Yesterday I joined Cliff Ravenscraft for his podcast, “Encouraging Others Through Christ,” as we talked about what forms our spiritual life can take on when you are no longer involved in a traditional congregation environment. You can listen below, or click on the link above. We talked about where I’m at right now in my journey, whether it’s helpful to be “driven” in this new life, and how we deal with some of the sacraments and activities when we no longer find them in a structured congregation each week.

On occasion I post audio files on this blog when I think they will be of interest to many of you. If you’d like to have these audio files downloaded to your media player, you can also subscribe to new audio postings at Lifestream via iTunes.

I thought I’d share with you some email that really makes me smile. Some of this is really personal, so I’ve disguised some of the details so no one will recognize who the original writer was. But I enjoy seeing the process of transformation unfolding in people’s lives, drawing them into greater love, greater honesty, and greater freedom.

This is from a pastor who recently resigned his position:

I’m going through an intense transition. Mainly dealing with, “Do I feel valued for just being me?” I have resigned from the church to learn what me looks like. I want to know in my heart that I’m the gift. I couldn’t do this from my position as senior pastor. I’m also learning how to be a friend. I’ve bypassed this part of life because of my desperate need for approval through performance. It feels very vulnerable but also very rewarding. The questions that I’m asking and wanting answered feel very foundational. Questions that I should have answered in the beginning but was to busy trying to lead people. The questions are: Who is God?, Who am I?, What is my purpose on the planet?

Can you imagine the courage it takes to walk away from something you deeply love, to find out more about the One who is deeply calling you into life and freedom? Most never discover the road less traveled, because they won’t risk the vulnerability of stopping the train of their own self-approval needs and discover the life that really is life. Bravo, my Friend!

And then this from a mom of teenagers:

My heart is full of gratitude for the way God has used your teaching to bring me to a new place of freedom and fellowship with Jesus. My love for Him continues to deepen as He faithfully reveals His love to me. It just keeps getting better and better. I’ve loved living in this new place and have enjoyed passing on this life-altering, paradigm-shifting good news of “living loved” to many God has graciously sent my way.

But, the thing I am most grateful for is how God has used you in the lives of my four kids. They have all read He Loves Me and have been greatly impacted by the Love of Father that is revealed in that book. I love the conversations that we have been having with them and how often they will go back to an example from that book, or a quote from it. My second son, has listened to your Jesus Lens series and Transitions. He loves them both. The Love of Father that I have seen coming out of my kids as they have moved more deeply into an understanding and experience of His Love brings me to tears. Tears of gratitude for His grace and love. I know that it is all His work and His doing, but I have loved the way He has used you. Thank you for your faithfulness and love for the Body.

I love it when kids engage this journey and take ownership of their own walk with Father, learning and exploring their own engagement with him and knowing he wants to lead them too. This sounds like they have some interesting conversations around the dinner table.

And finally, this from a friend across the country with whom I’ve had occasion to cross paths on a number of occasions:

I just wanted to encourage you in this season you are in. I think it is a great thing that you are taking time away, not only for yourself and family but for all of us out here as well. I am realizing more and more how easy it is for people to be followers of the latest teachings (teacher). How in many of us we have a desire to be next to the person who “knows”. How, because of insecurities and shame, it becomes not only easy but almost a necessity to attach to someone who we think is the guru. The first time I connected with you via email years ago it was refreshing, and safe, to me that you weren’t trying to tell me what to do and how to think. You listened and encouraged me to listen and allow Father to sort things out. As I have gotten to know you more over the years that seems to be ongoing and very intentional trait of yours. That’s why I say this is a good season for all the lifestream readers and listeners as well as it is for you.

