I had the privilege of being ordained yesterday at Kenwood Baptist Church. Jim Hamilton preached from Acts 20 before the elders and others laid hands and Mike Thompson prayed for Suemi and I.
Jim Hamilton's sermon deserves the ear of every gospel minister and every would-be gospel minster. It was a robust challenge rooted in gospel realities and adorned with rhetorical beauty. As such, it was typical of the sermons by Jim which God has used to establish my marriage and ministry these last few years.
Jim ended by reading this poem which he wrote for the occasion, titled "Commission You Do We This Day."
There is, my friend, no higher call
Than this we send you on with all
Our hearts, our souls, our minds we join
Both to rejoice and also mourn
The moving on of these so dear,
You've loved and served us so well here
That this sweet sadness deepens now
As though the grief is right somehow
We'd love to see your children born
Watch them grow and sing and learn;
And old together we might grow,
But there's a deeper joy we'll know
As you answer the call and go,
Our joy and grief together show
That there's a love worth more than life,
A truth that merits sacrifice,
So join we how the ranks of those
Whose love in leaving deeper grows
Commission you do we this day
Giving God the thanks and praise.
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