The David Spoon Experience

The David Spoon Experience 3-15-23 Part 2

1) First, Christian Kaos, part ten: A tale of two cities. A tale of three kings. Atale of four Jews. That’s the ticker, and here we go: Four Jewish Christians, allfrom the same city in Detroit, Michigan, all living in the same neighborhood,two of whom were, and still are, best friends. All saying yes to Jesus withinthirty days of each other. And all on fire for Jesus Christ. After that, we wereknown as The Four Musketeers.2) I share with Pastor Dave all the good and all the bad that this Jewish believerhas encountered in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can feel the angerrising within. Multiple years of frustration and two plus two not equaling fourwere catching up to me. Numbers don’t lie. People who use numbers lie. So,where is God through this process? After all, He promised never to leave me norforsake me. And if there were a case to be made, I thought I could make it.Wow. I could not have been any more blind than I was. He wasn’t far from me.Can you relate?3) Now comes the time when hardly any Christian reviews out loud. With allthat Holy Spirit pouring out, what does this actually mean for my life? After acounseling session, a great sermon, or a moment when we are challenged by theLord for growth, we go through an unspoken processing time. How do we takethis information and make it our own? This can help us see that this partnershipwith God has a fresh element that’s just been added to it. Wow.

The David Spoon Experience 3-15-23 Part 1

A) An incredible passage in Psalm 32 that will twist our minds into a deepappreciation for the kindness and mercy of God. First, this thought: The Psalmsin the thirties (30-39) deal with our sins greatly. O.K., back to this wild verse.Verse six says, “at a time when You may be found.”
B) Loving the notes from The Spirit-Filled Bible, which says, 32:6 When Youmay be found: That is, while God’s Spirit is prompting man’s spirit to beresponsive; otherwise, God’s Holy Spirit is eventually pushed away by man’ssinfulness.
C) In the earlier study of the Psalms, we see that God’s presence is our secretplace. Here in verse seven, we found out that it is ALSO our hiding place.Songs of deliverance show how powerful songs are for us in times of darknessand struggles.
D) Don’t be like the horse or mule has to with being stubborn or needing God todirect us with excessive pullings in whatever direction.

The David Spoon Experience 3-14-23 Part 2

1) Have we ever experienced people getting mad at us? Well, I have, and I’m sure you have too. This is where our Christian faith is examined by all of the people around us, plus the heavenly hosts. We take a glimpse back into the Book of Acts. And check out Steven. He was so blessed to be the first actual martyr of the New Testament church that his name will always be honored. He will always be thought of as a standout follower of Christ. But how he handled adversity may give him the most distinctiveness as being Christ-like, compared to anybody else In the New Testament. Except for Jesus. That’s pretty good company to keep.
2) I have a DDD that I have written. It is really good material. However, when someone wiser than me writes on the same subject, I defer to their wisdom. In this case, it is my honor to defer to my brother, Pastor Ray Bentley. He teaches one of the most important principles in the Christian walk. For me, this has been THE game changer. The title of his devotional is.  called The Most Crucial Battleground. Guess where this fight takes place.
3) Bragging has to do with pride. Pride has a connection to fame and acknowledgment. Listen to these music verses: Fame (fame) makes a man take things over, Fame (fame) lets him lose hard to swallow, Fame (fame) puts you there where things are hollow, Fame (fame). Written by a Christian. Probably not. Still true? Absolutely.

The David Spoon Experience 3-14-23 Part 1

Once again, our awesome brother Sergio calls in with a stellar question. He asks something that most of us ask without saying it out loud. Shouldn't we, at some point, be on cruise control with our Christian faith? We graduate from high school. We graduate from college. And then we are in cruise control in life. Does that happen when we become a Christian? Shouldn't we be in some form of cruise control? And how does that play out when we have to struggle against our personal sins?

