This book of laws shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you can make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. - Joshua:1:8
Joshua, as the successor of Moses, was supposed to bring Israel people (only the male numbered up to 603550) to cross the Jordan river into the land of Canaan by God's will. If any human were to face this conundrum, it would be more of impossible than difficult. But God promised Joshua: if he kept the word of God in mind and meditated on it day and night, wherever he chose to go the way would be prosperous and successful. In the bible, Joshua did bring the Israel people into the land of Canaan by faith and obeying the guidance from God. Combining with Joshua's story, this article will give out 3 points about how to help church get out of desolation.
Base on the holy bible. Where is the problem with the desolation, indifference and mutual attacking in our churches today? Some churches should really think on it. Local churches contain much less believers today than Joshua had led, some over dozens, some over hundreds, but hardly any over thousands. Why is that people of today's world can't accomplish what Joshua had accomplished? Has our God changed? No. Our God never changes, but people change. How many church leaders are too busy in church management to read the bible and pray? The reason for Joshua's conquer is listening to God's word and obeying his guidance. It is the lack of God's word that caused desolation in our churches today. To revive church is to find base on the holy bible, for only if we listen and obey his word the resuscitation could happen, because God's words are not from wheel or horse, but from the Lord of hosts.
Base on truth. The holy bible tells us that there is no one who is righteous, not even one. Some church leaders put their twist on truth, act against the bible but on their own will, so it's natural to lose their blessings from God. When Asa heard the words from the prophet, he took courage and put away the abominable idols from all over his country, and even removed his mother Maacah from being queen mother, obeying God's will. Because of his doing, God blessed his land peace for 35 years. No church leader is incapable of understanding the holy bible, but all of them lack the faith behind courage like Asa. As the bible says, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Everybody has their dues to pay in front of God, but only those who base their faith on the truth can be taken in God's eternal kingdom.
Church needs perpetual development. The wheel of time is rolling forward, and so is technology. China has entered the time of internet in 21st century, and if our church is aiming at revival, then we need to keep up with our time. Preachers should continue studying to improve their attainment, and search further in scriptures, preach only the truth. Churches should establish a faith-nurturing system for newly converts and a systematic bible study course for old ones. This could avoid the confusion from the new and boredom from the old, and the mixture of them both. If sheep find grass, they won't go anywhere else. Likewise, believers won't leave the closer church for the further one if they received the genuine spiritual supply apart from contrived technics. With every step towards improvement there comes great difficulty, so most leaders choose to stay in comfort, tolling the bell as long as one is a monk, neglecting offering the proper chance to find grace for believers. A frequent scene among believers is when studying the Old Testament many of them couldn't find the parallel content, so it's not hard to tell how unfamiliar they are with these contents. If a church leader looks over the built of spiritual life for the believers, then what's the point to do as much as possible holy work? I pray for God to guide our churches to live conquering lives with the faith of Joshua, and bring our believers into the beautiful land of Canaan (his eternal kingdom).
(The writer is a believer in ShanDong WeiFang church.)
