Dear friends, Grace to you! Bev and I are in Brentwood, TN on an amazing journey filled with wonder at the awesome ways of our Father. Things are happening so fast that yesterday I felt completely out of control! Good! The Father is firmly in control and so we are walking in perfect peace. PAUL YOUNG On Monday Bev and I had lunch with Paul Young, author of The Shack. He asked if he could invite a friend and so we got to meet Wes Yoder who is his manager/literary agent and who helped them procure their contract with Hachette Publishers. Monday evening we attended a home-gathering where Paul shared his journey from birth to the writing of The Shack. What an amazing time that was - we cried, laughed and marveled at the amazing grace and love of Papa! WES YODER I spent time visiting with Wes Yoder yesterday and left a copy of Son! with him. Tom Dooley with whom I met last week and recorded an interview for The Journey, (more about that later), was insistent that I meet with Wes believing that we would establish an instant bond and lasting friendship. Tom feels strongly that Son! will be published by a major publisher and will be a best-seller. We are asking you to be in much prayer over this process. We have avoided self-promotion through the years and now we find ourselves in an almost surreal situation where God is using others to do the promoting on our behalf. Pray with us that we will walk in humility and sensitivity to what God is saying in these days of supernatural favor. CD SETS IN MP3 FORMAT ON OUR WEBSITE Our CD sets are now all available on our media page on our website for MP3 download and already we are receiving testimonies of the blessing these are. THE JOURNEY WITH TOM DOOLEY Last Thursday, I spent about three hours with Tom Dooley, the host of THE JOURNEY, a two hour long morning-drive radio program on KVTT 91.7 FM in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and syndicated elsewhere in the States. Someone loaned Tom Dooley an audio-book of "Son!" and Tom was so impacted by the book that he made contact with me and invited me to record a series of interviews around the book "Son!" which will air on KVTT starting this coming Monday, August 25, between 6:00 and 8:00 AM. A list of syndicated stations can be found at www.mastermedia.org. You will also be able to listen live on Tom's website or from the archives at a later time. Bev and I were delighted to meet Tom and his wife Melanie and establish, what we believe will be, a long friendship. A PINK HAT DAY Many of you have heard Bev share about her 'Pink Hat Day' in Switzerland last December. Bev has been encouraged to write a book with the probable title "Today I bought a pink hat!" As I write she is with a major 'star' in the Christian recording industry having another 'pink hat' day. Please pray for Bev as she applies herself to getting this book written. I am convinced it will be a best seller. As you know, Bev is so full of life and joy and has modeled and taught so much about the joy of listening to the Holy Spirit and ministering the life of Christ to all we encounter, while at the same time thoroughly enjoying life, having fun and reveling in the Father's goodness. For those of you who have not heard Bev's story of the pink hat, you will just have to buy the book when it is published! RELATIONSHIPS Last week the Father showed me that for so many years I was so intent on fulfilling the ministry, that many times I had not been diligent in enjoying and investing in the relationships He has brought into our lives. On occasions, the politics and protocol of institutional Christianity had caused me not to pursue friendships that He was obviously leading us into. No more! We appreciate every one of you and are thrilled to count as our friends so many wonderful people all over the world. Some of you we have never met personally but we want to steward the relationship that God has given us with care and love. Yesterday, as I was out walking and meditating on Paul's ministry. This is what I heard the Spirit say: Paul was not driven by purpose, nor manipulated by guilt but constrained by love. We want everything we do to be constrained by the love of Christ. Your's in the Father's love, John & Bev Sheasby
