When God does a miracle for one person and then doesn't for another, it can present a major stumbling block to those learning to live in the Father's affection. Many come to doubt his existence or his love because the doesn't resolve situations in the way they think love would compel him to. Wayne and Brad wade into this quagmire of the seeming capriciousness of God and talk about how we can keep trust alive even when our hopes in him are disappointed. If we don't see miracles and healing as something we can contrive, then we're free to walk alongside Jesus through the pain of this world in growing trust that things are going to be fine, because he is with us. And he understands how difficult it is to learn to trust him when the world we're in is so broken.

Podcast Notes:

The poetry of Jenny Rowbury

Order Wayne's newest book: Beyond Sundays

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

How did 5,000 strangers in the book of Acts become such a family that they cared enough about each other to sell their possessions to meet each others need? And, all that without a program to tell people how to do it? Brad and Wayne have discovered over the years that real community is not something human effort can produce, but is the joyous fruit of people learning to live in the Father's love, and open enough to let others in. A small reflection of that is seen in the people who came to Israel with us last year. Thirty-five strangers converged in Israel and became an expression of family that has persisted long after the trip. Some of those had a reunion last weekend in Southern California and joined Brad and Wayne as they talk about the friendship God gave us.

Podcast Notes:

Beyond Sundays Is Now Available

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

Gene Edwards is an enigmatic personality and a polarizing figure. No one has done more to encourage people think outside the box of institutionalized Christianity and see the Bride of Christ as Jesus is giving her shape in the world than Gene Edwards. And yet his model for replicating that church has been controversial and for some, painful. Wayne had the opportunity last month to sit down with Gene to share their mutual passion and the differences in how they see God working in the world.  Brad and Wayne process that conversation and why trying to replicate his church by teaching people to follow a model, no matter how well constructed, is problematic at best. As a side note Brad and Wayne reflect on the imperfect vessels we all are, and how to celebrate God's work in a life, even when we recognize their flaws.

Podcast Notes:

More information on Gene Edwards

Beyond Sundays Is Now Available

RSS Feeds for The God Journey

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

Wayne fills Brad in on his recent trip to Florida and North Carolina.  One of the amazing observations Wayne had was the number of young people standing on the cusp of a new journey. Seeing through the illusion of religious obligation, they are hungry to find a different way of walking with Jesus that leads to life. That leads the guys into a discussion about the mistaken process Christianity almost universally embraces: If we can just define the right expectations God has of us from Scripture and do our best to live up to them every day, we will live a victorious Christian life. That system, however, has a faulty linchpin—our own human effort—and will disappoint us every time. How do we lose confidence in our own abilities and learn how to let Jesus live his life through us? They finish with a letter about whether learning to follow God is more like enjoying a playground or learning to walk a tightrope.

Podcast Notes:

Listen to Wayne's Radio Interview with Vince on WBT Charlotte

Beyond Sundays Is Now Available

RSS Feeds for The God Journey

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

Of course, true love cannot be weaponized, though religion often does with what it often calls love. Whenever we think love is the prize we receive when we act "good enough", or we withhold it from people who struggle, we are trying to use love as a weapon. But from God's perspective, love is the environment in which healing and wholeness can happen; it's not the reward for it. Brad and Wayne get into this discussion prowling through the mailbag with some interesting stories from listeners of how God is transforming them. They talk about the destruction of self-righteousness and the anguish it causes others. True love seeks us out at our most broken and opens a door into greater life and freedom.

Podcast Notes:

Wayne's Blog on Weaponizing Love

RSS Feeds for The God Journey

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

For those who hate us talking about politics, this may be the podcast to miss. But for those who like to hear Brad and Wayne talk through their differing views while guarding their friendship, this may be right up your alley. This is not about President Trump or partisan politics, but about how the kingdom of God interacts with the kingdoms of this world and the use of political power.Just how redemptive can we be in human political systems? Brad and Wayne couldn't be more at adds in how they view the political landscape nor how they feel God is asking them to interact with it. So, rather than fight over whose might be right and who might be wrong, they struggle to be honest with their perspective while still being supportive of the differing ways God can lead his people. (Warning: This one goes into overtime!)

Podcast Notes:

RSS Feeds for The God Journey

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

Is transformation a beautiful invitation God has offered us, or his demand to preserve our salvation or to keep him from being offended? How we look at transformation tell us a lot of what we believe about God and righteousness. Following up input from the audience, Wayne and Brad revisit their conversation about character by talking about the way God transforms us as the true liberty we were created for. If we see change coming to our lives either by human effort or to somehow endear ourselves to God, we will fail to find it. If, however, we see the way God wants us to live as his desire for our good, it's a glorious trajectory to live in.

Podcast Notes:

RSS Feeds for The God Journey

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

At the end of 2016, a group of prophetic leaders called the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (Really? Yes, really.) released words of prophecy they had been given for 2017 and what God's people could expect. Now that 2017 is over, we can take a look back and see how well they did. Not too well as it turns out. That draws Wayne and Brad into a larger discussion about prophecy, its value when truly inspired by the Spirit, and the destruction it causes when the prophets need to make a profit, and desperate people find themselves dependent on others for the voice of the Lord.

Podcast Notes:

Charsima article on 2017: Year of Breakthrough

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

Where are the men of noble character? Where is even the hunger in our society to value character over expediency? The political landscape today, including continued charges of men using their power to abuse women for their own amusement, and the brouhaha over the Judge Roy Moore candidacy in Alabama has demonstrated that people care little about character anymore. If you follow the media it seems the defining "values" of our time is power and not character. But maybe this is just the skewed view of media that celebrates the wrong thing.

Podcast Notes:

Wayne's Travel Schedule in early 2018

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"

"God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains," confesses Sean Parker who was Facebook's founding president. Facebook designers intentionally made their platform physiologically addictive to give the user a dopamine hit when people "liked" their posting, or responded with a positive comment. They called it the social-validation feedback loop, and not only does it play directly into human brokenness, but it also is behind all social media platforms and many video games. As bad as that is, it's even worse when people don't feel validated by their social media. Sociologists are only beginning to wrestle with the collateral damage to those who aren't popular in social media and credit the problem to increased teen depression and suicide. Wayne and Brad dive into this dilemma and the conversations we need to be having to help ourselves and our children resist this sinister force.

Podcast Notes:

Axios Interview with Sean Parker, the first President of Facebook

Time Magazine article on Children and social media

Time Magazine: "Is Your Kid Hooked on Smartphones? 5 Tips for Parents"

The latest news from our project in Kenya

Add your voice to our question/comment line via Skype at "TheGodJourney"