The God Journey

What happens when loyalty to a group becomes more important than our willingness to see what's true? Wayne and Kyle explore Dietrich Bonhoeffer's provocative reflections on stupidity—not as a lack of intelligence, but as the blindness that comes when we surrender our discernment to the crowd. Whether in politics, religion, or our closest relationships, it's easy to become so convinced we're right that we can no longer hear another perspective. But how does God free us from that blindness? Through stories of unlikely friendships, challenging conversations, and personal discoveries, Wayne and Kyle consider how love opens doors that arguments and confrontation often cannot. Perhaps God's light doesn't need to overwhelm the darkness but simply find a willing heart where it can take root. How do we remain open to the gentle light of Jesus, even when it challenges the things we thought we knew?

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After returning from New England and eastern Canada, Wayne catches up with Kyle about a disappointing decision by Wyoming's Community College Commission. Then an assessment by AI of Wayne's strengths and weaknesses opens a deeper conversation about success, influence, and the ways we measure a fruitful life. What if following Jesus takes us down paths that don't fit the world's expectations of achievement or significance? His priorities may lead us toward quieter acts of love, unexpected relationships, and opportunities we could never have planned for ourselves. Wayne and Kyle explore what it means to follow Jesus without needing to leverage every opportunity, build something lasting, or measure our lives by visible results.

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Wayne and Kyle explore how to live out of love, especially when in conflicted situations. Drawing from Wayne and Tobie’s recent How Does Love Make Right? seminar, they walk through seven ways love can respond to hurt and injustice: presence, truth, impact, responsibility, protection, restoration, and freedom. The goal is not to control people or force an outcome, but to learn how to act from the fullness of God’s love rather than fear, scarcity, or self-protection. Along the way, they reflect on boundaries, honest apologies, safe relationships, arrogance, and the challenge of telling the truth without weaponizing it. Love does not ignore what is broken, nor does it pretend every situation can be fixed on demand. It helps us see clearly, own what is ours, protect what matters, and make room for restoration wherever it is possible.

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Suzie Bell, whom we don't know, posted a list of FaceBook of things she needed to unlearn. Wayne and Kyle explore some of the lessons many of us absorbed along the way that may need to be unlearned if we are going to live more freely in God’s love. Faith is not the same as denial. Loyalty is not always the same as truth. Forgiveness does not require pretending the harm never happened, and disagreement is not rebellion. Leaving a church, relationship, or career does not necessarily mean failure. Sometimes healing begins when we finally question the assumptions that once kept us safe but now keep us stuck. Along the way, they reflect on friendship, loss, performance, telling our stories honestly without weaponizing them, and the courage it takes to face pain rather than avoid it. Unlearning is not about throwing everything away; it is about making room for what is truer, freer, and more deeply rooted in God's nature.

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"I had to decide that love meant something more to God than it meant to me, or he didn't love me." That comment from a friend of Wayne's sparks a conversation with Kyle about what happens when our familiar definitions no longer fit what God is actually doing in us. Pain does not necessarily mean God is absent. Sometimes growth allows us to see through our circumstances and fears to have a better grasp of what it means to walk with him. Along the way, they talk about vulnerability, healing, unanswered outcomes, Lewis’s dreams about laying down his weapons, and the courage to tell our stories honestly. Perhaps one of the hardest aspects of spiritual growth is allowing God to redefine things we thought we already understood—and discovering that his reality is often larger, kinder, and more redemptive than the categories we inherited.

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After a brief discussion about the current AI brouhaha, Wayne and Kyle continue their conversation about what it means to abide in Christ. They make an important distinction between responding to God's invitation and being pressured into it. Fear, religious performance, and the demand to “get it right” can make spiritual life feel forced, but God’s presence draws us another way. Abiding grows as we recognize his invitation in our longing and respond to what he reveals. Then we'll be prepared when difficult times come and not have to try to close the circle with our own resources. Exploring his presence is best done in love, at rest, and with playfulness. Genuine abiding is not driven by obligation; it unfolds in love, trust, and an increasing freedom to live with God in the reality of our everyday lives.

Podcast Notes:

Wayne and Kyle explore Jesus’s invitation to abide in him. It often begins with longing—a desire to know his presence and have him walk with us through life. But abiding is not something we manufacture through spiritual practices or dramatic experiences. It unfolds as God reveals himself and we recognize the ways he is already present with us through insights, nudges, impressions, and a growing awareness deeper than our own thoughts As we embrace what he reveals, we learn to follow. Over time, his life becomes less confined to extraordinary moments and more deeply woven into the ordinary ones—our conversations, relationships, disappointments, questions, and daily routines. Abiding is learning to recognize how God is merging his reality with ours and to live in heart-to-heart engagement with him.

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Wayne and Kyle wrestle with how love responds when life gets complicated. They explore the tension between justice and mercy, especially when abuse comes from the very people who should have offered safety and love. They talk about parenting, spiritual abuse, distorted ideas of love, and the need to slow down to God’s pace so we can recognize what he is doing. Near the end, Wayne shares a recent dream Luis had. In it, Luis asks Jesus if he could heal him in a faster, less painful way. Jesus answers, “Not organically.” Removing the symptoms alone does not heal the wound beneath them. God patiently works at the roots, untangling fear, shame, and self-protection so that freedom can grow from the inside out.

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Wayne and Kyle continue the conversation about what happens when life changes in ways we never wanted or expected. What is the difference between false hope and honest trust? They talk about grieving what has been lost and wrestling openly with God through the difficult questions. When we stop looking for tidy answers, we may discover that his presence matters more than explanations. Whether you face cancer, trauma, family upheaval, or an uncertain future, trust in his love grows as we find God within the new reality rather than trying to escape it. Learning to live each day connecting to the reality that God loves us, walks with us, and will meet us in whatever comes can make all the difference.

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In this solo episode, Wayne reflects on living with multiple myeloma, a recent patient seminar he attended with Sara, and...