Behind the Scenes

This has been a busy week around here. In response to the Injustice in Kenya, which I wrote about on Wednesday, we collected all we needed by Wednesday evening, and money has continued to come in. We are amazed at your overwhelming generosity and have sent the money on to rescue the orphans from this travesty of justice.  Thank you so much. Sara and I are deeply grateful for how quickly people responded. The excess we will keep in our fund for relief in Kenya, as the needs there are always ongoing. Please know that everything given toward Kenaya will get there.

Also, this week I was on the Face-to-Face podcast with Melinda and Cathy. They called it Untangling Love: A Journey with Wayne Jacobsen. If you’re interested, you can watch it on YouTube here or get the audio wherever you normally get your podcasts. They really drilled down into some of my thoughts about living in the liberty of love and how that transforms us.

Finally, I wanted to recommend a book to you. I often get emails about how to find community, which for me means compassionate and supportive in-depth friendship with others on a Jesus journey. It can be a challenge in this age, where technology can be as much a barrier to relationships as a tool to connect.

A long-time friend of mine has just published a book to help with that challenge. It is called Relationships On the Run: How to Grow Authentic Connections and Lasting Intimacy in a Hurried Culture, by Stephanie Bennett. This book is not about instant friendships in a hurried culture; it’s about how to make space for the deeper connections available beneath the fast-paced society we live in. With stories from Scripture and real life, Stephanie helps readers find inspiration for love and friendship that flourish rather than simply survive.

Stephanie is the real deal. With a doctorate from Regent University, she is the Professor of Communication and Media Ecology at Palm Beach Atlantic University. She is also the author of the Within the Walls trilogy, a series of books about relationships amid hostile technology. I enjoyed the books immensely and recommended them here years ago.   More importantly, she and her husband Earl have embraced relational life in Jesus for multiple decades. I first met them decades ago in New Jersey and have watched them in different environments find deep and meaningful relationships that enrich others, as well as themselves. 

She asked me to write the Foreword for her book on relationships, which I was honored to do.  Here it is

Foreword

Relationships make us rich.

And of course, by that I mean the good ones. Relationships that set us at ease, allow us to explore our own journey alongside others, and reward authenticity and vulnerability are the true riches of our humanity. To share the struggles and challenges of living in the twenty-first century with mutual compassion and encouragement, and to celebrate joy, however we find it, with good friends, gives life deep meaning and fulfillment.

My greatest joys have all been inside close, meaningful relationships.

But to be honest, they have also been the source of my deepest anguish.

When relationships are good, they are incredibly good, but when they turn manipulative or destructive, especially with people you care about, they cause untold pain. And yet, I have found that the joy of the former easily outweighs the risk of the latter.

The trick is learning to manage our relationships wisely, cultivating those that nourish our spirit, limiting our expectations so we make room for human weakness, repairing those we can that have been damaged and, when necessary, creating boundaries for those fraught with insecurity, jealousy, dishonesty, or threatening behaviors.

Relationships used to be far less complicated in the last century when I grew up. We weren’t hounded by social media or encouraged to brand ourselves. Most people we met lived down the street from us or were visible in our community. Character was more important than image. We held a lot of beliefs and passions in common, and it was far easier to connect.

But the lines for healthy relationships have shifted in recent decades.

Living authentically and vulnerably has never been more terrifying, and the things that can suddenly take a relationship sideways are often unforeseen. Our society rewards achievement over friendships and amusement over community; consequently, healthy relationships aren’t always easy to find.

This is a masterful work that will help you find and cultivate the kind of relationships that will make your life rich and rewarding. I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough. There are few opportunities to help us discover how healthy relationships work and to avoid the pitfalls that cause harm. You now hold one of those in your hands.

Your guide on this journey is Stephanie Bennett, a researcher and college professor specializing in communication and media ecology. She has a deep understanding of the power of healthy relationships. This isn’t just her academic pursuit; this is her life. Stephanie has been my friend for nearly thirty years. And even though we live on opposite coasts, we have found occasion to cross paths somewhere in the world and explore our combined passion for a relationship with God that’s transforming and connections with people that offer a continual resource of wisdom and encouragement.

She can help you appreciate the power of relationships and find ways to explore them joyfully.

