From Ronald L.

Darts Program Notes

The Genesis of Leadership
July 15, 2014
Volume 19, Number 7
Christian Educational Ministries
Who would you say in the Bible is
the greatest example of
leadershipapart from Jesus, of
course? Now, without a doubt, you
may come up with Moses, for
example, or some other individual,
but there is no contestthe man is
David. When it comes to David, we
dont need modifiers. You dont
have to call him King David; you
dont have to call him David, the
son of Jesse. Simply say David, any
Bible reader knows precisely who
you are talking about. One of the
reasons is because his name occurs
over one thousand times in the
Bible. All indications are that, no
one else in the Bible was ever
named David. And that, by itself, is
truly remarkable. Youd think
someone; somewhere would have
named a boy David, after David,
because David was such a
powerful figure and leader in
Israels history.
He was easily the most
influential and the most dominant
figure in the Old Testament. Then
the question is how early in
Davids life did the leadership
characteristics begin to show up?
And what can you look for in this
man that will help you become a
better leader? What are the
characteristicsthe things that
make up a great leader?
David was not only a leader; he
was handsome, fair-haired, and
good to look at. Frankly a very
remarkable person in many ways.
His brothers looked at him
differently, which is not unusual.
His oldest brother may have thought
of David as being arrogantmaybe
too big for his britches.
The story of how this begins to
develop is very familiar to all of us.
Many sermons and Bible studies
have been given about it.
There came a day when Israel
was arrayed in battle against the
Philistines. All of Jesses sons,
except David, were in the army and
were ready to fight with the
Philistines. Now, in those days, the
provisions, lets say, that were
made for an army were nothing like
we have today. A soldier had to
carry his own food. He had to
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
The Genesis of Leadership ......... 1
From Ronald L. Darts notes
CEM Gives More Than It Sells ........ 1
CEM Changes Feast Venue............. 2
Why Volunteer? .......................... 2
By Linda Benton
In Memory .................................. 4
continued on page 3 . . .
CEM Gives More Than It Sells. . .
Mr. Dart has often said that we give away all that we can and we sell
the rest. We are a donor-supported ministry for the most partas you
know we do sell some things. But the following statistics may surprise
you: This year, CEM has shipped approximately 24,556 items as of this
past week. Ninety-one per cent (22,289) of those went out FREE of
charge. What you give to CEM is helping many people receive the
Gospel FREE. Were a small organization, Gods little flock, trying to
do all we can for our Lord and Savior. Many people are being served
by Christian Educational Ministries and the Born to Win broadcast.
Being a ministry, and not a church, we have a unique service to offer
you. Few, if any, have the wide array of literature, youth materials,
outstanding and insightful books, interesting and thought-provoking
sermons and Bible studies on CDs by Ronald L. Dart to offer. CEM
fills a unique niche that other organizations are not equipped to provide
and were here to serve you. Our goal is to equip you for eternal life
and a reward youll be pleased to receive.
page 2
CEM Changes Feast Venue
To Provide You With A More Joyful Feast
After much prayer and consideration,
we feel God has led us to bring this
Years Feast of Tabernacles to our
own Rose City, Tyler, Texas. For
eight days we will worship God and
his son, Jesus Christ, learn, rest,
play, eat, and bond with many
brothers and sisters.
In addition to our usual activities
we will be able to have a pre-
service coffee and donut bar. For
your convenience and to keep your
costs down, a delicious fellowship
luncheon will be provided by CEM
each day. Every opportunity will be
provided to truly feast together.
Great housing is available in
every price rangecamping in Tyler
State Park, nice bed and breakfasts,
many hotels and suites, vacation
rentals on Lake Palestine and Lake
Tyler, Silverleaf Resort time-shares
and convenient RV parks nearby.
Tyler is an easy drive from
Interstate 20. You can fly into Dallas/
Fort Worth, Shreveport or into
Tylers own Pounds Field Airport or
ride into nearby Longview on
Amtrak and rent a car to come into
Tyler.
Christian living and educational
seminars will be provided for your
spiritual growth. Well lift our
voices in praise to God. Were
working on scheduling outstanding
speakers to meet your spiritual needs
with timely, educational, and
inspirational sermons that will move
you to action. We understand well,
the world is in chaos and our time is
short. CEM wants to provide
messages to fortify you for what lies
ahead.
Were striving to make this the
warmest, most spiritual Feast you
have ever attended. Come join us
and volunteer to make this happen.
Call 1-888-242-5344 with any
questions and to volunteer to make
this your best Feast ever. Go to our
website and watch for more details.
Were looking forward to sharing
this Feast with you. Please let us
know youre coming so we can plan.
We are all so busy. There is so much
to do for our own families and in our
own homes that it seems as if we
dont have time to do extra. We
would like to get out of our rut, do
something to serve others, perhaps
learn a new skill or make some new
friends. Is it possible volunteering
can help fill those needs? YES!
