Six Four Three

From time to time I see a bumper sticker that says "coexist" using some symbols from various religions. It's a clever little way to send a message of universalism and religious harmony to their fellow road-ragers. This concept is, of course, very popular these days and Jesus is often used as a symbol of peace and love. Today I came across a passage in Matthew that might cause some to pause when using him as a symbol of religious tolerance.

Mat 10:34-42
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Check this out, this might be the most you learn all week now that school is out.

Our good friend Chris Gonzalez is part of a leadership offered by the City of Tempe. Each year the class does a large project, something that works to benefit the city in some way. This year they had the great idea of putting up old parking meters (gutted of their mechanical parts) all along Mill Ave for people to put change into to benefit homeless in Tempe. So now, instead of giving your loose change directly to those who panhandle along Mill, you are encouraged to feed the meters. The money from the meters will go to benefit organizations in Tempe like the Tempe Community Action Agency, the Salvation Army, Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development and HomeBase Youth Services. Praxis is sponsoring one of the meters so the next time you are down on Mill, make sure to look for our meter and help fight homelessness in Tempe.

The Arizona Republic wrote an article about the meters HERE

This was really convicting for me.

Economic Stimulus Payment & Christ
April 28, 2008 | By: John Piper

For a moment, forget the political puzzle of getting money back when the country is nine trillion dollars in debt. The more immediate question is: How will you make much of Christ with your "economic stimulus payment"? The president says it will be in the mail in time for Cinco de Mayo.

Clue: Nobody in the world will see you spend your money on yourself and conclude that Christ is your treasure. They will assume you are just like them, no matter how loudly you thank God for this boon. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend it on yourself (the way we do with most of what we earn). Not everything we do can look different from the world—eat, pay utilities, fill up the car, wear clothes (even thrift-store clothes). And yes, we hope (somehow) that spending on ourselves in some way contributes to our being more Christ-exalting people.

But do we really need this money? Very few do. We would have gotten on fine without it. If we didn’t know it was coming, we wouldn’t even be feeling the desires we are feeling right now.

May I encourage you to be radically creative and hedonistic. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). And those crazy Macedonians in a “severe test of affliction” and in “extreme poverty” had an “abundance of joy” that overflowed in a “wealth of generosity.” They even begged Paul “for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:2-4). They really believed what Jesus said. Really.

Before the check comes dream of some person or ministry which might make much of Christ because you treasured him above your next home project.

The reason God created money and enabled us to earn it is so that we could show by the way we use it that money is not our treasure, Christ is. That’s why the checks are coming. So we can make Christ look great.

“Be content with what you have, for he has said,
‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5-6).

Tip o' the hat to Ryan Healy for this gem. A couple weeks ago I linked to the wildly popular "stuff white people like" blog. It's a hilarious look at, well... stuff white people like. It ranges from Arrested Development to Sushi to San Francisco but it always hits home. My brother commented to me the other day that it is more specifically "stuff white people at praxis like" and I agreed. Anyway in typical Christian fashion, I bring you Stuff Christians Like. I normally have strong negative feelings towards Christian knock offs of secular brilliance but in this case I will make an exception. Mostly because the #1 things Christians like according to the website is "Putting a God Spin on Popular Secular Ideas". So at least the guy knows what he is doing. Enjoy.

The question I am left with from this and other (weaker) attempts at mimicking the secular culture is, "Why can't we come up with the good stuff first?" I acknowledge that this might be the wrong question but its always the one that sticks. Even the idea of ripping off popular stuff isn't ours, pop culture does this to itself constantly. I don't know, maybe I'm hoping for too much or maybe our most creative Godly people are off saving people and praying and don't have time to think of cool blogs (and God bless them if thats true). Maybe our desire to be cool is the problem in the first place, I mean why do I care that we can't come up with cool stuff? This doesn't seem to be a big concern for Jesus, why is it for me? Why do I feel the need to be thought cool by a bunch of people who I don't know and who are hopelessly lost? Should the product of a lost people even be copied? Have their products brought them hope, grace or joy? Or anything eternal at all? Lots of questions. Few Answers.

