Living Portraits of Grace: The Holy Spirit's Presence in Us for Life and Ministry

By Donald A Broadwater

This book considers the presence and ministry of the Holy Spirit as he transforms the cracked canvases of our lives into becoming living portraits of grace. Jesus did this with his disciples while he was here on earth and his Spirit continues to do this now that Jesus has ascended to heaven. Once we realize just how committed God is to paint grace in our lives we discover fresh hope. We may have thought that we would have to figure out the Christian life on our own. But now we discover that God has never left us alone at all. In fact his Spirit's work in us has guaranteed that the portrait he is painting will reflect his presence forever! We also realize that there are countless others who have also been called to be part of God's living portrait. He is painting in all nations on the earth and one day believers will join the hosts of heaven who have cheered us on since God first took up his brush to paint in our lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Jan 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781452503547

Book preview

Contents

Forward

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Preface

Portrait restoration

Egypt as a portrait of redemption

The wilderness portrait of a journey

Promises of God paint the canvas with prayer

Suffering and its impact on the portrait

Praise brings color to the portrait

Portrait of God’s glory in the church

The portrait of Pentecost

Original works of art or painting by the numbers

Our journey and God’s portrait

The next brush strokes on the canvas

God’s signature on the portrait of your life

Your Personal Portrait Notes

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus

for good works, which God prepared beforehand,

that we should walk in them."

EPHESIANS 2:10

Forward

Someone has said that the church is often ‘like a radio with the batteries gone dead.’ Read this book and you’ll see why and what God has done to fix it. What a great book! Donald Broadwater writes with clarity, Biblical insight and great power. It the power of the Holy Spirit of which he writes so eloquently. Read this book. When you do you’ll ‘rise up and call me blessed’ for recommending it and Donald Broadwater for having written it. Dr. Steve Brown, Professor of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida and Bible Teacher for Key Life Network.

"Evangelism according to the book of Acts is evangelism done God’s way. This short book will give both insights and stimulation to all who wish to make known the gospel of Christ crucified and risen, by the power of the Spirit." Dr. Peter Barnes, Church History Professor at Presbyterian Theological Centre and Presbyterian Minister in Sydney, Australia.

I think it is great and really hits the target. Church renewal comes when the majority of the people are walking in the Spirit. This then allows the fire of God to provide a passion to have Jesus heart for winning the lost, giving us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, and the empowering to be His witnesses even to the ends of the earth. When we quench or grieve the Spirit we can no longer have Jesus heart or energy to do what He desires and revert back to our human emotions and energy that will not last too long and will give up. It is a message that has been on my heart for many, many, long years. I am continually encouraged by the greater degree that preachers and teachers are being guided to share this truth. It is the Holy Spirit’s role to lift up Jesus and bring glory to Him. I trust this book would become required reading for all ministry involved people. Enok Peipman, Director of Church Dynamics South Pacific Inc.

Donald Broadwater displays an overcoming passion for evangelism, both personal and corporate, in the pages of this short, but intense, volume. His portrayal of our lives as God’s portraits brings to mind God’s creativity as it is reflected in each of us. He reminds us that, as we strive to disciple others and plant and develop churches, let us not forget the discipling that must take place in each of us, if we are to be affective ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dr. Patrick Bennett, Worship Arts Pastor, St. John’s United Methodist Church, Winter Haven, Florida.

Acknowledgements

I cannot think of what the portrait of my own life would have been without the support and love that my wife, Gloria, has given to me. Over the years she has given up everything so that I could keep painting God’s grace through our ministry and now through my writing. Gloria has been with me in marriage and ministry for over 40 years. This journey has been painted with many colors of grace and friendships as we have served between the United States and Australia. But its richest tones were painted from the love that God has given us along the way.

I also want to thank my daughter, Shirene Broadwater, for using her journalism degree from the University of Queensland to help with this manuscript. She is an encouragement to her dad in all she does.

Appreciation also goes to my son, Chad Broadwater, who has helped not only his dad but many students in Queensland benefit from his skills as a computer instructor at TAFE.

And without my daughter-in-law, Tanya, and her creativity that constantly paints in our lives, we would never have had the joy that our three grandchildren, Lorien, Elijah, and Kael have brought to us.

Many thanks to Dr. Judy Shoemaker of Liberty University, Enok Peipman of Campus Crusade for Christ, Dr. Patrick Bennett of the United Methodist Church, Dr. Peter Barnes of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, Brian Johnson as the Stated Clerk of the Penola Presbytery, Rev. Desi Maxwell of Xplorations Bible Teaching Ministry in Ireland, Victor and Elsie Schlatter of South Pacific Island Ministry, and Dr. John Carroll a Pastor Emeritus in Virginia for their helpful comments, corrections and contributions to this book.

Thanks is also owed to Dr. John Young who served as a missionary to Japan and who first taught me in Missions at Covenant College that the Scriptures must define ministry.

I also want to thank Dr. Harvey Conn who served as a missionary in Korea and who taught me at Westminster Seminary that you have to be in it to change it.

And if it had not been for Dr. Steve Brown, a professor of Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida and Bible Teacher for Key Life Network… my wife and I may never have laughed again. Steve is the friend who God used to paint renewed hope and grace during the darkest days of our life and ministry.

Dedication

This is dedicated to all those pastors and congregations that long for more of God. They recognize that a lifetime of clichés and programs can never accomplish what the Spirit does in their lives. And so they pray and plead the promises of God. The problem is that they feel they are alone in their concerns. But they are not!

We are on a journey and what we need is not a glossy picture of what life should be but an honest portrait of what life is. There was nothing glossy about the cross. It is the real picture of our sinfulness. But it is also the declaration of God’s love. And it is on our journey with God that we discover both.

We also discover that it is important that we see the Bible’s portrait of ministry before we assume that we have the painting right. That’s often what new Christians do but it should not be what mature believers do. Sadly this is not the case. Yet if we admit our need to think God’s thoughts after him restoration of the painting can begin. He will begin to use the right brush strokes and colors in our lives so that a portrait of grace is painted in us.

The Artist is very patient. He waits for us to be still long enough so that he can do his work. And once we are quite, he will begin to paint (Psalm 46:10).

It will not be long before we realize how restless we are. It is difficult to sit for a portrait. We need God’s help to sit quietly for the painting. And eventually, if we are blessed, we will cry out for God’s Spirit to help us. We will realize that we cannot paint our own lives, let alone paint someone else’s. We need God to do both.

We will also discover from the portraits in the Bible that God always paints for a purpose. His vision for his people is that they become living portraits of grace. He will prepare the canvases in different ways. He will use different textures and colors. But in the end he always paints portraits of grace.

It is slow to paint this way. But it is the only way a masterpiece portrait can be painted. It says as much about the Artist as it does the lives of those painted on the canvas.

It will also capture the whole story of their lives. It will not be a glossy picture because the reality of sorrows and heartache and loss will also have found