Inroduction

  In James 5:17 and Acts 14:15 the term is used “a man of like passions” This is in reference to Elijah in one instance, and Paul and Barnabas in another. I like this term because it puts these great men of faith on the same playing field as myself. In a sense they are staying “we are men of like passions - We are human beings like yourselves. We have no claim, no pretensions to anything more.” The word "passions" here means simply that they had the common feelings and propensities of people - the nature of people; the affections of people… "We need food and drink; we are exposed to pain, and sickness, and death."(Barnes) I know that I am an ordinary human being with failings and weaknesses. It gives me great hope that no matter my failings I can follow all those men in the great cloud of witnesses that are cheering me on toward the mark of the high calling of God.

My name is Patrick McCary and I am working to be an imitator of Christ; that others may come to know him through my actions. There is no doubt as you look over my resume you will see that I have been preaching the Gospel for over 14 years. You will also see that I am a graduate of the Brown Trail School of Preaching. However it is what you do not see that is of utmost importance. You may recognize Brown Trail as being a school of preaching from the conservative side of the brotherhood and this is true. This is my heritage; this is where I am from. Now in saying that, this is not where I am in my spiritual walk. I regard my time at Brown Trail as invaluable to my spiritual growth. It was the teachers there that taught me how to study and to pull apart the Biblical text so that I could gain a better understanding of the Scriptures. I still can hear one of my teachers saying, “boys context, context,context,” and he was right. We need to keep God’s Word in context. It is this training that has helped to lead me on the spiritual journey that I am still on.

You need to know that Brown Trail is not all that has influenced my spiritual walk. Early on it was writers like Thomas Warren and then a little later Rick Warren and Tom Reiner. I know, an interesting mix; however, it is this mix that helped stretch my knowledge and understanding of not only the scriptures, but also the Church, the un-churched and the somewhere in between crowds. Later on, I read men such as Bob Russell, Owen Chadwick, Max Lucado, T.T. Crabtree, Mark Batterson and Fancis Chan. These men have helped my understanding in areas of scriptural life and enrichment.

While in school; as would be expected, I went to several lectureships, such as, Ft. Worth Lectures and the Spiritual Sword Lectureship. More recently, I have enjoyed some of the lectures at ACU’s Summit. I am also looking forward to the possibility of attending LCU’s Minister’s Forum sometime in the near future. I believe that it is important to keep one’s mind fed and growing.

In my life and my ministry I have come to realize that each and every person is in a different place in their spiritual journey, some much farther along than others. It is my aim in ministry to help everyone I meet in this journey. I don’t claim to have all the answers, as I said, I am still growing. What I can tell you is that I will study to find the truth on a matter.

To close if I was asked to describe myself and I was able to hand pick a church family to work with, this is what I would say. I would like to be seen as a person who loves God above all. I would like to serve a Church that serves others and has a true sense of family through the good time and bad. I would like for us all to be imitators of Christ so that the world may know him through our actions.

A Man of Like Passions