So it was a nice get-a-way to Virginia Beach....but no sooner did we get there than the nor'easter hit....and my wife and I had to hold each other up for two days.....for the winds were so strong. It was the biggest week of the year for Virginia Beach as they held...or tried to hold....their 52nd annual....Virginia Beach Boardwalk Neptune Festival.
            We stayed on the boardwalk about fifty yards from that giant statue of the Greek god Neptune....the equivalent of the Roman god Poseidon....and it was sad watching all the people taking selfies of themselves with that colossal statue.
             The beach itself really took a hit from the storm....through erosion....and the forming of ridges....and the black minerals brought up from the churning of the bottom of the surf.....but sadder still was all of the talented crafters who expected three days of income.....but probably only sold half of what they expected to sell as the venue moved to the convention center. Sadder even still is the havoc that the storm played as it moved up the coast.
             Forty-three years ago I was mercifully brought by grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone....into the Christian faith....and no small part of this was Pat Robertson's 700 Club. I wore a 700 Club pin on my ball cap for years....and we actually vacationed twice at the Founders Inn on the burgeoning campus of CBN University. So this past week we fit in a trip back to what is now Regent University....and Regent Law School....along with the 700 Club studios.
              Pat Robertson was an extraordinary man....a senator's son....and marine Korean War vet....who could have been making martini's with the upper class....(and he did for a while)...but chose to live off of soy bean recipes....while beginning his ministry....he and his wife DeDe....that fit their budget.
              Pat resurrected a small non-functioning UHF radio station in Portsmouth....and it eventually became a multi-billion dollar media empire.
              Now those on our side....reformed and reformation traditions....can and do look down on the ministry of Pat Robertson....and I could type for a while here on a number of his beliefs that I wish that he did not have....but God used this odd man in not only bringing multitudes into the Christian faith.....and I was one of them.....but also in helping the physical needs of many more through his Operation Blessing.
              So when in these posts I lament the fact that God has taken home just about all of our shepherds who had enough gravitas to get the attention of the America public....men like John MacArthur and Billy Graham and R. C. Sproul....and Tim Keller....I include men like Pat Robertson....and David Wilkerson....for God uses all different kinds of men....whose hearts are devoted to the proclamation of the Gospel....but even these men who accomplished so much....need to be careful of getting too big....for as evangelical history seems to show....the bigger and more successful the ministry....the harder the founder often attempts to hold on to it....as If God needs the ministry.