Yesterday I got a call from my new friend, Marty. His call confirmed the call of Grace Christian Fellowship, and the call of God. After four years, I'm heading back. I'm going to be a PASTOR again.
People have asked me how I feel about that. After all, I've been known to poke fun at the church. I delight in pointing out the grape juice stains and bread crumbs on the blouse of the Bride of Christ, and I will continue to do it.
Only now I'll do it from the inside. Of course, I'm going to be the pastor of the greatest church in the world, not because I'm there, but because Jesus is. And the truth is, Jesus can be found in quite a few churches, often in spite of their idiosyncrasies and their pastors.
God has done some "minor miracles" to get me this far. It was a little miracle that I sent my resume to any church. It was a minor miracle that my resume would garner any attention. It was a miracle that I would believe that I could be both a writer and a pastor. It was a miracle that God sent me to a church that thought it was good, even biblical, to do both.
There have been many more minor miracles, and they continue to occur; gentle nudges in the direction of Bay City/Saginaw, Michigan, where yesterday a warm, friendly, exciting congregation voted to bring in a pudgy, graying, somewhat jaded Joe as their pastor-person.
Grace, indeed.
