Not All Altars Are Bad
Recently in the USA was Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a federal holiday for honoring and mourning the military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. When you go to a cemetery, it is beautifully adorned with flowers and bouquets, grass is manicured and everything looks beautiful. All in remembrance of those who died.
This thought took me to Joshua 4. Where the Lord instructs Joshua to choose 12 people to pick up stones from the center of the Jordan River (which God had parted) and stack them together as a memorial of what the Lord has done. These stones of remembrance were to remind the Israelites of what God has done in their lives.
So when future generations will ask: "what are these stones for?" They can say, amongst everything else the Lord has done, that the hand of the Lord is powerful, and to always fear the Lord. They built a structure with these stone, an altar. Not a altar to be worshipped, but an altar to remind them what the Lord has done.
I can tell you now that the stones of remembrance was not just the the miracle of walking through the Jordan on dry ground, but remembering Egypt. Remembering their slavery, the crossing of the Red Sea, remembering the 40 years they wasted traveling in circles in the desert because of their lack of faith.
Do you have an altar of remembrance? For many of us, there have been difficult things that happened in our lives, that God has led us through. Building an altar of remembrance will remind us of what God has done. When future kids say: "Mommy, what is that?", we can recall and testify to the greatness of God.
For some of us, we will need to walk back into the middle of the Jordan, grab some stones, and build our altar!
About the author: Gert has been in the ministry since 1996 where he and his wife Molly have served around the world as missionaries and pastors in the United States, South Africa, and Nepal. Their hearts are for the unreached peoples of the world, specifically in Central Asia, and to disciple believers to walk in purity and freedom.
In 2020 they partnered with Sexuality Unmasked, a ministry focused but on healing, deliverance, and restoration from the negative effects of sexual sin: abortion, abuse, molestation, adultery, immorality, pornography, rape, sexual confusion, and sex trafficking.
Sexuality Unmasked's powerful message exposes the lies in culture that falsely define the sexual roles of men and women and helps establish them in their true God-given identities. This movement has released healing to thousands of people worldwide through conferences, churches, and discipleship schools.
Gert has co-authored the Sexuality Unmasked Workbook, a companion to Sexuality Unmasked.
They have six children, and carry a message of life flowing from home where they home-educate, create + strategize business innovation, and lead a home church. They currently serve with All Nations and are seconded to Sexuality Unmasked based out of Spokane, WA.
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