Okay.
Well, it is my privilege to welcome all of you here. Two-thirds of you are from Memphis, and we are all glad to see the third of you who are from other places. For those of us who are too old to actually be here, I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we are very excited that you took the time and effort to be here this weekend.
We have been praying for several months, ever since the brothers told us that this conference was in the works. We have been praying for this time this weekend, for the Lord really to speak and act and work and change lives.
One of the things that has given us great confidence in our prayers—confidence that the Lord really does intend to speak this weekend—is the scriptural principle that I find most clearly in Exodus 3, the familiar story of Moses and the burning bush. I am just going to read the first four verses.
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, the backside of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him in blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.”
When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”—Exodus 3:1-4
You know, the Lord speaks to all of us every day. If we have ears to hear, then we can be in fellowship with Him continually, unbroken, all day, every day.
But I suspect that most of us have this wonderful experience of taking a time—whether it is a conference, whether it is a time of prayer and fasting, seeking the Lord in some special way—taking some time and setting it aside and saying, “Lord, I am Yours for this time. I am here to hear what You have to say,” and having the Lord speak in such a wonderful, abundant sort of way.
That is the confidence that we have had in our prayers for this weekend. Every one of you, whether you are from Memphis or from the other side of Canada, it does not matter, has set aside the normal responsibilities of your life and carved out this weekend and said, “Lord, You are worth it. You are worth the time, You are worth the money, You are worth the effort, You are worth everything that it takes for me to set aside my normal responsibilities and seek Your face. I am here to hear You, Lord, speak.”
Just as Moses, when he turned aside, had to make a choice—he said, “I will. Let me turn aside and see this marvelous thing”—then it says, “When the Lord saw that he turned aside,” then the Lord spoke out of that bush.
You have turned aside for this weekend, and you can have great confidence. The Lord is speaking this weekend. You can have great confidence that you will hear Him, because it is His great desire to speak to you. Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy.
When I heard that Joshua 1:9 was the theme verse of the conference, the verse that the Lord had given to the brothers who were seeking His face about the conference, it set me to looking again into the life of Joshua.
What a rich, unfolding life the life of Joshua is. There are so many ways that we are like Joshua, every one of us, and so many more ways that we are called to be like Joshua.
The Lord, I believe, in this day and time, in this season of history, is raising up a generation of Joshuas. We should be part of that generation, and we may be part of that generation. If we see clearly what He is doing, what He is calling us to, what is on His heart and His purpose, then we will say, “We must be part of that generation of Joshua, those whom the Lord is raising up for His purpose and for His plan.”
As you can see from the sheet I handed out, there is way more on this sheet than I can even touch on tonight. I gave you the sheet because what I want to do tonight is what I think of as a low-altitude flyover. Instead of the thirty-thousand-foot view, I am just going to be buzzing the ground and pointing: this, and this, and this, and this. There is not time to look at it all, but I want to point it out, just to call it to your attention, so that when you go back to the Lord in coming weeks and months and go to the Scriptures, the Lord can give you a mushroom cloud of further revelation and further work in your heart as He shows you things from the Scriptures, from the life of Joshua.
The Lord has to be the One to give revelation, and He will—some tonight and this weekend, and much more in coming weeks as you continue to seek His face and ask Him to speak.
One of the things that probably a lot of us have a problem with when we come to the Scriptures is that we see the great men and women of faith in the Scriptures and have a tendency to put them on a pedestal. We say, “Well, yeah, but that is him or that is her. He is just inherently more spiritual than I will ever be, or she inherently has faith like I will never have.”
We tend to do that with the men and women whom the Lord has put in the Scriptures for our benefit. Scripture says in James 5:17 that Elijah had a nature like ours, and yet he prayed, and it did not rain for three years; he prayed again, and it rained.
Joshua had a nature like ours. He was a man. He was human. He was just like you and me, and that should encourage our hearts.
It almost sounds sacrilegious to say it, but Joshua, in himself, was weak and cowardly and fearful. Joshua, the great leader of God’s people—yes, weak and cowardly and fearful.
I say that on the pretty clear authority of Scripture. Six times he is commanded directly, “Be strong. Be courageous.” Four more times he is commanded directly, “Do not be afraid. Do not be terrified. Do not be dismayed,” that sort of thing.
