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Our book discussion on Finding Church has reached Chapter 17: Unity Without Conformity. This is one of my favorite chapters, because most people cannot imagine a unity of the church that does not come from manipulating political and institutional structures to get people to do what is right. But conformity will never produce the wholehearted unity that Jesus prayed for his Father to give us. That kind of unity only comes out of transformed hearts and lives where the glory of God has come to in habits a human vessel, and that vessel connects with others so that the temple rises across the whole planet showing the principalities and powers that God is able to take selfish humans and knit them into a powerful demonstration of his splendor.

Excerpt from Chapter 17:

The power of the church lies in the unity they find together—men and women loving and working together wholeheartedly because they have found their life and joy in him instead of their own preferences and ideas. How could any conformity-based system produce this unity when people are following the expectations of others rather than living out of an ever-expanding heart?   Without that, real unity cannot exist. (p. 154)

Jesus didn’t pray for conformity, but a unity that can only arise out of lives transformed by his glory. The answer to this prayer fulfills God’s passion in the earth and by it the world will know that the Father loves us as much as he loves his Jesus. When people out of diverse backgrounds come to complete unity of heart, purpose, and focus, God is unveiled in a way nothing else can accomplish. (p. 155)

You can find the discussion board here and see the list of topics we’ve covered. You can start at Chapter 1 and work your way through, or just join us in Chapter 17.

A few weeks ago a woman from Australia wrote me this note:

I would just like to tell you about your book He Loves Me.  The  truth is that book blew me off the planet!!!!

These are the reasons: When I was a child my parents and all other family were nonreligious and nonChristians. I am not against them, but I knew nothing of God. As I was walking down the road to primary school about the age of nine, I looked behind my shoulder and saw something. In my mind I went, “What? Why would the God of the universe be with ME?” But I was very shy and quiet and never spoke of it to anyone. Then when I turned ten  I started to think “I am going to Sunday school at the local church” So I did for a couple of years but would often go out the back door and go home as often the speaker would say, “Come on children , give your heart to God.”  I was so shy I kept leaving! One Sunday morning I woke up and thought “I’m not going again.” Then a voice jumped into my brain,” Off you go.”  So I accepted that from God.  At that point I was twelve and the main thing I loved was music. So I went to church and one song totally affected me, ” I am so glad that our Father in Heaven tells of his love in the book he has given”  then the chorus came up, “Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me  JESUS LOVES EVEN ME!!!!!!!!! Those 4 words changed my life and has affected me forever (I am getting old).

When I went to a different church some years later I felt too dominated. Though I never left Jesus I was very unhappy.   Then my husband bought two books, and I looked at your book He loves Me I thought, “Oh I don’t need to read this as I know he loves me..  But then out of the blue a voice jumped into my brain again, “Keep reading!” So I did and it blew me off the planet!!!!    Your book took me back to the past when Jesus loved even ME!!

My husband is a minister and has spread your book around and preached your words from it.   Your book is so fabulous and I have shared it with many people  and many of them have changed from church to Jesus. We’ve now read it 8 times.  I hope you don’t mind me doing this.

Of course I don’t mind. I can’t tell you how many people have seen the title of the book and thought, “Well of course, everyone knows that.” It is some years later before they actually read it and discover that this isn’t just about the fact that God loves you, but actually how we can live each day in the love of a gracious Father. The content of that book changed my life over 22 years ago and I’m still learning how to live in that reality every day. The conversations that feed my heart the most center around how others are learning to live there as well.

So I tell you want I’m going to do, for those on this list who don’t have a copy of this book or want one to pass along.  For a limited time we’re going to make it available for $9.00 per copy.  I think it and Finding Church make the perfect combination to help you find your way into living in his affection and sharing it with others, regardless of the circumstances you may encounter. Shipping is extra, and yes we know that shipping to International destinations is prohibitively expensive. If you want to order up to four of our books, however, we can ship all four for the same price we can ship one.

He Loves Me is also available in Spanish for $8.00 and in audio as read by me, either in CDs, or by digital downloads from iTunes or Audibles.

I just got this email this morning from a friend:

Hey, my 5 year old has been asking, “Why did Jesus have to die for us?” It may just be too early for her to wrap her mind around this, but do you know of any resources or a way I might explain this to a kindergartner? In fact, why don’t you just come over and lay it all out for her:) Is there anything on Lifestream that I can read/watch that might make it easier for me to parse it out to her. She seems to really want to understand this. Which I think is very cool

I think it’s pretty cool too.  It’s like Missy asking why the princess had to die in the Multnomah Falls story.  Great question for a young lady.

So I wrote him back that though I couldn’t come over today, the best thing I know is how Brad and I wrote about it in A Man Like No Other: The Illustrated Life of Jesus, a book where we put words to the art of our friend Murry Whiteman capturing the life of Jesus.  I sent him a few pages that I extracted from the book.