I love it when people realize that my life and teachings are simply scaffolding to help others engage God on their own and learn how to listen to him and follow him. I’ve received much encouragement during this time from people who are being freshly reminded not to draw nourishment from Lifestream, but to draw it from Jesus. I agree that too many people are still seeking a mediator between them and God, unable to believe that God wants to walk with them and show them the way. I realize we’re supposed to be breeding dependence on Lifestream to ensure our future success. But I’m all for Lifestream decreasing as God increases in each heart…

Tomorrow I head home from Canada with a very full heart. So many wonderful things have happened on this trip and I have some interesting conversations to share on future podcasts. I so incredibly blessed to see the body of Christ in the world from the vantage point God has given me. She is a lovely lady, being shaped by the Father as a precious bride fit for her King. I have no idea what’s ahead for me, but I am content in his love even in the uncertainty and I am ready to follow him however he desires me to do so.

For the last week I’ve been traveling in the Toronto area and having some interesting conversations with people in various stages of their own stories. I am deeply touched and encouraged by the work God is doing to draw people into himself, even in the midst of very tragic and distressing circumstances.

I started at a retreat in Orangeville and then spent some time with Bruxy Cavey on Monday. He’s the teaching pastor at The Meeting House here in Toronto and the author of The End of Religion, which I’ve often recommended because I love his premise that Jesus did not come to start another religion in the world, but to fill up in the human spirit that which cries out for the false comfort of a religion. We “met” on a radio show together a few years ago and said if we ever got in the same city, we’d try for a face-to-face exchange. I didn’t know if he’d even remember me, but came to find out The God Journey often accompanies him when he mows the lawn.

We had a great time together and recorded some of our conversation that may show up on a future podcast or two, on mine and his. Yesterday, I did a TV interview with a substitute host, because the main guy couldn’t make it in. I’m glad he didn’t. She was great and very engaged with the things I’m passionate about. I’ll link to that when it comes out. The last two nights I’ve been in homes with smaller groups of people in some pretty intense conversations. I admire the courage and grace with which people are sorting out their own spiritual journey, even in the face of great hardship and the face of criticism by those who are threatened when they back away from religious expressions that they no longer find helpful.

Someone I met earlier in this trip sent me an email yesterday:

I’ve listened to Transitions and I can say that it sounds like “home” to me. You have a wonderfully soothing voice and the God that you know is a God that I want to know. What you speak about speaks to my spirit and I can hear the divine, “Amen”.

I honestly don’t think the “homeness” has anything to do with my voice. I think it is a reflection of Father’s fragrance in our lives. I experience it, too, when I meet others who have the fragrance of Father about them. You don’t have to talk long before you sense a warmth, safety, graciousness, and peace that sets our heart at rest. “You are loved. You don’t need to perform here. You don’t need to try and impress me. You don’t have to manipulate the moment to get what Father wants for you. You get to be you, and I get to be me and we can simply love each other.” That’s what home feels like.

Now, I realize that isn’t true for everyone. I know some people reading this grew up in homes filled with violence, anger, manipulation, and fear. “Home” may not be a tender term for you. But I think you get the point too. When something feels like home, it feels like you belong, like you don’t have to be afraid, like you can relax because the Father is there.

I can’t think of a better description that marks the body of Christ than feeling at home with others. It isn’t always true. I’m often around believers that reek with agenda, who need to force their views on other people, and constantly manipulate an environment thinking they are doing God a favor. I don’t mind spending some time among them when God asks me to, but it isn’t home to me, it’s work. But when I sit with people who freely open their hearts, who are honest and real, not looking to exploit me for what they can can, but simply want to share life together as mutual siblings of an awesome Father, that’s when I know I’m touching an expression of Christ’s body in the world.

I have a song on my iPhone called, Feels Like Home. I play it usually within a day or two of flying home, or even on the way. It fills my heart and mind with the things I love about home, and I love it’s refrain, “It feels like I’m all the way back where I belong.” Now, that’s home! When you experience that with other people who know the God you know, relax and enjoy it. It’s my favorite identifier of the church in the world.

Watching both political conventions over the last two weeks, it finally dawned on me why I have come to find this entire election season so empty and soul-numbing.

Each side, using all the tools of public relations, exaggerates its claims to greatness far beyond any sense of reality, and at the same time exaggerates its opponent’s weaknesses, even making up lies where it serves them. In the end we don’t get an honest discussion of the issues, or even an honest appraisal of the men running to be our next President. We get a constant barrage of deceitful self-boasting and scurrilous accusations at the other.

