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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
Footwashing & Fire: Jesus' Blueprint for Unity
The church's last forty years have been marked by recurring earthquakes of scandal and moral failure. What began with sex scandals in the Catholic Church and televangelist implosions in the 1980s has continued through today with similar issues on smaller scales. But what if these painful revelations aren't simply tragedies to be mourned but necessary purification to be embraced?
Drawing from personal experience as a young pastor devastated by these scandals, I explore how God has been systematically purging impurities that prevent His authentic power from flowing through His people. The persistent issues of financial impropriety, moral compromise, and power abuse (what some call "the gold, the girls, and the glory") reveal deeper heart conditions that religiosity alone cannot address. True transformation requires more than polished behavior or doctrinal precision—it demands purity of heart manifested in how we treat one another.
Jesus's act of washing His disciples' feet in John 13 provides the perfect framework for understanding God's current work in the church. Even knowing Judas would betray Him that night, Jesus included him in this symbolic purification. When Peter protested, Jesus made a profound statement: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me," followed by a mysterious observation that not everyone present was truly clean. This wasn't about external religious purity but heart transformation that changes how we think about and speak to each other. The disciples had witnessed three years of Jesus's teaching and miracles yet still competed with one another instead of serving in love. God is removing these same impurities today so His church can experience the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17—not uniformity of style but unity of heart comparable to the perfect harmony within the Trinity. This purification isn't punishment but preparation for greater glory and authentic kingdom power. Ready for clean hearts and servant hands? God is calling us upward so His glory can come down.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
It was probably 40 years ago, somewhere in the mid-1980s, that something took place that really really rocked a lot of people's lives, mine being one of them, and it involved this uncovering of stuff that was going on behind the scenes in the church man, and it was happening across the nations. It was happening across the nations but, living in America, it really struck home when the issue of scandalism, the sex scandal, really started coming to the forefront in the Catholic Church, specifically in the area of pedophile activity. And then the Jim Baker and whole Heritage USA thing unraveled, and then Jimmy Swaggart, and then the list continued to go on. In fact, I was a young associate pastor at the time and I was so depressed by that that I would take my family and we would go to a lake this was in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, and we would go to a lake this is in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes and we would go to a lake and I would just sit on the edge of the lake and take some of the sand and just let it sift through my hands, because that just seemed, you know, real to me. I could put my hands on it, and also it was just me kind of just letting this whole thing flow through my mind. I didn't know what to think and I was also. I was that low man, I was just like I didn't want to see anybody because I was embarrassed to be known as a preacher, a teacher of the gospel, a pastor. I don't want anything to do with it or let people know, because it just was like really like volunteering to be ugly and so.
Speaker 1:But that was 40 years ago and I kind of thought and probably hoped that that was going to be the end of it and we as a collective group of people who follow Jesus in America and in other nations, that we would be able to kind of regroup and move forward and begin to experience some of the power of God, not just the recitation of his word, which is good, but just that alone can lead to religiosity, meaning just doing the things that are done. But we do them by either rote behavior, meaning we just kind of memorize the thing, we go through the motions, or we just do it to try to get something to happen. And that seemed to be a lot of what was going on A lot of good teaching and preaching of the word, but not much power, teaching of the word, but not much power. And so I was kind of hoping there'd be a balance, because when there's a balance, that's the gospel, the good news. When there is the word and the works of the kingdom of God in operation, right, that's the stuff and that's what I signed up for, not to just try to be a good person who's polished up and kind of that whole puritanical thing or religious. I wasn't interested in that. I wanted to experience the reality of life in the kingdom, to do what Jesus did, to walk like him, to follow him and to really be like him and have a bunch of us doing that at the same time and loving each other, and so I was hoping that that was going to take place. But that was like the earthquake, so to speak.
Speaker 1:And then afterwards there were these aftershocks and things were continually being uncovered, and it reached a point in the late 90s that I became so disillusioned by this that I became what's known as one of the dones. I was done with it and I checked out. I said, if this is all there is to it, I don't want any part of it. And so I went back to doing what I was doing before, but that wasn't the answer. However, it was what I knew what to do so I did it, and it ultimately brought me to a place where, literally, I was at the end of myself, but that's another story for another time. These aftershocks continued to reverberate all throughout the nations at various points in time, and I remember a statement that was made from the scriptures that said that judgment would begin, but it would begin in the house of God, and I adhered to that, but once again, I thought that that had taken place. I just didn't realize how thorough and how serious God was about this and why, until just recently, in the year 2025, right 40 years removed from that Some of the same type of things are still taking place, on a smaller scale, but nonetheless similar things, those three main things that trip people up Financial issues, issues of immorality and issues of control power.