The David Spoon Experience 3-13-23 Part 2

1) Job speaks the truth to his “friends,” which would be a good thing to remember when we have differences from other Christians. These are not differences between believers and unbelievers. Then Job says, “You are no better than me.” He also tells them, “And…you are lying about me.” Then Job gives the same advice he gave before. And it still applies. He says, “Do me a favor…shut up. That is the best thing that you can do.” Even as a talk show host, I know that talking is not always the answer.
2) Job continues responding to his miserable comforters, who are miserable at comforting. He does make a fairly intriguing point when he states that he is NOT godless. He will argue with God in a bit, but at this moment, he is pointing out to his buddies that he is not a person who has no regard for God or His truths.  
3) And now, with a huge amount of less wisdom, Job directs his argument towards God. And what is his brilliant plan of challenging God? What absolute insight does Job have that gave him the fortitude to challenge God? He asked God to answer Him to prove he was unrighteous, he asked God to tell him what he did wrong. What he did wrong was ASSUME that what was happening to him was happening because he had done wrong. He was wrong. 

The David Spoon Experience 3-13-23 Part 1

A) Here is a faithful and worthy saying: In Bible College, this text in First Timothy was the one the professor used to teach us the power of emphasis on a passage. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Now I will punch (or emphasize) each mini-section to show you how it can impact our perception of a verse. Christ Jesus is one. Came into the world is two. Save sinners is three. Of who I am chief is four.B) The amazing portion of this text is that despite educational deniers, Paul acknowledges that he is currently a chief sinner. By this, he's not saying that he is sinning worse than others. He is saying that he feels that he is failing at multiple levels. He uses the phrase I am a chief sinner, not I was the chief sinner. This is why when we read Romans 7, we can understand that Paul is not discussing the past but his present condition in struggling against sins.

The David Spoon Experience 3-10-23 Part 2

Really Tough Stuff: 
1) As we often do on The David Spoon Experience, we’re going to try something new. I came across a sermon that I wrote approximately 33 years and two months ago. The title of this sermon is called Beating Down the Little Foxes. What this has to do with is the little sins. In the past, I’ve talked about the Goliaths, which we would consider to be our besetting sin. These encouragements will examine the little ones that cut us at the ankles and spoil the vine (Song of Solomon, 2:15).
2) One of the most fascinating elements in this show will be our examination of the progression of sin. We need to understand what sin is and what sin is not. We need to understand that sin attacks us in stages. We need to understand that there is also a personification and a  personalization of sin. We get that from Genesis, when God tells Cain that sin desires to have him. It’s like a consuming energy, its own little life force.
3) In dealing with these little foxes, we examine a couple of strategies to help us push past them. The first strategy has to do with staying-power. What is that based on? Where do we find our staying power? The second element has to do with Who starts and finishes our salvation. And the third element has to do with what our response and responsibility are in this process. We need to be active in fighting against the things that make us cloudy with the Lord. This isn’t for God’s benefit but for ours. This has to do with living in freedom. Be free!

The David Spoon Experience 3-10-23 Part 1

Great Stuff:
A) We are in the midst of the greatness of Chapter 11 in Hebrews. And in this portion, we get to understand how all of these great men and women used faith. Used faith to prevail. Verse 13 makes it clear. That they died in the faith, having not fully received everything promised them. How does this square with our Christian living? It’s simple. They understood that the promises would find their fulfillment in the distance. Their faith never “moved” because it’s strong as ever.B) Now, we examine one of my favorite lines in Hebrews. And, as many of you know, has become a calling card for the NOTW Decals. Not of this world. It’s pretty straightforward. We are foreigners here. We are visitors. We are strangers. We do not belong to the sinful earth because we do not belong to a country or world guided by sinful attributes. Let me help you out. You don’t feel like you’d belong. Got it. Guess what? You don’t!
C) But believers desire something better. We don’t want to take the sinful and disgusting and make the best of it. We want the best, and the best is with God. So, we desire a better place, a heavenly one. We desire a place whose builder and maker is God. Because we have this in our hearts, God is proud to be our Father.

