Friends and friends of friends | Lifestream

Spending the Weekend With Jake

2 Comments / Uncategorized / March 26, 2015

What a crazy week this has been. After a worldwind trip around Florida I returned on Monday. What an amazing trip. I started in Daytona Beach, spent a few days in the Orlando area, then a week teaching The Jesus Lens at a YWAM base in Sarasota through a German translator. After which I finished up in West Palm Beach reconnecting with some old friends and enjoying time with some new ones. This was a wonderful trip and I met so many people who are learning to live in the reality of Father’s affection and break free fo the trappings of religious obligation and performance. I am always amazed by what God lets me do in the world and who he gives me to know. And I admire the courage of so many who are willing to take the road less traveled even when suffering the judgment and abuse of friends and family who regard them now with suspicion simply for rejecting the idea that Jesus came to start a religion. He didn’t. He came to invite us alongside his Father, to freely embrace his love and to freely share it in the world.

I only had a couple of days to re-orient from the trip, try to catch-up on my email backlog and make the few appointments I had previous scheduled before the lead producer, Kevin, and the screen writer, Angela, for the movie adaptation of So You Don’t Want To Go To Church Anymore arrive for a weekend of trying to finalize the script. Tomorrow someone else, Eugene, will join us who might be the director of this picture. I am still amazed that this book is making progress through the machinery that tries to cough out a movie.

But I’ve had a lot of fun living inside the story again. Tentatively called, “Out of the Game,” it takes the major parts of that story and reshapes them in a way that will help it communicate with a different audience on the big screen. I’ve enjoyed working with all the people on this project and the passion they have shown for this story. We’re still not agreed on every detail, but having just finished my most recent read of the manuscript, I’m convinced we’re getting very close. So the next three days we will be refining the screenplay as well as making some critical decisions about moving the process forward. And on Saturday we wil be sitting with a group of actors who will read through it so we can see how the dialog sounds in their mouths. It’s an adventure to be sure and I love at this stage of my life revisiting that story and my own life being a bit re-shaped by it. I don’t usually get touched reading my own words, but some of this I worked on fifteen years ago and have enjoyed the re-focus and the gracious invitation of a Father into a life better lived in the security of his affection rather than the rabid fears religion often uses to make people conform. Only about 15% of the projects that get this far actually get made. There are so many parts that have t come together for this to work. So, we’ll see. One step at a time.

And for those who ask about the film adaptation of The Shack, that is still in process as well. Lionsgate is the studio and they’ve already selected a director and are now workiing to cast the movie and schedule production. There is no clear release date on this movie though it should be sometime late in 2015 or early in 2016. There are lots of rumors floating around about who is involved. Just remember, Hollywood types do a lot of negotiation and compete for media attention by using rumors and leaks. Until you read, “Lionsgate announces…”, don’t believe everything you read.

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The Need in Pokot Continues

Uncategorized / March 10, 2015

Everywhere I go people continue to ask me about our friends in Kenya and especially the need in West Pokot. I appreciate that so many people are aware of this and continue to pray and give to help us rescue so many people who are in great need in that part of the world. It is truly a human catastrophe with many people dying and a great need to help them build a new economy.

I met last week with someone who is attached to a development agency that is already in that area of Kenya, in Turkana right next door. They help tribes address the five basic needs to build a society: water, food, wellness, education, and generating income. The work with the tribe to help them identify their most pressing need and then begin to act as a tribe to help fulfill that need. They they take on the next one. The plan is that in five years the tribe will address each of those needs and with outside training and resource be able to build a sustainable economy. They have had great success throughout Asia and Africa and I’m set to speak with some of their people tomorrow. I hope this will provide an approach that will let us wrap our hearts around part of the need and move it beyond relief to actually develop a future and hope. They do it for a cost of $15,000 per year for five years and the people are left with their needs addressed and resources for their culture to progress.

