"It seems that fear drives us to build our own jenga-tower theologies, which we guard with the viciousness of junk-yard dog." That comment from a God Journey listener, sends Kyle and Wayne on a discussion about what's going on in the world and the need for real community. At a time when we may be witnessing the beginning of World War III in Europe, we've never seen followers of Christ more divided. How did Putin become the poster boy for Christian fundamentalists, and why are many pastors afraid that talking about current events will divide their congregations? At a time when we most need to see Jesus' prayer answered for the Father's glory to dwell in us so that we can be brought to complete unity, we are seeing relationships discarded as carelessly as the morning trash. Will we ever learn to put loving each other above our desires to be proved right?

Podcast Notes:

How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right

BBC Podcast The Coming Storm

Can These Evangelicals Save Their Movement? by David Brooks in NY Times

 

 

When Jesus shows us a way forward it generally doesn't feed our fears and insecurities, or our need to try to control the outcome. Recognizing how he is leading us and finding the courage to follow him are important facets of our own God journey.  Kyle and Wayne re-visit a number of key themes from recent podcasts as the response to a listener email and navigate some of the circumstances in their lives.  They flesh out what it means to live to God's pleasure, to cultivate holy indifference, to embrace the scandal of particularity, and to live at love, rest, and play as Jesus wants to lead them. Too many people are so pressed by circumstances that they miss the subtle break crumbs Jesus spreads in their path to invite them into a more spacious lane where freedom and joy abound.

Podcast Notes:

When God sends his Son to redeem the world, how is that Jesus stays in a very small region of Israel and a few dozen people? What does that say about the people living in Africa, Asia, or the Americas back in that day? Some use the term "scandal of particularity" to describe how God works in specific ways, at specific times in specific locations to put love and life into the world, and hopes it spreads organically from there. Maybe life in Jesus is best learned from a brother or sister a little further down the road rather than from a sermon, book, or podcast. Our attempts to mass-produce discipleship often means we use the "I can't do it for everybody," to miss doing it for somebody. Kyle and Wayne also spend some time on the front end talking about how God we discern, identify, and follow God's 'voice' in our lives.

Podcast Notes:

The Dante Study Wayne in which Wayne is participating

Don't you think the disciples had a great time hanging out with Jesus? Wouldn't you have? Why has exhaustion become synonymous with discipleship, when God is doing so much in Scripture out of his "good pleasure?"  Kyle and Wayne explore what it would be like if our pursuit of a life in Christ was characterized by the pursuit of ultimate pleasure, rather than a boring duty that we have to follow to restrain our flesh. Seeing sin as a false pleasure that never satisfies the deeper hunger inside, we could then seek those places where our wholehearted joy and God's wholehearted joy coincide.  We would see his work of transformation not as an obligation we disdain, but to join God in discovering how to live by the fullness of pleasure that brings life.

Podcast Notes:

Helping with the Drought in Kenya

How can we help people young people navigate this season of uncertainty and address their spiritual hungers? Kyle and Wayne continue their conversation about Springtide Research's Report on Religion and Young People entitled Navigating Uncertainty. The book lists some valuable attributes for those who want to help others deal with crisis and spiritual hunger. These include: creating safety, grieving what's been lost, celebrating what's been gained, resisting comparison by making space for a range of emotions, getting together intentionally to combat isolation and focusing on the practical by offering concrete help. They also offer a process to unbundle and rebundle the valuable assets we have to our faith concerns, rather than take an all-or-nothing approach.

Podcast Notes:

Springtide Research Institute and their book Navigating Uncertainty

You have not passed this way before. Doing what we've always done is not going to serve us well in this time of uncertainty. Either being distracted by nostalgia or trusting our own instincts will easily lead us astray. The world is changing quickly and it will require a fresh sensitivity to the voice of the Spirit who guides. After that brief discussion, and not unrelated to it, Kyle and Wayne explore a new research study about young people and religion called Navigating Uncertainty. It describes the experiences young people are having in a COVID-infected world and while they are reaching out to God, they have little hope that organized religion holds the answers they are seeking. What a perfect time for those who can come alongside them in their questions and discovery rather than force answers they are not ready for.

Podcast Notes:

Blue Sheep Media

Tessa Van Wade's Book - Out of the Shadows

BBC Podcast The Coming Storm

Springtide Research Institute and their book Navigating Uncertainty

Helping with the Drought in Kenya

"You were made for love, but not just any love. Go after the love that you were made for." Those are the words of Dr. Steve Boyer of Templeton Honors College in a recording that Wayne and Kyle explore this week. In doing so, they consider four different themes of what it means to live by love. First, trust his Spirit to guide you instead of assuming more expert voices will know best. Second, you don't have to be a professional to be fruitful; you can do it simply for the love of it. Third, they explore the incredibly freeing prayer, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." And finally, they focus on how to follow God's love through painful circumstances instead of chasing an ideal outcome you've crafted in your own mind.

Podcast Notes:

Dr. Steve Boyer on Purgatorio Canto 18 

Order Wayne's book Live Loved Free Full

Out of a Buddhist upbringing, Mary came to know Jesus one year ago, alone in her room after watching a video online. A month ago, she wrote Wayne and Kyle telling them that she was struggling to understand what it meant to be a child of God or how to interact with the church. We invited her to a conversation, asking if we could record it in case her struggles would resonate with others. She agreed. What we got was an amazing story of God inviting a young 20s woman into his love freedom, while the religious voices around her were trying to fill her with obligation and guilt. She struggled to sort out what Jesus was doing in her against the counsel she was getting from others. We pray Mary is a firstfruit of God's outpouring among young people and hope our conversation with her will help others divide between the voice of the Sheperd and the voice of strangers.

Podcast Notes:

Order Wayne's book Live Loved Free Full

Can we untangle the life of Jesus from how the religion of Christianity has distorted and trivialized it? Kyle and Wayne have just seen the new Matrix movie and once again the parallels between that and our current culture approach the prophetic. They share some powerful lines from the movie such as, "Nothing travels faster than light... except gossip."If we don’t know what’s real we can’t resist." And, "Quietly yearning for what you don't have while dreading losing what you do—for 99.9% of your race that is the definition of reality, desire and fear." They also sum up what 2021 meant to each of them personally and look ahead to what's in their hearts as they go into 2022. Themes they cover include, being still and holding God's work in our hearts as well as being joyfully sober in the days to come.

Podcast Notes:

Wayne's Blog on Joyfully Sober

Order Wayne's book Live Loved Free Full

Kyle and I are taking a break during this holiday season, and we hope you get too as well. We're taking a hiatus over the next two weeks, so there will be no new podcasts.  But the last year has been a powerful one for Wayne. He says he's learned more in the last year about how to walk with God than the previous fifteen, through some amazing moments and through challenging circumstances as well. Over the next two weeks, we'll replay a couple of the key podcasts that express how that work has happened in his heart. This was from last April 16, 2021, Love, Rest, Play.