The God Journey with co-hosts Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings
Friday, 7/24/09: Living Authentically in a Two-Faced World
Wayne and Brad are in Denver with the authors of Truefaced: Trust God and Others With Who You Really Are, Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and John Lynch, for a conversation about the wonder of living in grace-based relationships. We all seek a safe place where we can be known for who we are and loved as we encourage each other along the journey of being transformed by God. They talk about the value of that community and fighting for relationships first when misunderstanding and pain sets in.
Bill, Bruce and John are also the authors of Bo’s Cafe, a new title being released this September by Windblown Media. You can find out more about our guests at their website.
Friday, 5/01/09: He Is In You!
Wayne is back from a delightful trip to Indiana and plowing through the mailbag with Brad they find some interesting letters about holiness and the parenting book they talked about in the previous podcast. Throughout they keep coming back to a familiar theme everything we can access in this age will be a bit of a mixed bag, in some of it we'll hear the voice of the Shepherd and in some of it the flesh of men and women. But he lives in each of us so that our pursuit is never dependent on following another person or program, but him and him alone.
Friday, 4/24/09: Parenting in Grace
Wayne has found a new book on parenting in grace and can't wait to share it with Brad. Loving our Kids on Purpose by Danny Silk not only gives a framework for parenting children, whether they are toddlers or adults, but it also gives some wonderful insights into how God disciplines his children in his love to help us live free from the bondage of sin. Joining them in the studio is their good friend Mick Silva, who appeared on a previous podcast. He was visiting LA and as a young father joined Brad and Wayne for their discussion. Not only will this book give you a framework for parenting children, whether they are toddlers or adults, it also gives some wonderful insights into how God disciplines us out of love to set us free from the bondage of sin. You can find out more at the Loving On Purpose website.
Friday, 4/17/09: The Grace-Full Life
The mailbag is full as Wayne and Brad come back from Easter. And what letters they are, too, as people share from their own journeys the surprising changes they are recognizing in themselves as a result of living loved and loving others. Finding freedom from changing others allows us to love them where they are and hopefully open a door to God's life for them. Not needing to validate our own views, we can focus on the relationship instead of how we're being perceived. And, then, the re-visit last week's discussion on the cross through more listener email.
Friday, 4/10/09: What Really Happened at the Cross?
On this Good Friday Brad and Wayne talk about a growing doctrinal feud over the crucifixion of Jesus. Those who advocate for the view often called penal substitution, see the cross as God expending his wrath on the Son as a stand-in for the punishment we deserved and by doing so satisfying his demand for holiness. Many of them are now claiming that this view is so central to the Christian faith that those who do not embrace it are not truly Christian. But there is a growing voice that sees the cross as God expending his wrath on our sin and shame that Jesus held in his being, to effect a cure for broken and fallen humanity, and by doing so satisfies his love and holiness to bring us back into a valuable relationship with him. That view doesn't negate substitutionary atonement but embraces it in its fullest meaning.
Friday, 4/3/09: No Need for Actors
Following up their "Is Christianity Collapsing", Brad and Wayne discuss an interesting column written by Tom Ehrich, an Episcopal priest, entitled Saying No to Sundays. It offers an honest and generous look at those who no longer find the Sunday morning ritual a part of their connection to the body of Christ. Then they read a letter from a God Journey listener from South Africa that gives a remarkable look a the process and fruit of the transformation that only God can accomplish. It demonstrates wonderfully how God so transforms us from the inside out that we no longer need to consciously try to be used by God, but simply live in the overflow of his love for us.
Also, for those interested, our fourth Archive Disc is now available, covering December 2007 through November 2008. The cost is $12.00 and you can order it here.
Friday, 3/27/09: Is Christianity Collapsing?
Who's in? Who's out? Who cares? Christianity has been all over the news lately as many are predicting the impending collapse of Christianity as we know it. People are leaving institutions in droves; fewer people identify themselves as Christians, pastors and parishoners are leaving congregations in droves, and evangelicalism is increasingly seen as an outdated political philosophy. What these observers may be missing is the larger shift from people who are weary of practicing Christianity as a religion and are instead learning how to be followers of Christ. Maybe all of this opens a wider opportunity for God to make himself known in people who simply follow him, rather than in the weaknesses and excesses of Christianity as a religion. Some of the resources referred to on this podcast include: Newsweek Article on Christianity, Statistics on Pastors, and The Coming Evangelical Collapse.
To take THE SHACK Reader Survey, being conducted by a doctoral candidate at Regent University, please click here.
Friday, 3/20/09: Finding Community
Brad and Wayne discuss David Wilkerson's open letter of impending calamity on the United States that is making the rounds these days and then take a humorous look at how our own efforts to know God better might look to God. Then they settle into a discussion about the changes in relationship that happen when you move from a performance-based approach to the faith, to living in the certainty of the Father's affection. What do we do when some of our valuable friendships whither up in the face of our transformation, and how do we find new friendships that will give us companionship on the journey?
Wayne has found a new book on parenting in grace and can't wait to share it with Brad. 
On this Good Friday Brad and Wayne talk about a growing doctrinal feud over the crucifixion of Jesus. Those who advocate for the view often called penal substitution, see the cross as God expending his wrath on the Son as a stand-in for the punishment we deserved and by doing so satisfying his demand for holiness. Many of them are now claiming that this view is so central to the Christian faith that those who do not embrace it are not truly Christian. But there is a growing voice that sees the cross as God expending his wrath on our sin and shame that Jesus held in his being, to effect a cure for broken and fallen humanity, and by doing so satisfies his love and holiness to bring us back into a valuable relationship with him. That view doesn't negate substitutionary atonement but embraces it in its fullest meaning.
