Though sung beautifully andheard annually in HandelsMessiah, this powerful Scripturefrom Isaiah 40:3-4 remains ob-scure in our memory and under-standing:

A voice of one calling: In thedesert prepare the way for theLord; make straight in the wilder-ness a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,every mountain and hill made low;the rough ground shall becomelevel, the rugged places a plain.

Simply put, verse four informsus that everything exalted (by cul-ture or self) will be humbled andeverything humble (also by cultureor self) will be exalted. At somepoint on the physical plane and al-ready on the spiritual plane, every-thing and everyone will be broughtto the same level. Keep in mind thefollowing positions:

1. God loves everyone.

2. If he loves everyone, it means heloves more poor people than any-one else.

3. The Gospels tell us that the poorpeople heard him gladly.

4. The elite of the world rule theworld and represent less than fivepercent of the world. They are themountains.

5. The common people are the val-leys.

Nothing in our nature or cultureagrees with that scripture or inter-pretation. Men in business, poli-tics, entertainment and, yes, evenin the church seek status or mas-tery over others. If nothing else,this passage gives me pause.

So, what is the level ground thatis our ultimate future? Amazingly,it is the same level ground as fromthe beginningGod loves people!

Volume 29, Number 2

Valleys High, Mountains Low

The offer and broadness ofmercy so permeates the Old Tes-tament, that to deny the availabil-ity of Gods mercy to the massesseems ridiculous. So, if we cantdeny mercy, what can we do withit? We modify mercy. Tamperingwith the Law through the centu-ries, rabbis pushed people intospiritual prisons that easily couldhave hung signs over the cellsstating, Judgment accepted,Mercy banned.

The sad truth hovering overall of this? Simple! No one couldkeep the law, much less the addi-tional rules the rabbis had devel-oped. This prompted Jesus tocomplain that they taught therules of men as if they were thelaws of God. Pharisees nevercomplimented Jesus except byaccident. All they did was to crit-icize Jesus and oppose him andseek to kill him. At a moment ofpharisaical judgmentalism, Jesusreminds us that God desiresmercy rather than sacrifice.

However, the commandmentfor us that preceded the prophecyabout valleys and mountains de-scribes the nature of mercy: Inthe desert prepare the way for theLord; make straight in the wil-derness a highway for our God.

Our assumption is that Jesusneeded such a highway, but I seeit differently. Straight and levelhighways describes the conditionJesus wants for his people.Straight so that no one need ever

get confused or lost. Level so thateven the weakest feet need notstumble. What a beautiful viewof mercy. The weary, the bur-dened, the child will find thehighway inviting and restful.

Here is my concern: With toomany rules and expectations andperformance demands, I bent thehighway and filled it with potholes and bumps. I repent of thatand wish only to repair the placesI created that cause tender feet tofalter. I want to study mercy.When I pray Thy will be done,I want that will to spread hismercy to a world that God lovesbut who doesnt know him or ofhis mercy. Its easiest when theground is level.

My next concern? Am I amountain, hill or valley?

-Gayle Erwin

Servant Quarters, Vol. 29, #2

Available on request by emailor by post:

PO Box 219

Cathedral City, CA 92235

FAX 760-202-1139

VOICE 760-321-0077

ORDERS 1-888-321-0077

Email: gayle@servant.orgWebsite: www.servant.org

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The next issue of ServantQuarters marks 30 years that wehave been sending it free ofcharge. During this time, we keptall deliverable names on the list,even paying for hundreds of re-turns with new addresses, neverknowing for sure whether yourdesire for it to continue comingwas active.

Here is what we ask ofyou as we approach year

30

Mail

If you no longer wish to re-ceive this newsletter, please as-sist our stewardship by removingyour name from the list. Simplycall 1-888-321-0077, or emailgayle@servant.org or mail theback page of this newsletter toPO Box 219, Cathedral City, CA92235.

Email

Email is the way to go. Emailus with your request, or go to ourwebsite and follow instructions.You get all the same material butin simpler form so you can copyor forward. We are working onsending it in the same format asthe mailed edition.

We will send two is-sues by mail in 2010but will send bonus is-sues to the email list.

Website

At www.servant.org, you canalways read the latest issue andgo all the way back to 1995.

With this issue we will beginposting on our website a for-matted replica of the actualmailed newsletter.

