The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Ephesians 2:1-7, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

In these seven short verses, the Apostle Paul speaks of the reality for each of our lives. Initially, we were spiritually dead when we were born. That’s why the Scripture tells us that “we must be born again” (John 3:3, 7; I Peter 1:3, 23). No one is automatically a Christian. I once knew an elderly woman who believed she was a Christian because her parents were Christians. I often wondered if her parents had been truly born again spiritually.

I never knew the woman’s parents, so I cannot speak to whether they understood God’s plan of salvation. My parents were both Christians, but I came to understand that I was not and needed to be born again spiritually.

My assessment is (and I am not the only subscriber) that hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and committing one’s self to Him as the Savior constitutes “being a Christian.” Some of the finest Christians in all of history belonged to a different church than I. Some viewed baptism in a different way than I.

The Bible teaches that at some point in life we reach an “age of accountability.” We learn from Scripture that Jesus is God and that He lived the life that God the Father wished Him to live. Ultimately, Jesus went to the Cross, giving His Life for the sins of mankind. Some come to believe in Him and have their lives transformed. They are afterwards called “Christians.”

Everyone needs to commit his or her life to Jesus Christ. When we make that commitment, He forgives our sins and we become “new creatures in Christ Jesus.” That is the most vital aspect of it all. Thereafter, we should acknowledge Him in water baptism and church membership. We should study His Word and pray for understanding. It’s truly a conversion!
Everything is new! And part of that “everything” is the knowledge that True Life has just begun.

Yes, there are skeptics. But some of the finest Christians ever started out being skeptics.
What have you got to lose? I’ve been there and done that and am always ready to say that
I know Him, and one day I will live with Him in the glories of Eternity! You can only lose what you have never tried.

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

In John 14:3, Jesus said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Then, He added the following thought to the one just quoted above:

Revelation 3:11-12, “I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
12 ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
13 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

The promise of our LORD Jesus Christ that He will one day return for His own hangs faithfully before us, as we patiently await His return. His Word is His bond:
He will return!

Meanwhile, multiple signs of Christ’s coming encourage us. At the same time, the lights that encourage us are a solemn warning to the lost to get ready. Our lives should encourage them! Moreover, our forthright witness should encourage them, also. Hope lies only in Jesus!

Some years ago, I chronicled our family’s worldwide evangelistic excursions in a book. Reading of the lives we touched then shames me for my lack of such witnessing today! What’s more, we are closer today to our LORD’s Return than we were then. We all need to be about our Master’s business! We need to share Him with our lost friends! How long has it been since you talked to someone about Jesus? It’s still not too late!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all we need
until He becomes all that we have.”
– Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Jeremiah 30:1-7, “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.
3 “For behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.” The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.'”
4 Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah:
5 “For thus says the LORD, ‘I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace.’
6 ‘Ask now, and see If a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale?
7 ‘Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved from it.’” Israel is a major key to the literal return of the LORD Jesus Christ to earth.”

The Bible predicts over and over again that the Jews must be back in their homeland for the events of the end times to unfold (Jeremiah 30:1-5; Ezekiel 34:11-24; Ezekiel 37; Zechariah 10:6-10).

It is the most prophesied event in end times passages in the Bible, and for that reason it is often called the ‘super sign’ of the end times.” 9:27). The end times Tribulation officially begins when the Antichrist makes a seven-year treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27).

Scripture further indicates that this regathering will occur in stages. In the famous “valley of dry bones” vision of Ezekiel 3:7, Ezekiel’s graveyard vision symbolizes the national return, restoration, and regeneration of “the whole house of Israel.”

The modern return of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel is virtually “miraculous!” Such a return by a people group that had been scattered among the nations is unprecedented in history.
Indeed, the Jewish people are the only exiled people to remain a distinct people despite being dispersed to more than 70 different countries for more than 20 centuries.
The modern-day return to the Holy Land began as early as 1871 when a few Jews began to trickle back into the land. By 1881, about twenty-five thousand Jews had settled there.

