Wayne Jacobsen

Almost every day a unique story crosses my desk about The Shack and how it draws people to the heart of the Father, especially those who have endured great tragedy or are facing incredible challenges. It has given them the space to live inside of the love of the Father at such moments, rather than mistakenly see them as proof that they are not loved.

Here’s an interesting one I got a few weeks ago from a dear friend in Kansas City:

A friend of mine died from bone cancer, an extremely painful and slow death. He was only 57 years old. In the memorial service program it said the following;

“Stu grew closer to the Lord through the reading of the book, The Shack, in his last months. He was thrilled to give witness to his faith and provide copies to many nurses while hospitalized at KU Medical Center this summer. Copies of the book have been donated in honor of Stu and are available today. Feel free to take a copy from the display table on a first come, first served basis.”

The church that he attended all of his life and where the memorial service was held refused to sell The Shack in their bookstore stating that the theology was too controversial.

There were 250 copies of The Shack on the display table in the church the afternoon of his memorial service – there were none left after the service was over.

I’m most excited for the comfort this book gave Stu as he prepared to cross the threshold of his first face-to-face meeting with the Father of all Creation. Last Saturday night I had the opportunity to join a local Foursquare house church network to talk about The Shack and the great them of living inside of God’s love that’s addressed in I John 4:16-19. I heard some amazing stories there as to how this book has brought people closer to God.

Finally, two weeks ago I did an open question/Answer session about THE SHACK at the Third Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia. They just posted the audio of that evening for those who would like to listen in. I’ll warn you it isn’t the best quality audio, but you can at least hear the content.

Yesterday I wrote to our friend in Kenya and asked how they were doing since I hadn’t heard in awhile. My friend there notified me that the need persists and that they have recently had contact with brothers and sisters in a region of the country that are still suffering great need from the tribal conflict that erupted last December. He said there was an immediate need for $3000.00 US to help with emergency relief for food, bedding and shelter. I assured him I would make this need available to those who frequent these pages.

To date we’ve given almost $18,000.00 to help and have been really blessed by the generous and thankful spirit of those who have been on the receiving end of those gifts. I am simply putting the call out there again for any who would like to pray for them or send money to help with this great need. Every dime sent to us will go directly to those who need it. Nothing will be taken out for administration on this end or that one. If God puts it on your heart to send something, please go to our Invoice Page and click on the ‘Pay Invoice’ button. You can then list “Donation for Kenya” and the amount you’d like to give. If you use the ‘Donation’ button you will need to also send me an email letting me know you wanted this to go for Kenya and not for Lifestream. All donations to this cause are tax deductible.

Or, if you prefer, you can also send a check to Lifestream • 7228 University Dr. • Moorpark, CA 93021.

Thank you for giving this need your time and attention and I’m sure the brothers and sisters there would also appreciate your prayers. May God make himself known in extraordinary ways in the ongoing frustration of human survival. May he demonstrate his glory in great tragedy and open doors to people’s hearts to see his grace and mercy.

Yes, I did. Both Sara and I voted for Barak Obama. I know that won’t sit easy with many of my evangelical friends. I’ve received scores of emails the last few days warning me that this election was pivotal for America and that God wanted McCain to win. One even sent me a dream he had of Obama plotting with Satan to destroy the United States.

I hate fear and all that it destroys in the human heart. People still don’t see how horribly binding it is and how it distorts us into really creepy people. Emails from Christian friends driven by fear and appealing to fear in hopes of conforming the culture to their expectations, sickened me. I know they are just misguided. I know God loves them deeply, and that they are responding the only way they know how. But it is time for God’s children to move beyond fear. This whole world is in HIS hands and we are his children living in it. We need not fear anything, because God’s kingdom is the unshakable one. His purpose will endure and we dare not look to the governments of men as our hope.

