Nick Breit: A Snapshot from 1985

My Memorial

 

I was running late for a very important date.  More precisely, I was late for a very important running date.

Barry Devine was a 49-year-old professor at CSUN during my years there.  Never short on ambition or energy, Barry’s goal was to run 50 miles on his 50^th birthday…and I was just the weirdo to help him train!

Tardy, I sprang around the corner and into Dr. Devine’s shared office space.  Barry was not there, but his officemate, Dr. Nick Breit, was very much present anticipating  his next “divine appointment”. 

Frustrated and breathless I gasped, “Oh hey, Dr. Breit, have you seen Barry…errr…Dr. Devine?” 

“He left maybe 5 minutes ago on one of his crazy runs…what’s your name, young man?”

‘Oh geesh, here we go’, I thought.  I knew of Dr. Breit, but didn’t really know him.  He had talked with nearly all my friends about his Jesus.  Nick was the resident “Jesus Freak”. 

Since I missed my running date with Dr. Devine, I figured now would be as good as any other time to set this guy straight.  I was sure of my superior intellect as I noticed the big, leather-bound Bible on the front edge of his desk. 

Typical of haughty pride, I fired away.   My “questions” were not so much begging answers, but rapid objections to the faith I thought he had, not the faith he actually had.  Turns out my “sophisticated” questions were probably the top 5 queries most skeptics have about Biblical Christianity…and Dr. Breit (hereafter, Nick) had answered them all before…many times. 

Familiar with my type, Nick was prepared, gentle, and respectful (c.f., 1 Pet. 3:13-17, esp. v. 15: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”).  He also knew that my questions were a thin veil – a smokescreen, if you like – over my real issue:  I was a sinner in need of a Savior!

Nick was the first Christian I’ve known who had actually thought through his answers to these questions.  It was palpable.  Mine were softball lobs to Nick, but he didn’t make me feel silly for the asking.  He was particularly kind and gentle and compassionate when he answered my questions about the problem of evil and suffering in the world.

I had told Nick about my younger brother’s tragic, untimely death in a car accident just a year-and-a-half earlier.  Emotions still raw from the surreal cataclysm of the abrupt loss of my 19-year-old brother, Nick’s approach in the handling of my heart was nothing less than paternal…divinely paternal.  It was a holy moment, and I didn’t know what holy was.  All I know is this:  When my tear-brimmed eyes met his kind, compassionate, even gentle gaze, I knew he was not the Christian caricature I had constructed in my mind.  Somehow, I knew Nick was telling me the Truth…

Nick had won my trust.  So, what does he do?  Asks me to attend Lynn Martini’s baptism at his church that night.  Bewildered, I asked, “She hasn’t been baptized yet?”   “No, Lynn just placed her trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.  We believe you get baptized after you become a Christian”.   Nick tried to show me in the Scripture where the order is described as believe, then be baptized, but I was beyond capacity for his Biblical instruction for the day, so I said, “Sure, I’ll go!”

Person after person descended into the baptism Jacuzzi to tell their story.  The fifty-ish-year-old man performing baptism for the penitent new believers seemed careful to discern the veracity of each conversion story.  My mind was blown.  I identified with EVERY story.  It was as though God was speaking – no, SHOUTING - only to me.  “You must turn from your current sin-filled life to Me, the only One who can save you when you die”, seemed to be what I was hearing. 

Then Lynn stepped into the water.  Through sobs, she told of her Catholic upbringing, her confusion about who Jesus was, trying to be “good”, and her sinful choices along the way.  Lynn was telling MY story. 

The pastor confirmed Lynn’s story of repentance and faith and asked, “So Lynn, you now believe that you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone?”  Her immediate, exuberant response was “YES!”  Pastor John said, “Lynn, based on your testimony I now baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” 

When Lynn came up from the water she would have split her lip had she smiled any further!  And I was again tear-brimmed and stunned speechless as to what was happening to me…I left the church without saying goodbye to Nick or Lynn.

Restless is too weak, but agitated is too strong to describe my soul’s condition that night.  I was on the precipice of life and death.

The next day I was running up Tampa Ave. in Northridge, CA.  At about 1.75 miles into this familiar training run I prayed the best I could, “God. I mean, Jesus.  Well, I guess You’re the same...but not really.  Well anyway Jesus, I want to turn away from my sin-filled lifestyle and trust You to be my Lord and Savior.  I think what Nick’s been telling me is true, and I’m not even sure why.  I believe You died to pay the price for all my sins. Please help me understand.  Thank You.  Amen”.    

At the 6-mile turn-around point I was all alone on top of a hill, heaving.  Not hurling, heaving…great sobs of joy that I was now a child of God, headed for heaven!  I cannot explain why, but I found myself kneeling in the dirt, hands stretched to heaven, repeatedly whispering, “Thank You Jesus, Thank You Jesus, Thank You Jesus”. 

The next day could not have come fast enough.  One again I sprang into (this time) Dr. Breit’s office.  He was there!  I instantly began to weep, muttering unintelligible stuff about my salvation experience while running the previous afternoon.  Nick said, “Sounds like you’re ready to trust Christ, pal”.  “Well, I think I already did, but let’s do it again!”  Not to confuse me with finer points of doctrine of justification, Nick said, “Let’s pray”.   Unspeakable joy… Unexplainable peace…

By God’s grace, Nick Breit was the human means the Holy Spirit used to preach the Gospel to me.  The vast legacy Nick leaves is for someone else to write.  Suffice to say, because Nick was obedient to open wide his mouth with the Gospel message, even in the face of my haughty, pride-filled, even sarcastic objections, my family and I now serve as missionaries, full-time.   As a result, the Scripture rings true when Jesus is praying to the Father for His disciples in John 17:20:  “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word”.   Believer, Jesus Himself prayed not only for His disciples, but all those who would believe in Him through their words of witness.  Nick was a faithful witness! Are you?  Will you be?

Thanks Dr. Breit.  You were one of the most amazing men I’ve ever known.  See you soon!  Maranatha!