John Eldredge's Blog, page 2

Evergreen

Friends, Comrades, Allies,

Here at the end of September/beginning of October, I want to share this lovely passage with you:

Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do. (Psalm 1:1-3 NLT)

I love, love, love this passage for so many reasons! I love the promise of flourishing and fruitfulness for those who root themselves in God. I love the offer of becoming “evergreen.” I love the hopefulness of this––especially in a time when just about everyone I know is running a little low on fuel. 

I also love the passage because it echoes Eden and foreshadows Eden’s return. For listen to this now from Revelation, where John is seeing the City of God come to earth:

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. (Revelation 22:1-2 NLT)

Here we also have a river, The River, filled with life. We have a tree here, too, The Tree, alongside that River, and the tree bears fruit each season, just as in Psalm 1, and is also evergreen. Scripture uses these “hyperlink” images and references to help us get the full picture. Psalm 1 is speaking of our humanity, comparing it to Eden, past and future, and promising we can be little trees almost like the Tree of Life itself! 

Yes, please. 

Yes, I would like that very much.

Follow me closely now: Eden was a place of supernatural abundance, for no evil or sin had yet touched it. The presence of God filled the place. The City of God is absolutely a place of supernatural abundance and provision, for the presence of God fills it. So the promise here “in the meantime” is that there is a supernatural provision for us now, from God, for our weary humanity!

How do we tap into it?

Psalm 1 speaks of being deeply “rooted” in God, our roots down into the river (which represents his provision, his very Life). According to the Psalm, we do so by what we are meditating on, what has our attention and affection. That’s big, and it’s practical. Gosh––if you just spend three minutes a day loving Jesus, you will begin to tap in.

But I think there is more. 

I want to put before you once again the concept of being “amphibians,” men and women who comfortably move back and forth between the natural world and the Kingdom of God. For while we move about in this natural world, we are also “citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives” (Philippians 3:20 NLT).

I’m bringing this up because we can’t rely only on this natural world to replenish and strengthen us. It has many gifts—like beauty, rest, and play—but it is not sufficient. These trees also need to be drawing upon the very life of God.

Our family was on vacation in the Tetons this summer, a place of deep beauty and play we adore. Swimming the lakes, rafting the river, hiking the forest. It was Edenic. Then we got devastating news of a death in the family. All the joy suddenly felt very fragile. In the early morning, Jesus told me to go down to the river by myself (the Snake River, which flows out of Jackson Lake). As I stood there among the natural beauty, he said, You need to be an amphibian, John. The spirit of death is here. Start praying for the River of Life to wash you and fill you.

I prayed for a long time as the Spirit led me, first washing my own heart and soul, then Stasi’s, then our family. I was tapping into the “rest” of the Kingdom of God, the supernatural provision—because the natural was not enough. The River of Life is ours right now, and we need it, along with all of the provision of God and his marvelous Kingdom.

Some friends, also on vacation, texted a mayday prayer alert. They were in an accident. Jesus immediately had me summon angels to go to them and help them. That is another expression of being an amphibian, of living in two realms, two worlds. Angels are here to help us. Other friends found themselves beset by a sudden rush of chaotic events. “Chaos is here,” Jesus said. “Bring my Creation Glory against it.” That is yet another example––calling upon the Glory of God in our need. For his Glory filled the temple, and we are now the temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). So we can be filled with the Glory of God!

We are living at a time when the natural “graces” this world provides are not sufficient to the pressures (and the warfare). By all means, get out for a run, ride your bike, listen to beautiful music, work in your garden. Those things help. But we must also draw upon the Kingdom of God. We simply must.

Download the Early Fall Wild at Heart Newsletter here.

Happy Summer!

A very happy summer to each of you! 

I really hope you have something on the calendar by way of rest and joy this summer. Even if it’s “only” evenings on the balcony or your back deck, summer can be so lovely and restorative. Let the beauty in!

If you didn't catch our “What do I do with my summer?” podcast (titled “Rethink Your Summer”), search for our May 1st podcast wherever you listen. Or on our website, too. 

We are so grateful for each of you––our friends, our allies, our partners in this sweet part of the Story of God. Such beautiful, beautiful things are taking place through this message and mission around the world. I just had to share a few stories with you here.

We just wrapped up our ninth Boot Camp, with 36 guys present. It is literally changing our men’s movement at the church. Over 150 guys meet every Wednesday night for open conversations and to do life together in our “Fight Club.” We only have 600 men in our church, so the numbers are not normal! More men come to our men’s events than women to the women’s events. It’s crazy! FOUR guys committed to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord on Saturday during Boot Camp!! That’s never happened before. Anyway, just wanted to share the good news that the message of WAH is impacting a huge remnant in our town. Lives are being transformed and marriages restored. Bottom line, there’s a move of God here!

