January 25 Axis Upcoming Stuff

Axis is a strange thing. We don’t do much that is normal, have you noticed? We are a church that has both started and is starting. We meet every week, yet not in a traditional way. Let me tell you about our eclectic next gatherings that we call church.

#1. JUST WALK ACROSS THE ROOM – this Sunday
We’ve got a choice as a new church, we can take (steal? Borrow?) people from other churches as a way to grow or we can invite the un-churched to join us a faith community. You don’t have to know me long to know that I vote for the second choice. I’m very uninterested in growing primarily by way of what we call “transfer growth”. Transfer growth might make Axis look good or successful because we have people in our seats, but it certainly doesn’t seem very helpful to the Kingdom of God as a whole. Transfer growth doesn’t represent any increase in the amount of people who are choosing to follow Jesus in Fresno .

Side note: I DO believe that we need many Christians in order to help get Axis Community Church off the ground… I do not believe that we need to be EXCLUSIVELY un-churched – and so, that’s where you come in!

Because of this we’ve decided to do a small group studies about how to share our faith with other people. The Study is called “Just Walk Across the Room”. The stakes are high, join us as we wrestle with and learn about how to share our faith.

This Sunday at 4pm.

The Rich’s Home: 250-7322
181 E.
Escalon Ave Fresno , CA 93710 (use mapquest or visit our
website)

The Green’s Home: 916.9545
8393 N. Thyme Way Fresno ,
CA 93720 (use mapquest or visit our website)

#2. SUPERBOWL SUNDAY – February 4, 2007
We wonder if church’s party enough?! Have you ever read the Old Testament and noticed some of their celebrations? This is nothing compared to those, but it is something!

Game starts: 3:25pm

The Green’s Home (see above
address)
Multiple TV’s
Classic Football food/snacks
Games/prizes
We
WILL watch the commercials!

We believe that these events ARE church. Church is more about PEOPLE than a building. So, we ask you to consider these events as serious as you would a ‘normal’ church gathering on a Sunday.

Christians and Profanity

Today I was driving out by Millerton Lake (for you locals - I've never been out there before today) and I was reminded of something from my childhood. Below you'll see some snapshots taken with my phone.

I was in the 4th grade and I was riding in the back of a small toyota pickup truck with a shell over the bed. Mr. Becker was driving and my friends and I were sliding around as we took the curves... we loved it. Eric Becker and his younger brother Kevin were alot of fun to hang out with. This particular day we were headed up to Lake Cuyamaca for a day of fishing (well, at least Mr. Becker intended to fish).

As we neared the lake, Eric and I saw signs for the Dam at the same time. We looked at each other and then we both giggled. Then we proceeded to figure out every way that we could say the word "Dam" with out saying "Damn". We'd say things like "Dam on the lake", but we'd say "on the" really fast and quiet so it sounded more like "Damn lake".

Eric said "Dam!" followed by a lengthy pause and a pointed finger and then said "...over there."

Then I'd say something like "Dam, it..." followed by an equally comical pause "...s over there, see it?". - only a slight variation of Eric's brilliance. I heard once or twice that when Jesus called Herod a "Fox" in Luke 13 that it would be comparable to us calling someone a jerk, a clown or a jackass (or jack#$% if you prefer) - what do you think of that? Have you ever heard anything like that?

Growing up, I wasn't allowed to use words like "piss" or "crap" (or the word "Fart", but that's a WHOLE other story) and at one point there was discussion about whether or not I was allowed to use a word like "geeze" because it sounded too much like I really wanted to say "Jesus". sheesh.

I think it may suprise people to learn that the King James version of the bible can get a bit crude. Forget about "piss" the Kings English went straight to "pisseth". Earlier version of the bible used "ass" and "bastard" - not too mention several examples of asses and bastards throughout the good book.

What do you think about cussing or cursing or whatever you call it? Do you think it's ok for a Christian to use "swear words"?

San Diego Super-Loser Chargers

i'm sad. i mean really sad. i actually have strong emotions after the San Diego loss to New England. i don't really have anything good or positive to say right now. football sucks.

INformation About our Formation 25

INFORMATION:

• We had 22 people at church last Sunday.
• Tithes and offerings are very low right now.
• Mike Rich has stepped up to help as church “Treasurer”
• We had 4 visitors with us last Sunday!

We are starting a video-based small group study on Sunday’s. It’s called “Just Walk Across the Room”. Visit our website for some details. This study is important to our church plant because we are convinced that we’re called to be disciples who make disciples… and making disciples often starts with a walk across a room.

We will be meeting at the Rich’s home AND the Green’s home this Sunday at 4pm for the bible studies. If you’re interested in coming visit the website and you’ll find maps to each house.

