Political Quotes

“Pastor James Bjorge was--well, he was a pastor. He was a Lutheran pastor, a big Norwegian American from Minnesota. He loved sports, loved the Lord, loved the church, loved his family, loved his community. And he was my pastor. He was a pastor for our family when we attended First Lutheran Church in Fargo, ND. But Pastor Bjorge was especially gifted. He was also an evangelist. He was, I remember, the chairman of the Red River Valley Billy Graham Crusade in Fargo in 1987. And that is not common for Lutheran pastors. It was more so back then than it is today, to be part of something so evangelical. But some of Jim's gifts included, of course, being a great orator. Every pastor preaches, but not every pastor preaches well. James Bjorge preached exceptionally well, and I still remember several of his sermons. One of the gifts that Jim had that I admired so much is he could recite poetry by heart. He had a photographic memory, it seemed to me. He could recite about anything he read, but especially poetry. And I remember some of the poems that he would use as illustrations in his sermons that still stick with me, some of them that were even anonymous in terms of who wrote them. I remember one where he started out: I had walked life's way with an easy tread, followed to where pleasures and comforts led, when by chance in a quiet place, I met the Master face to face. He went on to recite this poem perfectly, and I thought: Wow, I would like to be able to do that.…”