There’s something about religion that must terrify people with God in order to get them to live according to what they think are God’s rules. That’s why religion has to treat God like an angry ruler, demanding conformity or doling out consequences to the disobedient.

Even though we talk about God loving us, most believers grow up as unloved children, trying hard to perform the way they think God expects of them. What amazes me so much about the Gospels is that Jesus came talking about a Father who loves us, who invites us into his house so that he can transform us. This transformation only happens in people who are secure in their Father’s affection for them. I think this is the biggest battle that must be won in our hearts to experience the life of Jesus. We have to stop living to appease him as live as the loved children we are. Nothing will transform us faster.

And because we don’t know how to live as beloved children of his, we have no idea how to relate to our brothers and sisters. Often we act like competitors, tearing each other down to feel better about ourselves or trying to get to the top of the authority pyramid so we can lord it over others. Beloved children don’t live that way. They don’t need to. In living loved, they will love in return and experience the fullness of New Testament community without the need for rules and rituals. That’s why I am convinced that getting our relationship with God right is far more important than finding a right way to do church. If we do the former it will bear the fruit of the latter. If we don’t do the former, nothing we ever do will truly look like his church on the earth.

That’s why I’m excited today to post a teaching I gave over a year ago that lies at the heart of everything we share here at Lifestream. Sharing The Father’s Affection was videotaped and we’ve been able to put it into a file that people can stream over the Internet. Though this isn’t my favorite kind of venue, it did allow us to get this recorded in video. And this is the most important stuff I share with people who want to discover what fullness in the life of Jesus looks like.

As with most video files, broadband is recommended or great, great patience and a good dial-up connection. And for those without either, we’ve also included it in an audio-only version.

You gotta love the picture! This is how we can live each day of our life in him and if we do, we will be transformed in ways that will astound us.

The family who sent this picture to me had an extraordinary Christmas dinner that I want to tell you about. They live in New Zealand and this Christmas their two youngest children were going on mission trips and some of their older children and their families weren’t going to make it home for Christmas. So instead of having the large Christmas dinner they were used to, they were down to only five people. As they thought how small that would be they felt nudged to plan a larger dinner anyway and go out to the highways and byways and look for some people to invite to dinner. Does this sound familiar? I love this stuff!

So on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day they were on the prowl looking for people that didn’t seem to have any place to be for Christmas. They saw a ‘scary looking’ guy in a campervan and followed him to a campsite, where they met his wife. They introduced themselves and said, “Our kids away and don’t want to do small. Would you like to come and share a Christmas meal with us.†They sound found out they were Aussies and were missionaries to the Aborigines.â€

They accepted the invitation, as did another German father and two teen-aged boys in the same campground. They now live in Malaysia, where their wife and mother was seeing to some Christmas commitments. They came too. They also invited a ‘social misfit’ from their small village that “is a real loner, done the drug/alcohol abuse thing. When they picked her up at noon they also met some cyclists and asked them, but they couldn’t come.

Here’s their report:

And did we have fun! There’s real humourous rivalry between the Aussies and NZers, ;and so there was a lot of bantering going on. And the German folk had a great sense of humour too. It was just the funnest time! At one stage, we both realised that there were four different conversations all going on at the same time – none was being missed out. We laughed and chatted and ate.

I guess for me personally, was just the greatest thrill of learning to trust Dad in all of this. And I had no obligation of feeling I had to share Jesus with anyone – yes, he did come up a couple of times in our conversation, and that was neat, but I guess it was more just being us and loving others – and all because HE LOVES US!

That night when we lay in bed we were just overflowing with gratefulness to God. He is so good!

I’m not much on New Year’s resolutions. I don’t make them and don’t try to follow them. That’s not to say at regular intervals I don’t assess what God seems to be doing in my life and contemplate what choices he might ask of me to move into the next phase of my journey. That’s pretty regular, though it rarely falls on the turn of a calendar.

And it usually is not some kind of self-made attempt to change myself. I gave that up a long time ago.

But I got an email yesterday that gave me a wonderful chuckle in the middle of the day. I might be able to get in on resolutions like these. Here’s what Charity wrote me…

Last Year I gave up my microwave for New Years to see how life with out instant gratification would be.

Its all good.

This year I have made the decision with the help of some godly friends that maybe I should give up religion.

I’m nervous but know I have been given a great opportunity to walk with Jesus.

We have introduced a new design on our front page at Lifestream. Come by and visit again when you have the chance and check out the new look, which we hope will allow first time and regular visitors to find their way around the site much more easily.

Also, I was looking over some web stats yesterday from last year and was shocked to discover that at Lifestream last year we had almost 80,000 visitors view 588,000 pages from 141 different countries around the world. That blows me away. I have no idea who all those folks are, but I am intrigued by the amount of hunger there is in the world to discover a life of intimacy with Jesus, rather than just endure our religious rituals.

