
(June 4, 2021) Brian Bell recalls an incident from long ago that led (and still leads) to a reminder that we must continue to serve Christ in whatever we’re called to…
When I was in my late teen years, I spent some weeks in the UK summer months serving with a beach mission team. I remember one year on the Isle of Wight. The outreach program for each day concluded with an evening event, very often an open-air witness on the promenade. Some team members would sing, some testify, and the team leader would usually bring a gospel message.
As the event was taking place, team members would form a rough semi-circle around the platform, not obstructing the passage of passers-by and we would look for folk who may stop and seem interested in the message so that we may approach them on conclusion.
On a particular evening I saw a couple stop to listen and at the conclusion of the message which had included a reference to heaven, I approached them to ask what they thought about what they’d heard… but I was not prepared for the gentleman’s response when he said to me, ‘What about the 144,000?’
Young and inexperienced as I was, I knew this was a reference to the book of Revelation and surmised these folks were Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Reflection leads to Revelation
I use that memory to take you to the apostle John’s book of Revelation.