***ISRAEL

My second final Israel tour(smile) will be right afterThanksgiving in 2010. Detailswill appear on my website as ex-act times, itineraries and costs arecalculated. Call us or email us toreceive updates quickly.

Home Going

You may remember the story Itell that includes God giving me astep-dad named Raymond,whom I considered a symbol ofreconciliation in my life. On Oc-tober 19, 2009, quietly in hissleep and at home in Pascagoula,Mississippi, he completed hisjourney at age 95.

Bumper Stickers and Prints

In addition to the popularOthers sticker (more than15,000 distributed) we now havethe following: Grace, Mercy,Faith, Hope, Love. We willgladly send you one of each freeof charge. If you want a lot ofthem, just inquire about the costsat 1-888-321-0077.

Very Important Pages

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At this Christmas

We, at Servant Quarters, ear-nestly pray that your welfare inthese difficult times will be mi-raculous and that your joy will beunbounded. We are honored byyour friendship.

Gospel for Asia

Many of you know that for de-cades I have been on the board ofGospel for Asia (GFA), led by K.P. Yohannan. I cannot speakhighly enough of their ministry,especially to the Dalits, the 300million untouchables at the bot-tom of the Hindu ladder. The fol-lowing description by Kris Da-vis, a staff member, expressesother areas of their work.

GFA native missionaries areresponding to the massive flood-ing in the Indian states of AndhraPradesh and Karnataka, eventhough many have lost their ownhomes and churches in the cy-clone-produced flooding. Havingmissionaries already on the fieldallows us to go in quickly andstay longer to bring aid andGods hope through Jesus. Otherareas where our CompassionServices teams are continuing tohelp are West Bengal from flood-ing in May, Orissa from massiveChristian persecution last Au-gust, in Sri Lankan relief camps

for people displaced from theircivil war, in Myanmar from Cy-clone Nargis, and in many otherplaces.

As we hear news of earth-quakes, flooding, wars, terroristattacks, famine and other calami-ties, our hearts hurt for those whosuffer, and we look a little moreexpectantly for our Lords return.

Aaron Ironside is a radio per-sonality in New Zealand who re-cently visited some of GFAsministry in Asia. He wasblogging during this trip and Iwas struck by this comment fromhim, posted mid-trip.

Despite my delusions of hu-mility, I am confronted by aseemingly endless line of believ-ers who are much more advancedon the road to a self-less life thanI. There is no talk of what Jesuscan do for me, my dreams, mydestiny, nothing. None of thesepeople talk about what God cando for them. They talk about thepoor and the lost, about prayerand being faithful. Dont they re-alize that Jesus is waiting to un-leash an unlimited life, of wealth,blessing and influence? Appar-ently they didnt get the memo,its almost as if Jesus is enough.

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LETTERSYears ago I became ac-

quainted with your ministrythrough the work of the ChristianAction Council/CareNet. In fact Iwas able to introduce you a cou-ple of times when you spoke atthe conferences. It was wonder-ful for me to revisit your websiterecently and also discover theMP3 downloads. Thanks somuch!

I am teaching a course on Bib-lical Leadership and I certainlygravitated to some of yourthoughts years ago. In fact, nextweek is the start of servant lead-ership teaching and I would liketo have students listen to The Je-sus Style of Leadership as a dis-cussion starter.

I just wanted to thank you forthe years of playing the samestrings on your guitar and evenafter all this time, I am remem-bering the notes and songs!Charles

My name is Michael Daly andI live in Bexhill on Sea in EastSussex, UK. I (try to) write a bloghttp://scjesus.co.uk/b2evolutionand wonder if I may quote someof your writing? My eldest sonand I have found your books andvideos to be full of grace andtruth. Very much Jesus style! Iam just reading your Handbookfor Servants which is both chal-

lenging and encouraging. I praythat you will continue to listen at-tentively to the Lord and followHis lead.Michael

I am pulling together a studyon humility and you have beenmy mentor on being others-cen-tered (a core value of humility, Ibelieve). Which of your re-sources (I have almost all ofthem) is the best reference I mayuse to glean the others-centereddiscussion?Michael W. Pelphrey

The most powerful item in myresources is the book, The JesusStyle, especially the newest revi-sion which we think powerfullyimproves it and makes furthercomment about being others cen-tered. I think my DVDs of Jesusthe Great Hunter or Humanity atPoolside or Jesus vs. the Phari-sees present the concept fromvarying angles.

