I reformatted some material from Tim Keller, “All Life is Repentance” for a chapel presentation that I wanted to share with you. I was encouraged, challenged, and focused as I worked with it. I hope it serves you in some way. Luther’s first thesis nailed to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral acknowledged that the Lord willed the entire life of the believer to be one of repentance. Why? This is the way that we make progress...
The Gift of Land and a Pathway to Jesus
In the previous posts of this blog I noted that the opening verses of Joshua 1:1-9 detail four themes that are prominent in the content of the book of Joshua. The themes are leadership (1:1-2); land (1:2-4); supernatural triumph of land inhabitants (1:5); and Word obedience (1:6-9). As I summarized each theme I offered a contextual pathway from the Joshua 1 text to the person of Christ. The last and most difficult theme to be considered is...
Gospel Fruitfulness
This week Cathy and I had the privilege of attending the Gospel Coalition in Orlando. Cathy enjoyed the woman’s version of this conference last summer and upon returning from it determined that she would be a volunteer at the next one. Well, she followed through on her determination and in keeping with her gracious spirit she served conference guests at the information desk. The theme for the conference was “His Mission: Jesus in...
From Obedience to Christ — Joshua 1:7-9
In this post I want to share with you how I dealt with the obedience theme in Joshua 1:7-9. As I mentioned in a previous post, answering the question “how do I get to Jesus from here” comes after working the details of the text to understand the author’s intention. Once this is done I look for the legitimate canonical trajectories that point me to Christ. In Joshua 1:7-8 the Divine King is calling His servant Joshua to...
Leaders and Leadership
The first unit of the first chapter of the book of Joshua (1:1-9) details how the conquest and occupation material should be read and identifies the key themes recurrent in the message of the book. This structure encourages us to read Joshua in light of these opening verses. Joshua reads like a military war narrative told from the perspective of God’s relationship with His people. It is about the Lord’s covenant relationship with...