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Making men MEN again. The David Alliance will help you slay your giants.
Episodes
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Robin Sharma a few months back shot out an email about taking careful analysis of our talent and how to keep an eye out for things that may rob it. It got me thinking about how our spiritual lives can erode over time and become less effective or on fire for God… And its tricky because we can become more fervent for the things of God and less on fire for God - yea thats right, we can become more in love with Gods attributes than with God himself. Or we can become more in love with his… shall we say “causes” then again with God himself. So I wanted to take a look at these 7 things Robin shared but in a spiritual light.
7 Threats to world class performance and success
The threat of talent erosion
The threat of energetic diversion
The threat of lifestyle complexity
The threat of success fed hubris
The threat of reaching good enough
The threat of reputation deterioration
The threat of human mortality
Now lets look at them if we were talking about threats to our Spiritual walk with God.
7 Threats to world class intimacy and power
The threat of talent erosion
If you quit pushing yourself to be used by God, you will lose that ability more and more. I have seen some pretty cool miracles in my life and from my hands… but still praying for some to come back to life, to have full health even though their body is wracked with cancer… I will not let my spiritual intimacy erode by lack of trying.
The threat of energetic diversion
If I focus my energy on other things, I will have little if any energy left for pursuing greater intimacy with God. When I was planting a church and having to work at a roofing company to pay the bills I knew that for the church to have the right foundation I had to keep my quiet time with Jesus #1, so I had to do it first thing in the morning at 5am.
The threat of lifestyle complexity
Don’t try to do everything, but rather find your gift, talent and abilities and focus growing spiritually in those. The more busy you are, the more hobbies you have the more you travel, speak, socialize etc… the more complex your life becomes. I am pretty simple - and I like that. Because I want to focus on Gods priorities first.
The threat of success fed hubris
How many big name pastors, or just pastors of successful churches have let their success eat them alive. Sex, money, arrogance, - you name it. My success is my greatest threat to my intimacy with Jesus. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you can keep it in check.
The threat of reaching good enough
You go to church more than most, you pray some times, you have read your bible and somewhat habitually - you even attend a bible study and are involved in a ministry… you are good… the problem is if you think you are good enough. Jesus said be ye perfect even as I am perfect…. uh, I guess there is room for growth.
The threat of reputation deterioration
Franklin D Roosevelt said “judge me by the enemies I have made”. You can lose your reputation to the world… thats ok. Jesus said “remember they will hate you, but they hated me first”.
But if you lose your reputation to the church… in time it will resonate so loudly that your walk will be hindered… and might I add I mean the church that still believes in the word of God and the power of his word and spirit. If you feel like people are starting to question your reputation… maybe check on your time with Jesus and your intimacy.
The threat of human mortality
We all get old. I am thankful after all this body has been through I still have lots of energy. I am up at 5am, I go to bed at 11 and I pretty much try to kill it every day. I eat right, I exercise daily, I drink coffee by the gallon… ok, Im not perfect. But I know now is the time to make hay, to do more for God…. because the truth is that I am getting older, I am getting slower, I am getting a little more dull mentally… it just happens. I can’t seek God if I am falling asleep during my quiet time. At the same time age is no excuse - push in and get older and bolder, not older and colder.
What was your GPA in high school and college? Whatever it was, you can’t change it now… but that doesn’t mean you still can’t get smarter, and more knowledgeable - now what is your GPA in your spiritual life? The goal is to be able to answer that honestly… every day and then push harder! (Garth Heckman)
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
Tuesday Jun 28, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Ever hear the saying… Don’t play the fool? Now maybe at sometime someone said that to a person and they actually woke up and were like…oh yea I am the fool. But to be honest if you are playing the fool, it’s not typically something you realize right away.
If we can all agree on one thing at this time in history I think its this… more than ever there is a lot of fake news out there, which means we can all be fooled at sometime or another. And in fact it behooves us to really make sure we are not the pawn. I know I have been fooled many times and in fact I have fought over the right to believe a lie… I just didn’t realize it at the time. There was a time I was convinced that if someone loved me they would never lie to me… but I realized that if THEY believe a lie, then in fact they were lying to me without realizing they were lying to me, because they were telling me something they thought was true, but actually was a lie… confusing right? But I think you know what I am saying.