Even though I disagree with many of Obama’s social policies, the Republicans needed their comeuppance. I am a life-long Republican, and have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. But eight years of Republican arrogance and corruption in Washington has devastated this nation and destroyed our reputation abroad. How could I reward that with my vote? Are the Democrats any less arrogant or corrupt? Of course not!

But Obama sings a different tune. He speaks of hope and sacrifice, of bringing people together instead of manipulating our political differences to chop this country up into little pieces. To be honest, I’m ready for some sacrifice. My generation has saddled future generations with a horrible debt and an irresponsible, short-sighted, selfish approach to the problems of our world. It is time for a different course. Yes, I know when President Bush in his first campaign talked about being a “uniter not a divider”, he completely ignored his own promise. I can only Obama won’t do the same. I hope he’s serious about being a President for all of the people, even those who didn’t vote for him. I hope he brings diverse factions together and helps them learn to work together, rather than running headlong into a Democratic agenda. Time will tell.

This was a hard vote for me. McCain was my favorite Republican candidate from the beginning. I was surprised he won the nomination, but then even more shocked that he once nominated he became a mouthpiece for the worst elements in the Republican party. He quickly abandoned his life-long principles to appeal to the base of a party sadly out of touch with the demands of our time. I was disappointed by the lack of experience and gravitas in his vice presidential choice. I was disappointed in his negative ads that depended on rumor and innuendo. McCain has served this country well in days gone by. He didn’t do it so well in this campaign, except for his concession speech last night. That’s a McCain I could have voted for, even though I was disturbed by the mocking anger of those in his audience. He had to keep rebuking his own supporters who demonstrated such contempt for Obama. I hope that tells him something about the campaign he ran.

I know this won’t make sense to those who only focus on gay rights and abortion in voting for president. But I look at other issues that are being ignored to the detriment of our country. We need to build credibility abroad and make significant reforms at home. Obama offers us a fresh course and seems to display the intelligence, passion and fair-minded resolve to help us accomplish that. I do regret that he will serve with such overwhelming Democratic majorities in both houses. That doesn’t bode well for serving the interests of all of the people. But I’m rooting for him to get this right and demonstrate a generosity of spirit to those who don’t see the world the way he does.

And when I watched the faces of my African-American brothers and sisters last night overwhelmed at the election of one of their own to the highest office in the land, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. The greatest stain on our nation’s history is the white arrogance that first owned slaves for hundreds of years, then when freed kept them repressed economicaly, socially and politically for over a century and a half.

Sara and I just spent a week in Virginia visiting Thomas Jefferson’s home in Monticello and the historic colony of Williamsburg. To think that the man who penned our Declaration of Independence citing that “all men are created equal,” and then returned to his plantation in ownership of African men and women only shows the extent to which human blindness can reach.

What a moment in history! An African-American family will occupy the White House. So many said it couldn’t be done. And while it alone won’t make up for 400 years of abuse, it does open a very wide door of hope for those who have been most marginalized in our culture. How could we deny them this joy, this fulfillment that all men truly are created equal. I will pray that this reality further heals the despicable divide in our culture and allow us all to celebrate what we hold in common.

The stakes are high. The opportunity is great. I do pray that Obama will be blessed with wisdom and insight and that he will live up to his promise to not represent the narrow interest of party, but do work for a common good that offers equal justice for all.

On January 20, Barak Obama will take the oath of office, looking down the Mall past the Washington Monument to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King gave his famous “I Have a Dream Speech.” His election doesn’t fulfill all that King hoped for on that day, but it is a giant leap forward to fulfill a promise too long denied to people of color.

Some day I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren that I voted for the first African-American president of these United States, not because he was black but because he held the best promise to reverse the course of our failed politics and open a new chapter on American public life.

I pray he lives up to that promise. If he doesn’t, it really can’t be any worse than the last eight years.

Sara and I made it home from Virginia, and we had an awesome time all around. We met some incredible people and connected with some dear, old friends. I took questions from about 300 folks in a Presbyterian Church about THE SHACK and met with all kinds of people on relational journeys who are learning to live loved by God.

