"Oh, reverend, surely there is something you can do about this storm.

"Well, dear lady, I can join you in prayer to the one who is in charge, but I have no power of my own. You must remember: we ministers are in sales, not management."

It's the Lord's business.

The preacher makes the sales pitch - but the Holy Spirit clinches the deal.

The greatest joy of ministry is seeing people come to faith, and grow in understanding.

Someone said to me recently, "I used to be afraid of everything - but not anymore, since I have come to know the Lord."

So we watch the Spirit working.

It's hard to get people out on Sunday evenings, but people are coming to the monthly Gospel Show. We have had two of the most joy-filled evenings I have ever spent in a church. And people who come once tend to come back and bring friends.

This may be because we've got the Panther City Gospel Band - one of the best praise bands around, doing "contemporary" Christian music--grace-filled and beautiful.

Do I look "contemporary" to you?

I sing on these programs, too, which means you can expect some old Southern Gospel songs - along with some things that were "contemporary" back in 1965.

Where else can you go to hear songs written by Stephen Chapman, Fannie Crosby, and Bob Dylan on the same bill?

Where else can you go to hear a contemporary praise band do Whispering Hope with a country Gospel beat?

We've got it! Come and get it!

But the "sales department" has it easy on this one.

Attendance has been excellent - thanks entirely to Management.