FORMATION:
We will be doing our first mass mailing (10,000 postcards!) in February in order to get the word out about the existence of Axis. On February 10th we will be hanging 3,000 doorhangers. If you’re in town, we could REALLY use your help (1:00pm at Kastner Intermediate School). Can you help mobilize a group of people to help??

One of our biggest needs right now is what I’m calling a “Connect Team Leader”. I think it’s crucial to our success to have a strong leader that can help the process of connecting people from their first visit until they are “part” of the community. Stats say that our best chances of growing is when we can take good care of the people that DO show up… funny there are stats like that, it just seems logical to me.

I think we are getting better and better at building a genuine community. Deep, meaningful relationships take time to develop, yet I can see this happening slowly, but surely.

We need more people! We are still trying to gather 50 ‘core’ people to help us get this thing off the ground. Of that 50 people, we need 100% that are willing to contribute financially and practically… it’s a lot of work to “do” church.

iphone

i'm salivating over the new iphone. how ironic is it that i'm preparing a message about how having more stuff doesn't make you happy! arrrg.

...and after we buy a building, hire high capacity staff, and put up that gaudy sign out front, then we can reach out to people in jail, visit the sick and bring shoes to poor children in Mexico...

Brett Favre

I saw this photo and I thought of my wife. See, she's from Wisconsin and is a HUGE Packer fan. I'm really just here to say two things. 1. I love my wife. 2. I hope Brett Favre doesn't retire.

Homosexuality Round 2

This blog is a follow up to a blog that I posted on Myspace. The blog ranked #2 in myspace's "Religion and Philosophy" category. I found it to be facinating and you may want to read it first. Oh, and what was facinating was the responses, not the blog itself... which may be the case here, too.

I tell you the truth... the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ----Jesus, Matthew 21:31

I think that there are two questions that unchurched people ask most often about Churches. Question 1: "What do you think about other religions?" - or some variation. Question 2: "What do you think about Homosexuality?" - or some variation.

I struggle with writing down any sort of response on this topic. I don't have all the answers, I haven't discovered the formula to minister to the gay community. I, like most people, sense the tension over the topic and I'd rather not live in the tension - sometimes. I think God has called me (and Axis, my church) to be open to dialogue on a variety of issues.

WHAT'S A GOOD QUESTION?
The Question isn't, "Should we let homosexuals into our churches?" - they are already here.

A good question is, "Are we going to let them talk about it?". Another good question is "What is a healthy response?"

UNIQUELY UNABLE?
Do you tell a gay person that they are uniquely unable to receive God's grace? Pornography, materialism, gluttony, greed, murder, rage, lustful heterosexual thoughts - Jesus died to sanctify people with those struggles. Is somehow homosexuality unique among the list?

GAY PERSON: "Am I going to hell because I'm in love him/her?"

JOE: "First of all, I'm not the one who judges who goes to Hell and who doesn't, but I can tell you with certainly that you won't go to Hell for loving someone"

GAY IN GOD'S EYES?
I don't think that God sees people as "Gay". God created humanity with more dimensions than sexual expression or attraction. In God's eyes, you are more than just your sexual attractions. I think that the church (and me sometimes) has polarized the issue.

IS BEING GAY A SIN?
The scriptures indicates that homosexual sex is not God's will. Here are some scriptures for you to consider. Genesis 1:27-8; 2:18-24; 19:4-9, Leviticus 18:22; 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, I Corinthians 6:9-10, I Timothy 1:9-10.

BORN GAY?
Some studies indicate that homosexuality is not a choice. Genetic studies have been inconclusive either way. In rats, late pregnancy trauma causes low testosterone in the brain of the male babies, but that doesn't explain females. Some people note lack of nurture of males by fathers as a source of homosexuality. Sexual abuse has ties in many cases. Psychosocial influences and and biophysical influences may play a part. Evidence for the source of homosexuality points to a variety of reasons... no simple single cause seems apparent.

Many gay people that I've talked to would not choose the same-sex attraction if they could choose.


GOD HATES HOMOSEXUALS AND I'M DOOMED TO HELL:
Homosexual sex is not the unforgivable sin. Anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. God doesn't condemn people for being in a state that they didn't choose. Many things in life happen by no choice of ours. Rape. Mental Illness. A bent toward Alcoholism, addictions or even rage might be a product of upbringing or even genetics. Clearly our world isn't fair. My answer would be "NO, I don't think that a person is condemned because of ANY predisposition"

Even if you don't seem to be able to choose your sexual attraction, you can choose your sexual action.... we ALL have a choice whether or not to have sex or not.


IS BEING GAY ABNORMAL?
Only in the sense that none of us are as God originally intended us to be.


THE "LEADER IN CHURCH" QUESTION:
I think the only reason a gay person wouldn't be allowed to lead in a church is the same reason that a heterosexual person wouldn't be allowed to lead... because they aren't willing to follow Christ.