I will never forget when my youngest was going in for a shot at the age of 4. He knew he had to get a shot, I knew he had to get a shot and so he wanted to know if it was going to hurt… I told him it would hurt a little, kind of like being pinched on the leg. He asked me to pinch him on the leg so he could see how much…. so yea, I pinched him… but not really that hard. On that fateful day he was calm and ready for the old pinch on the leg… uh I mean shot in the leg. I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS AS LONG AS I LIVE… After some small talk the doctor said well lets give you a quick shot (it already sounded painless to Reese) but the second that needle struck his leg he winced and started to cray looking at me dead in the eye and said in a very painful voice “you lied dad”. I felt horrible… I really truly didn’t think I lied, I told him a pinch, I pinched him… and yet somehow it was much worse than I thought.
The enemy is so crafty that he will get people who are being deceived by the media and other influencers to stand up and defend the right of those who are deceiving them!
How crazy would it have been if through the tears Reese would have shouted in pain…’it didn’t hurt”. But it did.
I am on a quest to know the truth. Jesus said himself seek the truth and you shall find it. But that is not a shallow call to read a few things and listen to those we agree with - it means really see, study, dive into and know the facts, the ideas and facts around the facts and the truth of the facts and not someone else’s translation of the facts…. it also means continue to study the facts and the truth. We also see in scripture 2 tim. 2:15 study to show thyself approved unto God, so that we are not ashamed. This again means to study in every way possible and in every subject of our life- study to know Gods truth behind that subject so that we are not ashamed at what we promote as Godly… only to find out its not Godly at all, but more Garthly than Godly.
Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”…
This is such a nice verse… but the story behind it tells a different side. The Israelites are running from the Egyptians… they are closed in (and in fact God wanted them close in) The Israelits are mad at Moses for leading them out… sure they wanted to believe Moses, then they didn’t believe moses, and now they are blaming him… saying if we stayed in Egypt at least we would be alive… and Moses says stand still the lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.
So sometimes we believe the truth, and we feel like we got burned, but rather than waiting on God and trusting him to hold our peace we change our narrative, our theology, our understanding - we become spiritual, but not totally gullible like those fundamental evangelical Christians…
So you grew up and thought Christianity was going to be easy, or get you the good life. Or you were thinking that Christians would always treat you right… and then you realized you maybe were deceived. What you should have been told was that Jesus is worth serving regardless of the sea does not open up or not.
If you treat your faith like it’s a part of your life it will only be a part of your life. It’s gotta be ALL your life. All in on Jesus regardless of what happened in my life… I will believe all of Scripture, I will trust him in every area of my life, I will choose to understand his word and act on it- even if I don’t understand why his word says what it says.
(It’s a big part of my life- what I choose to believe feels good - but feelings are but a deception)
I love Fyodor Da-story-ev-skee
Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend imbeciles. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Everyone likes affirmation, and we many times deceive ourselves by choosing to believe only what we are comfortable with so as to affirm our own beliefs. but what we need is validation. You can be told your a good driver (wether you are or are not) but validation comes from authority. You get a drivers license and you are now validated. Every movement in the world today clamors for validation (BLM, LGBQT, Feminism, global warming, pro-choice, save the whales, socialism, animal rights pick a topic etc…) But they will never get the fathers validation so they will forever be mad at those who do not affirm them… because once you have the fathers validation you don’t care who affirms you and you no longer feel the need to attack others. Am I making sense today? let me dumb it down for you. If you are not willing to truly seek the truth (and that takes time and hard work) you will end up being deceived and typically your believed deceptions will be easy to feel affirmed by… but you will still not feel the fathers validation and you will run on empty swinging at the air trying to defend and prove your deceptions.
Seek the truth at all costs… Seek his word… seek his face… seek him and not who you think he is.
Monday Jun 27, 2022
Monday Jun 27, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
God said it, I believe it, that settles it…. or God said it, someone misinterpreted it and I believe it… or God said it, I was hurt and now I misinterpret it… or maybe, just maybe… God said it, and wether or not I agree with it, I will live it because I am a follower of Jesus.
How is your Xy doing? is helping you love others? Do you stay awake praying for others to know, see and love God? Is it a Xy that is built upon your personality and your upbringing. A Xy that is built on your hurts and unmet expectations?
Does your Xy cause you to hurt for those who hurt you rather than wish hurt on those who hurt you? Do you feel the void in other peoples lives and wish they knew Jesus intimately?
One thing I have realized in my life of 57 years here on earth is that much of what I have believed was based on my personality and my upbringing. And in fact some of what I have believed in the past is due to hurts from those I loved and trusted…
So I have had to do a lot of study. Really getting in to the word of God. Not what others say about the word of God. Not what my parents said about the word of God… but rather what the word of God actually says and what it actually means.
Again, without trying to manipulate it to fit my narrative.
I love exercise… I did the 100 squat challenge and threw up and couldn’t walk for a week… but there are tougher ones out there….
