Living Loved Newsletter

Newsletter from LifeStream – Living Loved. Includes downloadable PDFs, and translations to other languages.

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  • To Trust or Not to Trust


    February 4, 1996

    Jesus never taught us to put our trust in others, only in him. Our attempts to trust others will only poison the relationships we hold dear.

  • Why Settle for Anything Less?


    April 6, 1996

    How God’s love can be our only motivation, and why we always find cheap substitutes for that incredible gift.

  • Going to the Root


    June 11, 1996

    A summarization of a book that just might change forever how you view the church of Jesus Christ.

  • To Be Free of God??!!?!?


    September 11, 1996

    Enjoying the freedom of becoming absolutely dependent upon God, and why we resist it so.

  • The Father’s Delight


    November 11, 1996

    Learning to live in the love of the Father.

  • What About Him?


    January 20, 1997

    Competition and how it affects our relationships with other believers.

  • Once In a Lifetime…


    March 23, 1997

    A trip to the Holy Land and lessons on trusting God with our lives.

  • What’s In it For Me?


    May 28, 1997

    How the pursuit of our own self-interest leads us far afield of God’s best work in our lives.

  • Welcome Home!


    July 26, 1997

    The invitation God makes for us to be related to him and why our trust in him is so critical to that process.

  • The Nut Test


    September 19, 1997

    Learning the difference between relationship and religion and what relational Christianity looks like.

  • Why Are You So Afraid?


    November 19, 1997

    Learning to fix our eyes on Jesus, not the circumstances that assail us, and our own inabilities to do much about them.

  • The Most Exciting Days in History


    January 10, 1998

    A look at God’s working in our day and how we can appreciate it, written by Kevin Smith a friend from Australia.

  • The Businessman and the Beggar


    March 9, 1998

    Why our pursuit of trying to earn God’s favor must end before we’ll ever be able to experience the reality of his life in us.

  • Every Day, Every Moment


    May 17, 1998

    A call to a daily relationship with the Risen Christ that can transform our lives with his glory.

  • By Every Word


    July 16, 1998

    Intimacy with God can only be lived out as we learn to listen and follow his voice through the ups and downs of everyday living.

  • Getting on Father’s Page


    September 12, 1998

    Instead of inviting God to bless our work and show up where we are, maybe it would be better for us to live everyday where he is.

  • Painting Outside the Lines


    November 20, 1998

    What God is doing today in the lives of his people, may not always fit between the lines of our religious institutions.

  • Rekindling Passion


    January 3, 1999

    God has called us to live every day in an all-consuming passionate love for him. Here’s how we lose it from time to time and how we can recapture it.

  • Daisy Petal Christianity


    March 8, 1999

    God doesn’t ever want you to doubt again the immense depth of his love for you; nor for you to miss how to respond to it in a life-changing way.

  • Signposts On The Journey


    May 3, 1999

    What markers can help us determine if the voice you’re hearing is really Father’s?

  • Living in the Relational Church – Part 1


    July 10, 1999

    What would happen among believers who really saw the church in the same way God sees her?

  • Living in the Relational Church – Part 2


    September 10, 1999

    A continuation of our look at the church as God views her and how we can truly participate in its life.

  • The Hen and Her Chicks


    November 14, 1999

    The magnificent work of God at the cross that forever secured our redemption in him and our relationship with him.

  • The Same Old Story


    January 10, 2000

    What God is doing to set people free from the tethers religion imposes on us and to soar to the heights of what it means to participate with him in his work in our world.

  • In Exactly the Same Way


    March 5, 2000

    The secret to loving like God loves, is to know how much you are loved by him.

  • Freedom is Only the Beginning


    May 9, 2000

    Two recent experiences brought some fresh images of God’s Fatherhood into my own life. Hopefully they will touch you in a similar way.

  • Snapshots of Father’s Love


    July 1, 2000

    Two recent experiences brought some fresh images of God’s Fatherhood into my own life. Hopefully they will touch you in a similar way.

