The Plumbline

We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall. (Hebrews 12:1) If you stop very long to consider some of the examples you have patterned your life after, you might just decide you fashion sense didn't improve, your financial situation really hasn't done much for you, and your relationship isn't any stronger than it was before. Why? They are 'faulty' patterns at best. We need to understand the importance of the 'pattern' before we just 'willy-nilly' follow it. I used to sew by pattern all of the time, but when I got confident enough, I often set out with the pattern and didn't follow the order of the instructions. That usually resulted in some seam ripping in the end! The importance of having both the pattern and the instructions canno...

The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces. (Proverbs 10:8) How we embrace instruction tells a story that we may not always want to hear. The wise embrace it - maybe not with enthusiasm all the time, but with an integrity of heart that says they want to learn what God teaches, regardless of the cost. The fool will just babble about why it is 'too hard', 'not something he needs', or that there is 'some other answer' he must discover before he 'tries this one'. Oh, I hope none of us are like the fool who babbles on, but rather are like the wise who sit at the feet of Jesus and listen intently. If we want to reject God's teachings, it is our prerogative. In turn, don't be surprised when the same lesson keeps coming around and around, maybe with a different presentation each time, but with the same 'heart intent'. God isn't going to let us just reject the lesson once and then say that is the way it wil...

It is always good to have a "recipe" or "instructions" to follow - especially when you are trying to create something you are not familiar with - new experiences demand solid instructions in order to not get things messed up along the way. The same is true in our spiritual walk - we have not walked this way before, so we need the "recipe" or "instructions" for how it is that we are to live. Today we will explore a couple of important principles - contrasting the way we should live against the way we often choose to live. Probably above all, we need to understand what it is that we are choosing to have "made of our lives" - it should be to be counted wise and to build a reputation that is rock-solid. Reputation is how we are known - it reflects either the wisdom or foolishness of our choices. Some people refer to a reputation as the "character" of a man or woman. Today's 'recipe' or 'instructions' is really ...

I read a little bit of a funny quip the other day: "Any product that needs a manual to work is broken." (Elon Musk) If we stop for just a moment to consider the wisdom in that statement, we might just be humbled right into understanding why God gave us the scripture! The scripture is, after all, the manual for living! That must mean we are broken - for the manual was written for us! As broken as we are - God has made a way for us to come to an understanding of our brokenness and find a way back to wholeness - through his Son, Jesus. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6 ESV) Man does not always embrace this idea of coming to an understanding of one's brokenness, though. As broken, we see ourselves as "unable" or "incapacitated" when it comes to performing some task, overcoming some obstacle, or facing some challenge head on. We don't like feeling a little he...

Well, if you have never experienced the delight of shopping at IKEA on a Saturday afternoon, you have missed the adventure!  My daughter needed to exchange something she bought for her craft room and I just thought it would be nice to find a few things I have wanted for the kitchen to assist with organizing a few things.  Forgetting the utter chaos of what Saturdays are like at this store, let alone that it was the beginning of school season and folks would be flocking there to get those great starter furnishings for the dorm rooms, I agreed to go along.  Lest you think this was an "outing" to just "kick it" with my daughter and two grandsons, let me set you straight.  First, we had to find a parking spot - a challenge even with mom's handicap parking privilege! Then we had to find each other as we had gone in separate cars - one with her return items in it, the other with the family.  Upon finding each other, we had to wait until her "number" was cal...