We are adding to the Lifestream blog a new podcast component that will allow us to add audio here and for people to subscribe to it through iTunes or other podcast aggregators if they so desire. I’m going to begin by putting up the Transition series so that people can access it from their iPods and other mp3 devices more easily. Then I’m going to begin to load up The Jesus Lens audio recordings we recently did in Indianapolis about reading Scriptures relationally instead of religiously.

You can use the link above to see the web pages we’ll be using for that and download the notes that will accompany that series. Most of the links are not active on those pages yet because we’ll be turning them on as we get the audio and video finished and uploaded. Some will not be active for some time. We appreciate your patience as we roll this out incrementally. As part of that we will also take questions from people who listen to it early on and then do a Q&A podcast to further the dialog especially on the parts of this series that people have not been exposed to before.

After that we will continue to use the podcast component to add other audio from speaking engagements where appropriate and we will also do occasional original occasional podcasts whenever we can to help encourage people on the journey of living loved.

You can continue to monitor new posting here, but you can also subscribe to any new audio postings via iTunes. You’ll notice some podcasts already there from past links to some of my .mp3 files. Some way want to give those a listen, others may not. But we’ll begin to post Transitions and then Jesus Lens as podcasts.

I hope this is all helpful.

Staff and students at the Living Loved Children’s Centre in Eldoret, Kenya

I’m sorry I’ve not written in awhile. Life has been pretty complicated over the past few weeks as we’re hard at work on the Jesus Lens and a few other projects. We are trying to pace ourselves here, but at times it seems a bit overwhelming. We do appreciate the support and encouragement so many people send our way. We should have some new announcements about the recent recordings in the next few days. But we’re going to enjoy a long holiday weekend and find some rest before we get too deeply into that process

Before we do, I wanted to update you of the ongoing need in Kenya. I’ve been blown away, as have the folks in Kenya at the generosity of so many who have helped get this new facility purchased, built, and staffed. A look at the picture above shows such joy and promise as these children are at a school assembly and are beginning to learn in their new environment. Unfortunately the government requirements of setting up this facility and purchasing curriculum and school supplies for the students has used up most of the money they needed to feed the children and support the staff. My commitment to them was that we would find them two years worth of staff support and food, while they looked for ways to support the children beyond that time-frame.

We need about $2,000.00 per month for the next 22 months to help make that happen. And that isn’t a hard figure. Costs for food have risen significantly just in the past few months and by what I can tell they are not at all being feed extravagantly. So, I thought I’d mention it again for those who want to support this project with us. We send them additional funds today beyond what we have received from others as our way to help them through a tough spot. If you can join us, please let us know.

For more information on our project here, you can read this earlier blog. If you would like to be part of this to support these brothers and sisters and see the Gospel grow in this part of Africa, please 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.

I had lunch today with some of the people who came from out of state to be part of our recording in the Indianapolis area. We had a great time. I enjoy conversations so much more than lectures…

Anyway, during lunch one of those present wanted to thank me for my involvement in helping bring Bo’s Café into print. Here’s what he said:

What The Shack did for my relationship with God, Bo’s Café did to help me find freedom from my anger.

He went on to tell us the story of how God unplugged a deep-seated anger in his life after reading the book three times. He’d been looking for this freedom all his life. What a great story and a great comment about the book.

That’s why I was excited about Bo’s when I read it. Here was a man trying to control everyone else out of his own fears, and then he comes to face to face with grace. It changes him in a wonderful way. If you haven’t read it, you might want to check it out.

Thanks to all of you praying for us during my time In Indianapolis recording The Jesus Lens. It wasn’t flawless, to be sure, but that was not my expectation. I’m pleased with what we were able to record and really blessed by the audience who gathered with us. They were incredibly engaged with the material and provided some wonderful interaction about it as well. Keep praying. We’re up for Round 2 this evening and Round 3 on Saturday morning. I suspect I’ll be pretty tired when we get this all done, but I am excited to have this much time to help people read Scripture with greater meaning and joy!

Sara and I will both be out of the office until May 18 and will not be able to fill orders for books or audio during that time. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience and delay and appreciate your patience. Orders sent in this week will be filled on May 18.

