The Divergent Paths of Fear and Faith

July 31, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
Numbers 14:3 (NIV)

As a purely base human instinct for survival, fear is essential. Our brains react to situations instinctively to warn us and cause us to be cautious of or to flee potentially fatal dangers. As a disciple of Jesus, I have found that the spiritual journey requires the development of faith that overcomes fear. Fear is the enemy of faith. Where Jesus leads me is away from the fear of death. In fact, where Jesus leads, I walk into death as He did, believing what He asked the sister of Lazarus to believe:

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”

Today’s chapter is one of the most crucial waypoints in the Great Story. Having quickly reached the Promised Land, the Hebrew tribes are at a point of decision. Will they have faith that the God who miraculously delivered them from Pharaoh and 400 years of slavery will also deliver to them the land He’s been promising all along, or will they now refuse to go where He is leading them?

I found an interesting pattern emerge from the story starting in yesterday’s chapter and continuing into today’s fateful moment of decision.

It begins with fear, expressed in the spies report back to Moses:

“But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.”

As the fear grew, it led the spies to exaggerate, lie, and deceive the people as they spread false claims:

“But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

The fear, fueled by deception, leads the people to doubt and a presumption:

“Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. “

They don’t know this negative outcome is going to happen, but their fear has led them to believe it. Fear has led to a kind of shadow faith, the firm belief in their pessimistic presumptions.

As a confirmed pessimist, I know this road to presumption really well. I’ve trodden its path many times on this earthly journey. In fact, I can see it play out constantly in the doomsday predictions that come from both sides of the political aisle as well as conspiratorial groups that are ever with us. As Wendy and I sit over breakfast every morning and read through the news, not a day goes by that there isn’t at least one headline proclaiming some kind of doomsday scenario. I’ve observed that not only is fear a base human instinct, but its also both contagious and creates reactive responses. Among those active responses is clicking on the doomsday articles to find out how we’re all going to die, which makes media outlets money, which is why they love printing doomsday articles.

The spies fear led to deceptive exaggeration that spread their fears like contagion throughout the Hebrew camp, leading to a reactive uprising against Moses and Aaron, along with the threat to murder Joshua and Caleb for even suggesting that they enter the Promised Land. I see that same pattern happen over and over again in our own world.

Fear —> Exaggeration/Deception —> Presumption —> Reaction

In the quiet this morning, I find God’s Spirit reminding me of all the ways that Jesus called me to live by faith, not fear. All of the ways He calls me to respond with faith rather than reacting to fear. All of the ways He tells me that God’s Spirit leads to a place where my flesh instinct to fear death must give way to an understanding that the path to Life leads through death to the Resurrection.

Like the Hebrews camped outside the Promised Land, if I’m afraid to have faith that following Jesus where He is leading me will ultimately lead to Life, then I will find my fear leading me to all sorts of deadly presumptions this side of the eternal Promised Land.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

The Adopted One

July 30, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
Numbers 13:30 (NIV)

Just a month or two ago Wendy and I watched the Paramount Plus series Mobland starring Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. It is a classic epic story of a mob family, this time set in the UK. It is gritty and raw like most mob family epics. One of the main characters in the film is played by Tom Hardy, who is not a biological son, but a fiercely loyal “fixer” who in many ways is more stable and trusted by the father than any of his biological children.

The theme of the adopted son is familiar. In The Godfather it was an Irish orphan named Tom Hagen who becomes the Godfather’s consigliere and fixer. In Yellowstone, it’s an orphan named Rip who becomes the right-hand man that John Dutton can depend on to fix things. Coincidentally, The Godfather, Yellowstone, and Mobland are all produced by Paramount. They know a successful storytelling formula when they see it.

The theme of the adopted one is much older, however. It’s ancient, and it has a deep spiritual context throughout the Great Story. In fact, in today’s chapter it is hiding in plain sight.

Ancient people groups were tribal by nature, and the Hebrews tribes were no different. It carried on through the centuries. The greatest struggle of the Jesus Movement after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was the inclusion of non-Jewish believers, or Gentiles, into the flock of believers. It was so conflictive that it sparked terrible persecution. Jesus stood against His own people’s prejudice and persecution of those who didn’t belong to the tribe, and told His disciples, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

In today’s chapter, the Hebrews are already at the boundary of the land of Canaan, the land God promised to His people. They send 12 spies into the land to check things out. The tribe of Judah sends a man name Caleb. Caleb was a son of “Jephunneh the Kenizzite.” The Kennizite tribe were Edomites who were descendants of Esau, the impetuous and deceived brother of Jacob. Caleb was not a descendant of Jacob. Caleb didn’t belong to the tribe of Judah by blood. Caleb was adopted into the tribe.