It’s great to be home for a while. If all goes well I’ll not have to board another airplane this year. Awesome, if true!

Someone sent this to me the other day. It is from a website called: The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus.

I love that. The dogma, doctrines, and rules just will not hold up when the storm surrounds you. Love, trust, and relationship with Jesus will. I get hundreds of emails from people who know the rituals, doctrines, and rules well. They have observed them all of their lives, but when the tide turns against you, those things are as shifting as sand on the shore.

Learning to live inside a relationship of love is where real Truth is found. Settling into the confidence that Jesus and his Father love you and that you can trust them no matter how hard the wind blows or the rain falls, is as certain as a granite boulder.

I’ll admit it isn’t easy making the shift. I hear that every day from people and I still remember my own. It’s incredibly disorienting when your doctrine lets you down and your rules aren’t enough to sustain you. It’s easy to get angry at God and others.

But there is no better time for Jesus to show you the way that really is Truth and Life. And finding that, you’ll find the incredible peace that endures even through the most despicable of tragedies.

But finding a relationship with Jesus and his Father is where this relationship really begins.

Sara and I spent the weekend in Charlottesville, VA with believers from all over central Virginia as well as those from as far away as Texas and Ohio who came to join us. Someone from ASSIST News Service wrote up an article about the weekend. You can read it here. We had three packed days of conversations with some wonderful people who are sorting out what it means to live in the love of the Father.

On Friday, Sara and I got to go to Monticello, the home of President Thomas Jefferson (pictured above) and then spent the last two days in Colonial Williamsburg exploring our early American heritage. Dovetailing with my work in BridgeBuilders, this has been a wonderful time to re-examine the history of those men and movements that culminated in our Declaration of Indendence and then a new government based on principle not monarchy or heritage.

Today it is back to work in Richmond with some dear, dear friends. One is writing a book on communion that will be an incredible gift to the church. Tonight I’ll make a a presentation at the Third Presbyterian Church of Richmond on THE SHACK and related topics. Then Sara and I will spend Friday and Sturday with some fellow-travelers on the north side of Richmond before heading home on Saturday night.

Sara and I are headed to the east coast and there will be no one around here to fulfill orders, answer phones or keep up with other business items during our time away. Thus our offices will be closed until November 3. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this causes you.

I’m incredibly amazed by many of the questions I get asked on a weekly basis. People I don’t know write me to ask my advice on all kinds of things, like what to say to a friend of theirs who is in sin, what kind of decision to make for their future, what they should do about fellowship, or even what might be the key to free them from some element of bondage.

Now, I don’t take those lightly. I know the people on the other side of those emails are incredibly desperate. Some are angry or lonely or at the end of their rope and feel they have no one else to turn to. But what they don’t realize is the incredible limitations of email, either for me to truly know what is going on in their hearts or in my ability to communicate with them what they would most need to hear in a limited email.

But beyond those concerns there is something more fundamental that disturbs me. I am a total stranger to them and they to me. I can’t really get to know the situation they are in by their own assessment of it. I’m only getting one side of a story. I don’t know the people they are interacting with or the nature of the relationship they have with them. Why would anyone trust the words of a stranger a thousand of miles away, to the God who already lives in them?

Is this part of the residue of our religious systems that always sets up an expert between us and God? We think the “man of God” has a more direct pipeline to God than what he wants to share with each of his followers. This is one of the sad fruits of our practicing Christianity as if it is a religion. We’re just certain that there are techniques others know that I don’t, rather than embrace the reality that God wants to have a personal connection with all of his children to help them learn to live freely in his life.

A couple of days ago, I got one of these emails from a woman caught in some very desperate circumstances and feeling like God was no where to be found. Her email was titled, “Where is God?” My heart went out to her as I read it, but I again felt as if she needed something more than a ‘word from Wayne’. She needed him!

