The David Alliance

[email protected]

The David Alliance 

Garth Heckman

The battle of David and Goliath was never really about David and Goliath. It was the culmination of Israel's spiritual decline under Saul, and the first visible sign that God had already been at work preparing a different kind of leader — one after His own heart.

1 Samuel 17

41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.

45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

David's arrival on the battlefield was jarring precisely because of the contrast. He was young, unarmored, and inexperienced — but he carried something the entire army had lost: a reference point for who God was.

David doesn’t call out the enemy, he calls out his tactics… His weapons of choice. 

WHY? 

In 1 Samuel 17:45, David identifies a three-fold physical threat. 

In John 10:10, Jesus identifies a three-fold spiritual threat. They map onto each other in a way that shows how the enemy operates:

| Goliath’s Arsenal (1 Samuel 17:45) | The Thief’s Mission (John 10:10) | The Spiritual Parallel 

  -  The Sword.  |  To Steal   | Goliath relied on his sword to strip Israel of their land, their freedom, and their identity. The enemy wants to rob you of your peace and purpose. 

The Spear.  |   To Kill | A spear is designed for a direct, fatal strike. Goliath’s   Literal goal was to end David’s life; the thief's goal is total spiritual death.

The Javelin   |   To Destroy   |  A javelin is thrown from a distance, bringing unexpected, widespread ruin. The enemy aims for complete devastation of your life and relationships. 

The Core Contrast: Flesh vs. Spirit

The real tie-in between these two passages is the **source of victory** that both David and Jesus point to. Both stories set up a stark contrast between reliance on worldly power and reliance on divine power.

 * **David’s Answer:** Right after naming Goliath's weapons, David says, *"But I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts."* He acknowledges the physical threat but completely bypasses it by relying on God's authority.

 * **Jesus’ Answer:** Right after naming the thief's three-fold threat, Jesus says, *"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."*

[email protected] 

The David Alliance

Garth Heckman

VERY FAMILIAR STORY -  

*TIED TO MY NOTES TODAY

THE BUILD UP and DEMISE OF ISRAEL 

THE PEOPLE WANTED A MAN OVER GOD (They wanted a King)… Here is an old quote: when more than one votes… you can assure its the wrong decision.

It wasn’t a King that was truly the problem - 

BUT RATHER following a man, that was the problem. It was the peoples desire to follow a King over a prophet who followed God.

     ***No one voted a prophet in.

        ****People choose a King, God chooses a prophet. 

Saul offers false sacrifices

Saul chooses to disobey Gods orders to wipe out the Amakalites 

Saul becomes erratic and tormented by demonic spirits 

Saul now operates out of fear

 *Israel and the army now saw their enemies the way their leader did - IN FEAR.

The battle of David and Goliath was never really about David and Goliath. It was the culmination of Israel's spiritual decline under Saul, and the first visible sign that God had already been at work preparing a different kind of leader — one after His own heart.

1 Samuel 17

41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.

45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

[email protected]

The David Alliance

Garth Heckman

The David Alliance

[email protected]

Garth Heckman

Are you able to ask for directions? Why do men get made fun of for not asking for directions… I have never had a problem with asking for directions… but I guess some men do. Hmmmm weird, but anyway there is a myth out there called 

The Myth of the Maverick

Gentlemen, let’s be honest about something.

For most of us, asking for help doesn’t just feel uncomfortable. It feels like an admission of weakness or defeat. We’ve been conditioned to believe that a real leader is a lone warrior—the man who has all the answers, carries all the weight, and never, ever shows a crack in his armor.

We look at asking for help as a white flag. We think it means: "I am not strong enough. I am failing."

But I want to challenge that today. Keeping your mouth shut when you are drowning isn’t leadership. It’s pride. And biblically speaking, isolation is the most dangerous position a man can put himself in.

Look at the life of Moses in Exodus 18.

Moses was the ultimate leader. He led millions of people out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea, and spoke to God face-to-face. Talk about a resume. But Moses fell into the trap of the "Maverick." He was sitting from morning until night, trying to judge every single dispute for the entire nation of Israel by himself. He was carrying the whole weight on his own shoulders.

His father-in-law, Jethro, watches this play out and gives him a brutal reality check in Exodus 18:17-18:

"What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone."

Notice what Jethro didn't say. He didn’t say, "Moses, you lack vision." He didn't say, "Moses, you lack character or anointed power." He said, "The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone."