Speaker 1:Someone said that the gold, the girls and the glory right. Well, it was still happening, and happening in my own backyard, not in my life, but in a fellowship that I was a part of, and it wasn't a big one, it was a small one. I'm like, are you kidding me? Except just recently, it became clear to me that that is actually a good thing, as uncomfortable and awkward as it's been and as disappointing as it's been to see people that I have respected succumb to behavior that really doesn't belong at all in the construct of any organization, let alone one that names the name of Jesus, a body of believers. But nonetheless there's been and also at some level within my own life as well things coming to the surface that have been problematic when it comes to attitudes about one another, and things that have been problematic when it comes to attitudes about one another, and things that have come out of my mouth about others, things that they're rather harmless, because I'm not really out doing harm to anybody except our words and our thoughts are powerful and they create things that, though we might not be able to see them on the surface, they have a creative ability nonetheless, and they're negative and they don't belong in the kingdom of God, and God has been systematically purging them away and has been withholding his power, because his power is meant to validate the gospel, and part of the gospel is the lifestyle, not just the words, of what people say. It's what people do. What we do, our actions and our attitudes all involve us being people who have experienced the reality of God's saving power, his life, newness of life, citizenship in his kingdom, but also, but also being under the lordship and there's a word right there, a big word the lordship of Jesus.
Speaker 1:We, in many of the societies that listen to this particular podcast, are somewhat independent in our thinking that we have individualism as a high value, individual rights, the rights of the individual, and individualism Rugged individualism, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps type thing versus us having a collective mindset, more of a community mindset, where we think of the community, not just ourselves, and the kingdom of God is made up of a community, not just ourselves. And the kingdom of God is made up of a community. We are a kingdom that is a community. We have a king, and in many of our societies we've not been, in our upbringing, exposed to what it is to be ruled by a king. We have people that we vote in and we vote out of office, and they change and we change different types of administrations.
Speaker 1:So we have more of that mindset that there's not really a king, though there is a government, but that's different, because a king is sovereign and what the king thinks and what the king does makes up the culture of the kingdom, the dominion, the domain of the king. What he likes, what he doesn't like, what he says, what he doesn't say, all comes from the culture, all comes from the king, not from the people alone. And so this aspect of the lordship of Jesus is really the kingship or the headship of Jesus One head, one church, one head, one body, not many heads, not a bunch of individuals going around doing their own thing, as good as they might be, but for us to be collective in our efforts. And that, that, right there, there in, is the rub making people into one. And in that, making a people into one. Not uniformity, not being all dressing the same and talking the same, but unity from the heart, from the heart, because God's word is in our hearts. It's not a law that we abide by, it is in us that we live by and we follow the example of the king. One king, and he is pure, he is loving, he is holy, meaning, he isn't one who says one thing and does another. He is righteous, he's complete, he's whole, he's true, he does not lie, he is pure. And in order to be under his lordship, we too must become pure. Now hear me out. Not puritanical, not legalistic, not religious, but pure in heart.
Speaker 1:Which leads me to a passage of Scripture in the New Testament, in the Gospel of John, chapter 13,. That's very familiar, but it's still. Even though it's very familiar, it has some element of mystery to it and I'm hoping to unpack it a bit with the remaining time that we have in this podcast episode. And the passage that I'm looking at is in John, chapter 13, verses 1 through 17. And it concerns Jesus washing his disciples' feet, the feet of his disciples. It's the night in which he is going to be betrayed by Judas, who was one of his 12 apostles or disciples, and he was going to betray Jesus and hand him over to the Romans, which, ultimately, they would crucify him on the cross. Which, ultimately, they would crucify him on the cross, even though it was really motivated by the jealousy and hatred of the Jewish religious people of the day. But this was the setting in which Jesus washed his disciples feet, the night in which he was going to be betrayed, and he knew it. He could have done anything else, so to speak, but he was. Even though he was going to be betrayed, he still had in him to demonstrate love and to teach, even to the very last moment, before his crucifixion or his trial, mock trial leading to his crucifixion, mock trial leading to his crucifixion. And he, he, god in the flesh, emmanuel, god, amongst us, jesus, yeshua, yeshua, come here. Jesus, the Messiah, god the Son, second person of the Godhead in the Messiah, god the Son, second person of the Godhead in the flesh, is taking the role of a servant, washing the feet of his disciples who had been in sandals, walking around all day with dirty feet, accumulating the dust and the dirt and the grime and whatever else went along with walking with sandals in a Middle Eastern culture and climate. You get the picture Dirty feet. And so John writes that it was just before the Passover feast what they were going to celebrate. Jesus, I love this.
Speaker 1: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. The evening meal was being served and the devil had already prompted Judas, iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God. So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing and wrapped a towel around his waist, and after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Speaker 1:Now, sidebar note that was the job of a servant. A very low-ranking servant was given the job of washing feet. It was customary to do that because of the fact that, again, people walked around and their feet got dirty wearing sandals on a hot day and smelly, dirty feet. He came to Simon Peter who said to him Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Jesus replied you do not now realize what I'm doing, but later you will understand. And sometimes that's the way it is. Things don't always become clear to us right away. Sometimes it takes some time, and then we get the revelation of what's going on. We mature.
Speaker 1:No, said Peter, he just said Lord. For then he said no. That's kind of a yeah, that's a. That's a little twist there. That's, if he said Lord, he should say yes, but he said no, right? No, said Peter, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered unless I wash you, you have no part with me. Then, lord, simon Peter replied not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well. Jesus 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 that language right there, that is rather mysterious. You are clean, though not every one of you, for he knew he was going to, for he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not everyone was clean.
