I promise, this is the last one this year. Yes, I have been busy getting some projects done that have been on my heart for some time. I am pleased to announce that I have finished a new book that was built off of my former books called The Vineyard, Tales of the Vine and In My Father’s Vineyard. All of those books have been out of print for some time and people continue to ask where they can access some of my teaching on Jesus parable of the vine and the branches. I grew up on a grape vineyard, so this is actually a farmer’s view of John 15 and what it means to remain in the vine. This contains some of my greatest memories growing up on a vineyard, as well as the most tender metaphor Jesus used to invite us into the fullness of his life and the fruitfulness that he produces in us out of that reality.

This book is called In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness. I retell Jesus parable of the vineyard to show how God works in different ways in us depending on the season we are growing through. Each season has a particular and valuable place in the development of a vine. It cannot be fruitful all the time, and if it doesn’t get refreshed in winter, it will not bear fruit again.

This book will be released on November 7. This should coincide with the arrival of the other book I’ve been working on, A Man Like No Other. So if you want to order them together, we’ll ship them together. You can pre-order both books here. The cost for this book is $13.99 and we’re working now on the e-book for those who prefer it that way. Hopefully it will be ready about the same time. I’ll let you know.

Here’s the cover and back cover. I’ve been working with a new designer, Nan Bishop out of Tulsa. I love her work and appreciate how the layout for this book has come together. And it’s as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside. Yes, if you want to, and if you want to order it alongside A Man Like No Other, go ahead. We’ll ship them together.

Trailview Media • 208 Pages • Paperback • $13.99

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 group of people in all stages of this amazing journey. I am always amazed at the conversations that people on a real spiritual journey share with each other.

I got to the airport early and have free-wifi at Wichita. (Thank you, Wichita. No one should charge $8.00 for a one-hour connection. Highway robbery!) Anyway, I’ve been reflecting on Steve Jobs recently. The founder of Apple and its high-profile CEO died on Wednesday. I have been a dedicated user of Apple products through my entire computing life. I have savored how his innovations made my writing so much easier. And I have watched him give speeches of new products to see if they were going to be of further help to me. I felt a sadness in my own heart when I heard of his passing.

If you haven’t already heard his 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford University, you might enjoy giving it a listen. I have no idea what kind of faith journey he was on, but so much of what he said that day resonates deeply with me. Even on that date he knew he had pancreatic cancer and it was probably going to shorten his lifespan significantly. He died this week at 56.

During his Standford commencement speech he talked about dropping out of college, of being cheated out of Apple by some of his best friends and how it came back to him later. He had some marvelous things to say about overcoming even the unfaithfulness of others to flourish in that which your heart draws you toward. When I read this, I don’t so much think of my heart and what I want, but I did think of the dreams God has planted there and how easily we let ourselves be talked out of his purpose in us by those who think in the box of human intellect.

I posted part of this speech previously in a blog a long, long time ago. I wanted to post some of it again today. Here’s how that speech ended:

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life.”

“It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.“

You can read or hear the entire speech here. Good stuff!

BodyLife has now become “Living Loved.” Our latest Living Loved Newsletter has just been posted at the Lifestream website. We will still deal with church life issues and concerns from time to time, but the newsletter has always been about so much more. The latest issue has just been posted at:

http://www.lifestream.org/current-issue.php

(If this URLs does not show up in your email as a link to our site, just copy and paste it into the window of your browser and hit ‘return’.)

The title of this issue is, Quiet Lives of Profound Consequences, and talks about the crying need in our world for men and women who have learning to live loved by the Father in their own lives and are now ready and willing to help others learn to live in that reality as well. These are true elders in Christ’s body and there is a crying need throughout the world for people who can help others embrace this journey with grace and wonder.

Also you’ll find information on three new resources by Wayne that Lifestream will be releasing this Fall. The Jesus Lens is an 8 hour DVD series designed to help people read Scripture with greater joy and wisdom. A Man Like No Other: The Illustrated Life of Jesus, a book co-written with Brad and framed by paintings from the Gospels by Murry Whiteman. And finally, In Season, Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness, which is a re-packaging of Wayne’s look at the parable of the vine through his formative years growing up on a vineyard. You’ll also find letters that will encourage fellow-travelers, a book recommendation for parents of prodigals, and other Lifestream News.

You can read it online, or print your own downloadable version. We hope it inspires your own journey in drawing closer to Jesus and reveling in his life.

We have just received the first order of The Jesus Lens DVDs. And hopefully we’ll soon have the sit active that will post those videos as well. We’ll announce when that is read.

Right now we’re going to fill the orders for so many of you who ordered in advance. You should be receiving your DVDs over the next week or so. If you haven’t ordered it yet you may do so from our website.

You can also hear the audio and read more about this project here.

Here’s what some people are already saying about The Jesus Lens:

THE JESUS LENS material is excellent. Fresh, relevant and anointed.
David, retired teacher from Ireland

I love everything about it, especially what you said about the Bible
being a love letter. This has breathed new life into my Bible reading!
Julie, mother of three in California

These sessions opened up a fresh way of looking at the Scriptures as
God’s unfolding love story through the lens of His Son, Jesus.
Barry, retired military in Virginia

I feel like I’ve been handed a missing piece of my heart. (The Bible
has often been just another source of shame. Now I can see how God is
restoring it to its proper and useful place in my life.)
Susan, former slave of shame

THE JESUS LENS is an incredible look at the Scriptures. Having read
the Bible all of my life, this teaching has endeared me in a whole new
way to the amazing story of my loving.
Dawn, a member of the studio audience

I am so excited! Just this morning I received my advance copy of A Man Like No Other: The Illustrated Life of Jesus. Brad Cummings and I co-authored this book about the life of Jesus to put words to the incredible paintings of a friend of ours, Murry Whiteman, an award-winning commercial artist in the entertainment industry. The result is a full-color book that is a visual feast as well as a powerful tool for personal reflection or reading together with your spouse and family. On your coffee table it will become a focus of conversation with visitors. Our hope is that it will make people hungry to know the Jesus of Scripture and see him as the most engaging person that has ever lived.

