Life After FPC: Catching Up with Pastor Dennis
Peter Brown
It has been over a year and a half now since I gave my last message from the Book of Romans and said goodbyes to all of you. Before I left for Taiwan for my first term of service in 2008, I spoke with someone who had worked in Japan for a number of years. They were interested in my plan to go to Taiwan. So, although it was not Taiwan, I asked them about their experience in Japan. They said, “I miss it every day of my life.” Since leaving Friendship, I can concur with that statement in regards to Taiwan and YOU!
Taiwan is such a beautiful country with its landscape and its people. Whether it is the night markets, the MRT, the 7-11’s, Taroko Gorge, the southern coast, or simply the warm smiles of gentle, respectful Taiwan people, I miss it every day. Beyond that, there was the fellowship of people at Friendship. I so looked forward to Sundays. I would awake early on a Sunday to make final preparations and then often would not return home until 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening. One gathering simply flowed into another. The fellowship of the saints was rich and beautiful. Peter Brown asked me to send him an article for the monthly newsletter many months ago to give an update on life back in the States, but I have not been able to do it until now and I will try to explain…
We are so blessed to be close to our three daughters and their families. Two of them live here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we are. My other daughter, Katie, and her family moved back from Austin, Texas, to Philadelphia last spring. So, all of the children and ten grandchildren are close by. Moreover, Kay’s family—mother and several brothers and sisters--live up the road in Hershey, Pennsylvania. So we are surrounded by family and Kay is, as someone said, in “grandma heaven.” She is so maternal, so to be close to family is a great blessing for her and for me.
Coming back to the States was definitely reverse culture-shock. It was much harder to adjust here than in Taiwan. In fact, whenever I would return from summer vacation in the States and land in the Taoyuan airport, I would say to myself, “Thank the Lord I am back in Taiwan.” That is not to underestimate the many gifts of being a U.S. citizen. It is a great country, but, unhappily, drifting to secularism more and more by the year.
Also, I returned to a community where I had no prior connections, so trying to know where to direct my calling to the ministry has been a considerable challenge. I always fall back on a statement of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who, when asked about life in retirement, quoted Jesus in saying, “Rejoice not that the demons are subject to you but that your names are written in heaven.” In other words, get your identity not from ministry but from your sonship, i.e., the fact that you are the adopted child of the Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
But things have gotten clearer as to where I should prioritize my time. In short, they are:
1. To disciple my own children and grandchildren. I am giving all of them a copy of the children's book “The-Ology” and the New City Catechism. Our church is taking people through the catechism this year and I hope my own family can be more deeply grounded in the gospel. I also play baseball with my grandchildren and look for every opportunity to love them and point them to Jesus.
2. Teaching Michael Reeves’ Delighting in the Trinity. One of the gifts of retirement is to be able to reflect. As I have done so, I realized a significant deficit. While I would frequently speak on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I seldom gave messages on the Trinity or the reality that while each of the persons are distinct, they always work in unity with each other. I discovered there were depths to the Trinity I didn’t understand. In short, my own sense of union and communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have grown exponentially. At the beginning of January, I will be teaching a class at the church on Delighting in the Trinity. Please read it and listen to some of Michael Reeves’ talks on YouTube. I hope you can discover the same thing!
3. The China Partnership. I was always enriched by Redeemer City to City when I was in Taiwan. This church planting fellowship always provided me with mentoring, ongoing encouragement, and a sense of being a part of something much bigger than your own church. I have wanted to stay connected with them, so, in November, I went to Memphis, Tennessee to participate in their annual meeting. The focus was to equip people in the States to promote awareness and prayer for the church in China where they had planted many churches.
It was a year ago that Early Rain Reformed Church was closed down by the government, its pastor imprisoned, and many of its members harassed and displaced. I was humbled at the Memphis meeting to meet Chinese leaders. The main takeaway was, “Do not necessarily pray that the persecution ends, but that the church is purified and the gospel extended.” I am working on promoting this work through prayer meetings in my own community.
4. Hospitality to international students and Life Explored. We live close to a university and seminary where there are Chinese, African, and other international students. Like Friendship, I look forward to providing hospitality to them, but also offering Life Explored, by Rico Tice. It is an effective introduction to Christianity for people who are seeking.
So that is the update. I pray for you almost every day on my daily prayer walk, and I look forward to seeing you again. Ideally, fall of 2020. But we will see.
Best,
Pastor Dennis and Kay
