The God Who Speaks - Jan 2012 by Brad Jersak

The God Who Speaks – Jan. 2011

GOOD NEWS - EBOOKS NOW AVAILABLE!

Even as we speak, Chris Barton (YWAM Scotland) has just completed www.bradjersakebooks.com. We've built kindle and ebook versions of Can You Hear Me? and Rivers from Eden. They ought to be ready for download right now!

 LISTENING IN UPS AND DOWNS

Hi friends,

It's been a heavy month of seminar travel, book projects at Fresh Wind Press, and studies. I'm finally getting a little breather and the thoughts that came as I've paused seemed appropriate to share. 

I shared the following with my intercessors today:

I'm learning to accept that my circumstances of life will include great ups and downs most weeks. It's emotionally impossible to feel the full spectrum of highs and lows that would mirror those events. I'm aware of the tragedy and the glory in my friends' lives most days and am trying to find my place of peace ... not always sure if it's peace or just numbness. I think the question is 'how to be' through each instance, and also, 'how to pray.'

TODAY’S LISTENING PRAYER QUESTIONS

Rom. 12:15 "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn"

So, I offer those rather obvious questions as a reminder. Whether you've been listening to God for decades or just learning the joy of it, take time to remember specific reasons to thank God. Think about friends you can rejoice with deliberately thank God for the good you see happening in their lives. And then contact them to say, 'I'm so happy with you about these good things.'

Then think of those who are struggling -- whether in their health, their relationships, their finances, their hearts -- and let them know: I'm sad for you. I'm mourning with you. This sucks, but I'm with you and I'm praying.

Then we turn to God and pray, 'Show me how to be. Show me how to pray.' Remember to give God his turn ... let him show you. I think we'll find ourselves emerging into a spiritually spacious meadow where we can laugh or cry without losing sight of the Good Shepherd.

Brad Jersak - The God Who Speaks - Dec. 2011

The God Who Speaks – Dec. 2011

 

Hi friends,

 

Before I forget, my wife, Eden, wrote a beautiful sermon on how waiting for Christ as Simeon did creates a powerful opportunity for God to reveal himself and for God to expand our hearts just as He expanded Mary's womb with the presence of Jesus. You can access the sermon HERE.

"Merry Christmas!"

 

Today while picking up a last minute birthday gift for Eden (yes, it coincides with Christmas Eve), I overheard a shopkeeper expressing his frustration. Someone had been deeply offended for wishing them a Merry Christmas. He figured they were annoyed because they weren't Christians. His coworker suggested, "Well, then why not just say, 'Happy Holidays?'" The first worker, flabbergasted, replied: "Because then the Christians get offended." Hmm. True story. 

 

Apparently it's also now politically correct to refer only to the 'holiday tree,' but I discovered it was actually English and American Puritans who originally punished people with fines for making Christmas 'frivolous' by decorating such a sacred day with any kind of trees, bobbles ... or joy for that matter. Strange season.

 

Meanwhile, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) just issued a warning to Canadians, expressing concern with our household personal debts. They were worried that our overspending endangers us from being good consumers! Seriously. In other words, they were worried we were spending too much money, which could hinder us from spending enough money. Uh ... so ...

 

TODAY’S LISTENING PRAYER QUESTIONS

 

While the culture warriors clash over what words we must and must not use this weekend, at a deeper level, we are all tempted by the swirl where the 'spirit of giving' is married deeply to the 'spirit of consumerism.' Many feel conflicted about spending too little and too much at the same time. And while most believers try to give Christ his due, even celebrations focused on Jesus' birth can become exhausting.

 

We all know this. And probably the most successful call to pause in the last century was 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' (it debuted in 1961!). Why not pause for seven and a half minutes now to remember the heart of it, by clicking HERE.

 

Meanwhile, here's a little dialogue for you to try with the Lord. 

 

Let's start with these verses:

 

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11-12).

 

I love reading this slowly, pausing between each phrase, asking and waiting to hear a message for myself.

These words jumped out at me:

 

"Do not be afraid." Of what? Why not?

"Good news." What is the Good news? Why is it Good news?

"Great joy." What is this joy? How do I receive it? or step into it? 

"All people." Really?

"Today." What fresh spiritual birth do you have for me today?

"Saviour." Saved from what? Saved for what? 

"Born to you." How is Christ born to me? 

 

Prayer: Prince of peace, provide for me a hiding place from this hectic week. Show me a place of peace where we can meet today.