The other copies are on a boat headed for California. We are hopeful to get these in hand to distribute by early November, but that will depend on border security and a lot of other circumstances we don’t control. But it will be here in time for the Christmas holidays and I can’t imagine a better gift to share with family and friends.

A Man Like No Other
The Illustrated Life of Jesus
By Wayne Jacobsen, Brad Cummings, and Murry Whiteman
128 pages, Windblown Media, $24.99 • 128 pages • 8.5 x 11.5 • Hardback

Available around November 7, 2011. You may now pre-order it from Lifestream for $24.99 Please do not include other books or audio in your order unless you want us to ship those when A Man Like No Other arrives. Our shipping prices are only configured for one shipment.

Here are the first two spreads:

Text:

Before the beginning they were always together celebrating life in a community of love and light far grander than anything mere mortals could ever conceive. One day their joy erupted into the darkened void of chaos with a proclamation of profound consequence, “Let there be light!”

And there was!

Text:

Father, Son, and Spirit gave birth to a new reality,what we know as our universe. Father proclaimed and the Son brought his words to life—creating light, stars,planets, oceans, land, and animals. Everything that was created, the Son created. This was his world teeming with life and beauty and it reflected His magnificent glory. And as the crowning glory of creation, they made a man and a woman in their own image and gave them the earth to live in and care for. And God made Himself known to them by coming each day and walking with them in the cool of the day.

He willingly gave up his life so that we and this world could be redeemed back to God. He came as a Son that he might reveal to us the Father. His life–who he was, what he did, and how he related to others—exactly reflected of God’s nature. If you want to know what God is like, we have only to look to him. This is the story of that man, Jesus – a man like no other!

Genesis 1-3, John 1:1-12, Galatians 4:1-4, Hebrews 1-5:3, 2:14-18

I don’t put YouTube videos on my blog very often. If memory serves me well, I think I’ve only done it twice. And I’m probably very late to this one since it has been viewed over three and half milliont times But this one touched me very deeply. Yes, you have to sit through a cheesy ad and it is from a pop TV show, but watch the story unfold. Incredible!

I know many don’t like the words to the song, but the sum total of this story and song struck a deep chord in my heart as I listened to it this weekend. No, I don’t agree with all the words of the song, but I do agree with the theme of it. God does want a world without war and will one day make it so. And there is perhaps no one better to proclaim that truth than someone who has been so impacted by it. I don’t know if I can tell you to enjoy this one, because if you’re like me you might need a box of Kleenex nearby. But its end your heart will feel triumphant as the purpose of God unfolds in our world. This is as close to God’s heart as anything I know. Only the selfish, greedy heart of broken humanity keep this from being a reality. Lord Jesus, come judge the world and set right what sin has so twisted!

For many people, the early stages of seeing through the illusion of religious performance, makes them feel as if they got lost. Suddenly they look around and it appears the whole landscape has changed. Places that used to help them now seem to hinder them. The old wells they used to drink from now taste dry and dusty. It’s easy to feel as if you’ve done something wrong, or got lost somehow. But as this recent email exchange will show, this isn’t the sign something is wrong, but just the effects of starting out on a different trail. Yes, that can be disorienting for a period of time. I’ve said this often, no one I’ve ever met who went down this trail didn’t find it well worth whatever price they paid to find it.

I feel as lost as lost can be. Not in the sense of “saved” but in the sense of where do I go from here, what does forward look like? That sort of lost. Nobody calls anymore…they’ve “given up on me.” You see I refuse their “fellowship.” But all they offer me is the same stuff…get in a group and serve the “body.” But the body they are referring to is the machine that ate up my soul, the machine that refuses to question anything it sets out to do. The machine that consumes it’s own like some crazed animal that devours its young.

Is this machine, the one Jesus created when He spoke of His “church”? Nobody in the machine gives the one thing that is precious, time. If I’m truly wrong ,my actions (or lack thereof) then why can’t they spend a couple of days (if necessary) to explain my error?

The answer to that last question is that I have come to believe that they cannot engage in the conversation because they know , they will also have to repent and they will be where I am, a VERY HARD PLACE. It’s just easier to to say, “look at him, he won’t GO to church he is in error…” The definition of “church” is a narrow one…only they fit in it. However I don’t think this is the “narrow way” Jesus spoke of…

Anyway here I am… lost

I actually love where you are. I don’t see you lost at all. You’ve awakened to a greater reality than they can see from where they are? You may feel lost but you’re not. You’re just living out of a different framework that finds the old guideposts to be unworkable. I think of it is people being disorientated. The reality I see doesn’t fit into the relationships I have. That’s a tough moment in this journey, no doubt, but if you truly are awakening to a different reality than they can see, that is the result. You’ve known “fellowship” with religious people. Having rejected the religious overlays that you now know kept you from a deepening relationship with God, you are a threat to people who find their comfort in their religious performance.

