The David Alliance

By Garth HeckmanReligion & Spirituality

The David Alliance episodes

July 12Let it FLOW to GROW
GARTH Heckman
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The David Alliance
1. The Message in a Bottle from the Canadian Wilderness
In the early 2000s, a young boy living near a small, unnamed tributary stream in the remote wilderness of northern Alberta, Canada, dropped a plastic bottle containing a note into the water.
The River Highway: The small stream trickled into the Athabasca River. From there, the current carried it into Lake Athabasca, which feeds into the Slave River. The Slave River then flows into the massive Mackenzie River—the longest river system in Canada.
The Ocean Arrival: The Mackenzie River emptied the bottle into the Arctic Ocean, thousands of miles north of where it started.
The Final Twist: But the journey didn't stop there. Caught in the Arctic's churning currents and shifting pack ice, the bottle traveled through the Northwest Passage, drifted down past Greenland, and entered the Atlantic Ocean.
The Discovery: Nearly 15 years later, the heavily weathered bottle washed ashore on a rugged beach in Scotland, roughly 4,000 miles away from the quiet Canadian stream where it began.

Ezekiel’s temple river vision, found in Ezekiel 47:1–12, is one of the most powerful and visually vivid passages in Hebrew prophecy. Writing while exiled in Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple, Ezekiel is given a visionary tour of a magnificent, restored future temple.
The climax of this tour isn't a piece of furniture or a ritual, but a miraculous, life-giving river that alters the geography of the land.

1. The Trickle from the Threshold
Ezekiel sees water trickling out from under the south side of the temple threshold, flowing eastward past the altar. It starts as a mere trickle, an unlikely source for a massive body of water.
2. The Supernatural Expansion
The divine guide leads Ezekiel eastward alongside the water, measuring the distance and checking the depth at four distinct intervals:
1,000 cubits (~1,500 feet): The water is ankle-deep.
2,000 cubits: The water reaches the knees.
3,000 cubits: The water is up to the waist.
4,000 cubits: It has become a massive, deep river that cannot be crossed on foot—a river deep enough to swim in.
THOUGHT:
The MORE the River grows the more it is in control. The River is going to go where the River wants to go… you ain’t going to stop it.

The Miracle: What makes this expansion supernatural is that no tributaries or feeding streams are mentioned. The river grows exponentially entirely on its own, flowing straight out from the presence of God.
8 min
July 10 Best Fighting Advice EvER!
TDA
The David Alliance
Garth Heckman
What’s the best fighting advice you have ever been given… mine?… Avoid confrontation at all costs even if it means running away. Better to be out of breath and look foolish then out of breath because your dead.
the second best piece of advice Practice responding to an attack more than practicing how to attack back

We have been talking about hagah - or focus, attention and meditating. As the scripture says its chewing on something until you absorb it deep into your actions. Not just your mind, but your actions…
And why is it so important? Because we are at war… and a good soldier knows you practice warfare until it becomes who you are.

If you face just one opponent and you doubt yourself, you are already outnumbered. Dan Milman

