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Making men MEN again. The David Alliance will help you slay your giants.
Episodes
Jun 1, 2025
Jun 1, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
Ever have a moment when you don’t see it and then you see it? The classic picture of an old women or a young beautiful woman depending on what you see?
Here's a more detailed look at the reasons:
1. Lack of Historical Evidence:
- Missing Persian References:
.
Some scholars questioned the book's historical accuracy, pointing to the lack of mention of the characters and events described in Esther within Persian historical records. - Not Found at Qumran:
.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of Jewish texts dating back to the period when the Book of Esther was thought to have been written, did not include the Book of Esther, further fueling skepticism about its authenticity.
2. Theological Concerns:
- Absence of God's Name:
.
The most significant theological issue was the complete absence of God's name in the Book of Esther. This was seen as unusual compared to other books in the Old Testament. - Interpretations of Divine Providence:
.
While some argued that the book implicitly suggests divine providence through the actions of the characters, others felt the lack of explicit mention of God undermined its theological purpose.
3. Jewish Canon Formation:
- Delayed Inclusion:
The Book of Esther was not included in the earliest forms of the Jewish canon, and it was debated whether it should even be included at all. - Nationalistic Pride:
Some suggest that the book's inclusion in the Jewish canon was influenced by a desire to celebrate the Jewish people's triumph over Haman and to provide a sense of national identity.
4. Christian Canon Formation:
- Deuterocanonical Status:
The Book of Esther was not universally accepted by Christians from the beginning. Some Christians, like Jerome, considered it canonical, while others, like Athanasius, classified it with the Apocrypha, a collection of books considered useful but not part of the official canon. - Influence of Jewish Canon:
Ultimately, Christians largely adopted the Jewish canon, which included the Book of Esther, leading to its inclusion in Christian Bibles as well.
5. Additions to the Septuagint:
- Greek Version: An alternate version of the Book of Esther in Greek, which included references to God and additional passages, was also debated. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Septuagint version of Esther, while the Roman Catholic Church preserves the Greek additions as "Additions to Esther"
God is not mentioned in Esther ANYWHERE…
SO WHERE IS HE?
HE IS EVERYWHERE!
- Queen Vashti won’t give it up
- From Vashti's defiance to Mordecai's sleepless night, seemingly random occurrences contribute to the ultimate deliverance of the Jews.
- Esthers beauty over 25 million women
- Jew chosen to be queen
- Mordecai hears about a plot
- King can’t sleep and they read Mordecai’s story
- Haman used like a puppet in Gods hand
- 2 parties to set up Haman’s demise
- Haman’s advance on queen Esther
- The Pole set up for Mordecai used for Haman
- The Jews enemies are identified and then killed due to the timing and they get the take of those they kill
May 28, 2025
May 28, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
Years and years of bodybuilding and now look at you? What happened… more importantly how fast did it happen?
No matter how healthy you are… and BTW Bodybuilders are some of the most unhealthy people in the world. What they eat in nutrition is destroyed by the amount of drugs they put in their system…. Don’t get me wrong, you can do steroids and other enhancers and still maintain a safe healthy physique if you are willing to cycle on and off with enough time in between - but most don’t. Anyway…. You can be in the best health possible… eat, exercise, drink plenty of water, take supplements, cardio etc… and in only 2 short months lose it all and be extremely unhealthy… I have seen it happen… You have probably seen it happen.
Have you ever heard the saying…
“what have you done for me lately”
We usually use it in a negative way… like Man I have done so much for that guy the past 10 years… but it does not matter, its always what have you done for me lately….
BUT it is actually a biblical concept.
Your past will not make up for your present.
A good beginning is not a guarantee of good ending.
Ez. 18:23, 24
23 “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. 24 However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.
You do have a personal responsibility!
Your past will not make up for your present.
Its not about Loyalty or brownie points… or God owing you… it is about Holiness.
