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By Jim Coggins
 AS Vern Heidebrecht, now pastor emeritus of Northview Community Church in Abbotsford, B.C., one of Canada's prominent church leaders moves into retirement, he has penned a devotional book reflecting his own spiritual journey.
About the time he stepped down as senior pastor of Northview in 2003, Heidebrecht began pulling together his thoughts on hearing God. The result was a book called 'Hearing God's Voice,' published this year by David C. Cook and deliberately priced at a very affordable $10.
The message of a life
In one sense, it is a book that has taken over 25 years to write. Heidebrecht recalled being struck by the impact that martyred missionary Jim Elliot had on him at age 29 because of something written in his diary: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." Heidebrecht said, "I was moved that someone could write such a profound statement. I began noticing that people who made a difference wrote things down in a journal. They reflected on things, they meditated. So I began that practice 26 years ago."
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Heidebrecht continued, "After about five years, I began to realize that God not only wants us to speak to Him. He wants to speak to us." Heidebrecht began writing down "what I heard God saying to me. That was a whole new level of intimacy and delight in knowing the Lord. John chapter 10 says, 'My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me. I call them by name, and they recognize My voice.' I asked myself: Did I recognize His voice? Did I respond? Did I know how to have a two-way conversation with God? This book basically is a reflection of how I got to where I am today and an inspiration for other people to test it out for themselves."
Heidbrecht spoke of the immediacy of hearing God at the time of being saved, or baptized, or when sensing the call to ministry, or when there is serious illness. "My question is," he said, "Why not every day?"
He believes that, like Samuel, people often don't realize at first that God is speaking to them and need to be discipled to recognize the voice of God. His book explains seven keys to identifying God's voice, and eight ways in which He speaks.
Speaking despite Parkinsons
Heidebrecht has just begun speaking in other churches, presenting the message contained in his book. This is in spite of the fact that the Parkinson's disease, which forced him to cut back his pastoral ministry earlier than he would otherwise have intended, now afflicts him in a number of ways.
In his case, it has attacked his mouth and throat. The pain often feels like he just had root canal. He can also no longer stand for long periods and preaches sitting on a stool. Heidebrecht observed, "I speak with certain limitations, but even those limitations become communicative assets if you remain vulnerable."
August 23/2007
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