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I’m off to Texas tomorrow to spend the weekend with people in the Dallas area, and the early part of the week with a fellowship near Abilene that is sorting out what it means to live relationally. Before I go, I thought I’d leave you with another excerpt from my new book about learning to embrace the Father’s process for transforming us.

As I look out my window in every vista I see winter giving way to spring—-the daffodil and forsythia are in bloom, the tender shoots on my vines are just starting to swell. Rarely does my own spiritual season match the one outside. This year it may. I have been through a long winter season spiritually, drawing into a quiet place to let the Father cut back the myriad of opportunities that confronted me to the few, simple things he has asked me to do well. I am more settled on what that is and excited to let go of those things that will be no longer be fruitful for me.

I’m not ready to talk about all of that yet. There’s still some clarity yet to come. But it seems like the perfect time to share with you the next chapter from my latest book, In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process of Fruitfulness. If you haven’t read them earlier, you can read earlier parts of the book here:

• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2.

Chapter 3: The Seasons of the Vineyard

There is a time for everything, and a season
for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Who led you to believe that every day should bring a harvest, or that fruitfulness is borne out of days of great joy and ease?

Those who do not understand the life cycle of a vineyard seek to live in the illusion that all days should be the same, that life should be one continuous harvest, or that a life of blessing is a life free of challenge and pain. They grow easily frustrated when their circumstances don’t fit their carefully laid plans, as if God and heaven have conspired against the journey.

But there is no way to comprehend life in a vineyard without an appreciation for the seasons that govern its life and the process God uses to bring a vine to fruitfulness. It takes all four seasons to bring a harvest. One is not more important than the other; each has a purpose in the glorious process. Without the bitter cold of winter, the branch cannot be pruned. Without the hot days of summer, the fruit will not ripen.

My computer works the same whether it’s a January morning or a July afternoon. If I type, it responds. But that’s not true of the grapevines growing on the hillside beyond my window. For them the seasons make all the difference. Winter gives way to an explosion of spring, spring to the overbearing summer, summer to the gentle autumn, autumn to winter’s chill. It has been so since that first dawn and it will continue until the last. Our globe circles the sun with a spectacular tilt that lets the sun be shared in the course of a year over the widest possible area of the globe. This carefully chosen orbit produces in each hemisphere an unending cycle of seasons. As the sun spreads its beams over the Northern Hemisphere we experience the hot days of summer, while the southern part of our globe endures winter. Our days are longer, theirs shorter. But in June the sun begins its southern retreat. Our days diminish in length as theirs grow. As much as people love the days of summer, winter is no less important to the fruitfulness of the vine.

At every moment, what the farmer does in the vineyard is dependent upon these seasons. If he tries to gather grapes in spring he will find only the smallest beginnings of a harvest yet to come. No one will eat these grapes. If he tries to prune in summer he will only destroy the vine he cares for. The seasons control everything the farmer does in his vineyard. Anyone who has walked with God for any length of time recognizes that God works with us at different times in different ways. At some moments our lives seem to bubble over with joy and ease. At every turn we see God’s hand moving, and when we open the Scriptures the words seem to leap off the page with insight and meaning.

At other times the joy we experience is far deeper as we endure painful or distressing circumstances. During such times recognizing God’s voice is not easy. Needs press us from all sides. We may find ourselves repenting far more often than rejoicing. If we don’t understand God’s working in seasons, we’ll make the mistake of assuming that the moments of euphoria are what Christianity is meant to be, and anything less is proof of his displeasure.

Look at the life of Jesus. His life was marked by seasons when he was overjoyed and by those when he was deeply troubled, only able to offer up “prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears.” We see him in crowded moments with great numbers of people clamoring for his attention, and at others alone on the hillside taking time to be alone with his Father. We see him making wine for a young couple’s wedding, and later driving out moneychangers from the temple.

Jesus was not afraid to embrace the changing spiritual seasons of his life and those around him. He didn’t follow a rigid code that could direct him through every circumstance he faced. Rather, he flowed with whatever he saw his Father doing, responsive in each moment to his purpose in ever-changing situations. We would do well to follow his lead. Our spiritual growth demands an ever-changing climate where God’s work is tailor-made to our present circumstances. The sun does not control these seasons. They are controlled by the Father as he spurs us toward fruitfulness. These seasons will bring us a healthy balance of both joyful and challenging moments, of diligent effort and renewing rest.