At the first Zionist Congress in 1897, led by Theodor Herzl, the Jewish people officially adopted the goal of reclaiming the land. The regathering was very slow. By 1914, the Jewish population in the land was only eighty thousand.

During World War I, the British sought support from the Jews for the war effort. So, the British foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, issued on November 2, 1917, what has become known as the Balfour Declaration. The declaration was stated in a letter from Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a wealthy Jewish entrepreneur. In the letter, Secretary Balfour gave approval to the Jewish goal of reclamation. “His Majesty’s Government views with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. . . .” The declaration stirred Jewish hopes for establishing a homeland in the Holy Land and encouraged more Jews to return. By 1939, when World War II broke out, about 450,000 Jews had returned.

Hitler’s atrocities actually provided the greatest momentum for the establishment of a national homeland for the Jews. The United Nations approved a national homeland for the Jews, and British control of the land ended on May 14, 1948. The new nation was given five thousand square miles and had a population of 650,000 Jews and several hundred thousand Arabs.
In 2009, for the first time since AD 135, there were more Jews in Israel, than in any other place on earth; 5.4 million Jews now live in Israel, compared with 5.2 million in the United States…Israel has once again become the largest concentration of Jews in the world.

“Is Jesus coming back tonight?”
“Well, He no doubt could,” you say, “but I doubt He will tonight.”

At this writing, the Jewish population in Israel alone exceeds 17 million! There is no specific number of Jews required for Jesus to return, but the Jewish population in Israel is on the increase! What’s that song that says,

“Keep your eye upon the eastern sky;
Lift up your heads,
For our redemption draweth nigh”?

“Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up
your heads, because your redemption is drawing nigh” (Lk. 21:27-28).

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Ezekiel 33:13-16, “When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die.
14 “But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness,
15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
16 “None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.”

One exciting thing I like about this passage of Scripture is that while it begins with a warning of death, it terminates with an emphasis on life.

Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, there’s no hope for me. I grew up in a mean and ornery family; I’ve always been mean and I always will be. There’s just no hope for me.”

Well, that’s just not so! I recently told you about an Australian man I knew, who was the most vile sinner I have ever know –but, he came to Christ and did a 100% turn-around! Change is not univoitable! It’s just a matter of your doing it; it’s a matter of yielding your life to Jesus Christ, allowing Him to change you. He can!

You may already be a Christian. You’ve confessed your sins to Christ Jesus and accepted Him as your LORD and Savior –but, you slipped somewhere along the way. So now, you’re not sure whether you’ve saved or not! One thing is certain: if
you’ve been saved, you still are – because once He saves you, He never lets you go. His Word says, “…and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand (Jn 10:28). God bless you!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Joel 1:1-7, “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 ‘Hear this, O elders, And listen, all inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this happened in your days or in your fathers’ days?
3 ‘Tell your sons about it, and let your sons tell their sons, and their sons the next generation.
4 What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten; and what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.
5 Awake, drunkards, and weep; and wail, all you wine drinkers, on account of the sweet wine that is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land, mighty and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has made my vine a waste and my fig tree splinters. It has stripped them bare and cast them away; their branches have become white.’”

If there is anyone you know who doubts the LORD’s ability to control nature, both human and non-human, he needs to read the Book of Joel. Author Irving Jensen says, “Joel could not have used a better symbol to prefigure the coming ‘terrible day of the LORD.’” Certainly, that was true in Joel’s time.

It may be, however, that it will take something even more sinister to awaken our current world –something like a worldwide virus in connection with a plague of no mean description. Where are the sermons that warn us of coming disasters, or those that equip us and encourage us not give up? Well, I witnessed one last Sunday!

Parents, who love and cherish their children, equip them with life principles designed to keep them “keeping on” whatever the cost! Our LORD is even more alert that the best of human parents. The days of His Coming seem just around the corner. Let the locusts come! We have shelter in the King of Kings!

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
Springdale, Arkansas 72764
United States of America

“We never know that Christ is all we need until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom