1) Russell Smith is the Pastor at Covenant First Presbyterian Church downtown- one of the oldest [if not THE oldest] Protestant Church in town. Yes, he's a Presbyterian [they look just like us]. And I've never been friends with many Presbyterians. So for that, I like him. 2) He's tremendously intelligent. If you read his blog, keep the Merriam Webster website up in an adjacent window to figure out some of the words he uses. But despite this . . .
3) He doesn't think less of you for not knowing what he knows. The other day I ran into him at Panera and we started discussing our ministries. He likened his current situation to that of Athanasius. At first I nodded my head but finally gave up and admitted I had no idea what he was talking about. He stopped and explained it to me in a non-condescending manner, that I thoroughly appreciated. Now I know who Athanasius is.
4) And finally, insightful writing like this that forces us Christians to examine how we live out our faith. I was so impressed that I had to write this entire post about him.
Thanks for making us smarter, Russell!