Wayne Jacobsen

Alexis de Tocqueville, an astute political observer that lived in the early 1800s wrote this insightful statement:

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”

Think Wall Street bail-outs, Cash for Clunkers, economic stimulus projects, and some approaches to nationalized health care, and the list just keeps on unfolding. We are being bought with our own money and most people haven’t a clue.

I would love to be proved wrong, but I don’t think there is even one statesman or stateswoman in Washington, DC these days who is wholly committed to the common good, and not just his or her own personal gain or pandering to their political party. Our ship of state is on a course directly toward the pounding surf on the jagged rocks and people keep arguing about arranging the deck chairs. Until the citizenry registers their discontent and throws the incumbents out of office we will continue to get the government we deserve.

Throughout human history dominant civilizations have only lasted a little over 200 years on average. The current direction of this country and its economy doesn’t bode well for things to come. That’s why our hope has to be in God and his unfolding purpose in the world, even if it means the days grow darker so the light can shine brighter.

Got this from a couple in Portland area, and it just shows how the simplest things can open some amazing doors:

We’ve been having some nice hot weather and this week several days running over 100. We live in just about the exact center of our community (as the map is laid out) and right beside the city pool so we’ve had lots of foot and car traffic (lots of kids which we love!). Several days ago my husband was having one of his conversations with God.

Father said, “Why don’t you have some cold drinks out front there for people?”

After sharing this little interaction with me he headed to the store before work and bought inexpensive pop and water and big bags of ice and arranged them in our two coolers out by the street. He had me make signs in both English and Spanish: FREE – Ice Cold Drinks. It seems such a silly, small thing and the way people are so fearful we wondered if we’d have any takers. You cannot imagine how much fun we have had – people of all ages but especially the kids of course – have LOVED it and been so thankful.

Many seem taken aback, uncertain, wondering why and I’m sure what our “agenda” is. How very fun to offer a “cup of cold water” to our neighbors with no strings attached – just a desire to bless and love on ’em. To long and hope for them to someday drink from the well of God’s love that never stops refreshing. It’s something we’ll probably only do when the heat is extreme.

And I think the “word” my husband received goes very deep for him spiritually but the gesture has really broken the ice around here. People suddenly are looking us in the eye when they pass, smiling, saying “hello”, chatting. Our small world is suddenly breaking wide open. What you said is true – each day we wonder, “So what’s gonna happen today Father? What will You do, what will we see and experience?” That feeling we had as little children, a feeling we’d all but forgotten, waking up expectantly, anxious only to get up and greet the day and embrace all the exciting things that are waiting for us!

And to think that the couple doing this is also going through some serious cancer treatment with their adult son and helping care for him and his family. Real ministry isn’t necessarily more work to fulfill, sometimes it can be a playful distraction in an otherwise stressful life.

You know what I love about this, the recapturing of simplicity, of loving what’s before you, not trying to create a ministry If they had put up a sign that said Cold Drinks for Jesus, it would have ruined everything, wouldn’t it? People would have seen it just as a tactic to engage a conversion conversation. I love that they just gave out what God asked, and are letting the growing friendships and ‘community’ around them grow naturally.

That’s how the kingdom spreads, like that very small mustard seed that spawns a tree so large others can nest in its branches. Love whomever God puts before you on a given day. Follow his nudges in caring for people, not to get a chance to pump them with the Gospel, but simply because they are people God cares about. Watch people light up with delight and watch your own heart recapture that childlike spirit that sees each day as an adventure in grace!

When friendship grows you will most likely get a chance to share your faith, but then it will be because you really care about them, not because you manipulate a moment so yu can convert them. One approach opens doors wide, the other slams them shut before people even have a chance to know the God you love.