How could you not be? And be thankful they don’t have the resource of time to give you, because you probably wouldn’t find it of much help. The one thing I love about religious performance is that it keeps those trapped in it so busy and exhausted that they don’t have much time or energy to infect others with it.

You will find the grace to live in God’s revelation to you and NOT need the validation of those who serve in more religious ways. But it will take time. For now they seem only to make you question your own insights. What you discover going forward is a whole new set of relationships that live in God relationally and then you’ll discover a depth of fellowship you have to date only hungered for. I guess I’m saying don’t look for the old relationships to move with you on this journey as long as they find security in their religious activity. You’ll find a way to love them eventually, but look for the relationships God is bringing to your life now. Just love the next person God puts before you and see where that goes. And keep doing it every day. And soon you’ll find your life full of friends, maybe not all will be fellow-travelers, but they people God loves and with whom you can find friendship.

Weekly I’m asked by scores of people to recommend their blog, book, or podcast on my web page. I rarely do that because the shear number of them would make them all eventually meaningless. I trust God to alert me to those things I need to read and I share the ones I think God wants me to pass on.

One brother recently really touched my heart with his passion for a new website, but it seemed he could only see self-promotion as the way to gain an audience. I sensed he was a bit open for me to be really honest with him and to give him another option. I’ve heard back from him since I’ve written this and I have to see I was truly impressed with how graciously he grasped what I was saying and chose to let Jesus make his life available as he desires, rather than struggling in his own human passion to build an audience through self promotion.

Here’s what I wrote him. I thought others who are trying to find an online audience might find it helpful as well:

I’m glad you’re moving forward with some things that are on your heart. If I could, however, let me caution you about the process here. And I do this because I care about you and how you’re moving forward. And it isn’t so much wrong as it’s just the world’s way of doing things—-build an audience by getting people you know to do you a favor while also praying for great success. How do you measure that? By growing “audience share” or website hits?

I love your passion, but I think God would want it more directed at helping people live loved than them helping your website become known. What I love about the Internet is that people see through this pretty quickly and allows organic growth to happen effectively. When people are asked to “like” someone’s post, or pass it on to their friends, it has a strange feel to it. The truth is people will pass it on if they are touched by it. You don’t have to ask them. When people find you engaging, they will read and pass on the things God has put on your heart to share.

Kingdom growth is organic. It isn’t the result of people doing favors for someone they care about. Rather, it’s people trusting that God will take their voice as far as the want it to go. When I first began blogging and writing, it took me a long time to find my “voice.” Was I really communicating the things I wanted to say? Were people touched by it enough to read it or quote it to others? That’s along process and I know of no way to shortcut it. If too many people come to your blog or podcast too soon, they may form an opinion about it that would be totally different two years from now, but by then they are not coming back to read it.

I guess I’m suggesting another way to go here. Write or say what you think God gives you. See how people connect with it. Over the process you’ll find a “voice” that will resonate with people, because you are actually helping them find life in Jesus. When you find that voice people will pass along the website because of their passion for it, not because you asked them to do you a favor. Does that make sense? I know it is disappointing to those who think they have great stuff to say and no one to read it. I’ve been there. I understand that. But promotion shortcuts a better process of God working deeply in the heart as you find how his voice speaks through you.

I actually get hundreds of requests a month to “like” things, or to help promote someone’s book or website. If I did all that was asked at me, no one would have any regard for what I actually want to recommend. When I read things that touch my life and I think valuable for those who frequent my blog, I put them in. But I can’t do it as a personal favor even to people I care about without diluting the value of doing so. I hope you can appreciate that and not read this as being unsupportive of God’s work in your life, but supporting a truer work that I pray will allow you to freely share what God has put on your heart.

There’s a huge difference between self-promotion in hopes of gaining an audience, and making yourself available to the Father to encourage others on their journey. One may make you a sensation for a moment, but only for a very small minority, the other will transform you over a lifetime and your focus will be on loving the next person in front of you, instead of using them to advance your ministry.

I just got word that Editora Sextant has just released my fourth Authentic Relationships: The Lost Art of One Anothering in Portuguese for people in Brazil. It is called, Amar o próximo. This book I wrote with my brother, Clay, for Baker Books. Since Sextant isn’t a Christian publisher, it is amazing that they have done four books now that I had a hand in: The Shack, He Loves Me: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection, So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore, and now Authentic Relationships.

From the cover design it looks like people might mistake it for a book on dating or romance, but it is not. It is designed to help believers take their growing friendship with Jesus and apply it to building deep friendships with other people in his family. We don’t have copies here, so you will either need to buy them through the publisher. English versions of course are sold through Lifestream.

I’ve truly been blessed by all the email I’ve received about The Jesus Lens since we started posting it a few months ago. I don’t do a lot of direct lecturing these days and this was a unique series with a lot of content. My hope in doing it was that people would be able to see that the Scriptures give us one consistent view of God if it is read as a story of the reality of God coming clearer as the story unfolds.

I was really blessed by this email I got last week from Europe. They had just finished listening to the audio version of The Jesus Lens available from the Lifestream Podcast.

What a service you have done for God’s people!

I’ve listened to all of The Jesus Lens. How I thank God for the lady who asked the very last question, prompting you to answer that what’s important to God’s heart is the direction you’re heading, not necessarily how close you are at the moment. I just broke out weeping for joy. I literally bawled for awhile as I drove. Such a relief! I still was struggling with some “brokenness” as you call it, that made me feel estranged or at least distant.

