The Plumbline

 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1:20) When you consider all the wonders in nature and the beauty all around us, it is almost impossible to deny the existence of God, but some still do. Why? There is this innate desire to 'explain away' the things we don't understand - the things that are very hard to wrap our heads around. So, we deny the existence of a higher power and say all that is around us is the result of some big bang - it just evolved that way. I have t ask - if it just 'evolved', who put it there in the first place with the capability to 'evolve'? Like it or not, the 'invisible qualities' of God are all around us. We cannot escape the fact that heaven and earth exists and there must be a way it all came together. The more we consider the ...

It was Dickens who reminded us that, "the whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists." (Charles Dickens) The 'created thing' is loved before it even exists - think on that one a little bit and you might just begin to feel a little differently about yourself. In fact, when you realize that God saw you fully formed, created you specifically for his purposes, and enjoyed you even before he created you - that is the beginning of wisdom! We may not fully understand how he sees each of us, but we can stand assured that he sees us as we are often incapable of seeing ourselves. Just as you’ll never understand the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman, So you’ll never understand the mystery at work in all that God does. ( Ecclesiastes 11:5 MSG ) What is the 'all that God does' in your life? This is a pretty open-ended qu...

Cyber Monday has become a great 'feast' of bargains for many. Those "prime" days for internet shoppers on one well-known site draw in millions to hunt for that super deal of some sort. Even if they don't need it, shoppers are lulled into a shopping frenzy. The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally called "Black Friday" - the beginning of the bargains that kick off the season of Christmas shopping. Thousands will wake earlier than usual, down a quick breakfast, then charge head-long into the hoards of holiday shoppers just looking for the next great "buy". There is one "great buy" that has already been acquired for us - one that we cannot find or purchase on our own regardless of how hard we try to find it - it is our salvation. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.  (I Cor...

The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.   ( Psalm 19:1-2   NLT ) Scripture describes the accolades that are raised as Jesus enters Jerusalem just before he is crucified, with throngs of people laying down garments and palm branches to make a pathway for his entrance, all the while calling out praises to God for all the miracles they had been witnesses to as Jesus ministered on this earth. The religious leaders are none too excited Jesus is receiving all this "attention", so they tell him to rebuke these followers for the things they are saying. Jesus simply turns and pointedly says, "If they keep quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!" All of creation is meant to praise the eternal God, even the majestic skies, roaring seas, and soft babbling brooks. As a kid on hot summer days, I'd find a semi-shaded spot and just "sky gaze" while luxuriating in the coo...

Charles Eames said, "Recognizing the need is the primary condition for design." He was an American designer made famous during the 50's and 60's. He worked with is wife in a design business, whose mission was to create the first types of furniture which could be "mass produced" in warehouses and sold to the millions. He is also known for saying, "Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose." Sometimes we see all the elements (pieces) in life, but we really cannot break past the mess of the pieces to see the design which those pieces can produce. We might recognize the need for a particular thing to occur, but we just don't know how all the pieces of life we are juggling at the moment all come together to create anything even remotely like what our "condition" demands. We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we...

We had hopes of getting rain this past week, with lots of lightening, blowing wind, and very grey skies.  It was almost black in places - with evidence rain was falling in some parts of town in pretty significant quantities.  As I left for work that morning, I saw a beautiful double rainbow - not just pieces of it, but the entire two "bows" of the double beauty.  It was awesome to look upon, and I remember thinking how awesome God was.  It was not a fleeting thought because I continued to see that rainbow off to the west as I made my drive north to the freeway.  The sun was rising in the east, resulting in the most vibrant of colors against that black sky of the west.  It is times like those when we can look at the beauty of what God has created and begin to ponder his greatness.  It also makes me ponder why man is so important to God - why it is he chose to work with such a "feeble" and "fickle" lot as us.  If you stop long enough to appreciate ...

I think we humans sometimes forget just who is in control of this entire universe and who it is who actually holds all things in motion.  We forget that our sphere of control is not really our own - but is something "granted" to us by a loving and caring God.  Lest we get ourselves all puffed up and proud about what it is we do, possess, etc., let us remember it is God who "lets" us rule everything his hands have made!  Sometimes we think it is the other way around - we do all the making and ask God to have a little oversight into the matter!  If we were to be totally honest, we actually have the intelligence we have to create because the Creator gave us that small bit of intelligence we possess! I often think of the heavens your hands have made, and of the moon and stars you put in place.  Then I ask, “Why do you care about us humans?  Why are you concerned for us weaklings?”  You made us a little lower than you yourself, and you have crowned u...