“If it is to be, it is up to me!” That maxim has often been heard in humanistic motivational speeches, encouraging the hearers to recognize their self-potential and nearly limitless innate capabilities.

One thing is certain: When Gideon, Israel’s fifth judge, was commissioned by God to lead his people in battle against overwhelming military strength, he did not chant “If it is to be, it is up to me!” or even the less certain self-talk of “The Little Engine That Could”: “I think I can. I think I can!”

Our previous three studies in Judges 6 introduced us to a man who was anything but self confident and self assured, a man who needed extra dosages of divine assurance. And just when Gideon began to believe he might actually be able to accomplish the task in spite of inferior resources, he is ordered to dramatically reduce even those.

But then. . .God steps in to demonstrate the truth of something the apostle Paul would learn almost twelve centuries later, that God’s strength is magnified in our weakness so that He alone receives the glory for great outcomes.

So, for a dramatic demonstration of this important spiritual lesson, we turn to Judges, chapter seven, in an episode entitled, “Weak Enough To Win.”

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Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message.

If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

Most of us know how important it is when a professional athlete is inducted into the hall of fame, whether that be baseball or football. However, most people don’t realize that there are over one hundred “Hall of Fame” attractions throughout the United States, recognizing exceptional accomplishments in a great variety of fields: lesser known sports, music, entertainment, pop culture.

For example, while we might be familiar with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee, how about the RV (Recreational Vehicle) Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana, or the Mascot Hall of Fame in Whiting, Indiana, and how many of us have planned a vacation around a stop at the Idaho Potato Museum in Blackfoot, Idaho to visit the Potato Hall of Fame?

This edition of “Ancient Words, Modern Message” draws our attention to a man who surprisingly made it all the way into another Hall of Fame, the Faith Hall of Fame,” some of whose inductees are listed in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Hebrews. We learn about him in our series of studies of Judges six through eight, “The Best of Times and the Worst of Times.” Gideon, the fifth of Israel’s twelve judges was in so many ways just an ordinary man with faith the size of a mustard seed, but God nurtured that faith to maturity all the way to Gideon’s induction into the Faith Hall of Fame.

It’s a fascinating story and a reminder to each of us of how God can use ordinary people like us. Let’s look at it together in this episode entitled, “Clay Feet and the Hall of Fame."

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Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message.

If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.

In this second episode in the series, “The Best of Times and the Worst of Times,” our study of the Old Testament Book of Judges reminds us that Israel’s fifth “judge” did not start his “career” after being voted “the most likely to succeed.” In fact, by his own admission, it appeared as if he would only excel in mediocrity and insignificance.

But then, God showed up with an extremely ambitious plan for this very ordinary man, and isn’t that so very often how God chooses to work? He seems to delight in taking the simple things and the non-spectacular people and empowering them for His use, the net effect of which is a manifestation of His glory and not ours.

While there might be some folks listening to this podcast who have exceptional capabilities, most of us would certainly fit into Gideon’s category whose response to God’s call was (loosely paraphrased), “Who me? You mean little old me?”

Perhaps the best way to describe Gideon’s career as Israel’s fifth judge at a most difficult time would be, “Little is much. . .when God is in it,” as we are reminded in an old Gospel song written in 1924. And oh, listen carefully at the end of the study for the background of the song and its most amazing connection with a man whose name many will recognize.

With that teaser, let’s turn to Judges six for this episode entitled, “When Little Is Much.”

Thank you for listening to Ancient Words, Modern Message. You can expect episodes twice a month on Monday. Ancient Words, Modern Message is supported by Hebrew Christian Fellowship. To learn more about our ministry, or to ask a question, contact HCFellowship4819@gmail.com. We might just answer your question on a future episode of Ancient Words, Modern Message.

If you know a person that you think would benefit from this teaching, please share it with them. And if you’d like to support Ancient Words, Modern Message, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your input helps us make the podcast even better and reach new listeners.

Ancient Words, Modern Message is produced by Studio D Podcast Production and hosted by Rev. Roger Wambold, Director of Hebrew Christian Fellowship.