David Lang

The first things that come to mind when I think back over my spiritual journey are the places I've gone and the things I've done. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I have not provided my own transportation on this trip - I have been carried the whole way (and it's good to get carried away). I was set on a road of faith by my parents and family, joined and buoyed and encouraged by many friends, blessed by churches and youth groups and ministry partners, and lifted by my wife Stephanie and children Sarah, Ben, Andrew and Brian. God has carried me. God carries me. And when I really think about it, this journey is more about where he is taking us than where we have been.

I've been taken by the images of God as Shepherd in Ezekiel 34. God declares his own heartfelt commitment to his people, promising guidance in intimately personal terms: "I myself will search and look after them... I will rescue the scattered... gather them... pasture them... tend them... bind up the injured and strengthen the weak... I will save my flock... will place over them One Shepherd... that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety... I will bless them... they will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid... they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord." The high call of an elder is to follow God's own commitment as a shepherd, to join the Good Shepherd, Jesus, in tending his sheep.

I've got some background music on while I'm answering these questions, and just as I read "Describe your vision for the Highland church," a song comes into the foreground:

How about some love and charity
A sense that you are family
You are a church on fire
How about some peace and honesty
Some hard-core hope and clarity
You are God's precious church on fire

That's not bad. I want Highland to be marked by godly love and unselfish giving. We are bound together by blood. God's peace and God's truth reign here. Our hope is unyielding, indestructible. And when it comes to the most important things, we are clear.