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WHEN I WAS a young teenager living in East Tennessee, a neighbor kept several cattle in a large pasture behind our house.

Perhaps it be would more accurate to say, “…A neighbor tried to keep several cattle in a pasture behind our house.”

One particular bovine found a broken strand in the barbed wire fence which separated the pasture from our property.

Occasionally I would come home from school and find her traipsing around the backyard, browsing on the occasional patch of herbaceous vegetation, and scattering free fertilizer.

Having spent my childhood in the streets of Dayton, Ohio, I didn’t have a lot of experience corralling large livestock, but eventually I would manage to direct her back to her side of the enclosure — at least, temporarily, until she decided to try the Benson backyard buffet again.

Once she discovered the way out, it was difficult to keep her in where she belonged.

For Bossy, that twisted, three-strand barrier was the cow equivalent of the Berlin Wall and had to be breached.

Those of you who have raised cattle know what I’m talking about.

Stay with me for a minute.

I’m always taken back when I hear my religious friends teach the “once-saved, always-saved” doctrine.

Essentially they’re saying, “You can’t leave if you’re ‘in’, and if you do in fact leave, you were never ‘in’ in the first place.”

The fifty-dollar theological phrase for this is “perseverance of the saints” (i.e., “once-saved, always saved.”)

People aren’t cattle, but experience, observation, as well as the Bible tells us that sometimes folks, unfortunately, do wander (Hebrews 2:1; Psalm 119:176; Isaiah 53:6) from their saved state in the church (Acts 1:25; Acts 8:20-22; Galatians 5:2-4; Hebrews 5:12-6:6).

They fall.  They leave.  They quit.

For them, the grass appears greener on the other side and they want to taste what the world has to offer.

Remember the story of the Prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)?

A young man approached his father and asked for the immediate payment of his inheritance (v. 12). The request was granted and the son then left for a distant land. There he wasted his fortune, and then found himself on hard times (v. 13). Penniless, the young man was forced to seek employment feeding pigs (vv. 14-15). Eventually he came to himself, acknowledged his foolish ways, and headed back home (17-19). His grieving father saw him in the distance, ran to meet him, embraced him, and then gave a lavish party in his honor (vv. 22-23).

Now study the text carefully.

The head-strong son “struck out on his own” and in so doing, severed his relationship with his father.

Someone says, “Yeah preacher, he left–BUT he was still the man’s son.”

The Bible says the son journeyed to a “far country.”

Now watch it.

He was “in” (saved); then he was “out” (lost).

He had once enjoyed the privileges of sonship, but later found himself an estranged, destitute, swine-feeding servant.

Did the young man leave — did he, in essence, “break out of the fence?”

Obviously, he did.

WHAT was his status while he was gone?

JESUS SAID the son was “dead” (v. 24), lost, separated!

Calvinism says, “You can’t leave…you can’t be lost.”  “It’s impossible…”

Bossy left, at least, every once in a while.  (A cow can’t leave a pasture she was never in in the first place).

The Prodigal left.  (A son can’t return to his father if he’s never left in the first place).

Some of you reading this very message have left the Lord.

You’ve either departed (1 Timothy 4:1; 1:6; 3:1; 4:21; 5:7; Hebrews 3:12) from Him by embracing religious error (Colossians 2:8; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Titus 1:14, 2 Peter 3:17), or you have left the Lord in a practical way by engaging in sinful practices (Romans 8:12-13; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7; 2 Peter 2:20-22) — or both.

In either case, you’ve left the safe (Ephesians 1:3) heaven of the body of Christ and alienated yourself from your Father in heaven (cf. Gal. 6:1-2; Jas. 5:19-20).

Whatever your sin, you can come home again. Your Father is anxious for you to return.

Come now.

Please.

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