Back again after a layoff

Just finished Hugh Hewitt's book, In, but Not Of on Christian Ambition. It is something of a how-to manual for young Christians to show them how to become people of influence in a godly way. Though there are certainly points at which I would disagree with Hewitt, on the whole I would recommend it. Much of what is written is common sense, but too often we need to be reminded of those things. They include things like remembering to say thank you, not to talk ill of others because it never pays, avoiding consumer debt at all costs, learning to be a deep thinking, understanding the history of the west (with a suggested reading list), reading widely, ask questions, understanding the dynamics of the workplace and on and on the list goes. His primary point is that Christians are called to be people of influence using whatever gifts they have been given. To under use or inappropriately use them is to be unfaithful to the Master.

One other leftover thought from Synod: Paul McCracken, former pastor of the Colorado Springs congregation is a pillar in the church, and it was very difficult to see this pillar in a wheelchair at Synod as he struggles with vertigo. It's a tough thing to think about the years ahead without the wisdom of men like him. The night our meetings concluded there was a dinner to recognize the retiring seminary professors, and he was present. As I went into the men's room just before leaving the hotel where the dinner had been, I found Paul sharing the gospel near the urinals with a half-drunk Englishman who was in Pittsburgh for business. The man was talkative, for obvious reasons. Most of us would have written off the opportunity, but Paul wanted this man to know Christ. Physically impared as he is, I was amazed, thrilled, and challenged by his unabated gospel-vigor. The man's friend soon dragged him off, and Paul's last words to him uttered in all sincerity were "I wish I had a long time to talk with you." And I thought to myself, "I want to have a heart spilling over with the gospel like Paul McCracken".