Even the most anointed, powerful leader in the Old Testament had human limitations. Moses’ value didn't drop because he needed help; his leadership capacity expanded when he accepted it. He appointed capable men to share the burden, and only then did the nation thrive.

Men, true biblical leadership is never about independence; it is about interdependence.

God did not design you to be a solo operator. Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

When you refuse to ask for help—whether it’s in your marriage, your business, your mental health, or your spiritual life—you aren't protecting your leadership. You are starving it. You are cutting yourself off from the strategic reinforcement God has placed around you.

Asking for help is not a failure of leadership; it is an act of strategic ownership. It’s looking at the mission and saying, "The mission is more important than my ego. Winning the battle matters more than me getting the credit for doing it alone."

Let’s drop the lone-wolf act. Real strength is having the courage to look a brother in the eye and say, "The work is too heavy today. I need another strand in the cord."

That’s not weakness. That is how kingdoms are built.

The David Alliance

[email protected] 

Garth Heckman

Driving with Kim in the car when we were first married. I pulled a gun on a guy in a corvette! 

I was on my way to Youth Group - I was the youth pastor.

Judges 6 

11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

13 “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

1. He Was Living in Poverty and Oppression

For seven years, Israel had been brutally oppressed by the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern peoples. The oppression was so severe that the Israelites had abandoned their homes in the valleys to live in dens, caves, and strongholds in the mountains (Judges 6:2).

The invaders would sweep through the land like locusts, destroying crops and slaughtering livestock. The text notes that Israel was "brought very low" because of Midian. Gideon wasn't a wealthy noble or a ruling judge; he was a victim of a devastating, nationwide economic and military siege.

2. He Was Hiding in a Winepress

When the Angel of the Lord finds Gideon, he is threshing wheat in a winepress (Judges 6:11).

Operating out of fear, survival and panic.

3. He Was From an Insignificant, Idol-Worshipping Family

4. He Was Battling Deep Skepticism and Grief

Gideon’s immediate reaction to the Angel’s blessing ("The Lord is with you, mighty warrior") is not pride, but bitter skepticism. He looked at his current reality and concluded that God had abandoned them:

The Irony of the Title

When God calls Gideon a "mighty warrior," Gideon is:

The title was prophetic. God was not validating Gideon’s current resume; He was naming the potential that He was about to unlock through His own power.

When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon in Judges 6:12 and addressed him as a "mighty warrior" it was a statement of what God would do through him, not a description of who Gideon currently was.

He saw what he would do - which in turn is who he would be - in turn is who He really was in Gods eyes! 

Can an egg fly?

Can a puppy protect you? 

Can an acorn shade, protect and feed thousands of animals?

Can a spark destroy city? 

We see an egg - God sees an eagle!

We see a puppy - God sees the Rottweiler that attacked the sex predator who ran into the Childs yard. 

We see an acorn - God sees The Foret de Trancais 26,000 acre forest

We see a spark - God sees the Chinchaga fire burning 4.2 million acres. 

Do you think when Jesus saw the disciples arguing over who would be the greatest, when Peter would deny him, when Thomas would doubt him, when they would not understand simple scripture, when they could not heal a boy, or worried over storms, food or religious leaders… HE SAW THEIR STORY! You will all be so committed and change the world so powerfully that they will need to Kill you to stop you! And you will be honored to give your life for me! 

How does Jesus see us?

We are salt

We are light

We are friends

We are secure in him

We have overcome the world

We will do greater works then Jesus

We will have rivers of living water flow out of us

We will tread on serpents, scorpions, nothing will hurt us

We are plugged directly into him

He is always with us

We will crush the serpents head

We are the head and not the tail

We wear a robe of righteousness

We are more than conquerors 

EVEN WITH THE DISCIPLES… JESUS WOULD BE DISAPPOINTED IN THEM - BUT NEVER REJECT THEM OR GET ANGRY AT THEM OR SHAMED THEM.

Rather he would

Ask a question

Correct their perception

And never reject them. 

2 Kings 6 The King of Aram is mad and thinks there is a traitor. It is Elisha… Go kill him.

 -  14 So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.

15 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha.

16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

   -  Its right there! 

What is? Your answer - it’s right there. You just can’t see it. 

