Born To Win Podcast - With Ronald L. Dart

Freedom is a terrible burden to bear, and it is a sad fact of life that men are all too willing to lay down that burden in the name of security or some other combination of social goods that are promised by political leaders. We need to think about this, because the result of laying down the burden of freedom is the laying down of freedom itself.One of the times of the greatest freedom a people could ever have enjoyed was the period of time described in the Bible in the Book of Judges. It was a stormy time, and Israel was terrorized by the enemies from time to time. It happened to them when they let down on the most fundamental principles of divine law, an essential to any free people. They lived under a true theocracy. That is to say, God was their only king. Problem was, God was out of sight for the most part and they were free to do as they pleased. Which is all well and good as long as you are the doer. It is not so good when you are the one being done to.In the course of time, the Israelites got weary of

If you saw the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, you will have been introduced to the idea that the Ark of God is a source of great power. Power that could be used, theoretically, as a weapon of war. Anyone remotely familiar with the Bible should know that while the Ark had great symbolic power, and was an object of great holiness, whatever power that was there was not mindless. It was the power of God, and God was highly unlikely to use that power in the projects and wars of the murdering band of thugs we call the Third Reich.Nevertheless, the scene in the movie where the Ark is opened and men look into it is a riveting piece of movie-making—and it is not entirely without Biblical foundation. There was an occasion where 50 men died because they looked into the Ark. It was this idea of the ark as a source of power that led the men of Israel to carry it into battle with them, and that myth was demolished when the Philistines not only whipped their army, they captured the ark itself.Now to the Philistines,

There aren’t very many things you can do that are worse than making people dread the worship of God. I know, you can kill people, you can maim them, you can cut off their heads. All these things and a lot more have been done to Christians in history. But when you begin to undermine the joy of worship, when you take away the comfort that people feel in coming to appear before God and walking through the prescribed ceremonies, you take the first steps in destroying the relationship with God.And this is singularly cruel, because it is that blessed hope in God that gives life meaning. When you destroy the relationship with God, you take away the meaning of a man’s life. This happens in many ways, and it has happened all too often in the history of the faith. And it isn’t the outsiders who are the greatest danger. Sometimes the greatest danger can come from those who are supposed to be the custodians of the faith.Such were two men named Hophni and Phineas, priests at the Tabernacle of God who the

It has been said repeatedly that those who cannot learn the lesson of history are condemned to repeat it. I can only conclude that not many people believe that statement, because so few have any interest whatsoever in history. Eyes glaze over when it is mentioned. You may even have started to reach for the button on your radio when I mentioned it. But if you are still listening, consider this: It is entirely the fault of your teachers that you never acquired a taste for history. I will confess that I came to my interest in history late in life. I blame my teachers for that. History is a set of fascinating stories, and who doesn’t like a good story? And more than that. These excellent stories go a long way toward explaining what’s going on around us.Great leaders always are students of history. If they weren’t they would find themselves utterly lost in understanding the world around them. They are able to lead people because they understand what is happening, and their decisions are based on

The earth was not made to last forever. All of us know that our sun will burn out one of these days and, if you look a little further into it, you’ll know that what happens when the sun burns out is that it gets a whole lot bigger. In fact, the size of the sun will actually reach beyond earth’s orbit. But the earth is getting warmer now because the sun is getting hotter. I didn’t really know that. I thought the sun was in a state of equilibrium, but apparently not. Recently I happened to be watching a documentary titled Hyperspace which included a fascinating segment on the end of life on earth. This was not a Biblical apocalyptic thing. It was a graphic explanation of the facts of the solar system.The earth appears to rotate around the sun in a kind of green belt. The graphic on the screen showed a belt area some distance from the sun, in which life, like ours, is possible. We wobble back and forth a bit over long time periods, but we stay within the narrow range of that distance which allo

There is something that is puzzling me about our society. Maybe you have the answer. When the time comes to execute a murderer, and all the television crews are out filming the demonstrators, interviewing talking heads for and against the death penalty, why is it that they hardly ever tell us in any detail what the murderer did? And, during election years, why is the execution of a criminal so much more important in a state where the governor is running for president? Why is the governor of a state more important than the victims of the criminal rampage. It is incredible to me how some people can muster so much sympathy for the murderer and forget altogether the victim and his family.Don’t get me wrong. It is a terrible thing to take anyone’s life. I cannot conceive of anyone taking pleasure in the execution of a killer. God certainly doesn’t. He spoke to Ezekiel:Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us