And then I thought maybe others would appreciate those pages as well.  So, here is a brief excerpt of the book A Man Like No Other.  There’s five pages here, so either download it or scroll through it to get the whole story.

Unfortunately many don’t know about this book, because it has never made it into a distribution channel for a wider market. But it is a full-color coffee table sized book that is one of the most compelling examinations of the life of Jesus after stripping away all the religious falderal we have given to the Gospels over the past 2ooo years.  It is not a children’s book, though we find children are drawn into the paintings and are then able to grasp the heart of the story we tell. We’ve heard of stories of professionals putting it in waiting rooms and it being the most read book in the place, and a great conversation starter.

This is a book that will change how you read the Gospels and will help get you acquainted not only with the Jesus of Scripture, but the Living Jesus as he wants to reveal himself to you.  If you’d like a copy, you can find out more and order it through our store.

The must frustrated Christians I know are those who compare themselves to perfection every day.  Whether it’s the perfect circumstances they seek or the perfect behavior they feel God demands, they constantly fall short of their own expectations and either get angry with themselves for not doing enough, or with God for not making their life the way they think it should be. I lived in that land of futility for many years.

The most contented Christians I know are those that recognize God is good and gracious, that life in a broken world is often filled with failure and pain, and that each day is part of a larger process drawing them ever-closer to the orbit of the Father’s love and glory.  Their goal is not perfection on any day, but to find ways to embrace a loving Father in the midst of their hopes and disappointments, their joys and their challenges, and struggles and their successes.

In short, they are not focused on the product they think they should be, but on the process that draws them ever onward in their desire to know him and bear his glory in the world. These thoughts were triggered by a quote that a friend sent me a couple of days ago from a former priest who lived in Germany over five hundred years ago.

“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming… We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”

Martin Luther

I love that.

Relax!

Enjoy the process of God at work in you, to will and to do of his good pleasure, rather than frustrate that you are not yet the product you wish to be. It’s the journey with him, rather than the destination that’s important.  Rest in knowing that God has a way to walk you through what you’re facing today and in the process shape you to be more freely his. Pain doesn’t confirm his absence. Unanswered questions doesn’t mean he is silent. And unresolved circumstances are not proof of his inactivity.

He is at work in you and around you and though you may not see the outward evidence you want so desperately to see today, his glory is being worked in you. You’ll see it more clearly down the road, but it won’t help much to fret about it today.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

First thing first. If you’ve not heard yet, I had a slight problem around here that forced me to postpone the trip I had planned to the East Coast over the next ten days.  I woke up early Wednesday morning with excruciating stomach pains, and thought I’d had food poisoning from dinner out the night before for my birthday. The pain only worsened, however and by 5:30 am Sara and I were headed to the emergency room.  It took two days to diagnose the problem as a gallbladder attack and that it needed to be removed. This morning at 7:30 we did the deed, only four months after my heart surgery. How crazy is that????? Well,it had to be done. All went well and I just got home a few minutes ago, very grateful for God’s provision and his love expressed through many of you during this ordeal. Now, I got two weeks of recovery.

However, I was already scheduled to appear on Moody Radio’s “Up For Debate” show with July Roys tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:00 am Central Daylight Time and according to everyone I’ll be fine to do the show by phone from home. Of course that will depend on how much meds I’m on then.

They are having a panel discussion about “The Shack” and whether or not people should take the theology to heart. The host seems to have enjoyed the movie, though she thought it flawed. You can read her blog about it here.  One other guest loved the movie and the other two did not.  Should be fun.  You can listen in live here at 12:00 n Eastern Time, 9:00 Pacific Time. Those in other time zones can figure it out from there.

I was on this show a couple of years ago about my new Book “Finding Church” on “Is Attendance Is Mandatory?”

For those of you reading this after the fact, you can listen to it here.

I know nothing of this author or his book, but I woke up to this in my inbox this morning.

This is what I wish the Bible-thumpers would understand, and I wish I’d known it before I got into my 50s. If we could understand what he says here we will find ourselves in conversations that matter with people. If we don’t, we’ll forever wonder why people run from us…

Parker J. Palmer in The Courage to Teach:

If we want to support each other’s inner lives, we must remember a simple truth: the human soul does not want to be fixed, it wants simply to be seen and heard. If we want to see and hear a person’s soul, there is another truth we must remember: the soul is like a wild animal – tough, resilient, and yet shy. When we go crashing through the woods shouting for it to come out so we can help it, the soul will stay in hiding. But if we are willing to sit quietly and wait for a while, the soul may show itself.

Brad Cummings and I will be hosting a special opening-weekend private showing of The Shack in Thousand Oaks, California on March 4, 4:00 p.m at the Muvico Theater in Thousand Oaks, California.  After the movie we will have a brief question and answer session for those who’d like to stay on. Brad and I were co-authors of the original book and Brad was a producer on the movie and was heavily involved in bringing this book to screen.

