A story does that: it will reach out and hook somebody and hold them for just a few moments while you unpack this story in their presence.

I think that the Holy Spirit works through the pastors of the church. It helps me avoid the trap of writing to the reading market. It helps me stay a pastor first, because they have no agenda; they are not thinking: "This would this be a good book someday." They're thinking: "How this will help Bob and Suzy who are going through a tough marriage? What series can encourage them?" And so I really bow to their preference.

No acts are random or wasted.

To see sin without grace is despair. To see grace without sin is arrogance. To see them in tandem is conversion.

Giants. We must face them. Yet we need not face them alone.

No person is too hardened.

The Promised Land, for many people, though, is something that's far off in the future. People are saved, but they don't feel victory. They feel like they're in a wilderness and they're wandering. And so this book of Joshua gives us a picture of how we can come out of the wilderness in our own spiritual lives and enter into a season of victory.