So ten times Joshua has to be commanded directly: “Quit being afraid, and be strong and be courageous.” I think that has to do with the enormity of the calling he had on his life, but I also think it says something about who he was in himself. He had to have that command given to him over and over and over again.
The Lord is commanding you and me. I can relate to weak and fearful and lacking courage. Maybe you can too. But the Lord is saying to you and me—and He will say it repeatedly all weekend long:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:9
That is His command to you just as much as it was to Joshua. Perhaps you need it as much as Joshua did, but you have it just as much as he did. The same God that Joshua had is your God.
Joshua was not Moses—the great lawgiver and judge, the one who stared down Pharaoh, the one who led the people of Israel, God’s people, almost two million people across the Red Sea and for forty years through the wilderness. Joshua was not Moses.
He was not called to be Moses. It was okay that he was not Moses. There was no one like Moses. Joshua could not ever fill those shoes, and he was not called to. He had his own calling, and God had prepared him for something that Moses could not do.
That should be a great encouragement to each one of us. Every one of us has Moseses in our lives, those whom we look up to and say, “Oh, he or she is so far ahead of me. I will never get there. He or she is so gifted in a way that I will never know, I will never see.”
It is okay. I do not see any Stephen Kongs in this room. I do not see any Lance Lamberts in this room. I do not see any Watchman Nees or Amy Carmichaels. It is okay.
You do not have to be Moses. You just have to be who God has called you to be. He has called you to be someone that those other brothers and sisters could not be, and He has equipped you for your perfect place in His kingdom, for your perfect ministry that nobody else can fulfill.
Praise the Lord.
Sometimes Joshua forgot to ask the Lord. Something so simple, so simple in theory, and yet so difficult for each one of us to remember day by day. Look at Ai. Look at the Gibeonites. He just forgot to ask the Lord.
He was a man. He had shortcomings. He had failures. So do you. So do I. The Lord is big enough. His God was big enough. Your God is big enough to work in spite of your sins, in spite of your failures and your shortcomings.
Even in those times when you forget to ask Him, go your own way, make mistakes, and reap the consequences of it, it is okay. He loves to forgive. He loves to put you right back on the right track. He loves to do His work in you and through you in spite of those things.
“Be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:9
You have probably heard some version of the saying, “A hero is made, not born,” or, “A great leader is made, not born.” The Joshua that we see in the book of Joshua was not born that way.
By my calculation, he had to be somewhere around sixty or above by the time the book of Joshua opens. He was not born who we know Joshua to be, and he did not become that man overnight.
The first thing that I found real encouragement from was that he was given the name of Jesus.
He started out life with a good name: Hoshea. Hoshea means salvation. But Moses said, “That is not good enough. That is not clear enough. That is not far enough.” Moses renamed him Yehoshua: “Yahweh is salvation. Yahweh saves.”
Yehoshua has a shorter form that has the same meaning: Yeshua. Sound familiar? Jesus’ Hebrew name is Yeshua. Jesus in Hebrew is Joshua. Joshua in Greek is Jesus.
Joshua was given the name of Jesus and bore that name through the rest of his life. This was foundational to everything that the Lord did in him.
And you, Christian, bear the name of Jesus. Technically, you are bearing the title of Jesus the Christ. But if you bear the title of the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Anointed King, then you are bearing the name of Jesus.
You have been given that name. Whatever name you were born with, at your new birth you were given the name of Jesus. You bear that name, and it is foundational to everything that He is doing in you.
Joshua served Moses faithfully and loyally from his youth, almost always in hiddenness and anonymity—unheralded, mostly unnoticed. Yet during those forty years that he served Moses in that way, behind the scenes and hidden, he was cultivating a real, deep, rich intimacy with the Lord.
When Moses went up on the mountain to receive the law, Aaron and seventy elders went with him, and they feasted in the presence of the Lord. Then Aaron and the seventy elders went back down, but Joshua stayed on the mountain with Moses.
I do not get the impression that Joshua was right beside Moses for those forty days, hearing everything as the Lord gave the law to Moses. But he was nearby somewhere, because when God told Moses, “They have made a golden calf; go on down,” Joshua descended from the mountain with Moses.