False caricatures are all were left with. One person deserves our trust and the other is an evil man running for his own self-interest. The process is not designed to inform the electorate, but to manipulate their vote for that which does not even exist. If you talk to supporters of either man, they see it exactly the way the politicians want them to. One candidate is the only hope for America, and the other will totally destroy it. I don’t know what’s sadder, that politicians think we’ll fall for the charade, or that so many Americans actually do.

I would hope that when President Obama and Governor Romney go to bed at night, they see through the false caricatures that mar their own campaigns. But I’m not so sure they do. I remember when President George W. Bush was asked at the end of his first term if there was anything he regretted, or decisions he made that wish he’d done differently. He couldn’t think of any. Really? Can anyone be so self-deceived that they can’t look back over any four-year period and not see the failures that any moderately intelligent person could see? Who doesn’t gain better wisdom with the passing of time or in the consequences of their actions, not wish they had treated someone differently?

And now the media is in on the game as well. They join one side and manipulate their listeners to see their one-dimensional view of the world. Seemingly the only way to get a job in news these days is to be an arrogant, obnoxious advocate for liberal or conservative causes. Who is taking a hard look at what’s true and able to analyze the nuances of the major crises that confront our nation?

False caricatures are not only a stupid way to choose a President they also destroy human relationships at every level. And yet shame drags us into our own internal conversations that are very much like this political campaign. Viewing yourself or anyone else in such one-dimensional terms is a recipe for disaster. It is the language of shame throbbing like a drum beat in our heads as much as in our culture.

There are those who find it easy to exaggerate their own sense of goodness or gifts, while also exaggerating the weaknesses of others. They end up thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to think and will live arrogantly in the world, demanding their own way, betraying their own word when it suits them, and making accusations against others to deflect people from seeing them as they really are. Wherever they tread, relationships are destroyed.

While I’ve known a few people like that, there are probably more who tend to focus on all their faults and failures, while exaggerating the gifts and insights of others. They are so crushed by their own perception of inadequacy that they exaggerate their own weakness or brokenness, while at the same time exaggerating the gifts and goodness of others around them. Unable to accept themselves as they really are, with a full complement of attributes, some positive and some negative, they define themselves as unlovely and unworthy.

As long as we are dominated by shame we’ll live in a world of false caricatures of ourselves and other people around us. In the end we don’t get to see people as they really are, a mix of some talents, wisdom, and gifts, but also of weaknesses, inadequacies, and blind spots.

I remember one of the last conversations I had with three other elders at the place I last pastored. They had been some of my close friends for almost fifteen years. They were trying to get me to embrace changes they wanted to make in the congregation that I thought would take us away from the road Jesus was inviting us to follow. The pressure they exerted was oppressive, offering me the place of “wise apostle” if I bought into it, and threatening me with being outed as a rebellious person if I didn’t. I was neither of the two things I was being offered and yet those were the only choices I was being given. In the end, I decided that wasn’t a game I’d play anymore.

I’m so glad I didn’t. That game leads only to a false world of extremes where reality is celebrated and true life can unfold. While I crave the day when a politician will forge an honest campaign and make the other look foolish for not doing so, I have little hope that our political climate will change. But each of us has the freedom each day to walk away from a world of false caricatures and see ourselves and others as they really are. Let God show you how he views you, both the places that reflect his glory, and those places that he still yearns to transform. Don’t be afraid to admit either and have the freedom to be who you really are in the world. It will help set others free.

And then learn to see others as they really are, celebrating their gifts and strengths, while pouring out compassion and patience on the broken places they endure. Life is so much better when we live in reality and not the false caricatures that our society seems to crave.

It’s amazing what the heart sees when the busyness of our lives gives way to quiet. Many of you know I’m taking a break from a lot of the ways I engage people on the web. I’m doing far fewer blog posts, very little Facebook updates, and no podcasts for a season. It hasn’t been easy. I enjoy all of those and the dialogs they initiate with others.

