Author: imikemedia

IMAGINE THAT YOU live in Old Testament times.  Imagine too that you and a good friend have been working together in the woods when suddenly a terrible accident occurs.  That axe you’ve been swinging over the past several hours splinters apart, flinging its stone head at your friend’s temple.

His death is instantaneous.  There was no premeditation in the event; it just happened.  It was unintentional, but your friend is dead nonetheless.

So what do you do?

You obviously can’t dial 911 because phones aren’t in existence.  Neither can you simply wait around for emergency authorities to arrive on the scene because your life is in jeopardy.

You see, once news of your friend’s untimely death reaches his families’ ears, their goel (pronounced “go-L”) or avenger of blood (Num. 35:19)1 will be in hot pursuit.  It is his duty to hunt you down and kill you (Deut. 19:4-6).  Yes, even though your friend’s death was an accident, as long as you are “out in the open,” the goel has the legal right to take your life.  That means that you either run or die.

You run to one of six special cities (e.g., Golan, Ramoth, Bezer, Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron – Josh. 20:7-8), which God designated as sanctuary (Exo. 21:12-13).  Each of these cities is strategically located so that regardless of where you live in Canaan, you can flee no more than a day’s journey and find respite therein.2

Once you arrive, you present an abbreviated version of your case before the elders of that particular city.  Assuming there is prima fascia (i.e., at first glance) evidence for your innocence, you are permitted to enter the city for the short term.

When the goel arrives, a more formal trial is held to determine your standing.  If at the conclusion of the proceedings you are found guilty of murder, then you will be turned over to the goel for immediate execution.

If, however, you are found innocent, then the goel will be sent home and you will be offered the long-term lodging and protection that only a city of refuge can avail.  You must remain there until the death of the high priest (Num. 25:35).

The reason you must abide in this particular city is because security is found only in those half-dozen municipalities that God set apart.  Watch: “I will appoint for you a place where he may flee” (Exo. 21:13b; cf. Josh. 20:1-2).

The cities of refuge were divinely appointed.  They weren’t the result of the combined wisdom of Israelite elders who thought that it might be a good idea to create safe havens.  God Himself decreed that there should be places to which a fugitive could run and be protected from the avenger of blood.  These are the ONLY places where your safety is guaranteed.  To run to any other city scattered around Canaan would be foolhardy, because it cannot offer any protection.

Like the cities of refuge, God has appointed a specific place for your spiritual safety today – it’s called the church (Eph. 1:22-23; 1:1, 3-7; 3:10-11).  It is the ONLY place of real deliverance from the pursuit of sin and its eternal consequences.

There are thousands of religious entities (i.e., cities) to which you might flee to today, but ONLY the one set up by God affords real security for your soul (Heb. 6:18; Psa. 46:1; Rom. 8:1; Mat. 11:28).

Are you tired of running from the sins in your life?

Are you sheltered within the walls of divine protection?

Let me urge you to flee to the city of God.  If the Judgment finds you outside of the refuge found only in Christ and His church, you will perish (Rom. 6:23; Gal. 3:27).

Run, dear friend, run!

1 Also known as a kinsman redeemer.

2 Roads were built to these cities thus making it easier for a manslayer to get to them (Deut. 19:3).  Extra-biblical sources also suggest that at every crossroad along the way special signs were posted to help direct the fugitive.

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike

HOW MUCH WOULD you be willing to give for a dime?

Would you pay 25 cents?

Would you pay 50 cents?

How about a whole dollar? No?

Stack’s Bowers Galleries auctioned off a dime for. . .are you sitting down?

$1.6 million!

The 1873-CC “No Arrows” Liberty Seated dime sold back on August 9th at an American Numismatic (e.g. currency, coins, paper money, etc.) Association Convention.

As it turns out, there were five bidders, all offering over a million dollars for the unique coin. The winner paid $1.6 million and then SBG tacked on their 15 percent buyer’s fee for a grand total of $1.84 million.

So why were multi-millionaires engaged in a bidding war over a measly ten-cent piece?

It turns out the dime is extremely rare and in perfect condition. It was produced during a one-day run of dimes at the Carson City, Nevada mint before it was shut down in the early 1890’s.

On one occasion, our Lord talked about a merchant who was willing to pay top dollar for his find. But this buyer was searching, not for old coins, but for fine pearls (Mat. 13:45).

In the first century, pearls were difficult to find and incredibly expensive (Job 28:18; Mat. 7:6; 1 Tim. 2:9; Rev. 17:4; 18:11, 12, 16, 17; 21:21). People would invest in them in much the same way we invest in gold and other precious metals today.

Their high price tag was due, at least in part, to the fact that men had to plunge as much as 40 feet into the dark abyss of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf in order to secure them.

