Speak up!

As some of you may know, I work at the Family Christian Bookstore in Saginaw. I could tell a thousand stories about the interesting people that I meet there. Some make thank Jesus for blessing me such a terrific job, others make me want to fight! But yesterday, a man came to the counter while I was on the phone with another woman, and I could hear him talking to my coworker about how he used to be a Jehovah's witness. I listened as he explained how it wasn't until adulthood that he came to Jesus, and that his entire family has disowned him. No contact, no family reunions... nothing. He reminded us that it was imperative to bow down to Jesus Christ, and no other name. His mother, he told us, said that she would never understand how he could leave his family for Christ, a man who she believes is arbitrary and unimportant. This man glowed when he said Jesus' name, and while I could see he had agonized over the loss of connectedness with his family, he still had hope. He reminded me so much of Peter and John in Acts, after they were arrested for healing the lame beggar. The council could find no grounds to keep the men in custody; they did however charge them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus (to keep it from spreading). Peter and John responded with this: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."