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Monday
Jun112007

About That Request For Funds…

As the pastor of a giving church, I am very happy to give to needy causes. In fact, I believe that one of the main factors in receiving God’s blessings has been the willingness to share those blessings with others. I have also written letters to solicit funds from people for various needs. At some point, however, I must weigh out the requests for funds against all my other financial obligations and commitments. This means that sometimes, I have to say no. This seems to happen more often now than ever.

Why do people send out letters asking for money? Here is a list of likely reasons and some thoughts I have about each one.

1. It doesn’t hurt to ask. Maybe it does. It does hurt to ask when the person you’re asking has received stacks of similar requests in the past few days or weeks, leading him to think that sending out request letters must be “the thing to do”. It does hurt to ask when your project appears frivolous or self-serving. It does hurt to ask when you imply that refusing to give to your cause means that the source is uncaring or stingy. Also, when you ask for something, you assume, without really knowing, that the source possesses the ability to give. It may not be the case. And remember, the more letters in circulation, the less effective any of them will be.

2. Mine is a worthy cause. Probably true. Anything connected to the world-wide advancement of God’s work is worthy. Mission trips, church start-ups, needed equipment, disasters, financially troubled churches and many other situations are important. Some needs may be urgent or desperate. But many local church projects are also worthy. Many times they get pushed to the back burner, however, because outside projects demand a continual diversion of funds away from them. Somebody has to decide which one is most worthy of support.

3. There’s a lot of money out there and I may as well get some of it. Very few churches or pastors waste donated dollars. Most of the time, it is earmarked for a specific purpose. Actually, many churches struggle to meet the pledges they have already made. Any time you receive a dollar, rest assured that it was taken from another worthy project and given to you.

4. People need a little pressure to make them give. Yes, reminders are helpful. Manipulation, however, is not. As a rule, church people have an extremely sensitive conscience. They would rather give what they can’t afford to give rather than to be thought of as stingy. It is more than manipulative to take advantage of this tendency to feel guilt, it is unethical.

  • Before you send out a letter, here are a few things pastors and churches would like to know about your request:
  • Should we have a particular interest in your project?
  • Are we being asked to simply help you fulfill a personal desire?
  • Are you exaggerating or distorting any of your claims in the letter?
  • Have you truly prayed and sought God about sending out your letter?
  • Have you exhausted every other means before asking us?
  • How much have you personally invested in your project?
  • What do your spiritual leaders think about your request?
  • Do you have any accountability for the way you will spend the funds?
  • What will you do if you don’t get enough money?

The people of God are generous and responsive to needs presented to them. One of my jobs as a pastor is to make sure they are not exploited or over-burdened. I have given many dollars and I will continue to give. My goal, however, is to do more than just give. I want to know that my people are giving to legitimate causes and to responsible servants of God who will make a difference. The more I am flooded with requests for money, the more discriminating I am with dispersing it. Please be careful why and how you send out all letters soliciting funds.

Monday
Jun112007

Twenty-One Skills of Great Preachers

(by Keith Drury, “Thinking Drafts.”)

The one thing most of us would rather do than preach, is hear another great preacher.  I mean a "Great" preacher. I've learned plenty from hearing the best preachers, especially in a live setting. For most of my life, when sitting under a great preacher, I've taken dual sets of notes, including content on one list, and a separate set of notes on their communication skills. What have I discovered in these 40 years worth of notes? Here's my summary:

1. Content:  All of my "Great Preachers" had something to say. Even as "great communicators," they didn't substitute style for substance.

2. Passion:  The best Preachers I've heard had a passion for what they said which seemed to spring from a general spiritual burden for people, which is different from just loving to preach. Messages are easier to love than people.

3. Credibility:  Great Preachers practice what they preach -- they live it.' "Great Communicators" might get away with all kinds of private sin, but not truly "Great Preachers." I've had to downgrade some of my "Great Preachers to "Great Communicators" over the last few decades.

4. Prepared:  Great Preachers don't "wing it" -- even if the people couldn't tell. (They can.)

5. Notes:  Most Great Preachers limit their use of notes. Thanks to TV, preachers can no longer read to a crowd with their nose buried in their notes.

6. Simple:  Great Preachers have a way of bringing high truths down to the bottom shelf, yet without compromising the greatness of truth. In this they are like Jesus. People don't leave a truly great preacher saying, "Boy He's smart!" They say, "Now I understand!"

