Former executive committee member of the Midwest Cover Crops Council. Provides top Legacy Seeds alfalfa genetics to farmers and companies.
Agronomist Dave Robison
Joined February 2011
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Dave Robison retweeted
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Good Morning,
You are warmly invited to join me for a daily scripture break.
Hebrews 4:13:
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Fingers are pointing in all directions. The election cycle for 2028 has begun and it is interesting; everything is up for grabs. One might ask, what can I learn from our culture at this specific snapshot in time? As voters, Americans represent a myriad of viewpoints. As Christians we are expected to judge and select the person who best personifies those things we hold so dear. This process of discernment will take time. However, I believe the most constructive action we can take at this very moment is to prepare for spiritual battle; as we must paddle against the stream and examine ourselves. So how do we prepare for spiritual battle? Consider this as your start point: what am I trying to hide from God? What do I mean by that? What am I justifying to myself that God’s Word instructs me to address? I unequivocally believe the Holy Spirit is instructing us to be faithful Christians and obedient followers. Many were disheartened by the results of the midterm elections last week. Sometimes, the Lord allows things to happen that appear to be detrimental but He will orchestrate circumstances for our good. Also, our culture is so corrupted we can’t allow ourselves the luxury of naivety any longer either; God 's judgment is evident in our land.
Let’s begin where we are. So I will ask again. What am I trying to hide from God? What am I justifying to myself that God’s Word instructs me to address? Is it unforgiveness towards someone, did I lie, cheat or steal something that wasn’t mine, did I commit acts of immorality, the list goes on.
We must encourage one another to share our insights. We obviously can’t control the unscrupulous behavior of our political leaders but we can seek to be informed and meticuously search the flawless guidance of the Holy Spirit. How? We can prepare ourselves for spiritual battle. The first step is what I want to spend our time together studying. What I am justifying in my life that God’s Word repudiates? This is where we, as Christians are vulnerable to the whispers of the enemy because we convince ourselves that all of the commandments we faithfully observe and the works of goodness and mercy we perform for the Kingdom of God, well that's good enough. It is better than most people. Whatever the sin is - stop and acknowledge this too must go. Before we approach God to seek forgiveness we must acknowledge the underlying problem. We are intentionally ignoring sin - something offensive to God.
Why am I going on about this? Because "...wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it." (Matthew 7:13) God doesn’t expect perfection from us. I believe He's delighted when we demonstrate we love Him so much we don’t want to sin, because we don't want to offend Him (not just to avoid eternal damnation). Please take a second and review these scriptures that reveal to us that there is nothing that can be hidden from God.
1. Psalm 139:1-4 - "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.”
This passage so eloquently describes how God has an intimate familiarity with us. He knows our character, our inclinations, our humor, our pain; He knows us completely. So that there are no barriers between us and God (and sin creates a barrier between us and God); we are instructed by the Holy Spirit to correct our error and re-establish our harmonious communion with Him. This is such a beautiful passage because it clearly refutes the idea that God is far off from us; a disinterested bystander in our universe. No, on the contrary. We all know we will be waging a full scale spiritual war for the soul and survival of our nation. You should lay bare before Him; aligned in purpose with His Will.
2. Matthew 10:26 - “So do not be afraid of them (local councils, governors, or kings), for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”
As we have discussed many times, II Chronicles 7:14 is our blueprint to pray exactly what the Holy Spirit informs us. It says, "if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
1. Humble yourself and be willing to lay bare before the Lord.
2. Pray.
3. Seek My Face - With the help of the Holy Spirit, we seek specifically how and in what manner to pray.
4. Turn from my wicked ways - all of them. God doesn’t negotiate; we either choose to obey or reject His commandments.
And when we have done these things; THEN God will listen to our prayers - forgive us - and heal our land.
If we try to ignore any of these steps then we will not be heard and we will lose our land because there are forces determined to destroy this land. They don’t even hide their intentions anymore because they think they have already won. So just let the Holy Spirit give you the perfect utterance for your prayers to God.
3. I John 1:8-9 - "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
So I will ask the question again. What are you hiding from God? What have you justified in your life that is contradictory to God’s Will? Is this secret thing more precious than your relationship with God? The fact is we can’t obscure anything from Him.
4. Psalm 32:5-6 - "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let all the faithful pray to You while You may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.”
God faithfully listens to His faithful children who seek forgiveness for their sins and reconciliation with their Lord. We expect God to hear us and forgive us and reconcile with us. Now, He promised He would justly forgive our sin and reconcile with us; never forget that. God is also a just God and our nation has greatly sinned against God. Let us, His children obediently with a loving heart to the best of our ability be faithful to His Word.
