Finding Hope Through Discovery in Bible Study

November 28, 2009 Larry R Evans Reflective Introduction During the best of times leadership isn’t easy but when worn and beaten down by a people who are critical and grumbling it can be especially difficult to remain confident in God’s leading. Such was the case of Moses. “It was in the time of greatest weakness that Christ was assailed by the fiercest temptations. Thus Satan thought to prevail. By this policy he had gained the victory over men. When strength failed, and the will power weakened, and faith ceased to repose in God, then those who had stood long and valiantly for the right were overcome. Moses was wearied with the forty years’ wandering of Israel, when for the moment his faith let go its hold upon infinite power. He failed just upon the borders of the Promised Land.” ( The Desire of Ages, p. 120) This week we will highlight a few of the lessons which can be learned from the experience of loyal but weary leaders whom God used to change the course of history. ...

November 28, 2009 Larry R Evans [Class notes will be posted on Friday] Reflective Introduction During the best of times leadership isn’t easy but when worn and beaten down by a people who are critical and grumbling it can be especially difficult to remain confident in God’s leading. Such was the case of Moses. “It was in the time of greatest weakness that Christ was assailed by the fiercest temptations. Thus Satan thought to prevail. By this policy he had gained the victory over men. When strength failed, and the will power weakened, and faith ceased to repose in God, then those who had stood long and valiantly for the right were overcome. Moses was wearied with the forty years’ wandering of Israel, when for the moment his faith let go its hold upon infinite power. He failed just upon the borders of the Promised Land.” (The Desire of Ages, p. 120) This week we will highlight a few of the lessons which can be learned from the experience of loyal but weary leaders whom God used to change...

November 21, 2009 Larry R Evans Reflective Introduction Some years ago when I was pastoring, I became concerned soon after I arrived at the church. There was a large number of our church’s members who were no longer attending church. Their names were on the books but had not been in church for years. Many had moved far away. A strong conviction came over me. Though they were scattered, they were still my members and I had a responsibility to reach out to them. I had never met most of them but they were still part of my spiritual charge as pastor of the church. I asked for their names and addresses. Immediately opposition arose! Parents whose children no longer attended church cried out the loudest against my plan. Why? It was simple. They assumed that this was a strategy to “clean” the books which meant we would be dropping their children from membership. No matter how much I tried to explain that I wanted to help their children, nurture them and call them back...

November 21, 2009 Larry R Evans Reflective Introduction Some years ago when I was pastoring, I became concerned with the large number on our church’s membership book who no longer attended church. Many had moved far away. A strong conviction came over me. Though they were scattered, they were still my members and I had a responsibility to reach out to them. I had never met most of them but they were still part of my spiritual charge as pastor of the church. I asked for their names and addresses. Immediately opposition arose! Parents whose children no longer attended church cried out the loudest against my plan. Why? It was simple. They assumed that this was a strategy to “clean” the books which meant we would be dropping their children from membership. No matter how much I tried to explain that I wanted to help their children, nurture them and call them back “home” and not hurt them, no matter what I said, they still objected. I sincerely wanted to save them, not to damn them. Sometime...

November 14, 2009 Larry R Evans Reflective Introduction About twelve or thirteen years ago Carolyn and I were in Phnom Pen, Cambodia with a group of conference presidents. I was assigned to speak in a village church about two hours away. On the way to the church we were stopped at a makeshift checkpoint. Our car was searched by soldiers wearing black armbands and touting machine guns. Our driver who could not speak a lot of English spoke with the soldiers. We felt a bit uneasy during their conversation because they kept looking at us, then the car and then back at us during the conversation. We were cleared once they looked in the trunk of the car to go but later that day the fighting began. We could hear the rat-a-tat-tat sounds of machine gun fire and feel the percussions of cannon fire. The airport where we had been the day before was filled with billowing black smoke. What was behind all of this? A coup was underway to overthrow the government. It was initiated by a rival to the pr...

November 14, 2009 Larry R Evans Reflective Introduction If for a moment we think criticism of leadership, insubordination and rebellion are minor offences then we haven’t considered the fate of Korah and Absalom and those who succumbed to their influence nor of the consequences reaped when leaders are critical of other leaders as with Aaron and Miriam when they undermined Moses. This, of course, doesn’t mean leadership shouldn’t be challenged at times. Leaders often need counsel. We will see as we study Numbers 16 and 17 that there is a big difference between questioning a leader’s decisions and undermining his or her influence. Even when reproved for their undermining behavior, God’s chosen people find it difficult to remember lessons from the past. It has been said, “Mistakes are toothless little things if you recognize and correct them. If you ignore or defend them, they grow fangs and bite.” Such was the case for those who didn’t learn from Korah’s rebellion. Reflective Quiz...