  • The Spirit of Family: Living in the Relational Church – Part 3


    September 8, 2000

    Why we don’t experience more family life with other believers and what we can do about it.

  • Giving and Generosity: Living in the Relational Church – Part 4


    November 8, 2000

    Tithing is only a shadow of a greater reality that Jesus invited his followers to experience in giving.

  • The Deepest Freedom


    January 10, 2001

    Finding freedom from legalism, religious obligation and the expectations of others is only the beginning. The tyranny of Self is what most keeps us from the joy of walking in Father’s life.

  • Reasons to Run: Living in the Relational Church – Part 5


    March 2, 2001

    What do you do when relationships with other believers become a drag on your journey, instead of an encouragement?

  • Why I Don’t Go To Church Anymore: Living in the Relational Church – Part 6


    May 4, 2001

    Questions and answers about the nature of the church in our day and how it is that we can relate it with life and vitality.

  • Questions About Body Life


    August 7, 2001

    Look in on some of Wayne’s correspondence as he helps people wrestle with the implications of relational Christianity.

  • Lessons from the Rubble


    November 10, 2001

    Thoughts on the terrorist attacks, their implications in our culture and how they can spur us on to every greater depths of relationship with Jesus.

  • Why House Church Isn’t the Answer: Living in the Relational Church – Part 7


    February 14, 2002

    Those who look to House Church as a panacea for what ails the church may be sorely disappointed when they get there. What do we really have to fix for church life to be productive and powerful?

  • The Joy of Letting Go


    April 1, 2002

    If we grab for security on our own terms, we’ll always find ourselves falling short of the passion in our hearts for God. Here’s how to let go and see God’s hand transform your life.

  • The Third Road


    June 6, 2002

    Why walking in religion can’t take us to the heights of God’s joy and how the road to relationship not only leads us to righteousness, but to healthy body life as well.

  • It’s So Worth It!


    September 26, 2002

    Many who start out on the journey of relational life with God, get lost or discouraged in the process. Don’t let that happen to you.

  • We Already Have a Shepherd! Leadership in the Relational Church – Part 8


    December 12, 2002

    How did Jesus intend leadership to function in his incredible family.

  • Shared Dependence: Living in the Relational Church – Part 9


    April 10, 2003

    Unless our dependency is squarely on Jesus and not on each other, we’ll never know the beauty of church life.

  • Sharing the Journey


    July 22, 2003

    An excerpt from Wayne’s newest book, co-written with his brother Clay, this chapter shows how pooling our wisdom can add great joy and wisdom to the journey.

  • Thriving Outside the Box


    October 13, 2003

    If freedom only gets you out of religious obligation and not into Father’s life at a whole new level, it will be your ruin, not your release.

  • Living in Two Worlds


    February 1, 2004

    Eternal life is not just our distant hope. It is also our present possession and keeping focused on it will help us live in the world without being captured by it.

  • The Call of the Shepherd


    May 19, 2004

    Finding safety and purpose in the presence of Jesus and the courage to follow his voice wherever he leads us.

  • What Is God Asking Of You?


    September 16, 2004

    Learning to recognize Jesus’ voice in our lives and having the focus and courage to follow him in the simplest things he asks of us will turn our spiritual stagnation into life and fulfillment. This article also includes ‘That Lot’ in Fairlie, an amazing story of a group of believers in New Zealand.

  • Breaking Free


    November 11, 2004

    A real-life demonstration of what it means to break free of religious obligation and break into the relationship God has always desired for us.

  • The Church That Jesus Builds: Living in the Relational Church – Part 10


    December 20, 2004

    Unless Jesus is our focus and passion we’ll never discover what life can be like between believers who are sharing that passion together. Here are ways you can connect with the church Jesus is building around the world.

  • A Couple Struggles with Pornography


    April 15, 2005

    This is the exchange I had with a young wife and mother struggling with her husband’s addiction. I think it is important for all sides to see how …

  • The Struggle for Sexual Freedom


    April 15, 2005

    These two letters come from brothers I know personally and i thought their stories might be an encouragement and help to others. I know that God does not …

  • Sexual Struggles on the Relational Journey


    April 15, 2005

    Dealing with sexual temptations and failures in the context of our spiritual growth, and finding fulfillment in the gift of sexuality as God gave it to us.