5. I Timothy 5:24-25 - "The sins of some are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not obvious cannot remain hidden forever.”
No one is getting away with anything; good or bad all deeds will be revealed. Some of you last week were down in the dumps because you thought God didn’t answer our prayers. First and foremost, God’s timing is always perfect. Trust Him completely; a spiritual warrior will make sure they have done all they were instructed to do - trust your training. Secondly, example after example in the Word of God, the Lord has proven He will never leave us or forsake us.
6. Proverbs 28:13 - "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
7. Jeremiah 23:24 - "Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord."
In this verse, God Himself confirms nothing is hidden from Him and so I implore you to check yourself. Be honest with yourself and if you are not sure, ask the Holy Spirit. If you get quiet before Him, the Spirit will show you what you need to do. Repent of all sin in your life.
For those of you who have been injured by others whatever the deed, forgiving the offender isn’t letting them get away with it. Take the pain, the hurt, and the burden and lay it on the altar of God. God wants you to let Him carry the burden; He will in turn grant you peace and healing. By forgiving those who have harmed you in any way, you must forego any vengeance and let God handle it. That is what He expects. Reconciling with someone who injured you and yet hasn’t asked for forgiveness and repented is not God’s expectation. You forgive and then rest in His peace. (That was for someone out there.)
Identify your secret (we all have one) and seek forgiveness with God so your prayers will be heard by God. We need to prepare ourselves so that we can effectively join the Body of Christ for the days ahead; waging a spiritual battle on behalf of the Kingdom of God (we all have different callings - fully embrace your calling like a faithful servant in the vineyard.)
Many blessings to you.
Peace and be prepared.
Dave Robison retweeted
I love that we never have to say goodbye to Jesus.
We can whisper His name in the morning and fall asleep in His care.
Amen is never goodbye. It's simply until we speak again.
Dave Robison retweeted
A reminder for Christians on X:
The Bereans listened to the Apostle Paul himself and STILL checked his teaching against Scripture.
Don't believe something just because your favorite pastor or influencer posted it.
Open your Bible and test everything.
Acts 17:11
Dave Robison retweeted
More than thirty Baptist preachers were jailed.
Some were offered freedom if they promised to stop preaching for a year and a day. They refused. Instead, they preached through the prison windows while crowds gathered outside to hear them. Horsemen sometimes rode into the crowds to scatter them.
One of the arrested preachers was John Waller. Before his conversion, people called him “Swearing Jack.” He once sat on a grand jury that indicted Lewis Craig for preaching without a license. But Craig’s conduct left an impression on him. Waller began attending Baptist meetings, heard the message of forgiveness through Jesus Christ, repented and was baptized. Soon he was preaching the gospel he had once opposed.
On another occasion, an Anglican clergyman thrust the end of a horsewhip into Waller’s mouth during worship. Men dragged him outside and the sheriff gave him twenty lashes. According to a contemporary account, Waller returned and preached.
This happened in America.
The arrests began in colonial Virginia in 1768, before the American Revolution. The Church of England enjoyed the protection of the law. Baptist ministers could be charged with disturbing the peace or preaching without government authorization. Historians count more than thirty imprisoned over several years. These men preached Christ before the First Amendment protected their right to do so.
I wonder how many Christians know this part of our history. We ought to be thankful for our freedom to worship. Still, these preachers raise another question. What was it about the gospel that made men willing to suffer rather than stop telling it?
You find the answer in Acts 5. Luke tells us the church in Jerusalem was growing. It began with 120 gathered in an upper room. Then came Pentecost, and three thousand were converted. Others were added day after day until Luke tells us, “believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (Acts 5:14).
What sort of church was it? Inside there were blessings and problems. The believers were of one heart and one soul. Some were poor, far from home. Those who had looked after those who didn’t. Barnabas sold land to meet their needs. Yet Ananias and Sapphira brought hypocrisy into that congregation. God dealt severely with it. Wherever there are blessings, there will be problems.
Outside, there were blessings too. The apostles preached the resurrection of Christ. The sick were brought into the streets and the Lord worked mighty signs through His apostles. People were being converted. Then the religious authorities grew jealous and put the apostles in prison.
Think of it. They were preaching the resurrection of Christ and helping suffering people and somebody wanted them locked away.
When the officials came for them the next morning, the prison was empty ans the guards were still standing at the doors, but the prisoners were back in the temple preaching. An angel of the Lord had brought them out and sent them to speak the words of life.
