Sir Talksalot

Every time that I think about my busy speaking schedule for this year, I remember my event scheduler teasing me with a little tune, “I wanna be a speaker when I grow up.” But I am loving every minute of my new ministry. A few weeks ago, I was the speaker for a small church Bible conference in Robinson, Illinois. They were a great audience, and very diversified! The pastor told me that in my audience were: a Jehovah's witness, a gap-theorist, a new Christian, an ardent evolutionist, several who came out of curiosity, and several from a semilocal creationist group. When possible, I like to have a short Q&A session. Some of the questions were quite interesting, like regarding how many times the Bible has been translated, or the supposed "second" creation of Adam and Eve. And yes, I was actually asked, "Where did Cain get his wife?" I spoke three times at that church in a big tent outside. I can now say that I've preached at a tent meeting! This event also introduced my latest message, "Dinosaurs and the Bible." Independence Day weekend, I spoke at AiG's Creation College 2. It wasn't as fun of a talk as "Making Your Presentations Zing!" This was a more-practical presentation that taught people how to use tools outside of presentation software to enhance their presentations. I called it "Life Beyond PowerPoint," which I think was a great name. When I had some fun getting "evangelical" about life beyond PowerPoint, some of the men in the audience played along and started shouting, "AMEN!" "PREACH IT, BROTHER!" It was a great time. And my lung didn't collapse! Tomorrow, July 9, I'm preaching three times in a small church outside of New Carlisle, Ohio; and then the following weekend, my pastor asked me to preach in our small satellite church in Columbus, Ohio. From this point out, I have one or two speaking events every month through January, skipping December. It's funny that I used to be able to count all of my events on one finger, but now, I can't remember them all. Yes, it's tiring work, but it's also invigorating because this is the ministry that God has given me, so "I will rejoice and be glad in it."