The God Journey

Wayne takes time to read through some wonderful listener input since the last podcast as people are learning to jump off the barreling train of the world's expectations and religion's demands, to engage a more incredible process of God's transforming work. This journey is revealed not by find a method to implement, but by listening to Father's simple invitations to think and live inside his revelation. Our curriculum is life itself, where God makes himself known in the unfolding joys, disappointments, and struggles in life. As we learn to live in that process with him, not only can we be at peace even where we're still incomplete, but also embrace the joy mutually enthusiastic relationship with God and others. Podcast Links: LIVING LOVED article: The Narrow Road Add your voice to our question/comment line: (805) 539-6980 Thanks to your generosity, we've been able to buy new clothes for the children at the orphanage in Kenya. You can see pictures here!

In a world replete with books, seminars, curriculums and classes designed to teach you how to have a relationship with God, why is it that so many people have a difficult time connecting? What if none of those things can provide a relationship with him, and in fact when we become more focused on a curriculum than we are responsive to him, they can actually be a detriment to our the very relationship we seek. Wayne responds to two emails that show the problems of trying to trust a curriculum to do, what only the Holy Spirit can do. Then he shares his current thoughts about how we can encourage and equip others to a relationship with God, without the message getting twisted into further expressions of human performance. Podcast Links: LIVING LOVED article: The Narrow Road Add your voice to our question/comment line: (805) 539-6980 Thanks to your generosity, we've been able to buy new clothes for the children at the orphanage in Kenya. You can see pictures here!

Does religious thinking actually make it more difficult to know God and if so, what can we do about it? Kent Burgess of Manchester, IL joins Wayne in this podcast as they discuss that religion isn't all that different from most of the ways the world thinks in that it drives us by fear and performance to try to control what's coming at them. As Kent shares from the dramatic changes in his thinking over the last decade, they talk about how political rancor and religious thinking actually draws us away from the space where God is most easily known and where we can enjoy a growing relationship with him. Both Wayne and Kent have engaged people recently that only found the God they were looking for when they got away from the demands of religion and connected in more natural ways with the God of the Bible. Podcast Links: Just to clarify, Kent is from Manchester, MO, not Illinois as Wayne mistakenly said on the podcast. Kent's Blog Faithfully Dangerous For Kent's previous appearances on The God Journey, please look him up in our Guest Archive Thanks to your generosity, we've been able to buy new clothes for the children at the orphanage in Kenya. You can see pictures here!

This past summer was a strange one for Wayne and Sara as God set about to do a deeper work of healing in both of them and through that process connect them more deeply than they've ever known. After thirty-seven years of marriage, they were caught by surprise and challenged at the very core of their marriage, but the came out with not only a greater connection to each other, but also a greater understanding of what love is. Sara joins Wayne in this podcast for an intimate look at the process of healing they are still going through and how it is changing both of them. They are discovering how much marriage is not just a commitment to be life-long partner; it is also the place where God deals with our selfishness as he teaches us what it truly means to love another human being. Podcast Links: Wayne's Blog in the Aftermath of this part of their journey, Into Ever Deepening Realities of Love Dr. Brené Brown's video The Power of Vulnerability Dr. Brené Brown's video Listening to Shame Dr. Brené Brown's book,

What do you do when your thirty-years old, and the hunger you have for God is unfulfilled by the religious answers you've been given? That's what faced Wayne's father almost 55 years ago and launched this young farmer and father of four on a journey of spiritual transformation that fulfilled his greatest hopes and proved to be a blessing to many others. For the first time Wayne interviews Eugene "Jake" Jacobsen, who is not only his dad, but over the course of his life has also been his mentor, sounding board, brother in Christ, and best friend. Now approaching ninety years of age he reflects back on his life, the lessons he learned, how his passion for God led him to a growing trust and obedience that opened some amazing doors in is life, and what he would say to other younger, hungry hearts today. Podcast Links: We need some help clothing some orphans in Kenya

On the last day of his three trips to Europe this summer, Wayne sits down with Silvio Viotti to process some of his experiences and their conversations helping people find their way out of religious obligation and learning to live in the love of the Father. Silvio is a friend from Vallorbe, Switzerland, translated some of Wayne's books into French, and has shared some of his journey on a previous podcast. They talk about the process of those who have struggled in their own religious systems and come away from them looking to build another hoping for different results. Part of that stems from the desire to live by a strategic plan they can fulfill, because they don't yet trust Father's love enough to relax in his unfolding will. Podcast Links: Silvio's earlier visit to The God Journey We need some help clothing some orphans in Kenya

