The God Journey - 2015
The God Journey is designed to facilitate an ever-expanding conversation with those who are thinking outside the box of organized religion. Our primary desire is to encourage people on their spiritual journey by sharing our own and by providing insightful commentary on what it means to grow in a relationship with God. We’ll discuss the realities of other people’s journeys, cultural trends, current events, and the Scriptures as well as fielding questions related to the challenging issues of life. You can join the conversation through calling our question or comment line at (905) 539-6980 or Skype us at TheGodJourney, posting comments on the blog, participating in our Forum, or by emailing us directly. The God Journey began in 2005 as a way for Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings (See Brad’s bio below) to share their conversations about finding life outside the box of organized religion. Here were two brothers on a journey to discover the fullness of God’s life and sharing those journeys
Episodes
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The False Self of Religious Performance (#513)
In the last podcast of the year, Wayne lets the listeners have the microphone as he reads email from others finding increasing freedom and joy in their journeys. He begins with some observations from his recent trip to Orange County, CA and then the subject turns to how easily religious…
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A Source of Hope In a World of Fear (#512)
Is the world becoming a scarier place, and if so how do we avoid the fear that paralyzes so many people? Regularly the media confronts us with the rise of terrorism, government corruption and irresponsibility, the catastrophic possibilities of climate change, mass shootings, and a polarized…
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When Principles Fail (#511)
Wayne’s back from his trip to the Midwest and as he debriefs with Brad they end up talking about conquering lust through a fascination with God not legalistic rules, the trajectory of healing that comes from being renewed in our minds, and the freedom that love gives us not to try to fix other...
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Higher Ways, Greater Freedom (#510)
You know you’re right. You’ve been the victim of someone else’s abuse or dishonesty and though you pray for God to intervene on your behalf, he doesn’t. What then? Just because our cause seems just doesn’t mean God won’t have other things in mind greater than we can see. The assumption of course…
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Growing Up in a Broken World (#509)
How do we live in a world that is performance driven and embrace a kingdom that is not? A friend, Kyle Rice, who is less than half his age joins Wayne for a frank discussion about growing up in a broken world and learning how to live in God’s reality instead of what the world and religion presses...
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Church Uncorked (#508)
Catherine Cowell and Sean Kennedy authors of a new book, Church Uncorked, join Wayne on a Skype interview from the UK about their discoveries in helping more traditional institutional structures find more relational ways to celebrate community and inspire mission in the world. While the book is...
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The Future of the Church, Really? (#507)
There is a major shift going on in Christianity as many passionate believers are moving away from the traditional congregation looking for a deeper engagement with God and a more fruitful community experience with others. The research on those being called “the Dones” has caught a concerned eye…
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Wayne’s Journey to Living Loved, Part 2 (#506)
Wayne concludes the interview he did with Jeff Heer of DefiningRoots.com for a lengthy interview about his life and journey and how God drew him into living loved and a liberating view of the church that he wrote about in Finding Church. In this segment he deals with questions about those who…
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Wayne’s Journey to Living Loved (#505)
Wayne turns over the microphone to Jeff Heer of DefiningRoots.com for a lengthy interview about Wayne’s life and journey and how God drew him into living loved and a liberating view of the church that he wrote about in Finding Church. This is the kind of conversation that often begins his time…
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Road Kill on the Institutional Highway (#504)
Are you a Toto in the land of religious performance? You can’t seem to leave well enough alone and keep asking the questions that make others uncomfortable. Brad and Wayne continue their conversation with Bob Scott, a friend of Brad’s, whose website Compassionate Justice looks to cultivate...
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Does Anyone Really Love Their Enemy? (503)
Jesus told us to do it, but is there really any group of people on the planet actually loving their enemies in a tangible way? That nagging question led Bob Scott on an incredible journey beyond the borders of traditional Christianity and to an amazing group of people in Zimbabwe. Don’t miss this...
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The Church Is Not Your Mediator (#502)
There is one mediator between...
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Knowing Him is What Matters (#501)
Brad stays over from last week’s podcast as they continue to celebrate their relationship and hear from others about how this podcast has encouraged their journey. They also talk about the latest research from Group and Josh Packard (Church Refugees) that 65 million Americans are former “church”...
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How Did That Become Unthinkable? (#500)
Wayne and Brad reunite to talk about this podcast and how it has impacted others and then more importantly how their own journeys have continued to take them to places they would never have conceived. You never know how exploring the depths of God’s love and interacting with him through the joys...
