1 Chronicles 11 :22-25 “Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And he struck down an Egyptian who was five cubits tall. … He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.”

Benaiah was the son of a priest He was born and raised in an ordinary small town that was not famous for anything — except for him. He served David long and well and then went on to serve Solomon. A man of valor and honor.

Principle: God and men value honor, courage and valor which are cause for promotion.

Van T. Barfoot was born and raised in the small town of Carthage, Mississippi population less than 4,000. He wears the Congressional Medal of Honor. There are less than 100 living recipients of that medal in 2010. In an age that worship spore heroes, movie stars and the rich and famous Medal of Honor recipient stand out These men attained their fie for caring enough about their Nation and their comrades to risk and often sacrifice their life that others might live. That quality of character defines a real hero. In World War 2, in Italy, Sergeant Baffoot set out to flush German machine gun positions from which fire was coming down on his fellow soldiers. He advanced through a minefield, took out three enemy machine gun positions and returned with 17 prisoners of war.

The same day he took on and destroyed three German tanks sent to retake the machine gun positions. Then he assisted two of his seriously wounded men in a mile back to a position of safety and medical care. He earned an officer ranking and continued to serve in the Korean and Vietnam wars and retired as an Army Colonel.

David had a few mighty men. Our military has had a few mighty men. God’s army has some mighty men but they are not well known – except by God.

Discussion:

1. Have you ever spent time with a true war hero?

2. What was their attitude like?

3. Do you know anybody who seems to qualify as a spiritual hero in God’s Army?

3. What is he or she like?

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