The God Journey

Your Sense of Belonging

Wayne — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:47:25 +0000

It’s Super Bowl week in the States and a little romp about football turns into a wider discussion about God’s intervention in sport and recreation and why people get so connected to athletic teams that they go through days of depression if their favorite one loses. Could it be a result of God wiring us for himself and our seeking it in all the wrong places? Is that why people identify with athletic teams, celebrities, and even religious gatherings that offer a false sense of belonging by connecting it to something human? A false sense of belonging will always separate us from others, but if we find our belonging in God we may still enjoy sports and other groupings of people, but they won’t own us in the same way and they won’t give us an excuse to look down on others who like things other than we do. Finding our worth in God’s love for us will open doors to a richer kind of community and freedom to live in the world.

Podcast Links:
Wayne’s Blog on Tattoos on the Heart
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream

Seeing People as People

Wayne — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:03:56 +0000

Brad’s been listen to the relationships versus religion raps on YouTube and Wayne’s been reading Tattoos of the Heart and the two converge in a lively discussion about how we view people. Do we treat others as individuals and love as people even if broken or lost, or do we see them through the grid of us versus them relationships that makes us more prone to poke them in the eye with our own need for self-validation. As long as we need people to fill up something in us, we use them even if we don’t mean to. By finding our acceptance and worth in him, we will not view people based on our needs, but rather engage them as loved children of a gracious Father, whether they know it yet or not. That invites us into the space Jesus enjoyed, the freedom to love people for who they were, not how they would fit into his plans.

Podcast Links:
The Religion/Relationship Rap
Wayne’s Blog on Tattoos on the Heart
The Human Experience
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestreamхудожник на икони

Relationships First

Wayne — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:26:32 +0000

Charlie shares a wonderful story about how this podcast has opened some doors at his work. Then Brad and Wayne interact with other emails about creating community that offers a safe environment by putting relationships first, as a family does. Too many times a genuine move of God gets curtailed by those who seek to “steward” it, but only end up in a misguided attempt to control it. In the end what might have begun as God’s gift ends up possessing them just like the ring of power in the Lord of the Rings. Though well-intentioned they change the dynamics from sharing real friendships to trying accomplish a task and then relationships are destroyed. This fits Marshall McLuhan observation that “We shape our tools, and then our tools shape us.” Unless we put relationship first and free each other to be their own life in God we’ll never discover the real joy of God’s kind of community.

Podcast Links:
Marshall McLuhan Quote
Contributions are still needed to help establish an orphanage in Kenya.
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream
Order In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness from Lifestream

Living Truly

Wayne — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:34:55 +0000

Wayne and Brad revisit the Spiral of Silence Podcast through comments and emails received about it. This time the focus is on our response to this phenomenon that makes us care more about what others think of us than we do living truly. How do we help create a safe place for ourselves and others to be their authentic selves? Only God’s love can bring us freedom from this false sense of belonging and when God teaches us how to live this way, we will want to extend the same freedom to others. They finish with a quote from George McDonald about how it it is more important for us to live obediently to the living Jesus rather than theorize about him. How awesome our fellowship with others would be if each of us learned to live this way and free others to do so as well.

Podcast Links:
George MacDonald Quote
Contributions are still needed to help establish an orphanage in Kenya.
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream
Order In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness from Lifestream

The Spiral of Silence

Wayne — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:16:52 +0000

Wayne and Brad explore the cultural phenomenon researchers are calling the “spiral of silence” that demonstrates the truth behind the Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, “The Emperor’s new Clothes”. Simply put, people who want to avoid reprisal or isolation actually go along with the popular opinion around them even when it differs from their own. Instead of objecting, they spiral into silence so that a whole group of people can actually embrace what others want of them rather than risk the negative social judgment of their peers. The research is fascinating and helps explain why religious systems or communities can be caught up in a culture of conformity where everyone seems to agree, rather than making people feel safe especially where they might have questions and disagree.

Podcast Links:
Chuck Colson’s Breakpoint on The Spiral of Silence
Wikipedia on The Spiral of Silence

The Messyness of Truth

Wayne — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:13:29 +0000

For the last podcast of the year Brad and Wayne spend some time in the old mailbag to let their listeners add their input. The conversation eventually settles on how truth does set us free, but not before it messes with us and our illusions. The process of opening our eyes to God’s reality often involves the unraveling of lies that we’ve used to navigate through life. As they implode we can be overwhelmed with anger or frustration. But of those signal the very end of a process that allows the light and love of God to win our hearts into his reality. It is a marvelous, if sometimes painful process, but if we can appreciate it we can relax easier when it happens to us, and cheer others on when its happening to them.

