More parties

I don't think Christians party enough.

One of the ways that Jesus described how things 'should be' is when he said "The kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding banquet". - have you ever seen how the Jewish people party?#!

I think that we were created to Celebrate... Specifically, I think we've been created to celebrate God and His work/actions EVERYWHERE WE SEE IT.

No amount of darkness can erase the Divine imprint of God in every human life. Every time we find something good, godly inside of someone, we should celebrate that! When a single mom works her rear-end off to care for her child, we should HONOR that as something from God. Everytime an addict enters recovery we can celebrate with him - whether he knows it or not, he's just done something that God would want him to do.

What is there in the life a Mormon or Buddhist or atheist that is right, true, lovely and worth celebrating? Isn't all truth God's truth? I think that WAY too often Christians take a "we're right" approach to such a level that we communicate the wrongness of everyone else and therefore create a CHASM deeper than is needed.

A side note to the Christians: I think that when our communities (churches) spend most of our time trying to convince people not to sin, then they've missed the point. The point has NEVER been sin management, the point is about who we ARE. It's about Jesus.

One of the first things Jesus described himself as is someone who brings GLADNESS and PRAISE... As opposed to anti-gladness and anti-praise. Once he told us that if the people stopped singing praises - then the rocks would cry out in praise! WE CAN'T STOP THE CELEBRATION!

Anyway, when is the last time you stood still in awe of God and His creation? That's celebration.
Don't you think we move to fast to stop and listen to peoples stories, lives? I think it's "ANTI-KINGDOM" to be so busy that we can't see God's divine imprint in the lives of those around us.

Here's how we would summarize these thoughts at Axis (a church in formation, Fresno, CA)

We believe that the world God created is good, that He creates people in His image, and that no amount of darkness can erase that divine imprint. Because we believe that all of life is sacred, we look for God's fingerprints everywhere. We celebrate the divine in the daily, pursuing lives of hope, gratitude, and worship. God invites everyone everywhere into this way of life, and we believe it is the best possible way to live.

• An atheist who creates great art - we can celebrate his God given gift
• An Al Quaeda member who shows compassion on a sick relative - do we see God's imprint there?
• An Israeli who donates his money to the poor.
• An inner-city gang member who is loyal to his friends.
• A preacher who's starting a church.
• A mother nursing her child.

God's activity is worth celebrating - no matter where we find Him.

---joe