  And this one:

I wanted to tell you that my husband gave his heart to God yesterday, May 23, during his commute to work. He was listening to a podcast you did on giving your whole heart to God. And he did. Thank you for being the one God used to bring him to a place of brokenness and vulnerability. Thank you for speaking and teaching in a way that a man like my husband felt okay to engage in and be open to. He said he started crying as soon as he heard you praying on this podcast. That’s not like him. Thank you for telling the story of your deep wounds, which allowed him to go to his and cry to Jesus. I cannot stop praising Jesus for this gift!

Doesn’t your heart just rejoice at this?

And, friends––this is happening a LOT through our partnership, in so many countries spanning the globe. Jesus! We worship you, Lord!

And thank you, everyone, for helping make this happen.

We are a crowd-funded nonprofit. Which means that most of our income––the fuel for this mission––comes from the generosity of our friends. That’s how it works.

A few years back, our board asked me, "If someone gave you $5 million, what would you do with it?" I immediately said, "foreign translation," because we have so many beautiful, healing resources that we want to bring to human hearts all over the world. Well, no one has given us the $5 million (yet!), but we decided to press ahead anyway. We have several languages under development now for the Wild at Heart, Captivating, and Becoming a King "Experiences," and also Wild at Heart BASIC and Captivating CORE (our four-day retreats by video session). Arabic is one of those languages, with lots more to come!

Maybe if we all join together we can come up with that $5 million! Wouldn't that be a Jesus story? It’s been a while since I asked (we don’t ask often). I don't want to pressure or manipulate. I just want to remind you that we are still supported by our friends, and we would love it if you could send a little help our way.

You can make a one-time gift or a recurring gift online on our website (www.WildAtHeart.org) or on our mobile app (the Wild at Heart app). Or you can send a check in, too.

Thank you, friends. Thank you. Opportunities are opening up for us. We’d love to say “yes” if we can.

Now back to summer. Make sure you are checking in with Jesus on your plans. Most importantly, ask what he has for your heart in this more playful time of year!

That’s it. We simply love partnering with you!
 

Download the Wild at Heart Summer 2023 Newsletter here. 

Technology Is Not Neutral

Spring has finally come to Colorado. Last evening, Stasi and I took a lovely after-dinner walk through the neighborhood. The sun is setting later each day, and it was one of those wonderful evenings where the deer were out and browsing, a few crickets were beginning to wake up, and the hummingbirds were whizzing by busy with their spring work. A soft, warm breeze carried the aromas of earth and newly awakened foliage.

It was healing. 

Only fifteen minutes into the walk, we turned to each other and said, “This is so much better than screens. So much more restoring than technology.”

You see, winter stays long here in Colorado. We live at 7000 feet, and spring comes very late; April is one of our biggest snow months. While the azaleas are blooming in Atlanta and the dogwoods in Portland, we are shoveling our driveways one more time. Over months and months of short days and long nights in winter, our evenings are often spent in front of screens. Reading online articles, answering email, or watching something. It's just not the same.

The reason most people love summer so much—as we do—is that LIFE returns. It’s barefoot-in-the-grass time! The green, lush world beckons you to your garden, the beach, flowing rivers, your back deck. In summer we are able to live so much more as human beings were meant to live. Not all hunkered down in a cabin against the dark cold winter, but out and about—cycling, gardening, swimming, hiking, or just lingering on the patio with friends.

It usually takes a vacation (or simply the first evening walk of the year) to make clear the startling difference between how life-giving nature is and how life-draining technology is. And so my fatherly counsel to you this month is to make the absolute most of the late spring and early summer. Get off screens and get outside! Let your full humanity come forth in God’s full creation.

Friends, one of the great myths of the modern era is the myth that technology is neutral. 

It is not.

When anxiety and depression rise in exact correlation to the amount of time you spend on social media (there's loads of research on this), when we know the internet is eroding our attention span (plenty of research on that too), that screen and cell phone usage is rewiring our brains (proof there also), you wonder why everyone isn’t cutting back on every form of screen time. You’d think we’d have these things locked up till absolutely necessary.

But denial is a powerful thing.

So is addiction. (Technology is addictive; plenty of data on that as well.) 

Suddenly, we have AI (artificial intelligence) upon us. It is upping the stakes at a dizzying pace. Snapchat now has an embedded chatbot; young people and children can choose to “talk” with an AI companion when their friends aren’t online…or even when they are. This is not good, folks. I recently watched a disturbing video demonstrating an actual interaction with AI in Snapchat helping an “anonymous” 13-year-old girl be groomed for sexual harm by a fictitious 31-year-old man. The chatbot just helped the process right along. To watch that report and get a eye-opening education on AI, get on YouTube and look this up:

“The AI Dilemma – March 9, 2023” by The Center for Humane Technology 

It is a talk given by experts within the AI community addressing their own peers in Silicon Valley about the dangers of what’s happening with AI. When you are finished watching it, remind yourself, “Jesus is still Lord.” Don’t freak out. “Do not be alarmed,” was how Jesus himself put it (Matthew 24:6). But yes—let’s be smart.

