A nationally known minister of the Gospel was involved in a question/answer session. He was on stage with several prominent church leaders in front of a large audience made up of pastors and lay persons. The minister had just responded to a question from one of the other leaders on the panel when he was shocked to see someone rise in the audience. The person who stood up seemed to be out of place. Actually this person was a friend from the minister's past whom he had not seen since he had professed his faith in Christ and had entered the ministry. This friend had never seen the man on stage as a Christian and certainly not as a minister of the Gospel. They had been old drinking buddies and their past activities had not been something that either one could be proud of.

When the man from …