The Pastor’s Poems

About the Book

With the tragic and heroic actions that took the life of his son, Pastor Randy was given by God a gift to express his grief, his theology, and his walk with God. Randy Junker, a pastor with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has served for over thirty-five years in three churches. He now pastors the Grand Rapids Alliance Church in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where he lives with his wife, Debbie. They have raised four children, each one married, and have gifted the Junkers with seventeen grandchildren. Randy graduated from Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, with a BA in history and earned his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. With his love of words, especially the words in the Word of God, he has blessed his congregation by his poetry. They have also endured his puns, which are always “intended,” for over twenty-five years. In June of 2009, his oldest son, Nathan, drowned while saving the life of a youth in his youth group when a mighty wind blew the student off a sandbar. This book of poetry is dedicated to his memory.

About the Author

“The Pastor’s Poems” were written to minister to people. They were sometimes written to the pastor himself in silent meditation, and other times written to a couple at the altar of marriage to help them prepare for life’s adventure together. When written in poetry, the wedding sermon becomes more than a formality with a joke or two, and that is all that is remembered. The wedding sermon in poetic form becomes a treasured remembrance framed for a daily reminder in the home. Other poems help Scripture come alive for today. All these poems were written in the course of ministry. The reader will be encouraged, comforted, or stimulated to think about life and God.