I’ve been reading thru the Daily Bread recently in an effort to get back to some regular scriptural study and I came across a pretty good one from Wednesday April 9th. As part of his minister training efforts, John Wesley, famed founder of the Methodist denomination of Christianity would occasionally allow lay ministers with limited education to preach. One such preacher trainee took up Luke 19:21 as his scripture reference: “Lord, I feared Thee, because Thow art an austere man” (KJV). Not knowing the meaning of the word austere (see definition) he thought the text spoke of “an oyster man”.

So he explained how “Christ descended from heaven…in order to retrieve humans back to Him…His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest”. After the sermon 12 listeners joined the church. Later some parishioners came to Wesley to complain about uneducated preachers who were too ignorant to know the meaning of the words they were speaking from the Bible. The Oxford educated Wesley’s response was simply this, “Never mind. The Lord got a dozen oysters tonight.”

So how is the honesty and fervency of your witness these days? Are you taking an oyster or two to Bible Study and Sunday School this week?