7. Short:  While Great Preachers are able to hold your attention in a preaching marathon, most were able to also preach a great sermon in 30 minutes or less. (I don't know about you, but I've discovered that 30 minutes is plenty of time for a preacher to give a sermon, except in the few instances when I myself am the preacher.)

8. Convicting:  People hear God prick their conscience when Great Preachers preach. They give more than a "sermon" or "talk" -- they deliver a "message" from God.

9. Self-revealing:  Great Preachers know how to tell personal stories on themselves. They become real to their listeners. Yet they do this while avoiding the ego-centric self-absorption of many pop preachers who make themselves the subject of the sermon instead of God.

10. Confidence:  Great Preachers don't seem scared. Maybe they are, but they never seem to show it.

11. Tone:  While the great preachers of the past often thundered out salvos like a giant cannons, the Great Preachers of today almost all use a conversational tone of voice. They know that people today don't listen to speakers who shout.

12. Story-telling:  All Great Preachers through history have this trait in common: they are good story tellers. That goes for both telling story illustrations and direct Bible stories.

13. Prop:  I've noticed that some Great Preachers use an object or prop to get their truth across -- usually an ordinary thing like a salt shaker, a packet of yeast, or a glass of water.

14. Humor:  Many Great Preachers are funny, though not all of them. The humorous preachers are able to "get them back" after they've been on a roll, so that the message can stay central, not the humor. Those who can't keep the message central are merely "Great Communicators" or "Christian Humorists," not "Great Preachers."

15. Pace:  Evan fast-paced Great Preachers use pauses where you can catch your breath. The listener then can digest their last few bites of truth without bolting the whole meal down undigested. Many Great Preachers follow the traditional Afro-American pace in the poem: "Begin low; Continue slow; Rise up higher; Catch on fire; Sit down in the storm."

16. Eyes:  Great Preachers keep their eyes glued to their audience. Each person in the congregation feels the preacher is "looking right me."

17. Fast-on-feet:  Most Great Preachers are able to work in the surprises in a service like thunder, scratching on the roof, sirens etc.

18. Intensity:  The Great Preachers I've heard varied their intensity -- sometimes they were louder, then they'd get as soft as a whisper, sometimes they'd be so intense that my own stomach would ache, then they'd drop back and adopt a tender or even chuckling style.

19. Movement:  Most Great Preachers I've heard used their bodies to preach along with their words. They seemed to intuitively know that a congregation is getting a full 55% of the communication from their facial gestures and body movement.

20. Decision:  My Great Preachers never gave a message and walked away. They called for my specific and personal decision in response to God's truth. They preached for decision, not for entertainment or education. Perhaps I call them "Great" partially because God changed me under their influence.

21. Landing:  All the really Great Preachers I've heard were able to land their message on the first pass. Most lesser preachers circle the airport several times before bringing it in, or (worse still) do several "touch-and-Go's" before landing. You know, it's a funny thing... I can always see when the other guy should land his sermon, better than knowing when to bring my own message down on the runway.  (Keith Drury, “Thinking Drafts.”)

Sunday
Jun102007

Eleven Ways To Improve Your Ministry

Always keeping your life “under construction.”

1. Listen to the voice of God speaking in the inner man.

I know I need to spend time in prayer, but I have discovered that what I pray is just as important as when or how long I pray. This necessitates constant monitoring of the spiritual impulses of my heart. Ritualistic praying interferes with divine direction, but patient listening to God’s voice yields wonderful and relevant insights about my life and ministry. God speaks to me if I take the time to listen.

2. Read books on ministry, leadership and church growth.

These subjects directly relate to what you do. Reading constitutes a vital source of inspiration and information for anyone at any level of ministry. Reading fuels your mind and ignites your heart. It affords much-needed criticism to come your way.

3. Write out your thoughts.

Fleeting thoughts come and go so quickly that often you’re left with the fragrance but not the substance. Writing out your thoughts preserves, clarifies and enhances them. It makes raw ideas usable.

4. Go to conferences and seminars.

Consider these meetings essential to your ministry. Fellowshipping with peers provides a very personal way to examine yourself. They encounter the same problems and challenges that you face. You need to know and understand how they deal with them. You need to hear their stories, their thoughts, their words and their experiences. The conference services subject your heart and mind to preaching and teaching. Topics covered recharge your batteries.

