Scott Duck Ministries

10/13/2026

I've been seeing some things on social media lately about dynamic pricing, which is the practice of a company charging different prices for the same product at different times or at different locations or according to varying market conditions. This is certainly not a new practice but, with the proliferation of AI, it's becoming much more common and also getting a lot more attention, most of it negative.

All this talk about dynamic pricing got me thinking about what you might call dynamic ministry, presenting God's Word differently at different churches or on different online platforms or according to what the current hot button topic is or according to the audience we're ministering to. Many would say that God's Word is unchanging and so the presentation of it should be just as unchanging. That is absolutely right. That is also absolutely wrong. This topic is much too complicated to reduce it to a single statement or sentiment. So let's talk about it.

Posted in Articles, Christian Witness, God's Love, God's Truth, Humility, Serving God Article: Dynamic Ministry Author: Scott Duck Published Date: October 13, 2026 I’ve been seeing some things on social media lately about dynamic pricing, which is the practice of a company charging different...

09/25/2026

We're heading into the holiday season, which I love. I think it's worth taking a little time to talk about how we think about and celebrate holidays, from a Christian prospective.

Posted in Articles Article: Holidays and the Heart Author: Scott Duck Published Date: September 25, 2026 We’re getting into Fall, although you wouldn’t know it lately, judging by the weather here in West Tennessee, where I live. We’re heading into the holiday season, which I love. I ...

09/16/2026

In John 14:13, Jesus said "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son". That's very encouraging, isn't it? It sounds very empowering, doesn't it? It should, because it is. However, just as is the case with other encouraging and empowering passages of Scripture, like Philippians 4:13, which I talked about in my previous post, it is important to take this Scripture in the proper context. This is not an invitation to put in any order, to the portals of Heaven, and get it answered, so long as it is in Jesus' name. Let's take a look at what this Scripture is, and is not, saying.

Posted in Articles, Prayer, Serving God, Trusting God Article: Whatever You Ask Author: Scott Duck Published Date: September 16, 2026 In John 14:13, Jesus said “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son”. That’s very encouraging, isn’t i...

09/11/2026

Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". That's very comforting and encouraging, isn't it? It should be. But does it apply to your specific situation? Let's talk about that.

Posted in Articles, Serving God, Trusting God Article: I Can Do All Things Author: Scott Duck Published Date: September 11, 2026 Philippians 4:13 says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. That’s very comforting and encouraging, isn’t it? It should be, when taken...

09/08/2026

Two weeks ago, on 8/25/2026, I got a simple 3 word text. It said "Dolly Parton died". One day, someone will get that same text about me. Then what? Where am I going and what kind of legacy will I leave behind? These are questions worth pondering and, as wonderful as she was, we cannot look to Dolly's life for the guidance we need in order to make the answers to these questions be what they should be. We must not follow her. We must follow The One I really hope she followed. In this SDM article, I reflect on these things.

Posted in Articles, Knowing God, Serving God, True Christianity Article: The Death of Dolly Parton Author: Scott Duck Published Date: September 8, 2026 Two weeks ago, on 8/25/2026, early in the afternoon, I got a simple 3 word text. It said “Dolly Parton died”. That got me to thinking ...

09/03/2026

The website of Scott Duck Ministries is now back up, after having been down for a while due to technical problems. While the site was down, ministry content was posted directly to this FaceBook page. Now that the website is back up, I will resume posting content to the website and posting links to the website content on the FB page, rather than posting content directly to the FB page. If you haven't been there in a while, check the website out.

09/01/2026

Creation Declares God's Glory

Genesis 1:1 says "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". Psalm 19:1 says "The heavens declare the glory of God". It isn't just the heavens that declare His glory. All creation does. I am acutely aware of this every day but one place I particularly feel it is at the beach, because there is so much that can be experienced there, even without eyesight. There's the feel of the sand under my feet, warmed by the sun, and I can also feel the warmth of the son on my face. Our sun is smaller than most stars and it is roughly 93 million miles away, and yet, even so, it has the power to radiate that kind of warmth to us here. There's the feel of the breeze and it has that smell that the wind only has when it comes off the ocean. There's the sound of the waves. Have you ever closed your eyes and just listened to the waves? Try it some time. You will notice that the waves sound different to your left and to your right and right in front of you. You can kinda hear the shape of the waves, if that makes any sense. I could write paragraphs just about that. And if you go stand in the edge of the water and especially if you're not paying attention, a decent size wave can knock even a big and strong man down, and that's only a minuscule fraction of the power of the sea, a power that was imparted to the sea by God. That power is all around us. That majesty is all around us. It's so clear that even a blind man (which I am) can see it.