Technology is not neutral. It is something we have to exercise strong dominion over, especially in our domestic “kingdoms.” (For one thing, I would not allow your children to form a “relationship” with an AI “friend,” in Snapchat or elsewhere.)

A simple act of ruling my kingdom and domain involves a regular practice of consecrating all my technology and cleansing it with the blood of Christ. Something like this… 

I bring all computers, tablets, cell phones, apps, television, and cable in our home under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. I cleanse all technology in this house with the blood of Christ, including all internet, wifi, cellular signals, all cable, and media. I command the blood of Christ and the Glory of God to filter all media, signals, and internet coming into our home, including through our cell phones. In the name of the Lord Jesus.

Christians are called to operate with an awareness that our enemy is always looking for “open doors” and opportunities to access our domain to do his dark work. Just watch a horror movie and try to have a good night’s sleep. And so the aware Christian is vigilant not to allow open doors in their domain. (I remember one neighbor saying to me years ago, when video games took over their household through their teenage boys, “I feel like I let Satan in the house.” Given the dark nature of some of those games and the sudden violence between previously harmonious children, she probably did.) 

Set an example for your family and friends by choosing the real world over the artificial every time you can. Like an evening walk over screen time. Help your kids fall more in love with nature—and all the adventures you can have there—than they love their technology. This isn’t just for the sake of your mental and physical health. 

We do this to win the battle for our soul.
 

Download the Wild at Heart May 2023 Newsletter here. 

Technology is not Neutral

Spring has finally come to Colorado. Last evening, Stasi and I took a lovely after-dinner walk through the neighborhood. The sun is setting later each day, and it was one of those wonderful evenings where the deer were out and browsing, a few crickets were beginning to wake up, and the hummingbirds were whizzing by busy with their spring work. A soft, warm breeze carried the aromas of earth and newly awakened foliage.

It was healing. 

Only fifteen minutes into the walk, we turned to each other and said, “This is so much better than screens. So much more restoring than technology.”

You see, winter stays long here in Colorado. We live at 7000 feet, and spring comes very late; April is one of our biggest snow months. While the azaleas are blooming in Atlanta and the dogwoods in Portland, we are shoveling our driveways one more time. Over months and months of short days and long nights in winter, our evenings are often spent in front of screens. Reading online articles, answering email, or watching something. It's just not the same.

The reason most people love summer so much—as we do—is that LIFE returns. It’s barefoot-in-the-grass time! The green, lush world beckons you to your garden, the beach, flowing rivers, your back deck. In summer we are able to live so much more as human beings were meant to live. Not all hunkered down in a cabin against the dark cold winter, but out and about—cycling, gardening, swimming, hiking, or just lingering on the patio with friends.

It usually takes a vacation (or simply the first evening walk of the year) to make clear the startling difference between how life-giving nature is and how life-draining technology is. And so my fatherly counsel to you this month is to make the absolute most of the late spring and early summer. Get off screens and get outside! Let your full humanity come forth in God’s full creation.

Friends, one of the great myths of the modern era is the myth that technology is neutral. 

It is not.

When anxiety and depression rise in exact correlation to the amount of time you spend on social media (there's loads of research on this), when we know the internet is eroding our attention span (plenty of research on that too), that screen and cell phone usage is rewiring our brains (proof there also), you wonder why everyone isn’t cutting back on every form of screen time. You’d think we’d have these things locked up till absolutely necessary.

But denial is a powerful thing.

So is addiction. (Technology is addictive; plenty of data on that as well.) 

Suddenly, we have AI (artificial intelligence) upon us. It is upping the stakes at a dizzying pace. Snapchat now has an embedded chatbot; young people and children can choose to “talk” with an AI companion when their friends aren’t online…or even when they are. This is not good, folks. I recently watched a disturbing video demonstrating an actual interaction with AI in Snapchat helping an “anonymous” 13-year-old girl be groomed for sexual harm by a fictitious 31-year-old man. The chatbot just helped the process right along. To watch that report and get a eye-opening education on AI, get on YouTube and look this up:

“The AI Dilemma – March 9, 2023” by The Center for Humane Technology 

It is a talk given by experts within the AI community addressing their own peers in Silicon Valley about the dangers of what’s happening with AI. When you are finished watching it, remind yourself, “Jesus is still Lord.” Don’t freak out. “Do not be alarmed,” was how Jesus himself put it (Matthew 24:6). But yes—let’s be smart.

