I love to fly but I wonder, how many of you get nervous when flying? If you do you'd probably agree with George S. Kaufman who once said, "I like terra firma - the more firma, the less terra."

One of the premier science-fiction writers Ray Bradbury of Los Angeles won a top award in 1968 from the Aviation-Space Writers Association for a Life magazine article he wrote in praise of space exploration. But Bradbury didn't attend the association's awards meeting in Florida. You know why? He won't fly. (1) I think that is so ironic. But then we all have our own fears and foibles don't we.

And so did the subject of today's sermon in this series on Heroes of the Bible. I'm talking about Gideon. Gideon was the sixth judge of Israel. Remember, there was a period after Joshua's death, when the p…