5. Ask questions of people who are doing great things for God.

Who among us wouldn’t want to sit down with the Apostle Paul or Apostle Peter? Some day we will, but great warriors exist among us today as well. I thrill at any opportunity to talk with them, “pick their brain”, and catch the overflow of their wisdom. Sometimes, one statement wipes away years of frustration. I don’t attempt to imitate them, but I believe I can learn from them.

6. Associate with people whom God is using.

We are the sum total of our friends and associates. I want to rub shoulders with those who will inspire and challenge me, not those who drag me down. Bitter souls and complaining spirits may infect me through association. I try to surround myself with those who most closely represent my ideal of true Christianity.

7. Keep your mind open to fresh ideas.

Each of us is a work in progress. Once I think I have arrived, that there is no new thought worth thinking, that fresh ideas are more trouble than they’re worth, I’m dead. Closed minds are fatal to ministries and oppressive to followers. The road to improvement runs straight through the town of fresh ideas.

8. Edit out negative thoughts.

Red flags go up when too many negative thoughts invade my mind. No great idea vaults to success without first enduring and rejecting negativisms. For me, every thought is innocent until proven guilty.

9. Look at everyone as a potential contributor to your life.

Don’t you like people who give you gifts? One reason I like people is that every person I meet has a gift for me. The fit and feeble, the great and small, the wealthy and poor, the renowned and unknown, all of them have a word that adds value to my ministry. To cut any of them off is to sabotage myself.

10. Pray the tough prayers.

I know when it’s time to get down to business with God. When I’m wrong, when I need to confess, when I’m in trouble, I swallow hard and lay it all out before Him. Glossing over problems, playing games with God, pretending that things are fine when I know they aren’t brings my spiritual life to a screeching halt. That often means crucifixion, re-dedication, and pain. Afterwards, it propels me into a new dimension in ministry.

11. Don’t let your ministry stagnate.

God has called all of us to excellence and effectiveness in His kingdom. The room for improvement may be bigger now than it has ever been.

Thursday
Jun072007

The Ideal Outreach Program: A Narrative

You Remembered My Name?  I Am So Impressed!

We may know the roles our fellow church members play in the ministry of the church. We may surmise how the pastor or other church leaders look at us. But, the most important perspective we need to understand centers around the view of the new convert. The others may feed our need for self-esteem or sense of importance. That is not necessarily wrong, but it doesn't speak to the core need. Our basic need, as a church, is to see ourselves through the eyes of the person who has never been a part of the church. Let's put it in narrative form.

"Tom had never been to the Church, but he sat next to someone at a restaurant last summer who invited him to come. He didn't really expect that he would take them up on it, but they handed him a brochure that seemed interesting. It mentioned that they helped people who had problems with drug abuse. He knew he needed help, but didn't really know what to do. He wanted some information without committing himself to a church. He noticed on the brochure that the church had a website. When he went home, he checked it out because he knew he could surf the web anonymously. When he visited the site online, he liked the pictures he saw and thought the information about the church made the congregation attractive to him.

"One Sunday, Tom decided he would drive over to the services and see if it was something he could go for. When he pulled into the parking lot, there were a lot of cars, but he noticed several spaces close to the main entrance that were empty. He immediately thought that it was "lucky" for him. When he got out of his car, another man and his wife, a couple of cars away, were also walking across the parking lot to the church. He had never seen them before, but they smiled at him. The man came over, introduced himself and asked for Tom's name. As they neared the front door, another couple approached. The man introduced Tom to them. The greeter at the door smiled at Tom, but before she could ask his name, the first gentleman again introduced Tom. She shook his hand and, as the others went on into the sanctuary, she asked if he found a good parking spot. She also asked if he knew any particular person in the church who would like to know that he was in attendance. She then handed him a Welcome Packet and asked him to be sure to fill out the card enclosed.

While they talked, a host came over, shook Tom's hand and called him by name. Tom looked puzzled, but the host explained that someone had already mentioned his name to him. He seemed surprised. The host then asked if he would like to hang up his coat and hat in the coatroom. He showed him where the coatroom was and also pointed out the location of the restrooms. After asking Tom if there were any other needs he might be able to take care of, he invited him over to the Welcome Center. There, the attendant shook Tom's hand and called him by name. She informed him of the morning's schedule and mentioned that the church had a number of ministries that she would share with him if he wanted to know more about them. She then told him of the various adult classes he could visit.