Here is a good exercise in your own time with God. Read the bible and tell yourself what it said and what it means and without using your own agenda or personality… its a tough exercise.
Just read it and obey it.
I know I know it is actually really hard. I don’t want to love those who hurt me… but God tells me to… and I can’t so it tells me where I need to go to God and ask for his spirit to change my heart.
I don’t want to give up my last dime to that person… but God tells me to so i need his spirit to change me.
I don’t want to be respectful… I would rather lash out and speak with sarcasm and cutting truths that will put that person in their place… but again I need Gods spirit changing my heart… so I call out to him.
The problem lies somewhere between me posturing scripture to fit my needs and knowing enough about me that I know I need God to set me straight and be open to it. Then ask him to change me so that I might truly listen to his word and then know his heart AND FINALLY live it out in the real world.
Its not enough to know scripture
I have to know how God spoke it and what he truly meant by it. Then to actually ask for his strength to live it.
Friday Jun 24, 2022
Friday Jun 24, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
It is said that men don’t like to ask for directions… why is that? Because we think we always know where we are going? I don’t think thats why… and thats where we are going today.
What is the biggest difference in a life that is rich in beauty, full of surprises, great stories, rewarding and full of life…. and one that is just I don’t know maybe just meh…
its pretty simple actually and before I give you the answer I want you to promise me you will take time to realize how profound it is… even though at first you will think… “really Garth, that is what you think makes the difference?”
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God,
James 4:2 you do not have because you do not ask.
What’s the secret? Prayer? NOPE, but that helps…
its simply learning how to ask… and lets be honest that is a problem for a lot of men.
This verse in James does not say “you do not have because you are not smart enough,
Because you married the wrong person
Because you don’t have enough money
Because you are to old, not connected, don’t have the right friends, have a checkered background, are the wrong color have the wrong upbringing…
NOPE NOPE NOPE you do not have because you do not ask.
There are people out there today who have a bad job… simply because they did not ask for a better job. They tried once and it didn’t happen so they quit asking… and I don’t just mean asking God, I mean asking anyone and everyone.
Remember the woman who in Luke 18 kept knocking on the door, kept asking, kept asking… that was the only prerequisite. Her prayer wasn’t answered until she got enough faith, the right spouse, read enough of the bible, live a perfect enough life… she got what she wanted because she did not give up asking.
Ask for a promotion, ask for a better job, ask for your spouse to be sweeter, ask Jesus to give you more answered prayers in your life, ask your friend how to be a better parent, ask your neighbor how to invest, ask the guy at the music store how to play drums…ask the women at the counter for the best price on that watch… just be willing to ask. Ask for stuff, ask for wisdom, ask for help, ask for directions…. just learn to ask.
And if it is a no, you have a story, and if they say yes, you have an even better story.
Ask and it shall be given to you
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
Thursday Jun 23, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
One of my favorite stories and its true was back in the early days of hollywood Charlie chaplin was the biggest movie star in hollywood. When he went to vacation in Monte Carlo they had a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest, no one knew he was there, so he entered… and took 3rd place.
If you were going to pick out 2 people who were more diverse and at equally opposite and polar in the spectrum of public opinion one might not have to go much further than Albert Einstein and Charlie Chaplin. One is known as the smartest man who ever lived and the author of the theory of relativity and the other was at one time the most famous person on the planet due to his black and white slapstick comedy.
Charlie Chaplin hosted Einstein once in Hollywood and he best summed up their differences quite succinctly. He said as we drove around Hollywood California, people would recognize us and they would clap and cheer for Albert because no one understood him, and they would stand and clap and cheer for me because everyone did understand me.
Think of it. One was famous and well paid for being misunderstood, to smart and un-relatable. The other was so obviously comic to the point of being sophomoric and mundane… it was slapstick… no words needed. But they were both the best in class. They both made great impacts in their respected fields at the highest level. They both were paid well and both known through out the world.
You know God can use anyone… you can be so smart you are seemingly untouchable and geeky to the point of people feeling like you are out of touch with reality. Or you could be a muscle bound stud muffin who graces the cover of GQ… it don’t matter to God. He has created YOU with no equal. So just be you… Just be the person who says God how can I be the vest version of who you have created me to be.
You may have heard me say this before and it is aline I have stolen from the book Love medicine and miracles by Dr. Bernie Seilgel. When you die, you will not get up to heaven only to have God ask you why you were not more like so and so movie star, or business person or instagram influencer… God will only want to know why you were not more like the person he created you to be.
Psalm 139:13-14 You alone created my inner being. You knitted me together inside my mother. I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made. Your works are miraculous, and my soul is fully aware of this.
