We were walking out the door of a church last night where I had just led a meeting with several elders. I wiped my brow, grateful to be finished. Their task was to make a critical decision for their congregation; and ours was to help them do that. This is something I have responsibility for as the chair of the Commission on Ministry of our Presbytery, but this particular task, the details of which I won’t go in to, was not something I had direct experience with. As it turned out the meeting went well, and the two colleagues who led the meeting with me did a great job. But as the three of us were walking into the parking lot, I confessed, “You know, I’ve been on this Commission for six y

Our campus has been spiritually recharged this week as we welcomed and ministered to about 120 children during our annual Vacation Bible School. The theme was “Shipwrecked” and Lisa and I had the chance to do a skit during each day’s opening ceremonies. My character, “Jim Noland” explains to Lisa that a skydiving trip that went terribly wrong landed him on this deserted island. But now that he realizes that he’s not actually alone he’s euphoric. Each day Lisa teaches him about Jesus’ rescuing power in the midst of life’s difficulties. One day, there’s a loud bang and the sound of Jim yelling “Help!” as he stumbles on stage wrapped up in a fishing net, and looking ridiculous. “Jim, what o