My heart shouted, “Yes, that’s it!” I had no “proof-text” at the moment to back up your perspective, but now, I have remembered Scripture that clearly supports that way of seeing it. But I was relieved by what my heart told me before the scriptural foundation came.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Today is the third day straight that I’ve had some wonderful time in Luke. (i was reading the gospels when I started listening to the Super Disc and haven’t gotten very far, because Scripture just wasn’t that attractive to me.) You succeeded in whetting my appetite for God’s written words. All of those hours and hours of careful preparation on your part were worth it, Friend.

And this is just the beginning! I can’t imagine what an impact this is going to have on God’s people around the globe! You are working on the book, aren’t you?

Actually, we are working on a book as well, but that will take some time. We are on target to have the DVDs finished by October 10. The price for this 3 DVD collection is $34.95, but for those who would like to order early you may do so now from Lifestream a pre-publication price of $30.00. This is for a limited time and we will ship the DVDs to you just as soon as we get them in stock. If you want to add other books or audio to this order, please be advised that they will all ship together when the DVDs arrive. If you want them earlier, please place as a separate order.

Here is a larger picture of the cover for those interested:

Trailview Media • 3 DVD set • $34.95 • Available only at Lifestream

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 fresh pastures of life he leads us into. Enjoy these stories and know that God wants to shape his life in you, too.

The first is from a former pastor and his wife that went through a very difficult season that is not as uncommon as some might think:

My husband and I experienced the proverbial “boot” from the church he pastored three years ago. The issue interestingly, was that he taught everything from a foundation of grace. A handful of “reformed types” who saw that as dangerous, found a way to accuse him of something …. etc, etc … you know the story. Overnight, our whole family’s reputation was destroyed, and we were excommunicated.

A week after our lives were suddenly turned upside down, a friend brought over your book, So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore and we also discovered your podcast and listen to it regularly.

I know you’ve heard these stories a thousand times. The point I want to make is that you and Brad have “accompanied” us on this amazing journey. You clearly articulate so many things that we believe and teach and live … yet haven’t always had a clear way to express. A few weeks back you spoke about your experience with your former church. You called it a dying. We looked at each other and smiled. That is exactly what we have called our experience. A painful but wonderful death to having a good reputation, a “fruitful” ministry, being liked by many, the ability to provide for our family, being understood and believed in, and so on. We have remained in our little town, where we are seen as unrepentant people who have done something horrible (but nobody really understands what it is), so we are to be excluded from “fellowship.”

Jesus has abundantly provided for us materially. But best of all, He is never satisfied with death. He has brought so much new life in the place of those things that have died… and that needed to die. These past three years have been one of the most significant gifts that Jesus has given us. As deeply painful as it has been, His nearness, tender care, and love have been deeper still. We are so very grateful.

The second is from someone who had been an active volunteer in a larger congregation and found God inviting them to a bit of a different journey:

e have been in a good place for a long time. We experience Father’s love and freedom and we are delightfully learning how to love the people he puts in front of us each day. That expands out to the neighbors we never knew because we were too busy running off to our big church where we were grossly overworked.

That freedom to love has also expanded out to the people we work with. People we used to see only as people that happen to work for the same company we see now as walking the same journey, just at different places in the journey. We enjoy meeting new people and discovering the treasure that is hidden of who they are and the unique way Father has gifted them, it is fun to dig in and get to know them and understand how they perceive their life’s journey so far and where they think it is going. We are just quietly living in freedom and loving it.

In the confines of religious obligation, freedom looks incredibly scary. But from those who walk away from its bondage and lies, I continue to hear of a full and free life ahead in spacious places. We were never meant to find our security in the structures or expectations of men, but in the gracious love of an incredible Father.

I’ve been trying to write an update from Australia for the last week, but just have not had time. Every day has been packed with people and the opportunity to explore their hunger and passions. And now I’m overwhelmed to even try. This has been an incredible adventure in all the conversations I’ve had with people who are hungering to live loved and share that life with others in relational ways.

There’s no way to sum that up today. I started in Toowoomba at the invitation of the pastors in the city, getting to talk with them one morning, and then with a room full of people over the weekend. It was a large conversation, but I think God was able to unveil himself through it. I even had time to share at Teen Challenge with some of the young men just sorting out their lives. Unveiling a loving Father was something so foreign to them but so freeing as well. Then in the Gold Coast and Adelaide we continued conversations with people who had read or heard things I’ve been part of. A recurring theme has been helping people who have been overwhelmed by depression by trying to live out the dictates of legalism and religion and how God sets people free from that. The personal conversations on this trip have been even more incredible than the group dialogs. I love that.

Now in Sydney that time has continued to unfold. Friday night and Saturday we had another large group conversation and watched God just invite people into his life and freedom. Relaxing into God’s reality, seemed to be a recurring theme. We try so hard to attain what God simply wants to give. Learning to respond to God’s giving instead of striving so hard to get him to give us what we want is the only way to live. But it takes some time to learn that.

Then last night I sat with a small group of people over dinner who have recently come out of a highly-structured and tightly wound mega-church in the area. As they shared about all the ways their need for approval had been manipulated by the leaders of this congregation, and how many “ministers” from America had come here with their pompous demands for their personal care and how the people here were trained to satisfy their every whim was at quite sickening. But as the stories unfolded it got increasingly hilarious. And instead of the conversations leading to greater pain, the laughter seemed to heal and affirm what God had revealed to them as the celebrated the freedom God brought them. We laughed late into the night and had to finally tear ourselves away so people could go home.