Upcoming 'Listen Up' conference in Abbotsford

LISTEN UP ONLINE REGISTRATION HERE

Brad Jersak Listening Prayer

Brad Jersak - The God Who Speaks – Oct. 2011

Hi friends,

FREE LISTENING PRAYER STUFF

I’ve got some new tidbits for you that I hope will be really helpful.

I’ve created some video teachings on listening prayer for youtube. They are 4 – 6 minutes long and highlight ch. 1 of Can You Hear Me? (by Brad Jersak) They are simple, including help for those who need encouragement in listening to God. They are suitable for sharing with friends, family or home group discussions, etc. The teaching is obvious enough to aid those who doubt that they can hear God.
You can find the videos by clicking HERE.


TODAY’S LISTENING PRAYER QUESTIONS

I’ve been meditating on Jesus’ surprising Gospel principles that defy the world’s way of seeing reality. Some refer to this as an ‘upside down kingdom.’ E.g. Jesus taught that you save your life by losing it. It makes no sense unless God’s Spirit illumines our hearts. And never mind ‘the world’ … these sayings seem impossible or even offensive to many believers. Jesus’ commandments may not even be doable apart from the Good Shepherd’s direction and the Spirit’s life empowering us. Through listening prayer, the Father makes these principles practical.

Here are three listening prayer questions that will activate the Kingdom life in you today. Perhaps God will highlight one for you to focus on.

     1.     Jesus, give me an opportunity to overcome evil by doing good.
     2.     Jesus, show me how to receive your blessing by giving away a blessing to others.
     3.     Jesus, grant me a chance to move from self-serving to self-giving.

Please try to resist vagueness here. Journaling helps (online or in my paper journal). For example, I would love to see your journal your response in the comments section below. 

Go with what Jesus shows you.

And if you’d like to join me in a together-project around overcoming evil with good, here’s a simple way to make a big difference.

I need your help again (vulnerable moment) … don’t worry, not money.

We know the internet can be very bad or very good. I love how we can instantly connect with our missionary friends to get prayer requests for immediate intercession. Very good!

One bad thing is that people can anonymously say anything they want about others, true or not, and publish it for the whole world. In my case, this has had a profound effect on our ministry and our family, not just because it hurts feelings, but because churches and schools who want to invite us to teach listening prayer see the hate sites, get nervous and the shut their doors to avoid conflict and controversy.

But I have also discovered something quite wonderful about the internet. Believe it or not, it enforces the God’s truth that we cannot overcome evil with evil. We overcome evil with good. Practically, this means that visiting such websites to ‘fight back’ or to try to refute the authors only drives their sites up the search engines and makes them more popular and obvious to seekers. Viewing those sites out of curiosity rewards them because Google notices. When we see websites like that, the only effective way to resist their slander is not give in to the urge to open them. Constructive critiques of any ministry come from those who have first hand knowledge of them and are accountable for what they say. 

This system is actually good because the only ways to overcome the problem are positive and constructive. The very best way I can overcome the evil of internet slander is by creating helpful videos and articles that are accessible for free to anyone who can make use of them. Positivity pushes negativity off the front page. I’m trying. These are the very kingdom principles we asked about:

     1.     We overcome evil by doing good.
     2.     We receive God’s blessings by giving away blessings to others.
     3.     Self-giving is better than self-serving.

So that’s what I can do. There’s also something you can do … and I guess I’ll boldly ask for your help, given the big kingdom picture.

Two simple ways to help me a LOT:


Briefly pop into my sites, subscribe, comment, and/or hit the social media buttons.


It really helps if you visit my sites, even just once – even more if you comment – and even more if you hit the Facebook, Twitter or Google+ buttons. Here are some sites you could click on … And there should be some neat stuff that makes it worth your while: 

1. My home site: www.bradjersak.com - there are links to audio and video resources, including some podcasts, if you’re into that. 
2. My Youtube video channel – this is where I’m gathering video stuff. http://www.youtube.com/user/bmjersak?feature=mhee 
3. My articles at Clarion Journal online can be found at: http://www.clarion-journal.com/clarion_journal_of_spirit/brad_jersak/
4. The online version of this newsletter can be found at: http://the-god-who-speaks.blogspot.com/
5. Here’s a blog I run that relates to my PhD studies on George Grant and Simone Weil: http://theowlgeorgegrant.blogspot.com/ 

Besides those, I’ve created other sites just to direct people who search either ‘Brad Jersak’ or ‘listening prayer.’