**Yesterday I was praying and seeking Gods wisdom on finances… he pointed to my kitchen table and showed me a stack of money… he said its right there. You just can’t see it… but its there.

You might think you can’t see it because you are in the dark… no you are not in the dark, you are in the preparation phase which can feel like the dark.

The Chinese Bamboo Tree (your example)

Spends the first 5 years growing almost nothing above ground while developing a massive, deep root system. In the 6th year, it can grow 80–90 feet in just 6 weeks.

The Saguaro Cactus

Grows extremely slowly — often only 1–2 inches in the first 10 years. It can take 30–40 years before it even grows its first arm. Then, once established, it can live 150–200 years and reach 40–60 feet tall.

Garth Heckman

The David Alliance

[email protected] 

#The brotherhood manifesto

#TripleCsurvivor 

Taking up your cross" is often viewed through a lens of submission, but when analyzed through the mechanics of character and endurance, it reveals itself as a high-level feat of internal power.

Here are three talking points on why this act represents the ultimate expression of strength:

1. The Mastery of Volitional Suffering

True strength is rarely found in the absence of pain, but rather in the voluntary adoption of responsibility despite it. Most people spend their lives fleeing discomfort or seeking the path of least resistance. To "take up a cross" is to consciously choose a difficult path for the sake of a higher purpose. It requires a level of psychological and spiritual fortitude that far exceeds mere physical exertion because it involves silencing the primal instinct for self-preservation in favor of duty.

2. The Weight of Integrity Over Ego

The "cross" often represents the heavy burden of standing for truth, even when it is socially or personally costly. It is easy to be "strong" when the crowd is cheering you on; it is a monumental feat of strength to carry a conviction that makes you a target. This represents the shift from external validation to internal alignment. It takes more "lifting power" to carry the weight of one's principles through a storm of opposition than it does to follow the momentum of the status quo.

3. Absolute Discipline of the Will

In any high-performance endeavor, the greatest enemy is the "inner quitter"—the part of the mind that seeks comfort when the load gets heavy. Taking up your cross is the ultimate exercise in willpower over whim. It is a daily, repetitive commitment to a mission that offers no immediate physical reward. This type of endurance builds a "moral callus," transforming a person from someone who reacts to their environment into someone who purposefully shapes their character through sustained, disciplined action.

This concept suggests that the strongest person in the room isn't necessarily the one with the most power over others, but the one with the most po

[email protected]

The David Alliance 

Garth Heckman

The Busy Man's Substitute

There is something about a man that would rather build something than bow to something.

Give a man a mission and he'll work himself to exhaustion. Ask that same man to sit quietly in prayer for thirty minutes and he'll suddenly remember seventeen things that need to get done first.

We are, by nature, doers. And somewhere along the way, we convinced ourselves that doing things for God was the same as being with God.

It is not.

The Scripture

"But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed — or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.'" — Luke 10:40–42

Now before you say "that's a story about women" — slow down.

Martha is every man who has ever stayed busy for God while quietly avoiding intimacy with God. She wasn't sinning. She was serving. She was working hard, doing good things, keeping everything moving.

And Jesus gently called it a distraction.

The Honest Truth About Why We'd Rather Work

1. Work gives us something to show for ourselves. Prayer produces nothing we can photograph, present, or point to. You can't put thirty minutes of quiet conversation with God on a report. But a new ministry program? A mission trip organized? A church built? That's something. That feels like proof we matter.

The hard truth is that a lot of what we call "work for God" is really work for our own sense of worth. We need to feel productive. We need to feel useful. Sitting in silence with God doesn't feed that hunger — it exposes it.

2. Work keeps us in control. When you're managing a project, you hold the pen. You make the calls. You set the timeline.

Prayer requires the opposite posture. It requires you to come to Someone greater than yourself, admit you don't have all the answers, and wait. For a man wired to lead and fix and solve — that is genuinely uncomfortable. We don't like waiting. We don't like not knowing. And prayer, at its core, is an act of surrender.

3. Work keeps us from the conversation we're afraid to have. Here's the one most men won't say out loud: sometimes we stay busy because being still means being honest. And being honest with God means the real stuff surfaces — the fear, the failure, the sin we've been managing around, the doubt we've never admitted to anyone.

A project never asks you how you're really doing. God always does.

The Deeper Problem

When a man substitutes work for prayer, he doesn't just miss out on rest — he starts running on his own fuel. And a man running on his own fuel will eventually hit empty at exactly the wrong moment.