When the spies return to report that the Promised Land was a land of plenty but that the people groups living there were large and intimidating, most of the spies said that they shouldn’t go in and take the land. Only Joshua, Moses’ chosen right-hand man, and Caleb the adopted one, who have the faith to suggest they move into the land immediately and trust God’s promise.

That’s the theme of the adopted one like Tom Hagen, Rip, and Tom Hardy’s character, Harry. Technically, they don’t belong to the family. They are hopeless orphans and outcasts who have been graciously adopted into the family. They see things from a different perspective than the rest of the family. They become gratefully loyal to the father. Caleb fits right in there, especially given that he is adopted by the tribe of Judah from which both King David and Jesus will spring.

But the theme of the adopted one flows spiritually to every believer. Paul, who was born into the Hebrew tribe of Benjamin and was at one time fiercely prejudiced against all non-Hebrews and the “blood traitors” of the Jesus Movement who welcomed Gentiles as equals. Paul, having met Jesus on the road to Damascus, learned what Jesus was doing. He saw the sheep of the other pen that Jesus had talked about. He became the most outspoken evangelist to those outside the tribe. And he was always writing about adoption.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Romans 8:14-15 (NIV)

Paul’s extensive education also gave him the understanding that the adoption was not just non-Jewish Gentiles. The reality is that even the Jewish people were descendants of Abraham, with whom God graciously chose to make a covenant. Jew or Gentile, all believers are sinful outcasts and orphans in this fallen world, graciously adopted as children of the Heavenly Father through the grace and mercy of Jesus’ sacrifice.

As I meditate on the theme of the adopted one, it strikes me that this ancient theme resonates so deeply in us that Hollywood continues to tap it in their story-telling. I have observed along my spiritual journey that those believers who fully understand and acknowledge their own depravity, sinfulness, and shame become the most loyal and trusting of God. Those who approach faith with the smug self-righteousness and sense of privilege of the biological children tend to miss the point entirely. In fact, it was those smug, self-righteous, privileged children who murdered God’s own Son.

So, in the quiet this morning I find myself grateful to have been among the adopted ones. I am grateful for God’s grace. I didn’t earn a thing. I didn’t deserve a thing. I was graciously adopted into the family. Not only that, but I was made a co-heir with Jesus. As Paul continues in Romans 8:

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:16-18 (NIV)

The more deeply I absorb this, the more grateful I become, and the more it motivates me to be faith-fully obedient to anything and everything Father God asks of me.

I am the adopted one.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Goal, the Role, and the Lesson

July 29, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;
    he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”
Numbers 12:8 (NIV)

For a handful of years I had a rare privilege to serve as mentor and coach to individuals among my local gathering of Jesus followers who wanted to give preaching a try. Our gathering is unique in that we have a second worship space on Sundays that gathers concurrently with the main worship area. It was designed to be a space to experiment and try new things. One of those “new things” was to recognized that individuals in our midst might have the gift of preaching or teaching and perhaps we should identify, develop, and allow those who are gifted to use their gifts. This runs directly opposite the popular paradigm of the celebrity pastor and the traditional paradigm of the spiritually-elite priest.

During my time, I think there were somewhere between 30 and 40 individuals who at least gave it a shot. Some were already known teachers who wanted to continue to develop their gifts. Many had never given a message before. Individual results were as varied as people’s own stories. On a macro-level, this period moved our local gathering further away from the celebrity pastor paradigm and further into a team teaching concept.

I’m honestly not sure how well I performed in my role. It was something I’d never done before and there was no template. In the end, I think I learned more than those in my charge. I’d like to touch on a couple of those personal lessons that came to mind as I meditated on today’s chapter in which Aaron and his wife Miriam work themselves into a critical lather about Moses. The source of their critical spirits is prejudice, as they were upset he’d married “a Cushite.” We can’t know for certain what “Cushite” refers to, but suggestions range from her being from Sudan to Arabia to the term simply referring to Zipporah, Moses’ non-Hebrew wife from. Midian.

Father God calls Aaron, Miriam, and Moses to His study at the entrance of the traveling tent temple in order to have a talk with His children. He scolds Aaron and Miriam for being so mean to their brother, affirms his love for and support of Moses, then punishes both Aaron and Miriam, sending Miriam into a seven-day time-out outside the camp.

At the heart of this story is the fact that we human beings can be envious, jealous, catty, and downright mean to one another. When it comes to what God is trying to do in and through His people in community, that is not only not-productive, it can be destructive. It erodes the loving-order God is trying to develop and leads towards the chaos that our spiritual enemy initiates, supports, and celebrates.