While I’m hopeful this might be an answer, I continue to hear of the great need in West Pokot. This morning I heard from one of the people we work with there:

“Last week I had a call from the doctor that elderly and the children have camped at the dispensary in large number since yesterday. The hunger has drived them from the village. If there is anyway to support them for the food it will be highly appreciated because it has affected the dispensary budget. I went to the dispensary this week and brother Wayne, the situation here is extremely bad. Many people have migrated from the village and camp to the hospital environment, because of the hunger, it has forced even the doctors and nurses to be overwhelmed due to this crucial situation and I met the doctors when they have started cooking the maize and beans to safe at least the situation for both the sick and those who had camped, many children women and Old were more totally affected, the old who are strong had tried to come in the hospital thinking that they will get meal and some who are not able to walk they have remain at their home helplessly. This situation has become worse and worse every day. The cry of doctors and Nurses is that if we can be able to get estimated 600 bags maize and beans it can help to save the situation for breast mothers, children and old aged, this can save a bit for about two to three months in this surrounding hospital village. If not we may lose the lives of many.
So immediately we start distributing as you may see in the pictures, this has help a bit the congestion from the dispensary. You have become, the father to the fatherless and the comfort to those who don’t even deserve, we urge you to support where necessary in this point.
Pray for us….

I have attached some of the other pictures below. These are all huge challenges, and I’m always blessed by the Kenyan people we know in Kitale who are spending of their time and resource to help these impoverished people. If any of these needs interest you and you’d like to underwrite it, please let me know. If you’d like to help with offerings that we can share, that would be great blessing as well. Our best guess now is that we’ll be putting about $40,000 into Kenya over the next few months as God provides. If you have extra to pass along for the people of West Pokot you can direct it through Lifestream as contributions are tax-deductible in the US. As always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya. We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. If you would like to be part of this to support these brothers and sisters and see the gospel grow in this part of Africa, please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1 • Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Here are the young children gathering early in the morning at the dispensary hoping from some food, more people gather hoping for help, and distributing what little grain they had from the truck. Not everyone in line got food this day. There wasn’t enough.

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Saying Yes to an Endearing Reality

2 Comments / Uncategorized / February 19, 2015

I’m attending a discipleship class locally. I didn’t know it was a discipleship class when I signed up. A friend of mine was goign to teach a class on Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy, one of my favorite books of all time. At the time I read it, it was a godsend in helping thing outside the religious obligation treadmill I’d been running on for almost 40 years. But the class turns out to be less about the book and more about trying to be better disciples of Jesus. Well, I guess we could all use a refresher course like that so I’ve stayed with it. The class has been a bit like a time-warp. It has taken me back 30 years to when I thought discipleship is something we had to do for God, rather than learn to live inside his revelation.

It’s reminded me that the life of Jesus is not found by trying to avoid our sins and or trying to incorporate more Christian practices in our life. The life of Jesus is found inside a relationship that is so endearing sin loses it’s luster and its power, and finding what connects me better to him is the adventure of each day. I remember well working so hard to try to connect with him and always frustrated at my fleeting and failed attempts. All the while he was revealing himself to me in ways I couldn’t recognize because I hadn’t earned them by my hard work. Finding him as a real presence in my life changed everthing. I still do some of the same practices, but for far different reasons. They are no longer a substitute for the relationship I lacked, but simply a way of recognizing him. And in working less to find him, I find myself working more with him in the joy of loving and serving others.

The life of Jesus is not about saying no to our desires and trying to follow his. It’s really about coming to know him and in knowing him let him teach us how to say no to worldly appetities and desires, and yes to his unfolding purpose in our lives. For me, it has made all the difference in the world and it is hard to watch others labor under a human effort approach to discipleship. It may work in the short term when a class is holding them accountable, but in time it will fade away like all the other attempts unless they discover how to engage a Father of great affection.

Even Dallas Willard said it that way: “The eternal life of which Jesus speaks is not knowledge about God but an intimately interactive relationship with him.” The disciplines don’t earn that, at their best the express the reality of it already happening in our hearts.

Tomorrow I board a flight for Atlanta and to wander around Georgia and North Carolina for 10 days and explore that journey with others. There are some old friends I’ll cross paths with on this trip, and people I don’t know yet, who will likely become friends in the brief time we’ll have together. If you’re interested in connecting with me and others on this journey while I’m there you can get details on my travel page. After that I’ll be headed to Florida in early March, spending time in Orlando, Sarasota, and West Palm Beach. You can join us there if you like. Then in April I’m planning on spending some time in Virginia, at least in Richmond and wherever else he may open doors.