You can’t lock the message away. The world has spent two thousand years trying to get rid of the gospel. Preachers have been threatened, beaten, imprisoned and killed. Yet the message comes out again. God raises up more witnesses. Sometimes He brings back the very ones people thought would never preach again.
The apostles were brought before the council and asked why they had disobeyed the order to stop preaching in Jesus’ name. Peter answered, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Now listen to what Peter said next. He preached Christ. The God of their fathers had raised up Jesus, whom they had put to death. God had exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.
Think of the people hearing those words. These were authorities who had rejected Christ and wanted His name silenced. Peter had told them what they did to Jesus. Then he told them what Jesus could do for them. The One they condemned was alive, exalted at the Father’s right hand, able to give repentance and forgiveness of sins. Here was mercy proclaimed to men who wanted to punish the messenger.
I don’t want us to hurry past that. The Son of God died for sinners. He rose from the dead and now Peter is announcing forgiveness to the very men who wanted His name silenced. Christ forgives the guilty. He gives repentance. Even the people who condemned Him are hearing that they may come to Him and live.
Repenting means admitting that I’ve been on the wrong track and I’ve been there because that’s where I wanted to be. Believing means turning to the risen Christ, trusting Him for the forgiveness I could never earn. His invitation reaches even the people who once fought against His gospel. Ask John Waller.
The council beat the apostles and commanded them again to stop speaking about Jesus. They went away rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer for His name. Then they kept preaching, day after day.
So did those Baptist preachers in Virginia. Waller had once tried to silence a preacher. Christ changed his life and now even a whipping could not silence him. The gospel had reached him and he wanted others to hear it.
We have open church doors, neighbors along our roads and opportunities to speak of Christ that those men could scarcely have imagined. Sometimes the fear of an awkward conversation is enough to keep us quiet. Meanwhile, there are people around us who need to hear that Jesus Christ died for sinners and rose again.
The living Christ is still saving men and women. Those apostles prayed and kept on. So did the Baptists in Virginia. May we tell our neighbors about the Savior who gives repentance and forgiveness, and may believers increasingly be added to the Lord.
Dave Robison retweeted
A must-listen episode from the Just Thinking podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… @podcast_just
Dave Robison retweeted
Roy Johnson recited “I Am an American” at @BoilerFootball games for 43 years.
The tradition was born in 1966 at a Lafayette diner, where band director Al G. Wright was inspired by patriotic verses printed on a placemat.
Wright wrote his own lines, and the rest is history.
Dave Robison retweeted
If politicians can silence a pastor merely by calling a biblical issue "political," they can silence him on anything.
The murder of infants becomes "political." Marriage becomes "political." Canada euthanizing more people than die in America from gunshot wounds becomes "political." Even castrating kids: "political".
If a pastor can't speak to that stuff, why bother to have one at all? Honestly. This is the very definition of fiddling while Rome burns. It is Hananiah in front of Zedekiah (and you pastors should know that story).
The pastor who promised to preach the full counsel of God needs the Democrat Party's permission to finish his sermon? No.
Pastors too often act as though the Christian life extends no further than your church services, your life group, and your quiet time. Bunk. Not one word of Scripture supports that nonsense.
Scripture has a LOT to say about our individual responsbility to push back against evil. But it has LOT more to say about the King's responsibility.
Guess what: in America, the people are the King. We are ALL responsible, and our pastors MUST equip us.
Pastors owe their congregations moral instruction that reaches beyond their "private" lives (and what is that anyway?). Your children attend schools. Your business operates under laws. Your neighbors suffer when government protects evil or punishes good.
Loving those neighbors includes caring about what government does to them. And too often, the key phrase is "to them".
A Christian doesn't stop belonging to Christ when he enters a voting booth. The Ten Commandments don't expire at the statehouse door. Murder doesn't become acceptable when a legislature authorizes it. Theft doesn't become righteous because an official benefits.
Public officials need to hear what God requires of them. But public officials who are advancing evil need to be replaced. If you saw a criminal about to murder a woman you would be required to act. How is a politician who wants to castrate kids and murder babies (or old people) any different?
Church members are also citizens. They live in the world even if they aren't of it. They need to understand what they are supporting and vote accordingly. If they don't, they just hand power to people who hate them and hate Christ.
We know what is required of faithful believers when it comes to the King. Nathan confronted David. John the Baptist rebuked Herod. In America, we are the King. We must confront and rebuke our neighbors who support sin, and we must confront and defeat our leaders who advance it.