1. http://listeningprayer.wordpress.com - an intro to listening prayer
2. http://bradjersak.wordpress.com - an intro to me
3. http://bradjersak.blogspot.com - this is a listing of my books and articles 
4. http://listening-prayer.blogspot.com - an intro to listening prayer 

Link to my sites and add tagged photos: 


To boost the overcoming goodness even more – far more – you can link to my sites from yours. If you have created any kind of a site where you can embed a link to one or more of me sites, this really helps push the hate sites off the front pages when people search me. There are many ways you can do this: 

1. You can include one or more of my sites in your links column, if you have such a thing on your blog. You could include a reflection on what you heard in one of our listening prayer exercises and mention something like:  I found this question in a newsletter from Brad Jersak, author of Can You Hear Me? about ‘listening prayer.’ 
2. If you link each of those phrases to one of the sites (as I just did), it really helps. You can even just copy and paste the above sentence in. Cheesy? Maybe. But helpful? Super! 
3. Even better, you could do a brief book review or even a 1 sentence endorsement of any of our books. Again, even if you just link the book title and author’s name back to one of our sites, it makes a big difference. It can be this simple: I read a book about ‘listening prayer’ called Can You Hear Me? by Brad Jersak. It helped a little. 
4. Finally, if you want, you can embed any of the listening prayer videos from my Youtube channel or republish any of our articles in your website. Yours for the taking.  

So, that’s our bold request. Thanks for tracking with me. 
New questions to come next month! Sincere blessings,

Brad Jersak
Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/bmjersak?feature=mhee

Brad Jersak youtube video channels

Brad Jersak has been creating a video channel of brief teachings on listening prayer.

You can see them by clicking HERE to link to the site.

Does God Care? by Brad Jersak

God, do you care? by Brad Jersak

Questions of the Week

This week I was contemplating the story of the resurrection of Lazarus from the point of view of his grieving sisters. It's too easy for us to hover above the story, remembering too quickly the powerful happy ending. Mary and Martha had no such viewpoint. They certainly had faith in the midst of grief and tragedy. They knew Jesus could have done something to prevent Lazarus death. But he hadn't. And they knew that Jesus could raise Lazarus to life on the last day. And he would. But in this in between time ('between the graveyard and the garden,' as Jason Upton would say), there is grief. Especially grief about what God has allowed. And it gives rise to the question, 'Don't you care? You could have ... but you didn't.' If you've ever experienced that same question, then asking God these questions is order:

1. God, do you care?

Don't be afraid to be gut level honest with God. You can think of the particular times when God seemed to abandon you to the cruelties of life. Then close your eyes, look Jesus in the face as Mary and Martha did, and ask him outright. 'God, do you care?' and see what he says or does. In the story, Jesus wept. What does he do in your story?

2. God, how do you care? How have you cared for me?

I find myself able to say, 'God cares,' but what does that mean in real life. There are a few pitfalls for me: First, I can start creating expectations of exactly how God MUST care in my situation ... and then be quite upset when he doesn't care in the way that I prescribed. Second, I can accept that he cares, but only by way of sympathy from afar, even while he appears idle or powerless to actually help.

But the kind of care God offers is not like either of these options. He is a present and active caregiver -- not just a sympathetic observer -- and yet I cannot dictate how that will look. But it WILL look like something. So we can ask him, 'When you say that you care, HOW do you care? How have you cared for me?'

When our congregation asked God about this together, we noticed two general categories of God's active care came out the strongest: external care through others and internal care through the presence of God's Spirit in us. When he cares for us through others, he has often inspired their hearts (where he dwells to) to compassionate words and helpful acts of kindness, to friendship and encouragement, comfort and companionship. When he cares for us directly from within, we may experience God's love, peace, and joy, but also words of life and hope or wisdom and insight. Listening prayer is really all about making space in our hearts to receive and notice God's care, isn't it?

3. God, how have you cared through me?

Being part of the Body of Christ means that through you, God can care for others in a way that they will be able to witness and experience it for themselves. He borrows our ears, eyes, mouths, hands, feet, wallet (!) and so on. Rather than rushing around doing what we think Jesus might want us to do, again, listening prayer is simply pausing to ask, 'How would you like to care through me today? Who would you like to care for? If you need to borrow my life to actively care, here I am.' This is what we were getting at in Kissing the Leper ... a lot of amazing testimonies of what it's like to see God's care coming through others. But if we keep listening, we'll get to make our own fresh testimonies! Let's be that open this week.

blessings,

Brad Jersak

God Help Me Be Myself - Brad Jersak

"God, help me be myself."

