The Pastor's Soul Volume 3: Preaching With Spiritual Passion

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I WAS WORKING on an issue of Preaching Today when the phone rang. "Pastor Ed?" asked the uncertain woman on the other end. I didn't recognize the voice. My mental Rolodex started spinning.

"This is Jean McGuire."

My mind was still blank. "From Arizona," she continued.

My mind stopped spinning just in time: Jean was a faithful attendee of our last church but so shy and reclusive that I never got more than a whispered hello and a downward glance when I greeted her on Sunday mornings. What could have motivated this timid creature to make a long-distance call to a former pastor she hadn't seen in more than two years?

"Well, hello, Jean. What a surprise! It's good to hear from you."

Embarrassed silence.

"I'm sorry to bother you. Maybe I shouldn't have called, but … well, I'm calling about Roy."

Roy was her forty-something, never married son. He was a huge man, intimidating in both size and stoicism.

"How's my old buddy Roy doing?"

She blurted, "He died last month."

"What? He died? Roy? What happened?"

She went on to explain a lengthy hospital stay for phlebitis, complicated by obesity, poor circulation, and high blood pressure. While she spoke, my thoughts were churning: They had no friends that I knew of. Did anyone else in the church even know of her loss? I hoped their new pastor knew and ministered to their family.

"I'm so sorry, Jean. If I had known Roy was in the hospital, I'd have called him and prayed with him."

"I know, Pastor Ed. He really wanted to talk with you, too, but I could never find your new address or phone number. But today I was cleaning out his room and I found it. I knew you'd want to hear about it. You know that Roy always said you was the best friend he ever had."

The second punch hit me harder than the first. Best ...

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