David the Warrior / David the Politician: When the Ministry Turns to Politics for Their Answer

© 2014 Benjamin Lee Vince. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/30/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1367-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1368-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014909331

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Nave’s Study Bible: KJV with Concordance, 1907 BY Orville James Nave

Contents

The New Goliath Awaits Book Series

Introduction

Missing Your Call

Visiting The Camp

Calvary At A Glance

Foot Soldiers

Warrior Meets Politician

First Impressions

The Carnivorous Nature Of Sin

The Many Faces Of Betrayal

David Tarries Behind

Resting Or Nesting?

Bathsheba, The Gilonite

Naked On The Rooftop

The Law Of Attraction

A Storm Is Brewing

My Bed Is Too Short

A Cat On The Prowl

In An Evening Tide

Adultery

The Carnivorous Bush Just Keeps On Eating

Uriah The Hittite

From Shame To Fame

When The Ministry Turns To Politics For Their Answer

Pricking The Conscience

Empathy—Emotional Abuse

Examples Of The Law

Sometimes We Have To Fall To Fly

Victory Through Defeat

Restoring The Heart

Castaways

The Ministry Of Reconciliation

The Spirit That Once Gave Me Comfort Now Torments Me

Serving Their Generation

Concluding Thoughts

Index

Other Books By Benjamin Lee Vince

THE NEW GOLIATH AWAITS BOOK SERIES

Around the year beginning 2002, I felt in my heart that the Lord was calling me into a new era of labor of which I knew nothing about. (This is characteristic of the Lord to call someone into a strange field of labor of which they virtually know nothing about.) Nonetheless, one morning as I awoke to prepare myself for work, the Lord spoke to my heart and asked me, through His Spirit, if I would write a book. While meditating upon this inspiration, I said to the Lord, I know nothing about writing; however, if you will anoint my heart with what you want written, I will do my best to transpose the inspiration to paper. Then, instantly, the Lord, (as we would say in the computer age) downloaded into my heart what He wanted written. The words, though not yet made known to me, the essence of the subjects suddenly became outlined within my heart.

I knew nothing about computers and less about writing. Nevertheless, I purchased a computer with all the gadgets needed for the task, signed up for a ninety-hour college course in ‘Introduction to Computers’, and my journey into the world of writing began. When the time came to start the project, it was then that the waves of inspirations began to flow so gloriously I could hardly keep up. And as the flood of heavenly thoughts came rushing in, I offered my hands, my mind, and my heart to God for whatever He would run through them to the keyboard.

Over the next three months, I wrote from the moment I arrived home from work until late into the night hours, hoping not to lose any of the inspirations the Spirit was pouring into my heart. I took notes: I scribbled, I scrabbled, and I asked many questions. Unbeknown to me, within three months I had outlined a series of books, which has developed into "The New Goliath Awaits Book Series" surrounding the lives of David and Goliath. Three books are now in print nationally through bookstores/websites/eBook & Kindle Fire.

BOOK FOUR

VISIT: www.goliathbookseries.com

INTRODUCTION

The theme of this book is centered on the disturbing fact that the network of iniquity has creped into the church and is at work even within the ranks of spiritual leadership. Their subtle power has destabilized the moral fabric of trust by turning to the power of politics instead of turning to God.

The topics within this book are fashioned after the manner of experience and are designed for personal inspiration. The story chosen is of old descent, but the realities expressed exist yet today within leadership of both spiritual and political sovereignties. Character wise: David and Bathsheba offer a vivid display of spiritual and political abuse, and what leaders will do to disguise their infamy: when David could not find the solution concerning Bathsheba’s pregnancy, derived through his secret love affair, rather then confess his sin to God, he committed his trust to the power of politics to ease his anxieties.

The display of David’s character is only a shadow of today’s fulfillments. He expressed the weakness of man’s nature by committing adultery and he played the fool when he turned to politics for his answer, which led to the assassination of Uriah—and we all know the rest of the story. The spirit of his infamous manipulation is still robust, though many great spiritual leaders refuse to admit to the fact that it yet exists within the Christian leadership today.