A few weeks ago I sent a request to my intercessors. I asked them to pray me through some ugly feelings I was having that, if left to fester, would leave me off balance and would no doubt affect how I relate to people. Maybe you can relate to this statement: When I felt 'off,' I didn't know where to stand ... I didn't know how to 'be.'

Thankfully, the Lord answered by giving me a simple prayer and a series of questions that very day. The answer came through a friend who was one step ahead of me down the same path. We concluded that quite often, our emotions get 'hooked' by something someone says or does. Immediately, the 'old self' starts 'beaking off,' trying to instigate a reaction from us. As I listen to that voice, it reminds me of the self-obsessed 'George Castanza' from the TV show Seinfeld, who starts to panic and obsess over minor incidents until he does something completely foolish. My old self is just like Castanza. In other words, it never functions from a place of peace and never offers wise counsel. It is the lord of reactive behaviour and the cause of much grief.

The advice that Jesus gave us was this: Whenever we start to feel or hear the old self starting to demand a reaction, we could take a deep breath and pray, 'God, help me be myself.' Inherent in those words is the fuller meaning, 'God, help me to be my true-self-in-Christ in all my interactions.' Since Christ dwells in my new self with all the fruit of the Spirit, being myself should give rise to the very best responses from me, without having to pretend I am someone who I am not. And of course, we need God's help for this.

Here are some interesting follow-up questions that I've been asking God. They might be of some help to you: What is 'myself'? When am I most myself? How does myself stand in contrast to my old self? When myself interacts with others naturally, what does that look like? And so on. At the most basic level, I can see how the true self is a 'blesser.' And so the follow up prayer can be, 'Help me be a blesser today, as I am being myself.'

Speaking of Blessings: Summer Readings

Speaking of blessings, a friend of mine has written a beautiful book for adolescents that has really blessed me. It's called 'The Unlikely Alchemist' (by John Van Vloten). It reminds me a lot of C. S. Lewis's classic story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is suitable for children and adults. I've written a review of it here (www.clarionjournal.com) and it is availablehere (http://bytheunlikelyalchemist.blogspot.com/). If you're into Lewis and Tolkien, I recommend it.

A free favour that would bless me

If you've read any of my books (by Brad Jersak or Eden Jersak) and found them helpful, it would be a great favour if you'd like to visit Amazon.com or Amazon.ca and rate the books there (a star rating, 1-5) or even better, do few sentence review there.

A free favour that might bless you

For those who enjoy podcasts, I've been part of a free podcast called 'Enjoying God' with S. J. Hill and Russ Hewett. You can hear what we've done so far at http://www.enjoyinggodpodcast.com/. Enjoy!

Blessings,

Brad Jersak

The Biblical Basis for Listening Prayer

The Biblical Basis for Listening Prayer

Brad Jersak

We are often asked about the biblical basis for listening prayer. This is largely what Can You Hear Me? attempts to share. Reading that book in its entirety will give readers a fuller sense of the biblical, historical and practical foundations for listening prayer.

First, while I absolutely believe there is a biblical basis and New Covenant expectation for listening prayer, the Bible itself never demands a biblical template for every kind of ministry God calls us to. Further, in our experience with Christian skeptics, those who demand a biblical proof text seldom satisfied in any case.  

Having said that, I would point those who are open to what the Bible says about listening prayer in these directions:

1. Check out the many biblical promises that God will speak to us. Note those texts that describe conversation with God, especially where they are embedded within the New Covenant promises. I.e. What has been provided for every believer because of Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of his Spirit. E.g. Jer. 33:1-3, John 10:1-5; John 16:12-16; Rev. 3:20. These passages and scores of others suggest, model and even command us to listen to God’s voice and converse with Him.

2. Second, check out the many passages promising and commanding us to see God with the eyes of our heart. The Bible actually treats ‘beholding the Lord’ as a primary means of transformation (2 Cor. 3:16-4:6). I often start with a word study of the terms 'Behold' and 'Lo,’ words which most often mean, 'Gaze, on purpose and with love, using the eyes of your heart' and especially 'at the Lord Jesus.' Again, beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus is an invitation and prescription found in John 14, John 16 (the words 'see'), Eph. 1 (eyes of the heart), Heb. 12:1-2 (fix your eyes on), or Col. 3:1-3 (set your 'minds' on). In Rev. 3:18ff, we are commanded to ‘get eye salve so you can see,’ and then immediately beckoned to 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.’ In Rev. 4:1-2, John obeys, 'So I looked, and there was a door…' where he is invited to ‘behold the throne and the one sitting on it.’