I do not think he was carving on sticks for forty days. Wherever he was, he was in the presence of the Lord for those forty days, just as surely as Moses was.
Moses set up a tent outside the camp of Israel, called the tent of meeting, and he would come and go from that tent to meet with the Lord. He would go there, meet with the Lord, then leave and go back into the camp. Joshua lived there. Joshua never left that tent, that tent of meeting. He lived in the presence of the Lord.
Here is this man whom we see only little glimpses of for those forty years, and he is living in the presence of the Lord, developing a rich, intimate relationship with Him.
Because of that, long before he was commissioned to lead the people of God, Scripture says that he had the Holy Spirit in him. It does not say that about too many Old Testament saints, but it specifically says, “The Spirit was in him.” God told Moses that.
He had that indwelling of the Holy Spirit because he had a relationship with the Lord, not so that he could have ministry. His ministry was just service behind the scenes. God was the One who had to take this scared coward and say, “You lead,” and tell him over and over again that God would be enough to do that through him.
Joshua was a man of the Book: the Word of God, the whole Book. Over and over in these early books of the Old Testament, when it speaks about Joshua or when Joshua is speaking to the people of God, he talks about all the words of God, all the law, all the commandments.
Joshua says at the end of his life, “You know that every word of God has come true. Not one has fallen to the ground.” This was Joshua’s life: every word, all of the Book.
We desperately need, in these days, men and women who are men and women of the Book—the whole Book. Not just the part that you like, not just the part that you agree with, not just the part that you understand: the whole Book.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable.”
—2 Timothy 3:16
All of it. Every word from “In the beginning God” to “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” It is the first and last of the Bible. Every bit of it is profitable for us. Every bit of it is life. Every bit of it is for you and for me.
We ignore or put aside any of it at our own great loss, and some of it at our own great peril. We need to be men and women of the Book—the whole Book.
I will mention one other matter of Joshua’s character. Joshua knew the tendency of God’s people to rebel and sin, but he did not despise them. He did not exalt himself over them, and he did not serve them any less.
Early in his time of serving Moses, God and Moses had these interchanges where they said to each other how rebellious the nation of Israel was and how prone to sin they were. Joshua saw it firsthand, right there from the golden calf on.
Joshua experienced it firsthand when he and Caleb were among the spies who went into the land. They stood faithfully for the Lord, said what was true, called the people to faith, called the people to obedience—and what did they get for it? Rejection. People wanted to stone them.
At the end of his life, he was still telling the people of God, “You cannot serve God. He is a jealous God. He is a holy God, and I know how you are. You will not serve Him.” He knew.
Yet he did not think lightly of the people of God. He did not exalt himself over them in his own mind or in any other way, and he did not serve them less or serve them with less of a wholeheartedness.
He spent his whole one-hundred-and-ten-year life pouring out his life for the people of God—those who were so rebellious, so sinful, so unappreciative of all that he was doing.
You have the same calling, because God’s people are the same as they have always been. We are people. We are human. We sin, we rebel, we forget, we wander.
“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love.”
That is us. We do not appreciate those who labor among us, those who lay down their lives for us. We do not see what one another does, or if we see it, we do not appreciate it properly. That is us.
You are called to be a Joshua, to be a Caleb, to lay down your life anyway—not in a begrudging way, but thankful to be able to do that for the Lord, because it is the Lord whom you serve.
We see the outcome of Joshua’s life. We see what we might call ministry, or his leadership of the Lord’s people. But that came out of all these other things. It came out of that life that was in him: the life of the Holy Spirit, the life of the Jesus whose name he bore.
That life in him, over decades, did its work of building the character of Jesus into him. Out of that life and out of that character came what we see as ministry and fruitfulness. That is the Lord’s way. It is always the Lord’s way.
God did not commission him to lead and then fill him with the Holy Spirit. God spent sixty years or more pouring into this man, and this man spent sixty years or more sitting at the Lord’s feet and being taught, trained, disciplined, and grown up. Then the Lord could send him into the ministry for which He had prepared him.
Joshua was given some of Moses’ majesty, or authority, and commissioned to lead. All those words are important. He was given. He did not take this for himself, and he did not achieve it somehow. He was given some of Moses’ authority.