If a heterosexual person is engaged in sexual activity outside of their own marriage, then they aren't going to be effective leaders... and won't be asked to lead at church. This topic melts into the whole "Marriage as a man and woman" issue, which we won't get into today.

Leaders should be following Christ in their sexual actions, this includes wrong heterosexual acts and homosexual acts.


CHURCH TODAY:
If we don't choose to live with whatever tension arises then people will be forced to choose between being loved and accepted in the gay community or being isolated and alone in the church.

Let's not make this as much about being gay or not, but rather about how to be human as God intended.


Special thanks to John Burke, author of No Perfect People Allowed.

Islam vs. Christian

Go ahead and call me sacriligioius if you want, but I thought the following video was hilarious!

Besides the humor (Steve Carell is hilarious), there are definately some things worth thinking about as a Christian.

Should be concerned how we 'come across' to others?

Paverello House Outreach

Date: December 17th
Feeding the poor, homeless, and hungry.

"Whatever you did unto the least, you did unto me."

- Jesus

Jesus calls His church to be a compelling force for good in the world. God uses people as agents of change, to relieve suffering and fight injustice, living out the transforming message of the resurrected Jesus. At Axis, we believe that the church is at its best when it serves, sacrifices, and loves, caring about the things God cares about. We were created to live for something larger than ourselves.

Postmodern Funnies

I found this picture here.

If you're "up" on the emerging, postmodern thing, then this should make you laugh or smile or at minimum smirk.

90 Seconds

HISTORY OF RELIGION

Ran across this site. The history of religion in 90 seconds.
5,000 years of religion - ready, set go...

All the Problems in the World.

I suggest that every problem in the world is a problem of broken relationships, where we aren’t loving toward God, others or ourselves.

I like to talk about relationships a lot because I think that if we don’t get them right, then we have very, very little left with which to build our one and only life.

Let me lay a foundation so that I can say what I really want to say.

First:
I will summarize love as “Doing the very best thing possible towards someone”. It’s foundational to understand that love is so much more than a feeling. The way I will be using it always implies action, not feeling.

Second:
Jesus puts enormous amounts of importance on three relationships.
Matthew22:37-40 records what Christians have called for years “The Great Commandment”. To summarize it says:

• Love God a lot, a lot, a lot.
• Love your neighbor
• Love yourself

Note about loving yourself: Please don’t confuse this with ego or arrogance. Remember my definition for love is “Doing the best possible thing…” In the case of loving yourself that may mean leaving an abusive situation, getting off your a!#, um butt and getting a job, or proposing to the woman you’ve been dating for 6 years. Also note that it’s not, “..love each other instead of yourself…” It’s “AS yourself”.

Let’s think for a minute. If God were to come to earth and summarize the most important thing or things that humans should know, what would he say? Well, he did just that. In the verse I referenced above, Matthew tells us that Jesus was asked, “What’s the greatest commandment”. In other words, what is the most important action for human beings? Jesus tells us to do the best thing possible toward, GOD, OTHERS and OURSELVES.

Now back to my suggestion... I suggest that every problem in the world is a relational problem. I suggest that all of our problems are based on either an inability or an unwillingness to truly love God, others or ourselves.

LOVING RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD BE BASED ON VALUE, NOT BEHAVIOR:

God has the most value, so we should love him not because he’s bigger and stronger, or because we’ll go to hell. We should relate to him through worth-ship. We relate to him well because he is the one who is worth the most… he deserves it.

If a baby is crying and crying in the middle of the night, it’s (pretty much) universally agreed upon that shaking that baby or throwing that baby is wrong. We treat babies well because they have value, not because they behave well (think of poop, and ‘spit-up’ and, well that’s enough). Somehow, someway as people get older we loose sight of treating people well because of value and we began to treat them according to their behavior.

How many times have I (we) treated someone poorly because they were annoying us or they took advantage of us or they’re just weird? It’s easy to flip someone off during Christmas traffic jams, yet we’re told to love our neighbors. It’s important to love them, not because they behave well (they don’t very often), but because they have value.

That brings up the question, “Why do people have value?” I suggest that all humans have value because we were created in the image of God. This by no means suggests that we ARE God or a god.

People have value because no amount of darkness can erase Gods divine imprint on a life.

----------------------------

Love isn’t a sissy word.

If you attack one of my kids, I will do the most loving thing possible by trying to beat your head in before you touch one of my kids. Yes, love protects.

Love isn’t a victim.

If you are being abused physically, sexually or verbally, then the most loving thing you can do for yourself is to leave and leave now. Yes, love protects self. It’s also the most loving thing you can do for your abuser… it refuses to enable destructive parts in them.

God is Love.

I suggest trying to do the very best thing toward God today. For some, that means choosing to follow his ways for the very first time. For others this means you should look for what he’s doing right now in your circle of influence and join him in that…. Or maybe spend some quality time with him.

