Faith
confidence or trust: growing sure in the goodness of our heavenly Father…
A Walk with Nova
However, He shows it, God is squeezing as much love into us as we can handle.
JOHN MACMURRAY/ IF YOU LOOK AT IT AS A RELATIONSHIP…
“…Jesus defines eternal as a relationship. My entire education had defined eternal life as believing the right ideology… All I knew was, God was better than I thought he was and there was no way I’m going back…”
I Need a Waterfall
The outrage that changes and saves this world is the outrage of love. And so I lean into His love, a relational grace; the empowering evidence of my friendship with Jesus.
“Sometimes a story is written that changes everything. This book is an irresistible journey into transforming love. These are new and powerful thoughts from a modern day revivalist. Once they take hold they wont let go.”
Those struggling for identity will appreciate “Prone to Love” as a key to unlock and accept their true hidden self. Enjoy!”
Jonah And An Angry God?
…With self-righteous arrogance, Jonah determines it’s the will of god that he die for his sin. Instead of repenting, Jonah, with his sanctimonious gospel, preaches himself overboard as a sacrifice to his angry god. And worse, he makes the sailors complicit in his death religion…
DANNY SILK / UNPUNISHABLE
Parenting, leadership, freedom through self-control, spiritual maturity, emotional health, the nature of our Father, and heaven and hell, Danny’s thoughts and gracious communication are empowering and transformative. It was an honor to discuss the unpunishing nature of God with Danny!
A Prayer of Thanksgiving
Heavenly Father, you have been revamping and rebooting my systems for years, bringing me into greater awareness of this wonder-filled life you have offered and accomplished for me! Thank you!
BRIAN ZAHND / Jesus Is The Interpretation
The Bible cannot be the foundation we build upon, the foundation is Jesus. Brian Zahnd talks on how to approach scripture, American Nationalism, Trump’s Bible photo Op during the George Floyd protests, equality, and contemplative prayer in this brilliant and transformative Podcast.
This Will Be Our Finest Hour
Though it has felt just the opposite during this quarantine time, this has been one of the greatest times of personal growth and Kingdom advancement for the body of Christ.
C. BAXTER KRUGER / JESUS MEETS US INSIDE OUR DELUSION
“Jesus has pitched His tent in our flesh… If I didn’t believe that Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit is inside every person on the whole earth, I would not open my mouth… But we are bearing witness to something that is real.”
There is No “Us” and “Them”
Many long to go back to the early days of the church, viewing those first few years as the high-water mark of what a church is meant to be. They weren’t. Not even close!
JOHN MARK MCMILLAN / A WORSHIP RECORD FOR ATHEISTS
“I am building bridges between my friends who are atheists, my friends who are fundamentalists, my friends who consider themselves progressive or any end of the spectrum. Because gratitude is the one place we all come together.” John Mark McMillan
Cops and Jehovah’s Witnesses
Wth love, everyone is in! There are no outsiders! Everyone is included in this family…
My Beef with Religion
Religion taught me about love, but religion seemed to get it wrong as much as it got it right. And at the end of the day, religion never loved me…
BILL VANDERBUSH / RECKLESS GRACE
Bill Vanderbush is a writer and brilliant communicator. This podcast Bill gives incredible insight into what the new covenant looks like, our inclusion in the family through both being adopted and reborn, how to navigate fear, reckless grace, and how to navigate conflict online.
But What About Church Discipline?
If discipline isn’t about a father walking in humility, desiring the best for his child while mourning the fallen mindset, it will become punishment and there will be no life in it.
FRANCOIS DU TOIT / JESUS IS WHAT GOD BELIEVES ABOUT YOU
Francois is an author most known for his current work, The Mirror Bible. In this interview, Francois talks about our Father’s great affection, inclusion, grace, intimacy, ministry, and the unveiled revelation of love! He also shares some of his story and how he came to write The Mirror Bible.
But What About Sin?
Yes, sin is a big deal, and our job as Christians is to remove the condemnation that is associated with it, not add to it. We are invited to, like Christ, release kindness, and walk people into freedom. “There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Rom 8:1) That’s us! And I would add, ‘therefore there should be no condemnation from those who are in Christ Jesus.’ We can’t give away what we don’t have…
You Think You’re Better Than God?
I could feel the theological police in my mind springing into action to take this thought captive. God the Father… “indulgent?” That’s a bad word where I come from—a word we use to describe enablers and…
DEREK AND SARAH TURNER / JESUS IS PERFECT THEOLOGY
Derek and Sarah Turner, pastors of River Church Charlotte, share generously and candidly on the goodness of God, Jesus as perfect theology, reading scripture with a hermeneutic of Love, soul care, inclusion, rethinking our understanding of vengeance and wrath and the patient trusting journey into transformation.
