A
seminary professor was vacationing with
his wife in Gatlinburg, TN. One morning
they were eating breakfast at a little
restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet,
family meal. While they were waiting for
their food, they noticed a distinguished
looking, white haired man moving from
table to table, visiting with the
guests. The professor leaned over and
whispered to his wife, "I hope he
doesn't come over here." But sure
enough, the man did come over to their
table.
"Where you folks from?" he
asked in a friendly voice.
"Oklahoma," they answered.
"Great to have you here in
Tennessee" the stranger said.
"What do you do for a living?"
"I teach at a seminary, " he
replied.
"Oh, so you teach preachers how to
preach, do you? Well, I got a really
great story for you." And with
that, the gentleman pulled up a chair
and sat down at the table with the
couple.
The professor groaned and thought to
himself, "Great . . . Just what I
need. . .another preacher story!"
The man started, "See that mountain
over there? (pointing out the restaurant
window). Not far from the base of that
mountain, there was a boy born to an
unwed mother. He had a hard time growing
up, because every place he went, he was
always asked the same question, 'Hey
boy, Who's your daddy?'" Whether he
was at school, in the grocery store or
drug store, people would ask the same
question, 'Who's your daddy?' He would
hide at recess and lunch time from the
other students. He would avoid going
into stores because the question hurt
him so bad.
When he was about 12 years old, a
new preacher came to his church. He
would always go in late and slip out
early to avoid hearing the question,
'Who's your daddy?' But one day the
preacher said the benediction so fast he
got caught and had to walk out with the
crowd.
Just about the time he got to the back
door, the new preacher, not knowing
anything about him, put a hand on his
shoulder and asked him, 'Son, who's your
daddy?' The whole church got deathly
quiet. He could feel every eye in the
church looking at him. Now everyone
would finally know the answer to the
question, 'Who's your daddy?' This new
preacher, though sensed the situation
around him and using discernment that
only the Holy Spirit could give, said
the following to the scared little boy .
. .
"Wait a minute!" he said.
"I know who you are. I see the
family resemblance now. You are a child
of God." With that he patted the
boy on the shoulder and said "Boy,
you've got a great inheritance. Go and
claim it." With that, the boy
smiled for the first time in a long time
and walked out the door a changed
person. He was never the same again.
Whenever anybody asked him, "Who's
your daddy?" He'd just tell them,
"I'm a child of God."
The distinguished gentleman got up from
the table and said, "Isn't that a
great story?" The professor
responded that it really was a great
story!
As the man turned to leave, he said,
"You know, if that new preacher
hadn't told me I was one of God's
children, I probably never would have
amounted to anything!" And he
walked away.
The seminary professor and his wife were
stunned. He called the waitress over and
asked her, "Do you know who that
man was who just left that was sitting
at our table?"
The waitress grinned and said, "Of
course. Everybody knows him.
That's Ben
Hooper. He's the former governor of
Tennessee!"
Author
Unknown
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