The God Journey - 2008
The God Journey is co-hosted by Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings and is designed to facilitate an ever-expanding conversation with folks who are thinking outside the box of organized religion. Our primary desire is to encourage people on their spiritual journey by providing insightful commentary on Scriptures, current events and cultural trends, as well as fielding questions related to the challenging spiritual issues of real life. We are two brothers on a journey to discover the fullness of God's life and want to share that journey with you. As former pastors, authors and counselors, Brad and Wayne offer an engaging mix of wisdom, humor and compassion for those sorting out who God is and what it means to follow him. We'll talk freely about the failures of religion and the fallacies of secularism in our culture in an open, accessible dialogue that will be equally helpful, enlightening and entertaining to believers and nonbelievers alike. We will deal with the present day challenges
Episodes
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Learning to Fly
In this the last podcast of the year, Brad and Wayne pick up a host of loose ends. Wayne’s teaching granddaughter Aimee to fly and is reminded again how people learn this journey, not so much in lectures, books or rituals, but by learning in life how to live in love and follow Jesus. In response…
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Wink! Wink! And Other Traditions
Brad and Wayne are in a festive mood this holiday season as they catch up on their recent travels, share a poignant comic, and sort through the old mail bag. They hear from listeners at the moment of some amazing breakthroughs, and those who are struggling through the painfulness of…
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Awakening to His Voice
A quote on the God Journey Forum about having a conversation with God leads Brad and Wayne into a discussion about what it means to live with an ear to God’s voice. Do people really carry on conversations with God? Can you listen to God without being weird? Is he an audible voice? How do we...
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Not Fending For Yourself
More letters and an experience Brad’s family had over Thanksgiving puts the spotlight on how religion makes us fend for ourselves and grace invites us to live inside of him. Living in that place of freedom, however, can mean different things to different people. Grace is not an excuse to live in...
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The Performance Trap
Living inside the relationship we don’t deserve and can’t earn proves to be a challenge for many. We are so easily caught in the performance trap and it affects everything, from how we react to the news to how we treat others around us. Brad and Wayne sort through a host of listener emails that...
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The Living Christ
Scholars have discovered that for the first 1000 years of Christian history the focus and art of the early believers were fixed on the reality of the Risen Christ living among his people. Then, surprisingly the focuse shifted to the dying and suffering Jesus on the cross. Why is that? Wayne and...
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No Longer a TACL*
*No, that’s no misprint above, but you’ll have to listen to the podcast to understand the title. When we are convinced that we have to earn God’s favor through our own self-efforts, we will not only distance ourselves from God at our place of greatest need, but we’ll also turn on others when they...
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Reality Always Wins
The election results are in and Brad and Wayne aren’t seeing eye to eye about, which comes out in their early conversation. Passionate followers of Jesus saw this election very differently and as Brad and Wayne process all of that they come to the common ground of knowing that the reality of God...
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The Do-To-Be Tree
More listener email and current events send Brad and Wayne on a protracted discussion about performance-based spirituality. Those who think they can earn their relationship with God through their own efforts end up on an exhausting and fruitless course that distorts our view of him and of...
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Bug-Killing Zappers
Brad and Wayne take a look through the ol’ mail bag and find themselves in a discussion about the relationship between truth and love in this kingdom. The religious mind-set that values truth over love is not only destructive to spiritual life, but also misses the heart of truth where it…
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Tuning Into Him
Brad and Wayne start with some wonderful email they’ve received at the God Journey describing the journey from other people’s perspective and then they dissect a conversation Wayne had on the phone with one of those dear brothers out to change the world for God. Desperate for a platform and…
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He Is Enough
Wayne gets recruited by an atheist and Brad and he end up in a discussion about how religion exploits us all by rewarding the achievers and manipulating the powerless. Self always wants to validate itself by what we can do and offers validation based on false realities. That performance trap…
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The Unshakable Kingdom
Economic disaster looms in every newscast and government officials fall all over themselves to hide the corruption behind it and their complicity in it all in an attempt to restore the image of an economic system based more on people’s perception than reality. Sound familiar? Amateur economists...
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A Peek Into Christian Publishing
Mick Silva, a friend of The God Journey and editor with Waterbrook-Multnomah publishing group was in town to visit Wayne and Brad so they dragged him into the podcast booth for a wide-ranging discussion about the current state of Christian publishing in the U.S. and the effect that The Shack has...
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Troublesome Scriptures?
From time to time people ask Brad and Wayne about certain Scriptures that seem on face value to contradict the message of grace and God’s invitation to live loved. They tackle a number of these Scriptures and show how when people apply them them in the context of religious performance their…
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No Need to Validate
The conversation expands as listener email takes center-stage again. Looking through the eyes of others sends Brad and Wayne on a free-ranging conversation about the joys of freedom and living loved. When our relationship with God provides all that we need, we no longer have to use others or...
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Sowing and Reaping?
Wayne’s back from the upper Midwest and shares some of his experiences with Brad and the joy of helping people who are just emerging from guilt and pressure of performance-based religion to contemplate the reality of grace and relationship. They tackle some listener email as well, discussing how...
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Hand In Hand
Sounds like Brad has been watching the Olympics which opens up a discussion about the difference between achievement in the world and spiritual growth. We also get some of the most incredible email from people who are on the God journey and seeing God do some amazing things in their life. A dip...
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Open-Handed Truth
The increasing sales figures of THE SHACK has continues to frustrate those who regard the book as a dangerous heresy. Recent attacks from a variety of sources allows Brad and Wayne to talk about the generosity of truth. You don’t need to protect it, or defend it, just let it come freely from your...
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Enjoying the Journey With Him
Responding to a series of listener emails and comments, Wayne and Brad discuss knowing God for who he is and living in the moment with him as a loved child in the earth, rather than trying to define our purpose or destiny and fulfilling it by our own strength or ingenuity. Maybe it’s only when we...
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Pathway to Real Freedom
Did Jesus give people a license to sin? Wayne returns from his BridgeBuilding work in Utah and that sends he and Brad into a discussion about freedom and liberty and how God relates to us in the face of our sin. Many people think that the Gospel is summed up in trying to get others to follow…
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Dealing With Dark Days
Email from listeners set the course on this podcast. First up is a discussion about God’s nature and whether Scripture seeking God has a lion side and a lamb side. Then they tackle a question about worship and whether or not it is self-seeking from God’s side. Finally, they discuss problems with...
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The Welfare State of Religion
Back from the Christian retailing show in Florida, Brad and Wayne ruminate on their experiences and end up in a discussion about how we perceive God’s generosity. Religion teaches us that we serve a miserly God who must be impressed and cajoled into giving up his goodies. But Jesus and Paul…
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Notes from the Journey
Brad and Wayne catch up on a lot of listener emails and gives them a chance to hear from people at various stages of this journey, from the pain of being disillusioned to the joy of recognizing God’s love and life flowing through them in a fresh way. At each point Brad and Wayne offer their...
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Living In the Mercy of God
A letter in response to Brad and Wayne’s recent podcast entitled Unsanctified Mercy, they get into a discussion about God’s judgment and discipline and whether those are unmerciful acts, or further extensions of his mercy. Many people mistake mercy for simply being nice or enabling people’s...
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Gracious in Conflict
Our last podcast about Revival Fever brought a firestorm of emails. Some liked it, others hated it. Brad and Wayne read the letters, and launch into a discussion about how to love others who may not see the things the way you do. They also talk about having conversations through those kind of...
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Revival Fever
It was Brownsville and Toronto. Today its Redding or Lakeland. A listener wants to know what Brad and Wayne think about the so-called revivals that break out from time to time. That leads them to a further discussion about understanding the fullness of the Holy Spirit, how the reality of his...
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Unsanctified Mercy?
Brad and Wayne are freshly back from the Book Exposition of America where an encounter got them thinking again and how the religious mindset sounds so arrogant and condescending to the world’s ears. The wrestle with a term others are using called unsanctified mercy, which is extending mercy to...
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Untwisting Self
Letters from a number of God Journey listeners invite Brad and Wayne into a discussion about how religion, rather than setting us free from our self-focused lives, can give us an excuse to serve our selves convinced that we are doing God a favor. The need to please ourselves is the core…
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Displacing Anger
Two angry pastors have dominated the political debate for the past month. Their antics launch Brad and Wayne into a discussion about anger and how it is often exacerbated by religious thinking. They talk about the struggle with anger in their own lives, and how Jesus displaces it with a growing...
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Can You Make God Too Nice?
Darin Hufford, the author of The God’s Honest Truth joins Wayne and Brad in a discussion about the character of God and whether or not we can ever comprehend just how good he is. In his book Darin’s takes the statement “God is love” and holds it against God’s description of love in I Corinthians...
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Who is God Really?
Brad and Wayne are back from their second trip to New York with an inbox full of some wonderful and insightful emails from their podcast two weeks ago about “Who is This God?” In the interest of expanding the conversation, they take some time to interact with those emails, adding the insights...
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Enjoying Real Relationships
Listener reaction to the podcast Wayne and Brad did two weeks ago with Paul, opens up a new discussion about a hunger for real relationships among brothers and sisters. They talk about how our insecurities and self-focused preoccupation can subvert the very relationships God wants to give us, and...
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Who Is This God?
A recent Chuck Colson Breakpoint Commentary takes on The Shack for an alleged low view of Scripture and for diminishing the glory of God. As Wayne and Brad respond to his premise, and other listener email, they find themselves probing the question, “Who Is This God?” Is he the angry judge waiting...