Joy Unspeakable
No one can fully engage in heavens perspective unless one’s heavenly origin is realized! The Son of Man declares mankind’s Genesis is from above!
MAKO NAGASAWA / A RESTORATIVE GOD
Early Church Fathers, the formation of the New Testament, how to approach scripture, Starwars, Puff Daddy, The Police, and the vast difference between retributive justice and restorative justice. Mako Nagasawa’s insights and generous communication were insightful, hopeful and transformative.
We Are So Worth The Blood Of Jesus!
As my friend, Dan Mohler says, “I am so worthy of the blood of Jesus.” He loves me! And it’s never ever had anything to do with my behavior or performance. I am enough! And so are you!
You Are A Spiritual Giant!
I absolutely love our gatherings, I’m a preacher who loves to preach. But I am leaning into this season as I believe God is raising our perspective to see as He sees. I believe God is changing our powerless small thinking and inviting the church to live powerfully in any room we might find ourselves in.
Even now, when fear is doggedly knocking at my door, I’m hopeful. Hope is my now and my future. And when it isn’t, I repent.
MIKE POPOVICH / PRAYER & QUANTUM PHYSICS
Mike is a brilliant communicator and pastors Freedom Ministries. In this podcast we talk about prayer and oneness with God and Mike teaches us quantum physics! Mike reveals how scripture and quantum physics are not in conflict with each other
What A Wonderful World
For me, the End Times is now, “on earth as it is in heaven” is my mandate, growing sure in love is my strategy, and being kind and faithfully loving everyone around me is my implementation.
Even now, when fear is doggedly knocking at my door, I’m hopeful. Hope is my now and my future. And when it isn’t, I repent.
BRAD JERSAK / CHRISTOLOGY
Brad discusses high Christology and gives insight into how our early church fathers thought about God and how they read and interpreted scripture. He also discussed what the wrath of God means in scripture.
Repent! The Kingdom of God is Within You
Yes, repent! Change the way you think until “righteousness, peace, and joy” are your reality; until the confidence of “on earth as it is in heaven” is your perspective; until you sense the arms of your kind and loving Father enveloping you and you grow sure in His nature to work all things to our good.
7 Things to Do During a Time of Shaking and Disruption
…Reconnect with our Father by recalling that He is good, He is love and He is for us (Romans 8:31)! Remember that He has already promised to make all things work together for good (Romans 8:28) including the current circumstances you are facing…
Rethinking God
Humanity had “God-boxes” and Jesus kept blowing them up. Humanity was convinced God was one way and Jesus kept contradicting those paradigms.
Heaven and Hell (Part 3)
I am not waiting to get to heaven to learn about heaven. While heaven is infinitely better than I can ask, or imagine, I am getting a head start on asking and imagining it here and now. I am stewarding my faith in sovereign love and in so doing, I am destroying the works of the devil.
Heaven and Hell (Part 2)
Everything is a matter of perspective. If we perceive light through unhealthy eyes we will see darkness. If we perceive truth through unhealthy eyes we will see lies. God is love and His love is sovereign, but if we see love through the lens of control we will experience striving and desperation.
Heaven and Hell (Part 1)
For centuries now, much of the Western church has presented hell through the lens of sovereign control. And Atheism is its purest by-product.
Why Can’t I Experience God’s Love?
“How do I experience God’s love?”
Because I write and speak on the always good love of our heavenly Father, that is a question I am asked often.
Why Can’t I Trust God’s Love?
If our theology is grounded in the idea that our good God is in control, then why does He allow evil, suffering and bad things?
Heaven, Hell, and the Older Brother
If our hearts don’t truly desire to see all our brothers and sisters “in the party” in this life and the next, it’s past time to repent.
The Lost Coin
No one can fully engage in heavens perspective unless one’s heavenly origin is realized! The Son of Man declares mankind’s Genesis is from above!
Control, Trust, and Love
Intimacy can’t be experienced in a relationship where one person is controlling the other. Intimacy is only experienced where there is trust. And trust isn’t possible if one of the people in a relationship is controlling.
I Couldn’t Believe in God’s Goodness
I wanted to believe that I served a good God, but his goodness was something I could never truly believe in my heart. This disbelief about his goodness created a huge chasm in my heart. I wanted to believe, but I didn’t!
SURE IN LOVE
Our Heavenly Father is always good and doesn’t desire desperate kids. Any relationship where kids are desperate for their Father is dysfunctional. Jesus revealed what it looks like to live sure as a loved son of our Father and gave us access to this same sureness.
