Saul has often been studied and taught about as a ‘leader gone bad‘ example. Saul had so much going for him. Saul was the first king of Israel and had a reign of forty-two years. But early in his reign, something went terribly wrong. We see the weakness of Saul’s heart come into focus. In I Samuel 13, shortly after Saul took office as king, he found himself in a quandary. He was going into battle with the Philistines and Saul had agreed to wait for the Lord’s prophet, Samuel, to arrive to anoint the army for battle and to sacrifice the burnt offering prior to battle. Seems simple enough, wait for the Lord’s man to arrive before beginning the task at hand. And it seems logical enough from Saul’s perspective that when the guy doesn’t show up for a meeting on time you go on ahead without him with the task at hand. Besides, Saul was king and in charge.

But Samuel was not any ordinary guy and this was not any ordinary task or arrangement. In Saul’s haste, fear, and discontent he decided to take matters into his own hands, and he disobeyed the Lord’s command. When Samuel arrives on the scene he asks Saul in verse 11, ‘What have you done?‘ Saul’s response resembles his fear and his thinking, [Read more…]

After Mary’s husband died, she began accumulating more and more things.  In fact, she devoted her entire house to toys.

Since Mary’s children and grandchildren were all grown, the toys remained in their packages and were stacked from floor to ceiling.  Eventually, she stopped going out of her house altogether and refused to let any of her children or grandchildren come to see her.

When her children realized she had a problem, they encouraged her to get help.  Seeing a counselor helped her to deal with the loss of her husband’s death.  And the counselor was able to meet in her home and help her take steps to get rid of most of the toys she had been hoarding. [Read more…]