But as I said in the last podcast, I felt impressed to slow things down a bit or two reasons. First, to give adequate time and place to the work of freedom God is doing in Sara. That story continues, and is one of the most incredible processes I’ve ever watched God do and I am so blessed at the courage Sara demonstrates as she’s learning to embrace a different way of living. I wish I could share more, and hope we’ll have a chance to down the road. But I’m not sure when and if any of this can be shared more widely.

The other reason we’re slowing down my heart is because I sense there is a fresh wind brewing that will impact how my life gets shared publicly. Oh, I’m sure I’ll still write and probably podcast, but I am thinking that both of those will have a different tone and focus. I heard a song the other day and one of the lyrics was about getting back to a simpler place and time. My heart soared when I heard those words. Something deep was calling me away from all the business that had pushed it’s way into my life a few years ago, and the complications that resulted from it. Most of that is all buttoned up now, but that still didn’t fulfill what my heart was crying for.

In the last few weeks my heart is getting back to the simplicity of living in the moment with the people close by, of listening to the Spirit’s nudges, and all of that is beginning to paint a different way forward. That doesn’t mean I’m just twittling my thumbs around here. Life has been incredibly busy, but in the absence of a lot of public content and comment my heart has slowed down enough to take in God’s leading. That process continues and I’m excited about what it is already shaping in me and grateful for the encouragement I’ve received from many of you.

I’ll leave you with this email that really touched me yesterday. This from a good friend of mine in Virginia:

I just want to tell you how we thank the Lord for your latest home-run for the kingdom of God in The Jesus Lens. I am not exalting you, just thanking God for you and your willingness to again walk where Father is walking, and say what He is saying. Many of us here who you have been with are now on #18 and loving every session – and I and others have been encouraging others we know everywhere to go through the series. I just wanted to express my continued appreciation for the fresh breath of life that you bring to the body of Christ…..

If you haven’t explored that yet, it’s one of the many free resources we offer to help people find their own journey with a loving Father. This one is to help people find a meaningful way to interpret Scripture that gives full credence to the revelation of God in Christ Jesus. He is not the bully many have made him out to be by their misuse of Scripture’s story.

We had some guests over the weekend in our home and Sunday I sat on the patio I picked up my reading from the Psalms. Soon others came to join me, so I read it out loud. I happened to be reading from Psalm 43, an this is how it begins:

Vindicate me, my God,
and plead my cause
against an unfaithful nation.
Rescue me from those who are
deceitful and wicked.

When I finished, I made the observation that I used to read Scriptures like that and immediately thought of Russia or other Communist countries who at the time wanted to force their views on the entire world. That morning, however, my mind had gone first to Washington, DC, and how unfaithful and deceitful our “ruling class” has become. (Someone else soon added, “Sacramento” as well, since our state politics is perhaps even more corrupt than our federal government.)

This led to an interesting discussion as to whether or not any of us could cite an historic example of those who gained power and advantage over others and did not end up using it for their own privilege and in doing ended up oppressing others. We could think of none that lasted any length of time. Perhaps this is why God never wanted some people to hold power over others. The advantages of power and wealth seems to always corrupt those in its clutches and their never-ending quest for more.

I wrote a few months ago about the unholy alliances that have usurped government by the people and only manipulate the anxiety of the masses to build their own power base. Where are the people of character and concern who will put the common good above their own personal gain? If we don’t find them we are surely in the waning days of the American experiment.

It does not delight me to talk about our state or national leaders in such terms. When I was younger I had great hope in the ideals of America. I never expected a democratic republic to be perfect, but I at least had hope that those in national service really wanted to do what was best for the country. I don’t know if I was more easily scammed then or if things really have gotten worse, but no one even pretends anymore to work for the common good. We are splintered into two political parties who fight over their own power, not the good of the country. And while they feign disgust at the other party, they seem content to trade the seats of power from time to time, since nothing substantively changes in the direction of our government and its relentless need to control every detail of our lives.