Divers literally risked life and limb in their quest for these precious jewels. Add to that the fact that an average of only one oyster in a thousand actually contained a pearl.

While on one of his buying tours, the merchant Jesus spoke of stumbled upon one particular pearl that made all others pale in comparison. Though he had appraised many pearls during his business career, this one excelled them all. It was exquisite; it was perfect.

Recognizing its inestimable value, the merchant went out and sold all of his pearl stock in order to purchase this one (Mat. 13:46).

But Jesus really wasn’t talking about buying costly pearls; He was teaching a parabolic lesson about the kingdom and sacrifice.

You see, if you and I want to be followers of Jesus Christ, we must willing to sacrifice our treasure too, whether it be:

• Comfort (Mat. 8:19-20, Luke 9:57-58, 2 Tim. 1:12)
• Family (Mat. 8:21-22, 10:36)
• Freedom (Mat. 10:17-19; 11:2)
• Financial acumen (Mat. 19:21)
• Prestige (Phi. 3:5-7)

A man doesn’t sacrifice $1.84 million on a dime unless he knows it is very special, nor does a man sell his entire collection of pearls to purchase one pearl unless he knows it surpasses all others.

Dear reader, the kingdom of heaven (Dan. 2:44) the church (Mat. 16:18-19) (, is the most precious institution in existence because it was designed by the eternal God! It is exquisite; it is perfect!

Are you willing to sacrifice to obtain it? How much are you willing pay (Mat. 16:26; Luke 14)?

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike

I MET ELLIS Cowart in the latter part of the 80s.

A friend had told me about the abundance of whitetail deer on Mr. Cowart’s property, so I made a special point to introduce myself and see if I might be able to get permission to hunt.

He was a very gracious man and said I was welcome to come over anytime I desired. That was music to my ears, and within a few days I had harvested my first five-pointer.

But my memory of Mr. Cowart revolves not so much around his land or that first buck, but that initial meeting in his living room.

He wore faded blue overalls. He sat in a large, overstuffed recliner and spoke in a calm, reassuring way.

Behind his head, above the recliner, a small glass shadow box hung on the wall. Encased inside was an even smaller, well-worn pocket New Testament.

What struck me about the contents of the display was that the Bible had been mounted open to the latter part of the book of Revelation. There was a hole through the entirety of the text from the front cover all of the way through to the 17th chapter of Revelation. A small rifle bullet was fixed there in the center of the New Testament.

My curiosity got the best of me, so I asked Mr. Cowart if he might tell me the story behind the New Testament and the bullet in the shadow box. Here’s what he said:

“Me and my buddies were in Patton’s army in World War II. One morning we got caught in the middle of a fierce gun battle with a German infantry. Small arms fire and shrapnel was flying everywhere.

“Suddenly, one bullet smashed into my arm, one grazed my forehead, one hit the edge of my helmet, and one hit me squarely in the chest. As it turned out, I had been keeping this small pocket New Testament in the front of my jacket and it actually prevented that last murderous projectile from penetrating my chest. ‘The Word’ quite literally saved my life. The bullet stopped right there in Revelation 17.”

I have often pondered on that incredible footnote in Mr. Cowart’s life. It reminds me of a passage from Scripture.  James wrote:

“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).

Good reader, where’s your Bible right now?

▪ Do you read and study it daily (Acts 17:11)?

▪ Have you committed important passages to memory (Psalm 119:15)?

▪ Do you meditate on the word and allow it to permeate the inner man (Luke 8:11-15)?

If this soldier and Scripture teach us anything, it is that we must keep the Word of God near our hearts (Psalm 119:11).

The enemy is intent on our destruction. He’ll stop at nothing, and he’ll use every weapon at his disposal, including and especially fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16). They’re aimed at the very core of our faith, and unless you and I protect ourselves from his assaults, we’ll die and lose something far more precious than our lives — we’ll lose our souls (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:15).

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike

SHE MADE A false assumption.

Mary came to the tomb and found it barren.

From her perspective, there was only one plausible explanation for why this was so. “They have taken the Lord…” (John 20:2b).

“They” whomever they were, had breached the burial chamber, stolen the lifeless body of Christ, and then moved it to an undisclosed location.

Atheist Richard Carrier, while neither willing nor able to actually produce specific culprits for the burglary, maintains that Mary was actually right.1 He asserts that the empty tomb evidenced a theft, not a resurrection.

But take just a moment to analyze Carrier’s flawed thinking. Truth should never be afraid of honest investigation, right?

There are ONLY two possibilities as to who might have stolen Jesus’ body from the tomb. Either the enemies of Christ did so, or the friends of Christ did so.  But 1) did the enemies, specifically the Jewish religious leaders, steal Jesus’ body and 2) will that possibility stand up to real scrutiny?