There is a great fascination with the lost tribes of Israel. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, taught that the American Indians were among the lost tribes, and there was a television special not long ago that tracked down people in Asia and Africa who believed they were remnants of these forgotten bloodlines.But there is, in the Bible, a prophecy about all the tribes of Israel at the end time. It is found in Genesis 49: And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. If old Jacob is really talking about the last days, then the distinct tribes of Israel should all exist as political entities at the very end of days.So let’s proceed on that assumption. The descendants of Abraham were supposed to become as the sands of the seashore in number. And they were supposed to be a blessing to the rest of the world. All this implies a coherent people. And the prophecies of old Israel also imply a coherent people at the end t

You have probably heard someone say that God works in mysterious ways. That’s true enough, and sometimes the mystery doesn’t become clear until the story has completely played out. But that’s just like any good Agatha Christie mystery. Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple always got everyone together to explain the mystery and expose the murderer. But that little meeting at the end of the story is a very uncomfortable affair for the guilty.So it must have been for the brothers of Joseph. Joseph’s brothers, all heirs of a wealthy and powerful dynasty are jealous of him and plot to murder him, but instead sell him into slavery. After a time in prison, Joseph rises to great power in Egypt and rescues the whole nation and region from a time of famine.The famine drives the guilty brothers into Egypt for food. Joseph recognizes them but they don’t recognize him. So Joseph plays a deep game to get the whole family into Egypt, and allows the brothers’ own fear and guilt to grow as he invi

What in the world is God doing? Did he just start all this going and go off and leave it? Or is he sitting in a heavenly recliner watching all this like a great, sweeping soap opera? Or is it possible that God has a plan and that he is implementing that plan?There is reason to believe that most of the time, in most of the world, God just lets things run. But there are individuals and circumstances that he seems to steer from time to time. He knows people’s hearts and needs merely to tweak a few things to get the results he is looking for. But once in a while, he finds it necessary to communicate directly.And so it was that the Egyptian Pharaoh had two haunting dreams. I gather these were not some of those dreams that come about from going to bed on a full stomach. Somehow, Pharaoh knew that these dreams were different and important—but why? And what did they mean?

What in the world is God doing? Where is he going with all this? So often the Bible reads like children’s stories or a prime-time soap opera. Is it all written down just for our titillation, or is there a point to it?One of the odd things in the Bible is the way God takes a special interest in some individuals and seems to shepherd them through the dangers and tribulations of life. In Genesis, there is a thread running within a certain family where God seems to move forward with a purpose in mind. And it seems there is no way we can understand what he is doing without following that thread.Imagine the intrigue in a wealthy and powerful family where there are twelve strong sons from the same father, but four different mothers. Add to this explosive mixture the fact that one son is the father’s fair-haired boy who gets special treatment at every turn. You don’t have to be a detective to think that someone is going to get killed. And it nearly came to that for Joseph, beginning in Genesis 37.

The Bible says the first man was made out of dirt. Scientists says life might have originated out of green slime. That's close enough to agreement for the moment. The point being that somewhere between dirt or green slime, and the man we see standing before us, something had to be done.Not just something. A lot of stuff had to be done, and when you really look at it the implications are awesome. For example, I have to see my eye doctor three times a year, and I am always left waiting in his examination room. The walls there are covered with pictures and diagrams of the human eye. I often gaze at these pictures with something approaching religious awe. The eyes that I see all around the walls were designed. It seems impossible to me that anyone could fail to see that. It was one particular diagram that started me thinking...

