Month: November 2022

NCFI Cares Joshua’s Leadership Tip #2 Change Your Perspective

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When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, What does my lord say to his servant? And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so.

Joshua 5:13-15 ESV

Joshua experienced amazing miracles in his life prior to becoming the leader of the Israelites. He witnessed the plagues in Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the miracles of manna, and the stopping of the Jordan river. As he prepares to take on the city of Jericho, he comes face-to-face with the Captain of the Lord’s Army, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ (1). Every time I read the passage; I stop in awe at the encounter. I wonder what it would have been like to have the visible Jesus Christ suddenly appear. I imagine walking around my campus strategizing who will teach a course, how can I recruit faculty, and what will happen if I have to cancel classes or delay graduation. I can imagine being deep in thought when suddenly I look up and see a strange man standing before me. I most likely would not think he is an enemy. Instead, I could see myself asking him if he could help me with my problems, especially if he was dressed as a nurse. I am that desperate! 

Instead of answering my question, the man responds, “I am the Commander of the Army of the Lord. Now I have come.”  Like Joshua, I would fall face down in shock. I have to admit, I would be too dumbstruck to respond in reverence to the Son of God. Maybe after a few minutes, I might be able to pull myself together enough to at least listen to what he had to say. I doubt it though.

Beyond my personal reflection behind, I find profound meaning behind the encounter between the Commander of the Lord’s Army and Joshua. There were two principles communicated to Joshua:

The first one is for Joshua to realize God’s claim over him and His purposes.

“We tend to approach our battles and causes backward; we turn things around and try to marshal God to support us rather than to submit and follow Him…Joshua, as with all of us in the army of the King, must be following the Lord, submitting to His authority, taking our orders from Him, and resting the battle in His hands because we realize it is really His battle as the Supreme Commander.” (1)

In other words, instead of seeking God to provide wisdom for my problems in nursing; I need to submit and follow God. Instead of being stressed and racking my brain for solutions, I need to follow Joshua’s example and state, “What has my Lord to say to his servant?” After Joshua replied, the Lord provided directions for taking Jericho, which, if you read on through Chapter 6, was not a military maneuver.

The second principle is the commander brings God’s powerful provision and personal presence.

“The promise of God’s personal presence always carries with it the assurance of God’s personal care. Likewise, the promise of His powerful provision always carries with it the promise of His infinite supply and power no matter how impossible the problem may appear to us.” (1)

When I recently asked the question, “What has my Lord to say to his servant?” The Lord replied, “It’s all mine and I will tell you what to do.” His answer changed my perspective. Yes, I still am looking for instructors to teach.  Yet now, I wake up and ask the question and do what I can to solve the many problems. I don’t get stressed and am not afraid of worst-case scenarios. It is up to God, and he will decide what the future brings. He will tell me what I need to know when I need to know it. I wait for His directions, and when they come, I act. I take them one step at a time, expecting God’s personal presence and waiting on God’s powerful provisions to address the challenges I face.

(1) Keathley, J. Hampton, Studies in the Life of Joshua. 4.Consecrating the People (Joshua 5:1-15)

Moral Courage for Pro-life

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Have you ever felt like the Lord had you on faith journey that you were completely unaware of it until all the pieces came together. This recently happened to me in regards to abortion.

Approximately 45 days ago (#of days is important, so hang on), I was perusing our local catholic website. Even though, I am not catholic, my husband and I have attended events. As I was scrolling on the website, an advertisement for 40 Days for Life. I clicked on the link and learned about the organization.

40 Days for Life is a community-based campaign that draws attention to the evil of abortion through the use of prayer and fasting, peaceful vigil, and community outreach. They take a determined, peaceful approach to showing local communities the consequences of abortion. It puts into action a desire to cooperate with God in the carrying out His plan for the end of abortion in America. The 40-day campaign tracks Biblical history, where God used 40-day periods to transform individuals, communities…and the entire world.

To say the Lord “smacked me” sounds violent and crazy. It was violent to my spirit! God called me out.

I felt like God drew a line in the sand and said, “Carrie, I am opposed to killing babies! Where are you?” Theologically we can’t lose our salvation. Yet, I knew God was giving me an ultimatum in regards to my relationship with Him. It took me two-seconds to fall to my knees weeping and saying, “Of course, Lord. I love you and will always love you!”

I immediately ordered a sweatshirt, 40 days Devotion book and the book What to Say When: The Complete New Guide to Discussing Abortion. I knew I needed to get informed and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I started the 40 Days for Life fast guided by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Lord’s timing was perfect with when I became informed.

I also watch the movie Unplanned about Abbey Johnson, a Christian mom, who worked as a clinical manager for Planned Parenthood. You can stream it for FREE on Tubi, AmazonPrime, Vudu, and other services.