Paul said, “What do we have that we did not receive?” If we received it, why would we act as though we did not receive it? Why would we act as though we worked this up by ourselves? There is no place for pride in service to the Lord. There is none. Everything we have, we have been given freely.
Joshua never became Moses, and he never received all the majesty, all the authority, that Moses had. He did not need it for what he was called to, but God gave him what he did need. He gave him all that he needed, and then He sent him. He commissioned him to lead.
Joshua basically had one ministry. I could say it a hundred different ways, but when I boil it down, I think he had one ministry that had part A and part B.
Part A was to help the people of God see and know their inheritance. He helped the high priest divide up the land and give the inheritance to each tribe and help each tribe know what their inheritance was. “Here are the boundaries. Here is what is there. Go in, explore it, see how good it is.”
But part B was that he had to help bring them into possession of it. That land was not sitting there vacant and empty, waiting for them. That land was inhabited by giants. That land was inhabited by great walled cities, fortresses of the enemies of God.
Joshua spent his mature years fighting battle after battle and helping bring all the Lord’s people into the possession of that which God had given, but which they had to take possession of.
That is his ministry. It all has to do with the inheritance of God, all having to do with that which pictures the fullness of Christ: all that is in Him, all that He is, all that He has done, and all that He has given.
That is what we are called to. We are called to be a generation of Joshuas. We are called first to see and know our own inheritance, the fullness of Christ, and, by His grace, by His Spirit, by His doing, come into the fullness of who Christ is and what He has done and all that He has given.
But not just that. By spiritual right, Joshua and Caleb, forty-five years earlier than they did possess their possession, could have gone in and possessed their possession. The whole nation had to stay and wait for forty years in the wilderness and five more years of battle because of their unfaithfulness, unbelief, and disobedience.
Joshua and Caleb were completely obedient to the Lord and walked in faith. I do not know if the Lord would have let them go straight in, but spiritually they had the right to. Yet for forty-five years, they wandered—forty years in that same wilderness, and five more years risking their lives day after day, battle after battle—so that all the Lord’s people could come into their inheritance together.
That is what you are called to: to see it for yourself, all that is in Christ, and come into the fullness of it by His doing, by His grace, by His working in you. But not just to be content with that.
Lay down your life for the brothers and sisters around you—those ungrateful brothers and sisters around you, those rebellious brothers and sisters around you, those sinful brothers and sisters around you. Lay down your life as Joshua, as Jesus, did and does, so that all the Lord’s people might come into their possession.
Hebrews says Joshua was just serving a type, not the true reality. Therefore, he could not bring God’s people into a true Sabbath rest. You and I have the reality. We have the fullness of Christ given to us.
All that is in Him, all that He is, all that He has done, has been given freely to you and to me. We have the reality.
It is your calling, brother and sister. It does not matter what your spiritual gift is. Your calling is to be given to the purpose of God, and the purpose of God is Christ—Christ in all that is in Him, Christ in the church, Christ and all of His inheritance that is for His people for all eternity.
We are His inheritance. He is our inheritance. We have a lifetime, short or long, given to us to be coming into that inheritance, that fullness, and bringing God’s people into that same inheritance.
You have turned aside for these few days, just like Moses turned aside to see that burning bush. God is speaking. He is, and He will be.
Do not miss it. We have an enemy who would love nothing better than to dissipate this time, this precious two or three days, and cause it to be nothing more than a few days spent with some old friends and some new ones, with nothing of lasting benefit.
But the Lord has brought you together with great purpose—great heavenly, spiritual, eternal purpose. He is speaking. He is working. He is here.
Let us not miss anything of what He wants to speak or do. When He speaks, as He speaks, as you hear Him speak to you, also hear these words:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:9
He is the One calling. He is the One speaking. He is the One working.
“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
—1 Thessalonians 5:24
Praise His name.
It is really joyful to be here. I mean, a little overwhelming. I think it has been at least ten years since I have been in Memphis, and lots has changed. But it is really, really joyful to be back here.
If we could just start by reading a passage together: Genesis 22:4, beginning in verse 4.
On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.
Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.
Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”—Genesis 22:4-14
Lord, we come here tonight so grateful to be here together with one another. Lord, we are so grateful that You are mindful of us. We are grateful that You have gathered us together in this place.
