No Way but Yahweh

We react in awe to the stories of intrepid adventurers who set sail in small crafts across the Atlantic, or in kayaks across the Pacific. The fear, fright and thrill of those voyagers were no less than those experienced by the Israelites when facing a sea crossing of their own. And, to make matters worse, there appeared to be no craft of salvation that would get them to the other side.

We can't believe that the senior editor of Homiletics, Timothy Merrill, would share this story with anyone, let alone the Homiletics audience, and by extension a couple million worshipers across the country. But here goes:

I had been the pastor of a church in Oregon. It was situated in the Willamette Valley, only 45 minutes from the coast. We had been there for eight years, and were about to move to Colorado, and I realized that I had never gone deep sea fishing, something that most of the people in my congregation, especially the men, had done many times.

I thought that before leaving the area I should at least have this experience once. I was nervous, because I get nauseous on a swing. But on the day I signed up to go out on a little fishing boat off Depoe Bay, Oregon, the weather was clear, the ocean was calm. Our little group of a dozen was excited. There were some husbands and wives there for an outing, as well as a couple of grandmothers in rubber boots, sturdy coats and hats....