Each season offers something that the vine needs for its continued growth. Spring brings the needed rain and softened days to help stimulate growth without crushing it in the searing heat. Summer offers enough sun to bring the grapes to maturity. Autumn offers the opportunity for harvest undaunted by rain and a chance for the vine to restore itself before winter. Finally, winter brings a much-needed rest and the opportunity to restage the vine for a new season of fruitfulness. Without these changing seasons there would be no fruit.

The same is true for our spiritual journeys. Fruitfulness emerges out of God’s process to shape our lives for his purpose through our daily struggles. We aren’t always meant to live in the joy of harvest. Fruit matures in the difficult days of challenge and perseverance. If we don’t understand these shifting seasons we’ll find ourselves fighting God’s work instead of embracing it.

Faulty religion teaches people that their efforts can induce God to fill their lives with comfort and favor. If we do good, pray the right way, or work the disciplines hard enough we can get God to do what we want. Without saying it overtly, religion seeks to teach people that they can manipulate God to do their will. Those who believe this lie end up in despair when their circumstances don’t change the way they want. They think either God is failing them or that they just can’t do what it takes to please him.

To engage God’s process of fruitfulness we should spend far less effort trying to change our circumstances; and thus we will find far more freedom in learning to respond to God as we go through them. What he shapes in us becomes far more important than our own comfort. Each season we will receive something needed for continued growth. If we could remain in any one season continually fruit would never grow. By responding to God in whatever season we’re in, we can embrace his work and we can let go of even those things we love when the seasons shift. All of it is part of making us fruitful.

We can enjoy the benefits each season brings and also endure in the challenges for the greater work in our lives. And each has its challenges. The dangers brought on by weeds and invading insects can be overcome, but they cannot be resisted. Without the pruning of winter and the discipline of spring, nothing will grow. The same is true of the long, hot days of summer that ripen the fruit.

Jesus’ example on the cross teaches us that life can be celebrated in the midst of pain. Not all suffering is harmful. It can produce the very fruit that brings great pleasure to the Father. Though he never delights in those things that hurt us, he does realize how necessary some of them are to bring us into the fullness of his glory.

We will begin our journey in spring and continue to walk through the vineyard in its various seasons. As we see what the vine is going through, we’ll look for parallels in our spiritual lives. Seeing God’s hand through these moments will leave us more equipped to recognize his working in us and less anxious trying to get God to change our circumstances to make us more comfortable.

As we begin however, let me highlight one important distinction between seasons in the vineyard and seasons in our lives. In the vineyard, all vines endure the same climatic realities together. They are all pruned in the winter, cultivated in the spring and summer, and harvested in the fall. You will soon discover that this is not true of our spiritual lives. God deals with each branch on the vine individually, giving special care to its own unique growth. And since our seasons are not controlled by external elements of our environment, they may not line up with anyone else around us. I may be enduring the restaging of winter while someone near me is enjoying the fun of harvest.

That is why Scripture warns us repeatedly not to compare ourselves to others, and why when we do, we end up confused (2 Corinthians 10:12). Often when we compare ourselves with someone else, we compare the best thing going on in his life with the worst going on in ours. Instead of looking at the rest and refreshment that God brings through my spiritual winter, I instead focus on the circumstances that surround it: diminished activity and fresh wounds from the recent pruning. When looking at the person who is in the middle of a fruitful harvest, I highlight their joy and acclaim, and forget the risk and cutting that go on in those days as well. What is even more ironic in this scenario is that while a wintering branch may covet the harvest, the branches in the busyness of harvest will long for the peace and serenity of winter!

All of God’s branches would be far better served if they stopped looking around for something better and instead embraced the present work of God.

God is always working. Jesus assured us of that (John 5:17). It may not seem like it sometimes, since we may have missed his hand in the distractions or challenges we’re facing, or because he isn’t doing what we think he should be doing. Instead of comparing or complaining, I am better off looking for the way God is working in my life at that moment. That’s the key to walking with God. He determines the seasons of our lives, such as when to prune, when to feed, or when to harvest our fruit. We are his followers, and he wants to teach you how to follow him.