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If Anything Matters, Everything Matters
Paul Young, author of The Shack was in town to join Brad and Wayne at a presentation at Fuller Theological Seminary. So they added Paul to their podcast for a conversation about living in the joy of Father’s working. They talk about how important it is that each of us know we matter to God and…
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Why Religion Doesn’t Work, Part II
Here is part two of Brad and Wayne’s discussion with Dave Coleman, a long-time friend of Wayne’s and his co-writer on So You Don’t Want to Go To Church Anymore. Here they continue their free-ranging discussion about the failure of religion to subvert the power of sin in our lives and free us to...
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Why Religion Doesn’t Work
Dave Coleman, a long-time friend of Wayne’s and his co-writer on So You Don’t Want to Go To Church Anymore, joins Wayne and Brad for a free-ranging discussion about the failure of religion to subvert the power of sin in our lives and free us to live fully and completely in the life of Jesus. They...
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A Real Friendship
Wayne and Brad return from New York City sharing some of their experiences, before listener response takes them into a discussion about what real friendship looks like, both with God and with others. They talk about the value of encouragement, the disturbing reality of substituting ritual for a...
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Beyond the Harness
An experience with Brad and his daughter learning to downhill ski opens up a dialog with Wayne about our passion to see others grow and freeing them for an adventurous journey instead of building their dependence on us or our program. Growing up forces us to overcome our fears and discover that…
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The Doctrine Police
It appears the doctrine police are out in full-force these days. On Internet lists, forums, blog comments and email there is a growing number of people who want to draw the lines of sound doctrine and then intimidate those who don’t conform to their views. They bully people with name-calling and...
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Seeing the Colors
Listener interaction from their three most recent podcasts, give Wayne and Brad a chance to revisit those topics again and expand on their thoughts as well as add others to the mix. They hear again from the denominational official struggling with his place inside that structure and how important…
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To Stay or Not to Stay?
Two awesome letters, one from a man struggling with his identity and income inside one of the denominations and one from a woman on the mission field in Sudan invite Wayne and Brad to consider the realities of staying inside a traditional congregation structure, and the concerns about leaving it....
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Ditching Religion
A new study of 35,000 Americans by the Pew Forum Resarach Center diagnosis the current fluidity of religious practice today. Over 44% of Americans no longer participate in the same religious expressions as their parents did, and the fastest growing segment are the “unaffiliated” who don’t…
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Are You Afraid of the Light?
A fourteen-year old boy, who identified himself as a gay student was shot in the head last week by another student in a computer lab at school not far from where Brad and Wayne live. Reactions to this event have divided the community over discrimination and sexual orientation issues in the public...
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Free from Fear
Fear dominates the human landscape and is used by many power brokers—politically, economically and religiously—to manipulate people to do what they wouldn’t otherwise freely choose to do. According to a recent Newsweek article brain science now shows that our response to fear in any capacity will...
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Truth and Love
Brad and Wayne are back from the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, and share some of the lessons and experiences from that journey and the people they met. Then they discuss a comment from last week’s podcast about religious people not being able to love what they do not condone. In…
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Sharing the Journey in Omaha
Brad and Wayne are off to Washington, DC and didn’t have time to tape a new podcast this week. So, they decided to let you listen to a podcast of Tuesdays Together that Wayne was a guest on a couple of weeks ago during his visit to Omaha. It provides an interesting synthesis to a lot of the…
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Living in Mercy
Wayne’s back from Omaha and some interesting experience there that dovetailed with some of our past podcasts. So he and Brad process the trip and in doing so get into a discussion about learning to live at the mercy of God instead of by our own achievements or our attempts to control our lives or...
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The Tyranny of Me
The email inbox has been full as Wayne and Brad take some time to respond to the comments, questions, and insights of others. At the heart of their conversation is the recognition that our greatest tyranny is living as if we are not loved by the Father. This causes us to live independent,...
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A Visit To THE SHACK
Brad, Wayne and Paul (aka William P. Young) all pictured at left, continue their discussion about The Shack and how they came to be involved with this work. They also answer some of the questions listeners wanted to direct at Paul that were posted on the Forum. They range from how to pronounce...
About this show
The God Journey is co-hosted by Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings and is designed to facilitate an ever-expanding conversation with folks who are thinking outside the box of organized religion. Our primary desire is to encourage people on their spiritual journey by providing insightful commentary on Scriptures, current events and cultural trends, as well as fielding questions related to the challenging spiritual issues of real life. We are two brothers on a journey to discover the fullness of God's life and want to share that journey with you. As former pastors, authors and counselors, Brad and Wayne offer an engaging mix of wisdom, humor and compassion for those sorting out who God is and what it means to follow him. We'll talk freely about the failures of religion and the fallacies of secularism in our culture in an open, accessible dialogue that will be equally helpful, enlightening and entertaining to believers and nonbelievers alike. We will deal with the present day challenges