The Full Throttle Fellowship
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 28, 2008
There is a ring on the middle finger of my brother’s hand (mine too). There is an energy drink can hanging from his rear view mirror (mine too). They both symbolize the same thing. Absolute purity before God prior to marriage.
He didn’t always take this stand. Neither did I. Ever since we were little kids our parents told us that we should save our first kiss for our wedding day. They taught us that courtship was superior to dating. They told us to act in such a way so that we could walk unashamed before God. They were absolutely right but sadly and unfortunately, we didn’t listen.
Without going into all the gory details, we both got burned. I went through a 8-month-long relationship with a girl and gave away my first kiss (much to my shame). I had always thought that I would save my first kiss for when I got engaged. Disagreeing with my parents, I thought that this was still very conservative given how many of my friends and acquaintances kissed every girl that they dated. Once I got into a relationship and convinced myself that we were serious, I rationalized, gave into my girlfriend and gave away my first kiss.
My brother didn’t kiss his girlfriend until they got engaged. Only they never got married. Their wedding was called off 11 days before it happened and, like me, he was left with the mental baggage and bad memories.
We both were incredibly humbled; and grateful that God is a God of second chances. We wear rings and have Full Throttle cans hanging in our vehicles to symbolize our radical commitment to total Christian purity. At first it was just a thing between the two of us, but now it has evolved into a growing ideal and movement. The idea of the Full Throttle Fellowship is that as we run full throttle into everything in life, we should also throw all of our energy and devotion into remaining pure and serving God.
We challenge any and all single Christian men to take our pledge and join us. Our pledge is as follows:
Full Throttle Purity Pledge:
My greatest desire is to bring glory to God. I am joining the Full Throttle Fellowship to take a bold, outspoken stand for Christian purity. I believe that sexual purity before marriage is vital. I pledge to place God first in every relationship present or in the future. I dedicate myself before God to protecting the integrity and reputation of any girl I am in a relationship with. I will treat her as my sister in Christ and joint heir eternal. In keeping with my pledge of purity, I vow to not kiss a girl until I am married to her. I pledge before God to treat her in such a way that at any point up to the day of our wedding the relationship could end and we both could continue on unashamed; knowing that we honored the Lord in every way.
The Ring:
In Old Testament times, the Israelites were commanded to bind verses on their foreheads and sew them in the hems of their clothes to constantly remind them of God. Along the same lines, the point of wearing a purity ring is to be a constant reminder of your vow to honor God in your relationship. The ring can be worn on any finger but the ring finger on the left hand. Pattern or shape is irrelevant; the symbol is the important thing.
May God give us the grace to hold fast to our commitment, may we exalt the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in the way we conduct ourselves and may we encourage others to give all they have in the service of our Lord.
Christian/Christ Follower (Mac vs. PC Parody) #4
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 20, 2008
Christian/Christ-follower (Mac/PC parody) #3
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 18, 2008
Christian/Christ Follower (Mac vs. PC Parody) Part #2
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 17, 2008
Christian/Christ-follower (Mac/PC parody) #1
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 16, 2008
Clarification
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 16, 2008
As I type the post I am in Baton Rouge, LA. I drove down to Baton Rouge this afternoon and went to a wake. Tomorrow morning I will be attending a funeral. The funeral is of an 18-year-old boy. He was a guy I grew up with. When I was 5,6,7, and 8 he would come over to my house. His older brother would hang out with my older brother and he would hang with me. Last Friday while driving his car, he lost control of the vehicle, ran off the road, was ejected from the vehicle and killed.
I was on my way home from attending the wedding of two good friends of mine in Sioux Falls, South Dakota when I received a phone call from my mother. She was calling to inform me that my friend had died. I was speechless. I was stunned. I was shaken. You never expect to hear of an 18-year-old dying. Much less your friend. I believe that many times we take for granted the lives God has given us. We fail to realize that each and every day that we are alive and breathing is a gift from God. Even if we do realize it, we rarely live in light of it. That is to say, I rarely live in light of it.
Nicole Nordeman has a song entitled, “Legacy” that I find to be very straightforward. The chorus goes like this, “I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough to make a mark on things? I want to leave an offering. A child of mercy and grace who blessed your name unapologetically-and leave that kind of legacy.” What legacy do you want to leave? That you were a “cool” dude? That you had the fastest car in town? There is only one legacy that you can leave that will make any difference for eternity and that is a legacy of kingdom work. Work advancing God’s kingdom.
