Few things are as central to understanding Scott Walker as his relentless political calculus and his evangelical Christian faith.

Those two facets of the governor are coming together as never before in his all-but-certain bid for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. They will be on full display Saturday when the two-term governor joins fellow would-be presidential candidates at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition 2015 Spring Kickoff.

So far, Walker's folksy mix of faith and politics has resonated with evangelical Christian voters, a key constituency for Republican candidates.

"He is definitely galvanizing our membership," said Timothy Head, executive director of Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition, which stages the Iowa event.

A recent survey by Public Policy Polling showed the second-term Republican governor outpacing all other GOP contenders in his support from this powerful segment of the Republican Party.

Although repeated efforts to interview Walker for this story were unsuccessful — even after he agreed to sit and talk about the issue in February — he did answer several questions electronically.

Sadly, most of us can all too easily recount stories of pastors who betrayed their congregations, who hurt the very people God had called them to love, who—in short—made their ministry all about them.

Some of these pastors may have had their own inflated sense of grandeur from day one. But more often than not, these are the same guys who entered the ministry legitimately wanting to serve others, not angling to build an empire. And yet somewhere along the way, they got a taste for glory. And instead of being the shepherds of God’s people, teaching them to have faith in God, they become stumbling blocks, impediments keeping people from considering God at all.

As a Christian leader, I don’t hear stories like that and congratulate myself. I hear them and tremble. Because the same pride that has shipwrecked countless other ministries lives in my heart. And in yours.

Moses has just been dealt a terrible blow. Everything he’s spent his whole life laboring for, is gone. His entire reason for being, over. He would not achieve it. He would not get the reward.

And yet, he kept going. He didn’t quit. He didn’t turn around and go back to Egypt. He didn’t abandon the Israelites to find their own way. Instead, he just kept going.

Moses’ response is breathtaking. I mean, can you IMAGINE? Can you imagine how distraught Moses must have been? His whole life’s work, snatched away in an instant.

And still, he kept going.

Why?

Neither Numbers or Deuteronomy gives us much of an explanation, although Deuteronomy 3 ups the ante. In verses 23-25, Moses pleads with God to change His mind and allow him into the Promised Land. But God only raises the stakes. Not only is Moses forbidden from entering the land, but he must also train Joshua to lead the people instead. Joshua, not Moses, will enter the Promised Land.

Again, can you imagine??? As Moses is mourning the death of his dream, he is charged with handing it off to another. Another man that Moses must “encourage and strengthen” for the task. Talk about salt in the wound.