___________________

This is Chapter 2 of my new book, In Season: Embracing the Father’s Process for Fruitfulness. Copyright 2011 by Wayne Jacobsen and used by permission. Available from Lifestream.org

In the aftermath of of watching THE SHACK project blow-up into a costly legal battle, lots of people have asked me why I continue to collaborate with others. I get asked that a lot as people look through A Man Like No Other, where three people came together to put words to art that would celebrate a life of Jesus that is not always unveiled in our religious interpretations of him. The fact is, I love relationships and the synergy of producing something together. When people truly bring their gifts to the table and with humility seek to bring their best ideas together, there is nothing more powerful or energizing. I understand why Jesus sent the disciples out in twos and why God himself embraces his own community with such love and joy.

I realize that some people will abandon a collaboration as soon as they get their benefit out of it. When anyone needs to control the fruits of the collaboration and ceases to continue celebrating it as a gift among friends, it will turn incredibly painful. It has often been said that so much much more would get done if people were not concerned with who gets the credit. Unfortunately, there will always be those who will consider the credit more valuable than the friendship.

While that’s tragic it doesn’t sour me on the joys of collaboration. The truth is most of the people I’ve collaborated with on various projects stay true to their word and continue to share the fruits as they did the labor. Simply, I believe the things we talked about in our podcast on The Collaborative Life, namely that God exists in a community and he is all about bringing selfish, independent humans into that community and then teaching them how to share it with others. When humble hearts work together a greater wisdom shows through than anyone can produce working alone.

But that doesn’t mean I would say the pain of it going bad is worth it. It never is. It is always devastating when people betray others in their own quest for independence. But isn’t that the reality of the broken creation? Many have endured the betrayal of a spouse, the dishonesty of a business partner, or the manipulation of a colleague at work or “in ministry”. I hear those stories all the time and hurt for the victims. And I shake my head at the excuses some use to justify their agenda.

The truth is, promises are cheap. They are only valuable when they are fulfilled, especially when it isn’t easy and when others say they aren’t really that important. Character is demonstrated when people actually honor them. Fortunately I know lots of people like that too. Just because some might cheat on their spouses or dishonor their own word doesn’t mean I still can’t feast on the joy and faithfulness of my marriage, and the tastes of community and collaboration that God might still want to give me in this life. It’s also why I continue to encourage others to embrace the reality of community even if it painful at times.

If the abuse of something makes you discount it, then you’ve lost something beautiful. Just because someone uses a hammer to hit me over the head, doesn’t mean I can’t use that same hammer to build a bridge.

I met with a man last week who wants to turn So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore into a movie. I’ve long thought that done right the John and Jake conversations could be a compelling movie, but I wouldn’t want to trust anyone to get the story right. And since I didn’t know him we arranged to spend some time together during my recent trip to Washington. We had a great conversation and I think he really gets it and wants to embellish the same things in that book that I do and make an independent picture of that story and share it with an entirely new audience.

What’s more, he was at the Sundance Film Festival a couple of weeks ago and happened to sit next to a screenwriter he didn’t know who happened to be reading that book. What are the odds of that? So, we are discussing having her take first pass at the screen play and she wants to work collaboratively with me in making sure we get the story right. Pretty cool. We are moving slowly here, so don’t expect a constant stream of updates. He’s already involved in a movie now and is thinking this might be “what’s next” for him.

As part of our dialog, however, he shared an illustration with me that I loved. He shared that one of the greatest challenges that people face on this journey is that they gt caught up in trying to sort out college level and beyond concepts and ideas, when we haven’t even begun to focus on or even master 3rd and 4th grade material:

“For instance”, he said, “one of the biggest lessons that Christ gave, I believe, is to ‘First take the plank (or log) out of your (own) eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from you brother’s eye.” If we were all to focus on just this one lesson, I believe the world would be a much different place. A lot of our fights seem to occur at the college level material and beyond. While it’s fun and even worth while to question whether Heaven is ‘this’ or ‘that’ or whether the afterlife is like ‘this’ or like ‘that,’ it’s like trying to fully understand calculus without any knowledge of algebra. Once you learn algebra your relationship and understanding of the words that describe calculus change, evolve and take on different meaning. So trying to understand the spiritual with only the religious or the heart with only the intellect or the experiential with only the concrete can be provide quite the difficulties.”