Back from a long, restful, wonderful weekend. Someone sent me this clip from Jay Leno’s show with a song by Allison Krauss that has invited them into a wonderful space of grace. The song is A Living Prayer, I love that this was on a show like Leno’s. How cool is that:

Enjoy:

A Living Prayer
Songwriter: Ronald Franklin Block
Publisher: MOONLIGHT CANYON PUBLISHING

In this world I walk alone
With no place to call my home
But there’s one who holds my hand
The rugged road through barren lands
The way is dark, the road is steep
But He’s become my eyes to see
The strength to climb, my griefs to bear
The Savior lives inside me there

In Your love I find release
A haven from my unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God to Thee

In these trials of life I find
Another voice inside my mind
He comforts me and bids me live
Inside the love the Father gives

In Your love I find release
A haven from my unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God to Thee

Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God to Thee

I’m off for an extended weekend to visit my parents in the Sierra Nevada mountains above Fresno. Yes, Sara, my daughter and the grandgirls are going too! It should be fun! Before I go, I thought I’d leave you with this:

I get in a lot of discussions with people about the practicality of finding real community among flawed brothers and sisters. Certainly we are all in a journey of transformation, but community need not demand perfection, just the resolve to live inside relationships. Everyone wants community but mostly for the benefits, and that can’t happen where people are not also willing to pay the cost.

The cost is this: one must put the priority of friendship above any other consideration, including how right I think I am. This is what Philippians 2:1-4 and other passages encourage us to do. The problem is, so few people I’ve met in this life can either live that or sustain it for any length of time. The moment community is about something other than friendship (finding our ministry, promoting our own happiness, or satisfying our coping mechanisms), it will always break down into a competition as to who has the most power to get their way.

The problem with any structure we would seek to use to guarantee this kind of life eventually fails. Subtly the structure replaces relationship, as people think the structure (the fact we belong to the same group) guarantees a relationship. But it won’t be long before most people will exploit the structure for their own self-interest or preferences. And most of those will mask their selfishness by claiming God led them to pursue they things they also happen to prefer the most. The biggest disappointments of my life have come when people get involved in a friendship only for as long as it met their needs and desires. Then they easily tossed aside the friendship like a piece of junk mail. They wanted the benefits of friendship, but had neither the responsibility nor integrity to contribute to the friendship beyond their own gain.

That’s why real community remains elusive. I read something interesting this morning that provoked these thoughts. I am reading
His Excellency George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis. It’s a fascinating read and this particular paragraph really leapt out at me.

During the war Washington had learned, the hard way, that depending on a virtuous citizenry was futile, for it asked more than human nature was capable of delivering… Making voluntary sacrifice the operative principle of republican government had proved to be a romantic delusion. Both individual citizens and sovereign states required coercion to behave responsibly.

I realize he is talking about fallen humanity, but his conclusion perhaps applies to the redeemed community as well. Since we’re all people being shaped by Jesus in various stages of healing, community cannot rest on perfection. Asking people to prefer relationship over self-interest is to ask what human nature is incapable of delivering. Without an ongoing transforming work of the Spirit, which goes on in the whole of our lives, community is impossible.

So I guess I’m back to where I began. Real community is found in friendships, not structures. And even there, they may be transitory at best. Enjoy them when God brings them across your path. Share his life together as long as there is grace to do so. You can structure around it when a group of friends are sharing the life of Jesus together, but no structure will guarantee or secure that life for any period of time.

So here’s what I hope to do: Love everyone. Recognize those relationships that go deeper with a sense of mutuality and sacrifice. Enjoy sharing the journey together and fight for those relationships more than anything else. In real community, being right with each other is more important than being right about any issue. But don’t be too shocked or devastated when some of them go south. Some people don’t have enough maturity yet to live inside their spiritual nature in the moments when relationship costs them something. The endurance of community asks for something that human nature isn’t capable of providing. That doesn’t have to be a cynical conclusion, just a practical one.

As I’ve said often, community is a gift God gives not a mandate for us to manufacture. Always extend it to others. Revel in it for those seasons where others extend it to you as well. And let’s all look forward to the day when all our vices and selfishness are swallowed up in the fullness of Christ.