Technology is not neutral. It is something we have to exercise strong dominion over, especially in our domestic “kingdoms.” (For one thing, I would not allow your children to form a “relationship” with an AI “friend,” in Snapchat or elsewhere.)

A simple act of ruling my kingdom and domain involves a regular practice of consecrating all my technology and cleansing it with the blood of Christ. Something like this… 

I bring all computers, tablets, cell phones, apps, television, and cable in our home under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. I cleanse all technology in this house with the blood of Christ, including all internet, wifi, cellular signals, all cable and media. I command the blood of Christ and the Glory of God to filter all media, signals, and internet coming into our home, including through our cell phones. In the name of the Lord Jesus.

Christians are called to operate with an awareness that our enemy is always looking for “open doors” and opportunities to access our domain to do his dark work. Just watch a horror movie and try to have a good night’s sleep. And so the aware Christian is vigilant not to allow open doors in their domain. (I remember one neighbor saying to me years ago, when video games took over their household through their teenage boys, “I feel like I let Satan in the house.” Given the dark nature of some of those games and the sudden violence between previously harmonious children, she probably did.) 

Set an example for your family and friends by choosing the real world over the artificial every time you can. Like an evening walk over screen time. Help your kids fall more in love with nature—and all the adventures you can have there—than they love their technology. This isn’t just for the sake of your mental and physical health. 

We do this to win the battle for our soul.
 

Download the Wild at Heart May 2023 Newsletter here. 

Praying for Those Who Don't Believe

This is a letter on how to pray for the people you love—especially those who do not yet love Jesus or see the Truth in him.

I’m moved to share this for two reasons.

First, because it’s where many of my own heart-cries have been focused recently. And secondly, because the Spirit seems to be moving over the earth, and those are ripe times to pray!

I’m not sure if I’ve ever told the story in these letters of how I came to meet Jesus, so let’s start there.

The current movie Jesus Revolution retells the story of the last great revival, which broke out in Southern California in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. It was as a result of that move of God that Stasi and I both came to Christ! Though in different ways. We were both living in Southern California at that time, both part of the hippie thing in our own way. Stasi was in a Catholic youth study, and the Spirit moved in that little group and many gave their lives to Jesus. (Thank you, Jesus!) I came in through a different door.

Unlike Stasi, I was not raised with a faith at all. Our family was a typical 1950s–1960s agnostic American home. Decent values, but no God. I became spiritually hungry in high school, but that was the time another movement was also sweeping through: the drug culture. Like Jesus Revolution portrays, many of us young people were taking acid and going to spiritual gurus to try to find the truth. And then one night Jesus simply walked into my life.

Yep.

I had never heard the Gospel, never read a Bible, never been to church. (Well, once, for a funeral.) But I was aching, and God was moving powerfully, thanks to that revival. The presence of Jesus simply came into the room one night, and I gave my life to him. Much like the conversion stories we are hearing out of the Islamic world—how Jesus is simply walking into people’s lives in their dreams, in waking visions and encounters. (I heard a recent story where having “met” a Muslim woman this way, Jesus also gave her the cell phone number of a priest several countries away, whom she called! He baptized her over the phone and helped her upload a Bible app so she could have God’s Word!)

I share my story and hers because it increases our faith that Jesus does this—he reveals himself. And that is what I have been praying for those I love.

Let me explain a little of the prayer itself.

In the book of 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us that the Enemy both blinds the mind and veils the heart of the unbeliever:

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cor. 3:14-17)

Paul is referring to the Jews here, but the Enemy uses those “veils” with other people groups, too. Mine was certainly veiled.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Cor. 4:4-6)

Here he expands the dilemma—and hope—to all unbelievers. From these passages, and my own encounter with Jesus, I have developed a very simple prayer strategy: I pray that God would remove the veils and blinders from the hearts and minds of those I am praying for, and that Jesus would simply reveal himself to them as he did to me, as he is doing for many Muslims, and as he has for millions of people down through the centuries. Like this:

Merciful God, God of our salvation, I pray that your Spirit would burn away every veil and every blinder over the heart and mind of [who I’m praying for]. Let every veil and every blinder the Enemy has placed over their heart and mind be utterly removed, so that they may see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Jesus, I pray you would reveal yourself to them, Lord. Walk into their lives. Make yourself known! May they see you, encounter you, and receive you. Let the light of God shine in their heart to give them the knowledge of God in the face of Christ. In Jesus’ name I pray!

It’s an ongoing prayer, not just one-and-done. I pray this quietly, as I walk through airports and supermarkets, too! I pray it for the people I encounter and those I simply pass by. Often, Jesus will move me to “target” someone. That woman over there—pray for her heart to be unveiled. And I do.