Matthew’s inspired record says the chief priests and Pharisees met with Pilate in an effort to foil any attempts at taking Jesus’ body in the first place.  They said, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day…” (Matthew 27:63-64a).

These men were not worried that Jesus would actually be resurrected; they were fearful that folks such as Joseph, Nicodemus, Mary (Matthew 27:57-61) and perhaps others, might stage a sort of mock resurrection in order to propagate what Jesus had foretold (cf. Matthew 16:21; 20:17; 26:28; Mark 8:31; Luke 24:44).  They thought they had finally quelled Jesus and his doctrine and wanted to make sure it wasn’t rekindled again.

Pilate, in keeping with the religious leader’s pressing request, secured the tomb and gave permission to set a guard (Matthew 27:65-66, NIV; Matthew 28:11-15).

Now think about it.

Why would the avowed enemies of Jesus go to all of the trouble of preventing the theft of his body, but then engage in the theft themselves?! Why would they twist Pilate’s arm to protect the tomb from any intrusion, but then steal what they had tried so hard to secure?! What would prompt them to allegedly pay off the security force, break the seal, and then take possession of what they wanted nobody to acquire?!

Furthermore, when the apostles later preached a resurrected Lord during the early days of the church (cf. Acts 4:1ff), why didn’t the religious leaders simply produce the dead corpse of Christ?!  If they had, in fact, stolen the body, why didn’t they display it for all to see? In so doing they would have not only exposed the lie being propagated by Jesus’ followers, but they would have effectively killed Christianity dead in its tracks!

The obvious reason the opponents of Jesus didn’t produce his body was–because they didn’t have it in the first place.

Both Mary and Richard Carrier were mistaken.

Nobody took the body of Jesus.  He was raised from the dead–just as the Bible says (Acts 1:3; 2:32; 4:33).

1 Richard Carrier, “The Plausibility of Theft,” in The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave, edited by Jeff Lowder and Robert Price, 349-368

Those of us who graduated from the sixth grade long ago can still learn from this story. Read the following and see if you don’t gain some insights:

Last fall I divided my sixth grade Sunday school class into three groups for an interesting contest. As my twelve-year-olds gathered in three circles on the floor, I explained that there was only one rule in our competition: Each group had to put together a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle without talking.

I poured the contents of the puzzles on the floor in front of each group, warning them again that they could not talk. The first group went immediately to work, promptly setting up the top of the puzzle box, which gave everyone a clear view of the picture they were trying to put together.

The second group tried to do the same thing, but they didn’t know that I had switched the top of their puzzle box with the top from another puzzle. I had deliberately given them the wrong lid.  Not knowing that, they set up their box top to use as a guide to assemble their puzzle and went swiftly to work.

As the third group gathered around the pile of pieces I had poured on the floor, the kids were dismayed to discover that I had given them no box top whatsoever to use as a guide. They started to protest, but I reminded them that there was to be no talking!

What followed was fascinating.

The members of Group One were somewhat frustrated by not being allowed to talk, but they still made steady progress because they had a correct picture or plan to work from. Everyone in that group got motivated as the outline of the picture started to emerge.

It didn’t take the members of Group Two long to realize something was wrong. They kept trying to use the box top picture in front of them, but nothing seemed to work. And since they couldn’t talk together, their frustration level soared. One boy waved his hand in the air and acted as though he was about to burst. I relented and allowed him to whisper in my ear, ‘Mr. Rainey,’ he muttered, ‘you gave us the wrong picture. It’s the wrong lid — it’s just not there!”

I smiled, patted him on his shoulder, and said, “Shhh, no talking.” As I turned away, others in his group looked at me with pleading eyes, wondering what they could do. Their puzzle just wasn’t coming together.

But Group Three really captured my attention. Because the group had no picture at all to go by, each kid was doing his own thing. There wasn’t even an attempt at teamwork and, of course, there was no progress. Some members just sat individually, randomly searching for two pieces that seemed to fit. Two of the boys were so bored they started launching puzzle pieces like miniature Frisbees across the room. Others just lay there with their eyes closed. Hopelessness hung in the air.

After letting them work a little longer, I called a halt to the competition and explained what was going on and then I made my point: you can’t live life without a plan.  Dennis Rainey 

Observations:

1. God has given every married couple a box top. And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4-6; cf. Genesis 2:18, 21-24).

2. Every marriage needs this box top in order to bring order out of chaos (2 Peter 1:3; cf. 1 Corinthians 7:2; 6:13; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:3).

3. Husbands and wives can only find true joy, stability and intimacy when they pattern their lives after God’s divine plan (cf. John 10:10; cf. Ephesians 5:22-33; Titus 2:4-5).  Mike Benson

1Rainey, Dennis. “The Master Plan for Oneness.” Lonely Husbands, Lonely Wives, 117-118.

“God loves you and I love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be!” – Mike