Becoming a volunteer puts you in
situations where you can meet new
people and make new friends. These
opportunities can put you in
situations that help improve your
social skills and develop
relationships with others who share
interests with you.
Helping out can boost your self-
confidence and feelings of overall
satisfaction with life. When you do
good for others, you focus on them
and their needs. Meeting the needs of
others creates a positive feeling
Why Volunteer?
By Linda Benton
about your own life even when faced
with your own life challenges.
Volunteering can actually
increase your happiness according
to a study done by the London
School of Economics examining the
relationship between volunteering
and measures of happiness in a large
group of American adults. Compared
with adults who never volunteer, the
odds of being very happy rose 7%
for those who volunteer monthly and
12% for those who volunteer every
two to four weeks. Giving time to
religious organizations had the
greatest impact.
Being a volunteer can help
improve your skills. Is there a skill
you want to enhance? Public
speaking, teamwork, communication,
compassion? Volunteering gives you
the opportunity to practice important
skills to use at work, home, or church.
Volunteering can be fun and
energizing. You feel happier. You are
needed. You are focused. There are
many benefits you can get from
volunteering. What you need to
receive those benefits is a desire to
help, a willingness to learn, and a
positive attitude.
CEM developed a model for a
successful Feast by giving volunteers
the opportunity to serve and to be a
part of the success of the Feast. We
have many opportunities to serve at
this Feast as well, including: giving
seminars, ushering, song leading,
YEA, organizing activities such as
the picnic, helping with daily
fellowship luncheons, and helping
with registration and information.
Thank you for calling us at 1-888-
242-5344, if you want the blessings
that come from volunteering.
page 3
The Genesis of Leadership
continued from page 1 . . .
provide for his own uniforms and,
chances are, he had to get his own
weapons as well.
On this particular occasion,
Jesse sent David, his youngest son,
with foodbreadto carry up to
his brothers, who were on the front
line of the battle. The story begins
in 1 Samuel 17.
David reached the camp as the
army was going out to its battle
position shouting the war cry. Israel
and the Philistines were drawing up
their lines facing each other. A
peculiar thing about war in that day
among Arab peoples, down into this
millennium, and certainly, into the
last millennium, would be that the
armies would engage in displays.
They would ride their horses back
and forth, waving their scimitars in
the air. The armies would line up
opposite one another, rattle their
swords and shields, and shout and
so forthall this intimidation going
on against the other side.
It was also not uncommon in
those days for two champions to
fight the battle. One man against one
man and the outcome would decide
the war. Kind of a bloody, binding
arbitration. Well, that was what was
going on hereall kinds of
brandishing of weapons, shouting
back and forth across the lines,
building up the courage of the two
armies.
When David heard all this going
on, he left his things with the keeper
of supplies and ran to the battle
lines to greet his brothers. As he
was talking with them, Goliath, the
Philistine, the champion from Gath,
stepped out of the lines and shouted
his usual defiance and David heard
it. When the Israelites saw the man,
they all ran from him in great fear (1
Samuel 17:24). Not just because
this man was a great fighter, he was
huge. He was a giant of a man. His
shield and his sword and his spear
were hugeit would take a man his
size to even be able to use them in
combat.
And all the men of Israel, when
they saw the man, fled from him,
and were sore afraid. And the men
of Israel said, Have ye seen this
man that is come up? surely to defy
Israel is he come up: and it shall be,
that the man who killeth him, the
king will enrich him with great
riches, and will give him his
daughter, and make his fathers
house free in Israel (1 Samuel
17:24-25).
And David spake to the men
that stood by him, saying, What
shall be done to the man that killeth
this Philistine, and taketh away the
reproach from Israel? for who is
this uncircumcised Philistine, that
he should defy the armies of the
living God? (v. 26).
For David, the equation was
really simple. This man was defying
not just Israel, not just Saul, he was
defying not just the armies of
anybody, but the Living God. And,
for David, that clarified the issue
enormously. He was an
uncomplicated manable to see the
issue clearly. He was able to brush
off all the extraneous stuff and go
straight to the heart of a matter. It
seems for some reason, complicated
men do not make great leaders.
Shall I say it again? Complicated
men do not make great leaders.
This is not to suggest that David
was simple-minded, rather, that he
was single minded. And theres a
huge difference between the two.
He immediately saw what was at
issue was simple. Someone has to
fight this man and win. Analyzing
him wasnt going to make it any
easier or any better. It was not going
to change the outcome. Somebody
just had to go out there and fight and
win. The quicker, the better. It calls
to mind what James said in his
statement. A double-minded man is
unstable in all his ways (James
1:8).
