A few weeks ago, my web guy asked whether I\u2019d be interested in adding an AI guide to my websites\u2014something that could help people search for information, explore questions, or stimulate their thinking and prayers in situations they are facing.<\/p>\n
I was skeptical at first. I wasn\u2019t sure we needed another feature. But with thousands of pages from books and blogs, along with hundreds of hours of audio, I began to wonder whether it might help people find resources that would otherwise remain buried. It does a wonderful job of synthesizing my thoughts into a few paragraphs on every topic I\u2019ve covered.<\/p>\n
The contents of my books and Lifestream blogs, along with more than 1,000 episodes of The God Journey, have now been made available to our new Trail Guide. It can help you explore a question, locate relevant resources, summarize material, or point you toward books, articles, and conversations that may be useful for your journey.<\/p>\n
It can also respond in multiple languages, allowing people around the world to receive recommendations and summaries in the language most comfortable for them.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been testing it over the past few days, and I\u2019m genuinely impressed by how helpful it can be. That said, it won\u2019t always get everything right. It is AI, after all. In one of my test runs, it confidently informed me that my friend Luis was from Kenya. He is not, and we trained it not to make that mistake again.<\/p>\n
So, use it as a guide rather than an authority. And should it tell you something that doesn\u2019t sound like me\u2014or simply gets the facts wrong\u2014please let me know. To find it, simply click on this button on the bottom right of any page at Lifestream.org<\/a> or TheGodJourney.com<\/a>. They look like this:<\/p>\n At Lifestream:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n At The God Journey:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It is the same bot, so the answers you get will be drawn from all the resources at both websites. We\u2019ve also included information from \u00a0My Friend Luis<\/a>.<\/p>\n To give you a taste of how you can use it, here are three sample questions I posed to it:<\/p>\n Question: <\/b>I love the way Wayne presents relational church life, but what would he say about Hebrews 10:25, \u201cforsake not the assembling of yourselves together.\u201d<\/p>\n Trail Guide:<\/strong> In Relational Church<\/a>, Wayne points out that this passage has \u201csuffered more abuse than\u201d almost any other Scripture. It\u2019s been weaponized to mean you must show up to a Sunday service regularly or you\u2019re disobedient\u2014but that\u2019s not what the writer of Hebrews is talking about. The call is to relationship<\/em>, not to meetings. It\u2019s about staying connected, not isolated. Wayne notes that he\u2019s watched gifted people \u201cdie on the vine\u201d because they got relationally isolated\u2014and that\u2019s<\/em> what the passage is warning against.<\/p>\n The real assembling, as Wayne sees it, happens when your life is genuinely open to others\u2019 lives and theirs to yours. In Thinking Outside the Box<\/a>, he explores the Greek word for \u201cgathered together\u201d\u2014it\u2019s reflexive, intimate, suggesting real interconnectedness. That can happen in a pew, sure. But it also happens at coffee with a friend, in a home, or anywhere two or three are genuinely present to each other in Jesus.<\/p>\n The point isn\u2019t where<\/em> you assemble or how often<\/em>. It\u2019s whether you\u2019re living in authentic connection with other believers who know you, encourage you, and help you grow in Jesus. That\u2019s what Hebrews is protecting\u2014and Wayne would say that\u2019s exactly what relational church life offers.<\/p>\n _______________________<\/p>\n Question:<\/b> I am frustrated with my wife\u2019s spiritual journey. She doesn\u2019t seem to share the same level of passion. What might Wayne say to help us?<\/p>\n Trail Guide:<\/strong> I hear the frustration, and Wayne has thought deeply about this. The heart of what he\u2019d say is this: your wife\u2019s spiritual journey is hers<\/em>, not yours to manage or measure against your own passion.<\/p>\n In \u201cLonely Seasons On a Relational Journey<\/a>,\u201d Wayne talks about a couple where the husband had deep spiritual passion but the wife\u2019s approach was different. Instead of letting him have his own journey, she kept trying to badger him into alignment with hers\u2014and it became painful for both of them. The answer wasn\u2019t to make him see what she saw. It was to stop trying to control his path.<\/p>\n The same applies in reverse. Wayne has written about this in \u201cThe Obnoxious Self<\/a>\u201d and touched on it in \u201cThe Simplicity of a Loving Life<\/a>\u201c\u2014when we\u2019re passionate about something spiritual, we can become deceptive in our passion to help people see what we see. We end up trying to make them into versions of ourselves, which actually damages the relationship.<\/p>\n What Wayne encourages instead is to let her be herself on her own journey with God. Support her where she is. Don\u2019t badger, evangelize, or try to awaken her to your level of passion. That\u2019s between her and the Father.<\/p>\n For a deeper exploration of marriage when partners are on different spiritual paths, I\u2019d point you to the curated collection on Family Life<\/a> in The God Journey archives\u2014there\u2019s real wisdom there about honoring each other\u2019s journeys.<\/p>\n _______________________<\/p>\n Question:<\/strong> I\u2019m thinking about forming a house church in my area. Would Wayne have an advice for me?<\/p>\n Trail Guide:<\/strong> Wayne has a lot of wisdom on this, and it flows from his deep conviction that the church Jesus is building is far more organic and relational than most people imagine.Start with \u201cFinding Church<\/a>\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s his book on exactly this question. Wayne explores what authentic church actually looks like when it\u2019s not bound by institutional structures. He talks about the beauty of smaller, relational gatherings where people can truly know one another and encounter Jesus together, rather than performing for an audience. The book will give you a framework for thinking about what you\u2019re building.<\/p>\n Beyond that, Wayne\u2019s core conviction is this: don\u2019t start with a model or a program. Start with people and relationship.<\/strong> In his teaching on church, he emphasizes that real church happens when a group of people genuinely know the Father\u2019s love and are learning to live that out together. It\u2019s not about getting the structure right; it\u2019s about creating space where people can be honest, vulnerable, and help one another encounter Jesus more deeply.<\/p>\n A few things Wayne would likely encourage: First, make sure the foundation is grace, not performance or control. Second, let the gathering serve the people\u2019s real spiritual hunger, not an agenda. Third, invest in genuine relationships\u2014that\u2019s where the real work of God happens. And fourth, stay flexible. Let the Spirit lead rather than trying to replicate someone else\u2019s model.<\/p>\n For more on the nature of relational church life, explore the curated page \u201cWhere will I find the church Jesus is building?<\/a>\u201d \u2014 it has organized links into Wayne\u2019s teaching on authentic community.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n People often ask me where to find certain things on my website; this will make it much easier and more fun for you to explore on your own.<\/p>\n What do you want to ask our Trail Guide?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lifestream.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-31-at-6.12.32-AM-200x71.png\")
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Wayne takes that verse seriously\u2014but not the way many churches do. He\u2019d say the problem isn\u2019t with Hebrews 10:25 itself; it\u2019s with how we\u2019ve narrowed what \u201cassembling together\u201d actually means.<\/p>\n