At the start of their transcontinental trip to Virginia and back, Wayne and Sara pause in Austin, TX, to catch-up on Sara's journey and the continuing work of freedom Jesus is doing from her early childhood trauma. Recently, Sara's counselor affirmed the rare passion she demonstrates to discover the truth about herself and it has served her well in the process. Sara talks about the tools that have been built in her life to give her the courage to stay in that pursuit.

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If you aren't playing with God, you're probably not doing as much for him as you think. In this last podcast before Kyle takes a brief hiatus and Wayne and Sara head out for a trans-national trip, they revisit some of the important themes that have been on the podcast so far in 2024. Through listener emails, recounted conversations, and their own personal journeys, they talk about the destructiveness of dishonesty, active listening, praying for the bride, why religion love our imposter selves, the value of learning to play again, and the importance of not dividing between spiritual and secular in our daily lives.

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"Not my will, but yours be done."  We are familiar with the words and it's easy to tack them on to the end of our prayers as a token to submission. However, the power of these words come not as a tagline but when we let God melt our hearts enough in the whatever situation we find ourselves to choose his past, rather than making it about ourselves. Kyle and Wayne explore the journey of wholeheartedness that wanders through the ugly places where God makes his wonder known in life-transforming ways when we lay down what we think is best to choose what God knows to be.

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"Truth has been weaponized by the enemy to shift the focus from Jesus. The ‘truth’ as many believers see it has been removed from Him who is truth; it’s a talk about Him and His truth rather than with Him in love." Those words in an email from a listener's own journey came at a propitious time in Wayne's life, and processing it with Kyle takes them further into what it means to gaze with God at the events of the world. It has led Wayne to pray for the Bride of Christ and talk to her like he did to Sara in the days of there separation. Kindly and tenderly, is the way God reaches into our delusions to open the way for truth and love to find a home in her heart. 

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"What are you most afraid of in your life right now, and who taught you that fear?" That is a key question to unmasking your false identity and help you discover who God has created you to be on the earth.  Wayne introduced Kyle to a podcast where Jamie Winship, the author of a book called, Living Fearless, was the guest. The podcast rocked Kyle's world and spilled out into two of his classrooms where he helped students process their personal identity and in his words, "Jesus showed up"—in a secular classroom.  They unpack some of Jamies thoughts about identity and worldviews that can help us all live freer and more connected to what ps going on around us.

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"What is the strange calculus of greed that causes it to catch up with even the most cautious, best-intentioned person?" This is one of four provocative questions one reviewer said are asked by the Academy-award nominated movie, Killers of the Flower Moon. The others are: Why does guilt drive some people to remorse, and others over the edge?  What is the power of a lie, that it can blind a person to a truth staring him in the face? How is it that what seems to be a blessing often turns out to be a curse? Wrestling with  those existential questions seemed to fit so well into the ongoing conversation Wayne and Kyle have been having this year about delusion and freedom and why even the best of us can be easily sidelined by darkness.  They also discuss whether or not every negative emotion is an invitation into transformation.

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So much of religious thinking preys on our fears of God or others thinking of us as selfish. That fear, however, keeps many from the self-care necessary to heal from trauma or resist the efforts of controlling people in our lives. Why is is so easy for us to cave to the pressure of religious obligations or the fear of what others might think instead of listening when our hearts and bodies are alerting us that we are moving beyond the grace God's current process transformation allows? Wayne and Kyle talk about honoring the process of what Jesus is working in you so that you won't be caught in those extreme situations that will take you beyond what you can bear. With a reference to The Matrix, they talk about those who prefer to live in the bondage of a comforting illusion than to risk what it might mean to see the truth and follow it. They also explore how the encouragement to forgiveness can be used as a weapon instead of allowing it to be the fruit of Jesus's work in us.

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This episode begins with a follow-up question from a listener about love and control, particularly as it affects parenting children. After which, Kyle had some questions for Wayne about his recent series of blogs on the Last Lesson My Father Taught Me, which deals with the unraveling of a deeply-valued relationship to lies, misinformation, and false accusations. Can you maintain a relationship based by ignoring persistent anger and accusations? What happens inside unmerited affection that can deeply transform the human heart, especially if we don't try to save ourselves, but leave the outcome of events in the hands of others, and ultimately to entrust them to Jesus.

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"When people can't control you they try to control how people view you." That comment sends Wayne and Kyle on an exploration of the relationship between love and control and wonder about the possibility that love just might be the opposite of control. Is that why God doesn't force humanity to please him? Have you ever been punished by a control freak in your family, place of work, or religious group? Trying to control others forces you to punish them when they won't cooperate, or pretend to be something they are not to fit in. They also take a look at a recent talk by Brian McLaren about purification narratives that are used to scapegoat other people as a tactic many are using to address their anxieties, fear, and shame.  Learning to live free of control maybe costly but you can't live in love without it.

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"When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” It's a disturbing aside Jesus makes at the end of a parable about perseverance and prayer.  What do we make of it? Was this a real concern for Jesus, as in the days of Noah when there was only one man left on the planet who could find grace in God's eyes? Why wouldn't he already know? Was it just a rhetorical statement to provoke his disciples to learn the power of faith or is there a real risk that humanity will continue to to try and manipulate God for their own ends while falling into unfaithfulness? Those are intriguing questions, and Wayne probes them with Bob Prater, who had a nudge about this passage some weeks ago. At the end, Kyle joins the conversation as well.

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