One more day here and then we will get on a plane Easter Sunday morning to head on home… and sometime on Easter afternoon I will get another hug from Aimee, my 16 month-0ld-granddaughter who is just learning to ‘hug back’. She gave me one on the day before I left and it was so amazing. I told her she has the amazing power to make so many people so happy just by giving them a hug.

And then I realized that we all have that power every day with people God might bring in our paths who need someone to love them.

I’m so sorry I’ve had such little time for updates this trip. I’m exhausted with all the running around we’re doing and the people we’ve met. But it has been FABULOUS! The people here are amazing and have taken to Sara and me as if we were long, lost friends having returned home. What an absolute joy. And amazingly enough the weather here has been superb. I’ve gotten a chance to play two rounds of golf during my stay and we’re headed out this morning to a men’s tournament with a bunch of the brothers around here. (Sorry, gals, none of the wives here seem to play golf!)

Anyway, a couple of days ago I recorded an interview with two of the brothers here who were involved in this group of folks dismantling their institution 25 years ago to learn to live as a community of God’s people in the Dublin area. We’ll use it on a future edition fo The God Journey. It’s fabulous. When we were talking about some of those things later in the day, one of the wives said how blessed she has been that all the relationships from those days have grown on over the years with such beauty, depth and grace. She wondered if they hadn’t laid it all down when Father asked them to if they would have the same relationships today. Wouldn’t it have been easier for them to end up in conflict over how things should be run, who should be in charge, and what they should be doing.

That got me thinking. Maybe that’s what happened back at the congregation I was with 15 years ago. I see now how God may have been asking us all to lay it down and walk away and if we had all those relationships wouldn’t have gotten shattered by the agendas of men. Hmmmm…. Some of us did walk away rather than fight those who wanted to take possession of God’s working, but if we all had, I think what she said would have been true. If our participation in the resurrection life of Jesus is found in our own willingness to lay our lives down when he asks, why wouldn’t there be a corporate expression of that? There are times when God does wonderful things among us and if we could just enjoy them for what they are instead of turning them into institutions, maybe our relationships wouldn’t get broken, maybe the kingdom would grow freely in the world, and maybe we would really see the living expression of his family in the world.

I’m sure you can’t ‘lay it down’ too often in this world. What we grasp for, we lose. What we give up we seem to be able to enjoy without being owned by it.

I’ll be honest, the audio isn’t very good on this one because of a mistake I made in recording it. But the quality of the content makes it worth it to listen anyway. What One Prayer Can Do is the story of how a prayer and a willingness to follow Father’s leadings can have astounding impact on an entire continent.

I don’t often recommend our podcasts here anymore, but if you’re not yet listening in there, this is one who won’t want to miss. People who think God can only use large institutions often argue that we must all be involved in them if we are going to impact the world. Here’s the counterpoint. Behind the scenes in Africa God is relationally connecting people in a way that is disarming tribal conflicts and opening the door to more effective governance, all in response to a simple prayer played out over 35 years. Imagine if there were hundreds of thousands of believers every day who would just follow the lamb wherever he leads them, not trying to impact the culture, but just being real one relationship at a time and see what God produces in that simplicity. This is what he wants for each of us.

Listen Here

It has been a while since I’ve written because I have just been swamped since I left for the UK and Ireland. I’ve only managed to keep up with my email while spending so much time with some incredible people. In the UK we had people come from a wide area to share over the weekend. Many of the folks were recent immigrants to the UK from Zimbabwe and South Africa. Many of these have been through so much in moving their lives and watching their children scatter across the globe. But what incredible people and their passion to live in the life of Jesus without rituals and obligations was amazing. We ate and laughed and hiked in the woods and talked through the life of Jesus together. What great days. I left with many new friendships.

On Tuesday I arrived in Ireland to visit a wonderful network of people who live south of Dublin. I’m staying in Killiney and the picture above is the view from a Killiney Hill, looking south. Sara jumps on a big United bird to join me here tomorrow night for my remaining 10 days in Ireland. It will be great to have her here and there are so many people who want to meet her.

For a three-night period here we are sharing together about the cross of Christ and how his work reorders everything about the way we think and live. It’s a house packed with people, youth and adults together. You should see the place. The energy and fellowship between all of these folks is a joy to share in. Many of them were part of a congregation 30 years ago, that God led them to disband institutionally and invited them to live together relationally over the years. They have great hearts for God’s life. We’ve even had some folks come over from England to join us this week.

And we had the most amazing encounters yesterday. I went out to buy my mom a birthday card and one of my hosts offered to take me on a bit of a sightseeing drive along the shore. I don’t usually do much sightseeing when Sara is about to join me because she wants me to wait for her. But we went anyway. Con, my host, was showing me a unique home built into the edge of a cliff overlooking Dalkey Island. The view was amazing, but we could barely see the home because it was below the wall and we could only see the roof. As we got out of the car just for a moment, the owner drove up. As we told him we were admiring his home he invited us in and introduced himself. He is Jim Sheridan a film director of some renown. He was so gracious showing us through this very unique home with all the latest electronics and panoramic views of the ocean and island. It was breathtaking!