The objective of this book is to offer hope that will release man from spiritual abuse and lead them to a higher place in God. If you are sitting under an abusive leadership there is hope and deliverance from spiritual and political exploitations.

Chapter 1

Missing Your Call

Undoubtedly, God was not satisfied with my first birth in Kentucky, so He sent me to Michigan to be born again. I will forever be grateful to God for directing me to a pastor who believed in restructuring lives through the power of teaching, and he had many experiences to add to his lessons. The Bishop that taught me was educated early in his ministry on the subject of missing your call and he passed his experience on to his students, of which, I was honored to be one among the many. One of his lessons I shall never forget and it went somewhat on this wise:

"I was just a young preacher attending the Bethlehem Temple church, in Detroit, Michigan. This was a predominantly black church of about three thousand souls. Bishop S. N. Hancock was senior pastor and was a marvelous Bible teacher, a man of wisdom and knowledge, and I was one of his students.

I was married, had children, and was busy working for a dairy in Royal Oak, (north of Detroit) was preaching at my home church, and evangelizing when I had time. I was not happy sitting on the platform and ministering in the local church; I wanted to be pastor of my own church. So I ventured out on my own and rented a large area upstairs over a store in Royal Oak, and within a short period of time I was running attendance of about Ninety in Sunday school. It looked to me that I was on my way to success—until my old pastor came to visit my new work.

It was on a Sunday morning and unexpectedly my pastor came walking in and sat down near the back. I went back to him and offered him liberty to minister to my church, but he refused and said he just wanted to rest and observe. I must admit; I was so proud that he was there that morning and I did my best to impress him—he was not impressed. I will never forget his stern and wise advice. After service was over and it was favorable to talk, he said to me, Young man, you need to close this church down and come on back to the Temple, you’ll start the Battle of Armageddon up here and that’s about all he said.

What do you say and what do you do when you are a young minister on fire for God who was already having a taste of success—a difficult decision to make. What did I do? I listened to my pastor. I soon announced to my church the situation and my intentions. I farmed out the people to other churches and returned to the Bethlehem Temple church and took my place next to my pastor with the other ministers".

(What would you do if your ministry were faced with this type of challenge? If you were a young preacher on fire for God and your pastor came to visit your church and told you to shut your work down and return to your home church? I have rehearsed this story to other ministers, young and old; some said maybe, but most said, in no way would they listen to or obey such a paranoid mandate. If dissention arises among other clerics over the choices pastors have to make and some leave the home church to start their own work, their success could be attributed to their humility, and/or their failure to their lack thereof. It is amazing how the same thorn that forces one off the nest and into the sky can expose the displeasure of others.)

As the Lord would have it, just at the right time the Lord sent some people down from Pontiac, (Michigan) to visit the Temple Church, and they asked the church to pray that God would send someone to Pontiac to pastor their little church. At that moment God spoke to my heart and said, Go to Pontiac tonight and start your church". If I had not did as my pastor had instructed me I might have missed the will of God. Nevertheless, through my obedience to my pastor and mentor, I waited upon the will and call of God and established what is known today as The Apostolic Church.

(He remained pastor of The Apostolic Church until he appointed his son to the pastor-ship in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. Bishop L. A. Parent remained senior bishop of the church until his death in August 1978. His son then assumed the office of bishop, and the church has continued successfully under the leadership of bishops until this present year: 2014).

Chapter 2

Visiting The Camp

Every year in a small town near us there is this re-enactment of the Battle of Sacramento (Sacramento, KY, which happened in 1861). This event attracted large crowds of people from other cities and counties who came to see and to participate in this memorial event.

