Rocky Mountain Voice

Devotional

The Alertness Weapon: Lamb of the Free  
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Alertness Weapon: Lamb of the Free  

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow; And everywhere that Mary went, The lamb was sure to go. Most of us know those opening lines. What many of us may not know is why the little lamb followed Mary everywhere. The complete nursery rhyme gives us the answer. When the children ask, “What makes the lamb love Mary so?” their teacher explains, “Mary loves the lamb, you know.” Mary’s kindness created confidence, confidence produced trust, and trust made the little lamb want to remain near her. Apparently, Mary understood something many modern leaders have forgotten: harshness may make people move, but kindness makes them want to follow. That raises a question: what “kind” of Christian have you become or ar...
The Sensitivity Weapon: Little Miss Muffet
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Sensitivity Weapon: Little Miss Muffet

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, Eating her curds and whey; Along came a spider, who sat down beside her, And frightened Miss Muffet away. Last week, we dove into Jesus' command to "Ask, Seek, and Knock," highlighting the vital role of resourcefulness—what I like to call source management! Remember Poor Little Bo-Peep? Instead of seeking her lost sheep, she just hoped they would find their way home. This week, we journey with poor Little Miss Muffet as Jesus guides us to persistently ask, seek, and knock until we uncover the truths waiting for us. Once we step through that truth door and embrace it, what's our next move? Jesus encourages us with a wonderful next step: "Therefore, whatever you want people to do for you, ...
The Resourcefulness Weapon: Little Bo-Peep 
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Resourcefulness Weapon: Little Bo-Peep 

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep, and doesn’t know where to find them; leave them alone, and they’ll come home, wagging their tails behind them. Poor Little Bo-Peep would have made a terrible investigator. Imagine asking her a few basic questions: “Ma’am, when did you last see your sheep? Did you search the pasture? Check the gate? Follow their tracks? Talk to anyone who might have seen them?” Apparently, the answer to all of the above would have been no. Her investigative strategy was much simpler: Leave them alone, and they’ll come home. Cute nursery rhyme. Terrible source management. During my years in the Air Force, particularly through my experience with the Office of Special Investigations, I learned the imp...
The Discretion Weapon: Hey Diddle Diddle (When the Church Goes Helter-Skelter)
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Discretion Weapon: Hey Diddle Diddle (When the Church Goes Helter-Skelter)

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Hey diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughedTo see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon. As children, we probably never stopped to consider just how helter-skelter that little nursery rhyme really is. The cat is playing a fiddle. The cow is flying over the moon. The dog is laughing, and apparently the dish and spoon have decided they have had enough of the kitchen and are running away together. You see… everything is moving, but nothing is functioning as it should. Reflecting on it, Hey Diddle Diddle might mirror our world today—and, sadly, it can also represent the condition of the Christian individual, marriage, family, church, business, and government. I...
The Discernment Weapon: Three Blind Mice
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Discernment Weapon: Three Blind Mice

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Three blind mice! Three blind mice! See how they run! See how they run! I don't know about three blind mice, but I do know one thing: if three mice ever came running through our house, Sherrie might suddenly experience a miraculous recovery. I've never met anyone more afraid of mice than my wife. And I mean afraid. Sherrie has been confined to bed since last November, and these days it takes quite a bit of help to get her up and moving. But I'm fairly convinced that if a mouse scampered across the foot of her bed, she'd leap out, run downstairs, and leave me behind to deal with the mouse. I'm not recommending this as a therapeutic technique, mind you. But it does make me smile when I think about those three blind mice!  ...
The Sincerity Weapon: Jack Be Nimble
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Sincerity Weapon: Jack Be Nimble

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Jack be nimble. Jack be quick. Jack jump over the candlestick. As children, we rarely stop to think about what this little rhyme means. We simply picture a boy leaping over a candlestick with speed, courage, and just enough daring to make us smile. Maybe that's why it has endured for generations. Every child dreams of jumping over something exciting. I know I did. Growing up in Southern California during Evel Knievel's heyday was nothing short of inspiring. Every bicycle became a motorcycle, every curb became a canyon, and every homemade plywood ramp became another opportunity to attempt the impossible. Like millions of other boys, I dreamed of flying through the air, sticking the landing, and hearing the applause. Evel was...
The creativity weapon: Loving the crooked man
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, National, Top Stories

The creativity weapon: Loving the crooked man

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice When I was little, one of my favorite people ever was Grandma Ivy, still is. She wasn't famous. She never stood behind a pulpit or wrote a book. But she was a superhero. During many of my toddler and elementary years, she was my guardian, my safe place, and my greatest teacher. Like so many grandmothers, she had a way of turning ordinary moments into lasting memories. One of those memories was a simple nursery rhyme she taught me: "There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, and they all lived together in a little crooked house." Back then, I thought it was just a funny rhyme. I smiled because everything in...
The Deference Weapon: Ring Around the Rosie and the Second Mile
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Deference Weapon: Ring Around the Rosie and the Second Mile

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down. Most of us learned Ring Around the Rosie before we learned how to tie our shoes. We held hands, spun in circles, laughed, and then intentionally fell to the ground together. Nobody was trying to win. Nobody was competing for attention. Nobody was demanding their rights. For a few brief moments, everyone moved together…Then we grew up! Today, it seems we've forgotten how. Everywhere we look, people are fighting for position. We fight for attention, recognition, influence, and control. We fight to be heard, to be right, and to make sure no one gets ahead of us. The cultural message is clear: stand your ground, protect your rights, and never let a...
The Self-Control Weapon: Don’t Pull the Plum Yet
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The Self-Control Weapon: Don’t Pull the Plum Yet

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, eating his Christmas pie. He put in his thumb, pulled out a plum, and said, "What a good boy am I." Most of us learned that nursery rhyme as children and never gave it another thought. But through the lens of Jesus, Little Jack Horner tells a familiar story. Jack sees something he wants, reaches for it, takes it, and congratulates himself for getting it. That sounds a lot like us. We live in a world of immediate gratification. We want answers now, comfort now, success now, relief now, and pleasure now. Yet one of the greatest lessons Jesus teaches is that strength is often found in waiting. You see, before Jesus preached a sermon, healed a disease, or called a disciple, the Spirit led hi...
The reliability weapon: Humpty’s wall
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Devotional, Top Stories

The reliability weapon: Humpty’s wall

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again. Most people think the lesson of Humpty Dumpty is about falling. It isn't. It's about trust. You don't sit on a wall unless you trust the wall. You don't climb high unless you trust what holds you up. And you don't build relationships unless you trust the people around you. The real tragedy wasn't that Humpty fell. Everyone falls. The tragedy was that when he broke apart, nobody knew how to put the pieces back together. That's where the nursery rhyme collides with the teachings of Jesus. The world says reliability is showing up, keeping your promises, being on time, and doing what you sa...