Pastors must also preach repentance and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Your preferred candidate can win every election for the rest of your life and still never save your soul.
When pastors tell the truth about these things, some people will call that divisive. Some will leave.
They left Jesus too. Didn't stop him from preaching against the evils of the authorities, or of individuals, or anybody.
A shepherd cannot let the most easily offended person decide which parts of Scripture everybody else gets to hear.
Pastors answer to Christ for what they teach, but also for what they leave unsaid. When their people face public demands to approve what God condemns, those people should already know why they must refuse.
And if you're hiding behind your "tax status", you're a coward. The apostles weren't tax-exempt, and I'm sorry, but they were all better preachers than you.
Preach the whole Word. Apply it to the lives your people actually live. Christ's authority reaches all of it.
Dave Robison retweeted
Absolutely. The backbone of our care as elders for two decades now. Unapologetically ripped this off from Baxter. These are some of our elder training documents based on “The Reformed Pastor”.
Dave Robison retweeted
Teach Your Children to Always Redeem the Time by J.C. Ryle
Train them to have a habit of always redeeming the time.
Idleness is the devil's best friend. It is the surest way to give him an opportunity of doing us some harm. An idle mind is like an open door, and if Satan does not come through it himself, it is certain he will throw something in to arouse bad thoughts in us.
No created being was ever meant to be idle. Service and work is the appointed portion of every creature of God. The angels in heaven work—they are the Lord's ministering servants, always doing His will. Adam, in Paradise, had work—he was appointed to work and take care of the garden of Eden. And man, weak, sinful man, must have something to do, or else his soul will soon get into an unhealthy state. We must keep our hands busy, and our minds occupied with something, or else our imaginations will soon ferment and breed mischief.
And what is true of us, is true of our children too. The Jews thought idleness was an absolute sin: it was a law of theirs that every man should train his son in some useful trade—and they were right. They knew the heart of man better than some of us appear to today.
Idleness made the wicked city of Sodom what she was. [Ezekiel 16:49] Idleness had a lot to do with King David's awful sin with the wife of Uriah. I see in the Book of 2 Samuel, chapter 11, that Joab went off to war against the Ammonites, "but David remained in Jerusalem." Was that not idleness? And it was during that time of idleness that he saw Bathsheba—and the next step we read of is his tremendous and miserable fall into the sin of adultery.
Truly, I believe that idleness has led to more sin than almost any other habit that could be named. I suspect it is the mother of many sins of the flesh—the mother of adultery, sexual immorality, drunkenness, and many other deeds of darkness that I do not have time to name. Let your own conscience say whether I speak the truth or not. You were once idle, and immediately the devil knocked at the door and came in.
And why should this surprise us—everything in the world around us seems to teach the same lesson. It is the still water which becomes stagnant and impure: the running, moving streams are always clear. If you have machinery, you must run it now and then, or it soon begins to rust or break down. If you have a horse, you must exercise him; or he will not be strong for regular work. If you want to have good bodily health yourself, you must exercise. If you always sit still, then in time your body will complain. And so is it with the soul. The active moving mind is a hard target for the devil to shoot at. Try to be always full of useful employment, and thus your enemy will find it difficult to get room to plant evil thoughts.
My friend, I ask you to set these things before the minds of your children. Teach them the value of time, and try to make them learn the habit of using it well. It pains me to see children wasting time. I love to see them active and industrious, and giving their whole heart to all they do; giving their whole heart to lessons, when they have to learn—giving their whole heart even when they are playing.
But if you really love your children, then let idleness be counted as a sin in your family.
Dave Robison retweeted
The Christian who lives in fear of the regime is a Christian who has forgotten the throne room of heaven.
If God is for us, what can the paper tigers of the managerial state do to us?
They possess budgets, media, and police powers, but they do not possess the souls of the redeemed or the sovereign decree of the King.
A man who stops cowering stops being a subject.
The moment you decide to fear the Lord instead of the puffed up empty chests of the self-serving political overlords, you cease to be manageable.
Stand up.
Dave Robison retweeted
While speaking to students at DTS on apologetics, Voddie Baucham warns of the dangers of sentimentalism, emotionalism, and anti- intellectualism within the church.
“I think there are two main reasons that today apologetics has fallen out of favor. I think one is sentimentalism. If you will, there is this idea that there is this feel, especially among the younger generations, that anything confrontational, you know, that anything that there is an 11th commandment.