An excerpt from a report by a

Greek Orthodox Priest

A friend of mine recently re-sponded to someones idea tolist at least five books that haveinfluenced your reading of theBible, whether scholarly, patris-tic, devotional, or otherwise.Well, it sounded like a good ideato me, so I have put together thefollowing list:

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1) The Jesus Style, by GayleErwin (Cathedral City, CA:Yahshua Publishing, 1983). GayleErwin was a former pastor of myparents and an old family friend,whom I grew up thinking of as awarm, playful uncle. I vividly re-call my father discussing and rec-ommending this book to variouspeople when I was a child, and Ialso remember Erwin himself giv-ing talks based on it, although Iwas so young I didnt pay much at-tention!

Well, I finally read the bookwhen I was about 13, and it had aprofound effect. It is very simplywritten, not at all scholarly, anddoes nothing more than elucidateChrists example of humble ser-vice to others. Previously I sup-pose I had had some vague moral-istic idea about how we Christianswere supposed to be good orsomething, but I had almost no un-derstanding of the radical natureand implications of what it meantto be a servant of all, to love oth-ers as oneself, etc. It was my firstglimpse of the kenotic Christ, and Iwould never forget it. It certainlyremained something to which Iwas highly attuned in theScriptures.

I should add that Erwin is anEvangelical of the non-denomina-tional variety, though I believe hegrew up in the Assemblies of God.Although its been years since Ilast read The Jesus Style, I cantrecall anything I would call un-Or-

thodox. There is a casual tone andfrequent humor throughout thatmay be a bit jarring to many Ortho-dox readers, but I think the ideasare pretty solid.Aaron

I bought your CD on Commu-nion and was blessed to get themessage Part 1 of The LordsPrayer (guessing maybe Godwanted me to hear something dif-ferent). It really has been a bless-ing to me. It caused me to visityour web site and find not only thecommunion message, but anumber of others I look forward tolistening to. The message you gaveon Communion is a completely dif-ferent and eye-opening view fromhow I have ever looked at it before.I will be meditating on it and seek-ing the Lords transformation ofmy heart toward the body of be-lievers.Christen Hardee

Whoops! We do make mistakesif you get a defective product fromus, call us and we will immediatelyreplace it.

Please know that I dont haveyou on a pedestal. I really dont in-volve myself in spiritual hero wor-ship except for when it comes toChrist. Human hero worship doestend to get people off track. How-ever, I am grateful for the simplic-ity with which you share the truth

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of the gospel. It is so clear and easyto understand.

For years now, I have been in astate of unrest trying to make whatI have been taught line up withwhat I read in the Word. The clar-ity of your message has given methe confidence I needed to dig indeeper and allow the Holy Spirit todo what he came to earth to do.That is why I feel so strongly aboutyou and your efforts for the king-dom. Lord knows it is not becauseof your good looks.

God has been dealing with mefor some time to simplify my life.Things have gotten extremelycomplicated and I dont need that.If you ever want to do anotherbumper sticker, perhaps the wordSimplify would be in order. Ithink that is what He is calling usall to at this time in history.A Friend

After 30 years, your style ofpresentation is still enlighteningand enjoyable. I can hear you sayin my spirit, It must be Jesus,huh. Since you introduced me tothe concept of a personal savior Ihave spent years trying to reachyour level of living a simple lifeand sharing the gospel.

I still struggle with the Sabbathconcept as being set aside as aHoly day of the week by reli-gious organizations.Gary

The Sabbath (which meansrest and was made for man, asJesus put it) changed forever at thecoming of Jesus. He invited us tocome to him and he would give usrest. Sabbath as a day is now re-placed with Sabbath as a per-son-Jesus. If you want to declare adesignated day of physical rest,choose any that you want, but inthe meantime, walk in perpetualSabbath. Dont let anyone lay atrip on you.

