed…planning, purchasing, preparing, etc…So too with God’s projects!

I’m going to use the Acronym P.O.P to describe God’s planning for Israel’s calling to enter into the land…

V2-9

→ (P)URIFICATION

»Abraham was given the command to circumcise back in Genesis 17

CIRCUMCISION: A cutting away of the flesh…

»A visible sign of the Abrahamic Covenant…A people set apart from the things of the flesh, a holy people…

»The New Covenant equivalent is Baptism---putting to death the old man with all his ways, and coming up out of the grave in the resurrected life and putting on the new man.

Col. 2: 9-13 “In Him you were also circumcised…”

Rom. 6: 1-6, 11-13 “Old man was crucified with Him…”

»The generation of Israelites that Joshua was now commanding had not all been circumcised, so God commanded it to be done before they moved on.

ANALOGY: Keeping the soil pure and clean…Keeping an orderly jobsite…Keep away from sloppiness.

→Our walk of faith is an on-going battle against the flesh. We start the battle by getting baptized as a public declaration of our faith and commitment to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. (Rom. 7, Eph. 4: 22-24)

»God has a plans/projects/opportunities for each of us…God is calling us to deal with our flesh…

»Baptism and then a willful desire to harness our flesh…

QUESTION?: What reproach? The reproach of Egypt…Their past bondage to the world in Egypt…With circumcision comes the new life, the past no longer remembered by God and all things have become new…

2Cor. 5: 17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

1Jn. 1: 9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

»The more we can walk out our faith in purity and victory, the greater the work that God will do, the more fruitful the project.

V10-12

(O)BSERVATION

Passover observed…Keeping Christ & the cross the focus.

Rev. 2: 1-5 The Church of Ephesus; repent and do the 1^st works.

ANALOGY: Keeping the main thing the main thing…Staying focused on the purpose of the project…A Garden? Good veggies, a building project? What need is the building meeting? What is its purpose?

Manna ceases and they partake of the provisions of the land…“The milk of the word”?

V13-15

(P)REPARATION

ANALOGY: Get to know the Designer. Follow the blueprint of the Architect. It’s not our work or their work, it’s His work!

Jesus meets Joshua…THE COMMANDER OF THE LORD’S ARMY

1. Walk in Awareness of God’s Presence

» Like Moses, Joshua is told to take his sandals off because he’s on holy ground. Have a sense of humble awe while at His work.

» Joshua He prostrates himself worships Christ the King, the Captain of our Salvation. Be in an attitude of prayer and worship at His work.

2. Walk in Reliance of God’s Guidance

» Joshua must align himself and Israel with God’s plan…not his own, even when God’s plan seems peculiar and doesn’t match with conventional wisdom.

Is. 55: 8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways.” Says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

►A Final Thought:

→GILGAL: Rolling Away/Rolling of a Wheel (movement)

A place of great Refreshment and New Beginnings, but also it represents Spiritual Stagnation and Resignation:

»The Israelites didn’t keep moving forward in the conquest of the land. In the more difficult areas to fight, they resigned themselves to defeat.

»They became stagnant and settled for less than what God had for them.

»What was to be a launching off place and a resting place…became a place of stale resignation and ultimately a place of idolatry…

A Warning: We need to always be moving forward in our faith…

I believe the N. Olympic Peninsula in WA is Gilgal for us. It is a place of launching out and a place of refreshment, we’re ready to move forward and take the land.

Many Blessings to you!

