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    A Friend of the King: David and His Mighty Men
    A Friend of the King: David and His Mighty Men
    A Friend of the King: David and His Mighty Men
    Ebook133 pages6 hours

    A Friend of the King: David and His Mighty Men

    By Dwayne Bell

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    About this ebook

    Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Give heart and mind and soul and strength to serve the King of Kings.

    With our culture and families seemingly in a meltdown, do you often feel helpless, wondering if there is anything a man should or could be doing? This book will prove encouraging, insightful, and instructive for you! Its deep enough but short, simple, and to-the-point, the way men like it. The gist of it is this: be a man, be a friend, be a leader, understand your times and what you should be doing. Well look to the Bible and Davids Mighty Men for insight, instruction, and motivation. Let your journey to insight and action begin!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateMay 23, 2013
    ISBN9781449793814
    A Friend of the King: David and His Mighty Men
    Author

    Dwayne Bell

    Dwayne Bell has been involved in men’s ministry in his local church for over twenty-five years. With degrees in mathematics and theology, he was a public school teacher before pursuing a career in aviation. He served in the US Air Force and reserves for twenty years flying F-16 fighter aircraft while concurrently concluding a twenty-five year career as an airline pilot, recently flying Boeing 777s to Europe and Asia. He’s retired early to start a new chapter of kingdom life and new adventures. He enjoys short-term mission trips and outdoor hobbies. He and Elizabeth, his wife of thirty-seven years, visit their two grown children in Texas and hang out at their home with friends in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

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      Book preview

      A Friend of the King - Dwayne Bell

      Copyright © 2013 Dwayne Bell.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-9382-1 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-9383-8 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-9381-4 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013907744

      Italics and bolding in biblical quotes indicate author’s emphasis added.

      Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

      Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

      Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

      Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

      WestBow Press rev. date: 5/21/2013

      A Friend of the King

      Acknowledgments

      Introduction

      Chapter One: Be a Leader

      Chapter Two: David

      Chapter Three: Understand Your Times

      Chapter Four: Be a Man

      Chapter Five: Be a Friend

      Epilogue

      Notes for A Friend of the King

      To

      Fred J. Bell and Verba (Barnes) Bell; wonderful parents, lovers and worshipers of God.

      Elizabeth, my beautiful wife of thirty-seven years; loving, faithful, true – a joy!

      Joshua, Amanda, and Chris; the next generation – children of character, caring, and grace. Live boldly!

      Brian Fields, Charles Angel, Charles Saulsbery, Ron Oholendt, Bill Bradley, Gene Bell, Justin Blasingame, Joe Carruth, Rainer Werres, Bobby Burns, Rick Small, Mike Small, Stan Udouj, David King, David Johnson, Bill Stuckey, Craig Smith, Rick Grizzle, Gary Brock, Josh Huffstetler, Ken Duncan, Doug Lamb, Jim Shepard, Terry Layne, Roger Morris, Larry Wayne Clark, Bill Bissell, Dean Young, Chuck King, Ralph Irwin, Colby Morgan, Ed Julian, Bill Spilman, Steve Bradley, Steve Hobbs, and Steve Hudson; men, brothers, and friends who inspire me with their commitment to their friends and their families, as well as their devotion to the King.

      Jesus, the Son of God, Savior, risen and soon coming King, Alpha and Omega, Faithful and True, Who is, Who was, and Who is coming, Faithful Witness, Friend of Sinners, the Amen of God.

      Acknowledgments

      Thank you, Joe Carruth, for encouraging me to write, and for many thoughtful hours devoted to editing this book. You are an amazing friend and servant of the King. I will never forget our first mission trip in 2002 with Amanda to Africa. God bless the growing church there, their leaders, and God bless Burkina Faso.

      Thank you, Ralph Irwin, for encouraging me to write and for the artistic sketch of my fighter pilot helmet near an iron age spear, one like David and his friends might have used, reminding men in our generation to be sacrificing and courageous – warriors, leaders, and friends. I will never forget our mission trip to Belize that started hands-on missions in our church; serving the men and village of More Tomorrow with electricity, a new church building, a preschool, a freshly painted elementary school, and cleaner, safer water. Nor can I forget the original Belize brothers: Fred, Ed, Bobby, Burt, and Randy; along with our Belizean counterparts, George, Eugenio, Clifford, Charles, and Big Mike. God bless the kingdom work in Belize, and God bless Belize.

