When I preach, I often start with a paraphrased prayer from Psalm 19:4: "O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts together be acceptable to You, our rock and our Redeemer." Silently to myself, I add a second prayer: "O God, you better speak through me 'because I have no clue what to say!" I need to thank God, first and foremost, for backing me up all these years with an answer to that prayer. I have always found that when I can let go and let Spirit enter, preaching goes well and I am deeply thankful for that help. Thank you, God, thank you.

I also want to thank all the professors and classmates and peers who have given me example after example to follow. In like manner, renowned preachers like Sharon Watkins, Barbara Brown Taylor, Fred Craddock, William Barber II, Rick Lowery, Chuck Shorow, Bill Inglish and on and on gave me awe-inspiring, challenging, and beautifully moving examples to emulate even if I never reached their pinnacle of excellence.

Since the essence of preaching is communication, every preacher understands that the congregations who listened and shared the sermon experience deserve a special thank you for their attentiveness and patience. Thank you especially to the communities of Disciples Christian Church, Bartlesville, OK and First Christian Church, Grand Island, NE for our years together.

Finally, I must thank my wife, Patty, for her grace and patience while I focused on exegesis and writing. Her love means everything and simply saying 'thank you' seems a paltry effort in light of her herculean devotion to this late-in-life pastor. Thank you all!