There are more people with no training whatsoever who successfully defend themselves through sheer Will and indignation- than there ever will be trained martial artists, who get attacked and successfully defend themselves. Tony Blauer self defense legend
8 min
July 08Chew with your moth open... the key to meditation.
The David Alliance
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Garth Heckman
The 10-Minute Hagah Protocol
Phase 1: The Setup & Intercept (Minutes 0–2)
Before you can fill your mind, you have to cut off the digital firehose. This phase applies the "cognitive friction" principle to lower your brain's baseline stimulation.
Step 1: Leave your phone in a completely separate room. Sit at a clean desk or chair with zero digital screens in your line of sight.
Step 2: Use a physical Bible or a single piece of paper with your chosen verse written on it. Do not use a phone app—the temptation to switch tasks is too high.
Step 3: Close your eyes and take three deep, slow breaths (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 6). This activates the parasympathetic nervous system, slowing your heart rate and preparing the prefrontal cortex for sustained focus.
Phase 2: Selection & The First Taste (Minutes 2–3)
Pick a single, high-impact verse. Do not try to read a whole chapter. You want a single "morsel" to ruminate on.
Good focus options: Proverbs 4:25, Psalm 46:10, Philippians 4:8, or Joshua 1:8.
Step 4: Read the verse out loud, slowly, three times. Pay close attention to punctuation and the natural rhythm of the words.
Phase 3: The "Muttering" & Deep Encoding (Minutes 3–7)
This is the core of Hagah—the active rumination. You are going to verbally and mentally circle the text.
Step 5 (The Accent Shift): Repeat the verse out loud under your breath (literally muttering it), but shift the emphasis to a different word each time.
Example with Psalm 46:10:
"BE still, and know that I am God." (Focus on the command to halt movement)
"Be STILL, and know that I am God." (Focus on the internal quiet)
"Be still, and KNOW that I am God." (Focus on deep, unshakeable certainty)
Step 6 (Deconstruction): Pick 1 or 2 core words from the verse and dissect them. Ask yourself: What is the exact opposite of this word? What does this word look like in action on a stressful Tuesday afternoon?
Phase 4: Intercepting the Wander (Continuous)
Your mind will wander during Phase 3. This is normal and is actually the precise moment your attention is trained.
Step 7 (The Catch and Release): The moment you realize you are thinking about an email, a project, or a notification, do not get frustrated. Frustration triggers cortisol, which breaks focus. Acknowledge the thought, mentally say "Not right now," and immediately speak the verse out loud to pull your attention back to the anchor.
Phase 5: Personal Integration & Close (Minutes 7–10)
True Hagah must translate from intellectual processing into real-world application.
Step 8 (The Bridge): Formulate one concrete sentence tracking how this specific verse applies to the rest of your day.
Example: "Because I know to 'be still,' I will not check my notifications between my 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM deep-work blocks today."
Step 9 (The Seal): Speak the verse out loud one final time from memory, close your notebook, and transition directly into your primary task for the day while your brain is operating at peak focus.
Why This Works Scientifically
By speaking the text under your breath (muttering), you are engaging dual-coding theory. You aren't just processing the text visually; you are processing it auditorily and kinesthetically (through the physical movement of your vocal cords). This drastically increases the cognitive workload dedicated to that single truth, effectively starving peripheral distractions of the mental energy they need to pull you away.
8 min
July 08Meditate = Filler' up!
Garth Heckman
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The David Alliance
To understand how to train your mind using these two approaches, we have to look at their fundamental mechanics. While modern secular mindfulness and Biblical meditation (Hagah) both aim to quiet a scattered mind, they achieve it through completely opposite movements: one focuses on emptying, while the other focuses on filling.
Here is how the ancient Hebrew concept of Hagah works and how it contrasts with today’s popular mindfulness practices for building cognitive focus.
The Root of Hagah: Active Rumination
In Western culture, the word "meditation" often conjures images of complete silence, stillness, and clearing the mind of all thoughts. The biblical Hebrew concept is entirely different.
The Translation: The Hebrew word הָגָה (Hagah) literally translates to "to mutter," "to growl," "to chew," or "to ruminate."
The Imagery: It is famously used in Isaiah 31:4 to describe a young lion growling over its prey. It is also the word-picture of a cow chewing its cud—swallowing food, bringing it back up, and chewing on it again to extract every ounce of nutrient.
The Practice: In Joshua 1:8, when God commands Joshua to "meditate (Hagah) on this Book of the Law day and night," he isn't telling him to sit in silent contemplation. He is telling him to under-the-breath mutter, speak, and mentally chew on the text continuously throughout the day so that it shapes his immediate actions.
Hagah vs. Secular Mindfulness: The Core Differences
While both practices strengthen the prefrontal cortex and improve attention regulation, they navigate the internal world through different frameworks:
8 min
July 06FOCUS vs. Attention
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Garth Heckman
The digital world is explicitly engineered to capture and fragment our attention. Dr. Gloria Mark, a leading informatics researcher at the University of California, Irvine, tracked digital behavior and found that the average attention span on a single screen has plummeted from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to just 47 seconds today.
When your focus breaks, it doesn’t just snap back. It takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to fully return to a deep focus state after a single interruption because your brain gets caught in "intervening tasks."
To train your brain to resist this friction and rebuild sustained focus, apply these three science-backed strategies:

Yes, absolutely. While the ancient world didn't have smartphones, the human struggle with a scattered mind, anxiety, and competing priorities is timeless. The Bible addresses the concept of focus extensively, using ancient terminology like singleness of heart, guarding the gates of the mind, and fixing one’s eyes.
Scriptural wisdom aligns remarkably well with modern cognitive science, framing focus not just as a productivity tool, but as a discipline of the mind and spirit. Here are three distinct clues and frameworks the Bible provides on how to focus.
1. The Principle of the "Single Eye" (Eliminating Divided Attention)
In the New Testament, Jesus explicitly addresses the danger of a divided mind. The ancient concept of focus was often tied to vision—what you allow your eyes to linger on dictates your internal state.
The Scripture: In Luke 11:34, Jesus states:
"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy [single/focused], your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy [bad/divided], your body also is full of darkness."
The Clue: The original Greek word used for "healthy" or "good" in many translations is haplous, which literally means single, uncomplicated, or unfolded. Conversely, the word for "unhealthy" or "bad" (poneros) in this context implies being double or divided.
The Takeaway: The Bible warns that if your vision is fragmented by too many competing inputs, your internal world becomes chaotic. It tells us that true focus requires a single, undivided gaze.
2. Guarding the Gates of the Mind (Active Filtering)
Just as modern psychology tells us to limit notifications to protect our working memory, Biblical wisdom commands us to set up strict boundaries around what we allow into our consciousness.
The Scripture: Proverbs 4:25–27 provides direct, actionable instructions on attentional control:
"Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left..."
The Clue: This is a classic Stoic-like scriptural command for attentional filtering. The Bible recognizes that distractions ("the right or the left") are constantly pulling at us. Proverbs 4:23 pairs this with the ultimate reason for focus: "Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." In ancient Hebrew psychology, the "heart" (lev) represented the mind, will, and intellect.
The Takeaway: Focus is a defensive act. You must actively filter out the noise of the periphery to protect the trajectory of your life.
3. Capturing Thought Loops (Taking Cognitive Control)
A major enemy of focus in a digital age is the endless loop of mental chatter, comparison, and anxiety. The New Testament provides a aggressive model for dealing with rogue thoughts rather than letting them run wild.
The Scripture: In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul writes about the mental discipline required in leadership and faith:
"...we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
The Clue: The phrase "take captive" (aichmalotizo) is a military term meaning to capture at sword-point or take as a prisoner of war.
The Takeaway: The Bible instructs us not to be passive consumers of our own thoughts or digital feeds. When a distracting, anxious, or irrelevant thought enters your mind, you are told to arrest it immediately, evaluate it, and intentionally redirect your mental energy back to what matters.
The Ultimate Biblical Focus Filter: If you want a modern-day checklist for what should pass through your attentional filter, Philippians 4:8 lays it out perfectly. It tells us exactly where to anchor a scattered mind:
"...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
8 min
July 03 Waiting 40 years because of YOU
8 min
July 01 85 and still killing people!
The David Alliance
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Garth Heckman

Here are ten things most people don't know about the real Colonel Sanders:
1. He was not a military colonel
The title "Colonel" was strictly honorary. It was bestowed upon him twice by the Governor of Kentucky—first in 1935 and again in 1950—as a recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. He took the title seriously, though, eventually bleaching his beard white and adopting the iconic string tie and white suit full-time.

2. He got into a fatal shootout with a business rival
While running a standard gas station in Corbin, Kentucky, Sanders got into a fierce dispute with Matt Stewart, a rival station owner who kept painting over Sanders' highway signs. When Sanders caught him in the act, a shootout commenced. Stewart shot and killed a Shell gas company executive who was with Sanders. Sanders shot Stewart in the shoulder. Stewart was convicted of murder, effectively eliminating Sanders' local competition.

3. He was fired from a dozen different careers first
Before finding success with chicken, Sanders had a chaotic resume. He was a railroad blacksmith, a steam engine stoker, an insurance salesman, a ferry boat operator, and even practiced law in Arkansas. He was ultimately barred from his own legal practice after getting into a physical fistfight with his own client inside the courtroom.