Every great project built without a foundation of prayer is just a man's plan with God's name on it.

Moses didn't lead two million people through the desert on strategy. David didn't defeat Goliath on confidence. Nehemiah didn't rebuild the wall on project management skills. Each of them had one thing in common before the great work began — they had been alone with God long enough to know it was His work and not theirs.

The work they did for God flowed out of the time they spent with God. That order matters more than most men realize.

The Gut Check

Ask yourself honestly:

The Invitation

Jesus didn't say Martha's work was wrong. He said Mary's choice was better.

The better thing is not always the bigger thing. Sometimes the most powerful thing a man can do for God's kingdom is close the laptop, silence the phone, sit down in a quiet room and say —

"I'm here. Not to report. Not to plan. Not to ask for anything. Just — here."

That kind of prayer doesn't feel productive. It doesn't look like much from the outside.

But it is the one thing that turns ordinary men into dangerous ones.

Because a man who knows how to be with God is a man God can trust with the work.

Closing Prayer

Lord, forgive me for the times I mistook my busyness for faithfulness. Teach me that You want my presence before You want my productivity. Still the part of me that needs to perform — and grow the part of me that simply needs You. Amen.

"Be still and know that I am God." — Psalm 46:10

The David Alliance

[email protected] 

Garth Heckman

Point 1 — Your Voice Creates Identity in Those Who Have Never Heard Their Name Called Right

One of the deepest wounds of fatherlessness is not just the absence of provision or protection — it is the absence of being named. A father's voice is the first place a child learns who they are. When that voice is gone, the void doesn't stay empty. The street fills it. Culture fills it. Peers fill it. Trauma fills it.

When a man speaks affirmation, correction, vision, and truth into a young person's life — especially a young man who has never had that — it is not a small thing. It is reconstructive. You are not just encouraging someone. You are building an identity that was never built.

"The tongue has the power of life and death." — Proverbs 18:21

Words from the right man at the right moment can redirect an entire life trajectory. Don't underestimate what it means to simply say — "I see you. I believe in you. You have what it takes." Many young men are starving for exactly that sentence from a man they respect.

Point 2 — Silence Is Not Neutral — It Is a Decision With Consequences

Many men stay silent because they feel unqualified. They think — "I have my own issues. Who am I to speak into someone else's life?" But in a fatherless generation, a good man's silence is one of the most destructive forces in a community.

When men don't speak up — in homes, in churches, in neighborhoods, in the lives of boys watching them — those boys don't experience a neutral environment. They experience abandonment again. The absence of a voice teaches its own lesson: "You are not worth my words. You are not worth my time."

"And I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap... but I found none." — Ezekiel 22:30

God is not looking for perfect men. He is looking for present ones. Men willing to stand in the gap. The bar is not perfection — it is availability. Your broken, imperfect, still-being-sanctified voice is infinitely more powerful than a polished silence.

Point 3 — Your Voice Has a Generational Reach You Cannot Fully See

Most men who step up to speak into a fatherless generation will never know the full weight of what they did. You may pour into a 14-year-old boy for two years and feel like nothing stuck — and then that boy becomes a 30-year-old father who raises his children differently because of something you said that he never forgot.

This is the nature of generational impact. You are not just speaking to the person in front of you. You are speaking to everyone they will ever raise, lead, or influence. The ripple goes further than your eyes can follow.

"A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children." — Proverbs 13:22

That inheritance is not just financial. It is verbal, moral, and spiritual. Every word of truth, every moment of correction wrapped in love, every time you call out greatness in someone who couldn't see it themselves — that is inheritance. That is legacy. And in a generation starving for fathers, one man with a willing voice can father hundreds without ever being their biological dad.

Closing Charge to Men

You did not choose the generation you were born into — but you were placed here on purpose. The fatherlessness around you is not just a social statistic. It is your assignment. Open your mouth. Speak life. Show up. The generation coming behind you is not looking for perfect men. They are simply looking for men who stayed.

The David Alliance

[email protected] 

Garth Heckman

1. Discipline over Impulse: * Weakness is being a slave to your temper or your ego.

Discipline Over Impulse: The Strength of the Sovereign Man

Introduction

There is a lie our culture has accepted — that the loudest man in the room is the strongest. That the one who strikes first, speaks harshest, and bends to every impulse is somehow powerful. But Scripture tells a different story. True strength was never about what you can do. It's about what you choose not to do.