Also for your information on Saturday, March 7, I’m going to be a guest on Moody Radio’s Up for Debate radio show, that will also stream life on the Internet. Host Julie Royas will be conducting a conversation about whether or not a Christian has to attend “a church.” It should be interesting especially because the other guest has written that we must and that it is the only way to be identified with Jesus in the world. It should be an interesting discussion if you want to listen or call in. 😉

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What Crazy Things Love Does

Uncategorized / January 19, 2015

Over the past couple of weeks Sara has been sending out donation receipts to those who have given so generously to Lifestream over the past year. Of course, the vast majority of that went to help in Kenya where people were so impacted by drought and disease. In the past twenty years I have continually been amazed at how God has provided for all that we do here, from the books and travel, to the free website resources, and in the last few years to share with our brothers and sisters in Kenya who live in such incredible poverty.

We are not a relief organization, or even a missional one in the sense that our objective is to raise money for overseas needs. But you wouldn’t know that from looking at our financial expenditures last year. If you had shown me this chart last year and told me that’s what God was going to do in 2014, I would have thought you were crazy. We were simply touched by a need overseas. Dear friends from Kenya had come across a region north of them where over 100,000 peple were being decimated by extreme drought, destroying their food supply and ravaging them with disease. We simply offered to help and invited you to help too. What began with sending a few thousand dollars worth of food and water sort of snowballed—both with the need there, and the generosity of people who read this blog or listen to my podcast at The God Journey.

Honestly this was not in our budget or plans for this year. Who would have thought that we would be able to channel over half a million dollars by simply letting people know about the need? We didn’t take out any fees for our expenses or administration in gathering and wiring this money and quickly generosity begat generosity. Well, we certainly look like a missions organization now at least as far as our spending in 2014. Here’s what that looked like:

Someone wrote this week to get some more information on Lifestream and how we do what we do. Lifestream is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry. For revenue last year we took in $344,000 in contributions and another $38,000 in book sales and other income. We spent $673,000 last year, with $531,00 of that going to our work in Kenya and $25,000 of that in travel and website expenses. We have two people on our payroll (myself and Sara) and we are free to do whatever God gives us to do to encourage people on this journey, connect them with others, and to share his resource among the corner of his family that we touch. As you can see our business model is unsustainable, spending more than we take in. It only works because of a past endowment we can access.

Almost two-thirds of our spending last year went to our brothers and sisters in Kenya to help relieve the suffering in North Pokot and open a wide door for the Gospel among a people who did not know about Jesus or his life. Over the next week or so our donation receipts will go out to those who helped make all of this possible. You can’t imagine how grateful we are and overwhelmed with gratittude that God let us be part of something so incredible. A year ago we didn’t even know these people existed or that we could help meet a need more worthy of far larger missions groups. But somehow God saw fit to use this little community in a corner of the web. So if you think this blog posting is bragging on Lifestream, you’re a bit confused. This was not about us! This was about fellow human beings being ravaged by need and how a small group of people from all over the world responded. You can read more about that here as this journey continues into 2015.

Love draws you into some pretty crazy space where God can do things beyond anything you would even ask for or imagine.

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A Better Way

8 Comments / Uncategorized / January 6, 2015

I got this email the other day and it really touched me. It was from someone I first met traveling in Pennsylvania some time ago, but we have stayed in contact and become good friends over that time. “As I continue to see the never-ending “church”/”christian” debates, promotions, and controversies scroll down my Facebook news feed, I couldn’t be happier that Father saw fit to connect us over ten years ago! You have truly shown me a better way, a better relationship, a better Father!”

First off, I won’t take credit for all of that, but reading his words made me grateful for every human being God has led across my path in my most transformative days who helped me see a better way into a relationship with Father that increasingly bears the fruit of kindness, generosity, and graciousness to others, even those who don’t share my views of God, his church, or the world. Those people who reflected Jesus’ priorities to me were an incredible encouragement on this journey.

Secondly, reading his email expressed well for me what I feel reading down my Facebook feed most days. There is still way too much angst between those who either want to defend congregational attendance as the only measure of someone’s walk with Jesus or passion for real community, and those who want to reject anyone who does as being embedded in legalism or religion. Congregational meetings are simply collections of Christians who get together regularly for some singing and a Bible lecture. That can be helpful on some people’s journey or it can be destructive depending on the content and the structure behind it.

But the real journey is not about church, no church, going to church, not going to church, accusing others of being too religious or lone wolves. The real journey is about embraching the reality of Father’s love and letting that spill out of us in ways that brings his redemptive influence into the world, rather than tearing others down.

By all means do what God gives you to do, but don’t think you have to either convince others to do it too, or justify yourself by tearing down what may be a significant part of somone else’s journey. Here are some excerpts from Romans 14 in THE MESSAGE that always challenge me:

Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.
So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault.
Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others.

