Dr Paul Allen

Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. NB - slightly cut down - for full size see here (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The twelve apostles included “Philip” ( Matt. 10:3). Friendships can provide the most fertile soil for evangelism. Philip was probably a fisherman who was acquainted with Peter , Andrew , James, John, Nathanael , and Thomas prior to their all becoming disciples. We first meet him in John 1:43–46, which says, “The next day [after Jesus encountered Peter and Andrew], He purposed to go forth into Galilee , and He found Philip, and Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida , of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him, of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth , the son of Joseph. … Come and see.’” Those brief verses reveal two things about Philip. First, he had a seeking heart. Apparently he and...

Image via Wikipedia Jesus guides us in many different ways. Sometimes he makes the next step clear as day. Other times, like Peter discovered in John 21:1-14, it feels like we’re left to muddle through, only to find that Jesus was leading through our muddling. “I am going fishing .” Peter didn’t know what else to do. The past few weeks had been indescribably intense with the nightmare of Jesus’ crucifixion and the ineffable wonder of his resurrection. Now he was sitting with Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others. They were just waiting. It was disorienting. Jesus wasn’t there and he hadn’t told them what to do next. Peter used to know just what to do: prepare the nets and boat , go fishing, take what he caught and sell it in the market. Fishing was hard and sometimes dangerous work. But Peter knew what was expected of him. The memory of the familiar was comforting. So as long as he didn’t know what else to do, he figured he might as well do something productive. The othe...