Sword & Trowel 2018: Issue 2


COMMODORE OF THE FLEET


CAPTAIN JOHN C BROWN


The man who set the Gospel before the creator of Sherlock Holmes


I


T IS surprising to discover how many sea captains of the past were convinced, earnest Chris- tians. Whether you think in terms of warships or passenger liners, ships’ masters have numbered among them Bible-believing men. Captain John Brown, a well-known Commodore of the Union Castle Line until 1950, was such a man. Towards the end of the Second World War, as he was approaching the zenith of his career, he spoke these words to a meeting of over three thousand people in New York: ‘I would like to give my testimony to the wonderful saving grace, and the wonderful keeping power of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I accepted as my Saviour thirty-fi ve years ago. Previously I had been living a life which was bringing the grey hairs of my father in sorrow to the grave. But when I came to Christ as a trembling, guilty sinner, he freely forgave all, and I found his promise true, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” ‘Since then, in spite of


all my failings, he has kept me. Frequently I have looked death in the


– by the Editor –


face, having been sunk three times, twice by torpedoing and once by col- lision, as well as being bombed on several occasions. Always, however, I have found him with me, supporting and guiding me under all condi- tions. He has also given me the great honour and joy of proclaiming the Gospel to thousands of troops and passengers who have sailed with me, several of whom have come to know Christ as their own personal Saviour and Lord, and are now rejoicing in the life which he alone can give.’ Speaking of what the Bible came to mean to him when he became a Christian, Captain Brown said, ‘At one time it meant nothing to me. I took it up on one occasion just to fi nd out what there could be in it that some people loved. I found nothing. I read in different parts, and then I put it down, remarking to myself that of all the dry books I had ever read, this was the driest, and I never wanted to read it again. ‘Then came my conversion when,


weary of sinning and longing for real peace, I opened my heart to let the Lord Jesus Christ come in. And at once he did, and from then on old things passed away, and all things became new. I next discovered that I loved reading the Bible and meditating prayer- fully over it … I started


Commodore of the Fleet page 25


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