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A Loving God in a World of Pain, Part 2 (#499)
The podcast about God’s love in a painful world captured many of you and Wayne got a host of feedback that expands that discussion on this podcast. Our well-being is not determined by our circumstances, but by how God finds us in the middle of them and shapes our heart in greater freedom. This...
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The Gift of Powerless Communication (#498)
There is nothing more off-putting than the arrogant know-it-all who thinks they know what God wants for you and will use every pressure at their disposal to get you to do it. When someone postures themselves as an expert in God’s life they are often completely unaware that they are operating in…
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How Can God Be Loving and Life So Painful? (#497)
How can I trust God’s love for me when he does nothing about the tragic circumstances that confront me? Why does God seem to treat me worse than I would treat our own children or friend? Pain and suffering are a constant challenge for those schooled in the idea that if you follow God’s ways he…
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Going Against the Flow (#496)
When everyone else seems to embrace a reality that pegs your yuck meter, what are you supposed to do? And when you follow your heart against the flow of the world or the religious culture around you, how do you know you’re right and not just rebellious? Wayne considers these questions in light of…
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Summer Conversations (#495)
From Shaver Lake, California in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Wayne reflects on some meaningful conversations he’s had in recent weeks as well as engages listener feedback from email, blog comments and calls on the comment line. In doing so he shares from his visit last week to…
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Where Relationships Grow (#494)
“Science says that lasting relationships come down kindness and generosity.” Imagine that! The conclusion may be obvious, but human relationships are fraught with pain and disappointment. Wayne refers to an article that appeared some months ago in The Atlantic that unpacked how married couples...
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The Thirst For Community (#493)
Jesus offered his followers a place among the community that the Father, Son and Spirit have shared for all eternity, and then a home among brothers and sisters that offers friendship, compassion and care. Why do our religious leaders continue to assert that this promise can be fulfilled through...
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Of Religion, Community, and Discipleship (#492)
Wayne is back from his nearly month-long travel throughout Europe, the first part celebrating his family and the second part meeting with people in Barcelona and the south of France. Here he shares the experiences and observations of his odyssey from some of the most magnificent religious…
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Saving The Baby From the Bathwater (#491)
When you’ve discover that you’ve been misled by the abuse of theology and leadership, it is easy to discard anything that reminds you of your former bondage. In fact, it may be part of the journey to discard it all and let Jesus re-introduce it to your life when you can appreciate it as a gift,...
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The Pretense of Accountability (#490)
Many who argue that attending a local congregation is essential to faith talk of the necessity of accountability, especially to religious leaders. Is the life Jesus calls his church based on accountability? Wayne takes up some listener email on this point to talk about how destructive the focus…
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The Dones, Theology, and Parallel Play (#489)
How can you share a task with other Christians, even for decades, and come out without any meaningful friendships that endure when the task is done? There’s actually a name for the phenomenon: parallel play, when you are doing the same thing in the same location but not really doing it together....
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Holding To the Center (#488)
Fly the margins if you want, but it’s only the One who is at the center that will enduringly satisfy. Wayne continues his conversation with Dr. Robert Stamps who holds a PhD in Eucharistic Theology from the University of Nottingham and has been an United Methodist ministry for most of his life....
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Theology As a Way of Living (#487)
Is theology a static list of facts that seek to capture God in a box, or is it a wilder conversation about his wonder and mystery as we are learning to walk with him through our lives? Wayne and Sara are back from a brief time at the beach to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. With that...
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Why Theology Matters (#486)
One of Wayne’s closest friends and a gifted theologian joins us once again on the podcast to discuss the importance of an accurate theology, even for those who are living outside the box of religious obligation. Dr. Bob Stamps holds a PhD in Eucharistic Theology from the University of Nottingham...
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What to Do About the Dones (#485)
Now that research has identified a group of passionate Christians who are no longer participating in traditional congregations, what does that mean for the future of the church? Will existing congregations find innovative ways to address the concerns of those who consider leaving? Will the church...
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Who Are the Dones? (#484)
Some are calling it the rise of the dones, the number of people who have given up on the traditional congregation and are finding community and mission beyond it in more relational ways. Meet the man behind the research. In a recent trip to Colorado Wayne sat down with Dr. Josh Packard, a…
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Learning to Live Relationally Free (#483)
One of our listeners said it best: “Religion makes you relationally challenged.” That it does, making us far more preoccupied with getting people to do what we want so we can feel safe and comfortable. Untangling all of that and learning to live more focused on others than ourselves is an amazing...
