"Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul." (Acts 13:1)
There he is; tucked away in the midst of these names is a guy who grew up with Herod, a king. He no doubt still had "connections" with the leaders of that court, possibly even some of the Romans officials who oversaw the protectorate. There are many such leaders tucked away in Holy Writ. Most tend to ignore them, but they are there, a constant reminder that Jesus Christ has men and women in key positions of our societies------ if we will just look for them.
Charles Simpson once said that the reason we don't have more leaders in our churches is that we do not go after leaders---- real leaders. Many churches spend a lot of time at homeless shelters, prisons, Haiti, etc., but very little, if any, at the universities, office complexes, or government centers. One of the reasons could be that men who are leaders are too much of a threat to the "leaders" already in those churches. Personally, I believe this is why we don't have more doctors, lawyers, professors, CEOs, senators, house members, and, horror of horrors, rich people in our congregations. They just may outshine the pastor and members of the board.
Do you ever notice how we tend to "reach out" to the people who are poorer than us, less educated, of a "lower" societal status? Jesus exempted no one. He stopped a procession to serve the blind man, then went on to be a guest in the home of a very wealthy leader in the community. There were the fisherman, the poor, the lame, and there were Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, Lydia, "seller of purple," and, "they of Caesar's household," and the man of our text, Manaen. Who knows who led Manaen to Jesus Christ. It must have taken courage to even befriend him; but someone did. As a result, the Church in Antioch, and who knows where else, received a prophet, a prophetic leader who rubbed shoulders with such prophets as Barnabas and Saul---------- Paul.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to not just fish for "easy" fish. Amen.
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Conference Call Bible Reading and Prayer will be from Psalm 61 and Matthew 1
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
There he is; tucked away in the midst of these names is a guy who grew up with Herod, a king. He no doubt still had "connections" with the leaders of that court, possibly even some of the Romans officials who oversaw the protectorate. There are many such leaders tucked away in Holy Writ. Most tend to ignore them, but they are there, a constant reminder that Jesus Christ has men and women in key positions of our societies------ if we will just look for them.
Charles Simpson once said that the reason we don't have more leaders in our churches is that we do not go after leaders---- real leaders. Many churches spend a lot of time at homeless shelters, prisons, Haiti, etc., but very little, if any, at the universities, office complexes, or government centers. One of the reasons could be that men who are leaders are too much of a threat to the "leaders" already in those churches. Personally, I believe this is why we don't have more doctors, lawyers, professors, CEOs, senators, house members, and, horror of horrors, rich people in our congregations. They just may outshine the pastor and members of the board.
Do you ever notice how we tend to "reach out" to the people who are poorer than us, less educated, of a "lower" societal status? Jesus exempted no one. He stopped a procession to serve the blind man, then went on to be a guest in the home of a very wealthy leader in the community. There were the fisherman, the poor, the lame, and there were Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, Lydia, "seller of purple," and, "they of Caesar's household," and the man of our text, Manaen. Who knows who led Manaen to Jesus Christ. It must have taken courage to even befriend him; but someone did. As a result, the Church in Antioch, and who knows where else, received a prophet, a prophetic leader who rubbed shoulders with such prophets as Barnabas and Saul---------- Paul.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to not just fish for "easy" fish. Amen.
******************************
Conference Call Bible Reading and Prayer will be from Psalm 61 and Matthew 1
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2
