You may have wondered why this blog post did not arrive in your inbox earlier. It`s because Karen and I were in Kentucky, where our son-in-law Richard Pendred, received his Master of Divinity diploma from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS). What a tremendous accomplishment – bravo Richie! We were delighted, as well, to meet Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., and his wife, Mary, who greeted the families and friends in attendance at the graduation ceremony last Friday. Having read some of Dr. Mohler’s books and listened to his analysis of current events on “The Briefing” we were very glad to meet the president of SBTS. As a bonus, I found an autographed book by Dr. W. A. Criswell, who served for fifty years as senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas.
The next day we visited the life-size replica of Noah’s Ark, which is an amazing sight to see. Located in Williamstown, Kentucky, it took just over one year and a half to build and is considered the largest freestanding timber frame structure in the world with a total of 3.1 million board feet of timber used in its construction.
On Sunday, we attended Immanuel Baptist Church in Louisville, where Ryan Fullerton shared insights from Matthew 9:27-31. You can listen to his sermon at: https://immanuelky.org/podcasts/sermons/2024-05-12-what-makes-you-a-good-theologian.
On the wall behind where we sat in church, there was a stained glass image of Noah. In Genesis 7:16, we read “So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.” At the replica of Noah’s Ark, there was a tract entitled “Doors of the Bible.” The first door is “The Ark Door.” “The Bible tells us that man had become exceedingly wicked – they thought of evil continually – so God planned to flood the earth and wipe them out. He told Noah to build an ark with one door. When God shut the door, it pictured his justice and mercy. The wicked world outside of the ark perished, but those inside were rescued. Even in judgment, God provided mercy. Jesus is the ark and door of salvation. Just as Noah’s family went through one door to be saved, so must we go through the one door, Jesus. Those outside of Christ will perish, but those in Christ will be rescued.”
If you have never asked God’s forgiveness for your sins, you can do so today. The Lord is waiting to welcome you into His family.
Scripture for the weekend: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9 (NKJV)
Thought for the weekend: “Jesus describes three benefits of entering into God’s sheepfold: (1) those sheep will be saved (Acts 4:12); (2) they will go in and out (freely moving about in the secure provision of the Shepherd; (3) they will find pasture (constant sustenance for the soul).” – Dr. David Jeremiah (from his Study Bible)
By His grace,
Steve