5. Pat G

When Pat stands at the pulpit you want to get out of your seat and pull up close to hear, cross legged and leaning forward with an eagerness to capture what it is that drives him. I always find myself laughing -- spit often flies from his lips and his eyes get wide with passion and his zeal literally shoots sparks of adrenaline through the crowd. If you are sitting too close you might have to dodge one or two and if you aren't sitting close enough you'll probably want to pull up a chair.

If you read my post about Jesus you have already heard a bit about Pat. He is the one whose cassette tape I was listening to in the car and whose voice I also heard as he spoke Truth at my wedding. It is difficult to put his words on the shelf, to put behind me the inspiration of hearing him speak. His passionate sermons have reverberated through my mind for years, if not for the content of them then for the excitement with which He speaks of his LORD Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus drew hundreds and thousands with his words coming from a heart for God. I think Pat and Jesus must have a lot in common, because everyone I meet who knows Pat loves to hear him talk about the LORD.

Pat can talk to you about all kinds of things. A zest for life has given him a veritable library of archived stories ranging from wildly daring and thrilling to deeply moving in their intimate account of human relationships. I wish you could hear him when he's enjoyed a day at the beach, a beer, and a long walk with his wife. It is on those nights that he will break out into raucous laughter as he recounts the comical interactions and mishaps he's experienced. His joy just pours out in the most natural and unabashed fashion.

I think that more than just his ability to inspire a crowd with his words I admire the pulse behind it. It is the very heartbeat of God that propels Pat through a marathon for his friend Dave Meeks, before he died of cancer. It is the lifeblood of his Saviour that keeps him from giving a sermon standing still... he can't be still because he feels so powerfully the breath of God that moves him.