I’ve thought about it a lot sense. I used to have a profound curiosity about the great theological questions of eternity, eschatology, and God’s sovereignty. I have found over the last few years that my growing engagement with Father has lessened my hunger to sort out those things, or even to engage in the ongoing debates about them. Spiritually I’m still in the third grade trying to understand how to love the people around me each day in the same way I am loved by Father. And I am loving that. There’s a reason Jesus passed over the disciples’ incessant questioning on such matters. “No one knows the date but the Father himself.”

If that’s spiritual calculus, and I’m still years away from spiritual algebra, then I don’t have to waste my time figuring out those things that are best left to him. That’s why in The Jesus Lens, I talked about being certain where Scripture is certain, and being ambiguous where Scripture is ambiguous. I know that isn’t easy, especially when someone in spiritual first grade is expounding on their theological convictions and you find it a turn-off. You might feel embarrassed that they seem to know something you don’t know until you realize that they don’t know it either. And their need to convince you how right they are is all the proof you need to know they aren’t really sure themselves.

Let’s learn to live loved-—by him, and then out of that love with others. If we learn to do that well, who knows we might someday get into a bit of algebra!

It is with great joy that I share these pictures with you that I just received from Kenya. These are of the children at the Living Loved Care Center that many of you helped us build over the last few years to help 72 orphans living in a slum find a safe and healthy environment in which to live and learn. I think you can see in the pictures below the joy and celebration that they are experiencing in their new location.

Two years ago Kent and I stood in the pathetic conditions these kids lived in. Standing ankle deep in mud, with open sewage flowing just a few feet away. Due to your generosity we completed this orphanage about a year ago and have paid for the expenses and staff of that school through it’s first year. Thank you so much for being a conduit for God to bless these children and give them an opportunity to have a new chance at life. Just over a year ago they were living in horrid conditions, begging on the street to find enough to live, and not being educated. Now all that has changed.

I give great thanks to God for letting me be involved in this project and for putting it on many of your hearts to help. Kent and I stood there and it touched our hearts. I’m so blessed that did not have the same experience but still felt a tug on theirs to help out. Enjoy these pictures:

The students at play

Learning in the classroom

The younger students outside their schoolroom

We continue to pay staff fees and cover expenses, which total about $2500.00 per month while we hope to find a way this year to invest in an income-generating opportunity that will provide for the Center in coming years. If you feel called to help us support these children either with a one-time contribution, or a monthly donation, that would really be a help. 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.

For those wanting to purchase some of our new resources, we now have a distributor in Australia that can ship to that part of the world. Hopefully this will save on shipping costs from the U.S. Just point your browser to Living Loved in Australia. Unfortunately that only includes Wayne’s new book In Season, and the DVD series, The Jesus Lens. The others are currently tied up with Windblown Media and their distribution channels. Hopefully we’ll be able to add other resources in the future.

Yesterday I was invited to join Cliff Ravenscraft on his Encouraging Others In Christ Podcast, asking the question, “Is God Bigger Than Your Bank Account?” He wanted to respond to a paragraph in an email I sent about learning to live inside Father’s provision instead of the mistaken notion that we provide for ourselves. In this podcast I share a lot of my own journey to come to rest in the Father’s provision and thought it might be a blessing to many of you as well. He also gave me permission to include it on my Lifestream blog as well. I hope it is helpful to many of you wrestling with learning to live in the Father’s generosity.

You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at Lifestream via iTunes.

One of the things I enjoy about having a new book out there is that it shifts the conversation a bit. I love talking about living loved and why there might be better ways to do church than to fit it into one of the models so prevalent today. But now I’m finding through A MAN LIKE NO OTHER I’m getting to talk more about the life and person of Jesus—the most compelling person to ever traverse this planet. And because of IN SEASON, I’m seeing people think a bit differently about their spiritual journey. Finally many are beginning to understand that you can’t find life in him by applying a set of guidelines, no matter how good the guidelines.

