Can Anything Good Come Out of Ruston, Louisiana?

In John 1:43-50, Jesus began to call men out of their trades in order to make them disciples for Him. Some of those men immediately dropped what they were doing and followed Him. Others... not so immediately. One of those men was Nathanael. In fact Nathanael, after hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was coming his way asked the question, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?". Nazareth was a "no where's land" in the middle of the "no where's town" of Galilee. As a result, some people found it difficult to think that the savior of the world would come out of such a desolate, unfortunate place. There was not much respect for the little town of Nazareth.

It's kind of like my hometown of Ruston, Louisiana. Ruston is a collage town that exists primarily on the money generated by it's local universities, Louisiana Tech and Grambling State University. Both of these universities draw students from many parts of the country and the world. I attended Grambling State University. And I met many people from the much-talked about cities of Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New York. And I can't remember how many times I heard people tell me, "You're from no where's Ruston, Louisiana! This little city ain't nowhere! And they would tease me and my friends because of our pride in our little city.

But here's something cool that I have noticed about my little hometown. By my count, little "no where's Ruston has produced about five ministers that are around my age including myself. I have a friend in the Ruston/Grambling area that just preached his first sermon this past Sunday. The other three were also friends that grew up with me: one was my age, one was a year younger, one was a year older. Are we all Pastors in mega-churches? No! To date, one of us is a Pastor, I am an associate at my church, and the others are active associates in their churches. But we are working diligently for God in the capacity that He has placed us in during this time. Now I know each of the people personally that I mentioned. I played highschool football with them, I worked at Wal-Mart with one of them, and I got into trouble constantly with two of them! And during those high school and collage days not many people would have guessed that we would ever turn out to be ministers. Trust me on this one.

But God saw it in us. Just as he saw fit to bring Jesus out of Nazareth, He also saw fit to bring ministers out of Ruston. God also saw fit to bring you from the city that you came from as well. No matter how large or how small your hometown was, God saw fit to make that hometown your frame of reference. There are people in every city that need to see God in us. And we all have the wonderful opportunity to give our testimonies to them. If you didn't live in your city, who would witness to the people there? Who would show the love of God to them? So take pride in your hometown. And take pride in whatever position God currently has you in. He has placed you there for a reason. I am reminded of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-29: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." We are all spread out throughout the world so that we can fulfill the Great Commission. And I want you to know that you are exactly where God needs you to be. So no matter what your circumstances, understand that God is with you. And understand that you are on the right path.

Peace and Love,

Rev Mike






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