Jeremy

Joshua 1

The Lord’s had me in the book of Joshua the last couple of weeks and has been giving me insight into our calling and current position. We’ve been in the first six chapters so far in our Sunday morning study with Pastor Hans from Calvary Chapel Sequim. Hans has been giving most of the studies but one Sunday a month he’s had me up there giving a teaching on what the Lord’s been speaking to me on the same references, sort of allowing for a different angle on the same story. So my first message was on chapter one where I gave a character lesson on Joshua and emphasized his apparent growing spirituality as he witnessed God’s power in Egypt, then served as Moses’ assistant, eventually receiving the anointing to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. I especially love what it says in verse eleven of Exodus chapter thirty-three, that when Moses left his tent to go into the congregation of the Israelites, Joshua stayed there because that was where God was. It’s such a sweet verse that I feel, shows Joshua’s heart for God in how he was content to be where He was, much like the story of Mary and Martha in the final verses of Luke ten. Undoubtedly, he was a man of amazing faith which translated into great boldness in his calling. He was not perfect by any means, a blessing because we can relate so much more to him as a result, but his heart’s desire was to please the Lord and he did so by careful obedience. It’s such a wonderful example to us as we are likewise being called into a very important and possibly dangerous endeavor. Later on in the study I felt that verses eight and nine were the crux of the passage and this brought about the application:

1. “Do not Fear”…Believe: Fear is a result of doubt…We’re calling into question God’s love and good purpose for us…So to do the opposite is to Believe/Trust in God…To be courageous.
2. “Stay in the Word” & Meditate: Heb. Haga…To moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak, imagine
3. “Be Obedient”…Do what it says, Act on the convictions of the Holy Spirit!

I love what it says in verse ten, “Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people…” He heard what God said, believed it, and stepped into what He called him to without hesitation and with certain boldness. May we do the same!

An Awesome Weekend of Fellowship

Just a quick note about a special blessing for our family, we recently had the opportunity to attend the NW Men’s Conference at Calvary Fellowship in north Seattle. Ryan and I attended along with about 1000 other men from various Calvary Chapel fellowships. It was truly a joy listening to the messages and taking part in the worship and prayer times. I cannot accurately describe the joy it was for me to be there with my oldest son and watch as he was ministered to and as we all joined together as a band of brothers. “Behold the Man” was the theme, obviously referring to Jesus and the focus was squarely upon Him throughout the entirety of the event. I was reunited with many old friends and tried my best to catch everyone up to speed on our missionary progress though, due to a cold, my voice was just about gone. “A great time” just scratches the surface!

http://calvaryfellowship.org/audio/tag/Events|Series/NW%20Mens%20Conference%202012

Not only that but, we then traveled up the interstate to Camano Island to visit our long time friends and supporters at Island Christian Fellowship (ICF). It was nearly ten years ago that ICF teamed with our family to help plant Calvary Chapel Forks and they have been faithfully supporting the church and our family ever since through prayer and various other ways through the years. We are immensely appreciative of them and since it had been almost two years to the day that we had visited and given an update we were super excited to see everyone. Once again the Henning family hosted us and spoiled us rotten. Then we were up early for the two services on Sunday morning. We were so blessed by the many hugs and words of encouragement from so many smiling faces, what a joy!

http://www.islandchristianfellowship.com/

This weekend just solidly reinforced the reality of the blessing of fellowship in the body of Christ. One of our greatest joys is experiencing intimate fellowship with other Believers throughout the world, whether it’s in the US or Australia, in Mexico or Central America. With our friends from S. Korea, Mongolia, Canada, China, New Zealand and the S. Pacific Islands, not to mention Europe and so on, the Bible is proven true again and again (Acts 2: 42; Heb. 10: 23-25) with every new church service, prayer meeting, meal, picnic, footy and soccer game, surf and skate session, Christian fellowship is awesome!

Dec. 2011 Update

The craziness of the holidays is finally over and our family is back to its regular routines. Christmas was a huge blessing this year stretching from one day to five as we were delighted to spend it with many of our close relatives and friends. These special events are often difficult because we’d like to clone ourselves to be able to celebrate with all of our loved ones, nonetheless, we are very thankful for the great times we experienced.

