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Come kick off the New Year with us. On January 2nd at 6pm we will launch a 24 hour time of worship and prayer. We will have great music, food and interactive prayer and worship. We need worship teams and volunteers still so your help is needed. Contact us for more information.

The Network

As we look at a network of faith we see the dynamic differences that make us unique individuals and the similarities that exist when we are joined together to impact our commnuties for God.
A Network is defined as:
Something resembling an openwork fabric or structure in form or concept, especially:
a. A system of lines or channels that cross or interconnect:
b. A complex, interconnected group or system:
c. An extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support.

The picture above is a cross section of a nueral network from the brain. Now the brain is comprised of millions of nuerons connected by synapses that transmit the information and form the basis of all brain activity. The body of Christ needs to function in this manner millions of believers unified by the Spirit of God to carry out His plan for this planet.

The Zion project is a network of people from all walks of the Way of Christ that are unified for the sole purpose of loving God and loving people. We are a network that is going to meet the needs of the communites and neighborhhods that we are part of. It is up to us to be a diverse tapestry that looks out for each other and works together for the same cause.

Romans 12:4-5
For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

There is...

a movement among believers that is stirring and if you have not sensed it then you are probably to busy listening to the yabadabadoo song by Rich Mullins. All kidding aside we are in the midst of some exciting; and quite possibly some of the most pivotal times in the history of Christianity. This stirring that is manifesting comes not from a new cool trend or some title that a rogue pastor looking for a few bucks on the book scene came up with. No what is happening is a viral grass roots resurgence of the pure gospel message:
Matthew 22:37-39
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

That is all it takes, no clever strategy or program just showing Gods love! At the Zion project we want to be those instruments of love and encouragement to all regardless of where a persons spiritual walk is or is not. One would be quite arrogant and proud to assume that their faith begets them some sense of entitlement or rank over another human that is in process. We love because God first loved us not because we have been given Gods happy stamp to go around and use at our whim. It is God working in and through us that reveals the very face of our creator.

Our next voyage into the adventure to unify and inspire is The Zion Project Christian Music Festival on September 20th, 2008. For more info please read the flyer below or call us at 559-760-3889.
In Faith,
Mathew

We Need Your Help

Our next event The Zion Project Christian Music Festival is September 20th, 2008 at The Historic Coarsegold Village. We have a great line up of bands in store for the event. Ryan Morgan, Lost Ocean, Gatja, Set in Stone and many other local bands. It will be a day of great music, food, activities and fun for the whole family.
This is the first event of this kind that has been done in our area. It is our goal to make it a unifying event for our local churches as well as an outreach to our community.
We value all you do for Christ and we want your involvement. We are offering a sponsorship for the event for $100.00. Your sponsorship provides you with a booth at the festival that showcases your ministry.
In addition to your ministry being a sponsor of the event we are in need of volunteers for the prayer tent, creative arts booth and the many other tasks that go along with hosting a large event. Additional financial support is welcomed but more importantly we need your prayers.
It takes the work of all of us together to make our region one that is committed to loving as God loves. We look forward to seeing you on September 20th. Thank you for taking the time to learn about the vision God has placed on our hearts.
In Faith,
The Zion Project

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Have you ever wanted to walk into a place where the entire room shouts Norm? I know I have. A group of us were recently hanging out at a Karaoke Bar and I was awestruck by the community that existed at this crazy little place. Like every community there was brokenness, pain and heartache evident. It hit me and I realized that as Christians we sometimes insulate ourselves from the outside world and believe that the work of God is done within the church walls. This perception causes us to lose track of those that need God the most.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (New King James Version)19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law,[a] that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God,[b] but under law toward Christ[c]), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as[d] weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you

This tugging from the Spirit and the Word has prompted us to take on an approach that has been very effective in Ireland and England. We are going to form teams that will go into the world and truly be all things to all people. These groups will be go to local hangouts with one simple mission: to show Gods love. This is in no way promoting drunken outings to bars or a moral decline it is simply meeting people where they are at. More information to follow in the coming days......

Acceptance & Validation

We all walk around this earth with the need to be embraced, loved and accepted for who we are. We seek to be included in some social circle or group that is like minded to us. Even those that feel they are outsiders find acceptance from others that have been rejected.