If we can only see how well-loved we are we would love well in the world, and his kingdom would unfurl before us like a meadow full of wildflowers. And I really do think that’s a better way than getting caught up in the side roads of comparing ourselves to others.

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Starting a New Year

Uncategorized / January 2, 2015

The last few weeks have been filled with family and friends during this end-of-the-year season and I was able to complete my latest book. But more on that below. This last week has been a refreshing and restful time. I had a three-hour drive with my 89-year old dad just after Christmas getting him back to his home and we got to talking about his childhood, my childhood, any regrets about his journey, and how God has been faithful through the years. It encompassed the span of both of our lives and was one of those conversations I will remember for the rest of my life. I think many people would love to have that kind of time with their parents before they go, but never seem to find the time or the questions to let it open up. Trust me, find the time! Ask the simple questions of “What were your parents like?” “What do you remember most from grade school years?” “Any regrets?” We fell into a very natural conversation when my dad was especially talkative. I am blessed with a rich heritage of faith for sure, but I also Dad and I see things quite differently at times. It was great to see God and the world through his eyes for those three hours and I learned an awful lot I didn’t know about my dad and his life.

On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day we connected with two couples that we’ve been close to for almost 40 years, meeting at a congregation where I had my first vocational “ministry” position. They were also part of my time in Visalia. We had almost 24 hours together to share our friendship and catching up on each other’s lives—both the struggles and joys of being on this journey. There is a rich heritage, too, of relationships that we have cultivated over many years and through many twists in the road. The fellowship was rich an the conversation filled with life. What a graet mini-retreat!

I’ve also had much more opportunity for personal encounters with people at propitious moments in their journey. I find my heart leaning more away from “group” meetings and more toward pro-longed conversations with people engaged in a transformative journey with Jesus. There are an increasing number of people that just want to stop by Newbuyr Park over lunch or a beverage to share this journey and I find when I’m on the road that the personal conversations have been so fruitful. So I don’t know what the year holds there. As I move into this stage of our my journey I much more appreciate the honesty, open conversation with a few rather than trying to facilitate it with a large group. I’m sure I will still do both, but excited that the shift seems to be moving more toward personal engagements where more transformative topics seem to come up and deep friendships often result. This week while Sara and I were visiting in Central California two people heavily engaged with a congregation nearby wanted to meet with me. We spent a couple of hours together over coffee first and then some pizza. Great conversation. I love what one of them wrote about their conversation back home:

Thank you again Wayne for spending time with us today! As we got into the car after lunch, I asked my friend, “So, what’d you think?” He said that you are the same in person as you are in your books & emails—authentic & friendly! I’d say it doesn’t get much better than that! Thanks again for all of your hard work, and all of your writings! The “Jake” book totally grabbed me & authenticated my Journey… “He Loves Me” reiterated what I already knew, but even more. “Finding Church” has really left me at peace.

No, it doesn’t get any better than that. “Authentic and friendly,” is what I hope people see in my life however they engage me. I’ve met many an author or speaker who seemed to be in private the exact opposite of the personna they cultivated for the public. I’ve never wanted to be that guy and that brief note blew me away. I am so grateful at Father’s love has shaped in my life. So grateful. Believe me, such things have not always been said of me.

My Christmas project this year was to put together over 850 pictures that our photographers took on our trip to Israel last February. What a daunting task to cull through the pictures and chose those that could capture the trip and the people who joines us there. If you want to have a peak, you can view it here. It has amazed me how much that group of 40 people has stayed connected in the months since. They have visited each other even across countries and continents, and stayed in contact through a private Facebook page as they continue to cheer each other on in the amazing journey of life. We really did come to Israel as strangers and left having become a part of a larger family. Many people have bugged me about going back at some point and I probably will when my daughter’s kids get old enough so that she can go. That may be three to four years out, but nonetheless a possibility. And if some of you want to join us for that, I’ll go through all of this again!

Finally, lots of incredible doors are opening up with Finding Church, that I’ll be more free to talk about in the weeks ahead as we try to sort out which way the Spirit is blowing us. The emails I get about the book have been much appreciated as are the thirty-one people have posted reviews on Amazon.com, even the guy who only thought it deserved two stars. He seemed to have missed the point but he took a chance to read the book, which I think is awesome.

