One of the things I enjoy about having a new book out there is that it shifts the conversation a bit. I love talking about living loved and why there might be better ways to do church than to fit it into one of the models so prevalent today. But now I’m finding through A [...]

The other day this photo arrived in my inbox. Photographer Kent Lindsay, a frequent listener to The God Journey, said that this photo came to mind as he was listening to one of our recent podcasts, Conversations That Matter. He wrote that he found such peace in this photo because it reminded him that the [...]

Art and words from A MAN LIKE NO OTHER, available at Lifestream.org. To all those who read these pages, to our friends and fellow-travelers around the world, we are so grateful for the lives God has linked us to around the world. May you spend treasured days with loved ones, and laughter and joy enough [...]

I love the stories I get to hear and be a part of as people grow in the Father’s love, even through the most unexpected changes. I met Daryl years ago when we were both vocational pastors in Visalia, CA. We’ve stayed in touch through the years and have even crossed paths at a number [...]

I’m on my way home today after an amazing 8-day swing through St. Louis, Kansas City, and Wichita. I’ve met hundreds of new people and had long, lovely conversations with people I have crossed paths with before. It has all been wonderful, even our last three days hanging out in a barn with a wide-ranging [...]

I got two emails this morning that were incredibly encouraging as to how God works in people as they continue to learn to live loved. The journey can be ragged at time, especially in the early days. But as Father teaches us to live loved, it’s amazing what he can put behind us and the [...]

If you read this page frequently you’ll know how incredibly powerful it has been for me to grow to embrace the Almighty God of the universe as my Abba Father. These words continue to work their way into my heart with ever-greater reality: For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave [...]

I wouldn’t have even remembered it if it hadn’t come up again the next day. The person who picked me up in the morning to drive me to my next destination told me a friend of hers that I’d met last night had called this morning to tell her how much my parting words had [...]

Our hearts have been really sad around here the last few days. We lost a dear friend. For 14 years she brought such joy, companionship, and unbridled affection into our lives. Our daughter was a senior in high school when this puppy moved in. She has lived with us in four different homes, and relished [...]

Last summer when I was in England, I stumbled upon this little book of insights and inspiration from the journey of a young woman who had been struck by a debilitating virus while studying at the university. I was taken with her observations about learning to live inside Father’s love even when we can’t understand [...]

You can see the front and back of her card here. You couldn’t sell this card in any store in America, but Hallmark has never printed the card of more exquisite beauty or more touching a message. You see, it is not the quality of the card that defines the one who gives it. It’s [...]

I heard an incredible story today and I think it is as true for many of us as it is for the person who sent it to me in an email. I quote: I feel like I’m meeting my Dad for the first time! My wife’s best friend is a real-life Jerry Springer show. She [...]

As I start my vacation, I’ll leave you with this: “Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as real strength.” Ralph W. Sockman I saw that go by by eyes a few days ago and was really touched by it. Ralph W. Sockman was a Methodist minister in New York City [...]

First, an announcement: Our offices will be closed August 5-16 as Sara and I will be on vacation and have no one to cover the office. We will not be able to fill orders during this time, so please order before that date if you need any of our things before we return. Or, you’ll [...]

And now you know why Jenny’s book, Rainbows In My Eyes has been such an encouragement for me at this stage of the journey. Her pain is far different from mine, and in many ways far more brutal, but her poems (and I’m not a poem guy!) have encouraged me to lean in more deeply [...]

Sara and I are reading together the book I recommended last month, As Is: Unearthing Common Place Glory is a new book by a first-time author, Krista Finch. We are enjoying it and the conversations that follow. We were really touched by the one we read a few days ago. In the chapter called, “Garage [...]

Have I got a book of hope for you, especially if you’re going through some very deep waters. It is a collection of poems by a young poet in England dealing with a tragedy in her own life and sorting it out with God in her poetry. Her words are brutally honest, at times playful [...]

Got this email today and it brightened my heart. I hope it brightens yours too: July 4, 2010 was a monumental day in our lives. On that day, we both found out: THAT GOD LOVES US! How about that!? It was during our normal devotional time that “we got it” at almost 71 and 72 [...]

In response to my recent BodyLife article about “How Do I…” I got this amazing note this morning. This is from a young brother I’ve been in touch with for a few years. I love what he is discovering, and think few realize the critical lessons God is teaching him when they are busy trying [...]

The fullest fruit of it I enjoy now is in the unbridled joy of my wife. She has always been fun to be around, but through our early years she was quite reserved. But as God has shaped her, she embraces life with a greater joy and it spills out at times in spontaneous laughter [...]

After my recent blog about Buck’s passing, I received an email from an old friend, posing a question that had been on her mind: I find it difficult to understand why God wouldn’t graciously extend his hand to give Buck more years beyond what he had. Tragedy is something that I struggle with much in [...]

I got this in an email from an old friend the other day, who is freshly learning to live loved. I really like the way he qorded this. Once I began to understand what it means to live loved, I started seeing the gospel afresh in many places. I’m seeing how essential it is to [...]

In the age of microwave ovens, Internet access and video on demand, we are being seduced to the illusion of instant answers and quick fixes. The renewing of our minds, however, is a process that does take some time. God is not interested in waving a magic wand and making all your circumstances glorious; he [...]

I love hearing how other people are experiencing this journey and how God is freeing them from the bondage of human religion to embrace a realy walk with him. I got this from a twenty-three year old Swiss woman this week. What an encouragement it was to me and I hope to you too. First [...]

A panoramic view at the Tala Game Reserve near Durban Sara and I have been home three days now and this has been my fastest recovery from an international trip. I have slept well through the nights and seem to be back on Pacific Standard Time. Many have asked how our time went there and [...]

“I’ve heard that there are two kinds of Christians in the world,” the young woman said perched on the couch of a home I visited lately. “People either see God as mad or sad.” On a normal day, that would have sounded fine to me. Either he is mad at our sin and wants to [...]

I got this email the other day. I love the journey this dear sister is on, even if it is a bit disorienting at the moment. Listen to her heartbeat. There are so many like her and I’m blessed that God is waking us up to find greater life and freedom in him, wherever he [...]

I got this email the other day and loved it. This comes from Connie, and I’ve posted some of her thoughts before as she struggles through the transition of thinking religiously to thinking relationally. I like the humor and honesty in her words and journey. The subject of the email was “Amused and Annoyed.” I [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]