What a conversation! What joy I have in finding new found friends here in Sydney. It has not been easy to move on from any of the places I have stayed here, but I go to a different part of Sydney today to see what God is doing in a more traditional congregation and then I get to spend a day with a long-time friend from down under, before boarding the big bird for home.

This has truly been an amazing trip from the first people I’ve met, until now. I am simply overwhelmed with joy at the people I get to meet and share in the work Father is doing in their lives.

‘Roos in the wild near Adelaide

Bondi Beach in Sydney

During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 19 through 23.

The Jesus Lens: Seventh Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne’s teaching. If you’d like to add your questions to some of the material you’re hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The final 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 #24: Let the Journey Continue – By viewing all of Scripture as one continuous story culminating in the revelation of Jesus Christ we can continue to explore a cohesive view of God and live in the tension of not having all our questions answered but continuing to grow in truth.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The twenty-third 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 #23: The Return to Israel – Over 106 years the exiles return from Babylon to rebuild the temple and their nation under some inspiring leaders as the prophets continue to call them closer to God and promise a day of greater redemption yet to come.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The life of God continues to be shared through the people I met with in Kenya. A recent report from Michael about the love of God growing among them and that they are increasingly shifting from large-group lectures, to small-group conversations to help people truly learn to live loved and not just hear sermons about it. I’m really blessed with this change.

Here’s some of what Michael wrote me this week:

“Pokea salamu katika jina la yesu kristo” I have quoted this in Swahili which means; receive much greeting in the name of Jesus Christ. I was out for the living loved training conference, in the conference I saw the holy spirit doing marvelous in the heart of people. Traditional power and doctrine of men is being broken, I have never seen this before, but the Holy Spirit it is in the work. I believe God is having good plan in Africa. The vehicle is now in the good condition and the driver had brought it back to the centre.

May the lord bless you for being much concern. I believe we would reach many parts of Africa.

Another surprise that God is speaking in the hearts of people here towards the children orphans in the centre, one lady and her family has given milking cow freely to help the children. Other people also they have given the two sheep and one goat. (See picture below) Actually God is changing the heart of our people, despite of difficulties that they are passing through, they can do something. This breaks my heart for what God is doing.

This the picture along with the brothers to receive the cow, sheep and the goat. Another thing, I would like to remind you, that the money you supported us, it covered July unto August, so the food is urgently needed at the end of the next week. It is our prayer that God will provide for September and October, we have tried to minimize the budget although the price of food is rising. The teachers have done good work for the children. They have been working even during the night so that the children may completely catch up.

Donations to help feed the children

We appreciate so much those of you who have already helped us here. If any of you would like to give to one of these needs, or simply find out more about our ongoing touch with these dear brothers and sisters in Kenya, you can read this earlier blog or see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560-1 Newbury Rd #313 • Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and concern for these dear people.

The twenty-second 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 #22: The Collapse of the Kingdom – The northern kingdom falls to Assyria, and the southern kingdom to Babylon as God continues to woo his people back inside a relationship with him. In captivity they learn that God is bigger than the rituals they’ve observed.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

It’s always a bittersweet experience to let go of a book to the printer that has been in your heart for so long. In one sense, you want to keep editing and fussing with it to make it perfect, and on the other you have to remember it is but a snapshot in time and at some point you have to let it go to be shared with the world. This week we sent our latest book to print. Because of the special nature of this book it will be a couple of months before we have the printed copies on hand.

Over a year and a half ago I met an award-winning artist, Murry Whiteman, who had compiled two books of paintings drawn from the Gospels. I was moved by many of them and wanted to know if the books were for sale so i could buy them for a ton of people I know for Christmas. (Some of those pictures you can see at left.) He said they weren’t available yet and wanted my counsel on self-publishing them. And then he asked if I would be open to writing words to go with his art. I hesitated, unsure that I had the time or ability to write words worthy of his art, but told him I would consider it and asked if he would be open to Brad helping as well. He was.

And thus Brad and I began the task of bringing words to this art and trying to capture the reality of Jesus living in time and space as a human and experiencing all of life as we do. We finally completed that process over the weekend and soon this book will be available. It is 128 pages of art and prose that seek to illuminate Jesus and how he was truly a man like no other.

Last week on vacation I read a bit of it to my seven-year-old granddaughter as I showed her the paintings on my computer. Keep in mind that this is not a children’s book. We wrote it for adults, but I hoped there would be enough here to engage Aimee in that story as well. Not only was she transfixed by the art and listened intently to each story, but so did her three-year-old sister. After each one Aimee had so many questions about Jesus, whose child he was, and why he came to this earth. Each night she was excited to read more and wouldn’t let me stop on any night with just one. “Read this one,” she’d say pointing to the next one.

I am incredibly excited about this book finally being completed. Couples will enjoy reading the brief vignettes as a devotional together and others might use it in their own personal study and reflection.I think it will capture people’s hearts and be a discussion-starter as it sits on a home coffee table, or adorns the waiting room of an office. When we had a copy of the proposed cover sitting at a table in a restaurant as Brad, Murry, and I went over the book no one seemed able to walk by the table without zeroing in on the cover and pausing to read it.

