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.