If you ever needed an outline for a soap opera, you could find it in the Book of Genesis. Maybe you need a movie with a great sweep of characters and action. Genesis has everything. There are great dynasties, wealthy and powerful men, murder, sex, and intrigue. In fact, everything you could hope to find in a modern, prime-time drama is right there.Some fools look at it and shudder thinking, Is this what the God of the Old Testament was like. Of course not—this is what people are like. For his own reasons, God has decided to work with man toward his own goals. And that brings us to the reason for this series of programs. What in the world is God doing?God has a long term plan for man, and the outlines of it are barely evident in Genesis, but they are there. Someone once called Genesis the story of one man’s family—the one man being Abraham. And with his grandson Jacob—and Jacob’s sons, the patriarchs of the storied twelve tribes of Israel—God took a major step in his plan.

I think I can guarantee that most perceptions of the Patriarchs of the Bible are all wrong. I don’t know what you visualize when you think of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but I know what is portrayed in most Christian art. They are solitary figures, robed shepherds, and tent-dwellers. Yet, in fact, they represent one of the most remarkable dynasties in the ancient world.Abraham and Isaac were powers in the region, respected in all quarters—and feared in some. They had so many people in their employ, that they could field a private army when necessary. And Jacob may have been the most formidable of the three. He went into his father’s homeland looking for a bride without a penny in his pocket and he returned with a self-built empire, two wives, two concubines, eleven sons, and a herd of cattle that stretched out of sight.He was a very shrewd dealer. He bargained Esau out of his birthright and then conned him out of his blessing. He made his father-in-law a rich man—and himself much, much r

When you were young and in love, what would you have paid for your spouse? What do I mean by that? Well, do you really expect a good wife to come free? Of course you do. One of the curses of the modern world is that we think love is free. A marriage may cost the father of the bride a few thousand dollars, but the bridegroom doesn’t have to bring any great wealth to the table.In ancient times, it didn’t work that way. To a father, a daughter was an asset. But even more, he wanted to be sure that the man who married his daughter was substantial—that he could take care of his daughter, give her a home, and support their children. They didn’t stand for the kind of things we tolerate so easily today.One of the great men of the Bible had to work for 14 years to get the woman he wanted. That man was Jacob, grandson of Abraham. He had gone to his father’s homeland to find a wife, and he found a beauty; and a fine woman to boot. But there was a problem. Jacob arrived in the country pennil

I think most people are puzzled by the intractable and irrational nature of the Middle East conflict. They want to know why the struggling nations in the Middle East can’t just get along. You would think, after so many generations of conflict, they would eventually get tired of it all and make peace.The problem is though, that the conflicts in the Middle East are irrational. And they aren’t going to yield to rational solutions. These conflicts are so old that the people who hate one another have long since forgotten why they hate one another. The troubles in the Middle East are as old as the sons and grandsons of a man named Abraham.It was true of Jacob and Esau, grandsons of Abraham. These two boys were twins, but a long way from identical. And they were struggling with each other even in the womb. We begin their story in Genesis, chapter 25.

Why do they send mothers to jail for killing newborn babies? It happens all the time: babies are left in toilets, thrown into dumpsters, or otherwise disposed of; and if they can prove who the mother was, she is prosecuted for infanticide. Now why do we do this? And what right does society have telling parents how to treat their kids? Don't the kids belong to the parents? Can't the parents do as they please with their own children?Well, no, of course not. Children are persons under the law, and are entitled to all the protection of the law. Children don't belong to parents. They are in the care and custody of parents; but they are persons, not property, and the law rightly protects children.So then comes the next question. At what point does a newborn become a person and entitled to all the protection of the law? At what point does it become murder to kill a child? Can someone lose that protection and personhood? You would think these were simple questions, but they turn out not to be.

If you have ever been to Jerusalem there is a natural question that comes to mind. Why should anyone care very much about this particular piece of real estate? Jerusalem is not a port. It is not on a river. It is not on a trade route. It doesn’t sit on top of oil reserves or a gold mine. The hills and fields are rocky and a lot of work has to be done to even grow crops. Of all the places in the world I have visited, Jerusalem is not on my list of the places I would care to live.So why have people wanted the city so much they were willing to kill and risk their lives over it? And why has there been failure after failure in the efforts to attain peace in that troubled region? Will we see peace there anytime soon?It all started when God gave a little piece of land to a man named Abraham. Most of us are aware of what can happen when a great man dies and his heirs begin to squabble over his estate. And we realize that the greater the stakes, the greater the hatred that can be built between brothers and siste