Lord, we believe You are here with us. We believe You have gathered us for a purpose. Lord, we believe You are calling us on, bringing us on, bringing us to Your end.
We thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your steadfastness. We thank You, Lord, for Your love. We thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness and Your provision. We bless You, Lord, even now as we continue in our time together.
Lord, speak what You want to speak. Lord, we confess our weakness, the weakness of man, but we believe You are here with us. Lord, we came here to meet with You. We pray that all that is in Your heart, all that You would want to say to us, we would hear.
We want to hear from You. We want to be with You. We bless You, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The brothers asked me to share a little about how this gathering came into being. I wanted to share, by way of testimony and timeline, some events that occurred and how the Lord brought us to this place of having this gathering.
As most of you know, we met last year in Richmond, and we had a similar time together. Some who were there were able to come again, and we thank the Lord that we could be together again.
Actually, it was back in July 2015, before the Christian Family Conference. I was at Jeffrey Pittman’s house, and we were having fellowship. We were talking about the Christian Family Conference, the future of that conference, and whether the Lord would have us continue.
Around that time, there had been some remarks from some wondering whether that conference could really continue on with the younger generation—whether the younger generation would be able to bear that responsibility before the Lord, both the spiritual responsibility and the practical aspects.
I remember when I heard that, I said, “I do believe so, if there was an opportunity.” If there was an opportunity, the younger generation would rise up to take up that responsibility and bear that responsibility before the Lord.
As we continued to fellowship, Jeffrey shared the thought of young adults sponsoring, or taking up responsibility for, a gathering or conference for college-age students. Those who know Jeffrey know that he has a burden for the college age and a heart to come alongside.
When he shared that, it was twofold: one, for the sake of the college age; but also for the sake of the young adults, those who are in this age group, from eighteen to forty-five. I know it is a large group.
Something about that registered in my heart, almost as an opportunity to bear this responsibility before the Lord—an opportunity for those our age, within our generation, to stand on our own two feet, seek the Lord, receive from the Lord, and be faithful to Him as His servants.
This is just the normal way of a believer, as our brother was sharing: to hear the Lord and to walk with the Lord.
That was kind of it. We went to the conference that year, and a few months went by. Every time it came back to my mind, I thought, “I am not so sure I should be involved in that time.”
I am hesitant these days to put my hand in something without knowing for sure that it is the will of God. That might seem obvious to you, but there were times in my life when maybe I did not feel that way.
Recognizing my own inability, I know that unless the Lord is in something, it is impossible. I think I am in this Joshua category in the weakness. I am not the Caleb of faith, going in for those giants to be my food. The cowardly Joshua is more my thing. I know that without the Lord, it is impossible to do anything. It is impossible.
Month after month went by, and we got to late September or October. I thought, “Is this guy going to call me? What are we going to do?” I said, “If we are going to do this, we have three months. We do not have any time left.”
But the Lord’s timing is perfect, and He knows exactly what He is doing. When He does something, He does it well.
In late September, Brother Kong shared three messages on the second generation, on Timothy, Titus, and Epaphras. If you have not heard those messages, I strongly encourage you to do so. I think you will be quite blessed.
On a long business trip up to Jacksonville, I had an opportunity to listen to most of those messages. The Lord began to stir something in my heart.
I could not explain it. For weeks—actually, for months—I have been trying to discern how to articulate what He stirred in my heart. I am still not sure I have quite a handle on it.
But when I heard those messages, it was as though a deep thirst within me was quenched. Some cry of my heart was answered, and I did not quite understand why.
In those messages, our brother was laying out Paul and the wisdom Paul had in helping and encouraging younger men—Timothy, Titus, and Epaphras—how to come alongside them, how to see their own spot and function, and, according to their own temperament and ability, how to use them and labor with them in the work of God.
As our brother was saying, we all have our own unique spot, our unique function, our unique temperament. Paul had that wisdom of how to come alongside and really help these brothers.
I think there was something within me that longed for that, that longed for those who would come alongside and help in that way.
But really, what I believe touched my heart more than anything was that it was not just that Brother Kong had some thought, some idea, and shared some message. It was the Lord saying, “I see the need, and I will fulfill it.”