It seems to be that while they have us focused on liberal v. conservative politics and foment a class war between those who pay taxes and those who receive entitlements, they blind us to the real class warfare between an ever-more entrenched ruling elite who act for their own gain at the expense of normal people. They exempt themselves from laws that govern us, use “public service” to line their own pockets, and then retire from government service either with ridiculous pensions, or high-paying lobbyist jobs in the private sector.

As the first of two political conventions begin this week I found myself agreeing with the Psalmist, asking God to rescue us from deceitful and wicked leaders. I guess that prayer is in hopes that there are men and women of character somewhere who can stand in the gap of the excesses of power and ultimately do what is right and just for the people of this nation, and the world. But I don’t see them on the horizon at this point and certainly neither of our major political parties even give lip service to that ideal anymore.

It behooves us all in this country to think even beyond this election and stop playing into the hands of those who manipulate our political system to their own advantage. Don’t get caught up in the rhetoric of accusation and hatred for those you might disagree with. Don’t fall for negative campaign ads that hide the truth rather than illuminate it. And, demand better of your representatives than to just tow the party line when it only benefits the party and not the country.

I got this from a friend while I was on vacation. I love this. His family had not been attending a Sunday morning gathering for some time, and he wondered what kind of impact that might be having on their children. On a recent Sunday grandma was visiting from out of town and wanted to attend a Sunday service. So the whole family went.

His eight-year daughter old didn’t want to go to Sunday school because she claimed she didn’t like it and didn’t get anything out of it. Instead she wanted to sit with the adults and asked if she could draw during the sermon. She brought a pencil and some paper for that purpose. While listening to the sermon, my friend looked down and noticed his daughter wasn’t drawing, but writing. Here’s what he saw:

“My God loves me and my soul no matter how many times I have been bad or not listened. He loves me. I love God back because He is my hero. Nobody is praised more than my Lord. I am grateful for my God and He is grateful for me. God loves me for who I am and I am grateful for that too. I love you Lord. Amen.”

Pretty cool, eh? Actually, it’s better than most sermons that I’ve had to sit through. My friend was deeply touched. Their family has been in a bit of a financial crunch of late and he has had to work three jobs, sometimes seven days a week. He said he felt like a failure as a spiritual leader, even though he’s tried to communicate God’s love for all of them, no matter the circumstance. Looks like it’s getting through. As he wrote me, “I’m not necessarily encouraged that I am doing a good job as her dad, but more encouraged that in spite of all God is present in her life and working in her heart.”

Because he is just like that!

And honestly the truth in her words is where this journey begins. I can already hear the detractors who would read her words as an excuse to “be bad” or “not listen.” This view of God’s love, they’d say, is just used by weak people to excuse their sin. But nothing could be further from the truth. Our security in the Father’s love is not where sin perpetuates; it’s where relationship with him can truly begin. And in that relationship we will slowly, but surely, be transformed into his image.

We arrived home yesterday after two and a half weeks enjoying some wonderful time together in the beauty of the Sierras. Sara and I got lots of time in with family and friends as well as some long walks in the woods with our two dogs. And I got a chance to water ski–something I enjoyed as a young man, but have not had much opportunity to do for the past few decades. I got to ski more in the past two weeks than in my previous 30 years. And it was fun. There’s something about cutting through glassy water on a slalom ski that I find exhilarating to my mind and heart. Especially at my age! And there was something about tubing behind a boat with my granddaughters through rough water that was hilarious funny and quite renewing. I am so grateful for the vacation God gave us this year. So good!

Now we’re home to a very busy schedule. Over the next few weeks we will have a number of guests coming to stay with us. Next week the producer and screenwriter for the movie adaptation of So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore are coming to spend two days working on the script. After that our board will be gathering here for the weekend to sort out what God has in mind through Lifestream. They are followed by a songwriter/author friend of mine who wanted my input on some of his projects, and then I’ll spend another day with someone helping us reformat our website to add some new features that will help us do what we do.