The 11th Commandment is thou shall be nice, and we don’t believe the other 10. We don’t believe the other 10, so anything is just not nice, and nice is defined as weak-soft-mealy-mouthed, afraid, cowardly. You know that’s the way we define niceness in Christianity.
This is why today when pastors stand up today and preach on a topic that’s controversial, their message usually dies the death of a 1000 qualifications.”
Dave Robison retweeted
Learning Contentment at the Foot of the Cross by J.C. Ryle
Would I learn how to be contented and cheerful under all the cares and anxieties of life? What school shall I go to? How shall I attain this state of mind most easily? Shall I look at the sovereignty of God, the wisdom of God, the providence of God, the love of God?
It is well to do so; but I have a better argument still. I will look at Calvary and the crucifixion. I feel that He who spared not His only begotten Son but delivered Him up to die for me, will surely with Him give me all things that I really need. He that endured that pain for my soul, will surely not withhold from me anything that is really good. He that has done the greater things for me, will doubtless do the lesser things also. He that gave His own blood to procure me a home, will unquestionably supply me with all that is really profitable for me by the way. Ah, reader, there is no school for learning contentment that can be compared with Calvary and the foot of the cross.
Dave Robison retweeted
Martin Luther was terrified by the righteousness of God.
He knew God was holy and hell was real. He knew himself well enough to understand that he could never stand comfortably beside that holiness. So he tried to close the distance.
He became a monk. He fasted until his health suffered. He disciplined his body and pressed himself harder, hoping righteousness might somehow be earned through enough devotion. The harder he tried, the more his conscience accused him.
Then Scripture opened. While studying Psalm 22, Luther came to Christ’s cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He began to see that Jesus was forsaken so sinners could be received. Later, while lecturing through Romans, another phrase broke through the darkness: “a righteousness from God.” What had frightened him for years suddenly became good news. The righteousness God requires is the righteousness God gives through faith in Christ.
That discovery explains why Romans 5:1 has carried such comfort to so many people: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace with God…those words are larger than a peaceful feeling.
Paul is announcing that the hostility is over. The sinner who stood guilty before God can now stand accepted before Him because of Jesus Christ.
To understand that peace, we have to understand justification. The word belongs in a courtroom. A judge hears the case and issues a declaration. One man is pronounced righteous, another guilty. Our problem is that Scripture has already told us which side of the courtroom we occupy: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
So how can a righteous God declare a sinner righteous?
The gospel answers through another word worth learning: imputation. Think of this wonderfully ordinary picture. A man once received a letter from his bank telling him he had fifty-one dollars left in his account. He had recently been paid, so he went to find out what happened. The bank eventually discovered the mistake. His salary had been credited to his son’s account. Something belonging to one person had been placed on another person’s account. That is imputation.
At the cross, our sin was charged to Christ. He bore its penalty in His own body. In the same saving transaction, His righteousness is credited to the believer. Our guilt goes to His account. His obedience comes to ours. The gospel gives more than a wiped-clean record. It gives the sinner the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
For thirty-three and a half years, He lived on this earth without one sinful thought, one corrupt word, one act that displeased His Father. He was tempted and remained pure. He obeyed where we failed. He loved perfectly where our love fractured. That life is counted to the believer.
This is why faith can never become another achievement. Faith is simply the hand that receives the gift. The reason God accepts us is Jesus Christ.
And justification happens as an act. Picture two women. One has followed Christ for forty years. The other believed forty minutes ago. The older Christian understands more. Years of obedience have shaped her character. She may have greater usefulness, steadier habits, deeper wisdom. Yet, she does not possess more righteousness. The newest believer stands before God with the same Christ credited to her account.
That is why peace with God can become so sweet. Your standing before Him does not rise and fall with the quality of your week. A miserable day cannot stain Christ’s obedience.
You may wake one morning and pray with warmth. Scripture seems alive. Gratitude comes easily. By evening, you are ashamed of something you said, disappointed by a thought you entertained, painfully aware that you failed someone you love.
Repent. Confess it. Keep walking with Christ.
Yet do not imagine the war with God has started again. The peace Paul describes rests on something stronger than your emotional weather. It rests on a declaration God has already made because of His Son.
This is where many Christians quietly suffer. They know Christ died for sinners, yet they still live as though each day produces a new verdict. A good day feels like acceptance. A bad day feels like distance.
Romans 5:1 pulls us off that treadmill. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God.”
The sentence looks backward to a completed act and forward into a settled relationship. God has dealt with our guilt in Christ. The war is over.
