The news about Steve Lawson hit hard. It’s not that Steve and I have ever been particularly close. In fact, I can’t think of a time he and I interacted outside the context of a conference. But he has been a steady presence at events for as long as I have been attending them. I don’t know how many times he and I were on the same list of speakers, but I would guess at least a dozen. Many times I benefited from his teaching, preaching, and writing. Always I was glad to learn that he and I would be in the same place at the same time.

For those reasons, it was shocking to learn that his elders had determined he is no longer qualified to be a pastor and his ministry board that he is no longer qualified to be a teacher and preacher. When I heard the news I couldn’t quite believe it and hoped for a time that it would be shown to be false or proven to be an overreaction. Alas, it was not to be. I was grieved to learn he had committed the kind of actions that harm


To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.