Living Grace to the World

I am thinking a lot about quiet today. Why? I don’t really know. It’s been a very busy week and more to come. I’ve been doing more teaching this term than ever, I think. I did a workshop with the staff at First Baptist Eugene. My friend, Ben Cross, is the new pastor there. He opened his sermon series on Acts by calling the church to ten days of prayer. The church got into it fervently and it stirred up a bunch of spiritual kickback. So they asked me to come do a three hour session on spiritual warfare. Ben said about 25 would be there. Corey said 35. I brought 50 handouts. Not enough. There were more like 75 people there. It was a lot of fun to show them the biblical patterns for warfare and see the light come on. I’m preaching at Clackamas Bible Church tomorrow, followed by two sessions at the Multnomah Missions Conference, being plenary speaker at the CBNW Enrichment conference and a spiritual warfare class in Sacramento. That along with a lot of church consulting makes me think of quiet.

Sherry and I went to Ya Hala’s restaurant for our Valentine’s lunch. We love Lebanese food. It reminds us of time together in Beirut. Thinking about nearly 41 years of marriage makes me smile. I reflected on what makes our marriage work and keep coming back to deep trust. There has never been and never will be secrets between us. We do confidentiality, not sharing things entrusted to us by people we pastor. But never secrets. There’s nothing I don’t want Sherry to see or hear. So we can talk openly about anything. What a joy to live in trust and smiles. When I’m quiet, I smile.

Perhaps quiet is because I’m avoiding writing. The time frame for Doctrine: What the Church Should Believe is approaching. I should be writing. The lock is still on. It must change, but I don’t know how to get it going.

Pastoral ministry continues to be hugely demanding. I can’t put details here, of course. But I consistently realize the impact of sin to break people and ruin relationships. Trying to help them move to grace when fears overwhelm is so challenging. It’s particularly hard when the fear is about me breaking boundaries. Sometimes I get to see amazing growth by the power of the Spirit, and life returns to the place of deadness. But the challenge is patience when there is no apparent change or when hard won growth is shattered by the evil one. That’s what wakes me up at 1:30 in the morning. I often end up my little study upstairs wondering about the little girl and praying quietly.

Quiet is a wonderful place.

P.S., This is a totally cute ad

We are into February and I have reached the status of being officially old! The US government has spoken: After many years of paying, I can receive social security now. Well, there’s no movement in that direction. Rather I will continue to live out the extra financial expense of being ordained. My self employment tax is a lot more than the small amount of extra interest I can deduct.

February also means that Vintage Church, the third book from Mark Driscoll and me, is officially released. My long time goal to retire with no books in print has been badly ruined by publishing three books in less than a year. Book four, Doctrine: What the Church Should Believe, is burning a hole in my computer even as I write. I’ve avoided about as long as a May 1 deadline will allow.

Crossway has agreed to a 35% discount price on any or all of the three books with free shipping for orders over $30. This offer is for Western alums and other "friends of Gerry."Simply go to www.crossway.org/9GB and you’ll find the order page. It’s good until the end of the month.

Christmas snow and ice brought a shock for the DeYoung family. As Pat was coming back into her house, she slipped on the ice and fell. She managed to get into the house, laid down to rest. But then she couldn’t get up. It turned out she’d broken her femur, so Christmas day meant surgery. She’s recovering normally. But not being able to put any weight on her leg means Jim is having to take care of all their household chores in addition to his normal teaching schedule. His stories have us all roaring with laughter!

Heather Johnson’s Thanksgiving day brain aneurism kept her in intensive care for 14 days. She’s home and generally doing well. Bright lights and noise are hard for her, but the expected approval this week for driving will give her a lot of freedom. Her delightful sense of humor is strong.

Catherine Sweeney’s lung cancer is stable so they will discontinue the chemo she’s been doing. Jim and I had a conversation about counting on the LORD’s mercy when you have no basis to leverage Him. The outcome is a deep peace even when things are not as you’d want.

In addition to eldering at Grace Community Gresham. This week’s sermon on Isaiah 45 was a particular challenge. How do you handle verse 7:"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things"? I’d profit from your feed back on the sermon, "Is God Mean?" It’s at www.gracecc.net. I can send you my summary outline.

I enjoy consulting with many churches in the Northwest. Mentoring pastors is a particular privilege. I will be leading monthly sessions with the North American Baptist pastors beginning Wednesday. In March, I’ll be the speaker for the CBNW enrichment conference (www.cbnw.org/events/aec). Ya’ll come!

Personally, I so enjoy ministry, teaching, helping people find grace and hanging with friends and family. You will all want to see pictures from our family convergence last week: picasaweb.google.com/GerryBreshears/20090121JanuaryFamily#

I’d love to see you family pictures or pray for you.