The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Acts 11:19-26, “So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.

20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.

22 The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.

23 Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;

24 for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, and considerable numbers were brought to the Lord.

25 And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul;

26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

Make no mistake about it, persecution was prevalent in the first century. Kings and potentates ruled as they wanted; and what they wanted became law! Those who were aligned to such nations – and visitors who wandered in – found themselves bound by those laws whether they wished to be or not.

Rebellion was as prevalent as those ungodly laws! (Perhaps we can understand that somewhat from our own childhood!) Thus, when laws were disobeyed, punishments flourished – not only upon citizens but upon any and all, regardless of their nation of origin.

Ultimately, as the believers grew in number, sensing that they did not know all they needed to know about the LORD and His Word, Paul was found and urged to explain what they needed to know. And that’s where “the disciples were first called Christians (Χριστιανός).”

With so many claiming to be Christians, it’s becoming more difficult by the day to know what “being a Christian” truly is! So many march under the same flag while ignoring the Person and spiritual principles that are biblically defined as “Christian.” In the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, numerous persons have called themselves “Christians.” Yet, their distance from pure Biblical doctrine certainly identifies them otherwise.

If we would truly be known as “Christians,” we must live according to the Biblical principles which Christ Himself established and by which He lived. Otherwise, the label affixed to us is no different than that by which non-Christians claim for themselves. It’s more than Charlie Kirk. It’s more than the label of a Christian denomination. It’s the designation of one who follows Jesus!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all that we need,

until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Joel 2:28-32, “It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

29 “Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

30 “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

31 “The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

32 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”

These are strong words from the prophet Joel. He is speaking of the way of the LORD who is promising that His Spirit will invade mankind, prompting a prophecy that will come in due time. It is a prophecy that will invade the thinking of all mankind.

Numerous times in both the Old and New Testaments, the LORD reaches out to mankind saying, “call on the name of the LORD.” The structure of the invitation is sometimes worded differently, but it is always clear that the LORD’s desire is to save mankind from sin. Although the precise wording in Scripture may be structured differently, there is no question that the LORD’s purpose is to save souls from Hell and secure them for Heaven.

Stop and take a moment to think of someone you know that needs the LORD. We all have friends who are not saved. We love them and certainly don’t want them to be left out of our LORD’s Heaven. They might not be thinking about the need they have for a Savior; yet, if they don’t have Him, He doesn’t have them. Give them a call. Send them an email. Let them know how vitally important you believe it is that they accept the LORD Jesus into their heart and life.

We ourselves need to be clean and wholesome in living, which is encouraged by serious daily reading of the Scriptures and prayer. We all need to be praying for lost friends. Right now, we have that opportunity to pray. Right now, we have the opportunity to reach them. Someday it will be too late! Today just might be that final day! Don’t let it pass!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all that we need,

until He becomes all that we have.”

– Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Joel 2:1-7, “Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; surely it is near,

2 A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations.

3 A fire consumes before them and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them.

4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; and like war horses, so they run.

5 With a noise as of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, like a mighty people arranged for battle.

6 Before them the people are in anguish; all faces turn pale.

7 They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like soldiers; and they each march in line, nor do they deviate from their paths.”

As noted in previous studies related to the Prophet Joel, his emphasis is upon “The Day of the LORD.” The prophet’s clear statement is: “There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations” (v. 2). What the prophet identifies as coming can doubtlessly be identified as the early stages in our own time.

In multiple ways, we are living in “a day of darkness and gloom” and “of clouds and thick darkness.” Open, calculated hostilities result in deaths due to invidious disagreements. Nations war against each other, and innocent lives, caught in the crossfire, are surrendered to death in the process. What is occurring today was historically calculated and processed for us to read and absorb from the verses above.

If these are not those days, we have more to concern us than previously thought! Human ingenuity will not suffice! It has been “tried and found wanting.” The Creator Himself is the only Qualified One to predict the future (as in Scripture), and nothing else will exist to our prevail.

Please examine everything by the teachings of the Bible. It is our only Holy Safeguard!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

“We will never know that Christ is all that we need,

until He becomes all that we have.”

– Corrie ten Boom

Dear Grands,

Joel 1:1-11, “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.

8 Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.

9 The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests mourn, the ministers of the LORD.

10 The field is ruined, the land mourns; for the grain is ruined, the new wine dries up, fresh oil fails.

11 Be ashamed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley; because the harvest of the field is destroyed.”

Reading this passage from the prophecy of Joel is tantamount to watching evil creep upon our nation. Joel warned the Israelites of coming days of darkness and despair. Joel is not with us today, but his words continue to reverberate within our souls. Days of darkness indeed are upon us; what’s more, the worst is yet to come. Males want to become females; females want to become males. They thrive on being different and become not a little disturbed if society at large does not recognize what they envision as their “rights.”

Throughout the Scriptures, the LORD warns us against affiliation with the evils that surround us. The “comforts,” we believe, will work to obliterate the evils; thus, gradually we convince ourselves that we are invincible! “Live, and let live,” becomes the cry. Yet, the prophet cries, “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.”

As born-again believers in our LORD Jesus Christ, we must give ourselves to earnest prayer. We are not to hate those who ignore the LORD’s directive; rather, we are to pray for them. We might be surprised, were we to know, how effectively the LORD has turned some from the error of their ways. Let us remember the words of Judah’s King Asa:

“LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You…let not man prevail against You” (2 Chronicles 14:11).

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

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

Dear Grands,

1 Samuel 15:1-11, Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.

2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

3 ‘Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'”

4 Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.

5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.

6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

7 So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

8 He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,

11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.”

I was a long way from being exciting when I was in high school sports. Still, I listened to the coach and sought to implement his instructions. He was much older than I and was being paid to tell all of us what to do to win the game. He had positively told us to work the ball in toward the goal; however, we were not to shoot long shots! But as I brought the ball down the court, I saw an opening and took the shot! It split the net without ever touching the rim. Strangely enough, the coach never rebuked me for going against his directive.

It was different, however, with Saul. The war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff. Yet, when a severe situation arose, Saul called on Samuel who was the spiritual leader of Israel and lived closely to the LORD. It was Samuel who advised Saul to “strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has…” Saul did as he was told and destroyed the entirety of the Amalekites! There was just one problem: Saul and the people had spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites.

It was then that Samuel said, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.” Always pay attention to the LORD! He is more than a coach; He’s the Spiritual Commander-in-Chief!

Heartily in Christ

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

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