The Original Pathfinders

According to the pathfinder manual, your pathfinder leaders, are to work with our pathfinders to:

"Encourage Pathfinders to discover their God-given potential and use their gifts and skills to meet the expectations of the plan of salvation."

I would say that is a fancy way of saying: helping discover the road, or path to Jesus. Essentially to Path find, to the promised land, to salvation, to an eternal life spent with Jesus.

You can learn knots, you can learn to pitch a tent, basket weave, and earn any number of other patches of honor. But if we haven’t taught you to path find, to identify the path leading to Jesus, to distinguish between the promised land as opposed to simply what this world has to offer. If we haven’t taught you this in pathfinders, I’m afraid we have failed.

A few years ago, when I was pastoring in Spartanburg, our church hosted an area honors day. Clubs in the high country of South Carolina could come and learn up to 5-6 honors in just a few hours time rotating through the different classes.

I was helping with geocaching. Does anyone have that honor yet? If not we need to do that one asap. Super fun. Geocaching involves using GPS to find hidden items all over. There are thousands of geocaches all over Raleigh in fact. Some caches are just a rolled up slip of paper you sign your name to, some have goodies, coins, or tokens, or items in a box to be traded.

We took a numbers groups over to a nearby park where there was a listed cache to be found. Our groups would get out of shuttle bus and canvased the area, it was a fairly difficult cache. Eventually most would find it and celebrate and come back .

One group however nearly all gave up. “It’s to hot” “I’m hungry” whine whine whine. 3/4th of the group started bailing and going back to the bus, but there were a few who remained hunting, rumagging. As leaders we knew where the cache was but we weren’t telling them. They were looking and even digging, then one finally looked up and saw a little box secured onto a tree. They found it!!! And can I tell you the look of envy in the eyes of the kids who had given up when they saw the hard candies there friends were eating that had come from the box getting back on the bus! They wanted to go back and get a candy…but sadly alas, it was to late and time to take them back and swap with the next group.

The cache had been right there within reach the whole time, but all they saw was the hot sun, and had focused on their hungry bellies. Suffice to say 3/4th of that group did not qualify for the geo-caching honor. Not because they couldn’t find it, but because they had chosen to give up and not try.

In your Bibles tucked away in a book often glanced passed over, is the book of Number. In this book, describes what I would call, “The Original Pathfinders.”

The children of Isreal had left captivity in Egypt, had quickly seen the supernatural power of God leading them through the red sea, had been provided the Ten Commandments even while they had quickly turned to idolatry, but they were becoming organized. They had more subordinate leaders under the their leader Moses. By all account their numbers were still very large, large enough it could be understood why Egypt had been threatened by their growth and potential rise against them from their captivity. With God leading them, by the looks of things they were ready to be making some noise and entering the land which was promised to them.

Numbers 13:1–2 ESV

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

Send men out into the land I am giving them.

“The men were chosen as had been directed, and Moses bade them go and see the country, what it was, its situation and natural advantages; and the people that dwelt therein, whether they were strong or weak, few or many; also to observe the nature of the soil and its productiveness and to bring of the fruit of the land.”

White, E. G. (1890). The Story of Patriarchs and Prophets

Any of you enjoy going into the ocean? Some of you love it. And some of you are likely afraid right? What is there to be afraid of in the ocean? Sharks.

My family has vacationed for the last 45 years on 4th of July in what discovery channel’s shark week describes the shark bite capitol of the world in New Smyrna Beach florida. I’ve only seen sharks maybe 2 or 3 times Don’t get me wrong, if I see a shark in the water while I’m swimming, you best believe, I’m interested in getting out of the water as soon as possible, but the enjoyment our family has had at that beach year after year has prevented Sharkweek’s sensationalism to change my perspective.

When the 12 spies, or really the 12 representatives of Isreal returned, there were certainly 2 perspectives shared.

They certainly brought the fruits, the grains, the milk and the honey…the potential prosperity of the land.

