The coastal communities rely economically on shellfish harvesting — particularly lobster, for which PEI is famous, as well as oysters and mussels.
Brian and I had lobster wraps for one meal and mussels for another. The mussels were delicious! It reminded me of a time I had escargot at a restaurant. The mussels and escargot tasted very similar, as they were both cooked in their shells with butter and garlic. Yum!
Here is picture of a fishing boat harbour:
Each fisherman had a barn-like building of their own, as you can see in the picture.
The fishermen in PEI reminded me of the commercial fishermen in the Bible that Jesus called to come and follow Him. Their names were Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Jesus told these fishermen that He wanted to make them fishers of men.
"'Come follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'"
Matthew 4:29
This is an interesting, antithetical comparison because when men fish for fish, they kill them, but when men fish for men, they bring them to a saving knowledge of God and give them life.
Commercial fishermen fish because it is a job, a livelihood. Followers of Christ evangelize because it is a ministry, a calling from God.
Unfortunately, we see many examples in churches where ministry becomes a job.
A ministry becomes a job when there is no longer excitement in doing God's work.
A ministry becomes a job when our desire is to please people, instead of God. We no longer spend time in God's presence, seeking the desires of His heart and His will for our ministry.
A ministry becomes a job when our work becomes more important than people that you can't take the time to help or talk with a person in need.
A ministry becomes a job when we are threatened by others with the same giftings coming into our church.
A ministry becomes a job when rules become more important than the feelings of others, so much so, that we reprimand parents who bring their children early to Sunday School.
A ministry becomes a job when our main concern is numbers and not faithfulness to serve Christ by teaching people the true Word of God. We become politically correct, but not Biblically correct.
A ministry becomes a job when we take offense by correction, getting angry and using our position and authority to retaliate.
A ministry becomes a job when our personal and private life does not honour God.
As Christians, our focus in ministry should be to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, sacrificing our pride, our popularity and our desire for recognition. We are to be fishers of men, bringing people into the kingdom of God and then teaching them to mature in Christ. God would rather have 10 on-fire Christians, than 1000 luke-warm ones.
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