Even though my heart some-times seems heavy, I am filled withhappiness knowing that othersare among me and those around meto bring strength to the weak withthe word. Ever since hearing yourexciting and humorous presenta-tion of the word, I have looked atthe word in a new way that makesmore sense than I have given itcredit for my 42 years in his pres-ence. For all my life I have hiddenmy feelings behind a curtain, try-ing to always project strength, notletting others see my need. To-day I embrace the help fromfriends, and comfort upon the truestrength in the word, and I creditBrett Meador and you, GayleErwin, for providing the tools tome at a time when I really neededto change directions in my life!Stephen

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My car has become a classroom. I listen to your teachings al-most everyday on my way to workand on my way back home. Fromyour teachings, I know I am loved,forgiven, blessed, and filled withthe Holy Spirit of God whether Ifeel it or not. I know that I cantand dont have to earn these prom-ises and blessings and as youwould say, I like that. I get so ex-cited about the revelation of theWord of God when I listen to yourteachings, I cant wait to share it.Thank you for sharing your giftwith us, Gayle. By the way, I havea son named Marion. He is quite aman!Carol Vereen

Your ministry to my family andme is still bearing fruit even into athird generation now. Thank youfor planting the seed of Godsmercy so deeply in my heart, I ameternally grateful. God bless youwith good health and long life, westill need to be reminded that Hisgrace is the message of the gospel.Steve Carr

Just a short note to say Thankyou for your teaching at our campin Island Lake, (Lethbridge) Al-berta. Learned things that changedmy view on things that have both-ered my heart for years. Sharedwith you my rejection issues andthat I have a kind heart, often intranslation means abuse me. Youaddressed this matter so

effectively and simply. I do nothave to change my servantheart just be wise, know who ismanipulating me (I always figurethat out usually when it is too late.Smile.) However, you taught that Ican say, no and when questionedsimply say, that is my choice.How simple and how true! Thesesimple tools will be used well.A Friend

As the year has been drawingcloser to the end of my time as astudent here at Gospel for Asia, Ihave been asking myself, Who(here in the ministry) has impactedme the most this year? Everyoneat GFA is so normal though, so Icouldnt put my finger on any indi-vidual person. Each person por-trays different wonderful charac-teristics of Jesus, each of whichhave impacted my life. I finally re-alized that when you put all ofthese characteristics together, youhave Jesus! He has been here insuch a real way that I would thinkthere should be an extra bodywalking around this building. Thishas given me great comfort as Itransition to go to college againnext year. I know this Jesus, thesame portrayed in The JesusStyle, will lead the way and bewith me wherever I go.

I am so glad I can see this real-ity. This reality has only beenopened because of the unique op-portunity I had to study throughyour book. This reality of Jesus is

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true for all of us. May you knowthe Lord Jesus more fully and inti-mately all the rest of your days.Carly McClung

I can think of no higher compli-ment than telling someone thatthey brought you closer to JesusChrist. And that is what you did, sothank you and praise the Lord!Shawn Psarris

The Lord put Romans 8:29 onmy heart, all about the process ofbeing conformed into the likenessof His son. After reading yourbook, The Jesus Style, not onlydid I stand amazed, but also so ex-cited to know that these are thecharacteristics He is working inmy life.

Tonight, we were graduatedfrom the School of Discipleshipprogram (GFA). Our class dis-cussed what we could possibly doto shine before the staff, and theLord brought to mind what youshared with just our class aftersharing with the staff. You broughtup washing one anothers feet. Youexplained todays understandingof that, but we felt that the Lordwanted to use this time for Him-self, so we washed our leadersfeet. It was really powerful, justlike serving is.Danny Potter

It has been years since I have at-tended a church on a regular basisand in 2007 my wife was diag-

nosed with brain cancer. Shedropped from 130 pounds down to86, then I was handed a CD by thisteacher named Gayle Erwin. Letme tell you I have had to makecopies of that CD because it playsin my truck every day and everytime my truck is started. I some-times find myself going out to thetruck to listen. I have it on mycomputer. During this very tryingtime your teachings have got methrough and without you knowingyour prayers have helped even mywife. She is back up to 140 and do-ing much better. You will alwaysbe a true brother in my life hereand beyond.Mark

I am a hospice CNA and havebeen blessed to care for a wonder-ful elderly woman whose sister isalso caring for her. She has Alzhei-mers. They are both in their 80sand are very, very religiouslyCatholic. They have all the statues,pictures, rosaries and incense in alltheir rooms. They practice faith-fully in their worship of thesethings. They are wonderful, kindwomen who do love the Lord. Itmakes me sad when I see how hardpeople think they have to work toget God to love them. If they onlyknew.

