With praise for my iPhone;
Recalling My Ordination Day

The World at My Fingertips
With praise for my iPhone

I love my iPhone with its apps.
A camera, GPS and maps.
This small computer is much more
than simply just a phone.

It shows the best airfare to Crete
or how my stocks did on Wall Street.
It lets me know how warm it is
back East where my kids live.

There is a breaking news alert
and first-aid facts should I get hurt.
The iTunes feature lets me listen
to the songs I love.

My Bible software lets me read
the antidote to stress and greed.
The Facebook app helps me check in
with friends and family.

My iPhone’s never far away.
I use it for both work and play.
This small device within my hand
connects me to the world.

Recalling My Ordination Day
It’s more than pressing redial on my iPhone

Near old St. Paul I took a stand,
while bowing to God’s sovereign plan
that cloaked a nervous willing heart
and covered feet of clay.

The robe I wore reminded me
how ministry’s a mystery,
how I am clothed in righteousness
though flawed and needing grace.

They handed me a cherished book
in which they said (if I would look)
I’d find my message and the means
to qualify my call.

They draped me with a fabric yoke
and in my heart the Spirit spoke
reminding me I’m not my own
but made alive to serve.

And then I felt upon my head
confirming hands whose kind touch said,
“You have been set apart by Christ
who promises a crown.”

And like St. Paul I realized
that I must press toward this prize
held out to those who’ve heard the call
to serve in Jesus’ name.

* I was ordained as a minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church 25 years ago this week at the Minneapolis Civic Auditorium. The theme of the 100th Annual Meeting of the Covenant denomination was ALIVE TO SERVE. For more information on this unique denomination go to www.covchurch.org