The host escorted him to one of the classrooms. He introduced him by name to the class host. The class host, in turn, introduced him to the teacher, pointed out the coffee and donuts that were available, and introduced him by name to several other class members. The teacher mentioned Tom's name during the preliminaries and several people close to him shook his hand and smiled. When the teacher got into the lesson, a man sitting near Tom noticed that he didn't have a lesson leaflet so he got one for him. He also asked Tom if he had received a visitor’s packet when he came into the church lobby. When Tom said yes, the man encouraged him to fill out the card.

After class, another man talked to Tom on the way out of class. When he found out that Tom had never attended before, he said he would come and sit with him in the worship service. He explained several things to Tom, such as why we pray together, why we worship so enthusiastically and why we clap our hands. During the service, Tom thought it was different, but he liked it. When the minister closed his message, Tom stood reverently, but did not respond. He didn't feel that it was time. Afterwards, many people came to him, shook his hand and told him they were glad he came. One lady, who introduced herself as one of the hostesses, asked if he had filled out his card. He said not yet, but that he would. She offered to do it for him if he would tell her what to write. She seemed so nice and sincere, he agreed. A few more people spoke to him on the way out of the church. One man called him by name. Tom was impressed.

On the next day, Tom heard a knock on his door around 6:30 pm. He opened it to a couple that looked familiar to him. He knew why when they said they were from the Church. They said they wanted to stop by with a little gift and tell him how important it was to the church for him to visit on Sunday. They handed him a small package of jams and jellies. They didn't stay long, so it wasn't much of an interruption to Tom's evening. "That was nice", he thought. "I may go back sometime."

On Tuesday, Tom saw a letter from the church as he went through his stack of mail. Again, it was a thank you for attending on Sunday, and an invitation to come back. A special guest speaker was going to be there and he was from a city where Tom lived for a while when he was a boy. "These people really go all out," he thought. "I ought to check them out a little more."

That evening, Tom logged on again to the church website and studied it more intently than the first time he looked at it. He looked at what they believed. There, he saw something about water baptism and speaking in tongues. He had always thought that tongues were for kooks, but he knew that these people were not that. He asked a friend of his at work about it, but he didn't know very much about religion of any kind. He suggested that Tom get out the old family bible and see what it said. Tom laughed, but on Saturday, he did just that. It took him a while, but he found it, plus a whole lot more. Just then, the phone rang. A member of the visitation team of the church was on the other end, and said they would love to see Tom visit again on Sunday. Tom went back.

Tom again got the royal treatment when he arrived. In the classroom and in the worship service, he paid closer attention to everything the teacher and preacher said. This time, he decided to go forward and pray at the invitation. When he knelt down, another man knelt down beside him and asked him his name and if he knew why he came to the altar. Tom just said he felt he needed to know God and the Bible more. The man gave him a few pointers about prayer and prayed with him a few moments. Nothing happened right away, but when Tom got up, he felt better. As he turned around to leave, a lady shook his hand and asked him if he had ever had a personal bible study. It wasn't long until he was all set up to have a man come to his house on Tuesday evening and teach him a home bible study. Before he left, another man introduced himself to Tom and invited him to play some basketball with the men of the church on Thursday night. Tom said no because of an old knee injury. But he thanked him for the invitation.

Tom went back to church several more Sundays and returned to the altar to pray. Suddenly, it all happened at once. God filled him with the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues, and he was led to the baptistry. Everything was laid out for him---the clothes, the towels, even the registration to sign. Tom was baptized that morning in Jesus' name! It was wonderful. When he finally left to go home, another lady handed him an envelope with his baptismal certificate inside, already typed out and signed by the pastor. He thought that was very nice. Before he left, the lady asked him if he was coming to church that night. On the spot, he said he would. After all, how could he not come when he had just received so much from God that morning?

When Tom came back to service in the evening, three more people came to him. One lady said she was the Prayer Coordinator and she wanted to talk to him about setting up his personal prayer life. She gave him some material and got him committed to fifteen minutes of prayer every day. Another lady came to him and talked to him about regularly reading the Bible. She was the Bible Reading Coordinator and she gave him several options for reading the Bible on a daily basis. The third person was a man who said he would like to help Tom with any and every question he had about his new life with God over the next six to twelve months. He said he would act as a mentor or advisor to Tom about his spiritual life. He unfolded a flow chart for new converts progress and explained to him what would be happening in his life over the next year. He talked to him about some pitfalls, some changes that would take place and some things he would learn. He also said he would enroll him in the new converts class on Sunday mornings. As a typical new convert, Tom was eager to learn all he could as fast as he could learn it.

After another three months went by, Tom was settling into his brand new life. He finished his home bible study and was attending the new converts class. He was praying and reading his bible every day. He had several hurdles to get over like smoking, and was interested in some other issues that the church called standards. He also didn't understand some doctrinal points he heard preached over the pulpit. His mentor was a great help to him in explaining these things to him and got him some additional material like books and tapes that helped Tom even more. Another couple came to him and said they would like to talk to him about working for God in some way. They said they worked in the Recruiting Ministry. They administered a spiritual gifts test to him, and talked to him about the importance of getting involved in a ministry of the church. When they found out that Tom had some experience in designing websites and other computer skills, they introduced him to the Media Coordinator. It wasn't long until Tom was contributing in a major way to the church's website. He also developed some aspirations for other areas as well, like advertising and campus ministry.

Today, Tom is deeply involved in the church. He is teaching two home bible studies on his own, and is also working with others in the altar ministry. He has become an established saint of God, and wants to win as many souls for Christ as he can.

At this point, this story is fictitious. It serves as a visionary model, however, for a pattern that could be established at an Apostolic Church. It can easily be seen that each area of evangelism plays a major role in the entire process of saint-making: Outreach, Inreach, Follow-Up, Discipleship and Service. One thing is common to every ministry is love and name recognition. These elements---working together---will work every time. Our vision should be to take people from wherever they are in life to the point of an established saint of God. Anything less is an incomplete mission.

Tuesday
Jun052007

Walk With Me

“Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” Ephesians 4:1

Take the moccasins. Let’s walk. You probably won’t get used to the path, and you won’t want to go every place it leads, but pastors don’t choose their paths or pick the scenery along the way. Sometimes the path winds back on itself, as if you didn’t get enough the first time. I can only say that if you walk far enough, you’ll see everything you need to see.

If you dare, walk with me into the surgical waiting room. A family has been sitting there, full of hope that everything would be fine. Now, they’ve learned that their mother didn’t make it through the surgery. A volcano of emotion erupts---from wailing and screaming to shrill prayers and bitter expressions---striking fear even into the hearts of bystanders. The grieving family immediately looks to me with imploring eyes, expecting me to provide instantaneous answers to all their questions. The best I can do is bring a calming influence into the chaos.

Walk with me into my tension-filled office. A man has just confessed a lurid affair and his wife sits in stunned disbelief. After a few minutes, her anger and hurt boils up into a tearful rage, then she collapses into painful self-recriminations. Back and forth it goes. Hours later, they quietly leave, still not knowing whether they can make it as a married couple any longer. The strange emptiness of unrequited pain gathers up into the corners of the room.

Next, we can take some tokens for the vending machines, plus the clothes on our backs, but that’s it. We enter a stark, institutional-looking visiting room. The man in a light blue shirt with dark blue trousers comes over to see us, a forced smile in the place of his usual wide grin. He just went before the parole board three weeks prior. Admittedly a convicted felon, he’s eight years into a ten-to-twenty-five, but they denied him an early release for no reason except that they could. Each inmate they keep brings thousands of dollars from the state into the correctional system. There is a chance he may have to do the maximum. He wants to know why God allowed this to happen.

Returning, we walk by a courtroom. A judge is giving his less-than-satisfactory reasons why he gave the kids to the other parent, the one whom we know filed for custody to spite the ex-spouse. We also know, instinctively, that the children are headed for a life of neglect and bad influence. We can hardly bear the anguish we see in the parent’s face. Again, the questions arise and answers are expected.

In the back of the sanctuary, after service has been dismissed, listen with me to a man pouring out his heart over the loss of his job and his inability to take care of his family. The bank is about to foreclose on his mortgage, he is three months behind on all his bills, and he has no idea when his first unemployment check will arrive in the mail. He wants answers, and money, quick.

I know you’re tired, but before you go home, we need to listen to a teenage girl tell us that she’s thinks she’s pregnant, a troubled woman relate the story of horrific nightmares invading her sleep the last few weeks, a man who doesn’t know what to do about his son who is strung out on cocaine, a wife whose husband doesn’t want to come to church any longer, a woman who feels unbearable pressure from her family for failing to meet their expectations, an elderly widow whose son is taking advantage of her financially, a five year old boy who wants me to pray because his mommy and daddy are getting a divorce, a young mother who wants to know if demons can torment her children, a man who is about to lose his business and another man who is thinking of moving to another state.

