When Joshua faced the power of the five Amorite kings his sword quite literally got into the swing of things. However, as he was gaining the upper hand he realised that an ultimate victory may elude him as the sun was setting affording his enemies a chance to flee into the darkness.  It was at this moment that Joshua displayed enormous faith and declaried:

"O sun, stand still over Gibeon, 
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.

On a faith scale of 1 - 10 this is about 15!  We must remember that it is only by faith that we can please God and there are those occasions when we have to pursue our God-given goals even when the natural seems to be indicating a loss - so stand tall, speak up and stay focused!

I always remember listening to a great talk given by A.W.Tozer and in it he gave these incredible words of instruction, "be hard on yourself, but easy on everyone else." Somewhere in the middle of this simple adage lies the great balance between personal discipline and corporate grace.

In Numbers 33:55 God advises his people Israel, " 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.' "

There are times when we have to stop judging and advising the world around us and begin to  operate some internal ruthlessness in addressing the aliens and squatters that have taken up illegal residence in the penthouses and fields of our minds and attitudes.  These 'barbs' only cause internal pain and impede spiritual growth; abandon negotiations and frivolous comprises and serve eviction notices with immediate effect.

It's your mind, your land, your inheritance, his will and trespassers should be prosecuted!

I read this article today from the writings of Oswald Chambers and was blessed, challenged and inspired:

"It is not a matter of our equipment, but a matter of our poverty; not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a matter of natural virtues, of strength of character, of knowledge, or of experience— all of that is of no avail in this concern. The only thing of value is being taken into the compelling purpose of God and being made His friends (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ).

The most important aspect of Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the surrounding influence and qualities produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to give our attention to, and it is the one thing that is continually under attack."

There's a song out there at the moment called 'I am a friend of God' and although the tune is rather annoying the sentiment is fantastic - let's enjoy the incredible intimacy of our best asset, friendship with God!

“Despite our efforts to keep him out, God intrudes. The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: "a virgin's womb and an empty tomb". Jesus entered our world through a door marked:

"No Entrance" and left through a door marked "No Exit."

Pete Larson author of "Rex Appeal"

Pharaoh has a dream, the cupbearer has a brain wave, Joseph has a shave and hey presto, he's now the second most powerful man on the planet - never, never, ever give up - don't entertain the thought, don't write the resignation and whatever the enemy asks you to sign shred it immediately.  

Another simple, but powerful verse - Genesis 41:14 'When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.'  After all his years of trouble, injustice and misrepresentation the only thing that Joseph needs to change is his outer appearance and not his inner attitude - he had kept his heart, spirit and attitude all spotless.  Whatever you are going through don't let it get in on the inside!

If you were called to greatness today would you be ready?!

There are some haunting lines in Scripture and Genesis 40:23 competes with the best when the writer casually states: 'The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.'  If this isn't sore enough, he then opens chapter 41 with the power of understatement by informing the reader, 'When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream.'  

Imagine the emotion, frustration and general annoyance in Joseph's tortured thoughts as he sees his ticket to freedom apparently be flushed down the cupbearer's forgetful mind. He had served this guy's dream ushering in his freedom and in response he asks for a simple favour, 'mention me to Pharaoh.'  Maybe this was moment when his flesh got the better of him and he felt he could ask for earthly favours on the back of Divine insight and service.  Whatever the reason, God makes him wait another two years!  Now two years in anyone's world is long, but when you are staying in Cairo's Maximum Security prison 'long' is taken to new lengths.  

While you are waiting to be discovered remember some simple things:

Keep working

Keep serving

Keep sloshing

Keep pure

Keep dreaming

Wherever you are and whatever you feel stuck in please remember that in a single moment two years later Joseph was elevated from Prisoner 3410 to Prime Minister by a divinely inspired performance on Egypt's Got Talent - Pharaoh loved it!

Joining with the other senior staff today for a day of vision casting and development.  These are the days that we were made for and that make leadership worthwhile - it's where the leader truly belongs!  John Ruskin encapsulates the power of vision with these riveting words:

"The greatest thing a human ever does in the world is to see something and tell others what he saw in a plain way.  Hundreds can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see.  To see clearly and tell others clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion all in one."

Vision is clearly the driving factor of any team, corporation or church and it must be guarded with intense jealousy.  Here's to potentially a great day!

Love this

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

Rob Bell takes a lot of unnecessary flak!  Seriously, there seems to be a number of Christians who have very little to do with their time but to scan any preacher looking for microscopic fibres of heresy - the evangelical Taliban!  Of course there has to be a place for the preservation of sound doctrine, but there can be, even within evangelicalism, the room for creative expression of lasting truth and I think Rob Bell does this with style.  

Rob's latest book 'Jesus Wants to Save Christians' may not be the framework for a 'New Christians' Course' probably as it doesn't intend to play such a role. What it does is to examine some familiar Bible passages and themes such as The Fall and the Exodus and marries them with stirring application to very relevant issues such as globalisation, abuse of power and the need for an expression of an 'anti-Egypt' church.  

While saying this I need to reserve some caution as I still haven't finished the book and the next chapter is entitled, 'Genital-Free Africans'!