Brown's Daily Word 1-22-09

Good Morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. Praise the Lord for the way Jesus our Lord calls out of this world and sends us back to the world to be His servants and His witnesses. In John, 1, it is recorded , how Jesus calls the first disciples.
"The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, ’Follow Me.’ (v. 44) Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. (v. 45) Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, ’We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ (v. 46) And Nathanael said unto him, ’Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Philip saith unto him, ’Come and see.’" We find Philip coming to Nathanael and proclaiming that he has found the One about whom Moses had written! He is Jesus of Nazareth. Though we do not know what expression Nathanael had on his face when he responded, there is a strong chance that his response revealed a cynical sneer as he said, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip’s response was, "Come and see!" I once read about Rev. Dr. Gordon Targerson, a Baptist pastor in Worcester, Massachusetts, who was crossing the Atlantic Ocean by ship some years ago. He noticed on several occasions, a man sitting in a deck chair reading a Bible! One day, Rev. Dr. Targerson sat down beside him and said, "Forgive my curiosity. I’m a Baptist minister. I notice you are a faithful Bible reader. I’d like to meet you." After introductions, the man said, "I am Filipino. I was born into a good Catholic home. I went to the United States as a young man to study in one of your fine universities, intending to become a lawyer. On my first day on campus, a student dropped by to visit. He welcomed me and offered to help in any way he could. Then he asked me where I went to church. I told him I was a Catholic. He explained that the Catholic church was quite a distance away; but, he sat down and drew me a map. I thanked him and he left. "On the following Sunday morning, it was raining. I decided to just skip church; but, then, there was a knock on my door. There stood my new friend and he was holding two (2) umbrellas. He said that he worried that I might not be able to read his map. So, he said he would escort me to the Catholic Church. I hurriedly dressed, thinking all the while what an unusually thoughtful person he was. I wondered what church he belonged to. "As we walked along, I asked him about his church. He said that his church was just around the corner. So, I suggested that we go to his church this Sunday; and, then to mine the following Sunday. He agreed. However, somehow I felt so much at home in his church that I never got around to finding mine. After four years, I felt that Almighty God was leading me into the ordained ministry; rather than, the law! I went to Drew University Seminary and was ordained a Methodist minister. Then, I returned to the Philippines to serve in a Methodist parish. My name is Valencius - Bishop Valencius - Bishop of the Methodist Church in the Philippines." Please understand that the hero of that story is not the Methodist Bishop, as important as he is. Rather, the hero is that anonymous young man with "Twin Umbrellas!" Whether they had ended up in the Methodist or the Catholic Church didn’t really matter! Go all the way back to the beginning of Christian and church history - and, you will find that unamed woman or man with 2 umbrellas. Behind almost every Christian convert there is a person with a winsome faith who builds a bridge of friendship with another person. Across that bridge walks a "Living Christ" who claims another soul as His own! You and I can be like that person with 2 umbrellas. We can be like Andrew, bringing his brother to Christ. You can be like Philip telling someone else to "come and see". Just come and see, and we will learn that something good can come out of Nazareth - Jesus, the Christ!


In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHdcyue0bSw