The Hope of Heaven

In his book Surprise Endings, Ron Mehl recounted a story about a seventy-eight-year-old minister who was hired by a church in California. Not long after his arrival, the church members began to complain that he wasn’t what they wanted. He wasn’t a great speaker. He didn’t have much pizzazz. But instead of lovingly discussing their concerns with him, the congregation opted for guerrilla warfare.

They talked during his sermons, they withheld their giving, they belittled him behind his back, and many people stopped attending. Sure enough, he soon got the message. And because he didn’t…