He invited us to follow him, not follow a set of rules or rituals. We can only do that where a growing relationship with him is helping us begin to sense his whispers in our hearts and his nudges toward the people or things he wants us to engage, and those we can pass by without obligation. The longer I walk this journey the more clearly I see that daily following him defies any set of guidelines we try to force on any particular situation.

I know some will take that too far and toss out any principles of righteous behavior that will help us see and test what he is saying to us. I wouldn’t go that far. Principles of love, kindness, justice, and grace give us a moral compass in which we can recognize his impulses in our lives. Having a righteous heart will mean we won’t cheat on someone we love, we won’t gossip to tear down another person, we won’t lie just to get something we want, and we won’t betray close friends in our own self-interest. We are willing to do the difficult thing, rather than the easy thing. We’d rather give up our lives that manipulate someone away from there. Morality matters. Those who live without a moral compass easily justify the most obscene behaviors for their own personal gain and leave in their wake a host of broken hearts. What’s more, they won’t even care about those people so sold are they on their own personal happiness or survival.

But those principles alone will not tell us what to do today. The problem with trying to live a life by Godly principles alone is that you arbitrarily try to implement something that is true into a situation where it does not fit.

Many does not live by bread alone, but by every word that God breathes. Don’t look for another program to tell you how to live. Stop trying to find the principle to apply in your situation today that will turn the tide on your relationship with your spouse or kids, or bring you the life you hope to have. Instead, find those things that stir your heart to know him and in knowing him to recognize the smallest breath of a whisper he puts in your heart. Follow him today, as best you sense him and that will be enough.

Over the past year, due to the generosity of many of you, we were able to send $85,100.00 to Kenya to help complete the orphanage, pay school fees for orphaned children, and assist with famine relief in Kenya. We have bee blessed at every turn to see the generosity of saints here, and the loving appreciation of saints there.

Last week I received this email from Michael, the brother God has given us to work with there. His gratefulness and blessings go to all of you who have been part of this amazing relationship with us:

Dear brother Wayne and the entire team of the saints around the world,

I would like to take this opportunity to send my gratitude to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who has joined us together to build up the body of Christ and also to be a vessel to touch the lives of brothers and sisters in order for them to know who is really Christ, the people would not see Christ until they would see the image of Christ in us.

The church of God in Africa, has walked only with the doctrine and the judgmental message for long time and it was my long time cry to see the transformation from the hearts changing the way of focused in the church of God in Africa. These are the brothers and sisters for whom Jesus died and they must see the light with supernatural power to touch and to change the lives of every individual. This truth has been hidden for so long but our Lord Jesus Christ had a plan to work on His way to help the church of God in Africa to come out from human understanding to spiritual enlightenment.

So I thank God that my spiritual eyes have been opened to know the mind of Christ towards his people and I would like to thank God through you brother. I am not thanking you because of the resources that you have been sending alone. That is part of it, but spiritual enlightenment as well that I can realize the purpose of Christ to choose to sacrifice His life that we may be redeemed once more and have the fellowship time after time in daily life. This must become lifestyle—walking with Jesus. This is beyond the Sunday service, or certain fellowship or human structure/schedule.The transformation is taking place, it is my great joy people to come out from traditional religion which have bound brothers and sisters for so many generations that it has become routine and practice for many generations.

I can remember in the book of Acts Paul was sharing with the brethren that as he had read an inscription on one of their idols, “to unknown God”. Paul was emphasizing that he had come to share with them to the same God which they had been worshiping as the unknown God. So I thank God for the wisdom which God has given you. The time you first step in Kenya with brother Kent, you could see a lot of errors in Africans church, these inclusive hierarchy, title, positions, structures, institution which people called the churches. You didn’t judge us or point fingers but you shared the message of love and through that, that word had became a medicine to heal the entire continent just with the small group you began with.

You practice faith with action, along with your brethren over there to feed the hungry, to cloth the narked, to put the shelter to the homeless, to help the widows, to the rescue the orphans, to educate the needy and to help those who were oppresses, those are the key which has opened the gospel of Christ to get breakthrough and to change the lives of people from the small group to the Nation and even to Nations.