4. His first restaurant success was ruined by an interstate highway
By the 1940s, Sanders had built a highly successful physical restaurant and motel concept in Corbin. However, in the early 1950s, a new interstate highway bypassed the town entirely, obliterating his customer traffic. He sold the property at a massive loss, was left broke, and lived off his 105-dollar monthly Social Security check while reinventing his business.

5. The pressure cooker was his secret weapon
In the 1930s, pan-frying chicken took about 30 minutes—far too slow for a restaurant service. Deep frying dried it out. When the commercial pressure cooker was invented to cook vegetables, Sanders brilliantly modified it to fry chicken using oil under pressure. This reduced the cook time to just 9 minutes while keeping the meat incredibly juicy.

6. He was legendary for his explosive profanity
Despite his grandfatherly appearance, Sanders had a notoriously fiery temper and a mouth like a sailor. He was known to unleash massive, incredibly creative streams of swear words if things weren't done to his standards. He once admitted, "I used to cuss something terrible. I was a master at it.”

7. He fiercely sued KFC after selling the company
Sanders sold the American operations of KFC in 1964 for 2 million dollars but stayed on as a brand ambassador. As corporate executives began tweaking the menu to cut costs, Sanders grew furious. He famously went on late-night talk shows calling the new gravy "wallpaper paste" and the chicken "a damn fried dough ball." When he tried to open a competing restaurant named after himself, corporate sued him, and he countersued them for 122 million dollars. They eventually settled out of court.

8. He delivered his first child himself
During his early, cash-strapped marriage to his first wife, Josephine, they could not afford a doctor when she went into labor. Sanders successfully delivered his firstborn child himself at home.

9. He wore the white wool suit year-round
Once he adopted his famous look, he committed to it entirely. He wore a heavy white wool suit in the winter and a lighter white cotton suit in the summer. He refused to be seen in public wearing anything else for the last 20 years of his life.

10. He was a massive philanthropist who gave away his fortune
Because he knew what it was like to be destitute, Sanders spent his later years giving away the vast majority of his wealth. He funded massive scholarships, bought medical equipment for hospitals, and adopted dozens of orphaned children overseas through charities, right up until his death at age 90 in 1980.

Sermon: Unfinished Business
Text: Joshua 14:6–14
Focus: The life of Caleb
Introduction: The Tragedy of the Settled Life
There is a massive difference between finishing a task and quitting out of exhaustion.
Too many people wrap up their lives, their careers, their callings, and even their faith long before God ever intended them to stop. They settle into a comfortable valley because the mountain looks too steep. They trade their calling for a couch, confusing the end of a season with the end of their purpose.
But the Kingdom of God has no retirement plan. It only has a graduation plan.

Dog
Impetuous is an adjective describing someone who acts quickly and impulsively, without thinking carefully about the consequences. It refers to rash, spur-of-the-moment actions often driven by sudden emotion rather than thoughtful planning. In a more literal or literary sense, it can also describe something moving with great force or violence

Numbers 13: (the first half of this chapter is all true… even the part about the enemies… its all true - But why does God say about their report?

29The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” 30Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly conquer it!” 31But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”…

How do you maintain that kind of raw, kinetic power after forty-five years of hardship?

Numbers 14:24 But my servant Caleb has a different SPIRIT/attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of that land.

DIFFERENT = HB Ak-aihr - follower of the Lord, “other mans spirit”
They gave a bad report… it was the truth..

STAY HEALTHY… THE BEST IS YET TO COME AND YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT.
9 min
June 24 Kicked out of the nest... Thank you.
Garth Heckman
The David Alliance
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th grade… lets make a snowman… just a huge snowball… we push it up a large hill… lets roll it down and see how fast it can go… Im going to let it roll over me at the bottom… BIG MISTAKE. IT PICKED UP MOMENTUM, SUCKING UP EVERY PIECE OF SNOW IN ITS PATH… FASTER, BIGGER, FASTER, BIGGER….

Introduction: God Has Always Been Moving
Momentum. It is the principle that a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
In physics, it is a law.
In the kingdom of God, it is a promise.

