The Free Believers Network - Into the Wild

Darin and Aimee talk with Darin’s friend Lonnie Bellon from Ruidoso New Mexico. The three discuss the profound affect that the freedom message has on their lives and how knowing a loving God is so completely different from anything religion has to offer. Lonnie spent his entire life trying to follow the rules and add up to a religious system that proved to be empty and useless in the end. He expresses how incredible life became the moment he was allowed to trust in the melody of what his own heart was singing. Learning to live from that place in our hearts that has been denied for so long is the name of the game!

Darin gets a chance to sit down with Daniel Venie in Wasilla Alaska. They talk about how difficult it is for people who are still inside the walls of the institution to understand what has taken place in our lives. So often they see it as an anti-church attitude or a posture of arrogance. When bondage to the law falls off and real freedom trickles in for the first time it’s bewildering to those around you.

Darin and Aimee travel all the way to Wasilla Alaska and find time to record a podcast with their long time friends Heather Sterling and Daniel Venie. Because of some of Darin’s recent medical issues, the conversation turns to the subject of how to deal with suffering. Heather Sterling is no stranger to suffering and is currently on the list for a Kidney transplant. She offers some amazing insight to Darin as well as some thoughts and ideas that could be life changing to many. Learning to live in the NOW rather than focusing on the future or the past is just one of many things that suffering teaches. This is an amazing interview that everyone should hear.

Darin and Amy talk about how wonderful it is to finally be free from having to force everyone believe exactly how YOU believe. Demanding the everyone be on the same page as you is religion’s biggest hold on the church today. Friendships are abandoned, entire families are excommunicated, personal attacks are launched and life-long relationships are shunned over differences of opinions on things that don’t really matter either way. Only heartlessness survives in a climate where belief is micromanaged to a point where individuality is snuffed out completely.

Darin and Aimee talk about Darin’s recent doctor visits regarding his health and how with each visit Darin is realizing that he’s pretty much on his own. Darin tells about how the arrogance of several of the doctors has affected him personally. Arrogance is usually seen as affecting only the person who is arrogant, but the reality is that arrogance is an outright attack on everyone around. It is one of the most deadly and selfish heart positions a person can take. Whether it’s from a doctor or from a Free Believer, we kill those around us the moment we take such a heart stance. Humility is actually easier, and yet so many people prefer arrogance. This is a heart felt discussion that you’ll want to share with specific friends who you now need to hear it.

Darin and Aimee talk about how some pastors claim to agree with the grace and love message but, they still insist on \"easing their congregation into it\" rather than allowing them to have it all at once. Is it really up to us to \"ease people into this\" or are we supposed to just deliver it and let the cards fall where they may? How much of this is based on a sincere love and concern for the people and how much is based on a flat out controlling spirit? Did Jesus ease people into His message or did He just present it? Is there wisdom in holding back or should we deliver this to everyone the same? 

Darin’s wife Angie joins the “Into the wild” cast to tell the story about the traumatic episode that took place this week with their seven-year-old daughter Emma. After telling the whole story, Darin, Angie and Amy get into a conversation about the difference between prayer as they had formerly known it in the organized church, and prayer in the wild. This is an amazing discussion that could redefine the very meaning of prayer in many people’s hearts. It’s hard for people to know how or what to pray once they’ve come into a real revelation of who God is. When the fear is gone, things no longer have to be scripted and memorized. Your heart begins to crave something REAL and authentic. Making this adjustment is extremely difficult. Many Free Believers have just about given up on understanding prayer altogether because of the religious contamination that surrounds it. Could this be the beginning of a new understanding?

Darin meets with his two friends Faith Marquez and Kate Roe. The three discuss how the very meaning and heart of giving has been drained out of our current definition. This wonderful expression of love has been twisted and contorted by charlatans and money hungry preachers to the point where it’s beauty is almost completely gone. The very essence of God’s heart is “give” and this generation is missing it. Kate and Faith talk about the joy they’ve found in the heart of give. The true essence of giving is being recaptured by Christians everywhere and it looks nothing like what we’ve been told.

