08/26/20 MESSAGE FROM JONAH #2 — As I attempted to APPLY that message (see yesterday’s post), I offered five challenges:

1. There is ALWAYS a STIFF PRICE to PAY for Running from the Lord. (1:3)

2. A straight line may be the SHORTEST distance between two points. BUT Running from the Lord is the ROUGHEST distance between two points. (1:4)

3. Often WE are as INCONSISTENT and SELFISH as Jonah. (3:10-4:3)

4. God cares for ALL People. (4:11)

5. God gives SECOND CHANCES, even to His Enemies! If YOU need one, take advantage of it NOW!

Several people responded during the invitation time. My biggest surprise came when two young men I had “never laid eyes on before” (CBC had several hundred in attendance on Wednesday evenings) came forward and spoke deliberately to me. They told me they were each called by God to be preachers and were making plans to attend seminary next fall, same as me, but, in spite of all that, they had been running from God and were paying the price. They thanked me profusely for my message; and I prayed for and with them that they would stay close to the Lord.