01/12/07

Foreword

Contents

Dedication

Prayer in the Name of Jesus

By John August Berg and William E. Berg

Copyright 1999

Foreward

This book is being published sixty-five years late. My father, John August Berg, wrote the message on prayer and the other essays while serving as pastor in a Michigan parish in 1924. He left instructions for publication following his death. He died in 1932.

Following his death, I served as student pastor in his four congregations before enrolling in the Augustana Seminary in Rock Island, Illinois. Those were deep depression years. College debts had accumulated. At the age of 22, I became absorbed in demanding parish ministries. There followed four years of seminary studies. The manuscript was put aside for what seemed at that time to be priority concerns. My mother used to remind me of that manuscript and of my father’s written request.

Convicted often of the sin of neglect and procrastination, I often applied the band-aid of rationalization to soothe the pain. Also, of course, I used the alibi of being busy in urgent ministries in the Kingdom task. This reminds me that it is possible to be busy, devastatingly busy. For example, we can be so deeply involved with church work that we neglect the work of the Lord of the Church.

My father also requested that the proceeds from the sale of his book should go to the Bethphage Mission of Axtell, Nebraska. My sister Margaret was cared for there for a period of thirty-five years. Therefore, this book is dedicated to Bethphage Mission and to Pastor Berg’s daughter, Margaret. One section of the book tells the Bethphage story.

Although few persons who read this book will have met or remember Pastor Berg, hopefully some of the children and grandchildren and others will be blessed and challenged in the reading of the book.

I know that this book comes from the heart and mind of an evangelist on fire for his Lord and for the salvation and nurture of souls. His life story tells of many “revivals” during his ministries. He was a Holy Spirit anointed preacher. His public prayers came from a humble heart, calling for help and praising God for His mighty works.

As I have shared in my book, Show Me the Way to Go Home (Chapter 28: “What Was I Running For?”), I caused my parents deep concern, pain and tears many times. It was not until the last months of my father’s life that he knew that his prayers were answered and that I had come back into a saving and transforming relationship with my Lord and Saviour.

I also recall my father’s big frame, shaking with sobs as he cried brokenheartedly and prayed fervently for my sister, Margaret, in her severe impairment. Yes, and also for my brother who was bound in chemical addiction for many years. Both of them were carried Home on the wings of prayer and by divine, amazing grace. I also recall how he prayed for his confirmands and for the souls entrusted to him.

This reminds us of the reassuring fact that greatly prayed-for persons will have a mighty tough time trying to live away from Jesus and their spiritual Home. It is a lesson we need to learn. Keep praying! Never give up! Of course, we know that prayer is no substitute for obedience and action. So we pray and work as my father did.

His messages on Prayer, on the Rivers of Babylon, on the Believer’s Longing for Home and other writings reflect his life and ministry. Life with father was a great spiritual adventure, and to this day gives me a big lift on my journey toward Home.

Contents

Forward

Prayer in the Name of Jesus

By the Rivers of Babylon

The Believer’s Longing for Home

The Pilgrim’s Song

Some Scattered Memories from my Life

Pictures of Father’s Life

Life with Father

The Bethphage Mission Story

Memories of a Child, a Confirmand and a Brother Pastor

Invitation to a Wedding

Dedication

To Margaret Amelia Berg & The Bethphage Mission

Margaret was a talented pianist and singer. She was destined for a fulfilling and fruitful career and for ministries that would bless many. This would be the fruit of the spiritual nurture and prayers of her parents. At the age of 17, this popular high school junior suffered a severe nervous collapse. In that year, 1919, there was little medication available to treat such possible symptoms as chemical imbalance or the effect of her very sever case of scarlet fever and other diseases in her infant years. For the rest of Margaret’s life, more than 36 years, she required institutional care.

At the time of her illness, our Lord gave our family one of the greatest gifts we could ever receive. When we turned to the Lord for help, He led us to the Bethphage Mission of Axtell, Nebraska with its dedicated deaconesses and other servants of our Lord. It was a Christian home away from home where the love of Jesus for hurting persons, affliected in body, mind and spirit, was radiantly reflected. One chapter of this book, Memories of Bethphage, tells this story.

Margaret’s letters, her playing and singing, her faith and her witness for her Lord and Saviour in the midst of overwhelming burdens and disappointments remind us of divine power in her life. Truly the promise in II Corinthians 12:9 was gloriously fulfilled in her life:

Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.