{"id":18,"date":"2013-05-29T02:53:34","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T07:53:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2019-04-10T13:27:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T18:27:11","slug":"preview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?page_id=18","title":{"rendered":"Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"frontcover\"<\/a>From a Tokyo hotel room in the middle of the night, I ponder how to introduce this humble writ. I\u2019m a former fighter pilot and an airline pilot, not a writer. I know it\u2019s to be short, hard hitting, and to the point; or most men won\u2019t read it. I also know that\u2019s not like me. The Holy Spirit will have to help me … help I feel He\u2019s promised. Although I don\u2019t know where or how to start, I do feel like David when he penned, \u201cMy heart is stirred by a noble theme, as I recite my verses for the King.\u201d<\/p>\n

That theme would be men, friendship, leadership\u2014and 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\u2014your own \u201cFear of the LORD.\u201d Just as it was among David and his Mighty Men.<\/p>\n

Do you know about David\u2019s Mighty Men? I predict a few of you do, but most of you don\u2019t. I\u2019ll 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\u2019s story as it unfolds on the pages of biblical history, in the mountains of Israel.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cwrote the book\u201d on\u00a0this subject, 1000 years before the King of Kings, the Son of David, appeared in the Roman Empire as prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures, born in David\u2019s town, Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

A little history study will show you that David\u2019s 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, \u201cHistory teaches us that man learns nothing from history.\u201d While there is a lot of sad irony and truth to this, it doesn\u2019t have to be this way. Winston Churchill said, \u201cThe farther backward you look, the farther forward you are likely to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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\u2014like the sons of Issachar coming to make David King in Hebron, \u201cmen who understood the times, and knew what Israel should do.\u201d\u00a0What you say and do describes your character, but as stated above, more so what you do. I suggest that\u2019s important to God. He cares. He watches. He\u2019s looking for a few good men. And He\u2019s looking for a few good friends, suitable friends for His Son, the King: \u201cFor the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.\u201d<\/p>\n

To understand a little better the value of men and friends to God, note a couple of things the Holy Spirit says in the Scripture about David. One, David was a man after God\u2019s own heart.\u00a0 Two, \u201cDavid, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep….\u201d Those are two amazing commendations! \u201cA Heart Like His,\u201d as Beth Moore has titled her book about David. And he accomplished God\u2019s purpose in his generation. Fulfilled his destiny! Pleased his God!<\/p>\n

God takes pleasure in a man who\u2019ll be a man. God wants to take pleasure in you. As David told his son Solomon, successor to the throne, \u201c… now show yourself a man.\u201d<\/p>\n

***********************<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that was David,\u201d you say! \u201cI\u2019m just me, and I\u2019m coming from way back in the pack toward anything like that!\u201d I\u2019ll just remind you that James, the brother of Jesus, said by the Spirit, \u201cElijah was a man with a nature like ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, a man who committed adultery with the wife of a trusted friend, then had his friend killed to avoid exposure of his sin, had much to learn. That would be David. But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself.<\/p>\n

As we take this short journey with David and his Mighty Men, remember with me the joys of manhood, friendship, and a life lived with God. It\u2019s a high calling. It\u2019s the high road. Let\u2019s take it!<\/p>\n

www.amazon.com<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Radio Interview<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Book Trailer<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0AFR Radio Interview June 2014<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From a Tokyo hotel room in the middle of the night, I ponder how to introduce this humble writ. I\u2019m a former fighter pilot and an airline pilot, not a writer. I know it\u2019s to be short, hard hitting, and to the point; or most men won\u2019t read it. I also know that\u2019s not like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2079,"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/2079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}