Imagine my joy when less than 12 hours later, and before I had a chance to respond, I got another email from the same woman titled, “Never mind.” I thought at first she might be upset that I hadn’t responded in the twelve hours since she’d sent it to me. But that wasn’t the case at all. What she wrote thrilled my heart:

Don’t feel like you need to respond to my last e-mail. I sat for a few hours and watched the moon inch slowly across the sky. Sitting under the night sky all night helped clear my mind. God answered a bunch of my questions. So I’m pretty sure I’ll be OK. Our conversation started like this, “Why do you keep asking (other) people these questions? I’m waiting for you to ask Me.”

I think God is waiting for all of us to ask him. And I mean exactly like this woman did, in a quiet place. Too often we think we’re praying when we rush around throwing up desperate requests to God and yet we never draw to a quiet place long enough to listen to his response.

This reminded me of an experience I had with my daughter when she was twelve. She was afraid we were going to make her go to something she didn’t want to go to. We assured her we wouldn’t make her go. Now that she was twelve she had the freedom to go or not go, depending on what God wanted for her. She asked how she would know that, and we told her just to ask. Get in a quiet place and ask him if he wants you to go or not, sit in silence for a bit and see what she felt God was saying to her. She did. Fifteen minutes later she told us that she felt God wanted her to go. And she did, with a much-improved attitude because God had asked her to, not her parents had demanded it of her.

Hearing God and knowing his presence is not rocket science. It only takes a simple heart willing to be honest with him, to pause long enough to see what impressions he puts on our hearts, and to follow him as he leads us. It will help if you discard all your expectations about what he should say or should do. Let him be God and don’t so much see him as the fairy-godmother who will fix everything to make you happy, but the Abba who can walk you through anything with his grace and glory.

Will we make mistakes learning to follow him? Sure. But he can overcome those, too, and in doing so we all get to learn better the difference between his voice and yours.

And, please none of this is not meant to discount the value of a helping friend when we’re so buried in our own pain that we can’t see our way out. Just make sure that helping hand comes from someone who knows you well enough to really be of help, and that they are helping you connect with God instead of listening to God for you. Those who try to build a ministry out of other people’s dependence really don’t get what the Gospel is all about.

Anyone who truly knows the glory of living in the Father’s reality wouldn’t dream of robbing that same opportunity from someone else.

I got this email yesterday and it offers a perfect counterpoint to my previous blog posting. It’s important that we not ‘choose sides’ in whether everyone should attend a local congregation or whether everyone should not. There are lots of ways for God to connect his people in our day and I celebrate all that are focused on Him and help others truly discover how to live in the joy of his life.

Wayne, I enjoy your books and perspective of “church.” (However), as I read your blog and comments from others who have found the freedom in God outside of the institution, they make it sound like they were dying on the inside.

I am on the inside as a pastor and the intimacy with the Lord I feel is tremendous. I don’t chase programs I love the Lord and let Him love me. The people are encouraged in this same manner. They know to look to Jesus not a pastor. The institution is not killing me and it NEVER will. It CAN’T because Christ gives me life not the institution and it wouldn’t kill others if their focus would be on Him and not the church. They find freedom outside of the church because for the first time they connect with Father on a personal basis.

If they are dying in the church I feel it is their fault not the institution. The Holy Spirit is continually speaking to their spirits we know this to be truth. They will not stand before God and be able to blame an institution for their lack of intimacy with Father their own hearts will bear that out. It is really not that hard to love Father or let Him love you whether a person is inside or outside the institution.

Here’s how I responded:

This is the other side of the story isn’t it? I agree with much of what you wrote here, but it all has to do with context doesn’t it? I know there are congregations like you describe that keep the priorities clear and encourage people to an incredible life in Jesus. But how many do you think do this well? When I ask most pastors or congregants who are excited about their fellowship, how many other churches in their community have a healthy life together, I rarely hear a figure above 5%. While they may be thrilled with what theirs is experiencing, they also realize it is not always the norm. There are also very harmful congregational dynamics that can be hurtful to people.