I’m sending this letter because I think the timing is important. Now, I’m not the kind of guy that jumps on bandwagons, and I am suspicious of those who do. I don’t know that revival is breaking out in a major way. Maybe. But Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 2 promise the opposite: a great falling away before Christ returns. So be careful when you hear people promising otherwise.

What I do know is that the hour is late, God is merciful, and I’m praying for people's souls with passion!

I know you will, too!

 

Download the Wild at Heart Spring 2023 Newsletter here. 

Meet our Team

Well…2023 is out of the gates and down the track––even though my soul didn’t really get on board until late January! (Friends of ours still have their Christmas decorations up; their souls haven’t been able to make the transition yet!) Ready or not, 2023 is off and running. We’d love to “do” this year with you, whatever it brings!

Meet Our Team!

We thought about doing a Christmas card but opted to save this photo for this month’s letter so it wouldn't get lost in the December madness. Sometimes it’s nice to see the face behind the voice, email, or social post! 

(From left to right, top to botttom:)
Alex, Nic, Bart, Allen, Jeff, Karen, Conrad, Brad, 

Jon, Stacey, Sam, Stasi, John, Polly, Morgan, 

Michelle, Wookie, Sue, Jamie.

Not Pictured: Justin

Like many people, Stasi and I have a few photos of friends, family, and missionaries we pray for posted on our fridge. We’re sending along this team picture in hopes you will do the same. Prayer and intercession are the secret to this ministry’s wildly fabulous impact. Years before we started, Jesus brought to me a story of the power of prayer in all great Christian revivals and missionary movements. So from Day One of this adventure, we have kept prayer at the epicenter of all we do. We would LOVE to have you join us as prayer partners!

(I send out a weekly email on prayer to our list of “Intercessors.” You don’t need that to pray for us, but if you’d like to sign up, visit our website at www.wildatheart.org/pray.)

Host a group!

One of the other secrets of our global impact is the number of friends and allies hosting gatherings, sharing the message in their worlds. We just heard another story this week of a man who wanted to reach his neighbors—four guys who didn’t know Jesus. He took them through A Year with Men (one of our many curriculum offerings), and all four now love Jesus! 

Honestly, one of the most rewarding, exciting, and personally nourishing things you can do is get a small group going in this message! We’ve packaged some resources for you so there’s no pressure to be an amazing teacher. Check out the Wild at Heart, Captivating, and Becoming a King “Experiences” on the homepage of our website. Or do a book study together. 

Sometimes the best groups are where folks simply get a chance to “tell their story” and be heard. You can listen to the four-part “How to Tell Your Story” podcast series here: https://wildatheart.org/rhplay/series/podcast/how-tell-and-listen-story

Catch Up on Podcasts!

Speaking of podcasts, our three different offerings are really the best way to strengthen your own heart and track with us week by week. If you have the free Wild at Heart app, new episodes of all three podcasts download automatically as soon as they release. 

The Wild at Heart Podcast—usually hosted by me and Allen Arnold. (The “Consecrate Your Year” episode is a must if you haven't done that yet!) We’ve been running a series the past six weeks on protecting your heart through the unique pressures of this hour. It’s really good!

Become Good Soil—hosted by Morgan Snyder. We call this the “deeper dive” track, devoted to becoming true disciples (apprentices) of Jesus. Morgan’s wife, Cherie, often joins him on the show.

Captivated—hosted by Stasi, designed to lead women into rich intimacy with Jesus. The stories she and her guests share are so beautiful!! 

The Weekly Update

We’ve been trying to figure out the best model to share with our friends the latest inside scoop, some of the critical things we are learning, and the things bringing us joy, so we are revamping and revitalizing the Wild at Heart Weekly Update email. I’m going to be sharing by voice and video each week things Jesus is showing us, so that you can be strengthened too! Log on to your account on our website and scroll to “My Communication Preferences.” Check the box for “Email Updates.” If you don’t have an account, you can enter your email address in the box near the bottom of our home page.

One Last Thing

I just had to tell you—we made our budget at year’s end for 2022! I reached out in the fall to ask for your help, and you guys came through! For 22 years, it’s been the most amazing story! Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love and support!

Okay. As I say on the Pause App, “That’s good. That's enough for now.” 

Sending love and blessings to you, from our team,

 

 

Download the Wild at Heart February 2023 newsletter here. 
 

December 2022

Dear Friends,

A very merry Christmastide to you…wherever and whenever this letter finds you!

I don’t need to say much this month; the holidays for most people are typically full enough. 

I do want to say, before anything else, that our entire team sends lots of love to and prayers for you and yours at this beautiful, difficult time of year! We love being your friends and comrades in this great mission to rescue and restore the human heart! Merry Christmas, everyone!

That’s the heart of this letter. Now, if you’d like a few Christmas thoughts, read on…

I've been thinking a lot about treasures. 