During our conversation my writing came up as well as the fact that I’ve begun work with a group of people to bring an incredible unpublished story to print and ultimately to the screen. Can you imagine? What are the odds? He seemed intrigued and asked about the movie as well as my other books. I didn’t have any with me, but we’re going to drop a Jake book off later. Who knows what God might do with this brief encounter?

What movie, you ask? It is a book and a movie called The Shack and is the most incredible story I’ve ever read about God making himself known in the brutal tyranny of someone’s tragedy and restoring them in the intimacy of his love. It was written by a friend of mine in Oregon. I can’t wait for everyone to read it, but we are still polishing it up a bit and beginning to put some things in play to make a movie of it. It has been an absolute shock how God is seemingly lining up the people and the circumstances to pull this off. The connections I and the others on the creative team have had back in the States the last two weeks has really affirmed God’s hand in this. We are going to need about $15 million in investment money to make this, and we already have a number of people who have expressed interest about investing in this film as a way to help reveal God to the world. We even have one production company suggesting they take it all over, but we don’t just want this story told, but the heart of the Father in it as well. I sit here today in awe of what God seems to be doing at this point to bring this whole thing together. I will let you know more as it unfolds.

One last item, as I went for a walk yesterday with a couple that wanted to spend some time with me we stumbled upon a film production going on in the park for a new film called A Tiger’s Tale and watched them film part of a scene. Again, what are the odds? I don’t know that anything will come of these brief snippets yesterday around Dublin, but the combination of them both seemed to be God pointing the way forward with a smile on his face, affirming that he was in this and he would make whatever arrangements and connections we need to see it through.

Absolutely awesome! Then last night we got back to the cross, which is one of my favorite things to talk about. What a day in Dublin! Now I can’t wait for Sara to get here.

In a few hours I catcha big bird for England to spend the weekend, then I’ll be off to Ireland for a couple of weeks… I’m really looking forward to catching up with some of the believers there…

Also, we’ve also just combined our first year of podcasting into one CD of mp3 files that will lead you through our entire season. In these 42 podcasts Wayne and his co-host, Brad Cummings, discuss our relationship with God, rethinking the life of the church and how we live in our culture. They also interview others from around the world who are sharing in this journey. All of these podcasts are available at The God Journey, but many people haven’t figured out the whole podcasting technology, so we’ve put all of our first season podcasts on one CD and are making it available for $12.00 for those who want to listen on their computers or mp3 players. Even most DVD players today will play this disc. You can order it from our audio page.

In our morning moments while Sara gets ready to leave for her high school we are reading together a little book that has touched me in the past. It is The Christ of the Mount By E. Stanley Jones. It is a study ofn the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5. This quote sums up his approach which makes the whole discourse so incredibly powerful:

The essential difference between Phariseism and the teaching of Jesus is just here: “One was devotion to an idea – the Law; the other was devotion to a Person – the Gospel.†In the first, one could feel that he had attained and could stand in the temple and thank God that he was not as other men; but the other could never feel that he had attained, for love was always opening new doors. The one produced the perfect Pharisee and the other the perfect lover.

“If religion is concerned with love to a person there can be no limit to duty and there can be no question of merit,†says Findlay, and he laid his finger upon an essential truth. There is a beyondness in the Sermon on the Mount that startles and appalls the legalistic mind. It sees no limit to duty – the first mile does not suffice, he will go two; the coat is not enough, he will love enemies as well. Come to that with the legalistic mind and it is impossible and absurd; come to it with the mind of the lover and nothing else is possible. The lover’s attitude is not one of duty, but one of privilege.

Here is the key to the Sermon on the Mount. We mistake it entirely if we look on it as the chart of the Christian’s duty, rather it is the charter of the Christian’s liberty – his liberty to go beyond, to do the thing that love impels and not merely the thing that duty compels.

AMEN! This life is a person we love who transforms us, not set of principles or rituals to observe. Get that and your as close the kingdom as anyone on the planet!

Many of you have heard me talk about a dear friend of mine, Dave Coleman, from Visalia. He and I wrote So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore under the pen name, Jake Colsen. Here’s your chance to meet him.

In our latest podcast of The God Journey entitled Meet Jake Colsen Brad interviews Dave and I about the new book and a bit of what went on behind the scenes as we wrote it. The three of us fall into a wide-ranging discussion about shame, guilt, religious obligation and control and how Jesus’ work sets us free to live in him. I think you will enjoy the discussion as we challenge people to rethink Christianity, not as the religion it has become, but as a transforming relationship with his Father that Jesus always meant it to be.

On the way to the airport for my recent trip to Dallas, I got a call from someone whose home I’ve stayed in a number of times in the past. He was in a bit of a crisis and wanted my input. As he described the events playing out in his life, he told me he was never more circumstantially confused and personally unsettled about all the things going on around him. None of his old boxes or definitions seemed to be working. Yet, he said, never had he known such peace and confidence in the midst of it. He seemed a bit unsettled with that reality and wanted to know if I thought this sounded like God.