      Thank you, Mike Small, for serving me in ways great and small as I grappled with this material, presenting it to our men’s group as a series. You are a great sounding board and friend. Your courage in battling a long illness inspires me. God bless you, your children, and their children — forever. God grant you health and peace.

      Bell_Helmet_2.jpg

      Introduction

      From a Tokyo hotel room in the middle of the night, I ponder how to introduce this humble writ. I’m a former fighter pilot and an airline pilot, not a writer. I know it’s to be short, hard hitting, and to the point; or most men won’t read it. I also know that’s not like me. The Holy Spirit will have to help me … help I feel He’s promised. Although I don’t know where or how to start, I do feel like David when he penned, My heart is stirred by a noble theme, as I recite my verses for the King.¹

      That theme would be men, friendship, leadership—and how that applies to living life in our day and culture. And of course, this is largely defined by your relationships with people and your relationship with God—your own Fear of the LORD. Just as it was among David and his Mighty Men.

      Do you know about David’s Mighty Men? I predict a few of you do, but most of you don’t. I’ll sum it up for you here, then add some fascinating and pertinent details in the following pages. They were, I believe, the most courageous and effective special forces warriors in all of history. They started out as misfits and rebels, fleeing from Saul, king of Israel, around 1000 B.C., gathering around their leader and anointed successor to the same throne, David. A summary of their exploits and names are found primarily in two Bible passages, 2 Samuel 23 and 1 Chronicles 11. The genesis and journey of their lives together are found interlaced with David’s story as it unfolds on the pages of biblical history, in the mountains of Israel.

      Kings and relating to them are more important to you than you may know. This is still true for our times, as I intend to show. David and his Mighty Men wrote the book on this subject, 1000 years before the King of Kings, the Son of David, appeared in the Roman Empire as prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures², born in David’s town, Bethlehem.³

      A little history study will show you that David’s day was very much like our own. So we can learn much about our times and how to conduct ourselves from this study of the past. I remember a quote from my college Western Civilization book, History teaches us that man learns nothing from history. While there is a lot of sad irony and truth to this, it doesn’t have to be this way. Winston Churchill said, The farther backward you look, the farther forward you are likely to see.⁴

      It’s my hope and prayer that this short look at David and his Mighty Men will inspire you, inform you, and embolden you to be a man in your realm today. A man of relationship, friendship, leadership, humility and courage—like the sons of Issachar coming to make David King in Hebron, men who understood the times, and knew what Israel should do.⁵ There is something here that deeply touches a man’s soul. I think it’s what we all aspire to—something about our destiny, what we’re born to do.

      Know what else we’re born for? Relationship. It’s an inward need and a most fulfilling end. While the Bible speaks to history, science, religion, philosophy, psychology, etc., it’s primarily a book about relationship. From Genesis to Revelation, it’s a story about a King and His bride, Christ and the Church, God and Israel. It’s a story and textbook about one of life’s mysteries and treasures—friendship. Jesus said, I no longer call you servants….Instead I have called you friends.⁶

      I’m very grateful for parents who taught and modeled much about friendship for me and my siblings. And I’m grateful to have been raised and formed in Christian community, where I learned the value of finding fulfillment in friendship.

      Certainly David, the shepherd king of Israel, interacting with his Mighty Men, teaches us much about friendship: how to be a friend and how to value friends. We see the lows of poor friendships, the highs of great friendships, and the courage and necessity to risk friendship. Indeed, I once noticed this insightful passage, from which springs the title of this little book. After a long list of David’s officers, confidants, stewards, advisors, generals, and rulers, there is named: "Hushai the Archite…the king’s friend."⁷

      "The king’s friend. May this book give you a vision for becoming a better friend of the KING." And for becoming a better friend to all those in your realm. It will be an important part of your destiny and the enjoyment of your life’s journey.

      Besides understanding our times and how we should live, besides understanding how to relate to authority and the King, besides understanding the power and importance of friendship, I want to say something about being a man—being a man under God.

      One of my spiritual mentors, Charles Simpson, said in a sermon about Moses, God’s plan isn’t a plan; it’s a man. He gave several other examples from Scripture and history, then went on to say, the purposes of God are carried on the shoulders of sanctified men, not on an oxcart or any creation of man. This is a reference to the ark of the covenant. Indeed, again, David teaches us about the fear of the LORD. It was a lesson bitterly learned when his friend Uzzah was struck dead,

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