3. Once the Bible convinces us that we are to hear and see the Lord with the eyes and ears of our hearts, the question is ‘where?’ In our hearts. Within our hearts, we have the privilege of prayer life marked by an ongoing interactive meeting with the Lord Jesus. Our hearts are a context or venue where we can commune with God. We see many examples of this in the Bible: Often, writers welcome us to come before God on his throne, in our hearts: Dan. 7, Col. 3, Eph 1, Heb. 12 and Rev. 3 ... All of these describe the throne room of God as a meeting place with him, but the encounter is happening within our hearts or minds. Other passages describe us ‘seeing’ the Lord at the Cross (esp. Zech. 12, and also Heb. 12). 

In Psalm 23, this type of in-heart interaction is exactly what David does: He meets with the Good Shepherd in contemplative prayer through various contexts: green pastures, quiet waters, paths of righteousness, valley of the shadow of death, banquet table, and the house of the Lord. We can copy David’s practice by visiting all of the places he describes, but also, we can do better than that: we can emulate David’s practice and live it by establishing our own heart-places. God reveals places within that are familiar and safe for us, in the same way David experienced them, but tailor-made from our own lives.

4. So now we're hearing and seeing the Lord in a context of our hearts. Question: would he also want to be Lord of the places in my heart that are damaged ... the memories where I store pain, shame, anger, etc. I.e., What does MY ‘valley of the shadow of death’ look like? When Jesus says, 'Lo, I am with you always,' we learn this: a. ‘Lo’ means look with the eyes of your heart; b. ‘Always’ means ‘always has been and always will be’; c. ‘Always’ includes my painful past; d. I am commanded to 'Lo' (look for) Jesus in those places. How? By asking, 'Where were you? Would you show me? What do I need to know there? What do you want to do there?’

5. What is the biblical basis for the what, the why and the how of God’s healing work in our painful pasts and hurting memories? I typically look to such messianic passages as Isaiah 53 (forgiveness of sin and removal of sorrow), Isaiah 61 (lifting burdens and giving gifts in their place), speaking truth to our lies (Jesus said, ‘the truth will set you free’ in John 8:32), and freeing from every kind of bondage (Isaiah 58:6-7). In this last passage and in Luke 4:18-21, we see this as the ministry of Jesus and later hear him commission us: ‘As the Father sent me, so I send you’ (John 20:21).

6. I would also add that even without any of the above, we still have the John 14-16 Last Supper promises where Jesus is very clear about the ministry of Christ’s disciples (including us): the Holy Spirit would counsel us, guide us, speak to us, and lead us into all truth. Although I am thankful for God’s written word, Jesus' promises in the New Covenant never mention the Bible's guidance or instruction. It is Jesus’ guidance through the ministry and voice of the Spirit to the Church. The Bible says a lot about inner healing ministry, but that is not where we learned it. The Holy Spirit showed us as we stepped out and followed the living Jesus into it. How do we know that it was the Holy Spirit? Jesus again gives us a biblical basis for knowing:

7. We know by the fruits that come from listening prayer ministry (John 7:16-21). I would look to this and other texts where we are told to judge ministries by their fruit. As listening prayer is practiced, are people being healed and delivered and transformed? Are they listening more attentively to Christ and growing in character, obedience, faith and love for God. If so, then it is a work of God. This has been our very consistent experience over the last couple of decades, such that we believe God has called us to both do and to share and to train others in this ministry. If you sense a similar call, please look further into ours and others’ resources on listening prayer.

GOOD FRIDAY CONTEMPLATION by Brad Jersak

Thus declares the LORD who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him... "I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look at me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn" (Zech. 12:1, 10).

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).

THE LOOK THAT HEALS

I have spent much of my life trying to understand the Cross, thinking hard to figure out what happened on Good Friday and how it works for our salvation.

