08/31/20 “MODERN CARS” IN SCRIPTURE — I’ll bet most of you did NOT know how many modern cars are mentioned in the Bible. I’ve listed just a few below:

1. (Plymouth) FURY: Genesis 27:44 (NKJV) “And stay with him a few days, until your brother's FURY turns away.” I had no idea that internal combustion engines were even invented way back then!

2. FORD: Genesis 32:22 (NKJV) “And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the FORD of Jabbok.” I guess Jabbok owned an unspecified Ford model.

3. (Pontiac) TEMPEST: Psalm 83:15 (NKJV) “So pursue them with Your TEMPEST, And frighten them with Your storm.” Those Tempests were loud, scary, fast cars, all right!

4. (Honda) ACCORD: Acts 2:1 (NKJV) “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one ACCORD in one place.” The poor 120 believers apparently had only one car among them, an Accord.

5. (Ford)ESCAPE: 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of ESCAPE, that you may be able to bear it.” Whenever you’re in trouble, it seems that God promises to send an Escape to pick you up.

Amazing, right?! Maybe YOU can help me find MORE “modern” automobiles in the Bible!

 08/30/20 NOT FAR IS NOT IN — In Mark 12, the Sadducees had just concocted a complex riddle to disparage Jesus. They surely thought that no matter how He answered, they could trap and discredit Him. But, no, once more, He answered as only the Son of God could—He “blew them right out of the saddle.”

Verse 28 (CSB) says, “One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked Him, ‘Which command is the most important of all?’” It seems like he was NOT trying to trap Jesus. Perhaps he really wanted to hear the Messiah’s wise answer.  

He was rightly impressed with Jesus’ response (vs.32-33). Verse says, ^“When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, ‘You are NOT FAR from the kingdom of God.’ And no one dared to question Him any longer.” Coming from Jesus Himself, this was a compliment indeed!

BUT “NOT FAR” is NOT “in” God’s Kingdom. The scribe was so much more receptive and respectful to Jesus’ Person and Message than most of the Jewish leaders. He embraced what Jesus said about LOVE, BUT, as far as we know, like far too many of us, he FAILED to understand his obligation to OBEY. As far as Scripture tells us, he NEVER actually became a sold-out, surrendered follower of Jesus. Unless something wonderfully miraculous happened to him, he remained a HELL-BOUND SINNER.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Faithfully attending a church, reading and memorizing Bible verses, praying a blessing before each meal, helping those in need regularly and living a lawful, decent life—if you’re doing ALL of that virtually ALL the time, YOU, too, are NOT FAR from the Kingdom. But unless you have deliberately accepted the Covenant/Contract that God is offering to ALL people—REALIZE that (1) Your Thoughts, Words and Deeds are Unacceptable to God; (2) The consequences for God’s displeasure are His discipline and chastening here on the earth, followed by an ETERNITY in HELL, separated from God, Jesus, your friends and loved ones and anything/everything good and pleasant; (3) Surrendering Control of the Rest of your Life to Jesus, God’s Son and mankind’s ONLY Savior, Whose undeserved execution on a cross God arranged to pay the incalculable debt you owe Him—unless you are 3 for 3, YOU, too are still a HELL-BOUND SINNER! Not because I said so, but because God’s Holy Bible declares all that loud and clear over and over. PLEASE, even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, economic chaos, rioting and looting, THIS is the MOST URGENT and IMPORTANT thing you can do!

08/28/20 Back on Aug. 18, I discussed “JESUS’ FOOLPROOF FLOWCHART OF FORGIVENESS.” Here’s a picture of it! 

08/27/20 RE-MINDERS FROM JONAH — In my course “Digging Gems in the MINER Prophets” (deliberately misspelled!), each week I presented most of the “RE-“ words in these short books, e.g. rebuild, repair, return, restore, repent, etc. In future posts I’ll probably present these “RE-minders” from the other 11 Minor prophets. But below are those in Jonah:

In Jonah 3:9-10 (CSB) the king of Nineveh says, “’Who knows? God may TURN and RELENT; he may TURN from his burning anger so that we will not perish.’ 10 God saw their actions — that they had TURNED from their evil ways — so God RELENTED from the disaster he had threatened them with. And he did not do it.”

Also Jonah 4:2, “He prayed to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country? That’s why I fled toward Tarshish in the first place. I knew that you are a Gracious And Compassionate God, Slow To Anger, Abounding In Faithful Love, and one who RELENTS from sending disaster.’”

The OT Hebrew word rendered “turn” in the verses above is often translated “REPENT.” And one of the explanations folks give for (OT) repentance is “turning away from evil and toward God.” The NT Greek word for repentance means to change one’s mind, which is the sense of word “RELENT” above.

Praise the Lord! We most certainly DESERVE any disasters God sends our way. But if and when we sincerely TURN and REPENT, He will RELENT, forgive us and even, perhaps, remove His chastening hand.