I hear from both and not surprisingly most are from people who felt crushed or overwhelmed by the demands, politics and performance/guilt messages of the fellowship they attended. And that really isn’t always their fault. I know of many groups that operate like a machine that easily slide into messages of your not good enough or not trying hard enough to be a successful Christian that are incredibly harmful to people who don’t get this journey. Could believers thrive in the life of Jesus even in a hostile climate? If they knew Jesus well enough, of course they could. But if they don’t, they are not probably going to discover his life and grow in maturity in that environment.

So I try to make room for both. There are healthy expressions of church life among traditional congregations. I applaud them whenever I hear of them. And there are not-so-healthy expressions that prove destructive to people. That’s why we’ve got to not make rules but let people have their own journey—both those who leave an abusive or innocuous system to secure their faith, and those who participate in one to share theirs.

I hope for a better day when there are far more healthy expressions of vibrant community among believers in local settings rather than so many ones that may even unintentionally be more of a distraction to the journey than a help. Let’s keep doing what we see Jesus asking us to do to help the Body of Christ reach greater healthy all over the place.

What else is there except to simply live in the fullness of his affection and follow him wherever he leads us?

Sara and I are off to Toledo and the Detroit area for the weekend. As I wind things up today I am overwhelmed with joy at the way Jesus changes people and how he opens their eyes. I got this from a twenty-year old sister this morning who hales from the Pacific Northwest. She gave me permission to post her story because I thought it would encourage others of you who are at a similar place in the journey.

Wow! What a journey it has been for me since reading your book, So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore. Your book of truth has brought me to a whole new level of deepness, since my not being involved with the institution.

My journey thus far, having spent 20 years on God’s beautiful green earth, has been centered around the system of what is referred to as the modern day church. I have been brought up in the institution, and I have done the time. From accountability teams, to door to door outreach teams, and just about every leadership role in the system, besides the role as Pastor, I have been there. I fully understand the depth of your book, and how the importance of being a follower of Christ is not, and should have never been, based on, “What can I do? What program or organization can I be involved with to be a good Christian and show the world I am a light and not like them? Nevertheless, I harbor a deep love for those caught up in the system, and I passionately crave for them to one day understand it’s not about rules and programs. It’s about the Father of Lights, the One who desires full relationship. The One who craves for us to sit on His lap like a Father, and talk to Him. Just talk to Him.

It has been so hard for me to be able to explain to those caught up in the system, where I am at with my loving Father and why I do not attend an institution. I find myself at a loss of words when it comes too people questioning why I don’t go to church anymore, and why I don’t join outreach teams anymore, or how come I am not on the praise team playing my drums. So many questions, and so little answers I have been able to conjure up to come out of my mouth. My desire is to fully love, and to know what it means to be fully loved. How does one try to explain the question, “Why?”

My parents, my friends, and those I have worked with in the system, ask me, “Why are you doing this? How come you aren’t involved anymore? We never see you at church, and we are worried for you.” I have the same answer for all who ask me questions as these, “I have found my Love. I have found the one that hung out with sinners and loved on them. I have found the one we say we have programs for. I have found the Jesus that loves every man the same, He is my Love, the One who first found me.”

I have chased revival, I gave up everything in plans of moving to attend a school of the supernatural. I tell you, what a change I have come to. And thank God for that! Revival is right here in my heart with the new journey! THE GOD JOURNEY! I am starting a whole new life on this journey! Having literally nothing but God, is beautiful! Scary and challenging at times, but let’s roll!

Thank you for spending countless hours and days and years, writing this book so a 20 year old such as myself, can say, I’m not alone on this journey, there are others who understand true love. The love of Jesus. The relentless tenderness of His desire for us to just live life freely, with no system of have to’s or binding rules. The foundation on my heart, which has been knocked down and rebuilt, is finally being built up again, but this time, being built with the Chief Cornerstone, Papa. Thank you again, for sharing your journey, and allowing me to again build this foundation of living freely with my Abba.