In my tenure mentoring prospective preachers, I knew that not everyone I worked with would be truly gifted at it. But here’s a few quick hits of things I observed and learned:

Every message bore fruit. There was never a Sunday that I didn’t have at least one person tell me something to the effect of “I needed to hear that this morning.” Through the prophet Isaiah (55:11), God said that when His Word goes out it does not return empty. God used every person I ever worked with, no matter how much they struggled and sputtered through their message. It may have been one or two little fruit blossoms, but the tree was never void of fruit.

Every messenger was God’s vessel. Every individual I worked with was a wonderful human being and child of God. Every one wanted to do a good job. Every one had a unique voice, their own story, and a sincere desire to do a good job. Results varied, but what never changed was how special each person was in God’s eyes. Jesus loved and died for each of them. Each person was God’s vessel indwelled by God’s Spirit.

There was no failure. Some individuals realized that preaching was not their gift, but that doesn’t mean they or their message was a “failure” (see the previous two observations). In the paradigm and metaphor God gave us through Paul, we are all one body, but there are many different parts, different functions, and entirely different systems with different essential functions within that body. We all have an essential role within the system whether I’m a tooth in the mouth speaking God’s Word or a booger in the nose helping the entire body breathe God’s Spirit well.

The goal, I’ve learned, is to discover and embrace the role I was created and gifted to play in service to the whole, and to respect and honor every other part for the roles they were created and gifted to play. If every part of the body is not willing to embrace this truth, then we’re back to order giving way to chaos.

We live in the most divisive times. Fueled by the anonymity of social media and online commentary, people are downright terrible to one another. I observed that people are more quick to anger, quick to speak, and quick to criticize than at any time in my lifetime. Name calling, insults, threats, and demeaning/dehumanizing messages towards others has become not only normal, but those who do this communicate smug self-justification for doing so.

It’s not creating more order, only more chaos.

In the quiet this morning, the story of Aaron and Miriam, and the lessons of my time as a preaching coach, remind me that God calls me to do things differently than what I see in the world, and differently than how my sinful human nature emotionally prompts me to react. I am to honor my fellow human beings as God’s sacred creation and individuals Jesus loves and for whom Jesus died. I am to honor my fellow believers as indispensable parts of God’s body no matter how different they are and how differently they are gifted. I am to lovingly treat them with deference, kindness, and gentleness. And, I am to embrace my unique gifts, calling, and role within God’s body and the part I’m playing in the Great Story God is authoring.

These lessons have taken a lifetime to learn.

I’ve had to sit in time-out many times in order to learn it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Shift

July 28, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat!“
Numbers 11:4 (NIV)

There is a classic family video of when the girls were toddlers. One of their favorite toys were Polly Pockets, tiny plastic dolls that came with their own little pocket-sized doll houses. The girls want to take their Polly Pockets to bed with them, and I wouldn’t let them because they were a choking hazard. Oh, my goodness. Complete and utter emotional breakdown. So much so, that I just had to grab the video camera and video tape the moment. It is etched in my memory and ever reminds me of life’s meltdown moments.

Along my life journey, I’ve come to observe that adults have similar emotional meltdowns as toddlers, we’re just more sophisticated at it. In fact, as I meditate on it I can think of at least two full-blown adult emotional meltdowns I’ve witnessed in the past two week. One was a meltdown into rage and anger, the other into fear, anxiety, and despair.

Today’s chapter marks a major shift in the book of Numbers and establishes a recurring theme through the rest of the book. To this point, the text has continually presented the Hebrew tribes as compliant and obedient to whatever God asked of them through Moses. Today’s chapter starts with the people complaining generally about their hardships, as if it’s overwhelming public sentiment in the camp. Then it’s rabble, or a smaller group of disgruntled people with a specific complaint about God not providing an expansive enough menu. The incessant whining sends Moses, like the parent of obstinate toddlers, into his own full “I can’t do this anymore” meltdown of complaints to the Almighty.

As I think back to being both a parent and a leader in business, community, and church, all I can say is, “Yep. Been there. Done that.”

I have also noticed along my life journey that we love to pick and choose certain verses to demand literal obedience, typically those that have to do with morality like not getting drunk on wine, or ritual like keeping the Sabbath holy. But then there are verses like “greet one another with a holy kiss” that we conveniently ignore.

