Had Your Feet Washed Lately?

Scott Williams and Erin Wilson continue to blow me away with their heartfelt posts on trying to understand what it means to have God and our brothers and sisters love and treasure us unconditionally when we are so unworthy. It is so beyond our comprehension that it is hard for us to believe God loves us and completes us. His word says it, but do we live it out with abandon in our lives? It is so much easier for me show or display love to others than to be on the receiving end. So, but how do I respond when others express their love for me? One of the things I struggle with is finding an appropriate response when people want to pay me a compliment or show their love in an outward way. Something we studied the other day helped me put it in perspective.

We were studying John Chapter 13 two weeks ago during our Wednesday Night Bible Study at The Gate when we read about the Lord's Supper (13:1-4) and Jesus Washing the Disciple's Feet (13:5-20). I asked if any of our brothers and sisters had been in a foot washing ceremony before. Most of them said they had. So I asked them, "Did you feel more comfortable having your feet washed or washing someone else's feet?" It was unanimous, every one there said they felt more comfortable washing someone else's feet. Why is that? I think it has something to do with what Scott and Erin are exploring in their blogs.

We read in the Bible that God treasures us and has sent His Son to restore us to Him, that we are his bride, but it is so hard to believe. We know and believe that God loves our brothers and sisters and delights in them, and believe that we find worth in the Body of Christ, but have such a hard time understanding God's love for us individually.

Just before the Lords Supper, in John Chapter 12 we see Mary anointing Jesus. She was pouring perfume on the feet of Jesus and wiping it off with her hair. Judas was upset with Mary and told her that the perfume should have been sold and the year's wages that it cost be used to feed the poor. Jesus then rebukes Judas. Christ's example of foot washing is all about servanthood. And, we rightly use this as the Lord's example to us when we serve and love others. But, what about letting others serve us? We should be using Christ's example of letting Mary anoint Him as an example to show us that it is also ok for people to serve us, lavish love on us, and even more importantly, for us to not be ashamed to admit that God loves us unconditionally. Christ believed it and acted upon it. Of course, He was perfect and was more intimate with the Father than we will ever know.

As hard as it is for us to have our feet washed or anointed by others we should follow Christ's example and accept it and act upon it. It validates the calling of Christ in the lives of others and shows us that we are valuable in His sight. We may not ever get accustomed to it, but we can learn lessons from it. I will never feel comfortable in having some else wash my feet, or lavishing love on me, but it makes the Body of Christ stronger, more unified, and more Christlike, so I'll take one for the team!

We Have a Champion!

Congrats to the Red Sox. They dominated the Cardinals and the way they played through the post season they deserved the championship. The curse of the Bambino has been lifted! I felt so sorry for the Red Soxs fans for having to wait so long for this to happen. I feel fortunate to be living in a city where we taste success more frequently.



To all my good friends living here in St Louis I can only say that the Cardinals had a great year and our consolation is that Wednesday was the official start of football season.

GO RAMS!

There's still one more curse out there lingering



Its the Curse of the Goat put on the Chicago Cubs. Hopefully this one won't last too much longer.

Tonight's World Series Game

It has been a frustrating World Series so far for Cardinals Fans. So, tonight I'd like to see more of this



and this



and less of this



GO CARDINALS!

Great Minds Think Alike!

Here's a great post by Darryl Dash on Martin Luther's use of time that many of us waste (no pun intended). Link. Martin Luther had something there.

Its the Cards and the Red Sox!

Well, what can I say. The Cardinals did me proud! The start of the game went so badly for the Cardinals that I was thinking today would be when I officially switch over to football season. But, they pulled it out.

This should be a great World Series. Thank you Jim Edmonds, you saved the game. What a great catch!



Unfortunately, now my family has to put up with another week of non-stop baseball games on TV. I don't know if I will ever get a chance to watch the Survivor and Apprentice episodes we taped last night. Who cares!

GO CARDS!

Coming Full-Circle

As a young boy growing up in Los Angeles I lived for baseball. I was different than most of my friends because hated the Dodgers and loved the Giants. Willie Mays (the Say Hey Kid) and Willie McCovey were my heros. Life was good as the Dodgers didn't have anyone that could match them other than Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. The Angels were a new team, and I rooted for them, but they didn't have a chance against some of the more historic teams in the American League.

