Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
The Fellowship of the Unknown
On one of the forums I frequent they started a Hall of Fame for preachers and added a picture of their favorites. I have a few of my own but with all the hoopla about big name preachers I started thinking about who really does get the job down here. So, below is my comments added to the Hall of Fame.
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Here's to all my brethren, The Fellowship of the Unknown Preachers!
While no one discounts the impact of the famous preachers we must realize that the bulk of the work of God has been done by the unknowns. Many who bought the books and sermons of the famous were won by and ministered to by unknown preachers who labored in places where many would not go for more years than many would have sought to stay.
Though the numbers seem huge when you look at them from an overall number of saints it may actually be a small percentage of the total that they ministered to by radio or actual physical membership of their church.
Yes, even Joel, only reaches a small percent of the total Houston population of Christians and even his worldwide numbers are a small percentage of the total. A man who lives in a town of five thousand and has two hundred and fifty members may have a higher percentage of the population than Joel. In fact, if there are only five hundred believers in that town he has 50% of the total and Joel is nowhere close to that. So do not discount the power and impact of the unknown, for like Sergeants in the military, they may indeed be the backbone of God's work on earth.
Thus I offer a salute to those who serve like those in the passage without fame or much earthly reward but serve faithfully until the end. They may even see a bigger reward in glory than the noteworthy in this life.
Shalom! Maranatha!!!