As I look forward to 2015, I don’t start with a lot of personal goals, but I have an expectancy that God and I will continue this incredible journey and that he’ll allow me to help some others along it as well. At this point I have little scheduled and even less planned, but I couldn’t be more excited about what might unfold. I pray you too will have a fruitful year ahead and that we’ll all be a bit more free of our own hopes and dreamss to see his unfolding right in front of us!

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One Act of Love – Update from Kenya

Uncategorized / November 18, 2014

“One act of love speaks more than millions of words…” You’ll find that in Michael’s report below as he shares just how much the people in North Pokot have opened to the Gospel because of the outpouring of generosity there by so many of you. Those are great words for anything that has to to with touching our world with the life of Jesus. Here are some pictures and the latest report from our friends in Kenya. Whenever I travel, people ask me what is going on there and I’m so amazed and blessed that so many of you carry these people on your heart. Since March your generosity has placed over $400,000.00 into the needs of Kenya, most of that to rescue 120,000 people dying from starvation and poor sanitation in North Pokot. You literally saved thousands of lives and their gratitude is overwhelming. We drilled four wells there, built a dispensary and a school, as well as launched a grain enterprise that will provide the necessary income for those ongoing needs beginning this spring.

It has been on our heart not only to help them with immediate needs, but also to create the economic opportunity that will allow them to have the resources to maintain them going forward. We never wanted to breed their dependency on the west, but to give them tools to watch God’s provision for them. I am pleased at how all this has worked out.

Someone handed me a check a few weeks ago for $50,000 to help get the medicine and supplies for the new hospital. Others of you give $100 either one time or some even monthly. All of that has caused my heart to be overwhelmed with gratefulness for those who have given, and for those who have spent it in Kenya with great care and with amazing fruitfulness as you can see in the report from Michael and the pictures below.

The needs, however, continue on a monthly basis for more months to come. If you can help, you can direct your gifts through Lifestream. Contributions are tax-deductible in the US. As always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya. We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or transfer fees. You can use the donation link on 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 Newbury Rd Ste 1 • Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.
Here are some new pictures, and Michael’s report below…

Grateful people in North Pokot

People hear about a God who loves

The first drugs arrive at the dispensary

Drilling the fourth well

Meanwhile, back at the orphanage… a celebration of prayer

And now, here is Michael’s most recent report:

Everything is working on well in North Pokot. Concerning the hospital is now set-up with drugs, equipment and facilities. The number of patients is increasing daily. We have now two doctors and two nurses two cooks, two guards, caretaker and two interpreters from the communities who interpret for our doctors from mother language to Swahili. They volunteer for almost two months and if there is a way of helping with their salary they would appreciate it. We don’t push you for this because they are flexible and they love their work and all of them they have the family who may need their service.
All is going well with the grain enterprise. Sometimes we go out with the truck and due to our poor muddy roads we stuck for sometimes for whole day in rural while collecting grains, we love to do it. The work of winnowing, selecting and drying maize is going on, I believe repacking will be in the storage in December.
On behalf of the entire team, friends, and the people of Lifestream we would like to send gratitude first to the most high God who has make all these to come into reality. I am not praising any human being here but to the Father of our Lord Christ who had done all this through brother Wayne. Let me state how I came across Wayne 15 years ago. I had a passion to find the truth since I was born in the middle of indigenous and traditional churches from early 80s where I got salvation. I took more than 5 years crying and finding the truth, because I had not experience any change. After this long cry, five years later I encountered my life with Jesus Christ. That is the early 90s where the Spirit of God changed my life totally, but still I didn’t realize the truth but I was continuing with institutions and hierarchy structures till 1996 where I founded IGEM ministries. I thought that I will help our brothers and sisters to reveal the truth but all of us, we were like the lost sheep who had comfort one another without the true direction
I pray to God and I went to search this word Living under the care of heavenly father, through an Internet search when I came across Lifestream. It was the end of my search. The following day I called over 60 leaders to share with them about the love of God. I downloaded Lifestream materials especially He Loves Me, this touched me and certified my heart. I shared this materials without even the permission from the Author, but after the conference everybody was touched and they wanted to know how I came across this material, because in Africa we live in the gospel of criticism and hate. The preachers teach that God holds the sword of wrath punishing those who are not observing His rules. So many Christians live with the great fear trying to practice ten commandments without the hope of heavenly Father. After I got Living Loved material through Lifestream my life was totally affected with spiritual affection towards God and since that time I have seen the great transformation and spiritual perspective and through the people I work the Spirit of God has affected the entire region.
The barriers of deception about institutional hierarchy and human structure has now been broken. We have faced obstacles, criticism and hate but this has not hold us back to declare the truth about the love of God. Some of the criticism comes from rich denominations that have used millions of shillings setting up the structures and institution which they called it churches and headquarters while failing to care for those who are needy—widows, orphans and our brothers and sister who may need our mercy ministry.
We would like to acknowledge you before the throne of our heavenly father for the mercy ministry you have done for his name towards our brothers and sisters here this will remain as a good fragrance before the throne of God. I cannot express my love beyond this but just to thank God for your work and for the ministry you have shown and ministered for our brothers and sisters here. In this soil of North Pokot where they have never ever experienced that there is a living God who exist in the hearts of people. They have lived in hate and believing in shrines and gods of mountain to ask them even to sacrifice their animals that maybe through their sacrifices they may be heard by their god and he would grant them water. But all this time their gods remained silent. In the shortest time our living God has answered and touched their lives. Thousands now according to what we hear have burned the charms of sorcery and they have broken the shrines even without a preacher. One act of love speaks more than millions of words, because our God has answered and they saw the provision of food, clothes, hospital, drilling wells and the school. If this could be the way of expressing our love to the world, I believe it will take shortest time for the gospel to be heard.
We want to express our sincerity of heart, that reaching where we are now takes the prayer of saints, commitment, it has also cost faithfulness and dedication, because it is not easy without God’s divine purpose. You have poured so much trust through sending huge funds towards Kenyan project, including buying land, setting up the home as well as drilling wells, building hospital and school, as well as sending the donation of food, medication camping which cannot take it for granted. It has taken the grace of God to build this relationship and trust. In all of this we have not looked to our personal needs or our ministry needs, but rather all the money we have received has gone directly to the proposed need. We have remained faithful to handle God’s resources. May the Lord bless you for standing with us.