Absolutely. It has God’s fingerprints all over it. Religion teaches us to put our security in our ability to have things all figured out. The only problem with that, however, is that most of our ‘figuring out’ is based on human wisdom and false assumptions. It promotes the illusion that we are in control of our own lives and thus can be at peace when all is well and in turmoil when it is not. That’s why when they unravel, as they inevitably will, people are thrown into confusion and doubt about God’s love or their own worthiness.

Paul wrote about the peace that passes all understanding, the security God gives us in himself when the storms rage about us and yet we know that we are safe in him even if we don’t have the foggiest idea what’s going on or how things turn out. Living relationally means exploring the moment with him and finding our security not in a well-defined present, or in guaranteed outcomes to our current crisis. God invites us to find our security in him alone, and his unfolding purpose in our lives whether we see it or not. It is enough that we live in him each day, doing what he asks of us and resting confident that he will accomplish his work as much in the valley of the shadow of death as he does in the green pastures and still waters.

Sara and have been reading together The Way of Jesus: A Journey of Freedom for Pilgrims and Wanderers by Jonathan and Jennifer Campbell. It was recommended to me by a friend from New Zealand. Though the reading does get tedious at times with a lot of intellectual curiosities, I love the journey this couple is on and the conclusions they are coming to. I think many of you will enjoy the book. Here are a couple of excerpts:

Sadly, despite many charismatic renewals over the past fifty years, institutionalism remains. Even the most gifted leaders who reach freedom in Jesus and long for a greater outpouring fo the Holy Spirit perpetuate structures that prevent the free-flowing movement of the Body of Christ. With few exceptions, church in the West is still described in institutional terms: a worship service whereby passive laity sit in a sanctuary listening to a didactic monologue from a professional. Most of what we see today are primarily cosmetic changes expressed in the superficialities of style: music style, clothing style, program style, architectural style. Styles may change, but the systemic structure remains entirely modern. (p. 101)

“The real issues are not methodological or structural’ they are theological and deeply spiritual. The church was never meant to have a permanent (or stationary) residence because it was to be always enroute toward the ends of the earth and the end of time.… The problem with the church is not that it’s out of touch with the culture, but that it is out of touch with Jesus. Our powerless ecclesiology (understanding of church) reflects our powerless Christology (understanding of Jesus). We know about Jesus without experiencing Jesus. (p. 99)

Some of you have been following my adventures in the nation’s capital. I got this email from a friend in the heartland who saw the CSPAN appearance. I love what he shares about his own transformation:

I thought you all came across very well and clear. I did wonder while watching it, how people (especially Christians) hearing these ideas and approach to this issue for the first time, would process it? I’m still amazed how the culture in western Christianity seems to breed this defense of truth at the expense of loving people. Maybe that is just the only outcome we ever get out of religion. The love and acceptance that Jesus lived in scripture is so easy to over look. I can’t help but think of the time I spent as an obnoxious Christian defending truth. It really is amazing looking back at this whole experience outside the box and how Father has change so much of that in me. I tell my girls often when they have been hurt by someone to never forget how it feels when someone does something hurtful to them and to ask themselves at the same time if they ever want to inflict that kind of pain on anyone else ever? It has been through things like this in my life Father really started teaching me about compassion.

For those of you interested in the follow-up to the press conference, the Associated Press did a story that hit 78 newspapers around the world on the next day. Focus on the Family covered it as well, and there was also an article in the Ventura County paper where I live.

When Sara read the AP article, she noticed I wasn’t even mentioned in it, nor was BridgeBuilders. She asked how I felt about that. I felt great. You see, I think the real purpose of a facilitator is to bring people together then step into the background. The story shouldn’t be about me it should be about the others who represent the constituencies that need to see this differently. Especially in this case. For the last year I’ve gotten the sense that BridgeBuilders may be winding down for me, and while I have loved doing it, I have so much more passion for the other things Jesus has asked me to do. So I really do want to work myself out of a job here. That helps. As long as we’re building something it is about us, and when we want to let go, it becomes about others. I don’t know if God is done with it yet or not. Time will tell. But I know it is much better for me to live with it having my hands wide open than grasping for what I think I need in it. That said, I’ve already accepted an invitation to speak to Washington State school board attorneys about this issue in April. Go figure!

When I’ve worked in various school districts, I notice the people quoting me a lot after we’re done. I always encourage them to stop. If the language has become theirs, there is no reason to assign it to me and it will be better for the community they live in if it comes from them. I won’t be around and they really need to learn to live this stuff with each other.

Interestingly enough, after I hung the phone with Sara I read John 3 in my daily reading about John wanting to decrease so Jesus could increase. That’s it, right there! The heart of ministry and even leadership in the family is to point people to Jesus and fade into the background. It isn’t to keep standing on the stage drawing attention to me and what I did, but to point the way to him and what he did. That’s our purpose in every life God gives us to touch. Help them see him and then fade into the background. Oh you can still be their friend, but you don’t need to be their mentor after that. Once they learn to follow him, let them go and see if Father has someone else for you to encourage onward in him.