First lets get one thing straight… God only owes us one thing… judgement and death for being a sinner. We only get what we get because of what God did, not because of what we did.
Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-27 speak of what have you done for me lately…
My point today is this…
We see the weakened and sinful in scripture turning around from the disciples to the apostle Paul… they all had diverse sinful backgrounds… but were all marked by getting older and bolder and not older and colder.
What was their prescription for such a faith as this?
Very simple, in fact John G Lake spoke of it often.
4 things:
Constantly prayed
Read Gods word
Shared the gospel
Prayed in tongues and prophesied over their own lives.
Listen I know we all are thankful for Gods grace and his mercy… I know I need it. But I don’t want to casually assume a life based on that for entrance into heaven. I want to walk in Gods power over sin and evil. I want his grace to empower my life so that I can live above sin. 2 Cor. 12:9 God tells Paul his grace is sufficient to overcome his weakness and his suffering. That phrase there actually means more than enough. And we often forget that last sentence in that verse…. - Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
What have I done today for Christ? I have rested in his power over my weakness.
May 27, 2025
May 27, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
Im gonna bring the Jesus Hammer! Garth Heckman Ryan
What do you put your stock in? Look if I knew back in 1983 that for every $1000 in Microsoft would end up being 3 million dollars… I would have put stock into Microsoft… but who would have believed in that years ago…
I think I learned a lesson and I did put a chunk into Bitcoin and it is doing extremely well… but here is the point -
Some people put more stock in peoples rejection then in the affirmation of God in their life.
That doesn’t even make sense… but we do it.
WE GIVE MORE CREDIT TO PEOPLES OPINIONS AND REJECTIONS THAT WE DO IN WHAT GOD SAYS IN HIS WORD.
You know what that really is right? Its calling God a liar. You are saying… I don’t believe you God, but I do believe the media, the work place, the current of peer pressure…
Faith comes by hearing so you if you fill your head with medical science or witch craft of whatever, then that is what you have faith in. Todays major obstacle is that we have non stop input from a thousand voices every day… every day… every day. Truly when I was a kid I had the voices of my teachers, my sisters, my parents and about 8 close friends… those were the only people I put some stock in… and not a lot of stock in my teachers as I got older.
On my phone everyone is an expert… literally by education, resume, popularity - however you qualify it… experts everywhere buy the thousands.
I officiated a wedding 10 years ago… very wealthy couple… they had one reception for adults, with a live band that played at the Dakota club here in Twin Cities… amazing food, and beautiful decor…
But they had another whole reception for kids. Candy bar, ice cream bar, hot dogs, cheese burgers, Fries, chicken nuggets… milk shakes, rooter fountain… And basically no supervision. Just a band for kids… it was mayhem.
Thats what social media is like today… no supervision and nothing but crap.
Romans 10:17 faith cometh by hearing and by hearing the word of God… What is the key word in this verse? Faith? Word of God? Hearing? NOPE… its cometh… meaning it is a process over time. It doesn’t just happen when you hear… you feed your mind again and again what ever you feed it… will surely come.
Every choice you make is making you!
But way before that choice there was a voice.
Be careful who you listen too… for it surely will cometh!
May 26, 2025
May 26, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
How do you get good at anything? You practice… that seems obvious. But how do you get really good at something… like expert level. Well you practice but you practice under duress.
Doctors who came back from war were far better at their jobs having practiced under war time conditions. The Benefits of Military Medical Experience include….
- Trauma and Emergency Care Expertise: Military doctors, especially those who have served in combat zones, gain unparalleled experience in managing severe trauma, critical injuries, and mass casualty events under high-pressure, resource-limited conditions. This experience can be invaluable in civilian trauma centers and emergency departments.
- Adaptability and Resourcefulness: Military physicians are often trained to work in diverse and sometimes austere environments, using whatever resources are available. This fosters a high degree of adaptability, problem-solving skills, and the ability to remain calm in chaotic situations.