What I respect most about Stephanie is that her words and her life synch up as a beautiful and authentic symphony. That’s not true of every writer I know; many espouse things for others they don’t aspire to themselves. I have seen her commitment to loving relationships inside her own family as a wife and mother, but also well beyond it to a wide circle of friendships. And this isn’t just in good times; I’ve seen her deal with difficult relationships, and she always finds a way to enhance the lives of others around her. I’ve watched her navigate crisis and heartache and have been a benefactor of her love and graciousness in my own times of struggle.

That’s what I appreciate most about writers I enjoy. I don’t look for perfection; we all have our blind spots and weaknesses. People don’t have to be successful, humorous, or well-connected. I want them to be real—to enjoy what they enjoy, have the vulnerability to struggle where they struggle, and the curiosity to question what they need to question while respecting that same process in others.

For me, genuineness is even more important when someone puts thoughts to paper for others to consider. Words are empty if they aren’t backed by a life that reflects them. Rest assured that these words are backed up by a kind and conscientious heart.

So more than recommending her thoughts to you, let me commend the woman herself. She’s as genuine a person as I’m pleased to know. Her compass is locked on a purpose greater than herself and that informs her actions and her graciousness to others.

As she shares the things that she has learned, you can rest assured she speaks from a reservoir of wisdom she has gained through personal experience. Her wisdom is enlightening, her passion for Jesus contagious, her ethics exemplary, and her faith deep and abiding.

These are the words of a woman who means them. I trust they will enrich and inspire you as much as her life has touched mine.

Get this book.  You won’t regret it.

The message of It’s Time: Letters to the Bride of Christ at the End of the Age continues to grow in my heart every day. As I watch world events unfold and listen to the breath of the Spirit, my heart is captured by his passion to bring his bride into the fullness of her splendor. I enjoy the conversations I get into with people who are reading it, and how it is inviting hearts closer to him as well. In the New Year, I am planning on hosting a book discussion group via Zoom to explore its themes further with those who are interested. Also, on February 21, I’ve been invited to do a day-long workshop on the themes of It’s Time in Bradenton, FL, if you live nearby or want to fly in. We’ll get details out in the near future.

It really is time for the sons and daughters to be revealed on the earth. I’m excited to see how that takes place because I’m sure it will be far grander than I could anticipate.

I’m also excited to announce that It’s Time has made its way to Germany. My publisher there, Glory World Medien, has just released the German translation of this book. You can find it at their bookshop:  Wayne Jacobsen, Es ist Zeit! or at Amazon: https://www.amazon.de/Es-ist-Zeit-Briefe-Zeitalters/dp/3955786595. They have many of my other books as well.

Finally, let me share how two people are finding a way to pass this message on to others in their orbit.

Mike:

I really enjoyed It’s Time. It felt like a summation of numerous conversations and podcasts over the last few years. Seriously lightens my heart and puts life in the proper perspective.

• •  “The time of his coming may be at hand; the time for us to reveal his love definitely is.”
  • “I am convinced we live in the moments before the dawn. Certainly, darkness seems to rule everywhere we look, but for those with eyes to see, the skies have already begun to brighten ever so slightly on the Eastern horizon.”

That is a beautiful word picture to end an excellent read. That image makes my heart leap, like grass springing up through concrete. It is inevitable!

I sent those last few lines to quite a few friends.  They absolutely loved it. I’m going to be ordering a few books for gifts soon.  Yes, an uplifting read—sanity in the midst of religious, Christian, fearful, ignorance.

 

Rod (Australia):

We joined you on the Israel Tour, and both routinely recall with great fondness that trip. We have not felt comfortable returning to the institutional church and have basically had quite a few years of ‘inactivity’ with other Christians apart from a pure social context. For a long time, we were concerned that if we had a home church/meeting, people would be tempted to do things the way we had always and we were well beyond being interested in that. Personally, I wanted to explore what being a Christian over 70 years old meant and offered. Then you released It’s Time, and Jill thought that would be a good guide for us to meet and discuss it with our over-70s friend

So, eight of us have been meeting every fortnight or so to chat about a chapter of It’s Time and just completed week 6 yesterday. What a pleasure to have your thoughts on our faith and walk with the Lord as a catalyst for discussion on various topics. Having been involved in many, many small group meetings over the years, I don’t think there has been one where everyone participates the way they do when discussing It’s Time. We can’t believe how now every single person has entered, shared their perspective, even the traditionally quiet ones. What a joy! What an encouragement to hear how each other thinks about the Lord, our faith, and our later years of life on that journey. We look forward to how the Lord reveals our lives in Him as ‘70+ers. We are convinced there is so much more to find as we age.