Be the masterpiece. God created you as his workmanship is what Ephesians tells us. That word workmanship means masterpiece. Yes it is sad, tragic and evil that abortion has killed- that is murdered 62 million masterpieces… it is horrific and God should destroy our nation because of it… but don’t miss the point- you are a masterpiece - are you just as guilty by not living out your uniqueness and qualities that God has given you. To live and never truly live is the same as being dead your whole life.
Today is the Day to start to live to Gods fullest potential. Its not to late… Colnel sanders was in his late 70’s, Julia childs was in her late 50’s, Nelson Mandela was in prison for 20 plus years… the list goes on and on… Chuck Colson was kicked out of politics, thrown in prison and at a later stage in life became an amazing man of God and won thousands to Christ.
Go do it, go be it, go live it… live for the master as HIS masterpiece.
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Mary Oliver the American poet once wrote:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Is you life wild? Is it precious? And I don’t mean precious like a flower, but precious like a 4 million dollar perfect grade Michael Jordan autographed rookie card?
The question is begging to be answered… what are you living for and how are you living it?
1 Timothy 6:9–11
"Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, endurance, and gentleness.”
The love of money… not money, but the love of it. I think we could say the love of security, the love of selfish desires, the love of sex, the love of popularity, the love of laziness, the love of… fill in the blank… anything other than the love of God.
Psalm 20:6-8
6Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand. 7Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 8They collapse and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.…
What are you living for and what are you how are you living? Good questions that very rarely are answered honestly.
The question could be asked - and usually is - what are you running after in life?
But I truly believe until we answer the question “what are we running from?” - we will never truly be free to run after what we really need and not just want.
We live in a world like none other at any time. We aren’t just saturated in media, pictures, images, opinions and soap box pundits, we are actually drowning in them.
EVERYONE IS COCK SURE THAT THEY KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD DO, BE AND PURSUE…
So this is the point of the podcast where I tell you to run after Jesus and all he has for you - ok, sure, yes that is true and really the #1 priority… but thats not where I am going today.
Today I want you to live for and run after making a difference in someones life…
WE are quick to understand time and how it plays out in our life… we understand what time we should get up, how long it takes to shower and get ready, how long it takes to drive to work, how much time to get projects done, how much time our family will require each day and on weekends, how much time we will spend at church, on hobbies, we even make time for working out, shopping and for our lawn…
But how much time have you allotted to pour into someone else’s life?
Be a friend to someone who doesn’t have a father, drop some money off to a single mom, babysit the young couples kids for free so they can get away for a night. Write a note and stick it in a card to a teacher from years ago about how they helped you out in life. Buy gas for that young punk kid at the gas station and tell him you remember what it was like being young and grinding. Mow your neighbors lawn or take a coworkers car to get washed and vacuumed. Tell a mom she is doing a great job raising her kids… whatever it is- take time to invest in someone and realize that this is important.
Just for once, at least once a day stop and focus on someone else. Forget about what you are chasing… and maybe you are chasing money, or God, or the american dream or Jesus, or a wife or being used by the Holy Spirit… whatever it is- don’t forget to make a difference big or small in others lives. Trust me, in the long run that will mean more than gold, money, prestige, security or youthful and lustful desires… and it actually is at the heart of the gospel.
Luke 4:17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus when handed the scroll, out of all the scriptures he could have read… he did not read about being a ruling king, an eternal just God, a Jealous God, a Messiah, the beginning and the end…
He talked about serving the least of these. Take time this week to be like Jesus.
Tuesday Jun 21, 2022
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Monday Jun 20, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
John 2:13-19 Jesus Goes off!
it was passover, people traveled from all over, they couldn’t take animals with them. It was packed, it was like the one time a year you have a huge blowout sale… it was black friday… you made most of your money that time of year.
ANIMALS EVERYWHERE…
FECES EVERYWHERE…
STRAW EVERYWHERE…
PEOPLE EVERYWHERE… it was loud, people bartering, people arguing…
So Jesus goes off… he drives out those selling… this was no small feat!
The outer court was where the non-Jews would worship, the Gentiles. But how could they worship with all the distractions…
Rather than giving a space for those who did not yet know Jesus or who were knew in the faith… they actually cut them out of the picture… they forgot about what the outer court stood for.
So lets be Clear: The buying and selling of animals started out as a good thing. A service for those who came to worship. (a service)
But in time the “BOTTOM LINE” became more important. Now it was how much can we sell, how much can we make, what are all the ways we can make money (1st off we exchange money at a higher rate, then we offer all types of sacrifices, then we raise the price of sacrifices, and now we move the gentiles out of their spot for worship and we expand)
The sellers made money, the money exchangers made money and the pharisees took a cut from both.