But then there was the report of the giants and fortified cities, and the giant robots, making them feel as if they were grasshoppers to be squashed. Wait it may not actually say robots, maybe in the message Bible, I don’t know. But ultimately most of the 12 could only speak of the reasons why they couldn’t occupy the land.

But Caleb, of the OG pathfinders speaks up at the pessimistic contemporaries.

Numbers 13:30 ESV

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Caleb could see the path to the promised land, and whether their were road blocks of giants, and towers, fortified cities, or even robots. It didn’t matter as if they were grasshoppers, or even ants, If God had promised them this land and was with them, there was nothing, there was no one, who could stand in their way! Out of the 12 spies bringing a report back it was only Caleb and Joshua who had seen the path God had brought them. The others had hopped back on the shuttle bus complaining of hunger and the heat.

Once again Moses was hearing the people say “Have you brought us into the desert to die?” Atleast in Egypt we had meals and homes provided us.

If we’re really pathfinders, church family, if we are really Adventists, my friends we have to stop romanticizing our current or previous subjugation to sinfulness while living in this world.

The road to salvation, the road to the promised land is going to have some major obstacles but if you could have the faith of Caleb and that of Joshua, you would see from the vantage point of above and know who is fighting alongside you!

A number of years ago, I was gathered with a number of young pastors gathered between the Carolina Conference and the South Atlantic regional conference. Pastor Austin Humphries from Gethsamane church was also there attending these meetings. This is before we had been ordained and was part of our continuing education and ordination track. Pastor Debliare Snell (current Oakwood University church pastor) was our keynote presenter speaking to us roughly 25-30 young pastors present. This was before he pastored Oakwood.

He talked about his time pastoring in a different state and his belief that God had given him vision for revitalizing his local church. He surveyed a property and building and he had worked with a few others create an action plan for purchasing and restoring this building into something truly unique and fantastic. However when his church leadership came together to discuss the potential of the project, He told us the plan was quickly scrapped, as all they could see was the giants of DEBT, LACK OF MANPOWER, AND BELIEF THEIR CHURCH WOULD BE DESTROYED.

2 years later Pastor Snell accepted a pastorate position in Huntsville, Alabama. Not Oakwood yet, and he realized God had given him the vision, but it was a different congregation who would embrace it and move forward knowing God was leading.

Pastor Snell was just here a few weeks ago at the robotics tournament. I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to connect with him while he was here. He likely wouldn’t know who I was, but those words challenged my 20 something self and stuck with me ever since.

Pathfinders, if God has called you into his path, please don’t let any obstacle, Adventist Christian, stand in the way of you entering the promised land.

The spies report caused chaos in the land, and angered God. Moses in fact had to intercede with God for the sake of his people.

Listen to God’s judgment upon his chosen people.

Numbers 14:20–24 ESV

Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

If you continue on, it also declares Joshua alongside Caleb would enter, Joshua would become the successor to Moses eventually and lead God’s people. Through the rivers, and fortified cities. Joshua led God’s people an entirely new generation of Israelites through each obstacle. When they turned away from God, they stumbled, when they declared God as their Lord, there were no obstacles or people who could stand in their way.

Church family. There are some of us seasoned and battle tested, and battle weary, who are nervous to pursue the next obstacles of our church as we head to the promised land. But as you can see we have a group group of trained Pathfinders ready and willing. They need your guidance, and they need your love, and they need your support. Let’s train them to be good stewards, train them to have wisdom and discernment, but lets also not train them to be fearful building upon your legacy. If you built the church, let them inherit and build further! Train them to become the Caleb’s and Joshuas. Maybe they were wide eyed teenagers or young adults. But they were the ones recorded in scripture as the ones who outlasted an entire generation of Israelites and out of thousands were the only 2 original freed captives of Egypt to see the promised land. The original pathfinders.

Pathfinders my prayer for you in your further journeys in the faith is for you to never lose your enthusiasm for building up the kingdom of God. Have no fear at the giants or robots in your way. Know that if Jesus is on your side there is no obstacle in your way large enough to stop you!

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.