The first baseball game I remember watching on TV was the St Louis Cardinals vs the Boston Red Sox world series finale (I think it was in 1967). It was wonderful. I have grown up since then and the Cardinals are now my hometown team. But, my memories of that first baseball game on TV has lingered in my mind over the years and I have cheered the Cardinals and the Red Sox, though more passionately for the Cardinals since that first game. Tonight the Cardinals have the chance to help me relive that 1967 World Series. If the Cardinals win tonight they will meet the Red Sox in a dramatic rematch. Carl Yastremski, Jim Lonborg, Bob Gibson, and Lou Brock are all long gone, but they have been replaced by Curt Schilling, Jason Varitek, Scott Rolen, Albert Pujols, and Jim Edmonds. If the Cardinals can win tonight it will make for a great World Series.

Grace

David in his Jollyblogger weblog also has a couple of great posts on God's grace. The first is located here. Link. The second is here. Link. Its good stuff that deals with one of the big topics in today's church. Of course we are called to be holy and set apart. But how should we handle it when our sinful human nature allows us to make mistakes? It is a diffucult balancing act between our desire to live holy lives and the mistakes we make in a fallen world. It isn't about us, its about God.

Forgiveness

David on his Jollyblogger weblog has some great insights on God's forgiveness and what it should mean in our lives. Link.

John Chapter 11 Highlights

Last night our Bible Study at The Gate covered the Gospel of John Chapters 11 and 12. It was another Spirit-filled evening. I have read chapters 11 and 12 probably 50 times, but something hit me when I saw the gospel acted out in the Gospel of John DVD. In 11:45-52 John writes,


45Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. 48"What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

49Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! 50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."

51He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53So from that day on they plotted to take his life.


The part I hadn't thought about before was verse 51 and 52. I am still mulling this over in my mind, so don't be too harsh. Up until last night I thought that this meant that Caiaphas made a God-uninspired prophecy from his position as high priest that Jesus must die for the good of the Pharisees (and by default all Jews). But after I reread this last night I think that John is saying that the Holy Spirit caused Caiaphas (an unbeliever) to prophesy about the death of Jesus, and that God would use this to bring not only the Jews, but the Gentiles together in one body of Christ? I think it does. It shows me that God sometimes uses unclean vessels to accomplish His holy will.

Praise God that even when I, as a sinner saved by grace, fall and I am at less than my best He can still use me inspite of myself to affect the lives of others for His kingdom.

I'm a New Member of STL Bloggers!

I just joined STL bloggers. It is a loose network of bloggers in the St Louis Metro Region. The STL Bloggers website is located here. Link. Blog On!

I Hope You Like The New Look

I got tired of the old blogger template I was using and picked a new one. It is pretty easy to do, and I do it every few months just to see something new when I blog. I just wish there was an easy way to keep all the customization (links, site meter, etc) that I add without having to recreate it. I have settled for having a second blog that I use mainly for testing purposes and just to have a back up to copy code from in case I can't get the new version functioning as I like it. I suggest you always copy your code and keep it stored somewhere or have a backup blog to use incase you run into difficulties.

I like the simpleness of this template's lines.

Bloggers in the News

The St Louis Post Dispatch did an article this morning on blogging. It is located here. Link. Seems that there have been quite a few articles written lately in papers about blogging.

AXIOM04 Conference Hotwash

First I wanted to say a big "Thank You" to those of you who were praying for our conference. It went well and the students I talked to were blown away.

It was an exciting weekend. Friday night's Bebo Norman, Jason Morant, and Bethany Dillon concert was unbelievable. Bebo is the most recognizable name among the group and although I have heard many of his songs I couldn't name any of them before the concert. He played for about 2 hours and was very good. Jason Morant lead off the concert and I had been told that he is one of the new up and coming worship leaders. He was incredible. Bethany played in the middle and I'll have to say that I was the most impressed with her lyrics, voice and attitude. I was flooored when Bebo later announced that she is only 16 yars old. She is going to be a super star if she doesn't burn out. I can't believe a 16 year old can write such intimate love songs about God. What a talent.

After the concert Jason and Bethany went with us to the AXIOM04 Conference and kicked it off with leading us in an hour of worship. No one wanted to leave Friday night when they were done. The Holy Spirit was moving among us.

