The Plumbline

All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people what is wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching the right way to live. Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:15-17) There have been times when I have used scripture to beat someone over the head - oh, not physically, but metaphorically. I have picked the most inopportune times, used the harshest scripture I could find that applied to the issue, and whammo! Yes, I am guilty of causing a 'scripture hit and run'! I was young, not really aware of how God could intervene without 'all my help', and kind of stubborn myself at times. I have mellowed a lot since then and have even been the 'victim' of a few 'scripture hit and runs' from others. Perhaps those helped me to realize the folly of spewing scripture 'at' someone. Scripture is all p...

For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God... So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. (I Peter 1:23; 2:1-3) I have often said when we see the 'therefore' in scripture we need to ask God what it is 'there for'. The same is true when we see the 'so' - asking what condition or behavior is described that must change as a result of what has just been described. We have been given new life - there has been an exchange we are to embrace and live within. Our actions are to change because our attitude changed. When I speak of attitude, I refer to the orientation of our minds and hearts. They are focused...

This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is. (John 3:20-21) A crisis is a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined - some call this a turning point. It can represent a condition of instability or danger, leading to a decisive change - not always for the best. Equally so, it can represent one of those events where there is a lot of dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person's life - leaving one to sort out the pieces when all is said and done. When a person is not interested in p...

Embarrassed may be translated "ashamed", "flustered", "disconcerted", or even "bewildered" or "confounded".  Lots of ways to say the same thing, but each with just a tiny hint of a different meaning.  If I said I am not ashamed of the gospel I might just be trying to tell you it doesn't make me hesitant to share it, or take action on what it says.  If I were to tell you I am not flustered by it, you might get the idea I am not "put off" or "put down" by what I read there.  If I were to tell you I don't find myself disconcerted by the gospel message, then you might just get the impression I am not "mixed up" when I read its words, but in fact find a kind of power to put at peace what is already so mixed up within me.  You see, we all have a slightly different approach to the gospel each time we take it in - the most important thing to remember is that we are not to shy away from it!  No matter how w...

I have watched my grandsons grow older, smarter, and bigger.  They are now 6 and 11, great students in school, engaged in creative activities which occupy their minds and time, and loving as all get out when it comes to caring for others.  I have seen them wrestle with each other, kind of taunting one another one minute to see if they could get under each other's skin, while they are embracing and telling each other how much they love the other one the next. One thing I have noted is just how much they are like fresh sponges - absorbing not only what they hear, but what they see modeled.  It is not uncommon to see one or both of the boys jump up to help their great-grandmother locate her walking stick she has absently left somewhere, or to open a door for her on her journey out to the car.  It is also not uncommon for them to bring handwritten notes and handcrafted cards to each of us just telling us how much they love and appreciate us in their lives.  Early i...

  A Psalm of Thanksgiving 1-2  On your feet now—applaud  God ! Bring a gift of laughter,        sing yourselves into his presence.    3  Know this:  God  is God, and God,  God .        He made us; we didn't make him.  We're his people, his well-tended sheep.    4  Enter with the password: "Thank you!"  Make yourselves at home, talking praise.  Thank him. Worship him.    5  For  God  is sheer beauty,  all-generous in love,  loyal always and ever. (Psalm 100 The Message) We are beginning the month of November, beginning to look ahead to the holiday we call Thanksgiving in the United States.  As  was reading this morning, I started in the 99th Psalm and continued to this passage above.  As I began to consider all the ways we "worship" God in our lives, one of the most important ways that spoke ...

  7-8 "Listen now, you who know right from wrong, you who hold my teaching inside you:  Pay no attention to insults, and when mocked don't let it get you down.  Those insults and mockeries are moth-eaten, from brains that are termite-ridden, but my setting-things-right lasts, my salvation goes on and on and on." (Isaiah 51:7-8 The Message) There are times when we just feel like the world is against us - like all we live for and stand for is just ridiculed and considered to be silliness in the eyes of those around us.  These are the times when we need to re-read these words and take heart.  The unbeliever has no revelation of God beyond our testimony of a life "squared up" by living the principles God teaches.  It is the testimony of one that can affect the lives of millions! Do you realize that mockery is really the highest form of honor we can receive?  Think about it - someone sees our the testimony of Jesus in us and finds it s...

  30 "This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you're not on my side, you're the enemy; if you're not helping, you're making things worse.   31-32 "There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God's Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives. (Matthew 12:30-32) I remember long debates after class while I was in Bible College.  One of the most stimulating was always on the question what exactly was the "unpardonable sin".  If you have not already heard me say this, every passage of scripture has to be taken in context if it is to be true to its meaning.  Holding out one passage and not considering...

10 "You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.   11-12 "Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable." (Matthew 5:10-12) You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. (James 2:18) It is our action, not so much our words, that reveal the real conviction of our heart.  We always hear that we "cannot judge a book by its cover" and this is very true.  What is hidden in the heart is what is manifest in the actions.  We have a huge opportunity to affect how the world sees Jesus based on what actions we reveal to the world.  James put it this way - you cannot separate "faith" from ...