At some point in the Christian walk we are indoctrinated to this concept of acceptance. We embrace the power that lies in welcoming all that come into our circle with open arms. Now this is a vital part of how we treat others but we must go further than this.

What we seek from being part of a group does not end at acceptance. What we are truly seeking is validation. Acceptance is this "Hey we love you regardless how crappy you are". Validation is "we love you because we know that you are a vital part of what God has planned". What we want is to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Acceptance is hey grab a seat and enjoy the service. Validation is glad to you see you here can you go do this?

In the early days of a church plant we were part of there was a young man that showed up one night. He was hungry and anxious to serve God. We welcomed him with open arms and accepted him then asked him to light the candles before the service. Sounds silly right; let me tell you that it brought such joy to him and all of us around him. Every week it was something more that he wanted to do and to serve, he was part of something bigger than himself.

You see we get caught up sometimes in spending so much time worrying about accepting people that we neglect to take the extra effort to invest and pour into their lives. The relationships that Jesus had were all about validation. The apostles on the beach "Hey how's it goin" (acceptance) "come and be fishers of men" (validation). The women caught in Adultery "whoever is without cast the first stone" (acceptance) "go and sin no more, and come roll with me and my crew" (validation).

As ministers of God (which we all are) we must push ourselves to go beyond the first step of mere acceptance and pursue how we can validate those around us.

Why Unity?

1 Corinthians 1:10
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

This is why we have a passion to unify and inspire the church universal and those disconnected from God. We value and support individual assemblies but reject the walls that unlearned Christians are building to divide the Christian community.
The Zion project is not trying to reinvent the wheel. We are merely taking the word of God and bringing it to His people. Who are His people? Any carbon based man, woman or child that inhabits the planet earth.
Our recipe is this to Love God and Love people it is that easy....

Do It!

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing....
Benjamin Franklin
It goes along well with what we read in James 1 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

So go out there and do something for God today!Do it!

The Blessing of God

After seeing God move in a big way at The Gathering we are left awestruck by the blessing of God. And it brings up the question: How does the magical process of blessing work?
Really it is not that complicated!
Step #1. We listen to Gods Voice
Step #2. We Obey God
Step #3. God pours out His Blessing

It might seem to simple but that is all it takes. God wants nothing but abundance and blessing in our lives and in our congregations. When we are obedient we produce good fruit. It is when we act on our own that we wither away and get pruned. God is not a stranger on the bus or some narsacistic freak that wants to punish us!
You see all to often when things do not go as we want them to we humanize the creator of the universe by rationalizing our circumstances away as a lesson from God or a trial of our faith. Now clearly God works all things for good and works through adversity but many times it is our own actions or lack thereof that puts us in the situation to begin with. Meanwhile God sits back and waits for us to pull our head out as we try to play a game of cosmic chicken with Him. Clearly we lose every time.

We must let God be God!
God wants nothing but blessings upon us. As the scriptures are written:For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.Jeremiah 29:11

Whether we are in a season of Blessing in the Promised Land or wandering in the desert; Loving God and Loving people will always maintain us on a course to the face of God.

Roots

We are resource for the church a network of pastors, servants and rebels. We stand in support of the church universal.
The church is where we have all come from and without it Christianity would not exist today.

Romans 11:16-18
16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

If we deny the church because of some things that we do not like about it then we are chopping down the entire tree on which we are grafted into. We can not throw away the church nor do we need to start over we merely need to harness the power of the Spirit of God to unify and inspire.
In doing that we empower believers to make their local assemblies better. By rejecting the status quo that tradition and religion have placed upon the church we strengthen the body of Christ and build it up for His glory.

Community

Community has become the new buzz word within modern Christianity. So what is community?
Community is defined as a group of people living in the same locality and under the same government: A group of people having common interests:A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society:

Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Even though countless fellowships have embraced the concept of community within their local assemblies and created wonderful subcultures of faith; The church universal has fallen short when it comes to living in community as the bride of Christ. "Community" is loving each other regardless of our personalities, theologies and human imperfections. "Community" is joining together to reach the world around us for the kingdom of God.

"Community" is not some buzz word or coined phrase it is simply this: to love God and to love people.
The Zion Project exists to unify and inspire those around us to live in true authentic "Community".