In this year’s festivities we were shepherds for Calvary Chapel Sequim’s (CCS) big Christmas event, “The Streets of Bethlehem”, a role that our family easily adjusted to. Many people visited our area and petted the live animals while listening to our mini message of our angelic visitation and admiration for the baby Messiah. There was a live concert in the afternoon and tasty Gyro sandwiches with ample amounts of olives, pita chips, and hummus for the Mediterranean style dinner. It was a lot of work but was all worth it in the end as the whole congregation worked together to honor the Lord and serve one another, it’s always such a blessing to see the Lord’s Church functioning smoothly and to see the visitors enjoying themselves and being touched by the Gospel.

Christmas Eve and morning were spent with Cameron’s Mom and Step-Dad and was full of presents, fun, and food. In the evening we attended the CCS Candlelight service and watched as the kids carefully held their candles and beautifully sung the traditional Christmas hymns. Christmas morning was busy but a joy as we dug into our stockings and then attended morning service at CCS. Jeremy led worship and toward the end Cameron and Kay came up on Kay’s impulse and lead Silent Night thus, burying the needle on the “Cute Meter”. “Merry Christmas!” was repeated joyfully from one friend to another and then we were off to Jeremy’s Dad and Step-Mom’s scenic home on Bainbridge Island a couple short hours away. We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day and even got to spend time with Jeremy’s Uncle Steve (a wonderful surprise) and his Brother and Family who bravely drove the twenty-five arduous hours from Hollywood to the Northwest for the holidays. More fun, presents, and food and then we loaded up on coffee and headed down to the ferry to pick up Jeremy’s Mom who’d traveled all afternoon and evening from San Diego to bless us with a week long visit. The timing of everything worked out perfectly and we were home safely and in bed before midnight.

Our week leading up to New Year ’s Day was relaxing, we made it a point to slow down and really enjoy our time with family. Nonetheless, we took in the local winter sights by hiking around the neighborhood, on the majestic Dungeness Recreation Area, and amazingly, Ryan, Aubry and Nana Carole even walked over seven miles from our home to the store in town! We allowed Ryan to stay up with us for the change of the New Year but we were all so tired we barely made it to 12:01 am before turning in for the night.

It was a fitting end to 2011 as we have had a very busy year and 2012 looks to be more of the same. We thoroughly appreciate your prayers and look forward to the coming year as the next chapter unfolds in this very exciting adventure that God has directed us into.

Australia Update:

As was mentioned in our “Post Envision” entry, we went to Sydney in December 2011 in obedience to God’s leading with hopes to get direction and confirmation for the next step. God clearly met us there and confirmed our calling to Australia and specifically pointed us toward Sydney in order to take part in the coming church plant. Many of the team members who are assisting in the church plant are placing their time of relocation to be around July or Aug. of this year, so we feel that is a good target date for us as well. As far as the actual “grand opening” of the church, since it will take some months to get established in the city, develop relationships with people and get familiar with everything the date is around Jan. 2013. By the way, we’ve been told that there will shortly be a website running for all who are interested in getting informed on the church plant including getting to know the team members and being directed in how to pray for us. We’ll let you know when it’s ready!

There is a real temptation to get comfortable here in Sequim but with our calling renewed in Sydney we are definitely still in “Missions Mode” and are actively keeping our lives simple and our hearts diligently focused on the call. We’re remaining fervent in prayer and constantly in contact with our partners in the future ministry. We recently celebrated Australia Day with a dessert and prayer night at our house. It was really well attended and our family was truly blessed to share our hearts and vision and watch as others joined in to pray for the work. The Lord is keeping our ministry skills sharpened by serving at the church in various ways such as, Jeremy helping to lead worship in the main services and teaching once or twice a month. Also, Cameron and Jeremy are involved with leading worship and teaching in the teen and children’s ministries. Jeremy’s also teaching beginning guitar at the church and Christian school weekly. He’s also overseeing various outreach possibilities in the community, while once a month helping out with the men’s and surf ministries. We love serving the Lord and ministering to His people and are genuinely thankful to have the opportunity to use and develop our gifts here in Sequim for now, but we’re looking forward to how the Lord’s going to use us overseas hopefully very soon.