We have never advertised Lifestream. We’ve never asked anyone to link to it. I haven’t even filled out the meta tags that search engines use to help people get to our site. From the beginning I wanted Jesus to bring just as many folks here as he desired, even if it was only a few dozen. And I’m constantly amazed at what people put into search engines such as, “Am I Nuts?†or “Tired of Church†and have had our site come up. And the statistics I saw yesterday just astounded me. I wish I hadn’t peeked! I felt like David taking the census. Yukk!

But I came away overwhelmed at the range God has given us through this website and our others sites. Most people don’t have any idea how uncertain our steps have been, and how things that began on a seeming whim, turned out to have more impact than we would have guessed. I’m reminded here of Paul’s words to the Philippians, “We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts!†Amen to that! We weren’t nearly so bright as to have concocted all of this, nor to have met so many incredible people in the process. So I am overwhelmed at God’s doing in all of this, for it has truly been him far more than any of you perhaps know.

When we began thirteen years ago we couldn’t have conceived that the Internet would allow us to put books and audio and other resources into the hands of so many other people, and to facilitate such magnificent connections by email, Internet lists and forums. We had no strategy here and still don’t, beyond just loving people God puts before us and sharing freely of our own journey to encourage others who have shared our hunger to know Jesus in truth, and to find living expressions of the church as she really is in the world.

And God has ensured that we have not had to do all of this alone. At so many moments, God put the right connections together when we needed help with legal matters, computer expertise, graphics design and so many other seemingly mundane things. We have also had many, many people pray for us and send us their insights and concerns that have helped shape what we do and how we do it. We’ve met other fellow-travelers from further down the road who have shared the lessons they have learned with us, and even offered timely words of correction to our course. And in just the right moments, without any pleading from me, people have sent us financial gifts that have been important parts of God’s provision for us.

The graciousness of our Father through these people is what has freed us to post so many free resources to help others. last hear the PDF file of the Jake Colsen story was downloaded almost 5500 times around the world, and viewed much more in readings off the web. And the Transition series has been downloaded almost 2300 times since we posted it in June.

I just wanted you to know that all of this, however it touches you, is a result of God’s amazing generosity. I’ve just been reminded of that and my heart is with awe at his working, and filled with joy for all of you who have been such a big part of that.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

2007! Can you believe it? I hope you had some relaxing and refreshing times over your holiday season. We did here. It was a marvelous time with family and friends. But, I’ve got to tell you, I really enjoyed getting back into more of a routine this morning and getting back to those things God has put before me in this new year.

But one of the things I hope to hold on to this year is the childlike wonder I see in my granddaughter. (Yep, that’s her again on the left. Sorry, the combination of her expressions and my daughter’s photographic skills, makes it irresistible.) We got to spend a couple of days with her and her parents up in the snow, which we don’t see much of around the Los Angeles area. This picture of her captures perfectly what it was like being with her. Almost everything around her filled her with wonder and laughter. I love seeing the world through her eyes. (And if you want to see a bit more of the Jacobsen’s in the snow with kids and dogs, you can check out our very own YouTube video here.)

I’ve been spending some time of late with Nicodemus in John 3 for a future BodyLife article. I am challenged by Jesus’ words to him that to see the kingdom we must become like little children. I think part of that includes this sense of wonder that pervades our life, even the most difficult moments with the expectancy of his appearing within it.

I think that may get more difficult as we get older and get more focused on the challenges, pains and unfulfilled wants of this age than we do the love of our Father. Even as Aimee was wondrously enraptured at the scenery, she was also cutting in some molars that have been more than painful. Somehow, for her the wonder of all things new still outweighs the bad stuff.

I know many people facing the direst of circumstances as this year begins, in terms of medical challenges, financial needs and emotional brokenness. I know it isn’t easy to keep our head up when the world throws it’s nastiest stuff our direction and so many challenges seem to pile on, but one look into the face of the Creator of all, and the Gracious Father of love, is enough to melt our hearts and restore our joy. He knows you and he loves you, and his purposes in you will not thwarted by the most brutal of circumstance.

There is no greater wonder than the simplicity and power of his glory. May you often in this year, turn your eyes to the Father of all!

Yes, that is my two-year old granddaughter above.

From the whole bunch of us here at Lifestream, we’ve been incredibly blessed to be part of your lives this year, and to be a voice that encourages you to listen and follow Jesus into the life that truly is life! We are also overwhelmingly grateful for those who have encouraged us this year with gracious words, with much-appreciated prayers, and with finances whether it was in buying some of our books or CDs, or gifts that allow us to make so much of what we do freely available to people all over the world.

This is my last post of the year. I’m going to take a break from all my web content over the next couple of weeks as I celebrate this season with my family and also put my heart and head to some new projects Jesus is stirring in my heart. I’ll look forward to communicating with you in the year ahead, and pray it will be one filled with God’s glory for you in ways you cannot even fathom yet.

