Perhaps the most destructive residual effect of the Fall is that we are all drawn into living the "fiefdom of me", determining good or evil based on how it brings me joy or sadness. How much that affects us is seen by how often what Father does in his thwarts our expectations, reminding us that there is still so much about him we haven't begun to understand. That's why it's more helpful to live in the bits God has revealed of himself to us, rather than making assumptions about what we think he ought to do if he shared in the agendas of our little fiefdom. Instead he is inviting us into his kingdom, which can win us out of fiefdom and invite us into a Great Adventure.

Podcast Notes:

Wayne's Review of Pardox Lost

Anne Lamott quit from: Anne Lamott shares all that she knows: “Everyone is screwed up, broken, clingy, and scared”

Information on the GJ Trip to Israel

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Brad and Wayne continue their discussion from last week as it moves to the dialog we carry on in the normal course of our lives, especially with those who may not see what I see. It has been said that religion makes us "relationally challenged" as we are more driven to argument and accusation than we are truly understanding what someone else is going through. Here is some helpful advice for being a better conversationalist by not trying to fix or convince people and by sharing the bandwidth to let others participate and find your way into a give and take where you explore each other. By loving each other more than we want to convince them of our truth, we open the door to a better dialog.

Podcast Notes:

CS Lewis quote about tyranny: "“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

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Has the civic discourse in America reached an all-time low, and if so is there any hope it's about to get better?  As Wayne and Brad begin in the mailbag they are invited into a discussion about the current state of political affairs in the U.S., including the rise in violence and fear as people talk at each other rather than with each other. What has brought about the cultural angst that rips at the fabric of our society, and is it possible to turn it around? In the course of this discussion they consider America's gun laws, the racial inequities in our culture, and the problem of illegal immigration.  Part 2 continues next week.

Podcast Notes:

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Wayne is ticked off! He's met too many women of late who have been preyed upon by counselors or pastors who seek to fulfill their sexual urges at the expense of women who are emotionally broken.  Instead of inviting them into a secure environment of love and affection, they exploit them in a way that only deepens their pain and fears. That leads Brad and Wayne on a discussion about where healing and life is learned in an institution or in a healthy family. Walking alongside others who have found enough transformation in Christ not to exploit others for what they can get, but can provide a safe and secure place for people to engage God and be open in their own struggles. Jesus was the safest place on the planet for hurting people to fall, and he wants to provide that same space through your growing freedom.

Podcast Notes:

Wayne refers to this book again:  Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson

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Wayne's Travel Schedule

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Can you provide a podcast without trying to build a community? That's what one listener wants to know and it invites Wayne and Brad into an interesting discussion about this podcast and whether or not they want to build an audience or turn the God Journey into an Internet community.  If your Yuck Meter went off, so did ours! Finding our identity in a group of like-minded people seems to be a common human drive. It's as old as tribalism, as ubiquitous as denominations, and as fresh as my-sports-team-is-better-than-yours. What accounts for this constant drive toward tribalism? Is it healthy? Does it have unintended consequences that prove destructive to real community? Or, is there something better God does in us which negates the need to find our security or identity in any group of people?

Podcast Notes:

Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson

Information on the GJ Trip to Israel

Wayne's Travel Schedule

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What happens when a mom of children in their twenties offers to answer questions about sex from the hormone-ravaged world of 18-28 year olds?  You get: unashamed: candid conversations about dating, love, nakedness, and faith.  Wayne and Brad invite the author, Tracy Levinson to join them on this week's podcast to talk about her new book and what she has discovered in her conversations about sex and dating in a grace-based, Jesus-passionate framework. Tracy is a long-time God Journey listener from the Dallas, TX area covers this explosive topic with grace, humor, and vulnerable honesty that is as insightful as it is engaging.

Podcast Notes:

unashamed: candid conversations about dating, love, nakedness and faith

Tracy's website

Wayne's review of Tracy's book

Information on the GJ Trip to Israel

Wayne's Travel Schedule

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Wayne is back from the land of puppy dogs and rainbows and shares with Brad some of the lessons and experiences of the trip.  They also discuss the horrendous violence in Florida this past weekend and where we find God in such tragedies. In spite of the brokenness of our world, how is God the most joyful presence int he universe? We don't need to blame God for the horrors off our broken world, but celebrate him in the midst of them as we become those who put joy and healing in the world instead of more pain and hurt. As Wayne learned in Canada, if you can't find a way to play even in the midst of your greatest pain or challenges, then they will win and drive you more deeply into bondage.

Podcast Notes:

Information on the GJ Trip to Israel

Wayne's Travel Schedule

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What would a life in Jesus look like if we had never been infected by shame or religion and simply grew in a trusting relationship with God? That's what a listener asks and that sends Brad and Wayne into a discussion about the influence of shame and our religious attempts to cover it up actually distance us from the God we seek. It distorts his image and drives us to appease God instead of rest in a friendship that he wants to enjoy fully with each of us. While it would be great to have never known shame and religious performance, it is God's desire to teach us to live in freedom from it. It's a noble journey to escape the distortions of shame and find ourselves growing in the freedom to trust him.

Podcast Notes:

Information on the GJ Trip to Israel

Wayne's Travel Schedule

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Religious performance teaches us that God wants us to be perfect today, and every failure or mistake is proof that we don't love him enough or are not committed enough. What if God had something else in mind, actually walking with us while he teaches us to live increasingly free from our broken ways of thinking and finding greater freedom in him? Wayne is enjoying watching his new puppy and Wayne and wonders if God doesn't enjoy that same process with us. In that environment of growing trust we are less prone to try to claim promises even Scripture to make God do what we want and instead find great joy in discovering what he has in mind and cooperating with him there.

Podcast Notes:

Information on the GJ Trip to Israel

Wayne's Travel Schedule

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What if our invitation into the kingdom of God had been an introduction to Jesus as a real person who wanted to be our friend? Instead many have come to him for fear of what would happen to them if they didn't, and rather than endear us to him, he became someone we didn't want to be close to.  Unless our life in Christ is an engaging invitation rather than an obligation we will not engage him in the way that will open the door to a greater knowing of him. What bride wouldn't want to get to know her husband before the wedding day?  We are his bride, the wedding is coming, and he would love to get to know us as his beloved, not those terrified of what he might do to us.

Podcast Notes:

Information on the GJ Trip to Israel

Wayne's Travel Schedule

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