Generation Axis Blog

Really, You Should Be Celebrating

This morning a chance encounter ushered me into a women's breakfast event over at Willow Creek McHenry County. The event centered around the spiritual discipline of celebration. The speaker, Jodi Walle, talked about how we take other disciplines--like prayer, solititude, journaling, and scripture meditation--very seriously; there are hundreds of books about these spiritual disciplines. But far fewer books exist around the discipline of celebration. But God clearly calls us to celebration--from sabbathing, to honoring what is good, to religious festivals. Jodi called us to reclaim joy and celebration, to be disciplined enough to mark what is good in an intentional way.

So in my (David Crowder Band worship-infused) commute, I was thinking about these themes of identity and celebration, and processing through how hard it often is for us to celebrate the truly good things about ourselves. I would have no trouble shouting the strengths of any person in my life from the rooftops, but I get a little shaky if someone asks me to name just one of my mine. I feel far more comfortable getting honest about my messed-uppedness (People at Willow call these areas "growth edges") than getting honest about my beauty and giftedness. When I celebrate the good in me, I do it carefully, and I brace myself because, for whatever reason, I'm waiting for someone to disagree, to challenge me, to laugh or roll eyes. 

So today, I will (deep breath) celebrate my (um...) beauty. Seriously. And you will celebrate yours. Here are some things that are great about me: I have an adventurous heart. I can be ridiculously kind (see how I'm leaving some room for those times when I'm not? Argh. But you know I'm not perfect. But really--I'm pretty kind). My eyes have a little green circle inside of the blue circle and I really love that God crafted them that way. I love my eyes--take that scoffers.

Are you brave enough to celebrate God's design in you? Celebration is a discipline. Take a step toward obedience in the comment section. Here's the assignment:

1. Celebrate something great about you. 
2. Pick one other person and celebrate them.

I'll get the ball rolling below. Under no circumstances may you praise other people on this blog without admitting something great about you. Be brave. Be real. Admit your own strength. Celebrate.  

Getting Real about Kingdom Impact

In conversation with leaders in Axis, one question that keeps surfacing is "What does a win look like for our hub?" How do we really know that what we're doing is succeeding, is making a difference in people's lives? Personally, I've been asking similar questions--Where am I most useful to the kingdom of God? Am I stewarding my gifts well for the greatest impact?

So here are two stories from my life that make me think about these questions from a different angle:

1. The Crystal Lake East hub launched in August, and we had a pretty great turnout from the beginning. A lot of people came to check it out--some stayed, but some felt like it wasn't quite what they needed.  When someone stops coming, I wonder how we could have served that person better, what we might do differently, whether we're making the impact we hope for.  One person in particular came consistently for the first season, but then faded away. About a month ago, he showed up again and we see him every week. Recently, he checked in with a lot of honesty about how God leaned on him to get back into community and used our hub to draw him back. For all these months, we weren't even aware that God was using us.

2. Last night I got a message on Facebook from a friend I haven't seen in almost ten years. I only knew him for a season in college and while I thought he was really keen for that season, we really just knew each other through some mutual friends. As we caught up a bit about our lives, he mentioned that he still has a note I wrote him--complete with stick-figure drawings--that encouraged him in a hard season. I've long since forgotten that note, but God was still using those moments long after I had moved on.

The thing about impact is that we only sometimes see the fruit of our efforts. Some days we spend all our energy working on some big kingdom mission for God and what he will use most from that day is that one moment at Target where we offered kind words and a smile to the cashier. We won't always know how much this moment means. I'd wager we rarely see the whole picture.

I'm not saying we shouldn't ask where the "win" is or look for signs of fruitful impact. But I am saying that we sometimes won't see what God is using, and what we think of as failure might be a really important piece to the puzzle. The best "win" might be showing up in each moment with our hearts open to His leading, trusting that we don't need to see the end result in order to have significance.

Let's live as if our every moment has impact.

I Corinthians 3:6-11:
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Breathe it in, Act it out.

No Seminary Required from Axis on Vimeo.

The Relational Power of the Word "No"

Really, Just Say No from Axis on Vimeo.

Accountability - Love = Judgment

Love and Accountability from Axis on Vimeo.

I will not worship my facebook relationship status.

Idolizing Not Being Alone from Axis on Vimeo.

When does a relationship become an idol?

Relationship Vs. Idolatry from Axis on Vimeo.

God is Speaking

God is Speaking New Things from Axis on Vimeo.

Jesus is not impressed with my spiritual gold stars.

Spiritual Gold Stars? from Axis on Vimeo.

Are you sulking or Celebrating? (Prodigal Son, Part III)

Are You Sulking or Celebrating? from Axis on Vimeo.

Sabbathing and Hanging Out?

Sabbathing & Community from Axis on Vimeo.

Rabbi?

First, can I just say that I am so energized by really good conversation? Last night I got so much out of the conversation we’ve been having at The Drive-In (the Crystal Lake East hub J). I love getting to walk through life with these amazing people, debating the mysteries of the universe as we go.

So last night we talked about Jesus, our Rabbi. It was interesting learning some of the Jewish context—learning about yoke and authority from a new angle, but our discussion really took off when we started to look at how the disciples might have felt as they were chosen by Jesus, as they left their lives and followed him. Jesus selected some unlikely candidates, people who had a certain stench. Peter’s was literal, from the fish he worked with daily; Matthew’s was social—his occupation as tax-collector instantly provoked hatred. These were not the promising youth, these were not the religious elite. And as I’m process last night’s conversation about them, here’s what makes my heart glad:

I imagine these men spending their lives trying to compensate, you know? Trying to convince people that they are honorable, maybe even trying to convince themselves. Maybe they don’t think very highly of themselves. Maybe they are just trying to get through life because the greatness ship has already sailed and they are in survival mode now.

Have you ever met someone who has amazing charisma? Wherever they are, people want to be with them? There’s a power in their presence, there’s a strength to them, people feel loved, people feel seen. I know people like this, and to be honest I’m sometimes a little flustered when I meet them, wondering why such a super-cool person is talking to me. (My ability to “make awkward”—to quote my friend Jon C—goes up in direct proportion with how much I want a person to like me, so that’s always fun.)

Anyway, none of the super-keen people I know are the messiah, so I imagine Jesus was like this, only a whole lot more. When he was talking, people just wouldn’t leave. He had to teach from a boat sometimes to create some distance. He had to basically hide to get time alone with God. Children wanted to be near him, and you know how kids can tell who the real good guys are J

And this is the rabbi—I mean, really, The Rabbi--who sees these outcasts and invites them to become like him. They may have given up on themselves, but this does not disqualify them. They were used to people looking down on them, but somehow this doesn’t matter. They must have been stunned.

Because Jesus sees greatness in each of us. In fact, he designed it. 

And that makes me want to follow Him everywhere.