Point 1 — The Slave and the Sovereign

"Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control." — Proverbs 25:28

A city with no walls isn't free — it's exposed. Vulnerable to any enemy that wanders by. The man who cannot govern his temper or his ego is the same. Every outburst is a breach in the wall. Every reaction hands your power to the person or moment that triggered it. You think you're expressing strength, but you're actually being owned — by your emotions, by your circumstances, by whoever knows which buttons to push.

The slave obeys every impulse. The sovereign chooses his response.

Point 2 — The Loaded Gun in the Holster

"Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city." — Proverbs 16:32

Restraint is not weakness. It is disciplined capacity. There is a profound difference between a man who is peaceful because he has no power, and a man who is peaceful because he has mastered it. One is gentle by default. The other is gentle by decision.

God isn't calling us to be toothless. He's calling us to be trustworthy with teeth. The lion doesn't prove itself by attacking every creature it meets — its restraint is part of what makes it formidable. Keep the capacity for fury. Earn the character for peace. That combination commands respect in a way that raw aggression never will.

Point 3 — Impulse Makes You Predictable, Discipline Makes You Free

"A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel." — Proverbs 15:18

When you live by impulse, you become readable. Anyone who wants to manipulate you simply needs to poke the right nerve. Your anger becomes their weapon. But the disciplined man is unpredictable in the best way — because he doesn't respond, he decides. He separates the stimulus from the response and in that space, lives his freedom.

This is what the fruit of the Spirit is really describing in Galatians 5 — self-control isn't listed last because it matters least. It's listed last because it holds everything else together. Love, joy, peace — none of those survive without the man who can govern himself.

Conclusion

The world will tell you to let it out, follow your heart, say what you feel. But undisciplined men don't build anything lasting — not families, not legacies, not kingdoms. The sovereign man understands that every time he chooses discipline over impulse, he reclaims a piece of himself that the moment was trying to steal. You were not made to be owned by your emotions. You were made to rule them — and in doing so, to be trusted with far greater things.

Garth Heckman

The David Alliance

[email protected] 

#The brotherhood manifesto

#TripleCsurvivor 

Canker sores

Mark 6:10 Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

1. Release Responsibility — You Are Called to Deliver, Not Convince

Jesus draws a hard line:

You are responsible for faithful delivery, not forced results.

The disciples were sent to preach, heal, and proclaim—but not to argue people into belief. When rejection came, they weren’t told to try harder… they were told to move on.

Core truth:

Rejection of the message is not failure of the messenger.

This protects you from:

Emotional burnout

Needing validation

Over-investing in resistant people

Application (especially for you as a leader/coach):

You can preach truth, coach men, build movements—but you cannot make a man receive it. Some people are assignments… others are distractions.

2. Refuse Contamination — Don’t Carry What You Were Never Meant to Keep

In Jewish culture, shaking dust off your feet was symbolic:

“I will not even carry the residue of this place with me.”

Jesus is teaching:

Don’t carry rejection into your next assignment

Don’t let offense poison your spirit

Don’t let one closed door affect your next open one

Core truth:

What you carry forward will either fuel you or infect you.

If you don’t “shake it off,” you’ll bring:

Bitterness into your next conversation

Hesitation into your next opportunity

Distrust into your next relationship

Application:

Every leader must develop the discipline of **emotional clearance**:

Release the offense

Drop the disappointment

Refuse to rehearse the rejection

You don’t need closure—you need clean feet.

3. Recognize Judgment — Rejection of Truth Has Consequences

Jesus says something intense:

It will be **worse than Sodom and Gomorrah for those who reject the message.

That means:

Rejecting truth is not neutral

Ignoring God’s invitation is a serious decision

Accountability increases with exposure

Shaking the dust wasn’t just emotional—it was a testimony:

“You had your opportunity.”

Core truth:

Light rejected becomes judgment received.

This gives weight to your mission:

What you carry matters

What people do with it matters even more

Application:

This should produce:

Urgency in your message

Clarity in your communication

Peace in your departure

You don’t leave bitter—you leave **witnessing**.

 Closing Statement (Sermon Punch)

 “I will not beg where I was sent to bless.

 I will not carry what tried to bury me.

 And I will not stay where God said move.”