I love this stuff. A wonderful group of my friends are getting together in Australia during a long weekend— October 1-5. I’m not going to be able to attend in person, though they are asking if I’ll join in in by Skype. But I would encourage brothers and sisters from Australia who would like to meet others on a similar journey of learning to live inside Father’s love and share it with others. It’s called “A Gathering In the Spring” and you can find out more by clicking this link.

These kinds of gatherings are the best way to meet and connect with fellow-travelers on this journey. I know some are reticent to set aside the time or money needed to go to things like this, especially if they don’t know anyone. However, the vast majority of people find afterwords that connecting with others and finding new-found friendships with which to share their journey made it all more than worth it.

Last night Sara and I went out to watch a flyby of the International Space Station. It is making a series of passes just after nightfall here in Southern California, which means the sun is shinning on the space craft and it easily visible as it streaks across the night sky. Last night we watched the bright white spot for five minutes as it arched from west to east.

Last night we went out to watch it again. Standing in the quiet darkness of our back lawn we scanned the skies until we saw not one bright light streaking across the sky, but two. The space shuttle had already detached from ISS and was flying ahead of it by a few seconds. As they silently traversed the darkness, their orbit took them just beneath the half moon in the southwest sky. It was a moment.

But then the moment got even better. As Sara and I watched the space station and shuttle two brilliant shooting stars came over our heads from behind and joined the dance going on in the sky above us. It was one of those magnificent moments that take your breath away. As the space station and shuttle went out of sight and the shooting stars faded away, we stood looking at the night sky in wonder. There is stuff going on out there in the universe, even beyond our little planet that we hardly ever think about.

It reminded me of Paul’s encouragement,

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Col. 3:1-2

Tension and frustration builds in our lives when we live in our circumstances without the awareness that he is in them with us as well. We are not alone. He is doing things that we may not even see or be aware of, that if we knew it our hearts wouldn’t be so torn apart by the trials of this life and the schemes of dishonest people. We live in fear and make our worst choices when we think we are all alone having to fix what is broken in us or things around us. Instead Paul invites us to behold him, setting our hearts on what’s above—his presence and his working in us.

Let’s not live with your eyes only looking at what’s going in the physical world we see. Ask him to teach you how to focus the eyes of your heart on the fact that you are not alone, that he is with you working out all things in conformity with his will and purpose.

That’s what I learned last night as I stood with Sara in our darkened back yard, watching a dance across the heavens. Of course, Paul wasn’t talking about space shuttles and space stations, but if you want to see the space station tonight, it will be going across the west coast from 8:00 to 8:05 tonight.

Well I’m back from the Colorado/Michigan trip and finally digging out a bit from the email avalanche that welcomed me home. Still got a bunch more to do, but I thought you’d enjoy this.

I got an actual letter in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Those are pretty rare these days. It was from a prisoner in an Arizona jail who has been deeply touched by God’s life through some of the books I’ve been a part of. I wanted to share his story with you because if this stuff works in prison, there’s no corner of our lives where Jesus can’t breath the same life and freedom into our worlds. Enjoy!

I am finishing a 5-year sentence in Department of corrections for Grand Theft. I just wanted to take the time to share with you the impact that “The Shack”, “He Loves Me”, “So You Don’t Want to go to Church Anymore” and “Authentic Relationships” has had on my life and how much freedom I have found in just relaxing in my Father’s love.

I am learning to trust and that includes giving up my own way. I am the middle adopted child of dysfunction and chaos. I am 47 years old and I am recovering from the mistaken assumption that life is all about me.

Coming to prison has actually given me time away from the “system of religious obligation” and has freed me to simply know, love and trust my Father. “Living loved” is so simple yet so life changing.
One of the most moving phrases I found in your books was “that people take time to relax and let me be the bother in Christ I really am!” I just really related to that.—real, pure and simple. I loved it. I have really taken to heart the truth of embracing the process of life-even the darker shades- and I find myself less angry, unforgiving and selfish. The veil has been lifted and I am completely loved and accepted!