After hearing the news and the stories from the neighborhood, one morning, just at first light, my family and I drove over to visit this little town to see the re-enactment. As we entered the little farming community we could see the white tents scattered all around and horses by the dozens all getting ready for the day’s events. It was one of those quite mornings: the sun was just appearing over the horizon to dispel the fog, which added an authentic feeling to the picture of the past. (God’s creation is supporting in so many ways.)

Some of the would-be soldiers were standing outside their tent’s door, while others were just sitting around looking sleepy, as if they had just gotten up—perhaps they did. Others were preparing breakfast, and you could smell the early morning drift of eggs, bacon, sausage and coffee. While some were cleaning their old guns and practicing with their swords, others were grooming and saddling their horses and leading them around trying to make the war zone look real.

(I guess that’s where some of us would fit in today—just sitting or standing around trying to make Christianity look real to the visitors. We really do put on a noble performance of renaissance of trying to impersonate the Christians of Pentecost, as if the Word of God was not sufficient by itself. Like many who come to church, we were there just to see the show.)

This re-enactment of the Battle of Sacramento may not have portrayed itself exactly as the battlefront of David’s day when he came strolling through the camp of Israel, but it did give me a small insight into what he might have experienced as he slowly passed through the ranks of soldiers, who were supposed to be preparing for war—sometimes we wonder.

The war was only fifteen miles from the city of Jerusalem, and as David passed through the ranks of warriors and came to his brothers; there was a war going on and they were busy criticizing David when death was close by. Some church members are that way: right in the middle of service, when the ministry is trying its best to deliver eternal life through the Word of God, people choose to start talking about things that are irrelevant to the service. Do they know that there is a holy war going on in the spirit world and the pastor is trying to dispense instructions?

Many things can happen within church families when idealness appears and the soul is relaxed. When soldiers of the Cross are not constantly on the battlefield fighting for Christ, conflicts of interests can break out between the best of comrades, rumors of fear can weaken the faint hearted, attitudes can become over bearing, and discipline can get out of order until we fight and devour one another within our own ranks—sound familiar?

One thing we want to remember in this story: David and the armies of Israel were facing the Goliath of 1000 BC. Christianity is facing the Goliath of 2014 AD, and in case you haven’t noticed, there is a difference in the two. The Goliath of BC was a physical giant whose presence had a physical affect on everyone he met. The Goliath of AD is a giant of technology that has man’s spirits under its thumb and especially the young. The actors of the Battle of Sacrament offered a great presentation of how it was in 1861. However, this generation has no concept of that war—their only perception is through the stories they’ve read and/or heard—will they get the story right or will they get it at all?

Our presentation of God to our children will be the determining factor of their victory or defeat when sin attacks their personal lives. The stories in the Bible are our proof of history’s victories and defeats; were written to and for the next generation—what part will they play in history, a victor or causality?

The old preachers of days past were genuine in their life and style of preaching; they slew and destroyed sin within the hearts of thousands, giving them new hope and a new vision of Calvary. But today, the church is at war with a different kind of enemy, and the new trend of ministry is leaning more toward a robotic or cybernetic message rather than the old heart-warming hell-fire preaching of the past. Modern leaders of today lean more toward consumers who can support their elect state of mind in preference to people with sin-infected lives.

These play-soldiers of the re-enactment were watching us just as we were watching them, and they put on a good show. I wonder about the visitor’s who frequent our churches, if their thoughts are as prejudice toward us as ours is toward them. Do we project a spirit of readiness and solidarity to those who are seeking shelter from spiritual repression and the storms of life, or do we project the same scenario that David saw when he strolled through Israel’s host of warriors? He was not impressed.

God’s people are the best people on the face of the earth. They’re tall, dark, handsome, short, fat, and ugly. Like all others, they come in all sizes, fashions, and colors. They dress up and they dress down, and they try to cover their warts and scars on the same scale as all others. They are in and out and they are up and down—they win some battles and some they loose; but they are still the best people in the world. They’re blessed with talent, faith, compassion, knowledge of the Word of God,