When I wrote my masters thesis, I knew that whatever I studied, it would be for two whole years and require thousands of pages of reading. I asked myself, what could I meditate on that long that would not throw me out of balance... something that would be healthy to think about day and night over that long a period. The Cross of Christ seemed to me the safest path. So I studied and dissected and calculated and wrote. Thankfully, I would often find myself in a place of gratitude and worship. But whatever I 'figured out' at that point, I had to completely discard eventually. It all made perfect sense, but in a way that seriously warped my image of God.

But I couldn't let it go. Twenty years later I put out a call to my favourite theologians, teachers, and practitioners of restorative justice. I asked them for essays that would again address these questions. Some of you may have got hold of Stricken by God? and a few of you might have even had the patience to wade through it. It was good to see some of the church's finest teachers wrestling with what happened on Good Friday, pondering why Christ died and how his death is part of the Good News. But such a heavy book, and certainly not accessible to anyone who would have been standing at the Cross that day.

I'm just about to enter a third round, contemplating for the rest of this year how the Cross addresses the problem of evil in the world. How can a Good God allow so much tragedy and wickedness in our world? But this time, I won't be trying to figure anything out. I don't think that's really possible. Whatever answers we give from human reason usually end up painting evil as good or God as evil. I opened this newsletter with two passages that suggest that the Cross transforms and heals and saves us simply as we behold it. Don't figure it out. Don't create a theory. JUST LOOK in wonder, "How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me."And JUST LISTEN (carefully, slowly, personally) again to the seven last 'words' of Jesus on the Cross:

THE SEVEN LAST WORDS OF CHRIST

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
"Truly, I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise."
Jesus said to his mother, "Woman, this is your son." Then he said to the disciple: "This is your mother."
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
"I thirst."
"It is finished."
"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

ARRESTED

What I see and hear there is the perfect goodness of God in a perfectly just man and the horrendous affliction of humanity's sin and suffering, coming together in one place and one moment. I am not to sort it out. We can't. Beware of those who can, who have all the answers. My confession: for too long I had Jesus pinned like a specimen to my theological petrie dish, thinking that my best theories are the Gospel. Never have I seen anyone approach the Cross with the attitude of a theological scientist or lawyer, and receive the Spirit of supplication or mourn as one mourns for an only son. Maybe such a posture is even a form of denial or deflection. Certainly nothing that heals us like those who looked to the bronze serpent on the pole.

So now, I am simply arrested there. Or at least open to it. Gazing and listening, believing that God's promises in Zech. 12 and John 3 might somehow be true for me... undergoing the revelation of God's love for us all. I would welcome you to spend some time at the foot of the Cross with me today in listening prayer.

Blessings,
Brad Jersak

The God Who Speaks (Feb 2011)

GOOD NEWS ON SEVERAL FRONTS!
Brad Jersak

Greetings!

We just got word that a ministry that works in correctional facility in Canada would like to start a reading and listening program with children of the inmates. Here's how it will work: they will supply copies of Children, Can You Hear Me? to the inmates. They will then record the inmate reading the book out loud. And then they will give both the book and the recording to the children so that the kids can hear their own parent read it out loud to them! This is such a wonderful idea and I'm so happy that we get to be part of it. Would you please pray that the children would clearly hear the voice of God as their mom or dad reads the questions to them? Imagine what could happen! Well, just about anything!

NEW TEACHING ON 'EYE-SALVE'

Sitting in church recently, I was people-watching while we were singing 'You're Beautiful!' I was especially moved by the beauty I see in our 'friends with exceptionalities' who attend from the various care-homes in Abbotsford. And I believe the Spirit of Truth may have been trying to teach me something.

First I recalled Jesus say 'Get eye-salve so you can see' (Rev. 3:18). I've always taught that this 'eye-salve' is not for our physical eyes, but to heal any damage that's been done to our spiritual eyes. He wants us to be able to 'behold' him standing at the door of our hearts (3:20) and of course, John responds in 4:1, 'So I looked...' I've usually connected spiritual sight with the vision of Christ promised in the New Covenant. And of course, some of us whose hearts and minds are less visual do have more difficulty.

But what came to me  this time was that Jesus was referring to something more than our ability to picture him in our hearts. He seemed to say, 'The eye-salve is love.' And he show me the crucifixion. If we look at the Cross with worldly eyes, we should see nothing more than the torture and unjust murder of an innocent man in the most gruesome way. It should be nothing but repulsive--no more inspiring than the photos that came out of Abu Ghraib a few years ago. Yet those whose eyes have been healed by love see something else, something beautiful. When we look at the Cross, we see the self-giving love of God, the radical forgiveness, and the sacrificial mercy of our Saviour. We look at the Cross and we see beauty.

