A quote making the rounds today is sure a good one. As far as I know, no one has been able to ascertain who first wrote or spoke this: “Life shouldn’t be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather, to skid in [...]

Our latest edition of The God Journey entitled Looking for Real Body Life has just been posted on our sister website thegodjourney.com. During my recent trip to South Africa I met with many brothers and sisters who are in various stages of transition from the system of religious obligation and sorting out what it means [...]

During the last week of my stay in South Africa I got three emails from three different people with three very different reactions to my article, Why I Don’t Go to Church Anymore. I thought you’d enjoy a chance to read over my shoulder, because some of you might have very similar questions or concerns. [...]

In Africa someone asked if I read Your God is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan. I was ambivalent about the title, because I think in the Father is the safest place to be to be in all the universe. But the book wasn’t about that. It was about making God in our own image, so [...]

I’ve been home for a few days now, trying to get my head back in my home time zone and trying to process the incredible experiences I had in South Africa. First of all, let me thank those of you who helped make this trip a reality—those who kept us in prayer and those who [...]

We have reached the day of my departure. In a couple of hours I will be heading to the airport and the long flight home. I honestly can’t wait to reconnect with my family there. This has been an awesome trip and the last weekend in the Johannesburg and Pretoria area has been no exception. [...]

After my > South African Adventure II Blog, Jason wrote to ask about how people might give to the need here. Her’s his comment: I am overwhelmed by your accounts of Africa and the dire circumstances of so many. This has made such an impression on me (a sad one). However, for believers, pain and [...]

In my first few days in Johannesburg I got to know a couple from Zimbabwe who had come down to meet me during my stay. They are an older couple, hot on the path of living out the life of Jesus and we enjoyed so much swapping stories and the things God has shown us [...]

Our latest edition of The God Journey entitled The Gospel Jesus Preached has just been posted on our sister website thegodjourney.com. This was recorded before Wayne left for South Africa So many of our institutional approaches to the life of Jesus are formulated around a truncated gospel—one that is incomplete and thus focused on the [...]

I’ve moved on from Ladysmith and am spending my last six days in South Africa in Johannesburg and Pretoria with a lot of different groups of believers who are in various stages in this journey. If the taste yesterday is any indication, I’m in for a lovely time. I love the grace God gives for [...]

I am continually amazed and blessed by the people allows me to meet as I journey through this life. On this trip I have met many believers who are finding freedom from religious obligation and learning to live in Christ’s life. Some are just beginning that journey, and others are far along it. I love [...]

I’ve moved on. I finished up my class on Thursday morning. I couldn’t have been more thrilled at how the reality of the cross was received. The questions they asked and the freedom I saw in their faces was all I needed to know. The conversations with individuals assured me that Father had made himself [...]

My South African Journey I’ve been in South Africa for almost four days now. It has truly been an absolute joy. I have met so many wonderful people and had so many experiences it is hard to sort through it all as I finally have a chance today to fill you in a bit. I [...]

At 12:40 past midnight tonight, I will leave LAX and head for South Africa. After a brief stop in Atlanta, I will continue on an 18 hour flight to Johannesburg, then connect for a short flight out to Durban. I hate these long flights, but am looking forward to my time among the people of [...]

It’s one of the most often-asked questions I get, but Holly asked me again this morning and I thought I’d take this opportunity to answer it for others who have the same question she does: We are to give, although tithe is and old testament rule, we are to in fact give. My concern is [...]

A reader from Lifestream, currently living in the DC area, recently sent me an excerpt from an incredible article about a baby’s need for love. Being a recent grandfather I found this particularly appropriate. It is from an article entitled The Long Term Effects of Institutionalization on the Behavior of Children From Eastern Europe and [...]

Many of you know that Sara and I moved a few weeks ago, to a house that I wasn’t impressed with at first sight. I could see a number of things that gave me concern. But where I saw problems, Sara saw potential. So we bought the house and moved in. In the weeks since, [...]

The August 2005 issue of BodyLife, The lead article is called “Feasting on the Tree of Life” and takes a look at why some people on this journey seem to be caught in and endless cycle of frustration and emptiness while others find great freedom to live deeply in the life only Jesus can give. [...]

Our tenth edition of The God Journey entitled Transition has just been posted on our sister website. Moving from an institutional mindset about body life to a relational one is not an easy process, and often the journey takes very different people through very similar stages. After Wayne and Brad following up on the leadership [...]

A friend sent me this quote this morning from 365 Days a Year with Dwight Moody which was originally published in 1900. Today’s entry is a commentary on 2 Corinthians 5:14, … “The love of Christ compels us.” I am getting sick and tired of hearing the word duty, duty. You hear so many talk [...]

Wow! You never what will capture people’s fancy. I’ve enjoyed reading the comments to my last blog and appreciate all who have contributed. I’d like to continue the dialogue with a couple of additional comments: (1) I agree that the use of judgment COULD be an appeal to guilt or fear. I don’t know how [...]

