God’s House Rules
My three children and their spouses put me up to writing this book. Maybe that’s not strong enough. They insisted. They pressed the task upon me, against my sincere response that, “I’m not ready yet.” They even got a CD of some of my thoughts, had our youngest grandchild, Charis, transcribe it, put it before me and said, in effect, “Go to work.”
So I went to work. I took seven ancient ideas from the Christian Scriptures and tried by illustration, anecdote and explanation to show how they can be applied very usefully to modern day family life. For example, where do Christian ideas about marriage come from? What one word centers the parental duty in child-rearing? Is the call for submission an outworn enslavement or is it really a key to a rich and growing marriage? And so on.
The book has not been in print long but already the response from pastors, parents, grandparents and even a few young singles has been gratifying.
(To read the God’s House Rules blurb click here)
The Pastor’s First Love
The pastoral love of which I write in this book is not first of all a love for preaching or pastoral visitation or the oversight of a congregation – as important and even focal as these duties are.
The pastor’s first love is to be a love for Jesus Christ, a steadfast and ever-renewing love – and out of that love, I believe, will flow a desire to carry out the pastoral task with excellence. That’s my thesis. In the book I share details of that task.
In writing I’ve had a target audience in mind. (1) Seminary and college students in pastoral training; it is the period of training when a pastoral mind is being formed. (2) Young and newly appointed pastors who feel the need to further refine their understanding of the task and sharpen the skills required. I write about cases.
I have also had in mind, (3) Pastors who have served for a long while but have grown discouraged and perhaps lost the vision and zest for their calling; and (4) lay people who sense the need for a better understanding from a layman’s perspective of what the pastoral calling is all about.
I have prepared the book prayerfully and would ask my faithful readers to pray with me that, as it goes out by the end of the month, it will find its way into the hands and hearts of those who need it most.
Just Call Me Pastor 
Dear Bishop Bastien,
I just had the great privilege of hearing you speak at Wesley Acres, and reading your book, God’s House Rules. Thank you for your wisdom and your insight. May God continue to bless you and all who hear and read your words.
Brian Lowry
Dear Bishop. I have come across our site only today while looking for some resource material about the Prodigal son for a Christian Education class I am teaching at a local school here in Ballarat, Australia. I have now spent the past 30 minutes or so reading about you personally and some of your other articles – not to mention information on your books. Bishop, I am a new ‘fan’. As a Pastor myself, I am grateful to have the wisdom of those who have gone before and I look forward to the challenges and encouragement from this site. God bless you Bishop and thank you.
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