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Chapter 12 - The Trials of a King What was he thinking? How could David fall for the oldest trick in the book? Lonely night, can't sleep, beautiful woman and … well, you know the rest of the story. How sobering to see such a man of God fall so dramatically that he would not only sin morally but then arrange for the death of his lover's husband. I see two warnings in this chapter: (1) Sin can get us all. If Satan can find David's weakness then certainly he can find mine. Vigilance is required of all God's people, and although David finds forgiveness he suffers greatly from his sin. It's easy to throw stones at David, but perhaps even more sobering is his encounter with Nathan and his damning words, "You are the man." As we come to this chapter in The Story let's not forget that each one of is The Man. We are all guilty to some degree of egregious sins and we should all be asking that same question of ourselves - "What was I thinking?"...

Chapter 11 - From Shepherd to King Make sure you listen to our middle school students read chapter 11. Go to www.thestory4texoma.com for a link to the audio. In chapter 11 we are introduced to David -- the great king of Israel, great poet, and man after God's own heart. It is indeed a wonderful story. The youngest of his family he is hand-chosen by God through Samuel to succeed the less-than-impressive Saul. Even as a young man he demonstrates his courage and strength in his battle with Goliath. Have you ever read a more moving challenge against evil than his words on p. 120, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." It makes you want to get up and shout! And that's what his actions do. After he slays Goliath the armies of Israel surge ahead to defeat their enemies. All it took was one man to stand up for the rest to follow along! And ...

The Story - Chapter 10 Standing Tall, Falling Hard I am not a tall man and have long ago embraced my height (or lack thereof) and have even found some advantages to being vertically-challenged. Here are some: • Shorter fall to the ground. • You don't hit your head so often. • You can get in places at kids prices. • The atmosphere is less rarefied. • You can fit in to a locker to hide from bullies. • You can do the limbo without breaking your back. … and the list goes on! I bring up the height issue because in this week's reading one of the descriptions of Saul includes that he was a head taller than anyone else. As a short person I wonder why this is important enough to include in the inspired record. Is it just a passing comment or is this somehow related to the choice of Saul as king? I tend to believe the latter to be true. Saul's height no doubt contributed to his selection as king. Right or wrong, his imposing stature must have given the Israelites confidence that...

The Story - Chapter 9 I recently saw on television a show called Best in Film. It chronicled poll results in film categories, one of which was best film ending. Personally I think the end of Field of Dreams is the very best - father and son reunited and reconciled over a game of catch. Or what about Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston discovers he's really on a futuristic earth as he glimpses a broken and fallen Statue of Liberty? You have to love the ending of Rocky - Rocky loses in the ring but who cares because Adrian is racing to his side. Great endings really can make a movie memorable. As far as books of the Bible are concerned, I think Ruth has one of the greatest endings. Down and out Ruth and Naomi. Both widowed. Both desperate for the security of a husband. Both childless. They've experienced the death of loved ones, a devastating famine, and financial hardships. This book has all the makings of a real downer. But there's that ending. Boaz enters to ...