We’ll have information soon about ordering a copy of the book. I just wanted you to know it will be available soon and I think it will make a well-appreciated gift for those on your Christmas list. It is called, A MAN LIKE NO OTHER: THE ILLUSTRATED LIFE OF JESUS. It will be published by Windblown Media and will be available through our offices at Lifestream as well as many other outlets.

Windblown Media • Hardback • Full Color • 8.5 x 11 • 128 Pages • $24.99 • Available in October

The twenty-first 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 #21: The Kingdom Divided – After Solomon’s reign the kingdom of Israel fractures and corruption in the monarchy and the unfaithfulness of the people to continue to destroy the culture God wanted. Through the prophets he continues to invite them back to himself.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

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 again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15).

Of all the discoveries in my life over the past 15 years, none has meant more and none has been more powerful in reshaping my life. I am blessed to find God as a tender Father through the twist and turns of my journey in this age. Instead of being frustrated at him when he doesn’t give me what I want or trying to find the right prayer or bargain for God to give me what I think is best, I am finding the joy of simply learning to trust him as a tender Father.

I resonate with John’s words:

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” I John 4:13

I can imagine John in his twilight years reflecting on his entire spiritual journey in that simple phrase. I hope when I am older I am able to say with the same sense of resolve. As for now, I am simply learning this reality each day. There are some places in my life where I live truly loved, and their are other spaces in my heart that struggle to believe it’s true. At the end of my days, I’d want to say them with such finality as he did here. To trust God as my Abba, puts him in every situation with me and even in the difficult ones he doesn’t fix the way I want, I know he is never against me. Even when in sternness he disciplines me to live more freely in him, or asks of me more than I think I have to give, it is my Abba behind it all and that makes it easier to submit to his ways.

A big part of God’s instruction to me in this arena has been in my emotions and love for my own children, and now for my growing brood of grandchildren. i can’t believe how much I loved them, right from birth. I love the relationship I have with each of them and how much they enjoy being with their grandpa. I know the tenderness I want them to feel in me, and the fierceness that would protect them at all costs. A year or so ago, my daughter took the above picture of me when I was so deep in a conversation with Aimee that I wasn’t even aware that her mom was taking pictures. When I saw it the first time, my heart leapt. It has become the picture that illustrates “Abba” for me–a child quietly at rest in the arms of someone she completely trusts.

Last week as Sara and I were returning home from a vacation in the nearby Sierras, we stopped to have lunch with some long-time friends. As we walked into their dining room she directed my attention to the wall on which hung her watercolor adaptation of that picture. It took my breath way. They said it was a gift and we returned home to hang it on our wall.

Here it is:

Every time I look at not only do I get to celebrate that special bond that Aimee and I share, but even more special is the reminder that the God who made heaven and earth delights in being my Abba. There is no safer place to be, even at my worst, than on his lap, wrapped in his incredible love. There every difficult thing in my life fades in the absolute wonder of who he is and the relationship he wants to keep carving out with me.

And that is as true for every one of you reading these words.

I am back from a semi-vacation. Unfortunately I had to work on some of the DVD videos for The Jesus Lens, but I did get some rest and play in as well. The most important thing I could update you on is the need in Kenya. I heard from my friend Michael this week. They were able to repair the transmission on the car with the generous donations some of you have sent. Thank you so much on their behalf, mine, and I suspect even the Father’s!

But he sent me another email that strikes to the core of my heart:

What is happening here for hunger we have never experienced before. For more and more people, the same thing is happening. Many families are running for finding refuge just to get one meal. Your prayers are very important we don’t know what to do but just to lift in the mighty hands of God. May the Lord bless you as we pray for one another.

The drought in the horn of Africa has already driven a needy nation into a starving one. Food prices have risen astronomically because it is so scarce. My heart goes out to my brothers and sisters there and we’ll be sending them an additional gift to help alleviate the suffering. If you’d like to join me in sending something to help, you may do so through Lifestream, or any of the other charities looking to bring relief to that corner of the world.

We appreciate so much those of you who have already helped us here. If any of you would like to give to the people in Kenya, or simply want to find find out more about our ongoing touch with these dear brothers and sisters in Kenya, you can read this earlier blog or see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560-1 Newbury Rd #313 • Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and concern for these dear people.

The twentieth 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 #20: The Books of Wisdom – How do we read the books of wisdom and poetry that we find in Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs after all we’ve discovered to be true about God in the revelation of Jesus?

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The nineteenth 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 #19: The United Kingdom – Rejecting God’s desire to lead them himself, Israel asks for a king and the first three kings provide a significant period in the history of Israel and the power of authority to corrupt eve the people God chose.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 15 through 18.

The Jesus Lens: Sixth Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne’s teaching. If you’d like to add your questions to some of the material you’re hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The eighteenth 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 #18: What Was God Thinking? What was God going doing through all the centuries of falleness and then subservience to the law before Jesus came and why is Christianity still embracing old covenant realities even after the cross liberated us from doing so?

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The seventeenth 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 #17: The Rise of a Nation – Exodus through Ruth continue the narrative as God takes slaves from Egypt and brings them back to the land of promise and establishes them as a nation he wants to care for again demonstrating God’s faithfulness in the midst of human unfaithfulness.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

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: How It All Got Started – Genesis and Job begin the Old Testament story, one with the origins of the creation, its downfall and how God begins to make himself known to people in darkness, and the other as a counterpoint to the mistaken idea that we deserve our sufferings.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

Sara and I are going to take a much needed vacation for the next two weeks and as such we regret that the Lifestream office will be closed during that time. We will still have access to email and voice mail, but will probably not be responding to anything that isn’t critical.