Podcast Links:
Contributions are still needed to help establish an orphanage in Kenya.
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream
Order In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness from Lifestreamikoni

Conversations that Matter

Wayne — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:25:22 +0000

Teebowing is in the news these days and Brad’s a fan. Wayne is a little more concerned about how that kind of in-your-face demonstrations of personal faith alienate some people from the greater reality of the gospel. That leads them into a conversation about how we can find ourselves in conversations with others about their spiritual journeys that can offer insight and encouragement in the spiritual journeys of others. Why is it that our conversations mostly stay in the safe conversations of superficiality at the shallow end of the pool, rather than find real depth of spiritual engagement than can allow people to share the resources of their journeys with each other?

Always Faithful

Wayne — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:51:12 +0000

What begins with Wayne’s disillusionment about sports success and its hidden costs, ends up in a conversation about the hurt and anger that often comes from people who start to see through the religious lies they were taught. What allows us to live freely in the moment, even when things aren’t turning out the way we want or hope? Brad and Wayne find peace in the simple reality that God is always with them in whatever mess they are in, whether or not it comes out the way they desired. Without certainty that God always remains faithful, even if we are unfaithful, we are left to live by our own performance, which will never be enough.

Secure in His Love

Wayne — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:36:32 +0000

This one begins with sexual orientation politics in California and the ongoing debate in Christianity over the reality of hell, but soon Brad and Wayne settle into a conversation about how easily our insecurities can be manipulated by religion. Instead of inviting us into a transforming relationship with Jesus it provokes our guilt and sense of responsibility to drive us into a variety of activities that weigh us down and undermine what God really has in mind. People driven by religion are usually obnoxious in human relationships instead of being as endearing as Jesus was to the people around him. Only by finding our security in God’s love for us, can we find the freedom to truly be his light in the world simply by the way we live and love.

Rise and Shine

Wayne — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 15:29:11 +0000

The chaos of human governments seems to be on the rise, and many grow hopeless about the world’s future. Prophecies abound about the doom and gloom to come as God judges our world. Can this be the end of the age? What should we do in the face of such dire circumstances. Brad and Wayne talk about how this season is a great opportunity for those who really know God to rise and let his light shine through the simple way they live their loves each day, not only caring for themselves, but also looking out for the welfare of others. In a time when many are staking out what they feel entitled to grasp for themselves, we can have a profound impact on the world simply by responding to God’s voice each day as we love those around us.

A Life of Growing Trust

Wayne — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:16:28 +0000

Can we trust God to watch over us even if you’re not doing all we think you need to do, or even if things don’t turn out the way we hoped? Because Wayne and Brad couldn’t get their schedules together, Wayne invites Renee Lockey, an OB-GYN from Austin, TX and a previous guest on The God Journey, to be the guest co-host for a conversation that began in Wayne’s living room about growing to trust God in the real issues of and opportunities of life. The conversation explores the joy of finding community with other brothers and sisters in less managed environments, how busyness an distract us from what’s most important in our lives, and dealing with the nagging accusation about whether or not we are “doing enough” to be part of what God is doing in the world.

Podcast Links:
Renee’s previous appearance on The God Journey
Renee’s Blog Lead Me On
Resources that helped Renee deal with sexual brokenness.
Contributions are still needed to help establish an orphanage in Kenya.
You can order In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness from Lifestream

Faith and Healing

Wayne — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:02:32 +0000

What do you do when your dad is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease? Will his healing hinge on your faith or prayers? In a romp through their recent emails, Brad and Wayne bite into these questions and a few more. Why do we have a difficult time living in uncertainty and going on a daily adventure with God and instead seek false security in some pat answer, ritualized technique or immutable principle? The truth is we are more secure in him than any of those things can offer, and learning to live there allows us to be part of an unfolding adventure in our lives rather than grasping at illusions of security that only disappoint in the realities of this broken world. During this conversation they talk about physical healing, inner healing, and the prayer of faith that we can engage with God as his work unfolds in our lives.

Podcast Links:
Contributions are still needed to help establish an orphanage in Kenya.

Oh Wow! Oh Wow! Oh Wow!

Wayne — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:05:21 +0000

Steve Jobs’ last words before his death and a recent clip from “Through the Wormhole” has Brad and Wayne talking about the joy of living in wonder at the reality of God that easily transcends all of our powers of reason. If our scientists can’t see, measure, or understand 95% of what makes up our universe, then maybe God is more intimately involved in his creation each day than we know. Embracing his mystery beyond our own ability to understand, is a far more freeing way to live than getting stuck in our frustrations when God doesn’t do what we want or expect. They also talk more about prayer and how Jesus said we can connect with this transcendent God in the simplest expressions of our love and desire for him.

