The God Who Speaks - July 2007

Dear God-listener,

I'm spending much of my time pondering a few simple phrases and questions that seem to be good for my soul. Perhaps you'll be encouraged too.

My friend, Dwight, challenged me to listen to God concerning this statement:

"God loves me. Period." (with a very big PERIOD).

He asked me, "Can you stop at the period? What pushes you past the period? What are the 'but, but, but' objections that arise in your heart? Can you present them to God to see how He responds?"

Then, his wife, Lorie, sensed the Lord saying, "It's time to start believing again." "Believing what?" I thought. The Lord reminded me, "Believe the Good News." And this reminded me to keep asking Jesus, in every situation, "What's the good news?" and to listen. I'd like to remind you as well, "All the promises of God are YES and AMEN in Jesus." That's very, very good news.

Did you notice how much "remembering" and "reminding" calls us back to listening? Here's a tip the Lord gave us recently: You can use a memory of a time you connected with God to reconnect with Him in a fresh way. Rather than wishing for those great times you've had in the past, you can simply meet God afresh in your memory of those times (even long, long ago). It's not that you are traveling back in time, but rather, you are traveling to a place in your heart that God has already won and where He still resides. Give it a try!

Finally, thanks for all your prayers re: the book on the Cross that I've been assembling. We called it "Stricken by God?" and it ended up being over 530 pages consisting of 20 essays (I wrote the opening chapter - 45 pages).

I want to let everyone on the mailing list know that it will be out in one month, but that you can already click the following links to have a look at the cover, chapter titles and reviews. AND if you like, you can even pre-order it for a $5 discount (which covers your shipping) and I'll cover the taxes myself... just cuz I appreciate you. Come to think of it, I'll try to put an excerpt from my chapter online today at www.clarion-journal.ca so that you can get a taste for it.

For those who aren't too sure about getting a "theology book," I'm almost sure your pastors could, should or would want to give it a read. If you'd let him know about the website, I'd be grateful. Thanks!

Brad Jersak