I don’t often use these pages to ask for personal prayer, but for those of you so inclined, I have a special request. This week will culminate more than 40 years of Biblical study and spiritual pursuit in a series called “The Jesus Lens: Reading Scripture in Light of the Revelation of Jesus.” I’m going to be recording it later this week in Indianapolis with some 30-40 people who are coming to be part of the audience. After we process the audio and video, we will make it available through this website like we do Transitions—free of charge. We want people to be touched by this series to engage the Scriptures with passion and joy.

Unfortunately many people who go on a relational journey with Jesus soon discover that part of the religion they’ve been sold is a misinterpretation of Scripture that is often distorted by the needs of religion either to promote fear or conformity. Turned off by the academic quibbling of many scholars and the arrogance that doctrinal discussions often foment they dismiss the value of Scripture thinking it either old-fashioned or irrelevant to their walk. They come away from reading it too often condemned and confused by the religious voices that still play in their heads. After all in his last words to his disciples in the upper room, Jesus didn’t tell us he would leave us a book to interpret and obey, but his Spirit to guide and empower us.

Others, seem to worship the Bible as a replacement for their own relationship to Jesus. They seem to worship the Scriptures and their interpretation of it, rather than let it guide them to the only one who has life for us. They have gotten lost following the dictates of a book rather than knowing him and being transformed by his power and wisdom.

I used to teach a 33 hour class helping people find the keys to unlock the incredible wisdom and power of Scripture. I don’t have that much time with people any more, but I have restructured that material into an 8-hour teaching series that I hope will accomplish much of the same objectives. I’m going to do 24 20-minute segments so that small groups can play it and discuss it togeteher. In addition I will be including over 50 pages of notes and diagrams to help people in their personal engagement with God in the Scriptures.

I am more excited about this than anything I’ve done in a long time. The wealth of Scripture’s pages has informed my journey throughout my life and underscore everything that I look to share with others. However, I’m also aware that doing this in a studio with the necessary time constraints so it can be video recorded is not the most conducive venue for the conversation I’d love to have. In addition, there is much going on around me that seeks to compete for the attention and passion I want to give to this. And I don’t think any of that is not without the participation of the enemy that would love to disrupt this.

So, if you have some extra time and energy in your prayers this week, especially on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday when we’ll be taping, please ask Jesus to make himself known in this project and fill it with his light and wisdom. Some of this content I’ll be teaching for the first time, but it has guided my own engagement with Scripture for the past two decades. I have come to some conclusions about this book that may be controversial in some quarters (surprise, surprise!), but in the end I want to do honor the Lord’s truth in it all. Your prayers will be greatly appreciated and I am certain they will make a difference.

And when we get back, please be patient. It is going to take a while to get the video edited and the audio culled off for a new Lifestream Podcast page where we’ll be able to put recordings like this so people can easily download them for listening on their mp3 players.

It’s back to California tomorrow. I’ve had an great time hanging out with a community of young people near Chicago and now in southern Wisconsin with brothers and sisters who are on this journey. It has been a lot of fun.

A few weeks ago as I flew out of New England, the movie on the plane was the new Narnia movie, The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. I enjoyed keeping an eye and ear on it while I was reading some other things. I already referred to one of the lines in that movie that touched me in a previous posting.

I noticed another one this time around. It was advice given to the voyagers by one of their counselors on their journey.

“To defeat the darkness out there you must first defeat the darkness inside yourself.”

Why is it almost always true that when God shows us something about ourselves our mind first focuses on all the other people around us who should know this too? It is almost as if we use up our passion for what God says by trying to make others see it, before it has borne fruit in our own hearts. Is this why we are always seeking to remove the sawdust from someone else’s eye instead of taking note of the log that is in our own? Any time you’re trying to force your will on someone or convince them to embrace your insight, you might consider that you are taking on darkness in the wrong place.

When the light of God shines into your heart, embrace it. As long as I’m battered by doubts, driven by fears, and tormented by a false need to perform in my own righteousness, my freedom to help others will be limited. And that will mostly happen not by confronting the darkness in me, but embracing the light that is in him. The more preoccupied with who he is, the freer I become from the twisted places in my own heart. This is the joy of learning to live loved.

He first wants to take shape in us before we try to help encourage others. And what I’m finding is that the more he takes shape in me the less need I have to shape others. If we can’t let him defeat darkness in us, we’ll be of no use helping conquer darkness in others.