Jump directly to the Content

Whom Can I Count On Now?

(In the following true account, names and some identifying details have been changed.)

This is my beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased." The congregation shifted their gaze from the handsome preacher in the pulpit to the handsome young man on the front pew. Chris Nelson felt their eyes but focused on his father's words.

"I've had the privilege to preach at other ordination services," the speaker said. "But this occasion is very special, as a father and as a preacher of the gospel. Chris grew up in a preacher's home. For him to respond to God's calling in spite of what he knows about ministry is both remarkable and encouraging."

After the message, Chris knelt at the altar as the ordained gathered around him for the laying on of hands. His father was last to pray. When he called out, "Lord, bless him with a long and fruitful ministry," Chris became choked with emotion.

Lord, may I serve you as faithfully as my father has, he thought.

SNOW-COVERED WINDSHIELD


Four years later, Chris was in his ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

From the Magazine
Empty Streets to the Empty Grave
Empty Streets to the Empty Grave
While reporting in Israel, photographer Michael Winters captures an unusually vacant experience at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close