Obviously, because gifts have become such a central part of most Christmas observances. And there is biblical connection in the lavish gifts the Magi brought to Jesus. (What a beautiful way for the Father to prepare Joseph to fund their flight down to Egypt and sojourn there.) And above all, “Unto us a Son is given” (Isaiah 9:6). The gift of Christmas. 

But maybe I’ve been thinking about treasures because I’ve been on Amazon ordering so many presents for people. (Maybe also because I love getting presents!)

Treasures. The heart loves them. We were created to treasure things.

If I were to offer a lifeline to you (and to myself) in this lovely Christmas season, I would simply say this: Treasure Jesus, in a fresh way, all over again. Devote this season to saying, Jesus, you are my heart’s greatest Treasure. I treasure you again, Lord. You are my greatest gift!

There are so many reasons, but currently my concern has to do with comfort. These are trying times; they have been for quite awhile now. Each and every one of our souls is crying out for comfort, solace, something to help us feel better. Sometimes the soul cries out quietly, sometimes loudly. (Honestly, I was pretty sure it was a down jacket I found on sale on Cyber Monday. I felt it would make me happy. Which let me know my soul is still looking for comfort.)

The enemy knows the human soul is vulnerable right now; he’s engineered nearly all our recent distress. He then steps in and offers all sorts of “comforters”––from vacation fantasies to a little too much to drink this month. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but where the soul looks for comfort ends up being where our hearts are either restored…or even further disappointments.

Therefore, the most beautiful and defiant act a soul can make in a world of a thousand comforts and a thousand disappointments is to actively treasure Jesus above all things. Because as you do, you are rescued from the World and the snares of the evil one. Your soul “comes home” to God and all the care he has for you. This is how the psalmist proclaims it…

I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
    leading me to a glorious destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
    I desire you more than anything on earth.
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
    but God remains the strength of my heart;
    he is mine forever.
Psalm 73:23-26 NLT

If you read the prior passages, he was really upset before this moment. Finally, he turns his heart back to the One he treasures above all things. He comes home. And he is rescued.

When we actively, decisively choose God as our Treasure, he becomes the strength of our hearts. It’s not that we don’t love or care about other things; it’s that we choose and keep Jesus Christ as our truest and greatest treasure above all other things. 

So here’s a simple spiritual practice we could all agree to share this season: Every time you encounter the topic of gifts, presents, and treasures––whether in shopping or in decorations or you are once again online trying to find someone that special something; even on Christmas morning as friends and family open gifts—in these moments, quietly say in your heart, Jesus, you are my Treasure! You are my heart’s greatest Treasure, Lord, and I treasure you above all things.

I think you’ll be delighted with the results. You will have Jesus, and with him you can ride out all the highs and lows of the season and emerge in such a good place. Your heart will rest at home in Christ and be so well in him. I promise.

So Merry Christmas, friends! 

With so much love,

John (and Stasi, and our whole team!)

Download the Wild at Heart December Newsletter here.
 

November 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—

    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

those he gathered from the lands,

    from east and west, from north and south.

Psalm 107:1-3

Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story. There’s nothing quite like it.

I love hearing people’s stories. I especially love hearing stories about Jesus coming for them. And, I have to admit, I am brought to tears every time I hear a story of Jesus coming for some dear soul through our work. Let me share some of the beauty with you…

I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude. I went through a serious ministry burnout this year and took a break from everything...but God led me to The Sacred Romance, and it was amazing to read. I'm now reading The Journey of Desire and almost crying through every page, just like with Sacred Romance. I'm receiving the healing I have ached for all my life. This note is just to say thank you for this wonderful ministry. Words are a serious handicap to express my gratitude. Receive lots and lots of love from a daughter of God in Nairobi, Kenya.

I cannot thank God and all of you enough for the Pause app. It has changed my life completely. I am on my third time through 30 Days to Resilient, and I'm also writing them out, because I sometimes go to areas of no mobile coverage. I'm in outback Queensland, Australia, and don't want to miss a day. I'm 60, grew up Catholic, gave my life to Jesus at 20…but really all I was doing was trying to avoid hell. I knew nothing about a real relationship with God, and as I got older, just couldn't get close to God. I went through many painful things. I left it all to work in Central Queensland. I had the Pause app for awhile and then you updated it with 30 Days to Resilient. For the first time in my life, I know I have Jesus in my heart. I'm so in love with him, Papa, and the Holy Spirit. “I am Known, I am Wanted, I am Chosen, I am Understood, I am Deeply and Completely Loved.” This melts my heart every time, and now I know it and believe it.

I have battled childhood wounds for 40 years. Chapter 5: Mother Desolation in your new book, Resilient, unlocked chains that have

held me captive most of my life. Thank you for writing this book. I am so grateful for the healing that is taking place in my life.