Speaker 1:When 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 him. You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash another's feet, one another's feet. You should also wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you'll be blessed if you do them. So what's going on? Here's what's going on.
Speaker 1:Disciples had been with Jesus for probably three plus years and during that time he was teaching them and his word and the works that they saw. But his word was pruning them, it was puruning them, it was purifying them, it was transforming them and they were becoming different by his word. And his word was washing them, pruning them, purifying them. Except they were still in competition with one another. They still talked about each other behind one another's backs and to each other's faces, in a derogatory way who's the greatest? Who's got this, who's got that? What about this? What about that?
Speaker 1:They didn't have a servant's heart. They didn't have a heart of true unity. And Jesus said you're clean, except you need to learn how to serve one another. But also, this is showing you that I know what's going on and I'm washing away the impurity in your midst, meaning not everyone here has had their hearts transformed.
Speaker 1:Judas didn't. He was highly religious, but he had not been transformed. Big difference, big difference. He didn't have relationship with Jesus. He had another agenda going on, and oftentimes we have other agendas going on in our lives. We don't have relationship with Jesus. We have religion but not relationship, or we have issues about one another that aren't with a servant's heart of love toward one another. And that is what God is after, like Jesus, to serve one another and to function in power, but to be pure in our motives and pure with our thoughts and get this come on man, get this, please get this and pure with our tongues. And there is a fire that's purifying the church, and there is a fire that's purifying the church across the nations, and that fire is the move of God's Spirit. It's been happening and it's getting deeper and it's going to continue to grow until we are purified under the lordship of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Not just doing things because they feel good, but doing things because we are under the lordship, under the command of Jesus, and we know how to serve one another. Serve one another and when we do, power will ensue, because power is no problem for God, just like getting a crowd is no problem for God. He can fill the net with fish that's been empty all night long. He can produce a crowd by virtue of a declaration of his word and a demonstration of his kingdom. A crowd will develop. So crowds are not the problem. Power is not the problem.
Speaker 1:The issue is us being united and being of one heart and one mind, where we learn how to serve one another but are pure, purified in our hearts. And some of these tests and trials that we've been going through are designed by God just that way, as a test, and when we pass them, we get to move forward. If we don't, we get to try the test again. We get to take the test again and it's an open book test, but we get to take the test again. And if we don't pass it in the group that we're in, god's going to move us to another group where we take the test again, because he's forming groups into a place of purity and some groups aren't even ordained by God and he's dissolving them or he's taking away the lampstand.
Speaker 1:There is a move of God's spirit that is designed to bring about what Jesus then prayed for in John chapter 17, and that we would be one, as he and the Father are one. That's perfect unity. That's God unity. That's the unity of the Godhead, father, son and Holy Spirit. That's united. That's the level of unity that he wants us to have and he's not going to settle for anything less.
Speaker 1:And he is Lord, so he is Lord of his church, meaning the church belongs to him. It doesn't belong to us. It belongs to him. We are his body. The church is his body, so he can do with his body sovereignly as he wants to, and he loves his body. He loves us, but he loves us enough to remove from us the things that are damaging us, enough to remove from us the things that are damaging, and some of those things need to be removed when there's a bit of pressure that's placed upon us by the heat of God's presence, because his fire is a component of his glory. In some respects it's a precursor to more of his glory being manifest, because God is going to manifest his glory to us and through us, upon us and within us. He's calling us to come on up so his glory can come on down. He's purifying us so that we can be able to rise above our situations and see them from a different perspective and address them with power.
Speaker 1:Make declarations Instead of desperations. Clean God wants us clean, not puritanical, not clothesline religion. How low is the hem of your skirt? Do you wear makeup or don't you wear makeup? Do you go to a movie or don't you go to a movie? Come on, man. Purity of heart and one of servanthood toward one another and love. What we think about and what we say about each other is like Christ.
Speaker 1:Hallelujah, let's pray Father. Thank you, lord, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for who you are, for what you're doing, how you're doing it, why you're doing it where you're doing it. Just thank you. Continue, please continue. I know you will, but I'm saying, lord, continue, because I want to see your power. I don't want to see a smoke machine, I don't want to see some sort of magic show. I want to see your power, your power. I want to see your power, your power, you, your glory, your kingdom. God, I love you, jesus, I love you. I honor you, declare you as my Lord, declare you as our Lord and Holy Spirit, give you free reign to move through us, upon us, teach us, lead us, guide us, make us into the very likeness of Jesus, and we pray these things in his name here, right now, and say so be it. Amen, amen, amen, amen. All right, folks, I love you.
Speaker 1:If you have any thoughts, questions concerns man, please feel free. Just drop us a line at liferondthefire at gmailcom. Type in liferondthefire all lowercase one word, run-on sentence statement liferondthefire at gmailcom. Or type in liferondthefire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you In the meantime. God bless you. Adios amigos.