I received Christ at 30 in the ministry of a group of loveless, joyless people, teaching loveless joyless people how to be loveless and joyless. I really believe now, in looking back, that I had to go under the law for almost 20 years to enable me to relate to and empathize with those still under the yoke of slavery. Now that I have discovered true freedom my heart aches for those being crushed by religion. I understand that I am not called to change or convince anyone, just to simply love and encourage them as Father places them in my path.

The Scripture declares, “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is obedience – NO. There is church attendance – NO, there is law – NO. It clearly states that where God is- there is freedom. I think real freedom is so fleeting to the body of Christ, that most would not recognize it, even if it bit them on the butt!

I am free to love, to grow and free to fail and free to make mistakes and bad choices! Now that’s freedom. Love really does cast out fear. I was recently reading in my Bible and came across this passage that I believe Father used as the process to raise me from the dead and show me and give me life (Luke 9:22). “The Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Thank you again brother for your hand in helping to raise me to life.

I have found it true your word about “embracing the journey” and even in prison. I am in love with God, people and I want to live again. Talk about a miracle. No such thing as instant gratification in the Kingdom. I get to be a kid again and life is so worth living. Obviously, there is much more to my story- drugs, suicide attempts and other ugly chapters in the “unfolding story “ of my life that do not need to be re-hashed anymore. It is my heart’s desire that Father would see fit to allow our hearts and lives to intersect one day and I could simply allow you to be the brother in Christ that you really are. It is not a stretch to say, even though I‘ve never met you, that I love you dearly and you have uplifted me and help strengthen my weary heart and it is my sincere prayer that this letter may do the same for you.

Dude your rock! Your obvious and sincere love for the family of God is so desperately needed in people who are drowning while standing on dry ground. I see life, relationship, love, mercy and grace in everything I see, read or participate in and somehow people are drawn to the heart of this old, worn-out old fishermen from California. Words alone cannot express how grateful I am to you, Sara and everyone at Lifestream! Listen to my heart, my friend, as I whisper love, grace, and freedom back to your heart. What an awesome Dad we have.

Tomorrow I’m off on an 11 day trip that will take me to Colorado for six days and on to Michigan for five more. Part of it is hanging out with other believers on the journey, part of it a trade show for the Christian retailers, and part of it s working with a project for Calvin College in Grand Rapids. But before I go, I wanted to leave you with this:

Relaxing Into the Reality of Living Loved. I am often asked by people what can they do to live loved. I am becoming increasingly convinced that learning to live loved is not a doctrine to learn, or a discipline to follow, but a reality Jesus wants us to relax into. I shared about that recently at a Because of Jesus convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Many who are plagued with trying to do something to figure out this relationship, have told me this analogy has given them a wonderful handle on how Jesus allows us to live in this reality. The audio of that teaching has now been included in our free Audio Library and is available by clicking on the title link above, or going to the Audio Library and clicking on the third entry: “The Reality of Living Loved”.

Brad and I will have more discussion on this way of thinking on our July 17 edition of The God Journey.

Yep, that’s me! Earlier this spring I was invited to a discussion about living loved with people in Anderson, Indiana who had been reading The Shack and some of my own books, He Loves Me, and So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore.

This conversation covers so much of my own journey. my participation in the publication of The Shack, and some of the current challenges in my own life. The organizers of the event, Lives Transforming, video taped the event and have made it available on their website. We are considering making this into a CD so small groups can use it to stimulate their own discussions about their spiritual journey and how these books have touched their lives. We’ll have more on that down the road.

You can view the video on-line here.

I received the following letter yesterday after the author had read So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore. As with many people it seemed to fill in some piecing pieces in his own journey. I’m really touched when I hear from people like this who began with a taste of goodness, got sidetracked into the barren wasteland of religious performance, and then come to discover that God’s life has always been there for them.

