The life of Christ runs at a different pace than what the world demands of us or what our religious performance will allow. Maybe the very thing you're running from is what God wants to use so that you would know you are his delight? In this episode, Kyle and Wayne consider that who I am when I'm at rest in his love is a far better indicator of how he sees me than the damaged me reacting to fear and insecurity. Legalism starts with the premise that we are unworthy of God's love because of what we've done but that's not true; we are worthy of his love in spite of what we've done.

Podcast Notes:

The Jake Colsen Book Club  (Note: the time is wrong during the podcast. At that time it was 10:00 am PDT, but we have changed it to 10:30 for this Sunday.)

Ponder

"How do you know what God is showing you?"  A great question from one of our listeners takes Kyle and Wayne into the next phase of our continuing series about finding our way out of the chaos of a broken world and learning to live in the flow of God's Spirit.  As God reveals himself to us, he's helping us see what is real and not real about him, ourselves, our thoughts, and our conclusions about the things in front of us. We offer God binary choices when he wants to give us a different framework to navigate the circumstances before us. Only by pondering with him, with the Scriptures, with other followers of Christ can we fully recognize what he is saying to us.

Podcast Notes:

Previous Podcast - Excruciatingly Beautiful

Ten Anxious Responses that May Actually be Trauma Responses from Psychology Today

Whether you've suffered trauma or have a loved one dealing with it, Wayne and Kyle continue their conversation from last week alongside comments and questions from listeners. They talk about recognizing when Jesus is inviting you to healing rather than trying to locate it on your own, how important it is to find a safe space inside Jesus' affection for you, and they explore a poem that provides a powerful image for loving the part of you that was traumatized. They also talk about how wholeheartedness is disruptive if others around you won't make space for the changes God is making in your life.

Podcast Notes:

The Traumatized Brain - last week's podcast

Letting My Past Catch Up To Me - the poem by Dana Andrechyn that Wayne reads

Additional resources to help understand trauma:

*  The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

* Try Softer by Aundi Kolber

* Being Known Podcast with Curt Thompson, MD - Season 4 is about unpacking trauma

Emotional and verbal abuse as a young man caused Kyle to lock his heart into a deep bunker and guard it at all costs. It affected many of his relationships well into adulthood. He shares his journey with Wayne and how Jesus continued to knock on the door of his heart and invite him out of that bunker to find rich and rewarding connections with others. Unresolved trauma is epidemic in our culture and scientists have only recently discovered how it shapes the physiology of the brain and distorts its perception of circumstances and people. Learning about trauma will help us all find greater freedom in this life, whether it's for ourselves or others we love.

Podcast Notes:

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

Try Softer by Aundi Kolber

Revelation

We're back for a new edition of The God Journey as Wayne and Kyle continue their exploration of how living loved increasingly sets us free from the gravity of the world's brokenness to live in the realm of the Spirit.  They discuss how to recognize God's nudging when he appears in the circumstances we face. Unfortunately, we have substituted our logical application of Scripture for the revelation of God's Spirit and the human effort of seeking him for the recognition of how God is seeking us. Following him is a real adventure of engagement rather than finding a set of principles to implement. Even in our most dire trials, he is with us offering his path through them to greater freedom and transformation. (If you have any specific questions about this part of the journey, please write Wayne at [email protected] and they will try to answer them on a future podcast.)

Podcast Notes:

Scriptures explored in this podcast include Matthew 4:4 and Galatians 3:1-5.

Blown By the Wind

How does love transform us so that we can live the life of peace, joy, and abundance Jesus promised us no matter what circumstances we are currently navigating?  This is the first in an occasional series of podcasts that will explore what Wayne has been stitching together over the past couple of years. This is not a new technique but a picture of the process by which Jesus lifts us out of the gravity of the chaos of our world and teaches us how to live in the unforced rhythms of grace. This week as Kyle and Wayne discuss the framework they explore how the heaviness of flesh, circumstances, and religious obligation weighs on us with a heaviness that draws us into the weeds and how Jesus wants to invite us to soar with him in his love.

Podcast Notes:

Scriptures explored in this podcast include the upper room discourse, John 13-16, and John 3

Bob Marley Video Three Little Birds

Wayne's upcoming Travel

Restored innocence is the trailhead to a full and free life in Jesus. Innocence is not earned by our performance; it is a gift of God through the work of Jesus. Without that innocence even at our most broken when we're lost in our failures or abuse, we will not allow Father the access to our hearts that will carry us forward. This is the gospel, that even at our weakest Jesus has cleansed our conscience so that we can engage him without shying away with the delusion of unworthiness. Kyle and Wayne dive into this topic as a follow-up to last week's podcast on re-personalizing our faith so that it grows out of an ever-deepening friendship.

Podcast Notes:

Scriptures explored in this podcast include the Prodigal story in Luke 15, and the perfecting of our conscience by the work of Christ in Hebrews 8-10. 

Wayne's upcoming Travel

In some recent engagements, Wayne has noticed how people de-personalize faith. For them, their faith is correct teaching by which they measure others or a set of rituals that give them comfort. People alive in Jesus are focused on him—his insights, his presence, his leading. They talk about him, invite people to know him, help people sort out how to engage his reality rather than focusing on peripheral issues. Wayne and Kyle explore how we can re-personalize our faith and our journey by find a real engagement with Jesus that grows deeper and richer over time.

Podcast Notes:

Urban Mystic Podcast where Wayne was the guest

Wayne's upcoming Travel

Mark Galli, a former editor of Christianity Today, thinks it's important for Christians to admit that they really don't want anything to do with God. In fact, they resent him, considering him a nuisance with his ethical demands or a disappointment for not rescuing us from trouble the way Scripture promises. What's more, he concludes that God isn't even helpful in our attempts to build a relationship with him. Is he right? Certainly, many Christians feel this way, even if they are afraid to. voice it. But his approach to God and his conclusions about the journey are not the way God sees it. They are the rocks on which religion leaves people shipwrecked. Wayne and Kyle work through his column to show there's a much better way to see this journey and discover the God who finding every way to help us know him.

Podcast Notes:

Let's Face It: We Resent God by Mark Galli

Wayne's upcoming Travel

"It's easier to look back at circumstances and see that God was with us even if we couldn't see it at the time. Why do you think we miss God's presence in the present?" That question sums up Kyle and Wayne's discussion about being led by the Spirit in the day-to-day circumstances of life. They begin by talking about the difference between presumption and trust in our perception of God's will and why God isn't as clear with us as we would like him to be. Could it be that the struggle to see his will is actually strengthening the spiritual muscles that will allow us to follow him, much like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis? And is it possible we contribute to the fog of uncertainty because we are looking to avoid risk or difficult outcomes?

Podcast Notes:

Luis' Story

Wayne's upcoming Travel