All that aside, there’s a deeper undercurrent to our lives right now. Starting next week, I am also taking a hiatus from The God Journey Podcast for an indefinite period of time. I have no idea if it will be short or long, but don’t worry, there’s no crisis here. I explain all of that on tomorrow’s episode. Given the project I’ve been working on for the last eight months and the new work God is doing in Sara, we both sense that the wind of the Spirit is blowing across our lives inviting us to a different direction. We’re not at all sure what that might mean for us, but we think it will send us on a new tack. We are simply creating some space in our lives to let God speak to us clearly about that, and didn’t want to just plunge ahead doing what we’ve always done.

Honestly, I’m excited even in the uncertainty of what’s ahead. God has heard my prayer. In this season of life, I want to give myself to those things that will most bear the fruit of God’s purpose in the world through his gifts in me. There may be better ways to do that, than simply maintaining the course we’ve been on for many years.

Time will tell.

We will be on vacation around here, until August 16. Sara and I are taking some time off the next two and a half weeks for a vacation of rest, recreation, and hanging out with some close friends and family. We are so looking forward to taking a break. These pages will be quiet in that time and if you can hold your emails until I return, that would be great. (We do have someone filling book and audio orders for us during that time.)

I’ll leave you with this: My dad told us a story from his few days on the front in World War II, before he was injured by mortar fire and evacuated to a hospital in Italy. A new officer had been assigned to his unit and had come up to the front to introduce himself. Unfortunately he had no battlefield experience. He had just been trained at Officer Candidate School. While he was explaining to them who he was and what he expected of them, a mortar round was launched from the opposing army. By the sound it was making all the men knew it wasn’t going to land anywhere near them, but the officer only knew mortar rounds in theory. He yelled “take cover” and dropped to the ground with his hands over his helmet seeking what little protection he could find. The rest of the men just stood there watching their commanding officer huddled on the ground in terror.

Eventually the officer realized he was not in danger and sheepishly stood up and continued on with his presentation as if nothing had happened. The men were smart enough not to laugh at him, but my dad said every soldier knew this was not someone they would entrust their lives to him in battle. Tough he had lots of training on the theory of battle, he had absolutely no experience with what it meant to live in one. They would give him lip service, but they would follow the sergeants who had lived on the battlefield far longer than anyone else.

I meet a lot of people on this journey who are staunch advocates for the “love message” or “grace message”. They can espouse the theory well enough, but they have no idea how to live a life of loving and it’s obvious in the way they treat others. Instead of being honest, gracious and, well… loving, they treat people harshly, especially those who might disagree with them. Then I know, they’ve just jumped on a bandwagon. In the end it’s just a message to them, one they may be genuinely believe, but one they haven’t begun to learn to live.

The world’s bandwidth is filled with people who have opinions and theories they want to force on others. What the world needs is people who will live differently, who love others without trying to exploit them for their own ministry or their own gain. They don’t just expound the theory, but live radically as those who put others above themselves, care for people who hurt or are in need, and demonstrate that love is not a theology but a way of life. When you love that way, the world opens up to you. And you learn it not on outreaches to strangers or speaking to crowds, but by laying your life down for the people closest to you–your spouse, your neighbors and your co-workers.

And I’m glad we have an older brother who fully lived love in this world, tempted in every way like we are and yet found the Father’s love the greatest reality to embrace. We can fully entrust our lives to him and learn from him what he knows so well. That’s how his joy lives in us, and our joy becomes full.

A week ago I let you know about a need at the orphanage in Kenya we’ve been helping to support. Many of the mattresses were completely worn out and needed to be replaced. Some of you responded quickly and your help was greatly appreciated.

Late last week, however, we were informed that an inspection team from the government would be arriving this week and they felt the mattresses needed to be replaced before that team arrived so their condition would not to be a concern. So we were able to send off the $2600.00 to replace all the mattresses and bedding before enough had come in to offset the costs.

These are the pictures they sent this morning:

The mattresses arrive at the orphange

Everyone pitches in to unload them

Finally, a place to sleep!

We are still needing help offsetting those costs as well as with the $2500.00 per month we send to feed and educate the 70 plus children living there. If you would like to help us with a one-time contribution, or a monthly donation, we (and they) would be grateful. If you want to know more about this project or the AIDs recovery home we also support in South Africa, you can 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.