Finally, as I came to myself and again reflected on the broken, the weak, and the downtrodden among us (Jesus' 'least of these') I realized that with fleshly eyes, I should be seeing nothing but affliction, disfigurement, and all manner of nasty medical conditions. But I don't any more. Somehow God has been healing my eyes with the balm of love so that I see the hospitable welcome of generous lovers. They ask, 'Will you love me?' and 'Can I love you?' I see their eyes glow and their smiles widen and I behold the beauty of the face of God shining from their very human features. Perhaps it's heightened in those who live with chronic painful conditions because I see their identification with the sufferings of Christ. 

It's just hitting me now that Christ's eyes work perfectly. They are glistening with love even when he looks through my considerable brokenness and dysfunction ... and maybe they even say, 'You're beautiful too.' Hmm.

I'm still trying to get my head around it, but a good prayer for this month could be, 'Lord, salve my eyes with love.' 

WHO'S LISTENING?

Wisdom from my mentor


I was chatting with Ron Dart recently on the topic of discernment. My focus was on the continual need to sharpen our sense of whose voice we are listening to. If God is speaking, his voice will take on a different content, tone, and function from that of the old ego, the world system, and the Adversary. They are pretty consistent in 'spouting off' with messages of self-hatred, self-pity, and self-importance. God's voice, on the other hand, is full of his love, truth, beauty, goodness, and justice.

So far, so good. But then Ron, ever the faithful Rabbi, delivered a real zinger. He said, 'Just as important as discerning who is speaking is to discern who is listening.' To which I replied intelligently, 'Huh?'

Ron explained that whatever faculty of the soul we might be using to listen--whether reason or imagination, contemplation or action, even charity itself--can be employed by either the old self in Adam or the new self in Christ. To which I responded, 'Huh?'

To summarize his explanation, even if I am listening to God, if it is the old self doing the listening, what will happen? Maybe I will having trouble hearing anything. Maybe I will be more vulnerable to the other voices. Maybe I will twist what he is saying. And certainly I'll be listening for condemnation instead of conviction, sympathy instead of compassion, and flattery instead of encouragement. The theological word for this is, 'Icky.' 

So what to do? I don't know. Ask Ron. Or at least ask Jesus. Maybe something like this: 'Lord, as I listen to you, strengthen my new-self-in-Christ to be present and attentive for your good news. I want to hear the true heart of Jesus speaking to my true heart.'

A CHANCE TO HELP

Another bit of great news is that 'The God Who Speaks' newsletter will continue to be a free gift in the service of training and encouraging God's people in listening prayer. We feel like that's one area where we'll never need or want to charge. A way for us to give, no strings attached. I hope to keep them coming bimonthly as time and energy allows.

Finally, an update on what we've been up to. Eden has been team leader at Fresh Wind since 2008. She shines in whatever God has called her to! Some have asked if any new books are forthcoming. In fact, I'm about half-way through my PhD studies and when that is done in 2013, I foresee that work producing a series of books. In the mean time, prayers are welcome as my tuition is (ouch) over $1200/month. Unfortunately, I was declined for a student loan this year and yet somehow, God has been providing month to month ... we have not had to fast involuntarily even once! Part of that provision comes as I try to fit in a couple of seminars each month. Invitations have continued to come in so all is well so far. In fact, if your church or school would like to host a seminar on Listening Prayer, etc., just let me know.

Still, one dear friend has encouraged me to put the opportunity out there to give a gift towards our work of seminars, publishing, and studying. But no pressure! And sadly, no tax receipt. But if you'd like to take part, here's your chance. We've got a button below if you'd like to donate online with credit card or paypal. For those who'd rather send a cheque, our mailing address is: Brad and Eden Jersak, 2170 Maywood Crt., Abbotsford, BC Canada V2S 4Z1. For those who are thinking, 'What?' ... I know how you feel. :-)

Merci.

Blessings,

Brad Jersak

Clenched fists, limp wrists and open hands

GOD QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Brad Jersak

BIG Q: How do I wait when God seems to wait? When do I act as your hands? 

 OR

How do I wait for God's grace when I am an agent of God's grace? 