So I feel pretty confident in my National League picks, but the AL is another story. The top teams seem to have something of a strong hold on the playoff spots (with the lone exception of the AL Central) but the greater difficulty for me is that I just don't pay nearly as much attention to the Junior Circuit. So as much as I don't promote betting...seriously don't bet these predictions.

AL West
1. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - There is a good chance that they could win the division by 15 or more games if John Lackey is healthy enough to make at least 28 starts(This will be a theme throughout the Al as it seems that a lot of teams are relying on oft-injured players).
2. Oakland Athletics - This pick only stands if they hold onto Joe Blanton and Huston Street. If Rich Harden makes 25 starts and Bobby Crosby plays at least 130 games at short, they could surprise some people.
3. Seattle Mariners - The have been kind of a trendy pick to surprise because they picked up Erik Bedard but Sexson still strikes out too much and Adrian Beltre is still Adrian Beltre. That being said, if King Felix can be dominant they will pass Oakland.
4. Texas Rangers - Can still hit even without Teixiera, still can't pitch, even with Jennings/McCarthy.

AL Central
1. Cleveland Indians - The Indians are the most well-rounded team in the Central; everyone else has holes, they have no holes.
2. Detroit Tigers - They cannot compete all year with that bullpen, they need Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney back and soon.
3. Minnesota Twins - They will need Mauer and Morneau more than ever and they will need a big year from 2 or more of their youngsters, but I can see it happening.
4. Chicago White Sox - Kenny Williams mystifies me, he makes deals like he is a contender that just needs to tweak things, but the reality is that they are a long ways away.
5. Kansas City Royals - The best that fans in Kansas City can hope for is that they don't suck as bad as usual.

AL East - This is by far the toughest division because the perennial top teams have some real fatal flaws and the Rays and Jays are up and coming. You could see a real shake-up this year.

1. Boston Red Sox - So I guess I don't believe my own ideas. Ultimately I think they have the most balanced team, great offense, two great starters and the best closer in the AL. The key for them is what they can get out of Buckholz, Lester, Delcarmen etc.
2. Toronto Blue Jays - So obviously this is a huge upset pick. My reason for this pick is simple, A.J. Burnett is in a contract year (opt-out clause) so he will make 30 starts. If Halladay can join him and Vernon Wells' shoulder is healed completely, I think they can overcome the Evil Empire.
3. New York Yankees - This is the year that it all falls apart for the Yankees. They have been winning with a historically powerful offense for a couple years now and piecing together a pitching staff. This year the bad pitching bites them in the butt. Phil Hughes won't make 20 starts, Wang's ERA will rise because he can't strike anyone out, Mike Mussina will become Charlie Hough and Andy Petitte will be their only decent starter. No playoffs in the final year at Yankee Stadium.
4. Tampa Bay Rays - Taking the word "Devil" out of their names will be good for a 10 game improvement and they will not be in last place.
5. Baltimore Orioles - This team is going to be really bad. They will be worth watching, though, because their shortstop Luis Hernandez could go down as the worst position starter in history. He committed 9 errors this spring, but at least he can't hit.

Last year about this time I made predictions about the outcome of the Major League Baseball season. In retrospect, I was remarkably accurate and intend to be such this year as well. As I did last year I will give you the standings and a short note on each. I will do the NL first and the AL later this week or early next. I do not condone gambling, but these are a good bet.