I hope you can appreciate that we’re a pretty simple operation here that doesn’t have a staff to fill-in when we’re gone. We may be able to ship some orders during the second week, but that has not been all worked out yet. We’ll be back on August 15, however, and will be able to assist you at that time. Please forgive us for any inconvenience this may cause you.

The fifteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. This one begins our run through the Old Testament view of God and it builds on the previous sessions. The Study Guides and Powerpoint Presentations should be up later today on the Jesus Lens Old Testament Page.

The Jesus Lens #15: The Rescue – As we get to know the Jesus of Scripture and how the early believers processed that life in their own journey then we can go back to the Old Testament and see it as the story of God coming to rescue a world from the darkness of sin.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 12 through 14.

The Jesus Lens: Fifth Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne’s teaching. If you’d like to add your questions to some of the material you’re hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The fourteenth 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 #14: John’s Letters and Revelation – Finally, John’s three letters and his Revelation provide the last words in the New Testament narrative, both a celebration of his love and our assurance that all of history will culminate in his victory.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The thirteenth 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 #13: The Later Letters – Paul’s later letters—1 & 2 Timothy and Titus— along with Peter’s two letters and Jude’s dealt with false teachers, suffering, and how to stay faithful to the Truth even when others begin to go astray.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 10 and 11. I’m sorry I should have included it earlier, but this one got past me. So it will be a bit out of order in the podcast rotation.

The Jesus Lens: Fourth Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne’s teaching. If you’d like to add your questions to some of the material you’re hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

Sara and I are off to North Carolina in the morning, for a weekend retreat and then a special gathering with fellow-travelers in Charlotte on Sunday night. I thought I would leave you with this before I go:

I don’t often say this about a book, but I will this time. If you are the parent of a child who seems like a prodigal to you, wandering in a far off place from God, go get this book! But even if you don’t have such a child, go get this book! It is a powerful read of a father’s love for a rebellious son. If you’re experiencing anything similar his journey will surely encourage your own. But it is more than that. It unveils the relentless love of the Father for all of us as he continues to seek us out in the places we get lost and restore us in his grace and mercy.

I talked more about this book on last week’s podcast if you want to hear it. It is toward the end. This book is an engaging read. Remarkably well-written, honest, and vulnerable this book describes the ongoing pain of having a child wander far from the faith of his father, and a father’s love that keeps believing the best in the face of such brokenness. And through it all he discovers a depth of God’s love for himself in his wandering moments.

In addition, Dan is a friend and has been for 15 years or so. But that’s not why I’m recommending his book as many of my other friends might attest. For me to recommend a book here, I have to be convinced that it is a really good read and that a many of you will find this book helpful for your own spiritual journey. This is all that and more. It is deeply touching and wonderfully encouraging, even though they story has not yet ended. There is a spirit of triumph in it, even though Dan’s son is still sorting through the damage in his life from alcohol and PTSD from his service in Iraq.

This book is not available in stores, but you can order it from Amazon.com or from other online retailers.

Here is some added info from the back of the book:

Hope is a butterfly
Fear is a stone
As the father waits
For his son to come home.

For anyone who has loved a prodigal child, here is a voice in the night that says you are not alone. ‘The Butterfly and the Stone’ is a story of fear and hope on a journey that leads from the safety of home to Iraq, and home again to face a fiercer enemy: post-traumatic stress and addiction. Woven throughout is God’s love… found in a most unexpected place…

You can find out more at Dan’s website, StoneButterfly.net.

The twelfth 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 #12: The Middle Letters – As their individual journeys began to play out in church communities Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and Hebrews were written to help them learn how to live more deeply in God’s life as well as to see the church take shape among them.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

The life of God continues to be shared through the people I met with in Kenya. A recent report from Michael about the love of God growing among them and that they are increasingly shifting from large-group lectures, to small-group conversations to help people truly learn to live loved and not just hear sermons about it. I’m really blessed with this change.

Here’s some of what Michael wrote me this week:

Thank you very much for the great work that you are doing for the Lord especial the work of sending the gospel of Christ across the world. As I shared with you earlier that we are sharing with groups and just training them to understand God’s love to every body. So I have been receiving more invitations from the brethren here in Kenya and other part of East Africa, to go myself or send the team to help them about this revelation. I thank God some of the trip I have been sending the team a small group of people to go and help and some of the group I have been joining them. And I have seen really the hunger from the hearts of people. And yesterday Sammy my son he asked me that why this truth has been hidden for long generation and why God is revealing now?

So we have been visiting some areas where we have been meeting with local brethren ready to hear what God might having for them and very area we have been going it so fruitful and high expectation of understanding. Sometimes we break in the meetings and allow people to share among themselves. They can questions because many people were bound by religion system so some times we pray more so that people may have inner understanding. May the Lord be praised and honored for His people to get the true revelation from Him.

In Mt Elgon, we went for villages in high mountains where many people have been died during the land clashes and you may get hundreds of women who are widows and the young single mothers. My dear brother, let us continue praying for this people as God provides such time of this let us show them that they are really under the care of God no matter they may be alone but they are with |Jesus who cares the lives, there is a lot of every kind of suffering in this area but God is the solution of very thing. Among the hundreds of children we managed to take only just two but we promised that has the father provides we shall help where necessary.