  • Feasting on the Tree of Life


    August 8, 2005

    Until we truly die to the right to decide what is good and not good for our own lives, we’ll never find ourselves basking in the absolute joy of life as Father always meant us to know it.

  • Tree Town – A Parable For Our Times


    November 15, 2005

    A young man finds a book and makes all the wrong conclusions, until he discovers the key that unlocks the mystery.

  • The Real Question


    March 1, 2006

    How might we respond to the conflict between those who attend traditional congregations and those who look for more relational expressions of church life, that builds up the family, rather than further fragmenting it.

  • Reveling in the Freedom to Follow


    July 14, 2006

    Jesus invited people to come and follow him. So why does religion do more to discourage people from that than freeing them to follow him and discover the life in him that he wants for each of us.

  • The Language of Community


    September 10, 2006

    Highlighted excerpts from So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore, focus on the kind of things we can say to others to encourage them on the journey of living deeply in Christ.

  • Windblown: What Life in Him Looks Like


    February 5, 2007

    Living in the fullness of Christ is not a matter of embracing theology ritual, or ethics but to engage him by the Spirit and follow him wherever he leads.

  • Friends and Friends of Friends: Living in the Relational Church – Part 11


    September 10, 2007

    Participating in the Life of the Church has less to do with rituals and doctrine as it does relationship. Here’s a way to define the church that transcends all the organizations in which people try to contain it.

  • The Power of Living In Love


    June 13, 2008

    Has Jesus called us to live by strategic planning, or by the unfolding consequences of simply loving others in the same way we are loved by him?

  • Bait and Switch


    May 6, 2009

    How Christianity traded the invitation into an intimate relationship to God into the rituals and rules of religion, and how we can find our way back.

  • How Do I… ?


    March 4, 2010

    Whenever we are frustrated that God is not opening doors for us it might be a sign that we’re focused on the wrong doors. The kingdom grows in our heart through the organic reality of living loved and following him, not by finding the right strategy.

  • The Jesus Lens #16 – How It All Got Started


    July 31, 2011

    The sixteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. The Jesus Lens #16: …

  • Quiet Lives of Profound Consequence


    September 23, 2011

    The people who have most influenced my life over the years are not authors or podcasters, but men and women who have been down the road a bit further than I had and knew how to encourage my journey without overrunning it.

  • The Church Jesus is Building


    December 27, 2011

    What will the church of Jesus Christ look like ten years from now? Wrestling with that question will tell us a lot about how we view the church Jesus is building in our world, and how we can be part of it as it unfolds.

  • Betrayal, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation


    March 25, 2012

    Talks about what we do when relationships go bad. If we don’t learn how to deal with others who regard relationships expendable, and whose brokenness sometimes spill over into our our own lives, we won’t know how to have healthy relationships with those who are not healthy themselves.

  • The Narrow Road


    January 8, 2013

    Learning to live in the love of the Father is not the result of one grand commitment, but the fruit of a long series of choices that leans away from the world’s way and listens to the gentle nudges of the Spirit as to how to live differently.

  • The Phenomenon of The Dones


    December 8, 2015

    Thirty-one million people, or 1/7 of all adults in the U.S., once attended a local congregation but do so no longer though they continue to follow Jesus and are looking for other avenues of community and mission. What are we to make of this group and how can we be a constructive part of this conversation?

  • Lifestream Update – Fall 2016


    September 8, 2016

    Does God Enjoy You?  The Westminster Shorter Catechism of 1646 said that the chief end of man “is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” What a great …

  • Far Better Explored Than Explained


    March 20, 2019

    When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. (John 16:8) Some things in life are better explored than explained such as an …

  • Only the Hungry


    September 24, 2021

    Living Loved – Fall 2021 Note: this is a copy of my infrequent newsletter, sent out Wednesday. When I returned from Australia a couple of decades ago, having …