When you're trapped in pain, you can't imagine what grace might do to invite you out, but Paul and Janna LaFrance have lived through their own brokenness and found God's grace more than sufficient to heal and restore them. On a recent trip to Canada, Wayne asked them to share a bit about their journeys and how they are helping others find the light of grace in their darkness. Paul is a deck-builder and TV host on HGTV Canada. Janna has just written a new book entitled, "A Girl Named Grace", a compelling novel about a young woman trapped in an unfolding nightmare that threatens to destroy her. Then she begins to hear a voice in her head and thinks she might be going nuts. What transpires shows the depths God will go to walk us out of our pain. Together they are parents to four girls and rockers with a message of love and hope. Their band, Found in the Fury, is just releasing a new album called, "Songs from the Cave" One of their cuts debuts at the end of the podcast and underscores the content of this podcast. Podcast Links: Paul and Janna's website, Safehouse Media Janna's book, A Girl Named Grace. You can read the first chapter here. Wayne's blog on A Girl Named Grace Found in the Fury CD Paul's deck-building TV shows with HGTV in Canada We need some help clothing some orphans in Kenya

This is part two of a conversation Wayne had with Bruxy Cavey, author of The End of Religion, and Sean Davidson, a member of the staff at The Meeting House where Bruxy is the teaching pastor. They began last week talking about the reality of relationship Jesus extends to us. Now they plunge into a conversation about religion, systems, structure, and spontaneity and how they play out in our walk with Jesus and our connections with the fellowship of believers. They talk about the difference between doing tasks God puts on our hearts, and building structures that all too often outlive their usefulness. Though Wayne and Bruxy live in very different expressions of these realities, they were able to talk about those differences in an enlightening conversation. Podcast Links: Bruxy's Blog and The Meeting House website where he is the teaching pastor. Bruxy's book, The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus Sean Davidson at the Meeting House We need some help clothing some orphans in Kenya

Ever since reading The End of Religion, I've wanted to talk to its author, Bruxy Cavey. During a recent trip to Canada, we had the opportunity to have lunch together and record some of our conversation along with one of their newest staff members, Sean Davidson. Since the podcast went long, we're going to play it here in two parts. In this edition Wayne, Bruxy, and Sean discuss the difference between knowing God as a personality in the universe and trying to serve him as a concept. If he's only a concept, history has demonstrated how we so easily allow human mediators to get between God and the people he invites to know him. Finally, in getting to know each other they also spin the doctrine wheel to explore such topics as hell, atonement, and place of theology in the believer's experience. Part two follows next week. Podcast Links: Bruxy's Blog and The Meeting House website where he is the teaching pastor. Bruxy's book, The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus Sean Davidson at the Meeting House We need some help clothing some orphans in Kenya

No the break isn't over, but I couldn't resist the urge to share this with all of you. "So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore" has been one of my flagship books that helps people wrestle with the reality of living loved in the religious environment of the 21st century. Almost a year ago, he was contacted by Kevin Waller about the possibility of converting this story into a theatrical film and they've been in discussions ever since. Wayne has the sense that Kevin is the right guy to interpret this movie for a spiritually hungry generation of people who are turned off to religion. He has enlisted Angela Eby to take first pass on the screen play and a few weeks ago they met for two days at Wayne's house to block out the script. After their time together they recorded a conversation with Wayne to introduce you to them and this project and in doing so they share some of their journeys about coming through their disillusionment with religion to embrace a larger reality. Podcast Links: Kevin Waller's current film in pre-production, Mission Blacklist So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore Help With Kenya

When you use God's gift to seek validation for yourself, or you need to make it the source of your income, something very serious gets twisted, both in the gift and how you'll treat others to get them to respond to you. DaRon Maughon (pictured with wife, Tina, at left) joins Wayne for a discussion about his journey beyond religion into a freer walk with Jesus. As the son of a pastor, a musician, and "worship" leader, DaRon got tired of being the circus monkey on the stage and it launched him on a very different journey. Wayne talks with him about those transitions and the freedom his family is finding in the life of Jesus. They also listen to a disturbing clip promoting a webinar to help people discover the secrets of finding their way into "full-time ministry" and how those tricks of the trade are really about manipulating an audience for their own needs. Podcast Links: Infomercial for the secrets of making your gifts a "full time ministry" Help With Kenya

Don Zimmermann, a long time Baptist pastor in the Phoenix area, joins Wayne to share his journey learning to live inside the love of the Father and how it has transformed his own life, his family's life, and that of the congregation he has been involved with for multiple decades. People often ask if an established congregation can find its way into a more relational life together. The answer is, though it is rare, it can happen. This is an inside look at both the costs of that transition and the rewards of doing so. A powerful undercurrent to this entire dialog is how much more relevant this group of people hs become in the world when their objective was no longer "to invite people to church," but to simply love them the way they had been loved. We did have some audio problems with Skype on this one, but the conversation is worth listening through them. Podcast Links: Contact Don Zimmermann Our Help in Kenya

After listening to our recent podcast about "Living Beyond Your Transformation" one person came to the discovery that they were in a situation where they were asking others to live beyond their transformation. That takes Wayne and Brad down a wonderful track of doing to others what isn't even helpful to do for ourselves. Encouraging others to live by what we think is best for them, when it is beyond their own growing trust in their Father, is fruitless. Living in freedom doesn't focus on what others are doing, but only what Father is asking of us and can only happen in us when we are contented in his love and provision, rather than scheming for the things we want or think we deserve. Podcast Links: Help With Kenya