A few comments…

  1. If you are old enough to remember the Pro-life movement being violent, hateful and grotesque, then I invite you to peruse 40 Days for Life. They are a peaceful, science-based, multi-faith organization that reaches out to everyone affected by abortion (women, unborn babies, abortion workers, ex-planned parenthood employees, and doctors).
  2. Sometimes we find ourselves on the fence with issues. I will admit I was never, per se Pro-Choice, but I had justified abortions in cases of rape, incest, and did not want abortions to return to “back-alley” procedures. The Lord set me straight on His truth and where I needed to be. As a Christian who holds firmly on the truth of the Bible, I needed to be disciplined and reproofed in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).
  3. Pray and search out the scientific proof and Biblical proof. They align together. Life begins at conception and God’s is the creator of all life. He intimately knows each human, even in the womb (Psalm 139).

God had been leading me to this point through many small steps. Now I just pray for the moral courage to live out His truth in love and grace.

The Call for Ethnic Reconciliation

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One Blood by John M. Perkins

I became a Christian as an adult at the age of 28. Since the church I attended was a diverse with people from all ethnicity and cultures, I assumed Christianity did not have racism or racial divisions. Since that time, some 30 years ago, I have learned the truth. How Christian white slave owners justified slavery and racism using the Bible. How during the Civil Rights movement in Christian denominations split to provide segregated churches. I was aghast at this evilness done in the name of Jesus.

I began to pray for the church to be the leader of love and grace to all peoples:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28 (NASB)

With my heart and soul on the future found in Revelation 7:9

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

At the same time continue to reach out in love and grace to all my brothers and sisters in Christ while trying to understand their perspective and experiences. (Side note…why I love NCFI!) Because I am an unapologetic book worm, I continued to read books on the subject from many great Christian writers.

I recently became aware of John M. Perkins book One Blood. This was the answer to my prayers. My women’s group read and discussed the book. It was a great experience to listen to my sisters talk about their experiences and views.

In the meantime, leaders from many churches in the Bay Area had been discussing how to respond to the deaths and hatred acts towards Blacks, Asians, and other racially motivated events. My pastor was part of this group and began inviting various parishioners to participate in One Blood Bible Study and Discussion. I immediately joined the study.

The problem is that there is a gaping hole in the gospel. We have preached a gospel that leaves us believing that we can be reconciled to God but not reconciled to our Christian brothers and sisters who don’t look like us–brothers and sisters with whom we are, in fact, one blood. (p. 17)

I am committed to praying and doing my part to live out the gospel of reconciliation to all people!

NCFI Cares: Joshua’s Leadership Tip #1 Stand in Confidence

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After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; so now arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot steps, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.

Joshua 1:1-3 (NASB)

God promised Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites through his covenant with Abraham that they would possess the land (Genesis 15:7; Exodus 3:17). As the successor to Moses, Joshua stood firm on God’s promise to Moses, “Every place you put your feet, I will give you.” The promise was beyond the teachings of Moses and was made real as they entered the land to possess it. Every Israelite could look down where they stood and say, “This is my promised land.”

We face seemingly unsurmountable challenges in nursing. Yet, as Christian nurse leaders we can have the same confidence as Joshua. The Lord promised us spiritual blessings.  Keathley’s teaching on Joshua states:

“…from the moment of salvation, God has provided every believer with every spiritual blessing and provision. Of course, as this book (Joshua) makes perfectly clear, having a title deed to the land (or our blessings in Christ) does not mean our lives will be without testing, conflict, struggles, and pressures. It indeed will, but since the battle is the Lord’s, since God has done the most for us in Christ, with the testings and temptations comes God’s deliverance through faith and the application of the Word.” (1)

As we nurses go forward in confidence, we will need to be creative and steadfast in solving the nursing crisis. One way you can stand in confidence is to regularly prayer-walk through your workplace. For example, if you work in a hospital, walk down each hallway, patient room, office, eating area, conference room, and other areas to pray.

Here is a simple prayer:
“O, holy, sovereign God. This is Your hospital, and You are working here. You have blessed me by being called a nurse. I am an instrument of Yours equipped to bring your love, grace, and truth to my colleagues, my patients, and families. I give You thanks God, who in Christ always leads me in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of You everywhere. Amen.”

Hebrews 13:21; 2 Corinthians 2:14

The Israelites faced many challenges. Through Joshua’s innovative leadership skills guided by God, he led the Israelites to conquer the land and begin their new life. God says the same thing to us as he said to Joshua, “o one will be able to oppose you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not desert you nor abandon you.” (Joshua 1:5 NASB)

Whether you are a nurse leader in a hospital, clinic, home care, or in academics, like me, we need timeless guidance from great leaders like Joshua. A devout follower of God who served God in his work and in his home.