by David Strope

For 23 years I wrote the weekly “Pastor’s Page” in the Ankeny (Iowa) Baptist Church bulletin, but now I no longer serve as a pastor. What, I wonder, might I name this national representative’s column?

“The Interim’s Ink”?

“David’s Desk”?

“The Rep’s Report”?

“INR Nuggets”?

I’ll entertain thoughtful, appropriate suggestions and give the person with the winning title a $50 restaurant gift card. If mine is the best, then I will treat my wife, Debbie, to one (only one) dinner at 801 Grand. I, of course, will be the sole judge in the Name the Column contest.

Warren Wiersbe wrote a book titled The Bumps Are What You Climb On. He began his book with these sentences: “A little boy was leading his sister up a mountain path and the way was not too easy. ‘Why, this isn’t a path at all,’ the little girl complained. ‘It’s all rocky and bumpy.’ And her brother replied, ‘Sure, the bumps are what you climb on.’”

Bumps. Obstacles. Difficulties. Trials. I ask what Wiersbe asked: “What do you do with the bumps on the path of life?”

David Strope serves as interim national representative of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches.