Pastor Appreciation Month, late late edition: Skip Fengfish

I know I'm late. I also don't care.

Skip is the choir director and also runs the homeless ministry at Avalon Church. He also facilitates the Friday morning men's study, Man Alive! and an additional home group/life group. So he's a pretty busy guy.

The primary purpose of Skip's life is to bring Christ to people, and bring people to Christ. This is evident in everything, and I do mean everything, he does. Let's run the checklist from Galatians 5:22-23 and I'll show you, just from my limited experience with him.

• Love: this one's pretty obvious. Would anyone voluntarily spend their days in homeless camps ministering to people without love?
• Joy: spend a couple of weeks at Man Alive and this one become pretty plain too. Just about every other verse that we cover, Skip will practically burst with joy and amazement at what God has done for us.
• Peace: this one might be a little more elusive, especially after the near death of his daughter earlier this year, but it's still there. Ask him how he's doing and the answer will be along the lines of "the knuckles are white but the grip is strong."
• Patience: again, spend some time at Man Alive. The reason it takes us six weeks to cover two verses is Skip stays with us until we get it.
• Kindness: got this one too. No matter what manner of stupidity you may have engaged in Skip is never judgmental, and never plays the "what were you thinking?" card. It's more along the lines of "OK, let's fix this."
• Goodness: every week Skip gets up before 5:00 and makes sure the coffee is brewed and breakfast is out for the Man Alive group. Goodness from him, goodness for us.
• Faithfulness: Skip has been married for thirty-three years. I think we can put this one to rest.
• Gentleness: Skip can be a little bit intimidating due to his size, and having served in combat we know he's at least capable of being less than gentle. But other than the occasional too-firm handshake that might leave you wondering how you're going to get through the day one-handed, there isn't even a hint of malice in him.
• Self-control: see patience. The fact that he isn't throwing things at us on Friday morning and screaming "Don't you get it? It's right there in front of you!" speaks volumes.

So there you go. 9 for 9, which is a better average than I can put up. Take Philippians 4:9, replace "me" with "Skip" and you'll be on the right track.