They called him Joshua.  He was a mighty man, a man of warfare. He was a leader, a man who ignited courage in the hearts of those who followed him and whose exploits in battle were legendary.  It was said that he had once called upon the very sun to stand still in order to give him enough hours of daylight to finish off the five kings of the Amorites.  And the sun had obeyed.  The heavens had rained huge hailstones that had killed more enemy soldiers than the swords and arrows of the Israelites.  The name of Joshua struck fear into the hearts of the enemies of God.
 
It had not been Joshua who had led Israel out of Egypt.  That leader was Moses, whom Joshua served and under whom he had studied the arts of war and leadership.  But young Joshua had learned well and when he arrived at the full vigor of mature manhood he was ready to take on the mantle Moses cast down.  Well seasoned in battle, bronzed by the sun and leather tough from long exposure to danger, difficulty and the elements of harsh nature, Joshua was a man through and through.  Other men looked to him for strength and direction when times were tough.  He was that kind of a man, a man called by God to lead other men.  And God had prepared him for that task.  Joshua would finish the job that Moses had started.  He would lead God’s people across Jordan and home to the Promised Land.
 
We called him Joshua.  He was born on a summer day in 1979, the fourth son born to me and my wife.  Josh was a cranky baby but he quickly grew into a round-faced little cherub who hardly knew how to make any expression besides a smile.  Everything was funny to little Joshua Andrew, even himself.  Not overly blessed with coordination, Josh was short on athletic ability but happy to play with his brothers and friends.  And even though he was sometimes laughed at for the awkward way he ran or his consistent misses when “at bat” in a game of kickball, nobody saw more humor in it than did Josh himself.  Josh laughed at everything, including Josh.
Josh grew from a cute little boy to a tall, gangly big boy and without bothering to notify anybody, a bright young man.  Everybody liked Josh.  He was a hard worker, a good sport, friendly and cheerful.  He worked for few months for a man who did lawn care, then started his own lawn care business.  At age 17 he was the owner of a pickup truck, some mowers, trimming machines, all the paraphernalia of lawn care.  He paid cash for everything he bought.  Another year or two, and he would realize his dream of building his own landscaping business.
 
But Josh didn’t get another year or two.  The month after Josh turned 17, I stood beside the girl of my dreams and heard a man tell our son, “I think you’ve got leukemia.”  A few months later Josh was dead.
 
Nobody can tell God his business and we were too overwhelmed to even try.  Of course we asked why.  Of course we grieved.  But through it all, we never experienced fear.  It was far too big for us to do anything about, so we just stumbled along and left the planning to God.
 
Our Josh never grew to mature manhood, but there was more man in him than a stranger might see.  He suffered and he grieved, but he saw himself in a win-win situation.  Either he would get well or he would get to heaven.  Caring friends stopped by hoping to be an encouragement to him, and went away encouraged themselves by his attitude.  He had plenty of low moments.  You can’t help that when you’re only 17 and you have to spend some long nights of pain staring at the ceiling and wondering whether you’re going to live or die.  But his testimony was clear and strong.  And after his battle was won, we heard testimonies of 15 or 16 people who received Christ as savior at least partly through the effect of his dying example.
 
Two things we learned from Josh.  First, that a young person can have a powerful influence on others despite his youth.  Second, that youth is no guarantee that we have a long time yet to develop and use that influence.
 
Which brings me to the third Joshua.  That’s what I call the young person growing up in your home right now.  Your son may not be named Joshua and your daughter certainly isn’t.  But I see them as Joshua, a member of the second generation of free believers.  It was my generation, the Moses generation that fought the legal battles and the social pressures of the 1980’s to give birth to the Christian home education movement.  Some of us suffered, some of us were persecuted.  There was a season when my children hid under their beds whenever there was a knock on the door during school hours.  And many others paid a higher price than we did.  We didn’t know it then, but it was God who was bringing about a mighty deliverance.  Standing on the shoulders of those who fought the battles for Christian schools in the 1960’s, the parents of the 1980’s won for themselves and their children the right to grow up outside the mediocre mainstream.
 
The Joshua at your house may or may not know the hardship and difficulty that others faced so that his parents could choose the mode of his education.  If he doesn’t, you should tell him.  You should drive it into his head and his heart, because the home education movement is the work of God.  Those who fought the early battles were led by God.  It’s his movement and it is just the beginning.
Moses passed from the scene and God told Joshua to arise and lead the people across the Jordan at last.  That land over in Canaan belonged to them, given to them when they were still in the loins of their father Abraham.  Their tribe had long been absent and in their absence the enemies of God had erected strongholds in God’s territory.  One generation led the nation out of slavery, another generation led them in a conquest of reclamation.
 
So it is with your young Joshua.  Our generation led the way out of a godless system of child training.  Their generation is now charged with crossing over and taking back God’s territory.  The enemy has raised up strongholds in American culture.  Pagan thought is deeply established in the family, the church, education, government, the media, the arts, the court system.  God’s calling for your Joshua is to take the battle to the enemy with weapons of warfare that are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.  Joshuas all over America must hear the trumpet’s call and rise up.  The battlefields are everywhere.  No one can fight on all of them, but all must fight on some of them.  God is calling the modern Joshua to mighty works for him.
 
My book, Take Back the Land was written for your Joshua.  Our Take Back the Land conference is for him and his parents and his siblings.  Like the rebuilders of Jerusalem’s wall, we fight by families.  Joshua may need further training, but he is not too young to be in the battle now.  It is our job as parents to make him fit to be a mighty man of valor.
 
My Joshua’s battle is over.  Your Joshua’s battle is just beginning.  May he fight bravely and well, and for the glory of the King.