Now let's think about rain. The great flood in Genesis is the first time it ever rained. We are told in Genesis 2:5-6 that it had not yet rained but that a mist came up from the ground to water the ground. The first time rain is mentioned is in Genesis 7:12, at the start of the great flood. There has been rain ever since but it never rained before that. Hmmm, interesting.

Think about the water cycle. The water cycle is simply the laws of physics at work. Water evaporates and condenses into microscopic droplets of water in the atmosphere to form clouds. Often, air currents move the clouds to a place other than where the water evaporated. Eventually, when atmospheric conditions are right, millions of these microscopic droplets stick together to form individual rain drops that are large enough and heavy enough to overcome the updrafts which support the clouds. When this happens on a large scale, it rains. Then, the cycle starts over again. I’m sure that a meteorologist could explain it much better but that’s the basic idea of how it works.

Now, think about something else. Before the flood, there was water, there was an atmosphere, there was gravity, there were air currents, etcetera. There were all the things needed to make the water cycle work and yet, apparently, it did not work. It must be that, in order to send the great flood and in order to make possible all the rain that has fallen since, God changed the laws of physics, in some way, if only slightly. To me, that’s pretty awesome to think about. The basic laws of physics are, so far as we know, constant throughout the universe. They are, in fact, what makes the universe work the way it does, down to the smallest detail. We serve a God who can alter those laws, just by thinking about it. How cool is that! It’s pretty awe inspiring and humbling to think about such a awesome illustration of His power.

Speaking of the rain, this is another thing that even a blind man can experience. Of course I can feel it if I go out in a downpour but I'm not talking about that. Think about how the air smells, just before it rains. Besides that, the air just feels different, doesn't it? I'm not quite sure how to describe it or what causes it. but there is definitely something you can sense there, just before the rain, even without being able to see the sky. With this, just as with so many things, I can feel His majesty.

Most of you who are reading this cannot only feel His majesty, but can also see it. You may not realize what a complex miracle of God's creation that is. The eye is one of the few organs that cannot be transplanted. I once asked my main eye surgeon why that is. He said that there are multiple reasons but that one of them is the complexity of the optic nerve. He explained that what is commonly referred to as the "optic nerve" is not really a single nerve but, rather, is a bundle of over a thousand nerves. The visual signals that are sent from the eye to the brain are so complex that a single nerve is not sufficient to carry them. It takes a bundle of over a thousand. He said "If we were to cut that bundle, we would have no idea how to even begin to hook it back up properly". I don't think how visual input is processed by the brain is fully understood but I have seen estimates that as much as 30% of total brain activity is devoted to it. It's amazing how much of a miracle of creation is the ability to see the miracle of creation. Perhaps God gave us one so that we could fully appreciate the other.

John 1:1-5, speaking of Jesus, says:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Still today, the light shines in the darkness. It shines so brightly that even a blind man can see it, even in creation, and yet, so many do not see it, and those who don't are even more blind than I am. There is no one so blind as someone who simply will not see.

And if I, a completely blind man, can "see" these things, how much more then must all of you who do have physical eyesight be able to see, if you will look. If you will fully look, then you will truly see. You will see past the miracle itself to The One Who created the miracle . Romans 1:20 basically says that God reveals Himself to all of us through creation, and so no one has the excuse of simply not knowing of His existence.

His glory and His power is evident all around us, in the smallest things in our every day environment, if we will only take the time to look for it and think about it. I would encourage you to take time today to think about this, to look for Him in the minutia of every day life, and praise Him for it. It’s amazing what He can do in your heart as a result of such a simple act of worship. If you are coming to fully acknowledge His existence, through the miracle of His creation, He wants you to more than simply know that He exists. He wants you to fully KNOW Him. If experiencing the miracle of His creation is so awe inspiring, imagine what a personal relationship with Him will do in your heart. You don't have to imagine. To learn how to experience it for yourself, check out the "The Most Important Thing" page on the Scott Duck Ministries website (this website).

08/31/2026

Getting Push Back

We live in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christianity. This can be seen and felt in many ways. We see social media posts and news stories, which portray Christians as being judgmental and intolerant. The major news networks don't give equal air time to the Christian prospective and the social media platforms sensor Christian content. Sometimes the hostility is more personal than that. A friend or co-worker may not want to hear what we have to say on certain topics, because they don't want to hear the Christian prospective on those topics. Sometimes, they will even directly attack our prospective and our beliefs. All this is unpleasant and can be very discouraging.

