What Is Keeping You From Jesus?

November 1, 2026

Pastor Patrick presented today's message, "What Is Keeping You From Jesus?" A video of today's message is here on YouTube. It may help to be familiar with the message but that is not required to enjoy the thoughts below.

Today's message comes on the 9th of 12 weeks in the Book of Mark.

At right is a map that is essentially the same one Pastor Patrick shared in his message. It runs from Caesarea-Philippi (red circle) in the upper right to Jerusalem just west of the top (north end) of the Dead Sea (also red circle). The complete map also points out likely spots for many of Jesus' whereabouts throughout the Gospels. This "Ancient Israel in the Time of Jesus" is available through MapSales.com.

Part of today's scripture was in Mark 10:24, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be." Pastor Patrick went on to identify some things that humans treasure, often more than they treasure God. Dennis Prager would call these things (that we might treasure over God) "false gods." And to place any of them above or before God violates the 2nd Commandment. The list is long, and many of them you might not think of offhand. For a little more discussion on these, watch Prager's 5-minute video "No Other Gods" or read pages 227-238 from Prager's book: The Rational Bible: Exodus. You might be surprised.

30 Powerful bible verses about all things possible with god (Full Commentary)

In Mark 10:25 there appears this phrase, "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom." I could not find any Torah references to a camel and the eye of a needle. But by looking around, I discovered some interesting notes. 1. The notion that the eye of the needle is a small door in a larger gate is likely not right. There is no evidence such doors existed in Jesus' time or earlier. 2. One interesting reference was to a common Aramaic expression that if you made friends with someone easily it was like sending thread through the eye of a needle, but if the process was hard, it was like sending a rope through the eye of the needle. Note, too, that in Aramaic, the word for camel can also mean rope. 3. Lastly, the expression is not to suggest that the feat is impossible. A rich man can enter the Kingdom if he works at it, meaning, gives God first priority.

Bonus

7-Week Advent starts November 8

If you like to follow the 7-week approach for Advent, you'll be interested to know that the first Sunday of Advent for this schedule is this coming Sunday, November 8, 2026.

If you're interested in more info about this, see this previous Bonus entry: Seven Weeks of Advent.

And here's another reference: Seven Week Advent at Home.

Bonus2

How Much Can the Most Famous Dead Sea Scroll Prove?

This is an interesting discussion aptly described in the title. And the subtitle continues the fascination: "The Great Isaiah Scroll is a crucial piece of the Old Testament puzzle, but it doesn’t give us the whole picture."

It's written by "Anthony Ferguson (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) wrote his dissertation under Russell Fuller comparing the non-aligned texts of Qumran to the Masoretic Text. He currently serves as lead pastor at 11th Street Baptist Church in Upland, CA and as an adjunct faculty at California Baptist University and Gateway Seminary. He has published in the Journal of Biblical Literature and the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology."

How Much Can the Most Famous Dead Sea Scroll Prove?


The beginning of the text is at right, the end at left (Hebrew reads right to left). Photo from Wikipedia.

Bonus3

Global Bible Month

Pastor Patrick mentioned this in his message this week. From their website: "When people encounter the Bible, it changes lives, and changed lives change the world. This November, engage in God’s Word and see what happens. Studies show that consistency in Scripture changes everything. Join the global movement as people, ministries, global brands, and Bible apps come together to spend 30 consecutive days in God’s Word with the 30-Day Bible Challenge."

Global Bible Month

Bonus4

Has Biblical Sodom Finally Been Found?

Spoiler... The question isn't fully answered.

But, this is a fascinating discussion of the pluses and minuses when trying to answer a Biblical question archaeologically. One often gets this piece of info pointing one way, and that piece of info pointing another way.

Has Biblical Sodom Finally Been Found? (2026) is both a lengthy article and a 35-minute video, take your pick.

If you're eager for more, try this from 2008: The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.


Image credit: Bible.art