Special Notice: Our offices will be closed from Wednesday, December 20 through Monday, December 25. We will not be able to ship any books or CDs during this time. Orders receieved by noon on Tuesday (12/19) will be shipped that day. If you want to receive them by Christmas you will need to phone our office so we can send them Priority Mail which will cost a few dollars more. We are sorry for any inconvenience our holiday schedule creates for you.

Need a laugh this weekend?

Someone just sent me this, and so I’ll include it as the second You Tube video we’ve listed here. This does not have near as much redeeming value as the last one I referred to, but it is an hilarious look at what can happen in a baptistry when somone doesn’t fit into the accepted order of things.

Check it out!

I came across this verse in a recent reading of Colossians 4 in The Message:

Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

I love the simple freedom of being in a conversation looking to bring the best out in someone else, rather than getting my agenda all worked out. And it puts the focus not on what we say so mcuh as how it is responded to. They key is to ensure that it comes to them with grace. What does that look like? The same day I read that in a morning time of reading, I got an email from someone I’d crossed paths with on a recent trip. She wrote later to thank me and I loved what she wrote:

Thank you for talking with me the other night. I went home and thought about everything we discussed and somehow felt a little more at peace with my situation. I went to work with a different attitude and had a much better day. I felt as if God told me that He intends to answer my prayers in a little while, to hang on, that He has been working it out.

This journey is so amazing. I have grown to not know what to expect. I assumed that God was being silent in some areas of our life and yet in talking with you guys it’s clear that it’s not the case. I felt so loved and treated like a more mature person instead of a baby Christian. I am getting meat and a lot less milk. I hadn’t thought of it that way and it’s given me more freedom. It’s caused me to heighten my attention to His leading and teaching…

When people try to convince me that fellowship is an obligation, I think of moments like this. Who needs to be obligated to share this kind of life together? This is what fellowship is at its essence—the chance to help each other see Jesus a bit more clearly and understand what he is doing in our lives.

If that’s what fellowship does in someone’s life, who wouldn’t crave it every chance they had?

Living this journey isn’t an always thing to get since most of us have been brought up in religious environments where our lives are based on obligation instead of friendship with him. Learning to live in freedom and watch him do things in far better ways than we ever could on our own is one of the great joys of this journey. I got this email from a friend of mine who lives in Canada. I love what he is discovering and how he expressed it. He’s learning that our evangelistic efforts and our living as demonstrations of his reality in the world are two very different things. And they are.

When evangelism is an obligation where we need to convince others how wrong they are, we are only pushing people away because of our religious agenda. But when the Gospel simply flows from our lives in the simplicity of how we live, some amazing things can happen. As you read what, he’s learning, watch too at how he’s learning. He’s responding to those nudgings on his heart and watching what the Spirit can do through him is more incredible than anything our own efforts can achieve. That’s how the Spirit wins us into living freely in this kingdom by convincing us that he works in ways our own efforts can’t fathom.

Also, thought I’d quickly share a bit of what Father’s been doing in my life. Towards the end of this past summer, as I began to think about upcoming commitments and scheduling for this fall and winter, I felt Father prompting me to scale back the commitments on my time. In past years, I found myself at times swamped doing things I didn’t always enjoy. Looking back, I could see this was robbing me of time for enjoying simple fellowship and relationships. Anyway, I knew something had to change for this fall/winter, and I felt increasing peace about freeing up my time. I didn’t have any idea what specific things Father was going to do, but it was on my heart to just spend time with whomever God brought across my path and build relationships with people.

Suffice to say, I have enjoyed some tremendous times with different people and can only stand back in awe at how Father connects people. I have also begun to experience the simple pleasure and freedom of relationships. Real stuff happens because of relationships!!! I am so convinced, like no other time in my life, that relationships are what it’s all about. And it’s because of Father’s revelation to me as I’ve experienced this in my own life. There’s such a freedom in just getting to know and love another person only for who they are. Not as a “candidate” for salvation or because I can “get something” from them.

A neat example is this guy I met golfing in the summer. He’s in his mid-50’s, single, (not a believer) and has had a variety of health problems over the years (including drug and alcohol addiction). Anyway, I began to spend some time with him and have continued to do so. In the past, I would have felt a guilt or burden to “witness” to him in some way. But Father has slowly changed me in that area, and I don’t feel any pressure at all. As a result, we’ve had some interesting discussions about God over time, but it’s on his accord. And I’m finding that I don’t have any agenda in that regard, but just a simple love for him that I know doesn’t come from me!!

One time he said something that really encouraged me. He told me that when we first met, he immediately sensed something “spiritual” about me in the way I was. This was such an encouragement to me, as I’ve always struggled with “not saying enough,” especially since I’m not the most “evangelistic” or outgoing person. It was as though Father was telling me that I don’t have to do or say anything, that I can just rest in the fact He lives in me and his light will not be dimmed. But to just trust him—that I don’t always need to “see” the results to verify God’s work! Needless to say, I feel blessed at what Father is doing not only in my life, but in those around me. What a journey! I’m excited at what he has in store!