I understand. This ministry experiences these things. I seek to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and then to teach them to truly live their life as disciples of His. Many people in the world don't like that. Some of these people make it known that they don't like that.

I'll give you an example. I sometimes run adds on FaceBook, which direct people to my website, where they can access the resources I offer. Without these adds, not many people would see my content on the social media platforms, because the social media algorithms appear to deprioritize Christian content. Concerning one of these adds, I received a voice mail. The transcript is below.

"Is this Mr. Duck? I keep seeing adds for your little conman ministry and your debunking Darwinism lies and all your other bulls**t on my FaceBook. And I need to know how to get that removed cause I certainly don't need the likes of you intruding on my damned day!"

I find several things interesting about this voice mail.

For one thing, he is so angry. On my website, I present God's Truth, as revealed in Scripture. This is done in a very gentle and tact-full way. You won't find any rants on the SDM page. God's Truth is the only Truth and I make no apology for it. However, I present it in a very respectful way. I know that some people will disagree with what I have to say, and that's fine, but there is no reason not to do that in a respectful way. Some of these people who like to think of Christians as intolerant need to work on being a little more tolerant themselves.

In the voice mail, he mentions the podcast on "Debunking Darwinism". I find that interesting. You see, that podcast was not boosted on FaceBook. In order to have seen it, he would have had to clicked on the link to our website, located in the advertisement about which he was complaining. Alternatively, he could have gone and visited the FaceBook page of the little con man ministry, which he seems so offended by. Either way, he would have had to intentionally dug a little farther past the add, which was very clearly for a Christian ministry, even though he seems to fundamentally and vehemently disagree with Christianity. In other words, it appears that he was looking for a reason to be angry. If you set out looking for a reason to be angry, you will find it, every time.

As Christians, we should not be surprised by this kind of reaction from the world.

Let's look at the words of Jesus, in John 15, verses 18 through 20:
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Jesus said "they will also persecute you". He did not say "they may persecute you". Given this, if we are not experiencing any push back from the world, at all, then I think we have to ask ourselves if we are doing enough to serve The Kingdom. Sometimes, maybe we don't do enough, because we are afraid of the push back. However, we should not be afraid.

Let's look at Matthew 10, verses 24 through 31:
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!
26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

We should not fear the reaction of the world. Jesus said "do not fear them". He also said "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light". We should unashamedly proclaim what He says in His Word. He promises us that He will empower us to do that and that He will take care of us as we do that.

Having said that, we should be respectful in our approach. We should not be confrontational.

Look at Galatians 6, verse 1:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

We must keep this Scripture, and others like it, in mind. I have seen some Christians who just say whatever they want however they want and say "I just tell it like it is, I'm just real". That's just a way of glorifying the fact that They have no self control. If you are very harsh and give no thought to what you say and how you say it and you get push back for that, that is not Christian persecution. That is people not liking you because you are being a jerk and that will destroy your Christian witness. We are to correct but we are commanded to do so in a spirit of gentleness. As Adrian Rogers once said, "The Bible makes a wonderful sword but a terrible club".

The bottom line is that we are to use the Word of God as the standard by which we measure everything, what is good or bad, right or wrong, and to define the essence of Truth itself. We are to do that unashamedly but gently. Jesus commanded us to do that and He promised that we would get backlash for that. If we are getting backlash, then we should do our best to count it all joy (James 1:2). If we are getting no backlash, then I think we have to ask ourselves, are we really taking enough of a stand for Him? Just something to think about.

08/28/2026

Who Are You

Do you ever think maybe people wonder who you really are? Have you ever heard the expression "actions speak louder than words"? Do you ever think about how these two things are very connected? Let's think about that.

Matthew 11
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples
3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

When John asked if Jesus was the Coming One, Jesus did not directly answer, He pointed to His works.

What if our status as a Christian is determined that way? This is something we need to think about because, for much of the world to whom we are supposed to be witnessing, it is determined that way. God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7) but humans can't do that and so they depend on actions to reflect the heart. Do our actions and attitudes reflect His nature? Are we unashamed of what He says in His Word and do we lovingly proclaim it? What picture of our heart is painted by our actions?

What if someone asks if we are a Christian and we say:
"Look at the actions and attitudes I exhibit as a spouse and parent. Look at the actions and attitudes I exhibit as an employee or student. Look at how I serve, or don't serve, in the church. Look at my social media posts for the last month. Look at the stand that I take, or don't take, on the things of God. Look at these things and then judge if I am a Christian."

If we were to do that, what conclusion would people come to? What would that say about our walk with Christ?

Colossians 3
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

All of us have multiple roles that we play on the stage of life and even the best of these roles can sometimes be difficult and have negative aspects to them. No matter in what role we find ourselves, we can and should choose to be thankful to God for that role and let Him empower us to do it well, for His glory. I think we should periodically examine ourselves, to see if we are doing that.

I was recently reminded of something said by Martin Luther King Jr, which I think is very applicable here.

He said:
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well'."

I must ask myself: Am I a father who loves my children well, with the love of Christ? Am I a speaker and writer who does a good job of unashamedly representing Christ well to my brothers and sisters in Him and to the lost world? Do I live my life in such a way to make others notice that there is something different about me, something that they do not see in the natural world? I am just a sinful man, saved by God's grace, and so the answers to these questions will not always be in the affirmative and, when that is the case, I need to ask Christ to help me to do all that I do in His name, giving thanks to God the Father through Him, so that His light will shine through me and I will have true joy in that.

What about you? You may be a preacher or a teacher or a truck driver or a sales associate. You may be a spouse or a parent, a son or a daughter, a brother or a sister. Are you playing your part in such a way to make all the hosts of heaven and earth pause to say "here is a great (fill in the blank), who played their role well? Does the way you live your life make others sit up and take notice, in a positive way? If someone asks if you are a Christian, rather than answering directly, can you answer in the same way that Jesus answered John's question? can you point to your actions and attitudes, confident that people will draw the correct conclusion from those alone? If not, you should talk to God about that, don't you think? I know I sometimes have to.

08/27/2026

Our Only Hope

I recently read a social media post, written by a woman who basically said that she has always believed that humanity is inherently good but, given everything going on in the world now, she is beginning to lose hope. Anyone who places their hope in humanity will ultimately be disappointed and many people do place their hope there, either believing in the inherent goodness of human kind or believing that the right human religious or political leaders can fix our problems. When we place our hope in humanity, we are destined to lose it, because that is not where true hope can be found.

Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart of mankind is “desperately wicked”. Today's popular culture tells us that we are all basically good by nature but that is not so. Our heart is sinful.

Look at what Jesus said here.

Mark 7
20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Jesus said that these things come from within us. Many temptations are external. However, any sinful thought we have or sinful action we take because of that temptation comes from within us and our own sinful nature. It comes from within our own heart. Too often, we do what we do because we look to our own heart, rather than to God, for wisdom. It has almost always been so and so we must look back to the dawn of human history to understand why.

Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

The serpent, the Devil, was trying to talk Eve into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve told him that God had said that the day they did that they would surely die. The devil told her that they would not die, that God had just said that because eating of that fruit would allow Adam and Eve to discern good and evil, like God. Verse 6 says "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."

Eve saw that the tree was desirable to make one wise. What wisdom was she thinking of? She and Adam talked to God every day. They could ask Him anything they wanted. This tree offered a different kind of wisdom. The Devil told her that, if she ate from the tree, she would be like God, knowing good from evil. He was telling her that she could set her own standard for right and wrong. Eating the fruit made Eve wise in her own eyes. Then she gave to Adam and he ate and, through that single act of disobedience, sin entered the world. Ultimately, that's what all sin really comes down to, thinking we know better than God.

We tend to blame our sin on the bad influences in the world but when the first murder happened, when Cain killed his brother Abel in Genesis 4:8, it was before any of the bad influences that we talk about so much now had entered the world. As soon as the human race turned from relying on God as the only source of wisdom and began to rely on itself for wisdom, just one chapter and one generation after Adam and Eve ate of that fruit, the first murder was perpetrated. We cannot rely on ourselves for wisdom. We cannot look to ourselves for hope. We must turn back to God for that.

2 Chronicles 7
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I have previously written and preached extensively concerning this verse of Scripture and how it does and does not apply to our nation today and so I will not expound on this here. The bottom line is that we, as a nation, must turn back to God, if there is to be any true hope of things getting better. Turning back to Him as a nation begins with us turning back to Him as individuals, and then winning others to Him. I am talking about truly turning back to Him, not just invoking His name while continuing to look to ourselves, which is exactly what many of us do. He is our hope, our only hope. We must fully and whole heartedly grasp that truth and diligently act upon it, if anything is to ever change for the better.

As I said, turning back to Him as a nation begins with us turning back to Him as individuals. In order to turn back to Him, one must have turned to Him in the first place. That does not simply mean believing that He exists and trying to be a good person. It means establishing a personal relationship with Him. If you have never done that and would like to, you can start here by reading my previous post, entitled "Explanation of the Good News of Jesus Christ".