Gotta love it!

I get asked that question probably more than any other. How do I find fellowship if I’m not part of a traditional congregation?

It’s true that there are a lot of wonderful people who attend traditional congregations, but as many have found it’s also not easy to build relationships there unless you’re involved in all the programs. Even then, it can be difficult when people already have their friendships and very little time or energy for more. And if you ever leave a congregation because you’re exhausted by the behind-the-scenes politics or because the pulpit messages are laced with guilt and performance, you’ll find just how shallow those relationships are. Many of your so-called friends will forget about you or exclude you because you’re no longer part of the same work. Then what do you do?

One of the difficult realities people face when they leave a congregation is finding ways to connect with people. But that’s only so because we’ve always expected others to provide the fellowship opportunities for us. Some look for a nearby house church or think of starting one, hoping to draw others into a similar task, but that can also replicate the same problem. The good side of this is that people who find traditional congregational life unsatisfying, don’t do so because they’re loners. They actually want friendships that rise out of a common passion for Jesus and are looking for ways to walk with other believers in a deeper community.

If you’re new to this journey and have found your old friends pulling away from you, first know that you’re not alone. Almost all of us know what that’s like. We know the loneliness and the desperation that can set in. But the loneliness can be a great tool to draw you closer to Jesus. We often try to fill the God place in our life with others and thus miss how he wants to do it. So literally put him first. Find your life in him, not in your friendships with others. Learn the joy of waking up in the affection of Father each day, even if it takes months to learn.

As you learn to live in that freedom, ask him to give you away to others during your day. It is the task of the Spirit to set us in the family, not ours to find out what we think is best for us. That said, Sara and I just don’t wait on the couch expecting someone to come to our door and ask for fellowship. Instead we’ve been pretty proactive each day about looking for opportunities where our lives can intersect others.

In the last 8 years Sara and I moved twice to localities where we knew no one, and both times we just started loving up on our neighbors and others we met through work and other community engagements and watched a new network of friends develop. We followed those distinctive nudge in our hearts to go meet some believers in a congregation, fellowship groups, mission settings, and other local ministries. . Even though we didn’t join any of those things we met people there with whom we have maintained relationship and watched friendships deepen. We’ve volunteered in community projects and made intentional efforts to be a friend to our neighbors. Not all we met in our new surroundings were (or are) believers, but we have eventually found our lives so full of others, some to love and some to journey with, that we felt our lives quickly filling up.

Live loving toward others near you where that is possible, taking an interest in them whether they are believers or not. See where those relationships go. Don’t try to “build relationships”, because that puts an agenda to them that will drive people away. Desperate and clingy destroys the hope of organic relationships. Just love others and let relationships take their course. Some will deepen and grow, others will just be a passing moment. If God leads you to engage believers in places where they gather, feel free to go. You can be alongside others even in congregational settings without having to buy into all the baggage and without disaffecting them from what is meaningful to them. This is not an exact science, it is a journey and God knows the friendships that you need and how to bring them into your life.

Stay in touch on the web with connections God seems to make there. Travel a bit to meet others to whom God is bringing a connection. Resist the urge to treat relationships as a convenience and make some sacrifice to engage others. Everything about our world trends away from relationships and so will we if we get so overwhelmed with life that we only have them when its easy or convenient. Friendship is about laying your life down for others knowing that Jesus is always laying his life down for you. Friendships will grow best when we’re not trying to control them or trying to get others to act according to your expectations.

In the long run, it is trusting that God knows how to bring you into relationship with others and show you the way forward. It is out of that trust that real relationships can begin and grow.

[A personal note: To those who have been praying for my Dad, he got home Saturday from nearly 3 weeks of surgeries and re-surgeries and his home, healing, and grateful. Thanks for your expressions of prayer and love for us during this time.]