The recent comments by John MacArthur about popular Bible teacher Beth Moore once again bring into question whether or not Scripture forbids women to share their gifts with the body of Christ. That invites a conversation about our view of Scripture, legalism, women, and the polarization that happens even in the body of Christ. Brad and Wayne walk through that minefield together as they share their own journey in growing beyond paradigms that cemented early in our lives that may be based on false interpretations.

Podcast Notes:

John MacArthur Is No Stranger to Controversy

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Where can one find out what's true anymore, when people, politicians, and the media are only cherry-picking the facts that serve their particular agenda? Brad joins Wayne for a discussion about the polarization of our culture and where it might lead and how it has affected their own relationship. How can we have meaningful conversations with people who don't just have a different interpretation of the facts, but a disagreement about the basic facts themselves. They also talk about the difficult relationship between love and judgment.

Podcast Notes:

A Language of Healing for a Polarized Nation

Pew Research on Polarization

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They begin by revisiting their previous podcast about life traveling at the speed of relationships, through the letters of other listeners who are finding the same joy in that reality. Then, Wayne and Julie take a look at the pitfalls and dangers of trying to find our identity in anything other than resting in the joy of being a beloved child of a gracious Father. If not, we will try to find it in something else that can never fill that need—our spouse, our children, our success, our vocation, our gifts, or in other people. It happens even when we are unaware of it and puts pressure on us and others in ways that destroy relationships rather than celebrating them.

Podcast Notes:

Email Julie

Previous podcasts with Julie

Parenting Resources:  Parenting by Paul David Tripp and Loving Our Kids on Purpose by Danny Silk

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"We have to question the intentions of any group that insists on disdain toward other people as a membership requirement," said Brené Brown, in Daring Greatly.  Wayne's two coauthors for A Language of Healing for a Polarized Nation, Bob Prater of Bakersfield, CA and Arnita Taylor of Dallas, TX, join him for a discussion on how to live generously in the world, especially with people who we might be tempted to perceive as our enemy. They talk about having a growth mindset that allows you to take in new experiences and learn from them. Their new book releases November 19. If you'd like to be part of the Launch Team for this book or to join the authors in Dallas or Southern call, see Wayne's blog about how to do that. If you'd like to pre-order your book, you can do so at the link below.

Podcast Notes:

A Language of Healing for pre-orders or to RSVP for events around the book launch in Dallas and in Los Angeles

Previous Podcasts with Arnita

Email Arnita

Previous Podcasts with Bob

Email Bob

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You can't be authentic with others until you learn to be honest with yourself. Kyle Rice follows up last week's podcast by joining Wayne again as they respond to some listener email and find themselves in a conversation about the desire for authenticity, and how it is often punished in religious settings, especially when people aspire to leadership. You can be gifted on a stage and still be lost internally. This life is always easier to talk about than it is to live. They also spend some time talking about sexual desire in an age where sex is treated too casually and often dishonestly for those struggling to keep the gift inside God's boundaries and thus experience its full joy and beauty.

Podcast Notes:

Email Kyle

Past Podcasts with Kyle

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The quest for certainty about God's reality more often leads to error than it does to wisdom and truth. Those who feign certainty are also mostly arrogant, off-putting, and wrong. Wayne and guest, Kyle Rice discuss how our attempts to grasp at certainty often disfigure God and make the life of Christ unappealing to young people today. They also talk about how those they've met who are more mature in Christ are also more humble, holding their views more lightly because they realize God is so much bigger than any of us can comprehend. How do we engage younger generations with the joy of walking with God and embracing the treasure of his wisdom?

Podcast Notes:

Email Kyle

Past Podcasts with Kyle

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Welcome to God Journey podcast #700!  Who would have thought and Wayne gets to celebrate with his daughter, Julie, as they talk about one of the core realities of moving from religious life to one of growing freedom in God's love. As the world presses us in its mold, it seeks to drive our lives with the responsibilities of survival and the tyranny of achievement. Those will always drive us toward a fruitless and empty life. Wayne picked up a phrase last week in Virginia about life moving at the speed of relationships, which is also how the kingdom of God grows.

Podcast Notes:

Email Julie

Previous podcasts with Julie

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What happens when you begin to count your days by how many of them you have left? Last week, Wayne was in South Carolina with his friend, Bob Stamps, and they took time out from their work on Bob's book to talk about contemplating our own mortality, not in the morbid sense of dread, but in a way that makes us wiser about the days we have yet to live. In their conversation, they talk about regrets, lessons they have learned and how they view their dying day, whenever it should come. (Note: This was recorded outdoors on the shores of Lake Jocassee, so please forgive the occasional noise from passing watercraft.)

Podcast Notes:

Previous Podcasts with Bob Stamps

Wayne's Blog on The Shadow of Death

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What does it mean for us to live in the Father's provision, especially if we want to live off the thing we love? Kyle Rice, Founder of Blue Sheep Media and an occasional guest on the podcast, joins Wayne for a discussion about ministry or creative aspirations and learning how God provides for us. There are no principles to guide us here, only a voice to lead us one step at a time. Rather than seeing God's purpose for us as a destination we strategize to get to, we might be better off learning to follow him as his will for us unfolds one simple decision at a time as we take the doors he nudges us to open.  They also talk about the complications of raising support from other people to fulfill our vision.

Podcast Notes:

Podcast with Kyle and Jess about starting a new media company

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The greatest barrier to people embracing their own God Journey is their overestimation of our own capabilities. In short, we keep trying to do God's job. Wayne's daughter, Julie joins him for a discussion that starts with raising children but ends up exploring the entire way religion has inculcated us into trying to figure out what God wants and producing it in our own strength. But our efforts will never be enough, and then we end up frustrated by our failures. But what if we were never meant to do God's work on our own, but rather learn how to rely on him so that he can freely work in us?

Podcast Notes:

Wayne's Blog on The Gift of the Jews

Previous podcasts with Julie

Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles that Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp

Loving Our Kids on Purpose by Danny Silk

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