Mark Oestreicher invited me to come to Estes Park: Need we ask “Why?” before you know I said “Yes!”? Well, I got there about 8pm or so Monday evening to a lovely place tucked away in the mountains at about 7000 feet. When we pulled into a parking spot, our vehicle scared off about 25 Elk. I was there to speak about the gospel to about twenty middle school pastors. The first evening was noteworthy.
Most of these pastors have been getting together for several years, and the first day and evening they talk about what is going on in their lives. After each person finishes, there is a time of open questioning — and there are “no holds barred.” The rule is total confidence, and I’ll not break that promise.

I will say this: what they talked about has nothing whatsoever to do with what Faculty talk about in Department and Faculty meetings. And that is why, so I believe, Faculty meetings are so mind-numbingly boring and useless.
I was impressed with the serious issues middle school pastors face on a regular basis, and the heart these folks have for what they are doing. Bless ’em, I say, bless anyone who has a heart for working with kids that age. When Marko first called me, I said, “There’s no way I can talk to kids that age.” He quickly assured me with this: “No, you’ll be talking to the pastors and they’ll work at translating this stuff to their kids when they get back home.”
More tomorrow.