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I DO care

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by Dan Amos

If I had written this a couple of weeks ago, I would have titled it “I don’t care.” But that can be discouraging and easily misinterpreted when what I really intend is to confess my actions reveal I can care more. As Pastor Steve encouraged us to find someone who has followed Jesus for a long time and listen to their counsel, several weeks ago I had such a person challenge me with “You don’t care. If you did, you’d do something.” I recognize circumstances and age have conspired against me to give me less time and energy than 10 years ago. But the real question is, What do I do with what remains?

The Transition Team has been an exciting time for me. I’m not saying I enjoy meetings at all. Nobody would believe that. But a large part of the process has been getting these two dozen or so people to dream together of what we believe is the purpose God has for His church on this corner on South Hill. There’s a hunger to be more, to reach out more, to make a difference in the kingdom. It is exciting to see it manifested in so many. The land lies before us.

On Sunday, Pastor Steve encouraged us with Joshua’s last words to the people of Israel. We, like Israel in Joshua 23, are in the process of a leadership change. We are looking at a new era for Elim. The land is plentiful and ready for harvest. We must remain strong and courageous. I see the giants around us, too, but God is bigger, and He goes before us.

Pastor Steve pulled four actions from chapter 23 for a winning strategy to remain faithful or, in other words, to always care about what God cares about:

  1. Imitate people who have walked with God for many years.
  2. Remember God’s faithfulness to you in the past.
  3. Be sensitive to diluting influences.
  4. Resolve to be faithful. 

That statement, “you don’t care,” was not intended to be harsh or even critical. It was a challenge to reflect and evaluate. It’s been running through my head since I heard it, making it really effective. I am vulnerable to diluting influences. I can make different choices with the time and energy I do have. I do resolve to be faithful. I do care, and it matters.

The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God. (Joshua 23:9-11)

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Chasing after God with Ambition

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By Bill Naron  

This last Sunday, Pastor Steve preached on the topic of ambition from the book of Joshua. This was a great sermon, and if you have not had a chance to check it out, then click here. In Joshua 14:10, Caleb makes the statement that the Lord had kept him alive for the last 45 years. Then in verse 11, he makes the following statement: “As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.”

Upon reflection, I see the boldness of this statement from Caleb. At this point Caleb is 85, and when Moses sent him out, he was 40. In my limited understanding of things, I assume that Caleb is talking about physical strength. As we read through the battles that Caleb fought following this statement, physical strength is part of it. However, I do not think that is the whole picture. He was a God-fearing man and desired to see the will of God accomplished.

In addition to the physical aspect, there is a spiritual aspect to this statement as well. Caleb and this story were not just included in the pages of God’s Word for nothing. The benefit for us as believers today is to see a man of God ambitiously chase the will of God. Caleb saw what God had promised him, and he knew what God wanted to do for the children of Israel. Therefore, he was ready and determined to chase after that promise.

There is a poem by C. T. Studd that I absolutely love, called “Only One Life.” Every stanza of this poem ends with this phrase: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past / Only what’s done for Christ will last.” When I was listening to Pastor Steve talk about having godly ambition the same as Caleb, I thought of this poem. It made me think about the ambition that I have in my own life. I ask myself whether the things that I ambitiously chase are for myself or God.

The strength required to accomplish the purposes of God is spiritual. Caleb lived his life ambitiously chasing after the promises and purposes of God. Ultimately, the things that are done for Christ are the only lasting things that matter. All of us must find ways to cultivate spiritual growth in our lives through consistent time with Jesus. This will help ensure that we have the spiritual strength to be people of godly ambition.

Caleb’s story is included in Joshua for us to learn what it means to have godly ambition. So my challenge to Elim, and what I myself am processing through, is to ask, “Do I have godly ambition? What is my household doing to fulfill the purpose of God? What is Elim doing to fulfill the purpose of God?”

Elim is in a time of transition, and as a church it is important that every individual, every family, and the congregation as a whole wrestle with these thoughts. We are wrestling through what vision of ministry the Lord would have for Elim in the Transition Team. However, this is not something that can only happen at the Transition Team meetings, but this is a conversation that includes everyone. It is my prayer that Elim would find a leader with godly ambition and that we would be a body of ambitious believers who strive to see the purposes of God accomplished.

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