It is the Lord who is our salvation, and it is the Lord who raises up a generation. He will provide for Himself that generation that seeks His face. He will provide that generation that will bring in His return.
But there was another side of it: seeing my own responsibility. My own responsibility as one who is, in a way, the older generation—older than many, older than some here.
My responsibility was to be, as Timothy, a model to the believers; to come alongside both those my own age and younger, even the older ones for that matter, but specifically to be faithful to the Lord, to put my life in the hands of the Lord, that He might be able to do what He wants to do, that we would be useful to the Lord.
There was another element to that, this thought of coming together to encourage one another. I do not know where you are coming from or where you are at. You may be getting lots of help. Some of us may be meeting locally with a Philadelphia, maybe some in a Laodicea. I do not know.
Maybe we are being helped to different measures in different ways. Regardless of that, I felt what the Lord had on His heart was for us to come together to encourage one another.
It was not that we would come together and just receive from some, and that would be it. We had said that even if we had no one speak, no one minister the Word, just this group coming together alone would be a ministry—one ministering to another, as we see in Romans 1:12, encouraged each by the faith that is in the other.
Back at the conference prior to that in 2015, Brother Daniel Chen had created a Google group. On the last day of the conference he came up and said, “Hey, I want to add you to this group.” He called it “Brothers in Pursuit.”
There were just a few of us in that group, so that we could encourage one another throughout the year as we went through things in our lives, individually and corporately. We could continue to pursue together.
It really was a blessing. I have to confess, I never actually sent anything to it. I think perhaps it was because the Lord was delivering me from some fear of man. I was always too conscious of what I was typing, so I would not send it. I would get close, but never hit send.
But I believe there was something stirring in our brother’s heart, and it was the same thing that was stirring in our hearts: that we would come together and encourage one another in these days as we are going through these very difficult times.
The next day, Jeffrey called me and said, “So, hey, how about this gathering?” I said, “If you had called me last week, I would have said I want no part in it, and I do not feel it from the Lord. But I believe the Lord is doing this, that He does have something.”
It was not just for the college age. It was bigger than that. I feel like initially we saw men as trees. We saw something fuzzy of maybe what the Lord wanted, and He began to expand that in the coming months and show us more and more what He was after, more and more what He was doing to provide for Himself.
From that point forward, we knew we did not have much time. It took us another few weeks before we started meeting together in late October. Brother Jeffrey brought Josh in as well, having shared some burden with him.
During those two months, really just November and December, we were able, by the Lord’s grace, to touch His heart and, with the practical support of the saints in Richmond, bring all these things together to have that time.
There really was a sense that He was with us, and He really blessed it. It was a joyful time and a really encouraging time.
I almost looked back this year and said that in that period, it was almost like we did the work of ten men. I do not know how, because we all had families, we all had children, we were all busy, and we all had so much going on. But the Lord provided. The Lord provided. The Lord provides for Himself.
In November, at the Christian Family Conference planning session, the brothers sent out the burden for the Richmond Conference, which was going to be the following July. They sent out what they felt was the theme for that conference, and it had to do with the matter of the second generation.
This was inspired in part by the messages Brother Kong gave, but also by a letter a young sister in Richmond had sent to the brothers about running a race.
In that letter, she laid out the experience of a relay race and how one runner passes the baton to another runner.
The brothers came away with a three-part theme:
The older generation, in order to pass the baton or the torch of the testimony, must itself be bearing the torch of the testimony. They themselves have to be alive to the Lord, full of the Lord, having the testimony of Jesus in a real way.
The second part was the passing of the torch, and the third part was the younger generation rising up to receive the torch of the testimony.
When I got that email, all I could say was, “Of course, this is it.” It seemed like there was a connection even with this gathering, with the third aspect being the burden for this time: the younger generation rising up to receive the torch.
The Lord, seeing our need and seeing our spot, wanted to provide this time for Himself, for His own purpose, to encourage us that we would move forward in the Lord and lay hold of that for which we have been laid hold of—not somehow be robbed of the purpose for which we are here, robbed of God’s purpose and what He wants.
At that time, those who were there really felt the Lord was with us. It was a blessed time and an anointed time. The Lord was faithful to meet us in many ways.
Beyond the fruitful ministry times, there were also opportunities for us to really encourage one another. That came out in a very real way.