God Is the Source of All Momentum
The Spirit Moved First

The very opening of Scripture shows us a God in motion:

"In the beginning-MOMENTUM- God created-MOMENTUM- the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering-MOMENTUM- over the waters." — Genesis 1:1–2
The Hebrew word for 'hovering' is rachaph — it means to flutter, to brood, to move with energy and intention. This is our God. He does not wait passively. He moves first. He initiates. Momentum in the kingdom always begins with Him, not with us.
You did not choose momentum. Momentum chose you.

Once the world was formed it was called to multiply and be fruitful = momentum!

In him is the momentum… where is his Spirit leading?
"You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." — Exodus 19:4

WHAT IS GOD SAYING… I BUILT MOMENTUM TO CARRY YOU OUT OF EGYPT.
The build can be hard, the waiting, the build up…
But when they left - they were begged to leave, given treasure, given favor, provided miracles of crossing the red sea!

The eagle does not flap its wings furiously —
it spreads them wide and rides the thermal currents. The question is not: 'How hard am I working?' The question is: 'Am I in alignment with what God is already doing?

An eagle will carry its young on its wings after pushing them out of the nest…
Not only that they will remove the soft lining of the nest to get them to step out…
IF THEY DON’T THEY WILL PUT THORNS IN THE NEST…
The eaglet will be forced out only then to have the mother fly with it, catch it if need be and teach it to catch the thermal waves of momentum.
Maybe things are uncomfortable because God is trying to move you into momentum.
8 min
June 19 Lucky to be Stupid!
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Corinthians 1:27-29:
"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

Right after using these three words, Paul caps off his thought in verse 28 with a fascinating Greek phrase: ta mē onta, which literally translates to "the things that are not" or "the non-existent things."
God literally takes people and things that the world treats as if they don't even exist—social ghosts, invisible people, tiny crumbs—and uses them to bring to absolute nothingness (katargeō) the heavy hitters of society.
It is the ultimate biblical paradox: God uses the "morons," the "powerless," and the "nobodies" to rewrite human history.
8 min
June 17 Purpose is Pain Prepared.
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Garth Heckman
Common Patterns Across Preparation for the ultimate purpose.
OR AS I LIKE TO THINK OF IT
WHAT THESE WAVES PRODUCE AS MY FREQUNCY
- Obscurity and delay built character: Long "preparation seasons" stripped self-reliance and taught waiting on God.
- Suffering produced empathy and reliance:
- Skills and context were strategic: God repurposed their vocations/cultures (shepherding, fishing, scholarship, administration, tentmaking) rather than erasing them.
- Failures were not disqualifiers: Denial (Peter), murder plot involvement indirectly (Paul, Paul shouting at the High Priest), family dysfunction (Joseph/David) became part of their testimony.
- Positioning: Experiences placed them exactly where needed (Joseph in Egypt, Daniel in Babylon, Paul on Roman roads, Ruth in Boaz’s field).
- Ultimate purpose was bigger than comfort: Their lives advanced God’s redemptive story—preserving Israel, establishing kingship, prophesying, building the Church, and pointing to Jesus.

Purpose
Disruption follows purpose.
ie. God created the earth and sin entered. God calls a person and disruption enters,

If our purpose does not end in people it’s empty of true fulfillment!

1 — Purpose is simple. It is given to us by God. But is fulfilled thru your gifts, talents, passions, abilities, (these are different waves that create the frequency of your life)

2. Purpose has nothing to do with perfection - but rather in motion - continually moving forward in Gods purpose.

3. The sum of your interruptions, roadblocks and daily grind fulfill your purpose more than the grand scheme, dream or goals you achieve.

4. "Your unique gifting, passion and quirks were engineered for friction and addiction.
What do I mean?
Your purpose will cause friction for some.
Your Purpose will be your addiction… you can’t give up.

Joseph told his brothers his dreams. This wasn’t just a young boys blunder, but a confidence and stubbornness born out of his purpose.

5. "Your purpose might look entirely invisible to the world."
Culture tells us that impact is measured by volume, dollars, visibility, likes and applause. A divine perspective, however, measures weight differently.

8 min