- Leadership and Teamwork: Military medicine emphasizes strong leadership, teamwork, and a clear chain of command. These skills are highly transferable to civilian healthcare settings, particularly in managing teams and coordinating care.
- Exposure to Diverse Patient Populations: Military physicians often change stations frequently and may be exposed to a wide variety of patient populations globally, broadening their clinical perspective.
- Focus on Pure Medicine (less administrative burden): In some military settings, doctors can focus more on patient care without the same concerns about insurance or billing that civilian doctors often face, allowing them to hone their clinical skills.
- Innovation: Many medical innovations and practices, such as triage systems and specialized surgical teams, have originated or been refined in military settings and have had a significant impact on civilian healthcare.
When you don’t let anyone in your emotions, your faith or your mind… you build your Spiritual strength or should I say your spiritual armor.
Wether it is a person or a circumstance or even a physical health issue - these aren’t just proving grounds, they are paving grounds for your life. You are learning to pave your walk in life in a straight and narrow.
When emotions, doubt, anger, bitterness… when these emotions attack you it can cause an uphill and uneven walk… with pitfalls and roadblocks… but they are of your making because you don’t choose to the right response.
Silence is your Protection
Scripture is your weapon
Faith is your push back into the darkness
Silence protects you a few ways…
You do not give your adversary any more ammo to pull your strings or trigger you.
You keep them guessing
You ultimately make them give up
You create a sense that you know something they don’t and it makes them feel vulnerable, more likely to expose their motives and their faults.
Scripture is your weapon. I just had a conversation with a young man who said he does not believe in speaking in tongues and the HS gifts for today… I said show me in scripture where it says that. He started to say “well I think…
I cut him off immediately and told him he was either incredibly stupid, naive or arrogant or he was God. Because no one who serves God should care what another man thinks if it does not line up with scripture. My life is lived according to scripture… not my circumstances, not my upbringing, not what others think… even if they seem smarter than me… My life and how I view my life is totally based on scripture.
If the rest of my life I pray for people to be healed and they are not… Im still believing God heals for today because that is what Gods word says.
My aikido sense was John Barr- I have talked about him a few times on my podcast. He was the best, well known, on magazine covers, fought with Steven Seagal… his wife tells a story of when they went to a restaurant that had a bar…. (Story)
No change in emotion, no anger, no change of demeanor… just a calm statement of faith.
John knew what he knew, he believed what he knew and he knew it was true. THATS FAITH.
When you pray a prayer of faith or live a life of faith… you don’t have to pray loud, live brash, but if you just know what you know, believe what scripture says, and live the truth. Thats faith.
Authority self esteem, self control, inner strength… self respect… its a muscle. And as they say… use it or lose it!
May 25, 2025
May 25, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
[Verse 1]
What have I gotta do to make you love me?
What have I gotta do to make you care?
What do I do when lightning strikes me
And I wake to find that you're not there?
[Verse 2]
What do I do to make you want me?
What have I gotta do to be heard?
What do I say when it's all over?
And sorry seems to be the hardest word
[Chorus]
And it's gettin' more and more absurd
That sorry seems to be the hardest word
The life of Allan
The life of Mitch
The life of Bill
The life of Lief
The life of Connor
The life of Londa
The life of Dane
The life of Shane
The life of Chris
And finally the life of Joash in 2 Chron. 22-24
He was the king of crash and burn… started out right but ran off the tracks in a hurry… Let me catch you up to speed.
Two kingdoms.
Judah and Israel
Jehoshaphat Ahab and Jezebel
Jehoram (reigned 8 yr) Marries Athaliah
Ahaziah - Murdered @ 1 yr
Athaliah kills her grandsons and takes the throne
Joash is saved by Jehosheba (Ahaziah’s sister) Wife of the priest Jehoiadah
Ahab and Jezebel had a daughter Athaliah
She marries Jehoshappaht.