"For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." (Hab. 2:3)

"God sees the truth, but waits." Leo Tolstoy

To me, this is a much more difficult question than those I normally offer, because rather than just asking God for a direct answer, the question itself puts us into a posture or place of waiting... potentially awkward or even painful waiting. But here's a little prayer exercise that may lead you into seeing what I'm seeing:

Step 1 - The Clenched Fist: With your right hand, make a tight fist and just look at it. This fist represents our acting independently of God. When we don't see God acting as we had expected or hoped, we are tempted to take matters into our own hands. Or we may try to force God's hand (as some think Judas did) by triggering a chaotic series of events ourselves. It's the raised fist of revolution--of force. Some words that I see in this fist are grasping, clinging, scheming, manipulating, mastering, making, taking. It's not a waiting hand. It's not a serving hand. It's the impatient fist of self-will that says, "If God won't do something, I will." It can masquerade as initiative, boldness, and courage ... as we make a suicide-charge out of the foxhole into the minefield of life. But there's an old saying, "Discretion is the better part of valour." Or in Jesus' words, "The Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing" (John 5:19). Of course, some of us learn the hard way. As one of my mentors once said in his southern drawl, "I've been bit by that dawg." 

Step 2 - The Limp Wrist: Once bitten, twice shy. I.e. When acting independently of God goes very badly, the opposite temptation is paralysis. Hold out your left hand in front of you, palm down and let your wrist go as limp as possible (like Adam in Michelangelo's painting, "The Creation of Adam." This limp hand represents resignation. We may refuse to participate in the kingdom life, expecting God to act independently of us. When we don't see God acting as we had expected or hoped, we are tempted to sit on the sidelines as depressed observers or cynical critics. Words that I see on this lethargic or wounded hand are fatigue, despair, passivity, abdication, acquiescence, and relinquishment. It's the hand that says, "If God won't do something, why should I?" It can masquerade as patience and reflection ... as we numb out to the suffering of broken people and the darkness of our deteriorating cities. We've heard it said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (E. Burke). But of course, that proverb has been used all to often to rally the masses back to the clenched fist. 

Is the dilemma obvious now? How do I wait for God's grace when I am an agent of God's grace.

[For keeners, the underlying problem is How is God immanent in the world when God doesn't intervene in the world? Hint: the mystery of the Cross] 

Step 3 - The Open Hands: Finally, take both hands and open them in front of you, palms up like an expectant child. These are the hands of receptivity, waiting for grace in the person of Jesus. Open the eyes of your heart to see how he would come to you. Expect HIM but don't project onto him what he must do. On any given day, in any given circumstance, he may (i) hold your hands in his wounded hands as you wait together; (ii) he may place a symbolic gift in your hands that represents a grace he is offering (e.g. peace, patience, endurance, etc.); or (iii) he may ask to anoint and use your hands for some kingdom purpose (giving, serving, loving, healing, comforting, etc.). We may even become highly active and effective, but by waiting and listening first, our actions will be rooted in the Spirit rather than the self and thus empowered by grace to be grace in the world (as seen in the Sermon on the Mount). 

So, how does Jesus come to you today? What does he do with these open hands? God's grace to you.

WHAT'S REALLY WORKING FOR ME

Cathy Hardy has a beautiful new song called "Love Shines."  All about the source of all Light shining on us. A beautiful soaking song and definitely worth a listen. You can preview the whole song there for free or buy it as a single for your IPOD at  http://www.cathyajhardy.com/love-shines-single.php.

A LITTLE TREASURE

My dear friend, Karin Dart, shared this poem with our SoulStream group. God's grace touched us as she read the words aloud. If you get a chance, read this aloud to yourself and then ask God if there's someone else you could read it to as a way to practice being an agent of grace.

My Sweet, Crushed Angel

You have not danced so badly, my dear,
Trying to hold hands with the Beautiful One.

You have waltzed with great style,
My sweet, crushed angel,
To have ever neared God's Heart at all.

Our Partner is notoriously difficult to follow,
And even His best musicians are not always easy
To hear.

So what if the music has stopped for a while.

So what
If the price of admission to the Divine
Is out of reach tonight.

So what, my dear,
If you do not have the ante to gamble for Real Love.

The mind and body are famous
For holding the heart ransom,
But Hafiz knows the Beloved's eternal habits.

Have patience,
For He will not be able to resist your longing\\

For long.

You have not danced so badly, my dear,
Trying to kiss the Beautiful One.

You have actually waltzed with tremendous style,
O my sweet,
Oh my sweet, crushed angel.

~ Hafiz ~

Blessings,

Brad Jersak