Sara and I had a fulfilling weekend in Calgary, sharing with a group of people some of the dynamics essential to relational community, and then in the afternoon, Sara and I shared about God’s faithfulness through our trauma story and how God shows up with his deepest love in our darkest places.

Monday, we toured Banff National Park (see above), yet another place where God’s Creation expresses his majesty and his wonder. The mountains, rivers, and lakes refreshed our hearts and restored our souls. This morning, we drove through some of that region as we began our journey home. We are in Cranbrook, AB, for the next two days, and then we will be in Coeur d’Alene over the weekend.  From there, we’re headed home, across Washington to the Sea-Tac area, and then south on I-5 through Portland, Redding, and points south.

Throughout this trip, Sara and I are even more aware of just how much the events of the last three years have altered our journey in ways we could not have imagined. At that time, I was contemplating what life would look like if without Sara, and whether or not I could continue to help others if my life to that moment had been a lie.

Then, God gave me a vision of a spaceship hurtling through the stars. Slowly, a large, orange, Jupiter-sized planet came into view from the left. As the craft whizzed past the planet, its course was bent by the gravity of that planet, and it shot off in a completely different direction. The thought in my head was, “This will change the trajectory of your life, but it will lead to beautiful places.

That has certainly been true. When Sara returned and we sorted out the bad counsel she had received, I knew that her discovery of trauma would decisively affect everything about our lives. On this trip, we are still discovering what that means and how Jesus is inviting us to live in these days, helping people with trauma, traveling less, and, most importantly, what it means to live inside a love that is greater than the darkest things evil can dish out.

God is always the loving hand working beneath the darkness to bring his redemption to bear on the assaults of evil. When your best-laid plans turn on a dime, we all need to know God still has a way through for us. He can take our new reality, as painful as it is, and work great good out of it. Let his glory unfold in you, especially when circumstances change your trajectory. Don’t cling to the plan of the past, but let God write a new script that will lead you to more beautiful places.

Most of the underlying themes that allowed me to let God shift my trajectory can be found in my newest book: It’s Time: Letters to the Bride of Christ at the End of the Age. It’s about the transformation that love can work into a heart that can prepare them to face any ordeal and come out with a deeper appreciation and practice in love and trust. You can order it in paperback ($10.99) or e-book ($8.99).

And now, the audiobook is available ($17.46 from Amazon), in which I get to read my own words for those of you who want to listen to the tones and inflections I had in mind when I wrote it. I’m so glad to have it available in this format. You can listen to a preview of the audiobook in the player below:

Let me close with a review I received last week about this book:

Wayne Jacobsen’s It’s Time! is a tender, urgent call to the heart of every believer who dares to ask: What if Jesus is coming back sooner than we think—and are we living like it matters? In this moving collection of spiritual letters, Jacobsen writes not with fear or fanaticism, but with deep love and prophetic insight—guiding Christ’s followers into readiness not just for His return, but for the kind of radiant, resilient faith needed in these final hours.

Drawing from the imagery of the Bride of Christ, Jacobsen paints a portrait of a people set apart—longing not for escape, but for intimacy with the Bridegroom. His tone is pastoral and poetic, rooted in Scripture and overflowing with wisdom born of experience and prayer. As he walks the hills near his home and listens to the whisper of the Spirit, he passes on that whisper to us—reminding us of what it means to live faithfully in an age clouded by darkness and deception.

This is not apocalyptic speculation. It’s spiritual preparation. With honesty and clarity, Jacobsen reminds us that whether Christ returns in 10 years or 150, there must always be a generation willing to:

• Love beyond self-preservation
• Shine brighter than the lies of the age
• Walk in unshakable trust amid the shaking of nations
• Anchor hope not in outcomes, but in God’s sovereign story

What makes It’s Time! so compelling is that it doesn’t scream for attention—it sings. It calls quietly, yet powerfully, to the Bride of Christ to awaken, to prepare, and to live as though eternity is nearer than we think.