The Overflow

One can not give to a cause without first being filled up and empowered to do so. Likewise It is from the abundance of our soul that we serve and give our talents for the kingdom of God. Unfortunately today more and more volunteers,youth leaders and pastors are serving from an empty tank. The desire to serve often turns to a burden. Many of these players for the Kingdom have a hard time worshipping in thier own congregations. It is not that they do not enjoy where they serve it is that they end up doing something even on their day off.
Leaders end up trapped by their own place that is suppose to be home. Attending another church within the community is out of the question due to the appearance of a leader from another church "shopping" for another place to worship.

This is creating a group of servants that are serving with a half full chalice. God truly operates in the overflow in our lives not from the bottom of the glass. Even for leaders that are operating with a full tank finding a source of inspiration can be challenging.

The Zion Project has created a place that leaders can go to and get filled without the obligation of serving. This is accomplished because we are not a church. We are a group of believers that have a burden for unifying and inspiring our community. Church volunteers and leaders are a vital part of our community and we want to do all we can to support them and the churches they represent. We want to be a resource and a refuge for all that attend our gatherings.

John 7:38
38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Church-ianity

When I was a kid my Mom drug me to church come Sunday whether I liked it or not. Boring monotony is the only way to describe that experience. When I was old enough I was introduced to the wonderful world of youth group which consisted of staring at girls and playing the latest clever game some underpaid youth pastor created. Upon graduating high school and becoming an "adult" I was now suddenly expected to be assimilated into the world of church-ianity (made up word but it is rad). I always felt out of place with the set few songs a 35.5 minute message followed by a quick bagel and a dash out the door. Does this experience sound familiar to any of you?

The question all this brings me to is where are the people at? More and more people young and old are opting not to be involved in a local assembly. Has church become so predictable that there is little desire for them to come? Do we have more distractions that are keeping us away from the Sunday morning ritual?
I ask these questions not to criticize the church or to point out what they are doing wrong. My intent is to bring out the fact that increasing numbers of those around us are finding little to no value from organized religion. They want to encounter God, they want to see a loving community but the rigidity and structure of 3 songs and a 3 point message have left them desiring more.

There are "relevant" congregations out there that have catered more to the cool crowd but often the desire to have a relevant expression creates a cliq of undiscipled coffee shop philosphers. I think there is a balance that can be accomplished between the dogma of tradition and the shallowness of being relevant. When Paul spoke of being all things to all people he was not just referring to those that were not of the faith. We are to be all things to all believers. The Zion Project has discovered the key to bringing those together that are looking for more from thier overall God experience.

The Zion Project is not a church; this creates a freedom from the expectation and predictability that one automatically expects from a traditional gathering. The Zion Project understands the importance of the local church and the need for a weekly gathering. Thats is why our goal is to bring people from all walks together to allow them to experience God on their terms in a open format that allows the movement of the Spirit without the confinement of time and tradition. The quarterly gatherings of the Zion Project are intended to augment the weekly services of the local churches in our community. Many of those involved are leaders and pastors within our mountain community.

Our mission is to Unify and Inspire those around us to push their faith to a new level regardless of where they are or are not. In doing this we make our local churches stronger and light a spark of change in our community.

The Power of Three!

In the book of Matthew it says "where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” If you take 3 people that are sold out for the concept of Loving God with all their being and Loving People regardless of where their spiritual walk is or is not; these three people could impact an entire community. All it takes is each of the three to unify and inspire ten others to do the same. If you quantify the power of 3 people the numbers are amazing:

3x10=30

30x10=300

300x10=3,000

3,000x10=30,000

30,000x10=300,000

300,000x10=3,000,000

Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

Why Another Church?

Your probably thinking to yourself "Why Another Church when we already have hundreds in my community?" 

Good News; The Zion Project is not a church! We are a group of believers that come from all corners of Faith with a mission to Unify and Inspire the communities we live in by Loving God and Loving People. We get together once a month or so in a multi dimensional worship experience. Zion will offer something for every taste in music, teaching and redefine how you encounter God.

Unify and Inspire? Yes we are taking on the issue that has plagued centuries of Christians. We lay down our non-essential dogmas and theologies for the upward calling of our faith. The Church was never intended to be a group of huddles that isolated themselves from each other and the world and argued over who was more relevant or correct. We want to unify Christians together regardless of our differences. Join us in this awesome adventure.