Years ago, I bought the tapesfrom Billy Grahams Cove ofGayle telling the simple story ofthe Gospel through The JesusStyle. I have read the book a few

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times and always end up giving itaway to someone. It changed mylife and I now have a beautiful re-lationship with my Jesus who hasloved me just the way I am.

Anyway, I am writing to tellyou how the sister saw yourbumper sticker on my car. (I got itat the pastors conference in Tuc-son.) The Lord used it to open adoor for me to tell her a little bitabout you and your ministryhowyou love the Lord and tell othersabout Jesus. She wanted a bumpersticker and how kind of you tosend one free. Ive never beengood at explaining the Gospel toothers. I fumble my words a lot. Ismile when I think a simplebumper sticker could open a doorto tell someone about Jesustheblessed, relentless love of Jesus!Ellen

I watched your DVD set onHome Fellowships over the week-end. I was truly blessed. HomeFellowships are a passion of mineand I have been involved in themfor many years, and am now theoverseer for our groups at our fel-lowship. My question is this, howdo I go about spreading the passionfor small groups in such a way asto raise up more people with shep-herd hearts to start more groups?

We are a church of around 1000people and only have 10 groups.My desire is to see everyone havean opportunity to be blessed by be-ing part of one, and I realize 40 %

is all I can hope for, but that wouldtake around 30 groups. Help?Matt

The best way to grow smallgroups is organically. By that, Imean to start one composed ofpeople from different areas, you bethe leader and show how it is done.Let the people profit from the bene-fits and then after about three tosix months, tell them to go out andstart one in their area now thatthey know how. I did this while at achurch for a year as an assistantand started two groups that I led.One was composed of people I hadin counseling. The other was com-posed of leaders and their wives.Both were classical successes, butwere the only two in existencewhen I left after one year. Out ofthem, within another year, 23groups had formed.

Instead of going to a summercamp this year, we felt the Lordleading to go to an orphanage inMexico for a week. We are team-ing up with a few youth groups. Itwill be half the cost of the normalyouth camp, and will teach theyouth that this Christian walk isabout OTHERS. You inspired us toname it Camp OTHERS. It wontbe a camp of the usual entertain-ment. It will be a camp of serving

others. Oh Yeah, the kids are ex-cited about the idea; none havecomplained.Gary Malkus, Jr

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For teachingresources, check our

web site

www.servant.org

or call us at

1-888-321-0077.

***

Our books and videosets make Christmasgifts that live on and

on.

***

Funny laws thatguide us

Law of Mechanical RepairAfter your hands become coated with grease,your nose will begin to itch.

Law of GravityAny tool, when dropped, will roll to the leastaccessible corner.

Law of ProbabilityThe probability of being watched is directlyproportional to the stupidity of your act.

Law of Random NumbersIf you dial a wrong number, you never get abusy signal and someone always answers.

Law of the AlibiIf you tell the boss you were late for workbecause you had a flat tire, the very nextmorning you will have a flat tire.

Variation LawIf you change lines (or traffic lanes), the oneyou were in will always move faster than theone you are in now (works every time).

Law of the BathWhen the body is fully immersed in water,the telephone rings.

Law of the ResultWhen you try to prove to someone that amachine wont work, it will.

Law of BiomechanicsThe severity of the itch is inverselyproportional to the reach.

Law of the TheaterAt any event, the people whose seats arefurthest from the aisle arrive last.

The Starbucks LawAs soon as you sit down to a cup of hotcoffee, your boss will ask you to dosomething which will last until the coffee iscold.

Murphys Law of LockersIf there are only two people in a locker room,they will have adjacent lockers.

Law of Physical SurfacesThe chances of an open-faced jelly sandwichlanding face down on a floor covering aredirectly correlated to the newness and cost ofthe carpet/rug.

Law of Logical ArgumentAnything is possible if you dont know whatyou are talking about.

Browns Law of Physical AppearanceIf the shoe fits, its ugly.

Olivers Law of Public SpeakingA closed mouth gathers no feet.

Wilsons Law of Commercial

Marketing StrategyAs soon as you find a product that you reallylike, they will stop making it, or improve it.

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