One of the few email lists that I subscribe to is the Daily Dig, from The Bruderhof Communities. Their short, pithy quotes are filled with insights and often challenge the status quo, politically and spiritually. This one came today for those of you who haven’t already seen it. It’s a quote by U-2’s Bono. Now, [...]

Today more people die of HIV/AIDs every 22 days than died in the tsunami in Asia this past Christmas. That may be hard to believe since HIV/AIDs has faded into the background in much of the media coverage. This disease is ravaging Africa where misinformation and poverty have combined to create a pandemic of epic [...]

Our eighth edition of The God Journey entitled It’s About Relationship has just been posted on our sister website. Living relationally in body life begins with our own relationship to the one who creates the reality and power of that body life. In this webcast Brad and Wayne explore our own personal relationship to the [...]

I’m back from Pennsylvania, but am way backlogged here. So until I get my feet on the ground, here are some more thoughts from Robert Farrar Capon’s Kingdom, Grace and Judgment: “And there, if you will, is the ultimate dilemma of the church. The one thing it doesn’t dare try to sell—for fear of being [...]

This is my last day in Pennsylvania for a while. I leave tomorrow to return to California. I’m really ready to get home and get some Sara time in. As an added bonus, my daughter and granddaughter will be picking me up from LAX because Sara is working tomorrow. That will be fun. I am [...]

FRANKILIN, PA – There is nothing I love doing more than hanging out with folks for a few days sorting out the reality of what Father and Son did on the cross for us. We’re in an old castle on a hill in the woods of Western Pennsylvania that was built in the early 1900s [...]

Tomorrow I head for 11 days in Western Pennsylvania. I’ll be teaching at a family camp through the week, head up to Youngstown, Ohio for a Saturday afternoon/evening with some dear friends in a home church up there and then it’s back to Pennsylvania for a seminar at an Assembly of God fellowship in Grove [...]

I forget sometimes how much I hate change. I think I enjoy it, and for most of the spiritual changes in my life I love what God has transformed in me. But from the safety that process has brought, I often forget the pain that produced it. I’ve gotten a great reminder of that this [...]

I have finished Robert Farrar Capon’s Kingdom, Grace and Judgment and there’s a few more quotes I think you’ll enjoy. Here’s one: Too often the church preaches resurrection but effectively denies the death out of which alone the grace of resurrection proceeds. Its cure of choice, for its own hills or for the world’s, is [...]

In case you think all of my email is filled with great questions and wonderful affirmations, it isn’t so. Take this one I got last week: Although you make several true points in this article, you are totally off base when it comes to the local New Testament church. There is not only a Bible [...]

I love the questions people are asking as they wake up to the reality of living in the life of Jesus. This one came today from Mississippi and in the limited space email offers, I tried to give her a bit of an answer: This may sound stupid. How does one share the gospel with [...]

You would probably have had to grow up in the 60’s and 70’s to get this one, but back then it was big-time preaching to take the names of God from the Old Testament that used the word Jehovah as a prefix. For instance, Jehovah-Jireh, (the God Who Provides) Jehovah-Rapha, (The God Who Heals You [...]

I’m sorry it has been so quiet around here. I got back Monday from a weekend in New Mexico and fell right into a host of details that need to be sorted out not only for the people I encourage and the websites I run, but also to make final arrangements for our move next [...]

I am still digesting Robert Farrar Capon’s Kingdom, Grace and Judgment. It is an interesting look at the parables of Jesus from an Episcopal priest and comes to some incredible conclusions that you wouldn’t expect. I’ll warn you it isn’t always easy reading, but the gems throughout are incredible. Here’s another: “Christianity is not a [...]

One of the best things about seeing the new Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith is that you get to see the trailer for the new Narnia movie, The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe . The classic children’s books by C.S. Lewis are in production to come to the big screen. I’ve got [...]

I am still digesting Robert Farrar Capon’s Kingdom, Grace and Judgment. It is an interesting look at the parables of Jesus from an Episcopal priest and comes to some incredible conclusions that you wouldn’t expect. I’ll warn you it isn’t always easy reading, but the gems throughout are incredible. Here’s another: “I am left, therefore, [...]

Not long ago I met with a group of people who’ve been sharing life as a house church over the couple of years. They had read a lot of my books and articles, but we had never met. In preparation fo our time together, they sent me a list of the questions they were hoping [...]

My head and heart are still spinning from my recent swing through Virginia. I appreciated those of you who prayed for my time in Washington, DC working alongside the First Amendment Center to help to create a publication for school districts to deal with sexual orientation issues. The meeting brought people together from all sides [...]

Do you want to read over my shoulder gain in a recent email exchange? I was introduced to Christianity in the Foursquare denomination about 16 yrs ago when I was 19. I had the deep fellowship with Christ, the love, the fruit, the peace and led many “naturally” to faith in Him. Came from a [...]