Podcast Links:
Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream
Order In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness from Lifestream

Seeking and Finding

Wayne — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:04:47 +0000

The podcast we did on “Letting Go” with Mike Steele, started a wonderful conversation in the comment section of the blog. Brad and Wayne pick up some of that conversation as they talk about what we might do if God seems elusive to our heart-felt desire to know him. How does he make himself known in our world and what is our part in asking, seeking, and knocking, without lapsing into the religious performance traps? God wants each of us to enter into a vibrant relationship with him. That assurance allows us to grow in learning how we can participate in that relationship and live transformed lives in the world. Brad also shares about his latest project, a book and DVD collection of the inspiring film, THE BUTTERFLY CIRCUS.

Podcast Links:
See the movie The Butterfly Circus, or order the new book/movie combination at Windblown Media.
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream

The Other Side of Grace

Wayne — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:56:12 +0000

What do you do when you realize you’ve climbed the ladder leaning on the wrong wall? A comment Mike made in our last podcast about his “feeling lied to” by those he knew who helped him learn how to run the religious treadmill, opens a discussion with Brad and Wayne about how we think of the people and places that were part of our lives while we trying to serve God religiously. To many it does feel like they were duped or lied to. For others it felt like they had too much invested in the old ways to even consider another alternative. In time, however, grace does its work in us and we find ourselves thinking very differently about those who are still caught in the system of religious obligation.

Podcast Links:
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream
Order In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness from Lifestream

Letting Go

Wayne — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:47:12 +0000

Sometimes the best way to find what you’re looking for is to let go of what you already have. Mike Steele, a former computer entrepreneur and then a major facilitator for the house church movement in North America joins in a conversation with Brad and Wayne about the transformations in his life. In the busyness of his high-profile “ministry”, Mike was able to recognize the emptiness on the inside and instead of grasping for what he thought he wanted, he let God unravel his life in a most amazing way. Now, no longer fitting anyone’s expectations for his life, Mike has gone on an amazing journey to discover what a real relationship with God looks like. He and his wife, Chris, live in Colorado Springs.

Podcast Links:
Email Mike
Order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream

A Man Like No Other, Part 2

Wayne — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:56:05 +0000

Wayne and Brad continue their conversation with Murry Whiteman, the artist of their newest release: A Man Like No Other: The Illustrated Life of Jesus. Their words were added to the artistic brush of Murry Whiteman to conclude a project that has been in his heart for twenty years. The result is a 128-page, full-color art book containing panoramic images drawn from the gospels with stories to help you think through the life of Jesus with all the religious garb we usually add to the story. In this podcast, you’ll hear the passion for Jesus that each of these three brought to the project and how they wanted others to stop and see the reality of Jesus in a way that they may not have done so before. The book will be available in early November.

Podcast Links:
Pre-order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream

A Man Like No Other

Wayne — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:14:52 +0000

Wayne and Brad have just finished their most recent book, A Man Like No Other: The Illustrated Life of Jesus. Their words were added to the artistic brush of Murry Whiteman to conclude a project that has been in his heart for twenty years. The result is a 128-page, full-color art book containing panoramic images drawn from the gospels with stories to help you think through the life of Jesus without all the religious garb we usually add to the story. In this podcast, they wanted to introduce you to Murry and let him share a bit of his story in coming to know Jesus himself and what inspired the paintings in this new book. Murry talks freely about his story learning to live in the love of Jesus and some of the trouble he encountered with some of the naysayers in his life. And, no, Murry is not the man like no other, Jesus is! Though Murry is a pretty unique character.

Podcast Links:
Pre-order A Man Like No Other from one of these three websites: Murry’s website, Windblown Media, or Lifestream

Available Surrender

Wayne — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:33:18 +0000

Brad returns from a quick trip to Jerusalem and then he and Wayne dip into the mail bag to catch up on some of the things our listeners are thinking and asking about recent podcasts. That does get them into a wide-ranging discussion about Jesus’ Second Coming, the performance of religion, and the rejection someone suffers for being honest with their pastor. But the longer topic extends the “Living Out of Our Spirit” Podcast by looking further at what it may mean to be born again and waking up to that world of the Spirit where we commune with God and live inside a relationship instead of following a set of principles. Finding a continuing place of surrender to Father and the ways he works, has helped both of them grow in this reality.

Living Out of Our Spirit

Wayne — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:04:06 +0000

Following up on their previous podcast with Kevin Smith, Brad and Wayne continue along those same themes talking about their own growth in learning to trust in God’s ability to manage their lives. That has come through their own growth in learning to engage an ongoing conversation with God and how he makes himself known to them. With a further clip from Kevin’s discussion with Wayne they find their way into a conversation about learning to live out of our spirits, than out of our intellect or our feelings. It is a major component to learning to live beyond religious obligation and embrace a life of relationship—first with a loving Father, and then with others in freedom and authenticity.

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