One of the verses that I don’t think I’ve ever heard addressed in a sermon on Sunday is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians that we just trekked through on this chapter-a-day journey a few weeks ago. Paul writes:

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing…”
Philippians 2:14 (NIV)

In the quiet this morning, it occurs to me that it’s very easy for me to think of examples both current and past in which I’ve had to endure the whining, complaining, grumbling, and arguing of others. If there’s anyone I identify with in the chapter this morning, it’s Moses. That said, I recognize that it’s easy for me to point the finger at others and ignore the three fingers pointing back at me.

Have I grumbled about anything or anyone in recent days?
Yes.
Have I been discontent with current circumstances or lot in life?
Yes.
Have I said things or acted out of either my complaints or discontent in ways that weren’t productive or conducive to building others up?
Yep.

Mea culpa.

As I head into this, another work week, today’s chapter is a good reminder about attitude, gratitude, and contentment. The Hebrews shifted from contentment and obedience to grumbling and complaining, and my observation is that this is a really easy shift for me to mindlessly make in my own heart, head, emotions, words, and behavior. The shift back to contentment and obedience requires discipline, contentment, and trust.

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing…”

Lord, help me not ignore that one, and learn to trust You more.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Trumpet Sound

July 25, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come.”
Numbers 10:8 (NIV)

I was saddened yesterday to hear of the death of Chuck Mangione. The jazz trumpeter made famous by playing his iconic flugelhorn, was among the best trumpet players of the late 20th century. His Live at the Hollywood Bowl album (and yes, I owned the vinyl LP), in which he played his most memorable works with full orchestra, was a regular part of the rotation on the playlist of my bedroom stereo as a teenager. There’s just something about the sound of a trumpet being played well.

In today’s chapter, God commands Moses to have two, special silver trumpets made. He then commands that the priests use these trumpets for multiple purposes:

Calling all of the people to gather.
Calling the leaders of the twelve tribes to gather.
To let the tribes know when it’s time to begin marching.
Before you go into battle against an opposing army.
When you rejoice and make offerings at one of the prescribed festivals.

God is, here in the early chapters of the Great Story, establishing a metaphor that will be thematically used throughout the entirety of Story. In fact, the first mention of a trumpet came two-years before today’s chapter when the freed Hebrew slaves reached Mount Sinai and first camped beneath the mountain. God’s presence descended on the top of the Mountain:

“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.”
Exodus 19:16 (NIV)

While it’s certainly possible God had an angel sound the trumpet (as He does throughout the Great Story), from the Hebrews’ perspective, it was God Himself playing a trumpet blast on top of the mountain announcing His presence and it send chills down their spine.

God even calls one of the prescribed regular national festivals for His people the Festival of Trumpets. God regularly uses the metaphor of trumpet blasts through the prophets most often to signal that God is speaking or has something to say through His messenger. Jesus told His followers that in the end times Father God will “send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” In the Revelation given John of the end times there are seven judgements on the earth marked by a trumpet blast. In fact, the trumpet is used more in Revelation than any other book in the entire Story, and the final trumpet blast prompts the Hallelujah Chorus by heaven’s angelic choir:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

So, as I get to the end of another work week, I find myself meditating on the sound of trumpets. The sound of the trumpet brings to mind the words of the Sage of Ecclesiastes because the trumpet blast typically marked that it was “time”…

Time to gather.
Time to move.
Time to rejoice.
Time for God to speak.
Time for a long appointed event to take place.

In the quiet, my mind travels back to yesterday’s thoughts on learning to go with the flow of what God is doing. Just as I mentioned, much of this spiritual journey has been about waiting, being patient, and awaiting the moment for the right moment. In other words, I have found that this life journey has been learning to spiritually listen for the sound of God’s trumpet.

There’s just something about the sound of a trumpet.

R.I.P Chuck.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Flow

July 24, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.
Numbers 9:18 (NIV)

Over ten years ago I had an idea. It was a great idea. The idea was for a book I would write. Everything flowed right out of my head and heart onto the page one day. It was such a great idea that I was really excited about it.

There it sat on the page for more than a decade. I’ve never forgotten it. I’ve even transferred all of the ideas from my journal to my computer. I thought about it often. About six months ago, things began to shift in life and at work. A couple of months ago a random networking contact introduced me to another random networking contact saying the two of us needed to meet. The person to whom I was introduced is a publisher. We connected on multiple levels in multiple ways, including being disciples of Jesus. Suddenly, everything aligned: circumstances, timing, and people.

I’m writing my book.