How long do you expect to live on this earth? 70, maybe 80 years? Do you realize how insignificant that is? Think of all eternity past. Tens of years, hundreds of years, thousands of years, millions of years, billions of years, trillions of years- a number that no man can number. Now think of eternity to come. The very definition of eternity dictates that it absolutely never ends. What are your 70+ years (If God allows you to live that long)? Absolutely nothing. Your life really is like dust in the wind. Like a wave on the ocean. Like a breath in the wind. Here today and gone tomorrow. So what will you do with the precious little time you have? Jim Elliot famously said that, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep- to gain what he cannot lose.”
In one of my previous posts I said that Christians need to realize that they are “totally wasting” their time in politics. I would like to clarify what I meant by that. It is unfair to make that broad of a statement. But I do believe that Christians that are dedicating their lives- all of their energy and all of their passion to politics- expecting to eventually turn things around and receive political salvation are mislead (and wasting their time). And that was precisely what I was doing with my life.
I may have confused a few people as to what exactly I have been trying to say. I am not trying to say that it is a sin to be involved in politics. Not at all. I am not saying that you are foolish if you are involved in politics at all. I am saying that “political salvation” mindset that many organizations are teaching young people (and taught me) is wrong. Though it may not be their intention, it leads you down a path that results in less reliance on God and more of the idea that “there is strength in numbers so we just need to get our numbers up and we can turn this thing around”. It also leads you down a path that would have you dedicate your entire life wholly to politics. I got into politics when I was young and thought that I was “called” to politics because there were so many great people that I respected telling me that politics was “God’s work”. Imagine if all of the people begging young Christians to get into politics were begging young Christians to go out, be salt and light in a dying world and preach the gospel.
I made the statement that I may never vote again- and I agree, that is a little extreme. Hyperbole, you know? Though I do want to spend my time sharing the gospel in all sorts of environments to as many people as the Lord will allow, I imagine that I will be occasionally involved in politics in some capacity. For instance, if a good friend of mine runs for office I would certainly be willing to help them just as I would help them in anything else. And there is one political issue that I will always be willing to fight over: abortion. Someone asked me while I was in South Dakota if I would be willing to campaign for a measure that would ban abortion and the answer is definitely “yes!”.
What I do not see myself ever doing again is campaign hopping. Looking for political battles to jump into. Just the other day I was in Natchitoches working on an elderly lady’s air conditioner when I saw two Mormons walking down the street passing out their flyers advertising their cultic religion. I couldn’t help think, “What if all the hundreds of Christian kids that I passed political fliers with started passing about fliers talking about Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…” We must live our lives in light of the fact that they are not out own. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
If you are a Christian and you are living on planet earth I can tell you what your calling is. You are, without a doubt, called to preach the gospel – if not in a foreign country, then in America. And if not in a pulpit – then on the streets and to your unsaved siblings and your unsaved friends. Thousands of people around the world are dying everyday and going to hell. Jesus commands us to go out into a lost and dying world and give them the hope of the gospel.
Hardcore Prayer
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 15, 2008
This evening I walked into the church office of the First Baptist Church in Clinton, LA where my Uncle is co-pastor and saw I paper taped on the wall. It was a prayer by John Piper for his church. I think it is amazing.
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O Lord, by the truth of your Word, and the power of your Spirit and the ministry of your body, build men and women at Bethlehem . . .
Who don’t love the world more than God,
who don’t care if they make much money,
who don’t care if they own a house,
who don’t care if they have a new car or two cars,
who don’t need recent styles,
who don’t care if they get famous,
who don’t miss steak or fancy fare,
who don’t expect that life should be comfortable and easy,
who don’t feed their minds on TV each night,
who don’t measure truth with their finger in the wind,
who don’t get paralyzed by others’ disapproval,
who don’t return evil for evil,
who don’t hold grudges,
who don’t gossip,
who don’t twist the truth,
who don’t brag or boast,
who don’t whine or use body language to get pity,
who don’t criticize more than praise,
who don’t hang out in cliques,
who don’t eat too much or exercise too little;
But
who are ablaze for God,
who are utterly God-besotted,
who are filled with the Holy Spirit,
who strive to know the height and depth of Christ’s love,
who are crucified to the world and dead to sin,
who are purified by the Word and addicted to righteousness,
who are mighty in memorizing and using the Scriptures,
who keep the Lord’s Day holy and refreshing,
who are broken by the consciousness of sin,
who are thrilled by the wonder of free grace,
who are stunned into humble silence by the riches of God’s glory,
who are persevering constantly in prayer,
who are ruthless in self-denial,
who are fearless in public witness to Christ’s Lordship,
who are able to unmask error and blow away doctrinal haze,
who are tough in standing for the truth,
who are tender in touching hurting people,
who are passionate about reaching the peoples who have no church,
who are pro-life for the sake of babies and moms and dads and the glory of God,
who are keepers of all their promises, including marriage vows,
who are content with what they have and trusting the promises of God,
who are patient and kind and meek when life is hard.