As we left that time, we had a sense that this was not a one-year type of thing, that the Lord had this to be more than just that one year. Daniel Weaver had also said on the last day that he sensed perhaps the Lord would have this again another time.
Josh, Jeffrey, and I went back in prayer and committed it to the Lord, seeking Him to see whether He would have this as a continual or ongoing thing.
Several months went by. In April, Timothy from Memphis reached out and called. He shared some things about how he had been burdened that we would have a time like that again, an opportunity to be together.
One thing stuck with me. My one hesitation, the one thing I said to Timothy, was this question: “What is the burden for the time?”
If the heart is just to have a young people’s gathering, that is one thing. We have had young adults gatherings before, young people gathering together, and it is a neat opportunity. But is this the burden for this time? Is it the same thing? Do we have that same heart and that same burden, that same feeling of the Lord’s purpose?
He took that back, and we began to seek the Lord some more over the next few months. In July, after the conference, Jeffrey and I had a chance to fellowship and seek the Lord.
The Lord brought back to us something we had fellowshipped on months prior: the gospel trumpet.
In Ezekiel 33, the Lord had put this in our hearts: our responsibility to announce to the lost, to sound the trumpet, both to believers and unbelievers, concerning the coming kingdom.
In giving us that theme, He encouraged us that we should press forward, that we should go on with another year.
In August, in Toronto, we had an opportunity to connect with Daniel and Abel Kim and have some fellowship. There was a sense, a witness, that we should press on, that the Lord would have this.
One thing He confirmed was the thought of changing the venue. When you are in a specific locale, there are many in that local area who may be able to come but may not be able to travel. We are growing up here, and we all have children. I think there are fifty children here this weekend—almost more than us. They are overtaking us.
For those who have children, you know it is hard to travel with children. We thank the Lord that He had this in His heart, that we would be able to connect.
From that point, I remember sitting down and sending an email with some things in my heart to these brothers—Daniel, Abel, and Timothy. I had been going through a difficult time personally and struggling through some things. As soon as I touched it, I felt the anointing of the Lord. I was pulled up out of the pit. I knew He was with us.
I sent that email, and we had our first time of fellowship. In that first call, we began to share our hearts. I just thanked the Lord because the burden was one. It was not just some other thing. This was the same thing. The Lord is doing something.
Shortly thereafter, the Lord began to speak to us that the gospel trumpet would actually be for next year, Lord willing, if the Lord tarries. Geoffrey will share a little more about that in one of the workshops.
But this year, He gave us this verse, Joshua 1:9:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:9
I want to do something a little strange and just pray a prayer, asking the Lord whether He has something else He wants me to go into regarding this burden.
I wrestled some with the Lord. Every time I get up to share something, my wife can testify, I am crazy. I am not like these normal brothers who get up and share something. I go through—you would not believe it. It is wild.
But in wrestling with the Lord, I felt that the Lord did speak something to me from these verses we read earlier concerning Abraham: Abraham showed up, and the Lord provides.
Lord, we are so grateful. I believe with all my heart that You have brought us here for this time, and that You have brought us here because You are calling us on to be fully Yours.
You are calling us, Lord, to raise up and to enter in. Lord, if You have anything else on Your heart for me to share, perhaps it is for another time, but I pray that You would grant utterance and the ability to speak as I ought. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I really believe, brothers and sisters, that the Lord wants to liberate us and set us free, that we might serve Him, from anything that would hinder us.
I think of Joshua entering the land. It must have been a terrifying thing. I cannot imagine going up to Jericho and surrounding Jericho, this huge walled city. Think about it. It must have been a terrifying thing.
But by the grace of God, Joshua showed up in obedience to the command of the Lord.
The Lord came through and supplied.
I believe very much that the Lord is looking for willing hearts—not because we have it all together, as you can see from this—but willing hearts to put ourselves in His hands, to prove His faithfulness.
The Lord will provide for Himself. Are we willing to do that? I think that is the question.
Are we willing to do that? Is there any fear?
I feel, getting up here again this time—you would think I am thirty-five years old—I believe the Lord is setting me free. I fear getting up and somehow the Lord not showing up.
The Lord always shows up, because it is not about us. He is our salvation.