What’s He Like
If a person believes punishment is in God’s nature, that God pulls triggers after we die, that hell is His final act of eternal separation, then simply asking the question “Can we be saved when we die?” is sacrilege and attempting to answer, sheer heretical lunacy…
2020
Earlier this year I noted in a Newsletter the pioneering nature of our ministry and nothing’s changed. We have one passion, to reveal that God is love, looks like Jesus, and He is always good. It is our heart that everything we create is catalytic for an encounter with His great affection. We are daily dreaming and leaning into this grand dangerous, beautiful discovery of His goodness. And we are shouting it from the rooftops along the way.
Seen and Known
Sometimes He speaks when it’s quiet, and sometimes when its loud. Sometimes it’s inconvenient. Right in the middle of Walmart close to Christmas. Listen. Listen. Don’t miss the chance to connect with His heart. He invites us in. He invites us to not just know Him, but to have an experience of love as we follow through.
It’s a Love Story
Two thousand years ago, God clothed Himself in my separation—my lost identity. He became my sin, the distortion that so easily besets me. And in His beaten and bloodied body, He destroyed its power over me once and for all, making me brand-new, renewing all the potential and promise of which He had originally dreamed.
How to Read the Bible (Part 2)
Jesus is my lens, my true narrative. His perfect love is my conviction. His goodness is my faith. Every question I have, every relationship or circumstance, every scripture, including the tension Job represents, is measured against the measureless revelation of Jesus.
I CALL YOU FRIENDS
“I no longer call you servant, I call you friend.” This is the invitation Jesus gave us. There is no servant master language in heaven. Obedience is the invitation to discover God’s heart until ours beats in rhythm with His.
How to Read the Bible (Part 1)
Jesus is my lens, my true narrative. His perfect love is my conviction. His goodness is my faith. Every question I have, every relationship or circumstance, every scripture, including the tension Job represents, is measured against the measureless revelation of Jesus.
When I Am Weak, I Am Strong
No Longer Slaves (Live from Harding Prison) | Zach Williams
When I Stopped Reading the Whole Bible
Jesus is my lens, my true narrative. His perfect love is my conviction. His goodness is my faith. Every question I have, every relationship or circumstance, every scripture, including the tension Job represents, is measured against the measureless revelation of Jesus.
Women in Ministry: The Infamous Elder’s Meeting
I held my tongue while the men provided their own scripture, “…women should be silent in the churches…for they are not permitted to speak, but should remain silent and subordinate” (1 Cor 14:34), and “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she is to keep silent” (1 Tim 2:12). The Elders believed that because their thoughts were biblical, they were somehow true. But of course, they were not. Jesus was far from them…
Vulgar Grace
Yes, it’s crazy. And yes it’s wild, and outrageous, and vulgar. And any God who would do such a thing is a God who has no taste. And worst of all, it doesn’t sell worth beans. But it is Good News—the only permanent good news there is—and, therefore, I find it absolutely captivating.
Does Hell Exist?
I don’t believe in hell as a place of eternal torment and punishment. I don’t believe in punishment. I do believe hell exists after this life because I believe God is love and love requires that we are free to choose…
Why I Am Not A Universalist
Universalism is The Garden of Eden with one tree. It’s an idea birthed from a punitive, control-based theology. Without Calvinism, we wouldn’t have Universalism.
Image of the Invisible God
You are the fruit of His suffering; you are the glorious resurrection generation. You are His will done on earth as it is in heaven. You are His pleasure, His beloved.
Hope
Have you ever wondered how to feel hope? Jason tells a story about how to feel hope, how to live in expectation of good.
No More Drudgery
Oh so grateful to be free from the self-inflicting, self condemning, judgmental and pompous BS…
What About Sin?
“What about sin?” she interrupted rather forcefully. I was sharing with about ten college students on the perfection of our Father’s love. She had started to get jittery when I began discussing how we are prone to love. I thought it was the coffee, but it wasn’t.
Seed
Take your desires and plant them in your heart, meditate on them. You don’t have to know how it works, you just need to know that it super-naturally produces like a seed.
The Nature of Soap
Next to the toilet was a large barrel filled with clean-ish water. Floating in the water was a big plastic cup. The cup was for both flushing and bathing. Oh, I forgot to note, the toilet room was also the shower.
God Out of the Box
God doesn’t live in a box! No religious limits! He’s not a tightrope walker, no narrow road into His love, what a ridiculous idea!
The Freest Person In The Room
The freest person in the room is the most powerful person in the room. A free person never operates in the context of control; a free person operates in the context of trusting surrender to sovereign love.
Sin Isn’t the Problem
I bought into a lie there that is still being populated by that institution and by most religious institutions across America. The lie? Sin is the problem between God and man.
This is Not a Counseling Session
I sat across from the couple trying not to fidget, trying to keep a look of calm on my face, I was supposed to be the fella with the answers, the counselor. I wasn’t a Counselor.
Grace as a World View
Religion makes you schizophrenic, self-aggrandizing and judgmental on your good days and then introspective and self-loathing on your screw-up days.