Jesus! We love you! We love to watch you rescue your beloved!

Friends, stories like these are pouring into our offices every single day of the year, from all over the world. Brazil. Ukraine. Kenya. India. Something really, really special is going on. Jesus is coming for his people with such fierce love and urgency. Each and every story is breathtaking.

This is what you help us do––as you carry the message forward in your world, as you pray for us and support us each year. We can’t begin to thank you enough! Think of all the stories we will hear at the Feast!

We are a crowd-funded non-profit. This beautiful work takes place because a small group of friends like you have been so generous with us. When the pandemic first rolled through in 2020, we wondered if we would have to lay staff off, cut back on our global outreach. Instead, we had the biggest year of giving since our start back in 1999!

We are hoping and praying for another great year in the face of serious inflation, impending recession, and economic pressure. Because God is able.

I’m writing this month to ask if you would support this redemptive work with a gift to this ministry before the end of the year. If we all come together, it will happen quickly and easily.

There’s no pressure at all; we know things are tight. We completely understand.

We trust Jesus and we trust your story with him. What Stasi and I are going to do is simply ask, “Lord, what would you have us give this year to the mission of Wild at Heart?”

If we all do that, we all get to share in the breathtaking joy! This is a partnership!

So let me say “thank you” right now for whatever you are moved to do. 

You can send a check in the return envelope, or, you can give online at www.WildAtHeart.org or on our Wild at Heart app. 

Oh, THANK YOU, friends! Let’s fuel this mission to rescue every heart and soul we can! 

With love and gratitude,

John 

Download the Wild at Heart November 2022 Newsletter here.

Listening Prayer

Many years ago, someone shared this quote with me, and it stayed with me because it names something so deeply true to the human predicament:

“The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.” – Wallace Stevens

Right? Whatever our age, education, or financial status, we all face questions we simply don’t know the answer to, every single day. Not theoretical questions—questions essential to our life and wellbeing, or the life and wellbeing of those we love.

God rigged the world like this so that we would seek him.

Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?” The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.” So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them...

Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees...So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer. (2 Samuel 5:18-25)

David inquired. The Lord answered. Folks—the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation, is a record of God speaking to his people. Hearing his voice is meant to be normal for every follower of Jesus.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

“I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (Revelation 3:20)

Our practical, daily experience is meant to be centered in a conversational intimacy with God—with our Father, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit. God rigged the world so that we really can’t thrive without this.

However, most people wait until the house is on fire to ask God about something specific. Is this the person you want me to marry? Is it time to quit my job? What am I supposed to do with my life? That’s like going to the top of a double black diamond on your very first day of skiing because you want to learn how to ski. It’s unrealistic. You can’t start there.

Hearing the voice of God—and having confidence in what you have heard—requires a quiet and relaxed posture of the soul. Far better to approach it like this...

Clear a little quiet space, because the soul needs to be in a quiet place to hear from God. At least initially.

Go into your room or out into the yard; sit on the back porch and give yourself twenty minutes. Don’t rush this. Sit down and take a few deep breaths. Then pray,

Holy Spirit, I need your help. I really want to hear from you, God. Holy Spirit, come and help me. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear. Take away the distractions, Lord. Take away the pressure. Dial me in. Dial me in, Lord.

Then ask a really simple question, something without a lot of drama to it.

Jesus—should I join those guys on the camping trip this weekend? Is that what you have for me?

Pause. Linger in silence and listen. If I’m not hearing anything clearly, sometimes I will “try on” Yes and No. Are you saying yes, Lord? Yes, you want me to go camping? Sometimes then I will hear a clear yes. Are you saying no, Lord? This isn’t a good idea this weekend? I’m really open to whatever you are saying. Is this a no, Jesus? Linger and listen.

If you’re having a hard time recognizing God’s voice, get someone to listen with you. It’s far easier to hear for someone else than to hear for yourself. The reason is simple: you’re not tied up in all the drama. You don’t have a horse in the race; you don’t have a dog in the fight. And so this is a good way to learn.

As we learn to hear God’s voice, it also helps to give it time. Pressure kills just about everything—love, joy, friendship, hearing from God. So give it some time. If I don’t hear anything right away, I’ll say something like, Keep speaking, Lord. Give me the ability to recognize what you are saying. I’m going to give this a few days (or a few weeks). Keep speaking, Father.

Why am I bringing this up? Because the way through this world is far more difficult to find than the way beyond it. And yet, even so, most people don’t practice asking God into the details of their lives and questions. It’s madness.

Some of you are comfortable with listening prayer, but you haven’t made it part of your daily practices. Maybe it’s time. If this is a new concept for you, my book Walking with God would be a great resource.