Walk with me to my library where I try to submerge myself into research and study. I know you thought there would be whole days where I could browse books, read journals, feast on scripture and pray at leisure. What a life that would be! But phone interruptions and obligations just remembered break up the few hours set aside to work. When I do get back to the books, there’s the pressure of a deadline or agonizing over what to preach to people who desperately need help.

Okay, I’ll let you go today, but tomorrow we’ll walk some more. We’ll talk to the church secretary about the unexpected utilities expenses and hefty increases in the insurance premiums. We’ll talk to the maintenance man about replacing the big lawn mower, and the major repairs needed on the van. After that, we’ll travel to a neighboring town and sit down with the pastor who is about to give it up because of church trouble that threatens his congregation.

Did you think we would walk to exotic vacations, fishing trips and golf outings? Even if we do, be prepared to leave town later and return home earlier than we wanted to. You thought you could sleep in most mornings, too? Sorry to disappoint you. You might not leave the house early, but you’ll still be up before the sun---writing, reading, studying and treasuring any uninterrupted time afforded you. Taking phone calls and replying to emails poke holes in your mornings as well.

Walk with me softly through delicate encounters where a wrong word may foment a crisis. Sometimes, an encouraging word will suffice, but usually I search my soul to give a word of direction, enlightenment, comfort or exhortation. Walk boldly with me into demon’s lairs and lion’s dens, or walk carefully with me into hotbeds of malicious rumors, or into darkened rooms where infinite sadness prevails. Walk with me into emergency rooms, funeral parlors, neonatal units, psychiatric wards, nursing homes, lawyer’s offices and police stations. Walk with me into board rooms where men of God earnestly discuss some doctrinal error, or where they painfully decide the fate of a comrade who has fallen into sin.

Sit with me and stare out the window of a coffee shop. Black. No cream or sugar. Wheat toast, please. Commiserate with me as I breathe out a long, low sigh. You know, I’m not the man for the job. Others would be a blazing success where monuments to my failures stand in silent mockery to me. Anyone…I don’t know…See that guy over there? He could probably do a better job than me. Look at these help wanted ads. Think I could do that? I wonder…but, it’s just that this call…this unrelenting call…my cell phone just vibrated. It’s the hospital…again. Leave an extra tip. The newspaper? No, someone else can have it…maybe that guy over there.

Just when we think we’ve had enough, the scenery changes. Walk with me into the arms of a loyal saint who loves preachers. He hands me a card and a check, not a lot, but enough to soothe the agitations of a tough week. I feel the hand of a deacon laid on my shoulder and hear him remind me that he’s praying for me. We stop by a pew long enough for a saint to tell me that my sermon was an answer to her prayers. I look over and establish eye contact with a man I know has been going through hell itself. He gives me a thumbs up and mouths the word, “Thanks!”

Schedule a baby dedication for some parents whose pride is bursting out all over. Go over some wedding plans with an excited young couple who want to do things the right way. Laugh in the vestibule with some crazy guys who read a new joke over the internet. Rejoice with the lady who was troubled by nightmares as she declares victory in Jesus’ name. Glorify God for a full house at the last service. Breathe a sigh of relief when the woman whose marriage was on the rocks tells you that things are working out. Feel even more relief when the secretary tells me that the bills are paid with money left over. Praise God with the entire church as a young mother reports that the MRI on her five year old son shows no trace of a cancerous brain tumor.

Linger a while with me at the altar, and listen to a young man speak in a glorious new language as the Spirit baptizes him. Help me pray with a middle-aged couple who kneels in a renewed commitment to God, so needed after wandering in a spiritual drought. Sense the sweet release of sins that a dad must feel as he rises from baptismal waters, his bearded face awash in heaven’s glow. Watch tears of repentance flow down the cheeks of a teenaged girl who got herself into trouble. Stay long enough to see her parents hug her, wipe her moist eyes and tell her they love her.

Maybe you’ve now walked far enough to see what you needed to see. Sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down, but the path keeps unfolding. I can’t say whether it all evens out. Every day, I just venture forth into the great unexplored, accompanied by both dread and anticipation. You can go back to what you were doing. I’ve got “miles to go before I sleep.”