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Nudged Into More Open Space (#482)
How does God draw us into the space where he works most freely and where we can more easily recognize his fingerprints in our lives? While many look for a voice or miraculous encounters, he mostly guides us by nudging our hearts either as an inclination to do something, or a restlessness not to....
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Faith Shifting with Kathy Escobar (#481)
What do you do when the beliefs you were given come unraveled? Kathy Escobar didn’t grow up in a believing home, but came to faith at twelve. Like many of us she, too, found a longing in her heart that the religious program she was in could not satisfy. In fact, it often undermined her faith by...
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Love’s Antidote to Obligation (#480)
Those who think Jesus builds his church on obligation and accountability have yet to experience the church that rises out of his love. After last weeks’ podcast on obligation, Wayne sorts through some emails and blog posts that share some of the lessons and insights others are finding on this...
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Doubling Down on Obligation (#479)
In the face of declining participation in traditional congregations, why are many religious leaders doubling down on the obligation card? Could it be an admission that their view of the New Testament community not compelling in its own right? After his appearance on Up For Debate on Moody Radio,...
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How Love Shapes Us (#478)
Learning to live in the Father’s love and share it freely will take you to places you would never have dreamed and invite you to lay down your life not because you have to, but because we can’t imagine not doing so for someone we love. Wayne finishes the conversation he started last week with…
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Listening To Your Yuck Meter (#477)
Jimmy and Melissa Wolfe from Woodstock, GA thought they were headed for “ministry” as part of the mega-church movement in that area before God sidetracked them with a better journey. Wayne sat down with Jimmy (pictured at left with his “son” Benjamin) for a conversation during his recent stay in...
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It’s a Relationship Not a Performance (#476)
Wayne’s back from his Southern Swing through Georgian and South Carolina with a fresh passion to help people discover a transforming relationship rather than let them stay mired in lifeless religious obligation that will only lead to frustration and failure. He shares some of his experiences in…
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Creating Space Where God Is Known (#475)
What part do each of us play in our growing relationship with the transcendent God? Wayne and Kevin’s conversation continues from last week as they explore the long, slow process of growing to know God and recognize his work in our lives. They talk about how they come to recognize his voice, and...
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The Interactive Nature of Trust (#474)
Trusting God is not, as some may assert, a blind leap into the darkness. Trust is the fruit of a growing interactive relationship with God where we come to know him and learn to follow the insights and impulses he breathes into our spirits as we learn to walk alongside him. He is joined by Kevin...
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Engaging The New Creation (#473)
The life of Jesus is not found in a guiding set of...
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The Church Rising
She is rising from all the places where she has long been hidden, revealing the Father’s glory through a growing community of those who know they are deeply loved by God. The journey to discover her may not be short or easy, but it is worth very lesson life has dealt us. The podcast begins with a...
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Can a Christian Be Gay? Part II (#471)
Last week’s podcast generated so many questions and comments than Wayne revisits the discussion about sexuality and the religious rhetoric that does more to condemn people instead of inviting them into God’s life and freedom. How do we engage with people whose views of morality may differ from…
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Can a Christian Be Gay? (#470)
The expansion of gay rights in American culture in unprecedented in the last five years and has dramatically changed the public dialog about homosexuality in America. It has changed the dialog inside Christianity as well as some people claim the Scriptures used to condemn homosexuality have been...
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Of Lone Wolves and Free Rangers (#469)
It seems like everyone is talking about the decline of the traditional congregation, though it is often in vastly different ways. Some see it as a threat, accusing those who leave as lone wolves out for their amusement, unconcerned or unconnected to the real church. Many who have left tell a...
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Why Won’t God Just Change It? (#468)
How many times have you prayed that God would change a circumstance or take away an emotion that causes you so much pain? Why doesn’t he do that more often? If he truly loves me wouldn’t he make my life better by doing so? In the first podcast of 2015 Wayne sorts through some listener email that...
About this show
The God Journey is designed to facilitate an ever-expanding conversation with those who are thinking outside the box of organized religion. Our primary desire is to encourage people on their spiritual journey by sharing our own and by providing insightful commentary on what it means to grow in a relationship with God. We’ll discuss the realities of other people’s journeys, cultural trends, current events, and the Scriptures as well as fielding questions related to the challenging issues of life. You can join the conversation through calling our question or comment line at (905) 539-6980 or Skype us at TheGodJourney, posting comments on the blog, participating in our Forum, or by emailing us directly. The God Journey began in 2005 as a way for Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings (See Brad’s bio below) to share their conversations about finding life outside the box of organized religion. Here were two brothers on a journey to discover the fullness of God’s life and sharing those journeys