Along this earthly journey, as I have sought to follow God’s leading in my life, I’ve had to learn about flow. If I really believe what I say I believe, that God is authoring my Story and that there is a plan and purpose for my life, then I have to trust the Story. In turn, that means that sometimes the Story doesn’t fit the narrative that I would prefer if I were to write my Story myself. In fact, I have plenty of examples of trying to author the story myself the way I thought it should play out. That typically does not end well. Sometimes I have to wait. Sometimes it feels like nothing is happening. Sometimes things happen suddenly, unexpectedly, all at once like a flood.

In today’s chapter, the ancient Hebrews are learning about life with God in their midst. There was a cloud that covered God’s traveling tent temple. At night, the cloud glowed like fire. When the cloud lifted from the tent temple, they broke camp and followed. If it remained, they stayed put. Sometimes it stayed for a long time. Sometimes it lifted every day. Their job, was to go with the flow of when God was moving and where God was leading.

In the quiet this morning, I am reminded that God is God and He still operates the same way today as He did with the Hebrews. I don’t have a physical cloud, but I have God’s Spirit within me. I have prayer and discernment. If I am quiet. If I remain spiritually aware. If each day I am asking, seeking, and knocking at God’s door seeking God’s direction, then I will perceive and experience God’s flow.

I’ve discovered across my entire life journey that being a disciple of Jesus means learning to perceive, discern, and follow God’s flow.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Spiritual Toddlers in an Adult World

July 23, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

In this way you are to set the Levites apart from the other Israelites, and the Levites will be mine.
Numbers 8:14 (NIV)

In the tradition I was raised, the Reverend of our church was treated as a special class of spiritual person. He dressed different. He wore robes on Sunday. He was the only one allowed to serve Communion. His pulpit was the highest point in the Sanctuary so that he was elevated above us. Everything in the pomp and pageantry of the “high church” tradition wordlessly affirmed that he was spiritually upper-class compared to us every day working class sinners in the pews.

The entire paradigm of the “Priestly class system” is rooted in the Great Story. It’s what today’s chapter is all about. God establishes that if the holy Creator of the universe is going to be present in their midst in His traveling tent temple then they are going to have to understand that God ’s holiness is so overwhelmingly pure and powerful that it’s fatal to a normal, sinful human being. Therefore, everything God has arranged in this system of sacrifices, offerings, cleansing, and purification is established to both protect God’s people and to teach them. Aaron’s sons were the priests, and the only ones allowed inside God’s tent Temple. Even then, inside the tent was a thick curtain. Behind that curtain was the “Most Holy Place.” That’s where the Ark of God’s presence was. Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place behind the curtain, and even then it was a special ceremony held once a year for a special systemic purpose. The tribe of Levites were helpers to the priests and caretakers of the tent temple, but they couldn’t offer sacrifices or enter the tent. They were like a hedge of protection between the fatally pure power of God’s holy presence and the people.

The priests and the Levites were a spiritually special class in that system.

I have been constantly repeating that these events and God’s newly established relationship with humanity through the Hebrew people is the toddler stages of human development. In natural circumstances, humans don’t remain toddlers forever. We grow. We mature. Our relationship with our parents also matures and changes.

Fast forward thousands of years. God sends Jesus, His one and only Son, to become the once-and-for-all sacrifice. At the moment of Jesus’ sacrificial death, the curtain in the Temple was split from top-to-bottom. The same curtain that divided God’s presence from the people.

As Bob Dylan put it, “The times they are a changin’.”

Before, God’s presence was behind the curtain and there were priests to go into God’s presence on humanity’s behalf. Now, God tore down the curtain, poured out His Spirit to be present in the heart of every believer. Priests no longer necessary. Every believer, one with God and God’s Spirit dwelling within them, is now made holy.

“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10 (NIV)

Peter goes on to explain that together, all believers make up a “royal priesthood.” Writing to all believers scattered abroad by early persecution, he writes:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

Every believer is a Most Holy Place, God’s Spirit dwelling within. The Kingdom of God going out wherever I go. I take it with me. My job, no matter how menial, is now a ministry as “whatever I do, I do all to the glory of God.”

At least, that’s what it says in the Great Story after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and after Pentecost. But, I’ve observed that we human beings don’t much like change. Plus, there’s still an enemy, the Prince of this World, who is motivated to keep believers from realizing the power of God’s presence in their lives and their Kingdom responsibilities. Thus, I’ve observed that we like the old toddler traditions like the tradition in which I was raised. Even both Peter and Paul recognized that believers were slow to grow into this understanding. Both of them used the metaphor of believers being like toddlers sucking on their bottles when they should be adults eating solid food at the table.