For others, this is something new. What an exciting road ahead for you! Begin to practice what I’ve suggested above; take some time to learn how to hear God’s voice!

Oh, friends, it is rescue, a joy; it is protection, and it is irreplaceable. For as Scripture says,

“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14)

Offered as something of a loving reminder and a strong bit of counsel. Love,
John

P.S. Try it right now. Pause before you go on. Get quiet and simply ask Jesus, What are you saying to me today, Lord? Give it a few moments. Listen.

Download the Wild at Heart Summer September 2022 Newsletter. 

Protect the Epicenter

Our podcast the weeks of June 20th and 27th offers a conversation with several members of our team about how everybody’s doing these days, especially with regard to our reserve tanks. I’ve been polling a number of mature people lately—inside the Wild at Heart world and beyond––and the nearly unanimous response is that folks are running on very low reserves. 

Of course you are. We are now in the “cascade effect” of the past two years.

It’s like a car accident—there’s the crash, then the adrenaline response to handle the immediate aftermath. Later (sometimes much later), you realize your neck is killing you or your back just isn’t right. The immediate blow, then the aftereffects. 

We are now experiencing the cascade effects of exhaustion, mental fragmentation, irritability, and something I want to call “apathy creep”—though I need to explain what I mean.

Life is asking 100 percent of us. Most of us have way less than 100 percent to give these days. (Right?) So we make it through another day, another week, but when we get home we don’t have the energy to rally for anything else. We start to let go of things like the gym, saying yes to a BBQ, even making dinner. Allen on our team used to love going to the gym; it was life-giving. He hasn’t been in a long time. Jamie loves to make nutritious meals for her family, but she admitted they are getting takeout way more often these days. Like that.

It’s not necessarily apathy creep in a pure sense. We still care about things, we just don't have the energy to care about things enough to see them through. Getting out of commitments feels like relief right now.

I’ve been doing loads of interviews on major podcasts because I released a book in June on all this—and how to recover. It’s called Resilient; Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times. Every single time, as I begin to name the reality of the cascade, weariness, low reserves, and all the signs that go with it, my hosts and their guests start nodding in agreement. “Wow—I hadn't put words to it, but that’s exactly how I feel.”

One major host admitted he can’t find the energy to be creative right now. Another confessed he’s trying to get out of social engagements; he just doesn’t have the energy.

What I think is even more telling is the early reaction to Resilient and the 30 Days to Resilient feature we just added to the Pause app (a morning and evening meditation that is simply gorgeous). One woman shared with us, in tears, “I knew something was wrong, I just couldn't name it. But this is it, and I’m so grateful for the care you are offering.” Another said, “Thank you for this. It’s a balm to my weary, weary soul.”

So folks are now putting words to the cascade effects of the last few years and their very low tanks. They are aware of the apathy creep.  

But what finally came clear to me was what the enemy is up to in all this. 

I thought his main goal was to wear us down, lure us into pursuit of relief that doesn’t have anything to do with God, really, then hammer us with disappointment when we get back from vacation and realize nothing’s changed. (I still believe this is true.)

But what I now see is that the apathy creep is what he is after, especially as it works its way to the epicenter. We begin by not going out as much; it moves closer to home as we start getting takeout, skipping our daily walk, not reading much anymore. Slowly, the creep moves into things essential for our well-being. But the epicenter of the creep—the things the enemy is licking his chops over—is that feeling that we’re too tired to pray or do any of the other things that maintain our life in God.

Because even as we rolled out Resilient and 30 Days, my friends were sort of half-hearted about it. “Maybe later.” Even team members. Doing any sort of spiritual care feels like “work.” When prayer feels like work we don’t have energy for, the creep has reached the epicenter.  

And this is the plan to take us out: Move that creep (which is real) closer and closer to the epicenter, where we begin to let go of our lifeline to God. We just want to veg with a beer on the deck. Leave me alone. Don’t ask me to do anything else right now.

And so I’m having T-shirts made for my team: “Protect the Epicenter!”

Protect the Epicenter, friends! Do not let this creep erode the things you do to maintain—and deepen—your union with Jesus! If you lose God, you will be truly lost.

Jamie admitted she finally started doing 30 Days on the Pause app, and in her words, “It was so easy, so life-giving.” Exactly. The enemy wants you to make you feel like soul care and spiritual practices are too much, because he knows that from the epicenter of our life with God we will find the strength and replenishment to come back.

The cascade effects are real. The creep is real. But, friends—you must protect the epicenter! Recover your practices to draw deeply on God’s strength in this hour! 

Get the audiobook for Resilient and just let me read to you. 30 Days to Resilient is in the One Minute Pause app (free in the App Store) and will gently, lovingly bring solace. Big time.

Download the Wild at Heart Summer 2022 Newsletter here.