Lifestream.org Podcast

Imagine you laying back in your easier chair or being caught in an exasperating commute to work and me sitting right beside you reading to you from http://www.lifestream.org/content/finding-church.  OK, that doesn't even sound fun to me.  I wouldn't sit next to you and read, we would get to talk.  But the audio version of...

The final episode makes it clear that we haven’t arrived yet, but merely stand on the edge of the most amazing adventure available to us—how can we explore the vastness of God’s love and character not only in this age, but also for all eternity? On this last day of the year, I get to post the final episode of the video series,...

Everything God does in our lives is so that his joy might be in us and that our joy might be full.  He makes a way for us to be at home in him and he disciplines us so that we can find the fruitfulness and fulfillment of his life instead of being tyrannized by the twistedness of our flesh.   Engage is our unfolding video series...

Many of us were taught to find security in the approval of others, monetary success, religious activity and belonging to the right group.  What if those aren’t the best signals to follow?  It may seem difficult to separate the static of the world from his frequency, but it really isn't.  Here are some insights to help you...

We find our way into the simplicity of following him as we ignore the obligations and expectations that others can put on us and live in the confidence that there’s only one thing that matters to God—that whatever we do is the fruit of a growing trust in him expressing itself in our love for others.  Here are some practical...

Let me take this opportunity to share some of what's going on around here these days.  First, for those in the San Diego area, I'm headed that way this weekend and will be gathering with people from the area who want to discuss the relational journey this Saturday, November 16, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm in a private home in...

Faith is not a tool we’re supposed to produce to manipulate God to do what we want. God wins us into faith by showing us who he is and how he is working in our lives. The more we grow to trust him the less we’ll react to trouble by trying to save ourselves and then we’ll be able to embrace how God is working in our...

You do not learn to live this life in Jesus by wrapping your head around a different set of principles.  You actually grow to understand this life as you respond to the Spirit guiding you into his truth.  Over time the draw of the Spirit will become more powerful than the pull of the world or our religious training. Then,...

Few of us really live in the moment, where God is most easily seen.  At times we live in the past by our regrets or by trying to recapture some past experience with him. Sometimes we live absorbed in the future with anxieties about what might happen, or trying to fulfill the plans and hopes we have.  God is best seen in the...

Jesus invites us into a kingdom that thrives in love.  Learning to live in the reality of his love for us and sharing that love with others, leads us away from the tyranny of always having to have our own way.  Then instead of seeking what we want, we can lay down our lives for others and see more clearly how he makes himself...

Our trust in God is undermined every time we try to win God to our agenda and measure his love for us based on our own expectations.  If we can live not attached to the outcomes we desire, we’ll discover that he knows best about everything and will lead us into far greater joy and purpose than we’d ever see for ourselves....

Religion is a shame-management system that only increases our captivity as we try to be better for God.  The reason God forgave our sin in Christ, is so that we can come to know him without the shame of our failures and by doing so become transformed by his love. Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and...

The Bible was never meant to be a rule book filled with condemnation, but the story of humanity coming to understand God’s nature over thousands of years.  Learn to read it that way and it will be a valuable resource of insight and wisdom into God and how he works in the world.  Engage is our unfolding video series designed to...

Just blazing through a noisy and demanding world will not make it easy for us to know him.  He is found in the quiet of our hearts and sometimes a quiet place can help us settle into his reality.  Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God.  We are...

Sometimes despite our most ardent prayers, God seems distant.  But he’s not.  He’s always making himself known, it’s just that we may be looking in all the wrong places for him.  Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God.  We are adding a new video...

It is Jesus' joy to knit each of us into the family he is building in the earth.  As you learn to follow him he will bring others into your life that can share the converstions that will encourage each other to live in him more deeply rather than bog each other down with the dynamics of religious performance.   Engage is our...

Learning to follow Jesus is a process in which you'll make your share of mistakes.  Unless you give up the illusion of trying to be perfect, you’ll never have the freedom to discover the joy of learning to live in him.  Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship...

Prayer is not trying to get God to do what we want, but communicating with him about the issues and circumstances that concern us.  It doesn’t happen in a prescribed period each day, but becomes a never-ending conversation where he lets us in on his insight. Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage...

Jesus didn’t invite us to follow his rules or traditions about him, he called us to follow him and we do that by learning recognize how he speaks to us. Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God.  We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday...

Living in God’s reality doesn’t come by trying to get the things we want from him, but learning to receive what he is already giving us. Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God.  We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of...