A pastor in southern Mississippi was nearly arrested for robbing a bank in September of this year.

After the Regions Bank was robbed, a bank teller ran outside to get the license plate number of the robber. She wrote down the number she saw on the car leaving the parking lot, and immediately called the police.

The police report came back that the car belonged to a local pastor, whom we will call “Pastor Steve” (not his real name). The police sent three units to his church, but he was not there, because he had gone to a senior adult meeting. Quickly, they sent five units to the senior adult meeting where they found Pastor Steve, and insisted on searching his car, but found no evidence of a robbery.

Meanwhile, the police went to Pastor Steve’s home to interview his wife. Armed with a description of the bank robber, who was in 30s, they were surprised when a woman in her 60s opened the door. At that point one cop turned to another and said, “You know, we may have the wrong person.”

It turned out that Pastor Steve had been at the bank right before the real bank robber, but the robber rushed out of the bank and drove away before Pastor Steve did. So when the teller came outside to write down the license plate number, the car she saw driving off was the pastor’s car, not the real robber’s car.

The mayor and police chief called and apologized to Pastor Steve, but the last laugh came when the pastor returned to his church after his traumatic day. He walked into his office and on the glass window of his church office, his staff had put a large “WANTED” poster with his picture and name, and the words, “Reward: $1.50.”

Aren’t you glad that God never makes mistakes like that? Police will make mistakes, doctors will make mistakes, and yes, pastors will make mistakes. But God never makes a mistake. As Abraham asked in Genesis 18:25: “Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

(Copyright 2010 by Bob Rogers. Email: brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday for a mix of religion and humor. For more “Holy Humor,” visit the Web page of First Baptist Church of Rincon at www.fbcrincon.com.)