I choose to be part of the solution, by trying hard to be better at all my relationships. If I’m not part of the solution, then I’m part of the problem.

I like to talk about relationships a lot because I think that if we don’t get them right, then we have very, very little left with which to build our one and only life.

p.s. Thanks to Dean Sherman

Deity Nursing

Gasping for his first breaths of air.
Deity nursing from a peasants breast
He felt mans pain. He longed for the rain.

Mountain range sculptor now clings to a finger
The Word reduced to unintelligible sounds
Worked in mans soil. Shared in his toil.

What could be more puzzling?
Comforting.

aggressive grace

there is more grace in GOD than there is sin in us

grace is disruptive to this world, to me

may GOD'S grace disrupt your life today, and mine

may it be aggressive

ludicrous depths of self humiliation

I'm having a hard time with Christmas this year.

"Booty Shakin' Santa" - $19.97 at Walmart.
A ceramic Nativity with baby Jesus' hands outstretched toward heaven - .97 cents
Silent night?
No crying He makes? (Have you ever been around a newborn?)
Chubby naked baby angels telling shepherds not to be afraid? (Maybe they'd tell the shepherds not to laugh at such a ridiculous sight.)

I think that Hallmark may have ruined Christmas. Or maybe Consumerism has.

I think it's very, very easy for people to subtly distance themselves from the original Christmas story to such a degree that they can't relate to what it meant for the very first readers. What chapter in Luke do we find the elves and candy canes?

Peace? Joy? Celebration?

Christianity never has to sanitize and fluff up reality in order to find peace or joy. True joy and peace are found when we plow right through difficult situations and trust (God) that there is something better on the other side.

So, why do we bother to sanitize the scene? Did cute little angels spray Lysol on the hay before Mary laid the newborn down? Were there bugs in the hay?

Frederick Buechner wrote "in the night among sweet breath and steaming dung of beasts…"

Shit, people. Poop. That's hardly the scene Hallmark projects. That's hardly the scene 99% of the churches present.

Ever wonder why there was no room in the Inn? Maybe Joseph's relatives can count to nine. Nine months of pregnancy – obviously Mary and Joseph didn't "Wait" (like True Love does).

Luke set's the stage by telling us that Augustus was in power. Augustus considered himself divine and ruled through power, conquest, control, and through fear. Matthew set's the stage by telling us that Jesus was born in the time of Herod. Herod ruled through murder, oppression, accumulation of wealth, and manipulation. Both writers confront us with the question, "Who's your king? Who will you serve?"... or probably better stated, "Which Kingdom do you operate in?"

Frederick Buechner: "those who believe in God can never, in a way, be sure of Him again. Once they have seen Him in a stable they can never be sure where He will appear or to what lengths He will go or to what ludicrous depths of self humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of humankind.

Christmas is a story that tells us that there is NO PLACE that God's power and presence will not go in His wild pursuit of mankind.

If God is willing to be born in a barn, then there's no safe place that we can hide from God. There is no place that we can escape His power to re-create the human heart.

It's a story that pits two kingdoms against each other. Is it going to be the Caesars and Herod's of this world or will it be this new King that's on the scene? It's a story that tells us there is a new way to be human. Instead of operating through power and conquest there should be love and compassion. Instead of accumulation, there is generosity. Instead of running from failures, we can now let God forgive and let Him re-create our hearts.

Before the Christmas story can mean anything to us, we must connect with what it meant for the first readers. Then, this story can become ours.

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE:

Herod's kingdom is a pile of rocks. The Caesars are a bunch of guys in togas in our history books. But we're here celebrating Jesus kingdom. Apparently the writers of the Christmas story were on to something.

i am the church

In a total random (if you believe in that) set of circumstances I ran across the following photos less than one hour before I decided the topic for this blog. 

This blog is my contribution to a blog group that I belong too… the topic has to do with church. I choose to title my blog "I am the Church". The actual blog topic is "Is the Church Broken?"...my answer is a resounding "NO!" and an equally passionate "YES!". But that's only becuase I am the church.

I ALWAYS feel the need to elaborate, yet in a rare moment of restraint I will write as few words as I can manage and I will let the photos say the rest.  (at the end I give credit where credit is due)

I am
            the church
            a movement
            countercultural
            a revolution
           
Church is not
                        A meeting
                        A building
                        A denomination

The Church is
                                      People
                                      Possibly you
                                   

 

 

Credit is due to http://thelongbrake.com/ Josh Longbrake writes a blog that i visit and that inspires me. His community photo project (see blog dated 11.08.06) is simply amazing. I've e-mailed Josh and asked him for permission to re-use his photo's here. If I take this blog down, it's out of respect for Josh. Please, Please, Please visit his blog now... reading his thoughts and comments from other people have really touched me deeply. I've not been this encouraged about the Church in a long, long time.