For 27 of the past 30 years, the person who has
influenced my spiritual life and ministry most powerfully has done so
long-distance.
I met Steve Walker when I was a senior in college, and we have been
friends and accountability Steve Walker partners ever since, maintaining
a bi-weekly discipline of opening our lives to one another--despite
living in different states for all but three years of the last three
decades. (Since 1989, Steve has been the lead pastor of Redeemer's
Fellowship in Roseburg, OR.)Steve and I also have tried to spend a few days together each year to dig deeper than is possible in one-hour phone calls. This week, we met in Boston, and I talked him into extending his stay in New England to spend some time with our elders and to join us for a Sunday service. I am looking forward to introducing him to you, and I know you will be nourished by his teaching ministry.