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What’s Going On Around Here?

Uncategorized / November 14, 2014

What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been! Let me take a moment to update you on some of what’s been going on around here. I had a great swing through south Texas over the last couple of weeks and found myself with people who were at incredible points of joy, struggle, or temptation in their lives. If you want to hear a bit more about that, I share a bit in the latest God Journey podcast. I love the people God allows me to meet and encourage on this journey of sorting out what it is to live in the Father’s love and then learn to share it freely with others. Trips in the new year may take me to Atlanta and New Zealand. Stay tuned to our Travel Page for updates.

For those who want a taste of what that’s like who live in the Southern California area, Sara and I are hosting a gathering next Saturday, November 22 at our home in Newbury Park. You’ve got to RSVP for details and directions. If you’re nearby and want to join us you’d be most welcome.

For my friends in Russia and the Ukraine friends, an audio version of He Loves Me is now available in Russian. I am so grateful for the people there who have recorded it and make it available free of charge for those who want to listen to it. But, you have to understand Russian. You can always check for other translations on our International Page.

We’ve also had some new developments on the movie of The Shack. You can read more here. Having read the most recent screenplay I’m getting very excited about this adaptation and praying that all the pieces will come together to retell that story to a new audience who’ve never read the book. Brad’s been working hard to accomplish that and hopefully it will be out sometime next winter.

Finally, there are a lot of developments on the Finding Church front. We are just finishing up the audio version that will hopefully be out in the first part of December. There are a lot of pieces to that puzzle and we hope to get them all done as soon as we can. Also, Finding Church has risen to as high as #4 on Amazon’s list of books about Church Structures and Institutions. Now, that’s fascinating. Thanks to all of you who have been writing reviews on Amazon and sharing youro thoughts about the book on Facebook and other social media. It certainly helps get the word out for others.

And I love the mail I’m getting from the new book. Here’s an example from Jack in South Carolina:

“I am finding difficulty reading it. The coffee stains are already bad enough that I won’t be able to give my copy away and the fluorescent orange highlights would indicate stops and starts that indeed added to the aforementioned coffee stains. My difficulty is a good one, you have some one-liners that literally make me put the book down, look out the window and hold my breath. Almost as if I am letting something go that has held me back. I am so encouraged to read what I have felt in my gut and the “letting go” has nothing to do with the system but in my hope that a system, any system, would or could incubate or sustain LIFE.
So, page 68 you wrote, “I was caught between two worlds—the self-effort of performance based religion and the new creation growing inside of me. I didn’t know it at the time, but the two are incompatible.” How gut wrenchingly true that is! How hard it is to come to that reality if your hope has been in a Sunday system or for that matter, a teacher, preacher or anything man-made. It is still something that is sorting out in my heart. Best put by you, “learning to live alongside Jesus in the new creation.” Thank you for writing this book. I see the years of your sweat and tears that have gone into ‘finding church”. I believe, in another sense, we are finding Jesus, our life. Thank you for helping peel back the curtain of the Father’s love.