Please don’t read what I’m not writing. I appreciate and embrace all of the spiritual metaphors that exist in high church traditions. I don’t think they’re wrong. But metaphors are layered with meaning. The metaphors of the high church tradition in which I was raised communicated spiritual lessons that were part of the old spiritual paradigm of the Levites, not the new spiritual paradigm of the priesthood of all believers. I had to spiritually mature to discern the difference.

Granted, it’s simple and easy to believer there’s a special person, a special class of spiritual persons, who provide a protective hedge between God and us every day working sinners. They take care of being holy for us. They handle the holy God stuff while I just sit in the pew with no expectations other than showing up and asking forgiveness for my sinful self. It may not be intended that way, but in practice I’ve consistently observed that it’s the way things play out in the mind of most church members. And, perhaps that’s the crux of the issue. If I’m simply a church member and I’m not a believer, then there is still, spiritually, a big thick curtain between me and God.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Text is a Tool

July 22, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted, made offerings.
Numbers 7:2 (NIV)

This summer, I’ve been overseeing a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at our local community theatre. As far as I know, it’s the first production of Shakespeare in our community in over a decade. One of the things that has excited me as I’ve watched dress rehearsals over the last few days is how well the cast is doing. Made of mostly young people, not one of the cast members had ever done Shakespeare on stage before. It’s a shame that so many people are intimidated and dismissive of Shakespeare. They a missing out on some amazing things.

Throughout my life journey, I’ve had to memorize lines for a lot of different parts in different productions. You might be surprised when I tell you that Shakespeare is among the easiest to memorize. There is a cadence to the iambic pentameter in which it is written. There are often rhymes included as well. One the joys of watching the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in rehearsal is that these young people not only memorized the lines, they’ve come to understand them. That’s what happens when you memorize the lines and repeat them over, and over, and over again. It begins to sink in. All sorts of fun realization and understanding is unlocked, revealing hidden mental gems like finding Easter eggs in a video game. It’s obvious to me as I watch that they have fallen in love with the characters and story they are telling. I guarantee it has transformed the way they think about Shakespeare as they experience the power and meaning of his words, his characters, and his story.

Today’s chapter is, for most modern readers, a head-scratcher of aggravating proportions. It is the longest chapter in the ancient Hebrew scriptures known as the Law of Moses (the first five books, also known as The Torah or The Penteteuch). Not only is it long but it is repetitive. Leaders of all twelve Hebrew tribes bring an offering for the dedication of God’s traveling tent temple. They each bring the same offering. The same offering of the same things are recounted twelve times.

It’s chapters like today’s where many a New Year’s resolution to read the entire Bible hit the wall.

So, what’s up with this?

Two observations.

First, at the end of the last chapter, God gives Moses and Aaron a famous blessing with which to bless the Hebrew people:

The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.

It’s known as the Aaronic blessing or benediction, and thousands of years later you’ll hear it used in countless synagogues and churches every week.

So, I have to step back and look at the larger picture of how the text is structured. Not just the text itself. God has delivered the Hebrews from slavery. He has agreed to live among them. He has given them thorough instructions for how to successfully experience life, health, and community with one another and with God. And, God has now given a perpetual blessing of protection, provision, favor, grace, and peace.

This blessing is immediately followed by the Hebrews offering gifts to God. The offerings are a response to God’s gracious and generous gifts and blessing. This chapter of offerings are a giant, national thank you card.

Which leaves me to meditate on the question, “What have I offered God for His gracious and generous gifts and blessings to me?” I suddenly think of my affluent culture in which we are so blessed with stuff we don’t need that we buy storage bins to put it on storage shelves in storage rooms. Even then we often need to rent extra storage spaces. God has been amazingly generous with me. How generous have I been with God?

The second observation has to do with the simplicity of the lesson in the repetition. This text was written in a time when only a select few people could read or write. Once again, it is the toddler stage of the development of human civilization. How is my toddler granddaughter, Sylvie, learning simple lessons? By having the same books read to her with the same text, the same rhymes over and over and over again…

Big A, little a, what begins with “a?”
Apples, ants, and animals. A, a, a.

God and the scribes of Numbers are making a point about who God is (gracious, ordered, detailed) and about the importance of how we are to respond to God (being generous with what we’ve been blessed, gratefully offering God back a portion of what we’ve been given, not just personally but corporately as God’s people). As the ancient Hebrews heard it read over, and over, and over the lesson was hopefully going to sink in. The repetition is both an object lesson and a training technique.

Which, in the quiet this morning, leads me back to Shakespeare, memorization, and understanding. One of the first disciplines I was taught as a disciple of Jesus was to memorize certain verses like a young actor learning his lines for playing the part of Puck. I’ve watched the cast unlock the understanding, meaning, and joy of Shakespeare’s words. But it had to get off the page and inside their minds and hearts to unlock its power. It is no different than what I have experienced with all of the verses and passages of God’s Words that I’ve memorized across my life journey.

