The Plumbline

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. (Romans 12:9 NLT) "Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!" (Dr. Seuss) How about you? Are you free to be the 'real you' with those around you? If not, it may be that you are surrounding yourself with others who feel being 'real' isn't important. I am blessed to be around 'real people' who encourage me to be the 'real me'. Why is this important? We cannot 'pretend' our way through life - we need to be exactly who we are, all the quirks and blessings of our personality traits blended together. Pretending is putting on airs - it is speaking or acting in a way that appears to present one 'front' but is masking another set of behaviors or attitudes that we don't want others to see. It is hard to live that way for long, though. We need to be free to live genuine lives - even...

Don’t be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life. Products named after Christ don’t seem to do much for those who buy them. (Hebrews 13:9) I like the imagery of this passage - "Products named after Christ don't seem to do much for those who buy them." It might speak to each of us about some of the "products named after Christ" we might have bought into over the years. For example, have any of us have been duped into believing something from scripture just because someone else told us it was in scripture? Perhaps we think the adage "God helps those who help themselves" is from scripture - a direct quote of sorts. Have you ever been told this by a well-meaning brother or sister in the Lord? Well, the adage is attributable to Ben Franklin, or even apparent in Aesop's Fables - but not God! Does that one shock you? We find ourselves buying into many "products named after Christ...

“If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.” (John 8:31-32) How many of us can really say we have excellent "stick-to-it" determination at the beginning of a project or task? Most of us, right? We don't usually start out with "I don't think this is worth finishing, but I'll start it". We usually will say something like, "This is a big task, it may take me more than one day to accomplish, but nothing ventured, nothing gained." Freedom is often the result of determination. If you have spoken with a former of prisoner of war, they will share the things they held onto in their minds, hearts, and spirits which helped them make it through till their release. You will hear of the tremendous determination and doggedness required to hold on when things really don't show any signs of changing. I think true freedom is based on h...

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. (James Baldwin) Jesus’ primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, “Watch yourselves carefully so you don’t get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed . You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town. (Luke 12:1-3) A great many of us fear being 'exposed' for who we really are - believing ourselves to be unwanted, unappreciated, and perhaps even under-valued - so we hide behind some mask. What's worse is that Christian believers hide behind a mask of 'religious piety', all the while attempting to hide their very real struggles looming just behind that 'pious hypocrisy...

Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. (I Peter 1:4) Getting to know someone isn't always that easy, is it? We can hold back a little until we realize the other person is kind of 'all right' and we can probably share a bit more with them. We don't just dump everything out into the relationship and hope for the best. We wait to establish trust and then we unpack a little. Why? We don't want the discovery of some things by just anybody. We want those things to be shared with only those we consider to be our 'inner circle', or the ones we value and trust the most. Imagine that God invites us to get to know him personally and intimatel...

Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.  (Matthew 23:11-12 ) If I use  BOLD  or red font in my post, I am doing so because I want those particular words to "stand out".  If I were to parade down the sidewalk wearing all black, emblazoned with all kinds of chains and tattoos would you think I might be trying to "stand out" a little from the gal or guy next to me?  When a company wants to gain the market share of business, they spend a whole lot of money on trying to find the "brand" which will make them "stand out" as the one to trust.  The purpose of "standing out" is usually to call attention to, think of first and foremost, be the "go to" in your life.  Jesus tells his disciples something entirely different about being the "go to" in life - "standing out...

I have to say Craig Groeschel hit the nail on the head this past weekend when he pointed out how differently each of us views a 'fault' depending on whether you have it or it is my own personal one! He said something like 'we view your life by your actions, while we view our own by our intentions'. Telling isn't it? We judge another by their actions - while all the while we justify our actions by evaluating out intentions, not our actions! At times, we are presented with individuals who seem to have an "ulterior motive" in their actions. In other words, what is presented is really a "mask" for something being done to deceive the individual on the receiving end of the action. One thing is said, another is meant. One thing is done, but the intention behind it is completely contrary to the "appearance". This is dangerous ground for us - simply because we really don't know what to expect, or when to trust. If it is out own actions g...

