The Simple Life

David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.  And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. 1 Samuel 22:1-2 (ESV)  Those who are needy are positioned well to see the hand of God. Those who are well off usually have much that eclipses God's hand. David was on the run because he did things right. Those who saw him, identified with him, and joined him. Perhaps the church needs to rethink things here. Perhaps we need pastors and leaders who are more like the common man than like the elite class. Instead of paying our pastors like CEOs of companies, why don't we pay them the average salary of those who attend the church? Instead of stacking our board with those who are the social and financia...

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." So David put them off.  Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:38-40 (ESV)  David already had the tried and tested tools of war at his disposal. He had tried and tested God in the fighting off of dangers in the past, and trusted that God would be there to fight off the present dangers. Perhaps many are consumed with the current dangers because they never practiced fighting off the enemy during the times when the enemy was not so formidable. Perhaps we should be looking to be faithful today in the little things, ...

Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.  And Saul's servants said to him, "Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well." 1 Samuel 16:14-16 (ESV)  A tragic period in history begins with these words: "Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul."  There could be nothing worse for an individual or a nation. Moses understood this and told God that he would not go if God's presence was not with him. So often we do not recognize the importance of the presence of God in our lives. We live as if His presence is only necessary when we are in trouble. We often want the benefits of being in a relationship with God, yet not spend time with Him or even know Him. If God's ...

Educational Goofiness Goofy is defined as crazy or silly. Sometimes I think it is the motto for our modern “scientists,” and possibly the entire educational system.  It seems that many hesitate to “take on” the educational community because they are not adequately trained or educated, and therefore remain a silent majority who actually think that the upper educated are prudish, boring, and off base, even goofy, but will not say so or endanger being persecuted by those who will use words they cannot even understand.  The truth of the matter is that there are many who consider themselves highly educated who seem to be rather goofy.  For example, there are those who actually believe that this universe came into existence through millions and millions of years, and that somehow we have evolved to the state in which we now live, even though human logic and the actual evidence seems to defy such thoughts.  They must believe that rhetoric is what equals tr...

Liar, Liar, Life on Fire Matthew 11:16-19  But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.”  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. A generation that decides what is truth rather than discovering it rushes recklessly into the future. In many respects, we do not care for truth unless it benefits us. The negatives of our lives are there we say because we are victims, not because we are sinners. Obesity is a “disease,” narcissism is a “disorder,” and homosexuality is “something we are born with.” We label the constant battle within to do right and wrong “bipolar” instead of ...

Loving Children We often hear political speeches from those who pull at our heartstrings with rhetoric about the children of our nation being our greatest asset. We hear of the need for better education and concern for the epidemic of obesity. Our children seem to be over-medicated, yet not healthy, over-stimulated, yet bored with life, and over-scheduled, yet under achieving. Our children are being destroyed in a culture that is addicted to the indoors, electronics, and passivity. The real problem or tragedy may be that a measurable improvement in their lives can be achieved with some solutions that are easily available to all. Children are sponges for information, and in the information age of which we’re a part, we need to guard what information they absorb. We carefully watch over what our children absorb when it comes to food and air, but often do not show a concern for what they absorb into their minds. It is not just tainted food or polluted air th...

Run, don't Walk. Time is short. Unplanned time always goes towards your weakness. Gordon MacDonald. Urgency is often due to lack of planning rather than the importance of the given matter. We often make the unimportant the important at the expense of the important. We have spent so much time and energy on the unimportant the the important fades in importance. When we are finally face with the inevitable, the important, we have no time or energy to take it on. All people have a finite amount of energy, time and resources. Satan knows this and loves to "emergencies" in our lives that demand our time, resources and energy so that when the "important" arises we have nothing left. We quit planning our time because we are afraid of missing out on something. Often we become so concerned about what might be that we neglect what is. This neglect eventually destroys us. We need to be people who give of our first fruits, our first energy, our first time, our firs...