The Plumbline

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20) Christ did the work of redemption, but he uses ordinary, everyday folks who have given their hearts to him to invite others to serve him, as well. We bring the message: "Come back to God" - he does the work of preparing the heart to hear and respond to the message. Sometimes I think we might believe pastors, preachers, and Bible teachers are responsible to deliver that message, but nothing could be further from the truth. WE are called - WE are made ambassadors of reconciliation - WE are instruments of his grace to a hurting world. God makes the appeal, but do we 'seal the deal'? Nope! Even that is God's work - we just bring the message. Does the message have ...

T. S. Eliot asks, "Where is all the knowledge we lost with information?" God reminds us, "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7) Knowing 'more' doesn't always make us any wiser in our choices, does it? In fact, a good many of our choices are simply made because others are making that choice. We are influenced by what we see, hear, and come to accept as truth. When knowledge turns us away from God's truth, we will make unwise choices. When knowledge is the result of embracing truth, we find our steps are more certain and our choices are actually narrowed quite a bit. Information abounds, but knowledge that comes from a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus seems to be lacking in many cases. Our nation struggles because of the 'information overload' we receive each day, but there is little truth contained within that 'load'. Most of us hunger for truth - simply bec...

Yes, if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then your Father in heaven will also forgive your wrongs.  But if you don’t forgive others, then your Father in heaven will not forgive the wrongs you do. (Matthew 6:14-15 ERV) Thomas Fuller put it this way: " He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven. " I don't know where you stand today as it comes to this forgiveness continuum, but let me assure you of this - none of us has "perfectly arrived" at this destination! There are ALWAYS going to be new opportunities to cross that bridge time and time again. As long as we are taking in breath, people will be annoying, inconsiderate, forgetful, hurtful, lacking empathy, etc. People will stand in need of forgiveness - plain and simple. Some will be part of our lives - others will merely cross our paths briefly. Regardless - all will need that infinite measure of grace and forgiveness f...

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.   ( James 3:17-18   NLT ) Are you a peace-maker, or a peace-taker? That may be a tough question to answer truthfully, but it can open the doors to some pretty significant growth in your life either way! To realize one is on the end of the spectrum where there is more strife stirred up when you are present than there is peace and agreement may come as a hard truth to swallow, but it can also create a sense of "urgency" in us to see that things change in us so we are no longer that way. If you have ever been around someone who just shuts down the conversation and creativity of a group as soon as they begin to speak themselves, then you know how much this "pe...

It is central to our good news that God was in the Anointed making things right between Himself and the world. This means He does not hold their sins against them. But it also means He charges us to proclaim the message that heals and restores our broken relationships with God and each other. So we are now representatives of the Anointed One, the Liberating King; God has given us a charge to carry through our lives—urging all people on behalf of the Anointed to become reconciled to the Creator God. ( 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 VOICE ) Many of us watch the news each evening, or prior to going to bed, only to get discouraged by all the stuff we see and hear reported. Officers shot in the line of duty, car wrecks, mass shootings, downed planes, war efforts redoubled, natural disasters - the airwaves are full of these kinds of reports. Rarely do we receive the heartwarming reports of kids being kids, families reunited after years apart, or the like. Why? News isn't considered "ne...

Somewhere in time, the expression "end of my rope" came into use.  In a general sense, it means someone can't take anymore.  The origin of the saying might just shed a little bit of a different light on it, though.  It comes from the practice of hanging a condemned man.  The noose is placed around the neck, cinched a little to make sure it is snug, and then he falls through a trap door underneath his feet.  As he drops, he comes to an "abrupt end" to the rope!  In essence, he is jerked short - he doesn't have any more "give" in the rope to allow him to stand against the growing pressure of the rope around his neck.  Now, this indeed paints a picture of something not quite as casual as being at the point of just throwing up one's arms and walking away - it suggests the "pull" that makes one feel like they have run hard, but come up short of realizing the hoped for end.  There is just nowhere to go when you are at the end of the rope -...