Of course, that does not make sin small. The cross proves how serious sin is. It also tells us where its punishment fell. Every sanction the believer deserved was laid upon Christ. The righteousness we needed was supplied by Him. That is why the Christian can be safe for time, death, resurrection, judgment and eternity.
After preaching about the cross, the pastor stood near the church door as people left. A woman came toward him. She stopped and said, “I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.” Then she went on her way.
There is something beautiful in that kind of settledness. She was not presenting a theological system in the doorway. She was resting in a Savior. That is what Romans 5:1 gives the believer.
Tomorrow your feelings may change. Your conscience may ache over fresh failure. Circumstances may become harder than they are today. Christ will still be righteous. His cross will still have answered for your sin. The Father’s verdict will still stand.
And because it stands, you can say something the guilty sinner could never have said on his own: I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dave Robison retweeted
You can’t see his face.
Briton Rivière painted Daniel with his back to you. Barefoot. Hands bound behind him. Standing at the bottom of a pit, in the dim light that falls from the opening above.
And the lions are facing you.
That’s the trick of the painting. You’re not watching Daniel. You’re standing where Daniel stands. Every lion in that den is looking in your direction. Some curious. Some restless. One rising. Bones on the floor from the last men who came down here.
Rivière studied lions for hours at the London Zoo to get this right. The weight of the shoulders. The way a big cat watches before it moves. He wanted you to feel exactly how close they are.
And Daniel’s hands are tied.
He can’t fight. He can’t climb. He can’t even shield his face.
So how did he survive?
Not in the den. Go back a few verses.
Daniel 6:10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
As he did aforetime.
The king had just signed a law: anyone who prays to any god but the king for thirty days goes to the lions. Daniel heard about it. Went home. Opened the window. And prayed exactly the way he’d prayed the day before.
He didn’t start praying because of the lions. He didn’t stop praying because of them either. He didn’t even close the window.
Now here’s what almost nobody notices.
Daniel was taken to Babylon as a young man, in the third year of Jehoiakim. Daniel 1:1. That’s around 605 BC.
The lions’ den happens under Darius the Mede, after Babylon falls. Around 539 BC.
Do the math. Sixty-six years.
Every children’s Bible draws Daniel as a strong young man. He wasn’t. He was an old man, probably past eighty. Sixty-some years of praying three times a day toward a city he’d never see again. A temple that had been burned to the ground.
That’s roughly seventy thousand prayers before the den.
The hands in this painting are bound. But those hands had been folded every morning, noon, and evening for sixty-six years. The battle wasn’t won in the pit. It was won at the window.
Look at how his enemies built the trap.
Daniel 6:4. They sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault.
Verse 5. We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
They audited his whole life and came up empty. The only crime they could find was his faithfulness. So they made it illegal.
Now watch what happens next. It should sound familiar.
Daniel 6:17. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet.
A stone over the opening. Sealed by the authority of the empire.
The king can’t sleep. He doesn’t eat. And then
Daniel 6:19. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.
Very early in the morning. In a hurry. To a sealed stone.
Six hundred years later, Matthew 27:66. They made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
And then very early in the morning, someone came hurrying to that stone too.
Daniel was a preview. A righteous man condemned by a law rigged against him, his only crime faithfulness to God, sealed under a stone overnight, and in the morning, he came up alive.
Daniel 6:23. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
Hebrews 11 lists him among the faithful. Who through faith... stopped the mouths of lions.
Now look at the painting one more time. Look at what Rivière didn’t paint.
No angel. No light shining down. No miracle on display.
Just an old man with his hands tied, facing everything that wants to eat him, standing still.
That’s the part of the story most of us live in. Not the rescue. The night.
Now you.
The lions are real. 1 Peter 5:8. Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Some of you are in the den right now. Hands tied. You can’t fix it. You can’t fight it. You can’t climb out. The diagnosis, the lawsuit, the layoff, the thing someone said about you that isn’t true. They found nothing else against you, so they found something.
And you’re standing in the dark with your back to everyone, waiting.
Here’s what Daniel knew.
You don’t build faith in the den. You build it at the window. Every ordinary morning you prayed when nothing was wrong, every boring evening you gave thanks when you didn’t feel like it that’s what holds you up when the lions are close enough to smell.
If you haven’t built it yet, start tonight. Not when the law is signed. Now.
And if you’re already in the pit
the stone is not the end of the story. Someone is coming very early in the morning.
He’s done it before.
Open the window.