What hes talking about here is
the difference between the single-
minded man, and the complicated or
double-minded man, who cant
make up his mind about stuff. He is
unstable in all of his ways. It isnt
necessarily even talking about being
two-faced. Its talking about the
ability to see something, decide,
and act. The double-minded man is
likely to consider the single-minded
man as reckless, stubborn, arrogant,
rashtake your pick. But the
double-minded man will look with
contempt upon the single-minded
man and think this poor fool just
doesnt understand what it is hes
getting in to. The double-minded
man doesnt want to rush into
anything; he wants to analyze the
problem, think it through, get
advice, get help in solving the
problem, marshal that around, and
then maybe, someday, make up his
mind to actually go out and do
something. Many times it would be
a whole lot better to just do it,
instead of sitting around trying to
figure the angles on things.
So, one gem of leadership you
can derive from David is the benefit
of being single-minded. How early
in Davids life did this appear?
Well, it was there when we first
heard of him. It wasnt something
continued on page 4 . . .
page 4
The Genesis of Leadership
continued from page 3 . . .
that showed up after many, many
years of experience.
They repeated to him what they
had been saying, and they told him,
This is what will be done for the
man that kills him. Now Eliab,
Davids oldest brother, heard him
speaking with the men, and he got
hot under the collar and said, Why
have you come down here? And
with whom did you leave that
handful of sheep in the desert? I
know how conceited you are and
how wicked your heart is. You came
down here to watch the battle (1
Samuel 17:27-28).
Eliab saw David as arrogant
and conceited, and people who
know their own mind are often seen
that way. Think about that. People
who know their own mind, know
who they are, know what they stand
for, know what theyre going to do
and what theyre not going to do,
are often seen as conceited and
arrogant.
Then he turned away to
someone else, and he brought up the
same matter and the man answered
him just as before. What David said
was overheard, and reported to
Saul, and Saul sent for him. When
David got there, he said, Dont let
anyone lose heart because of this
Philistine, your servant will go out
and fight him (1 Samuel 17:31-32).
Saul replied, You cant go out
and fight this Philistine, youre a
boy. Hes been a fighting man since
he was a boy! But David said to
Saul, No, I was keeping my
fathers sheep when a lion and bear
came out and carried off a sheep
from the flock. I went after it, struck
it and rescued the sheep from its
mouth. When it turned on me, I
seized it by its hair, struck it and
killed it! Your servant killed both
the lion and the bear and this
uncircumcised Philistine will be
like one of them because he has
defied the armies of the living God
(1 Samuel 17:33).
Ill do itdont let anybody
worry about this guy. I will fight
him. Cocky, isnt he? Oh, certainly
his brothers thought he was cocky.
Not because he was a better fighter,
not for any particular reason, but he
was not afraid. Here was a young
man who had foughtengaged in
hand-to-hand combatand had
killed with his own hands, both a
lion and a bear. And, you know if
youve ever wrestled with your
dog, you understand how strong
animals can be. A big dog can be
very, very strong, and a bear is
beyond the capabilities of most
men. But, of course, he had a knife
and he killed this bear and he killed
the lion, and he was not afraid.
Now, he may have been cocky,
but he had guts to go with it and so
he was ready. For David, the
equation was simple: when you are
faced with danger, you face up to it
and you fight. Thats what single-
minded people do. And, you do it
sooner, rather than later. Do it now.
So there is some justification in
accusing a bold leader of being
reckless.
The story of Davids leadership
skills is absolutely fascinating. You
need to hear the remainder of the
CD, and your children and
grandchildren need to listen as
well. We could be facing tough
times. We simply dont have good
leadership in our nation at this time.
But you can step up to the plate in
you church, your home, and your
community, and make a difference.
This CD, The Genesis of
Leadership, gives you the outline
the outline of how to develop into a
powerful leader. Order it today by
calling 1-888-BIBLE-44 (1-888-
242-5344). Well make it simple for
you.
PO Box 560
Whitehouse, Texas 75791
phone: 1-888-BIBLE-44
fax: 903-839-9311
e-mail: adm@borntowin.net
website: www.borntowin.net
That the man of God may be proficient
and equipped for every good work.
Christian Educational
Ministries
In Memory In Memory In Memory In Memory In Memory
Christian Educational Ministries is
most grateful for the generous
contribution made in memory of
Thalia Hufton. Everyone has been
shocked and saddened by Thalias
untimely death June 27
th
. She was
the wife of Ian Hufton, a minister in
Gods church. Thalia was also
survived by her three children,
Philip, Amie, and Lora. Among
other things, Thalia was a midwife
who delivered upwards of 60
precious little ones in a yeareven
going to Turkey twice to deliver
babies. Ian and Thalia had recently
gone to England for a Bricket Wood
reunion. I can think of no one who
was more giving and serving. She
was truly a saint who will be
terribly missed by many. Please
pray for her family.