Who do you think took that wall down in Jericho? Was it Joshua? He showed up, and the Lord took down the wall.
Do we think we can save ourselves? Do we think we can rise up and bear the torch of the testimony? I think we have tried. I have tried.
But the Lord is looking for a willing heart. If we are willing to place ourselves in His hands, He will show up. He will tear down the wall. He will provide the lamb in the thicket. He will provide for Himself.
Why are we here? I do not just mean here this weekend, but why are we here as followers of the Lord Jesus, if it was not for the fact that He made the provision?
He provided for Himself in His Son. There is no lack. There is nothing left to be provided. He has made full provision.
That provision is not just some provision up here. It is a provision that touches earth day by day, moment by moment, in our lives. He has made provision.
I believe the Lord wants us to turn away from all the reasoning and all the thoughts and, in a fresh way with childlike faith, just believe Him again.
Has He commanded you? Is there anything the Lord has spoken to you?
“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:9
He is with you.
Because He is with us, we can be strong and courageous, to be obedient to what He has commanded. We can step out in the obedience of faith.
We do not go out expecting that, as this new year comes through, we will make a New Year’s resolution and somehow do everything we want to do, like our perfect Bible plan. The Lord is wanting us to come into such things, as our brother was saying.
But this year, we go out with a willing heart, with our eyes on the Lord. Surely He can do it. Surely He will provide. Surely He will raise up that generation—a generation that seeks His face.
He will raise up a generation to bring in His return. He will raise up a generation that will bear the testimony of Jesus.
Let us just commit our time to Him.
Lord, we do want to come tonight in all our weakness and all our lack, and we bless You, Lord Jesus. We say, “Lord, surely You will provide. Surely You have provided.”
We thank You, Lord, for being mindful of us. We thank You for seeing us, seeing our spot, and seeing our own inability. We thank You for coming alongside us, and we thank You more for preparing this time for us to be together and encourage one another.
We thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your faithfulness. We thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness.
Lord, we tell You that we want to go with You. We want to be those willing vessels. We want to find our spot and our place. We want to be useful to You.
Lord, we pray that this weekend You would have all that You desire. We pray that You would speak all that You want to speak. We pray that You would touch our hearts in whatever way You need to touch our hearts.
We pray that You would have for Yourself a generation that is absolute and fully Yours.
Lord, we look to You for our time here. We believe You are with us, and we believe that You will provide. In Jesus’ name, amen.
I did not actually know I was going to be saying anything tonight, but if the Lord is ready, I am ready, I guess.
I wanted to give an encouragement to those who are my age, younger than me, or around my age. This time is for those from eighteen to forty-five, and I am twenty, so I may be closer to the bottom rung of the ladder.
Why let that limit us? Why let it be an older young people’s conference? Why let the older side of that age range be the ones bearing the torch of the testimony and doing all the heavy lifting?
Why even let this weekend be limited to what we are used to? Why let it be limited to the way we have been doing things our whole lives?
I remember last year, we all got exactly what we wanted to get out of the weekend. We all got exactly what we were looking for in the weekend.
That is to say, if you go in seeking the Lord a lot, He will reward you with a lot of Himself. But if you go in seeking a little bit, you are going to get just a little bit.
Apply that to every time. Apply that to when we leave here and go to our host families. When you wake up in the morning and spend time with your host families, or during the meal times, you can surely let that time be spent talking about whatever it is you want to talk about.
But do not limit your growth to just time in this room, or time that you have to be growing. That is an encouragement to myself as well.
That is really all I had to share: just that little bit of encouragement that you will find Him if you seek Him, and you will get exactly what you want to get out of this weekend.
For those from out of town, host-family arrangements will be announced so that you know where you are staying.
For everyone staying with host families, you should already know where you are going. If you need a ride back to the neighborhood, just ask somebody; there are lots of people going that way.
If you do not know where you are going, or if you have not met your host yet, please see one of the coordinators so that you can be connected.
There are a number of hosts in this room. If you are hosting somebody, make sure you take your guest home with you.
If anyone needs a ride, just let us know. There is plenty of room in the cars available.
Before we leave, the schedule has us back here in this room at 10:00 a.m., so please be here slightly before that so we can start on time.
Breakfast is at 8:00 a.m. with your host family, not here.