This is the story of James Gray and I reprint it here with his permission and in hopes that it will encourage others who down deep inside wonder if there must be something more to all of this:

(I started out as) a little boy of seven trying to answer the meaning of my existence in Christ (and) the cultural answers left me empty to say the least.

I tried everything to quench the gnawing inside of my being. I spent many years in foreign countries preaching and teaching in villages no knew existed. I was told after working for the cash and then going into these foreign lands for years I needed to start an organization, and let people pay the bill. After that happened the joy of my Christian walk lessened with everyday. So I pioneered a church and it grew. But the more it grew the emptier I became.

I was told to start a ministry. Hungry for the fullness I had experienced, I did that but it only left me more saddened. Soon I found myself surrounded by men with answers but lifestyles that didn’t seem to have an abundance of Christ, to say the least. After all this time I endured many years of exhaustion trying to get back to my beginning. I didn’t have an inkling of where to go or what I had lost. I felt guilty for making mistakes and (because of ) my questions about where is Christ, I was branded by other pastors as a anarchist. Out of guilt I quit what I thought the ministry was and went into what some call the wilderness. That was 1980. I picked up (some) answers along the journey, but when I brought my heart questions up, I was banished from what I thought was the body, which only heaped on more guilt. I really thought over the last 26 years I lived on an island. Many came to the Lord during this time just out of my questions but soon dropped by the way side through time due to what they endured years later.

During my years prior to becoming culturally organized I held mass crusades taught me by the best in Christian circles. It was hard to abandon the new ones. I told so many it was like giving birth and telling them to go to the orphanage of their choice. Because of the numbers of hands raised and televised, when I walked away it was said by my teachers, which used numbers as a thermometer, that I was abandoning the new ones. Some preached that I didn’t care for the lost.

On the contrary how can you give birth to a newborn and leave them in the fields to raise themselves? Or put them in churches that don’t know their names or their wounds? So you see, my brother, this book became a great tool for me to answer questions where others only heaped baggage when I asked them why? Sometimes the why is a God kiss, but so hard to answer. It takes so many years and there are so many pieces to the answer.

I was like I had a puzzle container with the picture of what it was supposed to look like on the front, but so many of the pieces were missing. Thanks for the lost pieces. It means more than you’ll ever know.
There was a great price to pay for my decisions to find Jesus, especially when he is not where you think to look. The price which was great was worth the wait, and the price. My appetite would only be satisfied by him. I read your book several months ago and waited if life would grow. That is one of the keys if it is God it grows after you eat it.

When I was a little boy my father took me to an old kitchen in the south where he worked as a young man. He had me taste the barbecue of an old, black gentleman. It was the best food ever made. That was my standard for barbecue. So for 4 days while on our way home I would see a barbecue restaurant sign and ask my dad if we could stop and have some more of that great food. My dad said, son trust me it’s not the same if we stop we just loose time and leave disappointed. In the beginning I tasted Christ and thought I would stop at the signs and taste only to find it doesn’t taste the same as it did the first time I sampled him. The vast freedom flavor is so sweet, and I don’t stop at every restaurant. I think I know what Christ taste like now as well as what he doesn’t.

Thanks again, my brother, I haven’t found all of the pieces yet, but now since the major parts have been placed in the picture the smaller parts will fall into place organically.

In this landscape of religious activity, how many of us get caught up in doing things for God that don’t ever bear the fruit they promise? Jesus didn’t ask us to do things for God; he let us know that his Father wanted to live life with us. Once you taste of that, nothing will ever satisfy again, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself, or others try to pressure you that what you’re hungering for does not exist. But the heart knows better. It keeps beckoning us on to find him through all the clutter and let him pour into our lives the life that really is life!

You know it’s there. You’ve tasted it before. Don’t let the substitutes convince you that they are good enough. They’re not.

That’s what Jesus promised—all of us!