Jehoshaphat dies and his son (Jehoram) becomes king (Athaliahs son)
Jehoram gets killed
So his mother kills all her grandsons and assumes the throne.
BUT… one of the grandsons is spared - Joash!
2 Chronicles 24:Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.
17 But after Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded him to listen to their advice
PERSAUDED HB Shaw-Maw
Using the persons appetites and weaknesses they gave him consent to do what would be easiest and best for him.
A young girl or boy has appetites to be liked, to be loved, to be accepted… if you just go with the crowd, if you just give in to sexual urges or peer pressure to do what will make you liked… If you are told your parents don’t understand…
YOU CAN BE PERSUADED.
All of us have physical appetites/fleshly appetites
Lust, sex, greed, apathy, laziness, anger, Gluttony
We have emotional appetites
To be needed, feel wanted, accepted, loved, cared for. We also have emotional needs to want to hate, strike back, hurt those who hurt us, to distrust, to be and stay bitter.
There will always be people who will persuade or feed those desires…
And if you listen you will cut short your blessings and maybe even your future in heaven.
2 Chron. 24: 20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord, and now he has abandoned you!”
May 22, 2025
May 22, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
Medevil times had a torture where they tied each limb of a person to a horse. So there were four horses and each one had a rope tied from the horse to one of the arms or legs. Then they would command the horses to all run as fast as they could all in opposite directions. It was truly barbaric as arms and legs were ripped off.
What was the name of the torture called?
It was called distraction.
Which distractions in your life have become disguised as priorities?
When was the last time you sat down next to someone or talking to someone at a party and asked them what they did and they said “Im a professional Bull rider”. I have never had it happen…. Now maybe if I lived in Texas, but still it would be rare!
Being a man of God is as about as rare today as being a professional bull rider.
Why? I believe the main reason is because of distraction. Sin isn’t any more or less than any other time in todays world… Men didn’t just recently start noticing beautiful women. Drugs have always been around. There are no new sins… Satan has always been around… but distractions are at an all time high.
The biggest danger in distractions is you don’t see them as distractions.
Let me ask you a very simple question. If you took all the time you have spent on your phone in the past 2 years… and simply practiced the piano - how good would you be? I asked AI this and here is what they said.
You would likely reach an intermediate level much faster than 3-5 years, potentially within 6 months to a year, assuming quality, focused practice.
In 3 to 3.5 years you would be an advanced pianist.
How long would it take to read the whole bible. If you read at an average pace or listened to it on an app…
In summary:
- Non-stop reading: 2-3 days
- Daily reading (typical pace): 1 year
- Daily reading (fast pace): 3 months (90 days)
- Daily listening: 2 months
Let me break it down into a realistic day to day… you would read 3.3 chapters a day.
So why are you not the man of God you want to be? Its not sin… its really not. Its distractions.
Being a man of God is as about as rare today as being a professional bull rider. Ride the Bull! Daily!
May 21, 2025
May 21, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam … And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva … So tweasure your wuv.
God loves everyone…
True. However.
Gods unconditional love is not Gods unconditional approval.
So lets look at some scriptures that seem counterintuitive
John 3:16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only son….
Romans 2:6 God will judge the world
2 Peter 3:10 God will destroy the earth and its inhabitants
The problem lies within our twisted world/self centered view of what love is. Love is a feeling, it is something that always makes us happy, it always feels good and it is always in line with what we want. NO and DOUBLE NO!
Love is discipline, love is honesty when we don’t want to hear what is right. Love is correction. Love is punishment. Love is not letting us get our own way. And thank God love is not a feeling or none of us would still have parents… im sure they would have all walked away at some point.
My parents loved me better than I could have ever expected.. but they did not always approve of what I did. When I wore 8 inch kiss boots to church… my Dad was none to happy, made me sit in the front row of Church… it was kind of embarrassing… did not feel loving at all - but it was.