God’s Whisper
I would hear Eva crying and come running. I would scoop her up, hold her close and whisper how it would be alright. I would do all this as I took her to the front window to point out her mom, just feet away.
Love Trumps
Jesus didn’t come to set us straight on how much we needed Him. That was abundantly clear from the moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. He came to give us access to love—receiving and giving, beholding and becoming.
Bible Words
Repentance: is not about religious penance. In the Greek it suggests a radical mind shift; it is to realize God’s amazing thoughts towards us!
What is Hell?
We are free to reject Him all we want but we can’t stop Him from loving and pursuing us.
How the 1980s, R.E.M., Siri, and the Pursuit of Transforming Knowledge all Fit Together
“It’s the end of the world as we know it,” The fella singing was earnest and angsty. The song was hopeful, punchy, and sincere. I loved it. I wanted to listen to it over and again. But I had no idea who it was. These were the wonder years of my musically formative youth. These were the 80’s.
People I Don’t Like…
Suddenly, it was all I could do to wait for the first opportunity to make a beeline for the fella to share the great admiration, value, and joy our Father had in him.
2019 NEWSLETTER
I’ve often described how leading A Family Story these past years has felt much like exploring the best route up a mountain while people are following you.
It’s been an exhilarating adventure filled with joy, breakthrough, and revelation. It’s also had its share of wrong turns and backtracking.
It can be a challenge to cast vision while backtracking. But there has been nothing more transformational than the goodness of God we’ve discovered through pioneering!
Resurrection And Transformation!
When we lose track of our Father’s nature, we become deceived about our own. That’s what happens when a lie is believed; it separates us from His love nature and access to our identity as sons and daughters.
Offense is a Prison
The key to freedom isn’t about not being offended, it’s about keeping no record.
A Religious Ass
When I go to sleep I’m His favorite! When I wake up I’m still His favorite! Whether I behave well or fail miserably I’m still His favorite! This union, oh this union is the game changer! Christ in me and me in Him!
The Gardner
Thank you, Father, for planting only good seed. Help us to tend the field in which you have placed us with your same wisdom and patience.
All God’s Stories Have Good Endings
David experienced the valley but the valley was never God’s heart for him. Jesus went to a cross. But the cross was never His focus. Death is never the focus with God, He is always and only about resurrection. Jesus said He came to give us life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). Jesus—the Father revealed—was focused on the joy of resurrection life.
Escape from the Doldrums
Every test by God is an invitation to transition from one narrative to another, from control to love, from orphan to son or daughter, from bondage to freedom, from fractured thinking to wholeness, from our perspective to His, from our best thoughts about who He is, to the truth about who He is, from our story, to the whole story; the one He is telling.
Why Does God Test Us?
Every test by God is an invitation to transition from one narrative to another, from control to love, from orphan to son or daughter, from bondage to freedom, from fractured thinking to wholeness, from our perspective to His, from our best thoughts about who He is, to the truth about who He is, from our story, to the whole story; the one He is telling.
Francois Du Toit | The Mirror Bible
Francois breathtaking paraphrase translation and brilliant commentary on the New Testament has been a constant empowering companion. The revelation of God’s grace is stunning and pure. The scriptures insight into my oneness with Christ is transformational!
Jesus, Baseball, and Shame
Here’s the thing, if we believe God is about control, it affects everything. Every experience and encounter is filtered through the insecurity of our relationship with a small God. A control-based perspective of God is evidenced by the subtle anxiety we experience in our heart when the furnace breaks down, to the blatant sense of righteousness when a rapist gets the death penalty.
The Skill Saw
Here’s the thing, if we believe God is about control, it affects everything. Every experience and encounter is filtered through the insecurity of our relationship with a small God. A control-based perspective of God is evidenced by the subtle anxiety we experience in our heart when the furnace breaks down, to the blatant sense of righteousness when a rapist gets the death penalty.
God Is Not In Control, You Are…
“You know, I could control you, Ethan. I could force, manipulate or straight up shame you into obedience, you’re only ten. I can make him behave. But someday my boy, you will be a man and beyond my ability to control. But more importantly son, I don’t want to control you, I want you to control yourself. I want you to value freedom as the Holy Spirit does. Do you understand?”
5 Things I Learned From the Toronto Blessing
The idea that God saw me as a spiritual giant seemed too good to be true…
The Outburst at Dinner that Changed it All
The idea that God saw me as a spiritual giant seemed too good to be true…
Introducing Children to the Father
I prayed. “Father, come make your love known.” Immediately our Father, Ethan’s and mine, filled the room with His love. It’s hard to explain but let me try. For the next ten minutes, while I lay there and held Ethan, my body trembled with God’s presence. I literally shook with His love.
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