Dave Robison retweeted
October 20, 1976
Rain detours Reds so Sparky pours it on praising his players
“Dale Carnegie might have shuddered. Admiral Farragut probably would have applauded. But Sparky Anderson’s job is to see that the Reds win games, not friends. So, it was a case of ‘Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead’ as Anderson held court during a press conference at the Americana Hotel.”
“With rain forcing a postponement of the game, the Reds couldn’t administer a fourth World Series beating of the New York Yankees and wrap up their second world championship in a row.”
“So, Anderson figured he just might as well spend some of his idle time beating the drums of his players. The tune he played might have left the ears of more than a few people around the country burning. But, you have to think Anderson could care less.”
‘’Sometimes I think I talk too much,’ said Anderson about mid-way through his monologue…Then after pausing for a second breath, he rambled on for another 15 minutes.”
“And, before Anderson finished talking about the only one wearing a Reds’ uniform these days whom he hadn’t enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame was bat boy Mark Stowe…”
“Anderson didn’t go as far as to say the Reds’ Cesar Geronimo is a better center fielder than Joe DiMaggio was. But, that’s probably only because he never saw DiMaggio in his prime and didn’t feel he was qualified to make a comparison between the two.”
“Anderson started as a rookie in the Dodger farm system in the early 1950’s….So, when it comes to comparing the Red players of today with those Dodger stars of the 50’s he believes he can speak with authority”…and so he did:
On Campanella vs Bench
“’Me,’ Anderson said, ‘I’ll take Johnny Bench over Roy Campanella as my catcher.’
On Robinson vs. Morgan
‘No question about it, said Anderson, ‘(Joe) Morgan is better.’” Anderson pointed out that Morgan was “baseball’s No. 1 offensive player the past three years.”
On Reese vs. Concepcion
“’He’s (Pee Wee Reese) one of my best friends, said Anderson. ‘But when it comes to all-around ability, I’d have to give the edge to Davey Concepcion.’”
Pafko vs. Foster
“’If Foster had been playing with the Dodgers in the 1950’s, they wouldn’t have had to tear down Ebbets Field,’ said Anderson. ‘George would have done the job himself with the shots off his bat.’”
“Duke Snider was a good hitter with power, admitted Anderson. But could he field with Geronimo? Forget it.”
“Anderson conceded, too, that Carl Furillo, the Dodgers’ right fielder in the 1950’s was a good player. ‘But,’ said the Red manager, ‘he couldn’t do things Ken Griffey can.’”
“While Anderson admittedly is a guy who often talks too much, he also obviously doesn’t believe in the adage, ‘let sleeping dogs lie.’”
‘’We’ve won three in a row against the Yanks,’ he said, ‘and still haven’t played our best. And,’ he added, ‘when we do play our best, you’ll see the best in baseball.’”
Earl Lawson – Cincinnati Post
Dave Robison retweeted
Alex Golesh's parents left Moscow with two kids, four hundred dollars and no English. Today as coach of Auburn he beat number 1 Georgia
His father was a telecommunications engineer. In New York he drove a truck.
His mother was a medical aide. She cleaned houses.
Their seven year old is the head coach at Auburn. Tonight he walked into Athens and beat number one Georgia on the road.
Here is the whole thing.
The Soviet Union was coming apart. Vladimir and Bella Golesh decided they were taking their sons out.
Here is the father, on why.
"We were scared."
"We didn't know exactly what life would be like. We just knew we had to get to America."
"Leaving Russia was the only decision."
It took about two years of paperwork and interviews before they could go. An aunt in New York sponsored them and met them at the airport.
They brought a few bags of clothes and four hundred dollars. Not one of them spoke the language.
They landed in Brooklyn and lived in a two bedroom apartment above a bodega. Alex was seven and learned English at school.
Now here is what he actually remembers about arriving in America.
Bananas.
"I loved bananas. That was like my thing."
"They were really hard to get. They were like a delicacy almost."
"Man, in America, you can get all the bananas you want."
That was the measure of the whole country to a seven year old. You could have as many bananas as you wanted.
He remembers the street vendors too, and wanting to try what he had only seen people on television having.
"I was like, I just want to try that."
"I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever tasted."
Later the family moved to Ohio because it was cheaper to live there. And that is where he saw this sport for the first time.
Here is how he describes figuring out what he was watching.
"These dudes are running around and hitting people, and it's encouraged. Like, people are clapping for people smacking people."
"That was the first time I ever saw a college football game. I thought it was the coolest thing ever."
Here is his wife Alexis.
"I'm absolutely astonished every time I hear the story."
