One of my friends tells the story of how his father often promised him things and somehow failed to come through, but the most traumatizing event was the day that he sat at home all day waiting for his dad to show up to take him to the circus. When nightfall came,...
A Hindu philosopher once said, “Unless you specifically declare that you are not a Hindu, you are a Hindu,” – and I’ve come to believe that all humans really are intrinsically Hindus and that we all instinctively believe in karma. Just think about when anything out...
As Christians, we often have the simplistic opinion that we live by the New Testament and the Jews live by the Old Testament. However, if you were to investigate the Jewish faith, you would discover that their beliefs and practices are not actually formulated from the...
In the only line I remember from the Christmas special of a long-forgotten sitcom, a Jewish lady who was trying to adjust to the Christian-dominated society made a statement about something which had to do with one of our holiday customs. Because Hanukah -- the Jewish...
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. (Psalm 39:5) In this psalm, David reminded himself of the brevity of man’s life and summed up his thoughts with...
Although King David left an indelible impact on all of human destiny, we can see that he essentially “missed the boat” in one specific area of influence where he should have focused his attention. In this one arena of life -- his parenting skills, well actually, his...
At the height of his career as Israel’s second king, David desired to build a monument to the God who had so spectacularly blessed him. When David presented his plan to build a temple in Jerusalem to his spiritual advisor Nathan, the Lord’s response came that David...
Did you ever realize that no one was watching when David slew the lion and the bear, but the whole world watched when he killed Goliath? While the rest of the army of Israel trembled for forty days without even trying to fight, David “stepped up to the plate” and did...
Until David took the city of Jerusalem, it had never been captured. When Joshua came into the Promised Land, he defeated the king of Jerusalem, but the city itself was never taken. (Joshua 10:23-24, 15:63) The Jebusites boasted that Jerusalem was so secure that its...
As we’ve already learned, David’s influence changed the lives and destinies of not only his own immediate acquaintances but also left an enduring effect on generations to come. Let’s take a closer look at the circles of influence he demonstrated. The first area of...
It was this uniquely God-oriented heart that first got David “on the map” when he took the field against the Philistine giant Goliath. For King Saul to be willing to put his whole nation at jeopardy in the hands of a little boy who had shown up from nowhere was an...
Let’s fast forward several generations to get a remarkable picture of how this heart quality in David continued to affect the course of history long after he had passed on to his eternal reward. His eyes glaring and nostrils bulging, the messenger screamed out his...
The Seventh Man at the Well 2019 By Dr. Delron Shirley This teaching manual is intended for personal study; however, the author encourages all students to also become teachers and to share the truths from this text with others. However, copying the text itself...
More tragic than the personal disappointment of not being able to build the temple is the fact that David’s misdeeds injured and even took the lives of those who followed him. There are at least four such episodes in David’s life in which his rebellious, senseless, or...
The one failure that comes to mind immediately when we think of King David is his moral failure with Bathsheba. The eleventh chapter of II Samuel records the story of how David spied her one evening as she bathed on the roof of the neighboring villa. Some students...
Family News Last year, we opened our Christmas letter by saying that our family had not grown during the last year – not even a new granddog. Well, this year we have exciting news – Christopher, our middle son, covered both of those bases. Yes, we have a new granddog...
The wise men seem out of place in the Gospel of Matthew. If this volume is -- as most Bible students say -- written for the Jewish people to read, why did Matthew include this story of gentile astrologers at the nativity? Why did he not relate to us the story of the...
I had the privilege of visiting the African nation of Zambia during the time that it was rewriting its constitution. One of the issues on the table was the question as to whether the constitution should declare the country to be a Christian nation. Although several...
When I was growing up, I would often hear the pastor preach about salvation, using terms like, “If I you die without Christ, you will split hell wide open,” or “Come to Jesus before it is everlasting too late.” With that kind of cohesion and very descriptive images of...
My sister and I were enjoying a “fun day” in Atlanta when we decided to have lunch at a spot from our childhoods. We knew almost exactly where this particular drive-in was located, so we headed out to find it. Unfortunately, the city of Atlanta has grown a lot in the...