The David Spoon Experience 3-8-23 Part 2

1) You are now entering The David Spoon Experience twilight zone. This type of material I find to be the most fascinating because it makes me think about how deep God is. We start off by understanding this simple truth. God selected you and me before the world began. Let’s linger here for a moment and grasp that thought. Before portions of Genesis one took place, you and I were already being seen in the eyes of God. You were no accident. We were chosen, elected, favored, and graced by God.
2) Now, we’re going to step up into what becomes the most the most fascinating thoughts amongst mankind. Greater than any science fiction writer could possibly imagine… is this most simple truth about God. Before all things that we could possibly understand, God had a plan. Nothing in the universe was going to stop that plan. Because He desired for that plan to come to completion. The incredible truth is that we are a part of that plan. We are a part of and in the plan of God.
3) While I will address the elephant in the room (the difference between predestination and free will), first, we will acknowledge the Bible’s truths. The truth is that God knows our Christian journey step by step and inch by inch. It is clear that this path has already been marked out for us. It is also clear that we don’t know what the path is. It also makes it clear that God knows what the path is. This also makes it clear why we need to trust the Lord fully. He’s got us covered from start to finish.  

The David Spoon Experience 3-8-23 Part 1

Massively excellent testimonies about people that we've had a chance to pray for.
Plus,
A) Psalm 32 reflects King David’s joy of forgiveness. Few people in the Christian faith understand that our forgiveness is exceedingly joyful and a strength all by itself. We are indeed sinners, one and all. And Jesus made that clear by saying, in Matthew 7, that we are evil. But there is a special joy in finding forgiveness from God.
B) One of the most amazing verses has to do with the fact that the person whose sin is covered is blessed. In other words, the Lord does not count or remember their sin with this person. It doesn’t mean that the person has never sinned. It means God uses his wonderful Jesus glasses when He looks upon them. And instead of shoving their sin in their face, He pours His love into their heart. True righteousness is being seen as sinless. Being sinless is dependent upon God not connecting us to our sins. Catch that. It’s excellent theology.
C) David now gives the secret sauce to finding the joy of forgiveness from our sins. But, unfortunately, modern man has turned this into something more of a ritual than a spiritual engagement with the Lord. David says that his bones grew old when he kept silent about his sin. That means that because he kept his sin inside of him and did not acknowledge it nor confess it, it started to significantly impact his mental, spiritual, psychological and physical being. It is described as having the Lord's heavy hand upon him.

The David Soon Experience 3-6-23 Part 2

1) Many excellent Christian teachers and scholars take a very strong stand against communicating some form of sarcasm. I love these people, but they are wrong. Sarcasm is woven throughout scripture. No better example than in Job chapter 12. Job says, “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Well, guess what? You’re not that smart.” Here’s something that’s true for us. We. We think we’re so smart. But guess what? We’re not that smart.
2) God is continually teaching. He teaches us through His Spirit, Word, Church, situations, dreams, and so forth. word. However, one of the best forms of teaching is right in front of our faces. And we often miss it. He teaches us through the animals, the birds, the fish, and the earth itself.
3) That being said, climate change is not within Mankind’s control. That is the lie. It is true that the Earth suffers because of the sinfulness of man. We know that from Romans 8. But it is God who either releases the rain or holds it back, increases the desert or decreases it. God is in charge of all weather. And whatever Humanity thinks they are doing is the result of his own hands, which is just another example of pride. God is in control. Nothing happens that He does not allow.
 

The David Spoon Experience 3-6-23 Part 1

In Verse 12, Paul says he thanks the Lord who enables him. Paul recognizes that his calling into ministry and his ability to do ministry come from the Lord. It is not his strength, his power or his wisdom.
endunamoo (ἐνδυναμόω, 1743), “to render strong” (en, “in,” dunamis, “power”), is translated “enabled” in 1 Tim. 1:12, more lit., “instrengthened,” “inwardly strengthened,” suggesting strength in soul and purpose[1]
[1] Vine, W. E., Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr. 1996. In Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 2:198. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.