"No humans who lived before were actually capable of wiping the human race from existence (by) screwing things up so badly and permanently." Wayne's been listening to a podcast about the existential risks to humanity's future, including nuclear war, artificial intelligence run amuck, virology lab accidents or misuse, unintended consequences of super-collider experiments, natural disasters, climate change, or even an asteroid or gamma ray surge from space. Many scientists are talking seriously about the challenges we'll face to survive as a species for the next 100 to 150 years. Wayne invites Kyle to consider with him what these risks and the current state of our world hold for God's children, and we can respond with faith in his working rather than fear of uncertainty.

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

* The End of the World Podcast

 

Wayne and Kyle ran out of time last week, so they continued their exploration of how God might view sin into a third week, where they incorporated more comments and questions from their listeners. Part of their discussion talks about how easy it is to love the victims of sin but not their perpetrators until we come to see them also as victims of a loveless world.

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

Wayne and Kyle continue their exploration of how God views sin and what we can do about it with comments and questions from listeners. Are we helpless and powerless in sin, and does God see it as something to blame us for or something to set us free of? Wouldn't that overturn our sin management techniques that we have fruitlessly deployed for 2000 years? Does our Western view of sin stand up to the language of the New Testament? Transformation cannot come by human effort but only out of a soothing relationship of love with the Father that brings us inside the work of the cross.

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

Could it be that God views sin not as something we chose but as something that happened to his beloved Creation? Sara and Wayne began pondering this question last week, and Kyle joined in this week to explore it more with Wayne. Wouldn't it change everything if God didn't see us as co-conspirators in sin and evil but as helpless against it without his redemption and rescue? That's what the New Covenant seems to suggest. Rather than God confronting our sin in anger, he invites us into his love where he can untwist the distortions caused by the self-preferring nature we all inherited and a sense of abandonment by the Creator that shame gives us. Wouldn't that be more faithful to the Gospel?

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

Wayne is pondering a major shift in his view of sin and wants to ponder it with Kyle. However, a series of circumstances made Kyle unavailable to record. So, instead, Wayne's wife, Sara, stepped in, allowing us to also catch up with her healing journey as they settling into their refurbished home. Then, they talk about how God might view sin, which is different than how they were raised. Could it be that God looks on sin, and our life in this broken world, much like Wayne has come to view trauma in Sara's life? Is that why Jesus found it easier to forgive those who executed him and why he saw the lost not as co-conspirators in darkness but as "harassed and helpless."

Podcast Notes:

* We are sorry, but we did not make a video recording of this podcast

* Sara and Wayne's story from a year ago is told in the Redeeming Love Podcasts from The God Journey.

 

Have you ever honestly told someone what you thought and they responded, "I don't believe you?" This is where relationships go to die. Of course, if you are lying it will help them not be misled. If, however, you are telling the truth and they don't want to hear it, their unbelief  destroying the relationship. How might this apply to that enigmatic passage where Matthew said that Jesus couldn't do miracles in his home down "because of their unbelief?" Had their lack of faith not earned his working, or was he talking about something else. His work unfolds where people respond to his nudges even when we'd rather not and discover in him the life that truly is life. Kyle and Wayne look to unravel this knot.

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

* Wayne reads from 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 in The Message

 

Just because you're convinced you hold the Truth, does that give you the right to bully others into believing it too? In this episode, Kyle and Wayne look at two types of bullying that religious leaders over history have resorted to, even if they didn't start out with those ambitions. First, they bully the world into living to a faith they haven't yet embraced, which alienates people from Jesus rather than endears them to him. Second, they bully people inside the faith to do what they think is best for their empire under the guise of building Jesus's kingdom. This often results in exploiting people at the most vulnerable time in their lives and often resulting them rejecting their faith when their leaders are exposed as having feet of clay. (Above illustration taken from A Man Like No Other, with art by Murry Whiteman.)

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

* Shiny Happy People

* The Secrets of Hillsong Documentary

* Wayne's Previous Experience with some former leaders from Hillsong In Sydney, Australia (starts at 17:54)

"Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent," said political commentator Adam Smith. That quote has been rattling around in Wayne's head for a few weeks, so he invites Kyle to contemplate how justice intersects with mercy inside the heart of God. But first, they talk about how fear imprisons us in our comfort zones and how we can take our first steps beyond our fears to live wholeheartedly. Then, they talk about the complications that mercy can extend cruelty to the victims of the guilty. How does that affect forgiveness for those who have offended or exploited us? More importantly, how might God give mercy and be true to justice at the same time?

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

Following up on last week's podcast, "As Long as it Takes," Kyle and Wayne contemplate the complementary question of how much is too much for us to bear. Of course, with God's work in us, what choice do we have? But in our care for others, how do we recognize when enough is enough and not drown ourselves in the demands of others? They talk about the difficult considerations of discerning between selfishness and self-compassion in knowing how much we have to give away and the difficult conversations that are important to help others recognize the truth about themselves as well as our own limitations. When do you hang in there with another person at great personal cost or step back and not be the victim of abuse or burnout?

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast

"How long, O Lord?" The plaintive cry of the Psalmist is one we've all asked in the seasons of difficulty and pain. How long do we wait on God's work in us or the circumstances we confront? How long do we stay with a meaningful relationship that has grown difficult or awkward? How long will he let evil rule the day? The answer may be unfulfilling, but it does give us direction—until his glory comes! The reason many do not find the freedom our hearts long for is that we grow weary in the process and pull away from what God is doing to untangle our hearts. Perseverance is not hanging in there to prove to God how serious we are; it's staying with him as he completes the work needed to make you whole.

Podcast Notes:

* The video recording of this podcast