Pressing for all there is in Christ,
Pastor John
Our Hope
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 5, 2008
As I was driving towards Shreveport this evening with my younger brother on our way to Bible study, I asked him to read me a psalm. He read Psalm 103. It is a very uplifting song of praise and I believes it hits a homerun with regards to the work of Christ. That is very interesting considering it is the old testament, hundreds of years before Christ would come. He is hitting the attributes of God and just exalting the very character of who God is. He is going through the righteousness, the goodness, the power, and the glory of God. And then comes verse ten. And verse ten is right in stride and definitely dealing with the innate character of God. But it is memorable.
Psalms 103:10, “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”
Praise the Lord! That’s just about all I can say in response to that. Praise God. The longer I live and the more God shows me the deceit and wickedness in my own heart – the more I rejoice. I think that it is amazing, the gospel never grows old. I never get tired or telling or hearing the gospel. My heart leaps for joy every time I hear the name of Jesus. If you have ever seen the smallest glimpse of your own vile, filthy, wicked heart- you will never tire of hearing the gospel either.
He doesn’t repay us as we should be! Because we should be damned to hell a million times over for our sin. The wages of sin is death and you earned death. I earned death. I believe that we understand our depravity the more we will praise and glorify Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is not like a story that grows old. It’s not like the story about your friend almost getting in a car wreck that by the third time they start into it you stop them and say, “That’s alright. I’ve already heard the story. I don’t need to hear it again.”
Praise God for the good news that saves to the uttermost.
Extreme Street Preaching.
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 4, 2008
A Passion For Lost Souls.
Posted by: Andrew Axsom on: September 4, 2008
I spent the past few days at my parents house south of Natchitoches, LA- way out in the country. On Monday afternoon, Hurricane Gustav came and took our electricity out. It is actually still out today. We’ve been running on a generator that it powered by the PTO on the back of our tractor for a couple of days now. We have to give the tractor a break every few hours or it will overheat. During the first several hours without power I sat down with my Bible and a candle and began to read. I opened my Bible to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and started in.
After reading the entire book in a short period of time and then reviewing it all again, I came away with a great appreciation for just how sold-out, radical and on-fire Paul was. This man would do anything that he have the chance to witness to someone. He would do whatever it took to get around even the greatest obstacle. He would do anything to further the gospel. That impressed me.
In chapter nine, verse twelve he writes concerning the issue of eating food offered to idols, “Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.” I think it would be the natural human tendency of most people to throw it back in the face of those who were offended and say, “Come one man, I have liberty in Christ – give me a break.” But that is not what Paul does. He says that he would willingly swallow his pride to keep from causing a brother to stumble. Rather, he says he would endure anything to keep from putting an obstacle in the way of the gospel.
Just a few verses down in that same chapter (9) he expounds on the same thought. He writes in verses 19-23, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” That is hardcore. That is radical. That is awesome. Read that through about five times.
Paul had his eyes fixed on Christ and the only thing that mattered to him was the gospel. He would do anything to be able to share the gospel with others. Read that passage again: “though I am free, I became a servant. To the Jews, I became a Jew. To the weak, I became weak. To those under the law, I became as one under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law. I have become all things to all people that I might save some.” That is incredible to me. And incredibly challenging. I start looking around at how little I share the gospel with others, how little I evangelize and I feel indicted. And rightly so.
Without a doubt, we should all have the same mindset that Paul has. We should be willing to give up all of our rights and all of our pride for the sake of the gospel. If God has shown us the darkness of our own hearts and the reality and completeness of the forgiveness we have in Christ, we should want to spend the rest of our lives telling others about Jesus. I don’t say this as though I have perfected the art. But rather, I am preaching to myself.
Two years ago, I came to Shreveport to attend a Hermeneutics class being taught by a Bible Scholar who directs a seminary in India. There I met several other young men who really had a passion for the Lord and a desire to spread the gospel. I was very impressed. These men invited my brothers and me to attend a Friday night Bible study with them. We came to their Bible study and were amazed. These men were truly “on fire” for the Lord. They had a seemly unquenchable desire to tell others the good news about the savior. I had never met anyone like them before in my life. But I knew that I needed the encouragement of brothers like that to challenge me and encourage me to “seek first the kingdom of God”. From that day forward we have attended the Friday night Bible study and now, two years later, we (my older brother and I) have an apartment in Shreveport and worship with them every Sunday and Wednesday as well. They constantly challenge me to have a passion for lost souls. And likewise, I challenge you: pray that God would give you a passion for lost souls.
They say that 150,000 people are dying each and every single day that goes by. Men are dying in their sin. Dying without Christ. We must tell them the good news. We must tell them that there is hope in Jesus Christ.