Saturday morning we all crawled out of bed and went to the formal portion of the conference. Aubrey Spears was the keynote speaker. I have heard so much over the last few years about how the stand up and lecture style of preaching won't be very effective in emerging generation churches, but Aubrey didn't use any slides, film clips, interactive props, or anything but himself and the Bible. And he found a way to grasp everyone's attention in the way he clearly explained God's Word. His use of metaphors was outstanding. He may be the best preacher at reaching the emerging generation I have heard so far.

Here's a picture of Aubrey.



Check out his website and if you ever see his name on the guest speaker's list don't think twice. Attend it.

The AXIOM breakout sessions went pretty well. I had some technical difficulties (the VCR ate my tape of Independence Day, and the second breakout session my powerpoint slides wouldn't work), but the students hung in there and the list of references of what I found in the Bible regarding War was very popular. I have them electronically if any of you would like them. Just E-Mail me at gideonshorn@yahoo.com and I'll send you a copy.

All in all it was a super conference. I am looking forward to next year. but, I felt like I over did it this year. Serving as the point of contact for both my church and collegiate ministry students attending the conference, leading two breakout sessions, representing the host church for the conference, and working all day at my civilian job on Friday while trying to put everything together wore me out. By about 4:00 on Saturday afternoon I was almost unconscious. But, it was a good exhaustion, and well worth the effort. Next year should be even better with the conference hopefully being hosted at another location. Then I'll just have to worry about my own college students and maybe speaking. Much......less......stress!!!!!!

The Blogging University by Rob

Thanks Rob for the great post on blogging. Rob has consolidated his posts on blogging over the past couple of weeks into one wonderful link. He calls it Blogging University. It is located here. Link. The post is full of lots of instruction geared to help beginners conquer blogging and helps those of us who have been blogging a while longer to be better at it. I've learned lots of good techniques through Rob's posts. Thanks again Rob.

What the Word Says About War

AXIOM04 starts tomorrow night at FBC O'Fallon. I am leading a breakout session on The Word on War. While doing research for my session I have put together a 17 page reference list of verses where the Bible talks about war. I haven't added any commentary, just the raw Word of God on War. If you are interested in getting a copy please E-Mail me at gideonshorn@yahoo.com. I'll be happy to zap you one.

If you are planning on attending AXIOM04 I hope to see you there. It will be an incredible, life changing conference.

Blogging 302 by Rob

Another great post from Rob. Blogging 302 deals with Web Statistics. Lots of good information. Link.

Blogging 301 by Rob

Here's another blogging post by Rob. This one is Blogging 301 and the theme is marketing your blog. Link.

Blogging 202 by Rob

Rob has another post on his blogging basics series. Blogging 202 is on publishing your blog. It is pretty good. It is located here. Link. Thanks for the info Rob.

Breakout Sessions for AXIOM04

The theme for AXIOM04 is "Your Word Is Truth." I blogged about AXIOM earlier here. Link.

Here are the breakout sessions for Saturday at AXIOM:

1. The Truth about the World: Creation or Evolution Neal Adrian (physics professor)

2. The World through the Word’s Eyes – Michelle Robinson (missionary to Azerbiajan)

3. The Word on War – Rick Marshall (Retired Air Force Navigator and McKendree College BCM Director)

4. The Basic Foundations for the Christian Faith - Mike Cariker (Youth Pastor First O’Fallon)

5. Common Assumptions – Jim Smith (BCM director at Univ. of Illinois)

6. The Word of Truth or the Word of Tolerance – Phil Nelson (Collegiate Evangelist)

7. Reaching Gay and Lesbian-identified persons with the Love of Christ - Yvette Schneider (Writer for Fellowship of Christian Athletes and executive for Living in Victory)

We will be taking AXIOM sign ups until the conference starts. Please see me to get signed up. The cost is $35 for the conference on Saturday and a ticket to the Bebo Norman/Bethany Dillon/Jason Morant concert on Friday night. The McKendree BCM and the FBC O'Fallon College and Career Department will pay for $25 worth of your ticket so the cost for you is only $10. That price is hard to beat. An AXIOM04 Worship CD and Lunch on Sturday is included in the price. To receive the discounted price you must register for AXIOM04 by Wednesday October 6.