NL East
1. New York Mets - Bringing Johan in solidifies an otherwise shaky rotation and an aging Carlos Delgado will be worse this year than last.
2. Atlanta Braves - A little luck and the Braves can win this division. The luck they need is mostly health, as they will rely on Hampton, Glavine and Jones heavily.
3. Philadelphia Phillies - I love their lineup - especially a big three of Utley, Rollins and Howard - but that pitching staff/bullpen looks terrible
4. Washington Nationals- They weren't nearly as bad last year as I thought they would be, mostly thanks to Ryan Zimmerman, but they won't win 80 games once again
5. Florida Marlins - This Marlins team doesn't seem as poised to return to the series as previous stripped down teams - but for you fantasy owners grab Jeremy Hermida after the 15th round, this is his breakout year

NL Central
1. Milwaukee Brewers - Is this the year that Ben Sheets makes 35 starts? Don't bet on it, but Rickie Weeks will bounce back and the offense will carry the Brew Crew
2. Chicago Cubs - Fuko-who? At least they aren't relying on Mark Prior anymore
3. Cincinnati Reds - The only thing holding this team back is Dusty Baker. If Johnny Cueto, Homer Baily, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto are all playing by July, they could make a late run.
4. Houston Astros - They spent the offseason trying to convince us, and themselves, that they were contenders. It didn't work.
5. St. Louis Cardinals - Pujols will be shut down by June if they know what's good for them.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates - Just bad and getting worse, no real help on the way either.

NL West
1. Arizona Diamondbacks - I took some heat last year for predicting the D-Backs would win the west and I was right. This year Haren and Webb will both win 17 games, Chris Young will go 30/30, Stephen Drew will rebound at the plate and C-Jack will have an .OPS of .875.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers - They are a mess at 3B and if Juan "The Outman" Pierre gets 500 AB's the race won't be close. But if Torre can hand the reigns to Kemp, Loney, Martin et al, this race will go down to October
3. Colorado Rockies - If it weren't for an insane and un-duplicatable hot streak at the end of the season they would have finished in 3rd. They are good, but the pitching still trails the hitting significantly
4. San Diego Padres - Starting in Left Field for your San Diego Padres...Jody Gerut, yes that Jody Gerut, the one who hasn't played...at all... since 2006.
5. San Francisco Giants - I'm on suicide watch for my friend Chris, this team is bad and could be historically bad...I can't wait.

Some of you knew that the Arizona Republic was doing an article on Praxis, some of you did not. I tried not to tell very many people because we didn't know what the content was going to be, nor the specific location of the article. There were some rumblings that it could be on the front page, but I wasn't sure. Plus it's was more fun to get phone calls from friends and family who just picked up the paper and saw my ugly mug on it. Both of my grandparents and my uncle and aunt that live here were pleasantly surprised to see me on the front page yesterday and that was pretty cool. I had known for a couple months now that they were doing a story on us and had been anxiously awaiting its release. I walked into my local Starbucks at about 6AM on Sunday to hear the baristas yelling "you are on the front page!" I had no idea that we were going to get a spread like we did, so that was pretty cool. If you haven't seen the article click here. I want to thank John Faherty, the writer, he did an excellent job and (as Nick pointed out) very generous to say that I sometimes only preach for 30 minutes.

Also check out the slide show linked on the top right of the article, under my picture.

This summer I will be preaching through my first ever truly topical series. I'm going to call it Ecclesia and its going to be about the church. I have started a list of topics that I am going to preach on but the list is incomplete. So here is what I need from you: more topics. Below is the list so far, feel free to add to the list anything that you think would be good for me to preach on. I'm not guaranteeing that I will use all the suggestions but I will use some. So fire away.

Baptism
Prayer
Worship
Evangelism/Missional Living
Preaching
Community
Giving
Sanctification
Communion
Responsibility for the poor
Church Discipline

I am constantly entertained by articles like this one, that will go to the ends of the earth to explain away supernatural events. Most of the theories are at least plausible and may at least attempt to give some hard evidence to support it. This guy, though, uses the old, "this one time I smoked some crazy drugs in the Amazon" routine and applies that to Moses getting the 10 Commandments and seeing a burning bush. I don't want to take him too seriously, so maybe we can all just laugh in reply.