The Axiom Church Podcast

Conflict is inevitable. We face it in our families, friendships, workplaces, and even in the church. The question isn’t if we’ll fight, but how. Scripture doesn’t call us to avoid conflict or to win at all costs — it calls us to engage it with honesty, humility, and hope.

Psalm 82

Asaph was not a king, prophet, or warrior—he was a songwriter. A poet. A worship leader in the temple who gave voice to both the beauty and the brokenness of life with God. His psalms are full of honesty: he wrestles with doubt, protests injustice, remembers God’s faithfulness, and longs for the world to be set right.

Through Asaph’s songs, we discover that faith is not about having it all together. Faith is learning to bring our whole selves before God—the joy and the grief, the gratitude and the lament, the certainty and the questions.

In this four-week journey, we will learn from Asaph how to pray honestly, to see worship as more than ritual, to remember God’s faithfulness when life feels dark, and to find our ultimate hope in Christ, who fulfills the longing cries of the psalms.

At Axiom, we believe worship is not just singing songs—it’s learning to live in God’s presence with honesty, hope, and courage. Come and journey with us as we enter Asaph’s psalms, songs born in the shadows, that still lead us into the light of Christ.

Psalm 50 reading. In despair, Asaph remembers the mighty acts of God—deliverance at the Red Sea, faithfulness through generations. Memory becomes medicine. He teaches us to look back in order to hope forward.

Text: Psalm 73
Asaph looks at the world and is undone—why do the wicked prosper while the faithful suffer? He brings his confusion and envy into prayer rather than hiding it. In the sanctuary, he discovers that God’s presence reframes reality.
Focus: Learning to pray with honesty before God; doubt and disillusionment as a doorway into deeper trust.
Practice: Journaling prayers of raw honesty. Bring to God what you normally keep hidden.
Tone: “Faith is not pretending everything is fine; faith is bringing everything—especially what isn’t fine—into the presence of God.”

Francis abandoned wealth, pride, and comfort to embrace poverty and joy. He shows us that simplicity is not just minimalism—it’s liberation. Through creation, care, and humility, he embodied Christ’s freedom.

After a profound spiritual awakening during recovery from war wounds, Ignatius devoted his life to helping others listen deeply for God’s voice. He teaches that discipleship is not about frantic doing, but about rooted discernment—choosing what leads us deeper into love.

Menno Simons gave his life not to build a movement, but to follow Jesus faithfully. In a world bent on violence and power, he modeled peace, community, and cross-bearing love—even at great cost.
Focus: Choosing peace and humility over control
Key Texts: Matthew 5:38–45; Romans 12:1–2; Hebrews 10:32–36
Virtue: Convictional Peace
Spiritual Practice: Acts of nonviolent resistance (name and fast from a power-grabbing tendency this week)

In a time of plague and spiritual crisis, Julian received visions of Christ’s radical love. Her message, grounded in divine assurance, invites us to trust not in outcomes, but in the unwavering presence of God. Even in suffering, she insists, “All shall be well.”

Focus: Trusting in the love that holds us, even in the unknown

Key Scripture Texts: Isaiah 43:1–2; John 16:33; Romans 5:1–5

Virtue: Hopeful Trust

Spiritual Practice Companion:
Breath prayer throughout the day: “All shall be well.” (Inhale: “All shall be well”; Exhale: “And all manner of thing shall be well.”)

Week 1 – St. Augustine: The Way of Holy Desire

Theme: Restlessness and Return
Summary: Augustine teaches us that discipleship begins not with certainty, but with yearning. His story is one of love misdirected, then redeemed. He invites us to trust that our restlessness is a compass pointing us home to God.
Focus: Reordering our desires through grace
Key Texts: Psalm 42:1–2; Matthew 6:21; Romans 13:11–14
Virtue: Rightly Ordered Desire
Spiritual Practice: Daily examen (focus on desire: “What was I truly seeking today?”)