So it is our prayer that God gives you wisdom and understanding revelation that we may reach the entire world with the Gospel of love. We don’t have anything that we can give you, but I can just only pray for you and give you the below encouraging words and verses along with your family and sends these message scriptures to the entire brethren who have prayed and give out the gifts whether in financial or any other help:

Matthew 10:42 – And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

2 Corinthians 9:13 – By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others.

Proverbs 19:17 – Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

1 Chronicles 29:11-12 – David praised the Lord before the entire assembly: “O Lord God of our father Israel, you deserve praise forevermore! O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all. You are the source of wealth and honor; you rule over all. You possess strength and might to magnify and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your majestic name. “But who am I and who are my people, that we should be in a position to contribute this much? Indeed, everything comes from you, and we have simply given back to you what is yours.

2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to make all grace overflow to you so that because you have enough of everything in every way at all times, you will overflow in every good work.

Galatians 6:9-10
So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. 6:10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.

2 Corinthians 9:10-15 – Now God who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your supply of seed and will cause the harvest of your righteousness to grow. You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous on every occasion, which is producing through us thanksgiving to God, because the service of this ministry is not only providing for the needs of the saints but is also overflowing with many thanks to God. Through the evidence of this service they will glorify God because of your obedience to your confession in the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your sharing with them and with everyone. And in their prayers on your behalf they long for you because of the extraordinary grace God has shown to you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

ROM. 12:11-13 – Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Our prayer also goes to the girl (Jesus knows her name) who made the dolls to help raise money towards Living Loved Christ Hope Education Center. The children are praying for her. I shared the message with the kids and they want her picture. Our prayer also goes to the donation of the students who are orphans in different schools whom you have been helping for the education in past years, our prayers also goes to those who stood in the side of relief, medication, microfinance, in widows program, single mother both in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania,

Thank once more for having the trust for me,and trusting my hand to guard the gift as on behalf the church. In Africa we have thousands of believers who could do better and are more well- educated. Why God has chosen me to carry the gift of the saints, I count as his gift and I promise to remain a good stewardship for his Body.

May the lord bless you and bless you much to stand with African church in this time of drought and famine that has swept up so many.

The needs in this part of Kenya are overwhelming, and the need continues. We feel like God has asked us to help out in this corner of the world and will continue to pay for the staff at the orphanage, assist students in their school fees, and be part of a continuing effort to salt that part of the world with the invitation to live loved by the Father. If you have some extra to share with these projects, or 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.

I should have known better. In order to preview this book, Hometown Prophet by Jeff Fulmer, I had to promise to write a review on my blog within 30 days. I have never made that commitment before. I usually tell people I’ll read 25 pages or so and see if it captures me as a reader. If so, and I can recommend it, I’ll do so on my blog. But I was intrigued with the storyline, so I told them to send me a copy. For the first half of the book, I was glad I did. I found myself casually recommending it to other people, with the caveat that I was only a third of the way into it, or when I was half way through.

The premise was brilliant. An unemployed young man, living at home with his mom begins to have dreams that appear to be from God. When the dreams come true, the Christians rally around him as a prophet. Then, the foretelling dreams begin to hit closer to home and the celebrated prophet becomes a pariah in the Christian community. There was so much about this set-up that I enjoyed, not the least was having God visit someone who wasn’t living a stellar “Christian life.” I liked the beginning conflict with those who had more vested interest in the status quo than in what God might actually be doing. The author is an engaging storyteller, making me believe the story and endearing me to its characters. I was hooked, until I got about 60% into the story. That’s when it all went wrong.

AT that point the characters surrounding our hero became horribly stereotyped, as did the liberal agenda that began to bleed from the pages. The dreams turned out to be less about God inviting people into a transformation with him and more about Christians become more politically liberal. Here’s where the author’s agenda really turned me off. I do think God would have us to be more loving especially to the poor and downtrodden, and I wish believers were more committed to good stewardship of the planet, but to have the story end there really cheapened what was going on in Peter, the protagonist in the story.

I have rarely been this unsatisfied with the ending of a story that started out with such promise. As I read the early portions I was intellectually salivating with the possibilities of how this story could turn out. In the end it didn’t satisfy any of them. Now, I don’t know Jeff, and his whole purpose in writing this story may have been fulfilled by its ending. I don’t begrudge him that. But in the end, it is not a book I’d recommend to others here. So, I guess I won’t be making that commitment again any time soon.