There are always going to be things that appear to frighten us in this lifetime. The other night I had just laid down and then I heard a noise. Not unusual, knowing mom sometimes gets up shortly after I put her down. It was louder than the normal noises she makes, though, so I was a little bit concerned. She wasn't awake, nor had she stirred. So, what had I heard? I explored the entire house, garage, and looked into the front and back yards. Nothing seemed out of place. I laid awake for awhile - I had heard something and it concerned me! I have to ask how many worries we are held captive by in our lives - those things which appear as threatening as tigers, but really have no power over us until we give in to them? In some cases, we "buy into" the bondage of certain thought patterns, or activities, simply because they seem to present something of "meaning" to our lives. Rarely do we actually step back long enough to see if there is any advantages / disadvantages ...

I am going to issue a challenge this morning - just a little one to ask each of us to consider something we may not have really considered before. How would others describe you? Who would they say you are? Would they describe you by your title, such as a great pastor, a good teacher, a talented musician? Would they describe you as the one who is aloof, too sensitive, or kind of timid? Would they say you were the one always bragging about your greatest accomplishments? There are lots of ways to describe someone, aren't there? Yet, the toughest thing to ask someone is to be genuine about who they really think we are! It might not be as comfortable as we'd like to think! When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?” (Matthew...

The believer comes to a place of revelation and deep introspective consideration from time to time - pondering the greatness of the gift they have received in their redemption from sin. The realization of just how selfish one had become before Christ bestowed such magnificent grace on their life can bring a person to their knees in grateful adoration. The truth be told, many of us need those 'knee bending' moments because they are what help us realize just how much God has done for us in the gift of grace. Most of us want more than just a 'basic salvation package' from God, though. We want the initial forgiveness of our sins, but we also want the ongoing forgiveness we will need because we 'keep on' sinning. We also want to be embraced in God's goodness from day to day, with a fresh revelation of who he is, what he is doing in our lives, and how much more he has prepared for us. We don't want to miss out on any of the blessings he has prepared for us. We...

What does authenticity look like to you? When I see a classic  or historical era automobile restored to all the beauty it once had, parts gleaming and engine purring away without a sputter, I know someone has been hard at work. The work of restoration has cost them hours of endless polishing and patient fine tuning, but those parts that needed a little more restorative work, such as the finely sewn hand-tufted seats catch my attention the most. That level of intricate detail - the investment of such time and effort - this is what moves my heart as I behold the beauty of the whole. I wonder if God takes such a view of us? Looking at all those areas where he has invested such time and effort into creating every intricate detail and restoring it ever so carefully to the way we were designed. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart... (Jeremiah 1:5) God wants us to be authentic. There is nothing more disappointing than to see someone ...

God isn't looking for us to have it all together in worship before him - he is just looking for us to be ourselves and to be together in the worship of him! Our worship has to engage our spirit - and it has to be genuine. It is impossible to have a truthfully 'engaged spirit' if we are not truthfully ourselves in spending time with Jesus. Jesus was never looking for the 'polished' and 'perfect' in his ministry - he always engaged with those who were far from perfect and mostly those who were 'dirtied' by their pasts. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”  John 4:24 MSG If I were to ask you who y...

Today you will hear someone exclaim - that's the real deal - referring to something that is genuine, not fake, the real thing. Back in the day, Coca-Cola used "real-thing" to describe their soda. They were trying to establish that their 'cola' was the genuine cola - none comparing to the taste you'd find in opening a bottle of Coca-Cola. Let me just say, there is ONE "real deal" in this lifetime - it is Jesus. He is the "real thing" - the genuine article. He is not just another "thing" to be worshiped, but the only way into true and everlasting life - the 'real-deal' that connects us to God the Father. Try as some might, there is no 'counterfeit religion' that will do the same thing! The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering life he brings into Light. He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn't even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn't want h...

While reality television is all the rage right now, it can be a little bit over the top most of the time. No matter the day of the week, you can capture some version of this "watch me make a fool of myself" programming complete with scenes from what we can expect the following week. People have been drawn into to the latest wave of "reality" programming because it gives them a chance to see the "true nature" of how people respond under pressure, how far they will really go when challenged to do what any sane individual would avoid, and just how much 'moxie' one possesses to treat others in ways they never should be treated in a million years. It has the game show appeal of some prize at the end, but it also puts people in the situation where all kinds of pressure emerges and then let's us see exactly how they respond to competition, disappointment, desire, and a whole plethora of pretty serious emotions. The idea is to go through not only physi...