Tri-City Ledger -

Years ago churches recorded their pastors’ sermons on reel-to-reel tape, then later on cassettes. These often gathered dust, but many of us feared one day they’d be replayed, and we’d be embarrassed by yesteryear’s foolishness!

One of the reasons for this is how my denomination commissions preachers. A young man comes forward to share with the church the call of God, and the pastor says, “Fine. Preach for us next Sunday.” In my case, I was a junior in high school and didn’t know much about life. But I began to get busy preaching here and there and by age 19, was associate past...