And, because so many people are coming from out of town, we’re also going to host an After-Party from 7:00 – 9:30 to expand that conversation. Space is limited.  Even if you expressed your desire for to attend via email or by Facebook, you will need to go and order tickets here to have a spot.

For those coming from out of the area and are staying over night we are also considering having an open house at our home on Sunday morning into the afternoon.  We will give out more details about that when people arrive here.

Here are the details:

The God Journey Shack Showing

With Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings – There will be a brief time after the film for question and answer and insights with the co-authors and producer of the film

4:00 pm, Saturday March 4
Music – Thousand Oaks
The Oaks Mall – 166 W. Hillcrest Dr
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

After- Party

It’s been a long time coming.  I’ve been watching over Brad’s shoulder for some time as this entire movie project has unfolded. It has been a long and arduous task and it is so rewarding to see the first fruits of that work come in the form of pictures (above) and today, finally, the first official trailer for The Shack movie was released.

View the trailer here!

You can see other pictures and keep up with all the action at the official website or Facebook Page.

The movie releases worldwide on March 3. For those in the Southern California area, we are planning on having a special showing in Thousand Oaks, California for anyone who would like to see the movie with Brad and I. We’re going to rent the theater and have opportunity for some conversation after the movie for those who want. It will either be on February 25 if we can get permission for an advance showing, or on March 4. We’re planning on a Saturday afternoon showing around 4:00 though we still have to arrange details. When we’ll do we will provide a way for you to sign up if interested so we know how large a theater to rent. We’ll keep you posted.

For now, enjoy the preview!

I hoped this week to be leaving for the upper Midwest. Instead I’m headed for heart surgery this week barring some kind of incredible healing.  Time, however, is running out for that. Unfortunately my heart is broken.  I’ve was born with a defective valve in my heart and it has taken me about as far in this life as it could. Doctors are telling me that now is the time to replace it. Tomorrow morning I will have an angiogram at 8:00 am and then surgery decisions will be made from there. I could have open-heart surgery as early as Thursday.

I’ll admit that this doesn’t thrill me. I have an aversion to pain and all things medical. I’ve made it through 63 years of life without so much as an overnight stay in a hospital, broken bone, or even stitches. I’ve been very fortunate medically and have always been grateful for my good health. Now, however,r we are entering a different season for Sara and me. So for the next few weeks (months?) I’m going to take the time to deal with this and walk my family through it. I’m not going to be doing a lot of medical updates or details. We’ll let you know what we can when we can, mostly through my Author Page on Facebook. If you want those updates “like” that page and use the menu under “liked” to check “See First”.  That way you won’t miss those updates.

I know many of you will be praying for us and it is deeply appreciated. We don’t lack for friends and family that care deeply. I will get more of that than I deserve, but I do want to share it. So if you want to pray me through this would you do me a favor? Find someone around you who may not have as many connections as we do, but also has a deep need in prayer, and pray for them every time you pray for me.  That would be awesome!

And please give us some space here.  I won’t be answering emails and I pray they don’t build up to something unmanageable. Of course visits, calls and well-wishes from close friends will be welcome as I begin to mend!  I’m sure I’ll get pretty bored staring at the ceiling all day.  But I’m not going to be doing much writing or updating websites. We have a couple more podcasts to air, one of them recorded just before my surgery.

We talk about this on the last podcast, but I also want to share it here. A few days go, Dave Coleman, a good friend and co-author of The Jake Book wrote me a note about my impending surgery. It brought such encouragement to my heart at so many levels.  I’m not sure I’m going to “Relish it!”, but I am going to relish God in this experience and see how he makes himself known to me.

I know it will probably sound strange, but these times are a real opportunity to meet Father in ways not possible in everyday living.  It will teach you among other things, the meaning of “vulnerability” and to understand how we serve a God who made himself vulnerable on our behalf so that He can identify with our need as we understand his heart as well.

At times like this, we tend to feel that He is throwing us under the bus, but in reality, it is an opportunity to take part in the growth process in which He continues to make “all things new.”  He doesn’t always protect us from these kinds of situations, but inhabits them to draw us closer to Him.  In religion we think we are being punished, but we know differently. By allowing us to embrace even the brokenness of the human experience we can know him better and others can see and understand the power of a restored relationship that was lost in the garden.

On the fourth night after my surgery, I knew I was going to die due to a medical mistake which caused severe convulsions, and I was afraid my 20 inch incision would open…. desperation thinking took over and I said, “It is up to You.”  I don’t remember if I actually heard the words, but somewhere in my mind, I heard “thank you,” and slept quietly through the night.  Relish this experience.  Do what you can by insisting on the best surgeon, hospital, staff, etc.  You plant, and He will give the increase.  Peace and encouragement, comfort and joy to you and family…

Psalm 62

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken…. Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge… One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”.

Psalm 91:1-2

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Gotta love that!