We want to thank you very much for your support along with the team for the past years to help these people in relief. (We are looking for ways to help) many widows become self-reliant through income-generating businesses in teams of ten. The hunger has become very worse in the area but God is only the solution for this, you can also pray with the widows of Mt. Elgon that God may give them clear understanding. May the Lord bless you as we pray for one another.

Michael

Here, too, are some recent pictures that they sent:

A recent outreach to Mt. Elgon to help people learn to live in the love of the Father.


Learning to pass along the life of love through conversations instead of lectures


Praying


The broken transmission damaged on a trip to the highlands of Mt. Elgon

So God’s grace is growing among them, but so are the needs in this distant land. News reports continue to talk about the famine and subsequent starvation of many people in the horn of Africa, which includes this part of Kenya. The crops have failed, costs have soared. Every time I write to them I’m helping them learn how to trust Jesus for his provision and not just rely on gifts from Lifestream. They are learning to do that. At the same time, I can’t help but feel like I have a stake in this unfolding story since God has knit my heart with theirs. All we can do is make the need available to others and see what God provides for them.

There are three critical needs now:

We appreciate so much those of you who have already helped us here. If any of you would like to give to one of these needs, or simply find out more about our ongoing touch with these dear brothers and sisters in Kenya, you can read this earlier blog or see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560-1 Newbury Rd #313 • Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and concern for these dear people.

The eleventh 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 #11: The Early Letters – As the believers walked out their newfound relationship with Jesus, issues emerged that required greater clarity. James, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Romans were among the first letters written to help people learn how to follow him.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

We are getting settled back home after an incredible trip first to Spain to share with believers there, and then to Rome where we took a walk back through time to the beginning stages of western civilization. We started our trip there among the ruins of ancient Rome—the Colosseum, Palatine Hill where the rulers built their palaces, and the Roman Forum where they ruled. Later in the trip we visited the Vatican and St. Peters, a underground excavation of a 4th century basilica for early believers, and St. John’s Cathedral that was near our hotel and was the first seat of the papal authority for the Catholic Church, and it continues to be so even though St. Peter’s Basilica is nearer the Vatican.

As someone fascinated by human history experiencing these sights firsthand was amazing on a number of levels, many of which were conflicting. I could admire what mankind was able to create in ancient times, but that would be consumed by the fact that they could only do so by conquering people in far-off lands, stealing their treasures for themselves, and bringing them back as slaves to do their work. At home they created a society that sustain an elite class of the privileged at the cost of keeping everyone else impoverished. As long as they pacified 99% of the population with food and entertainment, the 1% could continue their privileged lives with little consequence.

To help me make sense of these things I saw there I also took two books along to read: Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire by Simon Baker and History of the Popes: From Peter to the Present by John O’Malley. I am still reading those now and am finding them fascinating, in both the achievements and atrocities of mankind and how in most cases how those two are directly linked.

What amazed me was seeing the juxtaposition of the pinnacle of pagan culture (Rome) and what is supposed to be the crowing glory of Christendom (the Vatican). But they are exactly identical in what they loved and treasured and in what they were willing to do to establish their authority and to manipulate the common man. In fact one could say that the priorities of the Roman Empire didn’t vanish with the fall of the culture, they simply rolled over into the defining realities of the hierarchical structures and facilities of the “church” in that day. Whether it was a small group of Romans wanting to conquer the known world to satiate their desire for power and extravagance, or a small group of religious leaders wanting to do the same thing. Moving from the Roman Forum to the Vatican it was obvious that both cultures were created and sustained by the same preoccupations with:

And through it all one phrase kept coming to mind: “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (Luke16:15) That’s what Jesus said to the Pharisees about their attempts to serve both God and mammon, and he gave them a firm warning that mammon would always win that contest. And so it has, even down to the present day.

As a culture we are still impressed with magnificent-if-gaudy buildings or fascinated with celebrity. It’s the same worldly vices reborn in our generation. So many seek to find significance through fame or finances even if they have to trample on others to gain their illusion of success. It all begins with the simple deception that God’s gifts make me better than, more deserving than, more right than the people who live around me. It takes that delusion to treat people the way you have to treat them to be at home in the upper reaches of society. And even those that don’t have that kind of “success” either spend their life striving to find it, or live frustrated with God that he didn’t make them as successful or as well-known as they think they should be.

What saddens me most here are those who expound the message of grace but don’t know how to live in it for others. They take advantage for themselves, but don’t know how to extend it to the closest people to them. Jesus reminded his first disciples not to exalt any person above others, and certainly not to place themselves there. “You have one Father and you are all brothers,” he reminded them. And, “The greatest among you is the servant of all.” Once our sense of success is based in the world’s priorities of wealth, visibility, and success we have already traded Jesus’ kingdom for another, no matter how much lip service we pay to his. God’s gifts are not for personal privilege but for serving others.

After seeing the vanity and emptiness of so much opulence and false notions of power and influence, I came away even more committed to the wonderful simplicity of relationships with others as brothers and sisters, in the simple wonder of God’s gifts and graces imparted as freely to others as he has done so for me.

“What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”

The tenth 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 #10: The Elliptical Playground – The truth Scripture describes is not always a linear set of propositions, but an unveiling of two or more seemingly contradictory revelations. The truth is found as both are held in tension inside a relationship with Jesus.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.

During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 8 and 9.

The Jesus Lens: Third Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne’s teaching. If you’d like to add your questions to some of the material you’re hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast.

To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.