The Plumbline

Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]? (Galatians 3:3) Thinking we can 'improve upon' what grace has accomplished in our lives is one of the most 'over-practiced' things in the church today. Our new life in Christ is never 'improved upon' by our own works or efforts to be 'good' children. In fact, the over-emphasis on 'doing' instead of 'becoming' is actually a trap the enemy uses to keep us from 'becoming' who God created us to be. Too many times, we emphasize what it is a Christian 'does' instead of focusing on who that Christian is in Christ Jesus. We are called to live holy lives, but that doesn't mean we get to the place of holiness by doing a passel of good works! For you [who are born-again have been reborn from above—spiritually tra...

Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping. (I Corinthians 16:13-14) Keep your eyes open. The eyes are the window to the soul - they give insight into the condition of the man in what they reveal. Having our eyes opened is the beginning of seeing. Try to see with your eyes closed! You probably do a poor job of actually avoiding the hazards in your path when you do! Eyes have the purpose of allowing input - taking in what they behold, interpreting that input as either pleasant or not, beneficial or not, or even beautiful or not. The eyes are the gateway into a man's heart - the input we receive moves us in some respect. It is almost impossible to take input without some form of output! We are asked to remain in a position of taking in what God puts in our path. Be vigilant and aware, for in being alert, we can respond to what we receive as input. We can plan our escape, our response we will have in the ...

Mindless pursuit is really not pursuit - it is just us being there without being present in the moment. The more we engage in mindless pursuit, the less we remember what it is like to really pursue with a true passion. If we really stop long enough to consider why we go to church, we'd all probably enjoy the experience a whole lot more! If going to church was more about us 'being the church' than about us 'attending' church, we might actually walk away a different person! Yet, most of us go to church in a kind of "mindless" manner - not really passionate about it, but more or less there because it has become routine for us. Watch your step when you enter God's house. Enter to learn. That's far better than mindlessly offering a sacrifice, doing more harm than good. (Ecclesiastes 5:1) There is an importance in "entering to learn" - not just to be able to "check off" one more thing on our list of weekend experiences or '...

I am always surprised when I hear of these 'leagues' of children's teams where no one wins and no one loses. All are winners - that seems to be the concept being taught. Now, I understand we want the kids to become enthralled with the pursuit of the sport and that we want to encourage time involved in physical activity, but where in life do we ever see that you always win? When the child faces his or her real 'first loss', how will they handle it? The sport somehow turns to one of winning and losing - there is not an entire 'sport pathway' that is merely based on just showing up to play! In the end, someone keeps score, determines a 'winning team' or 'winning athlete'. Then we have the other side of the coin where some coaches focus so much on winning they lose sight of encouraging the kiddos to actually have any enjoyment in the sport. In fact, they almost intimidate the kids by their 'win at all cost' demands. It seems we need a bal...