Wayne Jacobsen

I was at the bedside of one of my closest friends when he passed into the next life about six years ago, my first thought was, “I’d love to know what he knows now.”  I felt that way again yesterday when I heard that Brennan Manning had passed away.  I know he had been very sick for a long time and rejoice that he has now entered into the fullness of the Father’s glory and can enjoy him forever without the frailties of our human flesh and the limitations of this age.  He will be sorely missed here, and my heart goes out to those closest to him that will live for awhile with a Brennan-sized hole in their lives.  For many, that will be quite large, but fortunately he has left many words behind to encourage others to understand how deeply loved by God they are.  

Brennan Manning is the author of The Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba’s Child, Ruthless Trust, and numerous other books.  You can see a list of them here at Amazon.com.  If you’ve ever read a Manning book or heard him speak, his message was of the deep love of a Father who could reach into our most broken places with transforming compassion.  A former Catholic priest, he had an ongoing struggle with alcoholism and wrote about it with such transparency and grace that it freed many others to a more honest journey with their own struggles.  Unmasking the empty platitudes of religious obligatoin, he was a voice for the common person finding Jesus in the midst of darkness and discovering what a life-long journey with him might look like.  You didn’t have to be wise or whole to discovery the joy of knowing God’s love.  

If you haven’t read a Manning book now would be a good time to find out what you’ve missing.  Abba’s Child, far and away was my favorite.  He was a provocative writer whose openness and honesty made him an endearing figure and his passion for God was infectious to say the least.  I have benefited greatly from his life and his writings and am so grateful that God allowed his gift to be so widely shared in the world.  

I am convinced that for those who know God, what happens in the first moments after death has to be the ride of all rides.  We weren’t created for the foibles and frustrations of this age, but for the glories of eternity in the presence of the Father.  While I am content to live here as long as Father desires it, I realize that this is just the lobby for an eternity with him that none of us can imagine.  Viewed from there, this life will just be a dew or a vapor.  Brennan Manning arrived at the front of the line yesterday and got to finally pass through those doors.    

I’d love to know what he knows now!  If he could just write one more book….

What a crazy week!  This one began in the Bay area of California with some great dialog.  Not everyone loved it, however. We did have some people that wanted to promote some abusive views of God that others among us were trying to break free of.  It was in interesting conversation to say the least.  I know people like them mean well, or so they think, but when you’re militant about others knowing that God will strike them with calamity just to get their attention, you’ve missed who he is entirely. 

They even argued that that is exactly what God’s discipline is about.  My heart hurts for such people.  They sound like abused kids of an angry alcoholic dad as they try to explain that dad’s violence is a sign of his love.  God simply isn’t like that.  He’s in the world to rescue us from its destruction.  Our troubles arise from a fallen world, not a disciplining Father.  Discipline means to train up, as in a dad directing his child, not one who’s beating them into submission. 

Then, Sara and I had a couple of days on the Central Coast before I head off to Australia.  Then we returned home for a quick visit by some dear Swiss friends.  All the while we’ve been trying to sort out the new website.  I appreciate the patience and help so many of you have offered.  It turned out to be more of a mess than we thought it was when it launched, so now we’re having to fix things on the run. But I’ve heard from many of you that you love the new look and how much easier it is to find the free stuff!  People really love the free stuff! 

Next up is a three-week trip to Australia.  There are a lot of hungry hearts there and people taking great risks to follow God instead of man.  I love that!  And we’re going to begin some of the conversations there about Seeding Community in the world.  We have the tendency to keep creating various systems to try to manufacture community in the world.  Most don’t realize that God’s kind of community is a gift he gives. We can’t create it by anything we do, but we can recognize what he’s doing and participate with him.  By living lives of freedom, love, and hospitality we can open up space in which God can seed his community in the world.  I’m excited about exploring that more with people who share a hunger for nonsystematized ways encouraging community in the world. 

In June, we’ll be looking to take some of that to the Carolinas as well, though the schedule is far from complete at the point, but will be in the first two weeks of June.  And in between those two trips Sara and I will be on Vancouver Island for an anniversary trip, though we’ve set aside some time over the weekend to connect with other hungry hearts in the region. 

And finally, we’ve been putting the final touches on a Lifestream trip to Israel next February, February 5-16 to be exact.  I’ve wanted to take Sara there since I first visited seventeen years ago.  It impacted me more than I expected and has forever shaped my enjoyment of Scripture having been in the land in which it was penned.  Standing on the shore of Galilee, or sitting in a private spot in Garden of Gethsemane, or being in the holding cell where Jesus was the night before he was crucified were forever stamped on my heart.  Finally God has opened the door for us to go and take 40 people with us and we’ll have the same guide whom I enjoyed so much last time.   Full details will be available soon, and we’ll announce it here first.
 

It’s been eight months in planning so that we could make this website more accommodating to the people who come here, and more functional on the backside for Sara in the office. It was far more complicated than I imagined, but we’re still excited to let you in on our new web site.

I love the new design and how it makes the items for which people come to the website so muc easier to find. All of our free resources have been gathered into one section to make it easier for people to find and utilize. Our most current information is all on the front page, including the most recent podcast, blog, and newsletter as well my travel schedule and recent items on the website occasional visitors might have missed.

Certainly there will be glitches as we finally take the website public, so please be patient if you find a missing link or if something loads more slowly than it should. You can now open an account with us that will track your orders and contributions as well as let you control your email subscription options. For those who’d like to make local, personal connections, we will be adding a feature to let those who opt-in communicate with other Lifestream readers and listeners. This would be done blindly so that people would only exchange personal contact information if they desire to. Primarily we want Lifestream to be a resource for people who are wanting to grow in the reality of living loved by the Father and becoming part of his unfolding kingdom in the world. It is our hope that this new website will further those goals.