Imagine you laying back in your easier chair or being caught in an exasperating commute to work and me sitting right beside you reading to you from Finding Church.  OK, that doesn’t even sound fun to me.  I wouldn’t sit next to you and read, we would get to talk.  But the audio version of Finding Church is now available for download, so you can listen to me read it even though I won’t be right there beside you.  Maybe we’ll get that chance up the road sometime.

If you’d like to listen to a sample, you will find Chapter 17 below:  “Unity Without Conformity”.  This is the high point of the book, in my view.  It demonstrates not only the answer to Jesus’ prayer, but also why our attempts to produce unity through conformity are destined to fail.

If you’d like top purchase the audiobook you can do so from Amazon.com or Audible.com, or download it through iTunes.  

Happy listening!  

Let me take this opportunity to share some of what’s going on around here these days.  First, for those in the San Diego area, I’m headed that way this weekend and will be gathering with people from the area who want to discuss the relational journey this Saturday, November 16, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm in a private home in Oceanside, CA. If you’d like to attend, you can find contact information on my Travel Page.

I’m really excited about two new books we will have coming out through Lifestream.  One is the Spanish version of He Loves Me, ¡Él Me Ama! .  Some people in Spain have been working on a printed version of it and let us access their files to make it more accessible to Spanish readers in the Americas.  The e-book should be out in a couple of weeks and the printed version will come out in early December.  You can check out the cover below.  We’ve had a lot of interest in having this material available to the Spanish-speaking world and are excited this has finally come about.  We’ll get information out as soon as those are available.

Also, work continued on my latest book, Finding Church:  What If There Really Is Something More?  I’ve gotten 8 chapters of 19 roughed out and hope to have it available this spring.  For those who want to sample the first chapter, I read it for a God Journey podcast a few weeks ago called She’s Alive and Well. You can listen to it here if you haven’t heard it.  I’m having as much fun working on this project as much as anything else I’ve ever done.  Recent trips to the UK and Texas have delayed that just a bit, but both invitations were something I had to do now, or miss a propitious time.  I have been working with my good friend, Dave Aldrich on cover designs for the book and we’ve finally settled on one, we think conveys the heart of it really well.  I’ll let you peak at it below along with the Spanish version of He Loves Me.

Do you think Jesus can do cool?  Someone sent me this picture last night from the UK, and according to them the classes were just laid down on the book without intentionally placing them the way they turned out.

Sara and I enjoyed a good laugh at this.  It’s hard to believe someone didn’t put them there intentionally.  If you haven’t seen this book yet, you might want to check it out.  I love the artwork my friend Murry, Whiteman painted, and the chance Brad and I had to retell the story of Jesus without the religious overlay so often attached to him. I continue to get emails about how it has touched people’s lives, and how much it has spawned family conversations about Jesus, even though we didn’t write this as a children’s book.  If you’re looking for a great Christmas gift this just might be it.  You can order them from Lifestream.

Finally, someone videotaped part of my presentation in the UK last month.  I was talking about the new creation awakening in our hearts and how that runs counter to the religious sensibilities that have been engrained in so many of us.  This offers some fresh language to help us understand not only what Jesus has been doing in us, but what he’s doing in the world to bring all things together under him. It’s included here in case you want to hear it.  We’ve also included the audio to add to the Lifestream Podcast.

YouTube link

Our trust in God is undermined every time we try to win God to our agenda and measure his love for us based on our own expectations. If we can live not attached to the outcomes we desire, we’ll discover that he knows best about everything and will lead us into far greater joy and purpose than we’d ever see for ourselves.

Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.

Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.

During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 19 through 23. The Jesus Lens: Seventh Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne’s teaching. If you’d like to add your questions to some of the material you’re hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast. To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The final audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. The Jesus Lens #24: Let the Journey Continue – By viewing all of Scripture as one continuous story culminating in the revelation of Jesus Christ we can continue to explore a cohesive view of God and live in the tension of not having all our questions answered but continuing to grow in truth. To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The twenty-third audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. The Jesus Lens #23: The Return to Israel – Over 106 years the exiles return from Babylon to rebuild the temple and their nation under some inspiring leaders as the prophets continue to call them closer to God and promise a day of greater redemption yet to come. To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The twenty-second audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. The Jesus Lens #22: The Collapse of the Kingdom – The northern kingdom falls to Assyria, and the southern kingdom to Babylon as God continues to woo his people back inside a relationship with him. In captivity they learn that God is bigger than the rituals they’ve observed. To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The twenty-first audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. The Jesus Lens #21: The Kingdom Divided – After Solomon’s reign the kingdom of Israel fractures and corruption in the monarchy and the unfaithfulness of the people to continue to destroy the culture God wanted. Through the prophets he continues to invite them back to himself. To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The twentieth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. The Jesus Lens #20: The Books of Wisdom – How do we read the books of wisdom and poetry that we find in Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs after all we’ve discovered to be true about God in the revelation of Jesus? To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The nineteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. The Jesus Lens #19: The United Kingdom – Rejecting God’s desire to lead them himself, Israel asks for a king and the first three kings provide a significant period in the history of Israel and the power of authority to corrupt eve the people God chose. To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.