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Wednesday, 25 November 2009

  • Clean Feet by Jesus

     1It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

     2The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

     6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

     7Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

     8"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
          Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

     9"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

     10Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." 11For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

     12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

    John 13:1-25 (NIV)

    When I pray in the shower, very often I find myself repenting. (Yes, there is plenty to repent for.) Meandering along this line of thought brought me to the above passage. Very often, I've heard that this passage explains that we should serve one another. But this time, something different stuck out at me. Jesus' rebuke of Simon Peter is a curious matter. 

    "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

    What does Jesus mean by this? Simon Peter's response is a knee-jerk. Of course, LORD, wash whatever you wish! His motivations and intentions are pretty clear. But Jesus makes this whole foot washing business a requirement.

    Let's look at what foot-washing meant in Jesus' day. Consider first, that only the lowliest of slaves were given the menial task of washing feet. The average person wore sandals and walked on roads where animals walked. Consider the dirt and animal droppings and who knows what that would end up on your feet by the end of the day.

    Then Jesus, the LORD of glory, the King of Kings... washing his twelve disciples' feet.

    Has Jesus washed you? Has He cleansed you?

    Everyday, we take a shower. We brush our teeth. That takes care of the physical. But how about the rest of us? How about the daily grime and nastiness in our souls & minds? Has Jesus come and cleansed that as well?

    My take-away is not simply that we serve our fellow Christians. It is not simply to denigrate ourselves. But it is to recognize Jesus' cleansing work and then go serve others as you have been served. Simply serving others is insufficient. We will become either patronizing or needy in our service of others. Only those who have been washed by Jesus can inform true Christian service. Until our nasty parts are cleansed by Jesus, we cannot serve others in those areas.

    Do not go out without having Jesus' washing.
    Do not being washed forget who we serve and why we serve.
    Go out and serve as we have been served by Jesus.

Wednesday, 04 November 2009

  • HGTFLFU...

    Who is God?

    God is the one who loves.

    How do we know this?

    He sent his best. His son came to us.

    What did his son receive?

    Scorn, Mocking, Torture, Accusation, Misunderstanding, Betrayal, Desertion...

    What did his son give?

    Eternal life.

Friday, 10 October 2008

Tuesday, 30 September 2008

  • Housing Bill - Debating, Voting, and Summary

    I guess you should know by now, the housing bill got rejected in the US House of Representatives by a slim margin (23 votes to be exact.)

    And out of curiosity, I wanted to know how my "representative" voted. Yeah, he voted for it... maybe I should vote for the other guy when my rep comes up for re-election.

    If you're a curious cat, feel free to browse the congressional record for September 29th.
    Items of interest
    12 - Debate & Vote
    43 through 56 - Summary thoughts from various viewpoints. (I'm glad there are some smart cookies voting on laws. This whole bill smelled and looked like trash. Hopefully, they can clean it up and go through normal procedures this time around...)

    (Normally, I would link to the actual articles, but the page does not allow me to do so...)

    I've had time to discuss my stance against this "bail-out" and I must admit, my position has softened a bit. But the anger is still there. If the US Congress can't build a bill that makes sense (& cents!!) to the average American, I imagine they will have the voters to answer to come re-election time. I'm not against helping the financial sector, but I am against treating symptoms and not the actual problem. Throwing money at things does not solve everything. God have mercy.

    P.S. I actually found a commentary that kinda sums up my feelings on the matter. I don't agree completely, but it comes pretty close.

Thursday, 25 September 2008

  • Chicken Little

    <RANT>
    "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"

    Idiot.

    Anyone read the story of chicken little? (if you haven't... please do.)

    I've been watching the story unfold about this "financial crisis" and I'm struck by how no one has really taken the time to flesh out this "crisis" people keep talking about. We need to bail out these companies or the whole financial system will grind to a halt. Please... who do you think you're talking to? This smells suspiciously like another "knee-jerk reaction" that has been orchestrated from the bowels of the White House. 9/11 to Iraq. Make people afraid and they will do anything you like. I'm going to tell my representatives to kill this stupid bill. I've had enough of inflation and moves in the public sector that majorly benefit the big movers and shakers in the private sector. A 700 Billion dollar move is NOT something to be made in a week... much less two or three. STOP and THINK! This crisis has sat for this long and I haven't seen a problem. You know what needs to happen? SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIGURE OUT THAT THEIR HOUSES AREN'T WORTH THAT MUCH!!! and you know what that takes? Time. I'm all for throwing money at big problems that need money. But this isn't a capital issue, it's the fact that people misunderstood the nature of the risk. So the taxpayer should help by taking on that risk?!? Because the investors and big guys are scared crapless about how much these "securities" are really worth? Yeah, let's put that on a national ballot and see how far it gets. McCain would look good up against those kinda of odds.
    </RANT>

    We now return to our regularly scheduled program

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