"Alex had never even seen American football."
And here is the line from him that explains all of it.
"When you're a kid, you don't really know what you don't have."
His father never stopped working. He drove for a pizza company, then managed a store, then ran a warehouse.
And his mother, who got off that plane unable to say one sentence in English, works for a language translation service now.
A man who fixed telephone lines in Moscow got in a truck in New York instead. His wife cleaned other people's houses. They did it with four hundred dollars and no way to ask anybody for help.
Tonight their kid walked into Sanford Stadium and beat the best team in the country in front of its own crowd. 27 to 24, on a field goal at the end.
Here is the last thing his father said about leaving.
"We are free."
For more stories like this, follow us on any platform @thesportsontap
Dave Robison retweeted
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”
Ephesians 1:7
Dave Robison retweeted
The Word of God is sufficient for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). It is sufficient because it is the Spirit of God Himself who works through His Word. To believe otherwise is to suggest that an omnipotent God is somehow impotent to accomplish through His Word that which He declares His Word can—and will—accomplish (Isaiah 55:10-11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13).
Dave Robison retweeted
What God does in believers in hard seasons:
1) Drives us to fervent prayer
2) Refines and purifies us of sin
3) Teaches us dependence on Him
4) Gives us a test that we can pass by his grace
5) Weans us off of loving the world
6) Shows us that true joy is in Him alone
Dave Robison retweeted
October 13, 1976
2 Homers and a Nubber Clinch Flag
“George Foster hit his 480 feet. Johnny Bench’s went about 400 feet. Ken Griffey hit his about 30 feet. ‘And mine,’ said Griffey, ‘won the pennant.’”
“It was not a thing of beauty, this bases-loaded, ninth inning infield hit by Griffey, unless you happened to be wearing the red of Cincinnati. ’Pitiful,’ was Griffey’s description.”
“But it won the Reds’ annual National League pennant.”
“The swing had been mighty, the result feeble. Worms in the dirt in front of home plate dug for cover. The ball bounced once, twice.”
“Dave Concepcion was the runner at third base. He saw Griffey swing and broke for home, full speed. He was the winning running, the man who carried the conclusion to this comeback of comebacks, 7-6 over Philadelphia.”
“The Phils had pholded and phlopped. They had blown a 6-4 lead just three outs from staying alive, and lost, 7-6, to keep from forcing a fourth game and getting their bug guy, Steve Carlton, back into action.”
Foster’s homer was hit “so far, so hard, so decisive,” that it was taken by the Reds as a “signal of things to come.”
“’I knew it was gone but I didn’t know how far it would go,’ said Foster. ‘But it doesn’t matter. They only let you go around the bases once.’”
“Around he went and suddenly Bench was the hitter. Johnny Bench, the one offensive disappointment in the Cincinnati arsenal of weapons, hit only 16 homers during the season.”
“But this was the playoffs and Bench, like Foster, hit a homerun. ‘It was,’ Johnny Bench admitted, ‘ a great emotional feeling.’”
“’I knew right then we had it won,’ Sparky Anderson admitted.”
“Concepcion came on and hit a single. It was strategy time. Tom Underwood, a left-hander came in to pitch.”
“’I can steal on him anytime I want,’ Concepcion told Anderson.”
“’No, we’re going to bunt,’ Anderson answered. He so informed Cesar Geronimo but he also made a concession. He told Concepcion he could steal if Geronimo ever got a strike on him.”
“He never did. Nervous, uneasy, Underwood threw four pitches that missed the plate.”
“It was bunt time again, Ed Armbrister, as he always does, layed down the perfect sacrifice. He even avoided contact with the catcher.”
“Now it was second and third and Pete Rose was tendered an intentional walk, Underwood’s nervousness showing as he almost uncorked two wild pitches.”
“As the walk was being given to Rose, Griffey and Joe Morgan stood at the on-deck circle.”
“’Just hit like you normally do,’ instructed Morgan.”
“’I did,’ laughed Griffey, remembering the statement. ‘An infield hit,’” Griffey’s 30th infield hit since opening day.
“When it was over and the Reds were celebrating, Bobby Tolan came into the Reds’ clubhouse, accompanied by Garry Maddox and Dave Cash. He went around and shook hands with his former teammates, the men on whom he once turned his back.”
“In defeat, he was a man.”
“’I couldn’t have done that,’ admitted Pete Rose. ‘It shows a lot of class.’”
“Class, the Phillies have. The Reds have the pennant.”
Bob Hertzel – Cincinnati Enquirer