Gods love will be responsible for all types of action on the earth… its not our job to try to figure it out or ask why. It is simply our job to trust him. There were a lot of things I did not understand as a kid that my parents did… but I understand now.
What we need to understand in todays world is
God is love. But love is not God. Do not worship love at the cost of watering down scripture, making excuses for going against his word or for excusing your behavior simply because …well… God loves us!
Division brings weakness. Separation brings power.
What do I mean. Well we think Love as a feeling (defined by what we want) is all inclusive. But it is actually divisive. Ever get a group of people together and tell them they all can have what ever they want? Its anarchy! It weakens humanity and our natural bond as people.
However if I understand that sometimes love seemingly separates us from what we want… but it is God keeping us from what is evil, bad, destructive… it is actually Gods power at its best. Again Division brings weakness… we are most divided when we all thing we can all get whatever we want.
Do not get fooled as to which is which… it will ruin your life in no time.
May 19, 2025
May 18, 2025
May 18, 2025
7 min
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
Talking to a young man lately who plays guitar and he plays on a worship team. I told him I was going to be teaching a short 2 hour class to the guitar players at our church… he interrupted me and said “I am a good guitar player… And they he said it again as if I did not believe him. I kindly nodded. Now he can play guitar and he can play some rock songs… but who knows if someone is good or not right? But when he asked me what exactly I was going to be teaching my guitar players on my worship team - the first thing I said was “Diatonic harmony”… which believe it or not if you are in fact a good guitar player you would know what that is. He stared at me blankly and asked what it was. I kindly assured him he was not in fact a good guitar player. Now I have told this young man as I tell many people - You may not like what I say to you, but I will never lie to you! EVER. I will try to say it nice… most of the time - but who else will be honest with you. And today what if you can’t be honest with yourself because… well you just can’t. Have you ever heard of the
The Dunning-Kruger Effect and the Blindness
of the Incompetent
Wheeler's lemon juice story inspired researchers David Dunning and
Justin Kruger to study this phenomenon in greater detait. The research-ers were intrigued by the obvious difference in people's actual abilities and how they perceive these abilities. Dunning and Kruger hypothesized
that incompetent people suffer from two types of problems
· Due to their incompetence, they make flawed decisions (such as
robbing a bank while covered in lemon juice).
· They are unable to realize the fact that they make Flawed decisions.
(Not even the video footage convinced wheeler of hjs inability to be
invisible he claimed that it was faked )
The researchers tested the validity of these hypotheses on a sample
of participants. First they laid out a test measuring their abilities in a
certain domain (logical reasoning, grammar, and humor). Then, the par-
ticipants were asked to assess how good their abilities were. The research-
ers discovered two interesting findings
The least competent people (labeled incompetent in the research) had
a tendency to significantly overestimate their abilities. In fact, the
less competent they were, the more they overestimated themselves.
For example, the more painfully unfunny an individual was, the
funnier they thought they were. this eftect was elegantly described
by Charles Darwin years ago ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge'
The second interesting finding was that the most competent participants had a tendency to underestimate their abilities. Their under-
rated results can be explained by the fact that if a task seems easy to
them, they will have the feeling that the task is easy even for other
people.
In another part of the experiment, participants had the possibility to
review the test results of other people. They were subsequently asked to
conduct a self assessment again. Competent participants realized that they were better off than they had thought. Thus, they modified their self assessments and began to
evaluate themselves more objectively.
So where am I going with this… David says something profound in Psalm 139:23-24 KJV. Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
David is not saying this as a type of challenge to God… ok, God see if you can find anything wrong in me. NO NO NO he is saying it as one who realizes he can’t see everything in his life clearly.
He knows that he is blind to many of the sins, flaws, inconsistencies and choices he makes that are not Godly.
WHAT A POWERFUL INSIGHT TO KNOW YOU DONT HAVE INSIGHT. RIGHT?
Meaning, how powerful it is to know that you don’t know everything -especially about you.
May 15, 2025