The Plumbline

What defiles a man? Some would say it is one specific act, while others would say it is an accumulation of actions, all of which would be labeled as 'not very good'. Jesus was very specific - it is what in the heart that defiles a man. The actions are just a byproduct of what the heart desires or craves. So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?” He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” (Mark 7:5-8) There will always be those who think tradition must be upheld. It doesn't matter that it has become meaningless and 'mindlessly' performed. It just needs to be upheld. What se

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. (Galatians 6:1-3) Would you help a friend clean their house after they had surgery? Most likely. Would you prepare a meal for someone after they just brought their newborn baby home from the hospital? Sure. Would you sit by a friend who was deeply saddened after the loss of a loved one? Absolutely. Would you be open to hearing about your friend's greatest struggle? That one may be a little harder to answer, because when you say you are willing to do it, you open yourself up to being a little vulnerable yourself. How can we become vulnerable when someone else is sharing their pain or strugg

Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up. Clean up your act. Sweep your lives clean of your evil doings so I don’t have to look at them any longer. Say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out. Stand up for the homeless. Go to bat for the defenseless. (Isaiah 1:16-17) Charades is a game in which you have to act out titles to songs, movies, or events. The team has to guess what you are trying to act out in a limited

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him— we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. (Romans 5:1-2) God wants to do so much for us. We are to enter into what he is doing in and through our lives. Back in the day, we didn't lock doors when we left our homes - now we secure them with multiple locks and security screen doors. There are also doors within us, too. The doors we keep securely "latched" in our lives so as to keep others out, limiting our "exposure" to others. These doors act to keep others out and to keep our "messy lives" under wraps! God's plan is to have tho

If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. (1 John 1:8-10) Have you ever told yourself something only to find out in the end you were really just fooling yourself and absolutely nobody else? Until we actually look in the mirror, we don't see what is likely right in front of us all the time. Even when we look into the mirror, we may not see exactly what we thought was there - because the mirror is clouded over with some film, steamy and distorting the image of what we see. Even if you try to wipe the steam away a little, the image you may see is still a little distorted by the remaining particles of water gat