Preface

        As you read this book you will find out very quickly that I’m not an intellectual. If you are a linguist, let me apologize up front… I don’t know what past participles, conjunctions, or prepositions are, and I very much overuse the dot… dot… dot… technique… There are several made-up words scattered throughout this book, and if not for spell check my wife would have to spend a year or so editing my spelling alone.

        For you Bible scholars, I apologize to you as well… I’ve never taken a hermeneutics class, and if asked to define hermeneutics I’d have to consult a dictionary of some sort. I do own several thick books about the Bible with big words in them, but quite honestly, though I did buy them to study, I never opened them. If it helps, I did go to Bible college twenty or so years ago. But to be honest, I slept through the Old Testament and New Testament survey classes and was kicked out of the school before I had enough credits to become a junior.

        So why would you read a book written by me? I don’t know… but I can tell you why I wrote it. I’ve been a Christian for most of my life. I prayed the prayer of salvation in the back seat of my dad and step-mother’s station wagon at the tender age of seven while traveling to Mason City, Iowa, to visit my Grandma Holder. I was baptized just a few weeks later on Easter Sunday 1977. I spent most of my childhood either in church, going to church, or preparing for some church-related function.

        After all of that, to my discredit, I didn’t really know how to live a life that was pleasing to God… that is, up until about two years ago.

Approaching Burn-Out

        At the time I was employed at a mega church as a groundskeeper.  My job description was complex.  For the bulk of my time I was charged with leading a group of guys who were struggling with addictions that came to work for the church, asking for help. But also a part of my job was counseling, mentoring, teaching adult education Bible classes, and leading an addiction ministry that met weekly for Bible study and small group discussion.

        I was nose-deep into ministry and was starting to get burned out while trying to live out the message I was teaching. At the time I was teaching what most church leaders teach—that through hard work, dedication, and faithfulness, you can live a life that is pleasing to God and thereby earn His blessing and provision. Obedience to God’s leading is the key to unlocking His blessing; disobedience will lead to discipline… But the more I tried to live a disciplined life, the more frustrated I became about not living up to what I thought was God’s standard.

        Soon I began closely observing many of my co-leaders in the church and found that they, too, were carrying this same heavy burden of ministry. When I spoke with them, I found that many of them were quickly getting to the point of burning out—just like me. Curious as to whether my teaching was having any effect, I started to watch the men and women I was teaching and mentoring. Much to my chagrin, I found that they were having an even a harder time living up to the standard that we as leaders were teaching them. Many were so burdened by this standard that they just plain gave up… and quite honestly I was feeling like I wanted to give up myself.

        Then one day, while toiling in the hot sun, frustrated about this weight of Christianity that was on my shoulders, I picked up a rock and told God, “If you want me to start speaking up about what I am seeing, show me now.” I threw the rock at a rotted tree stump about thirty feet away. Now, though I have better than average abilities when it comes to throwing things, it surprised me greatly when the rock hit that stump dead-square in the middle and embedded itself… it stuck! It was at that moment that God spoke to me… it was then that I had a moment of clarity. I took a picture with my cell phone camera, and to this day I have that picture on my desk with a caption that reads:

Fear paralyzes, love motivates. Understanding Christ’s love for you, displaying Christ’s love for all, and sharing Christ’s love with others will motivate you and those around you to accomplish great and wonderful things for Christ.  

The Greatest Motivator      

        The clarity I found that day was this: For all my life, fear of God’s judgment had been the motivation behind my attempt to be good and do the right thing—and I was using the fear of God’s judgment to encourage others to be good and do the right thing. I also realized that I would never live up to the standard I was telling everyone else to live up to… I was teaching others to bear a burden that I myself could not bear. I came to understand that fear, if you are looking to live an abundant life, is a horrible motivator… Love, on the other hand, is a great motivator!

        I began that day to understand how much Christ (the Rock) loves me and how 2,000-plus years ago, He embedded Himself into this rotten world for the sole purpose of dying and taking on Himself the judgment that I was in fear of and the burden that I was carrying. I no longer needed to fear that judgment; I no longer needed to carry that burden. I just needed to… well, I guess I needed to write a book about how the people of Israel went from their enslavement to rest… I needed to write about the Biblical book of Joshua.

        The following is what I wrote.