You can follow the ongoing discussion about Finding Church at FindingChurch.com where you can subscribe to the blog, or by liking the Finding Church Facebook Page.

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Now Available Everywhere!

2 Comments / Uncategorized / October 21, 2014

Good news for those of you waiting for Finding Church overseas! Finding Church is now available everywhere, at least by e-book. I’m sorry the expenses of International shipping are so exorbitant. But if you want hard copies of the book sent to overseas destinations, please write our office for a quote rather than trusting the shipping calculator on the website. It does not work well, which is why it’s best to write us first. Please keep in mind that in most cases we can send four books to the same destination overseas that we can send one book. If you do order through the site and the shipping cost is too high, Sara refunds the difference but there are some merchant fees that get attached to that as well.

In other news, I was invited on the Untangled Podcast with two good friends of mine, David Fredrickson and Loren Rosser to discuss Finding Church. I enjoyed their enthusiasm for the book. It is a Skype interview so the audio is a bit rough in places, but you can still enjoy the conversation with us.
We’ve added a new page to Order the Book page at FindingChurch.com so that you can easily order it from Lifestream, Amazon, or the e-books from Kindle, iBook, or Nook. Happy reading, everyone! The way this book is touching people so far is way beyond anything we would have hoped for.

If you’d like to stay up with the growing conversation, you can subscribe to email updates at FindingChurch.com or “like” our new Facebook Page to get regular updates on the conversation there. There’s a new blog posting today I think you’ll enjoy about The Day Finding Church Went to Seminary.

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The Exhilaration of the Heart

2 Comments / Uncategorized / October 15, 2014

I continue to be blessed and amazed by the early feedback from many reading Finding Church. Thanks for letting me know how this book has impacted you. Today we have revamped our FindingChurch.com website to help support this growing conversation, both for those inside out and outside of congregational settings. I’ll be blogging over there from time to time, as well as blogging here. If you want to keep up with that conversation, you might bookmark that page, or subscribe to the email updates from there. I want to get back to blogging here about people who are on a journey learning to live inside the reality of Father’s affection and share that freely with others.

Since we are publishing this book ourselves, the only place you can order the hard copy right now is through Lifestream.org and Amazon.com. However, over the last couple of days the e-book is now available from Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and most other e-book outlets. We do have books here available at bulk discount in quantities of 12 or a carton of 46. And, please, if you are ordering from overseas, email our office for a shipping quote. The calculator on the website adds exorbitant pricing.

FindingChurch.com provides tools, links and encouragement to help expand the conversation on the web. There are ideas and images there you can post on your website as well as ideas about sharing the book in your circle of friendships if you want to do so. We also have a new Facebook page to help facilitate that conversatio and you can “like it” if you want to follow the conversation there. I’m not sure how long we’ll host these additional resources. It will depend on how well they work and how much time I have for it, but I am excited.

This is today’s post at FindingChurch.com. I will include some posts in both places while people are still getting used to following this conversation in both locations:

When a friend of mine was reading an advance copy of Finding Church, he told me the phrase that kept coming to his mind was “an exhilaration of the heart.” With every turn of the page he would find his own hopes for a church more real than he had yet known could be in the world. That’s one of the best comments I’d had on this book. We’ve let our human institutions co-opt the word “church” for so long, that we define it based on how well they are doing, instead of looking for the church whose builder is Jesus and transcends all the institutions we know. She is all he promised she would be and as we begin to see her, I hope it exhilarates all our hearts.

Then, last week while I was in Ohio, I got this email from someone who had just started reading it:

Oh Wayne, the words fail. Great doesn’t even come close. Even while I am reading your new book I am thinking the thrill is very hard to communicate—the thrill and the freedom. Sometimes its just too much and I think my heart will literally explode.

I hope that’s a good thing! His church is that amazing, “a bride without spot or wrinkle”, “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”,”the temple in which God dwells by his Spirit”.

What could be more exhilarating than that?

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