Wayne Jacobsen's Blog, page 83
August 8, 2011
The Jesus Lens #18 – What Was God Thinking?
The eighteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus.
The Jesus Lens #18: What Was God Thinking? What was God going doing through all the centuries of falleness and then subservience to the law before Jesus came and why is Christianity still embracing old covenant realities even after the cross liberated us from doing so?
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
August 4, 2011
The Jesus Lens #17 – The Rise of a Nation
The seventeenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus.
The Jesus Lens #17: The Rise of a Nation – Exodus through Ruth continue the narrative as God takes slaves from Egypt and brings them back to the land of promise and establishes them as a nation he wants to care for again demonstrating God's faithfulness in the midst of human unfaithfulness.
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
July 31, 2011
The Jesus Lens #16 – How It All Got Started
The sixteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus.
The Jesus Lens #16: How It All Got Started – Genesis and Job begin the Old Testament story, one with the origins of the creation, its downfall and how God begins to make himself known to people in darkness, and the other as a counterpoint to the mistaken idea that we deserve our sufferings.
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
Offices Closed August 1 – August 14
Sara and I are going to take a much needed vacation for the next two weeks and as such we regret that the Lifestream office will be closed during that time. We will still have access to email and voice mail, but will probably not be responding to anything that isn't critical.
I hope you can appreciate that we're a pretty simple operation here that doesn't have a staff to fill-in when we're gone. We may be able to ship some orders during the second week, but that has not been all worked out yet. We'll be back on August 15, however, and will be able to assist you at that time. Please forgive us for any inconvenience this may cause you.
July 28, 2011
The Jesus Lens #15 – The Rescue
The fifteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus. This one begins our run through the Old Testament view of God and it builds on the previous sessions. The Study Guides and Powerpoint Presentations should be up later today on the Jesus Lens Old Testament Page.
The Jesus Lens #15: The Rescue – As we get to know the Jesus of Scripture and how the early believers processed that life in their own journey then we can go back to the Old Testament and see it as the story of God coming to rescue a world from the darkness of sin.
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
July 25, 2011
The Jesus Lens – Fifth Dialog Session
During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 12 through 14.
The Jesus Lens: Fifth Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne's teaching. If you'd like to add your questions to some of the material you're hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast.
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
The Jesus Lens #14 – John's Letters And Revelation
The fourteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus.
The Jesus Lens #14: John's Letters and Revelation – Finally, John's three letters and his Revelation provide the last words in the New Testament narrative, both a celebration of his love and our assurance that all of history will culminate in his victory.
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
July 21, 2011
The Jesus Lens #13 – The Later Letters
The thirteenth audio in our new series about the wonder of Scripture and how to read and interpret it through the revelation of Jesus.
The Jesus Lens #13: The Later Letters – Paul's later letters—1 & 2 Timothy and Titus— along with Peter's two letters and Jude's dealt with false teachers, suffering, and how to stay faithful to the Truth even when others begin to go astray.
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
The Jesus Lens – Fourth Dialog Session
During our recording sessions, Wayne paused to answer questions from those in attendance. This is some of the dialog that followed sessions 10 and 11. I'm sorry I should have included it earlier, but this one got past me. So it will be a bit out of order in the podcast rotation.
The Jesus Lens: Fourth Dialog Session – Here is some of the interaction that followed Wayne's teaching. If you'd like to add your questions to some of the material you're hearing in this series, please send them to the Lifestream office through our Contact Page. When we get enough questions, Wayne will interact with them in a future audio podcast.
To download Study Notes and Powerpoint Slides, or for more information on this series please go to The Jesus Lens Pages at Lifestream. You can also subscribe to any new audio postings at The Lifestream Podcast at iTunes.
July 19, 2011
For Parents of Prodigals
Sara and I are off to North Carolina in the morning, for a weekend retreat and then a special gathering with fellow-travelers in Charlotte on Sunday night. I thought I would leave you with this before I go:
I don't often say this about a book, but I will this time. If you are the parent of a child who seems like a prodigal to you, wandering in a far off place from God, go get this book! But even if you don't have such a child, go get this book! It is a powerful read of a father's love for a rebellious son. If you're experiencing anything similar his journey will surely encourage your own. But it is more than that. It unveils the relentless love of the Father for all of us as he continues to seek us out in the places we get lost and restore us in his grace and mercy.
I talked more about this book on last week's podcast if you want to hear it. It is toward the end. This book is an engaging read. Remarkably well-written, honest, and vulnerable this book describes the ongoing pain of having a child wander far from the faith of his father, and a father's love that keeps believing the best in the face of such brokenness. And through it all he discovers a depth of God's love for himself in his wandering moments.
In addition, Dan is a friend and has been for 15 years or so. But that's not why I'm recommending his book as many of my other friends might attest. For me to recommend a book here, I have to be convinced that it is a really good read and that a many of you will find this book helpful for your own spiritual journey. This is all that and more. It is deeply touching and wonderfully encouraging, even though they story has not yet ended. There is a spirit of triumph in it, even though Dan's son is still sorting through the damage in his life from alcohol and PTSD from his service in Iraq.
This book is not available in stores, but you can order it from Amazon.com or from other online retailers.
Here is some added info from the back of the book:
Hope is a butterfly
Fear is a stone
As the father waits
For his son to come home.
For anyone who has loved a prodigal child, here is a voice in the night that says you are not alone. 'The Butterfly and the Stone' is a story of fear and hope on a journey that leads from the safety of home to Iraq, and home again to face a fiercer enemy: post-traumatic stress and addiction. Woven throughout is God's love… found in a most unexpected place…
You can find out more at Dan's website, StoneButterfly.net.