*How many animals were sacrifice? Josephus the Jewish historian tells us 256,500 sacrifices… thats a lot of
But lets hold on here for a second…
Where is the temple now?
1 Cor. 6:18-20 18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.…
Do you have God’s Righteous Anger for worship for yourself?
But do you have it for others? Remember this courtyard was for those who were not yet in Gods family… they were not Jews.
? What went on in that courtyard for the gentiles?
This is where many times gentiles would come to hear about the God of the Jews… translation: where they would come to hear about Jesus/salvation in our day and age.
So the real question is this: Are there things in your temple (in your life) that are keeping people from seeing Jesus, from experiencing Jesus. Do you have a righteous anger to get rid of the things that might be keeping other from knowing Jesus.
Ask God to deal with those in your heart so you can allow others the intense joy and fullness of coming to Christ and worshiping him.
Friday Jun 17, 2022
Friday Jun 17, 2022
Wake the Faith up Slayer… This is Garth Heckman with the David Alliance and you can reach me at
Brought to you by wellbuiltbody.com Gym Apparel for men and women that rocks and shocks and ain’t for everybody - but just might be for you. wellbuiltbody.com
Venus Williams, Barry Manilow, Amari Cooper, Greg Kinnear and of course Olga Khokhlova was a Ukrainian ballet dancer
Its my birthday… Guess what? I share it with another famous person…ok, not that I am famous- but anyway.
Jesus was born today… say what? You thought it was December 25th? no no no no… that is just the date the tradition was picked up by the catholic church… check this out.
According to the newspaper, Australian stargazer Dave Reneke used complex computer software to chart the exact positions of all celestial bodies and map the night sky as it would have appeared over the Holy Land more than 2,000 years ago. He discovered that a bright star really did appear over Bethlehem 2,000 years ago - but pinpointed the date of Christ's birth as June 17, and not December 25.
Scientists claim the Christmas star was most likely a magnificent conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter, which were so close together they would have shone unusually brightly as a single 'beacon of light' which appeared suddenly...
Mr Reneke says the wise men probably interpreted it as the sign they had been waiting for, and they followed the ‘star’ to Christ’s birthplace in a stable in Bethlehem, as described in the Bible.
Generally accepted research has placed the nativity to somewhere between 3BC and 1AD.
Using the St Matthew’s Gospel as a reference point, Mr Reneke pinpointed the planetary conjunction, which appeared in the constellation of Leo, to the exact date of June 17 in the year 2BC.
Mr Reneke, who is editor of Sky and Space magazine, said: ‘We have software that can recreate the night sky exactly as it was at any point in the last several thousand years.
‘Venus and Jupiter became very close in the the year 2BC and they would have appeared to be one bright beacon of light.
‘We are not saying this was definitely the Christmas star - but it is the strongest explanation for it of any I have seen so far.
‘Astronomy is such a precise science, we can plot exactly where the planets were, and it certainly seems this is the fabled Christmas star. There’s no other explanation that so closely matches the facts we have from the time.
‘This could well have been what the three wise men interpreted as a sign. They could easily have mistaken it for one bright star.’
Titus 2:1-3 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,
Sober minded: free from others negative influences. Free from life dominating things.
What does this mean? NO PEER PRESSURE… I am so glad I have never been a slave to peer pressure… all I know is that my life was like this growing up…
My parents loved me- and so I really didn’t give a flipping nickel what you thought of me
Then my wife loved me- and so I really didn’t give a flipping nickel what you thought of me
Ultimately I understood how much Jesus loved me - and so I really didn’t give a flipping nickel what you thought of me
Do not be that person that looks back later in life and says “why did I let them influence me”.
Dignified - sober and revered for good judgement - Do the right thing even when no one is watching.
The preacher who bought a burger and fries, paid for it and got to much back. he went up to the cashier and said “you gave me to much money back… the guy said “I know, I wanted to see what you would do Preacher”.
Self controlled - this is more than just living in the middle of the road, but rather looking like a person of balance in the eyes of God. You are not swayed by one opinion or one doctrine of the bible or one cause or one this or that… you dominate the middle ground of Gods word in all things.
Sound in faith love and steadfastness - you function in all these areas holistically and with in the needs of others. What does that mean? you are not a person who is very verbal or affectionate with love- but you are sound… you know your kids, your spouse need that so you do it outside of your comfort zone, you do it anyway, because it is what they need. You are sound! Solid, you don’t flinch when it comes to what they need even if it makes you feel uncomfortable! and by the way that word there “steadfastness” means perseverance. You keep doing it, because it is right!