The words are no longer on the page. They are in my head. They’ve penetrated my heart and soul. As I repeat the words over and over and over through the days, weeks, months, and years, they have become a part of me. In that process, something happens spiritually inside me. They start to change the way I think, the way I behave, and the way I respond to others. Because they are always there and always a part of me, they empower God’s Spirit work within me in unspeakable ways.

It’s a shame so many people are intimidated by, and dismissive of, the words of God’s Great Story. They are missing out on some amazing things. Even more amazing than Shakespeare.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

For my local peeps, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is being performed July 24-27, 2025 at the Pella Community Center. You can get tickets online here and all the show information here.

Chapter-a-Day

Dedicated

July 21, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite…’”
Numbers 6:2 (NIV)

This past week Wendy and I were blessed to spend time with our friend, Eric, who just returned from completing 29029, a three-day endurance event in which participants hike a marathon each day for three days at high altitude. Our friend has been steadfastly training for this event for months. It was fun to listen to him share about his experience and the lessons he learned along the way. The lessons were layered: physical, mental, and spiritual.

What has been clear over the past several months is that completing this event required our friend to be dedicated. It was an all-day, every day endeavor from a mental and physical perspective. Like most people, I struggle just to get the amount of exercise to be healthy. My friend is in a special class of individuals dedicating themselves to reach a completely different level of physical performance.

Today’s chapter is unique and fascinating. God is preparing the recently delivered Hebrew slaves for an entirely new way of living life in relationship to God, one another, and the people groups around them. In the book of Leviticus God laid down the regulations for every Hebrew as it related to conducting themselves daily in the camp and in community together with God in their midst. In today’s chapter, God gives every man and woman a choice to reach a completely different level of spiritual dedication.

It was called a “Nazirite” vow and the person who took this vow was referred to as a “Nazirite.” The term comes from the Hebrew word nāzar which means dedicated, separate, and abstain. The Hebrew word nāzîr from which the term “Nazirite” springs is translated as a special class of people dedicated to God. It could also mean “prince” and was used to refer to grapevines that went untended and dedicated to God during God’s prescribed “sabbatical” year of rest. In other words, choosing to take a Nazirite vow as the spiritual equivalent of our friend’s choice to hike three marathons in three days.

The Nazirite could choose the length of his or her vow and period of their consecration. The Nazirite vow wasn’t complicated:

Abstain from all alcohol, don’t even a grape or raisin.
Don’t cut a hair on your head during the period of your vow.
Don’t be in the presence of a dead body, even if your parent dies.
Upon completion of the vow, go before the Lord at the entrance of the traveling tent temple, shave your head and burn it as an offering as part of a prescribed ceremony.

If someone accidentally had a coronary and dropped dead in a Nazirite’s presence, it was a complete do-over. They had to complete a seven-day purification and then start back at day-1 of their consecration period.

One of the details in today’s chapter was that the reason for a Nazirite not cutting their hair was “because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head.” In other words, this is a public dedication, which both ups the accountability of the Nazirite to keep their vow and challenges everyone else with the daily public reminder. If the every day Hebrew struggled just to keep up with God’s daily spiritual prescriptions for life, the Nazirite was there to remind them that there is an entirely different level of spiritual dedication to which they can ascend.

As I meditated on these things, I was reminded that periods of spiritual consecration and dedication have always been part of the spiritual tradition for Jesus’ followers. When Jesus was asked why He and his disciples feasted and drank with sinners, Jesus replied that everyone celebrates and feasts with the Bridegroom. He then noted that a time would come when “The Bridegroom” would depart. Then His disciples would fast. And, followers of Jesus have always traditionally done so in various ways at various times.

Fasting during the season of Lent leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday is probably the most common, but from the early days of the Jesus Movement there emerged a group of dedicated mystics known as the desert fathers. Their dedication to an ascetic life was the precursor to the monastic movement that is still with us thousands of years later.

To be honest, this morning’s chapter feels a bit like a divine appointment. In recent days and weeks I have had thoughts about a special, personal season of dedication. Spiritually picturing the ancient Nazirites and their long hair in the quiet this morning served God’s original purpose, reminding me there’s an entirely higher level of spiritual dedication. So, I find myself in contemplation and conversation with God about it.

