Author: Scott

Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother. 1 Kings 1:9-10 After telling a…
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His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” 1 Kings 5:6 Back when I was 19, working at summer camp, I did one of the dumber things I’ve done in life – which is saying something. At camp, we had a six-foot diameter ball that…
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Now King David was old and advanced in years. And although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm. Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a young woman be sought for my lord the king, and let her wait on the king and be in his service. Let her lie in your…
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But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” 2 Samuel 24:24 It’s my nature to want something for nothing. If I had a choice between winning a million dollars in the…
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Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done?” 2 Samuel 24:17 There are a couple of different versions of my addiction story. In one version, it was the stress…
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And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” 2 Samuel 24:16 In my drug addiction, I had a version of God that I wanted to…
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So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 2 Samuel 24:15 One spring while in college, after wrestling was over, I worked hard waiting tables, saving up $1,300. As I left school that year and headed…
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These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. 2 Samuel 23:22 Last week, I had the opportunity to meet a man who’s spent years working for Prison Fellowship Ministries and who’s written…
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He poured it out to the LORD and said, “Far be it from me, O LORD, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. 2 Samuel 23:16-17 I’m not proud of this, but I think my…
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And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 2 Samuel 23:15 I have an oddly fond memory of my very first days of using opioids. I know that this was the beginning of an addiction nightmare that lasted for years.…
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