"Meditate on these things, give yourself wholly to them, that your profiting may apprear to all"

Scripture:
Read - Mark 1:21-27 and Mark As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 18. At once they left their nets and followed him.

The disciples were ordinary men called by God. The extraordinary part of their story is that they were such ordinary men. Nothing in them would attract you to them as great leaders or men of great potential. Perhaps that was the Lord's intent in choosing such unremarkable disciples. Each one of them represents a personality type that is similar to your own. Each encountered Jesus and their lives were forever transformed. All of the disciples except for John died as martyrs.

Thomas' Story
Let me tell you the story of one such ordinary man. His name was Thomas, called Didimus, because he was a twin. We know him better as "Doubting Thomas."

Thomas was missing at the first resurrection visitation of Jesus to his disciples. He seems to have given up hope. He was disillusioned. Then he made that horrible affront, "Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." - John 20:25 Jesus came seven days later and asked him to do just that. He became a believer. But what we are not told in the Biblical record is that when the Lord directed the disciples where to go on their life-long journey as his missionaries, Thomas said, "No." He argued with the Lord because he did not want to go to India as the Lord directed. Finally the Lord Jesus directed a merchant from India to arrange to buy Thomas as a slave hired to help build a king's palace in India. It was on that ship as a slave sailing to India that Thomas seems to have made his complete surrender to the Lord Jesus. He spent the rest of his life there evangelizing several minor kings of the region and settled finally in the south of India. He also converted several high cast Indian kings, and Hindu Brahmans. The Brahman priests were so outraged fearing that he would ruin their religion and convert all of India that they planned to kill him. For years he met with believers in a cave near Carmandal where he often went to pray. It was there that the Brahmans perused him. While he was kneeling in prayer they ran him through with a spear in his side.

• Simon Peter (surnamed Peter) - crucified upside down in Rome
• Andrew (Peter's brother) - Crucified on a cross as an "X" instead of like the cross of Christ.
• James (oldest son of Zebedee) - James was beheaded by Herod Agrippa I, about 44 AD
• John (young brother of James) - Lived in Ephesus with Mary, mother of Jesus.
• Philip (brought Nathaniel) - He is said to have have met his death at Hierapolis.
• Bartholomew (perhaps Nathaniel) - Flayed him alive and eventually crucified him upside down.
• Thomas (Didimus, Twin, Doubter) - Died with a spear in his side in India
• Matthew Levi (Tax Collector) - he was condemned by the Sanhedrin and condemned to death.
• James-Alphaeus (Matthew's brother) - his enemies beat him to death with a fuller's club
• Lebbaeus/Thaddaeus (Jude) - pierced with arrows near Mount Ararat.
• Simon-Zealot (revolutionary) - He died a martyr by crucifixion on May 10, 61 AD.
• Judas Iscariot (traitor) - died by suicide hanging himself