Along this life journey I’ve learned that there are times to dedicate myself to taking things to another level.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Maturing Takes Time

July 18, 2025 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord is guilty and must confess the sin they have committed.’”
Numbers 6:6-7 (NIV)

About a month ago, our grandson Milo attended worship with us among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. Milo is seven and is an explosive bundle of unbridled, kinetic, little-boy energy. Underneath the exterior of all that normal physical energy lies one of the softest, most genuinely open hearts I’ve ever experienced in a boy his age. He asks big questions. He thinks big thoughts. He feels big feels. And, he has a passionate curiosity about God.

What was fascinating to watch that morning was the mixture of both. He was, at once, a squirrelly little boy who at times needed discipline and a sweet little boy who was genuinely trying to understand and interact with the divine. He was so eager to go up for the bread and cup that Yaya had to hold him back multiple times while it was still being prepared.

He is a boy. He is maturing. It takes time.

Today’s chapter is one of those chapters with which casual modern readers struggle. It has to do with purity and fidelity, but it is easy for the surface of the text to produce intense negative reactions. At the heart of it, God is repeating what He has already established in the priestly instruction manual, Leviticus. If God, who has delivered them from slavery, is going to live in the midst of the Hebrews, if He is going to travel with them through the wilderness and lead them to the Promised Land, then there are going to be some ground rules. He is a holy God and they have to learn to be clean from the outside in. That means dealing with their bodies, their relationships, their emotions, and their consciences.

Specifically, what God deals with in today’s chapter is:

Skin diseases (physical issues on the outside)
Interpersonal conflicts (issues within the community)
Marital infidelity (issues within the marriage covenant)
Jealousy (intense negative emotions that may cause unjust harm)
Guilt and honesty (being spiritually honest with God and self)

The example given for the last three is man who feels jealous and believes his wife has been unfaithful. He has no proof and she is adamant about her fidelity. He is to bring her to the priest. The priest is to bring her before the Lord. A test is rendered to determine if she is being honest, in which case she is cleared – or if she is lying, in which case she is potentially cursed.

By modern standards it seems harsh and politically incorrect. For human civilization in the ancient near east, this was a radical, revolutionary, giant leap of social development. In that day, and that culture, a man would typically just follow his jealousy into violence against both his wife and the man he suspected she slept with. There would be no accountability and no civil recourse. There was no law. In most small people groups there was no developed or official justice system. It was a king-of-the-mountain free-for-all in which the powerful beat, clawed, and killed their way to the top. Those who were weak simply tried to survive the powerful doing whatever they wanted however they wanted because no one would stop them.

Now Yahweh, the miraculous God who freed these weak, just surviving Hebrews from slavery to the king-of-the-mountain Egyptian empire, is telling them “You must do things differently.” He is a holy God. He demands people to be clean outside-in.

But they’re not.

They have physical ailments they can’t control.
They have conflicts and misunderstandings.
They have intense negative emotions that lead to conflicts.
They are at times not honest with themselves or others.

In each case, God provides a process for addressing each of these.

This is a human civilization in the toddler stage of development. They throw tantrums. They can’t control their emotions, and they are constantly acting out of their sheer emotion. They aren’t educated, can’t write, can’t read, and have been slaves for generations.

Father God is doing what good parents do with toddlers. He is teaching them one step at a time.

“Let’s wash your hands.”
“Give her back her ball. It’s hers, not yours.”
“Now, say you’re sorry and give her a hug.”
“Did he really hit you? I didn’t see anything.”
“Are you lying to me?”

In other words, like Milo trying to understand why he can’t just run up in his excitement and grab the bread and cup, this fledgling group of humans is slowly maturing.

It takes time.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on the reality that human civilization has matured over thousands of years. We are more educated and more developed than any generation in the history of human civilization. Yet, with all we’ve learned…

We have physical ailments and tragedies we can’t control.
We have conflicts and misunderstandings.
We have intense negative emotions that lead to those conflicts.
We are at times not honest with ourselves or others.

Lord, have mercy.

Obviously, there’s something broken we can’t fix ourselves.

And, Father God is still holy. He still demands we be clean outside in.

So, He sacrificially made a way for that to happen. It’s a gift.

I just have to receive it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Wayfarer

Monthly Archives: July 2025

The Divergent Paths of Fear and Faith

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The Adopted One

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The Shift

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Trumpet Sound

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The Flow

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Spiritual Toddlers in an Adult World

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The Text is a Tool

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Dedicated

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Maturing Takes Time

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Just another wayfarer on life's journey, headed for Home. I'm carrying The Message, and I'm definitely waiting for Guffman.

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Just another wayfarer on life's journey, headed for Home. I'm carrying The Message, and I'm definitely waiting for Guffman.