Darin and Aimee talk again with Aida Calder about how the human heart can rationalize any situation in life and make believe that it\'s not what it is. Many people who suffer abuse have learned to cope with it by rationalizing the abusers actions away until they\'ve even convinced themselves that they\'re really not being abused. Especially in the religion of Christianity, we have taught ourselves to make excuses for the leaderships behavior and assume the best of their intentions when the worst is staring us in the face. There is a point in every abused persons life where he or she must get a revelation of themselves and of their situation. It is often a shocking revelation because abused people redefine their abuse, making it something much more tolerable. \"Being seen\" is that point in our lives where the truth of what\'s really happening to us confronts our imaginary world we\'ve made up in order to cope with life. 

Darin has a chance to speak with one of his closest friends and confidants, Aida Calder. The two talk about the ugliness of spiritual abuse. Many people have suffered from this type of abuse for so long that we don’t even recognize it anymore. We’ve become like the battered wife who doesn’t even flinch when we’re called names or talked down to. Aida has spent a great deal of her life working with people who have come from spiritually abusive situations. She is considered by some to be an expert in this area. You’ll enjoy her wonderful and insightful personality. In addition to running and moderating the main Free Believers forum, Aida also has several of her own blog pages. “Forgetting the Former Things” http://forgettingtheformerthings.blogspot.com/ and a site dedicated entirely to recovering form spiritual abuse; “Setting the Captives Free” http://no-more-chains.blogspot.com/.

Darin, Aimee and Heidi Venie talk about how difficult it is for the inner part of us to embrace and live by the truth about God\'s heart while the outer voice of religion speaks lies and manipulation. Heidi talks about how she learned to do just that while serving as a worship leader in a local church. This is technically part 4 of the earlier interviews Darin did with Heidi when she was in town from Alaska. This is such a great conversation that is beneficial to both Free Believers and people who are seeking truth. Learning to listen to and trust our heart over our head is a life long assignment for everyone of us.

Darin talks with his long time friend Faith Marquez about what has become her favorite past time. The two share a great conversation about how the very subject of “GIVING” is rarely brought up among Free Believers today because of the stench associated with it. Most of us cannot even stand to hear a few words spoken on this subject because of our past experiences with it. Faith Marquez has a simple and refreshing outlook on the heart of giving. She and Darin discuss how each of us can reclaim this beautiful “Key To Everything” and unlock the hearts of people around us. This is a great conversation that Free Believers everywhere need to revisit and understand.  

Darin and Aimee pick up from last week and go deeper into the conversation about how many of us have actually crippled ourselves by purposefully not participating in life because we’ve been taught to wait on God’s power to live life for us. Our churches have become spiritual veal farms where Christians are taught NOT to use any spiritual mussels in their entire body and to rely on God to do everything for them. The result of this religious upside-down understanding of the role of God’s power is that some of us need years of “spiritual/physical therapy” in order to learn to do the simplest of things in life. Sadly, for many folks, living in the wild is a time of relearning mussel coordination and balance so we can become normal again and at least make it to the starting line.  

Darin and Aimee get into a conversation about how many people have a performance based relationship with God in which HE is the one who is expected to perform. It’s an ironic twist from what we normally consider “performance Christianity.” We have been taught to judge God by how well He performs for us. This is a highly religious mentality that creeps up on us and eventually takes the place of authentic intimacy. Christianity becomes about what God can do for us rather than knowing Him and falling in love with His heart. Most people don’t even know they think this way until they’re faced with the possibility of not getting what they want from God in a specific circumstance.  

Darin and Amy talk about the power and necessity of each believers acknowledgment that they are one with God. Religion tells people about a god that is separate and far away. The mystery of authentic Christianity is that He is not separate from us, but He is one with us. We cannot reveal Christ to people without revealing ourselves. This is the missing link in this generation. We have been trained to talk about God as if He were someone in the next room. Who we were personally was insignificant and a separate issue. Today however, we are realizing that when we embrace the truth that we are one with the father, we actually become the message. We no longer think in terms of opening up the bible to an unbeliever in an effort to introduce them to Christ. We simply open ourselves and there He is. The ramifications of this truth stretch beyond our ability to comprehend.