The Plumbline

I used to enjoy watching the re-runs of the TV series, "The Waltons". The simpler times of 'pioneer life' have their intrigue - if not immediately, at least when you are in the midst of a traffic jam on the highway or a huge delay at the airport! The struggles to remain true to their convictions when times were quickly changing around them is a reminder to me of the speed of change demanding our attention today - change happens at the speed of light these days, or so it seems. What touches me the most in these shows about pioneer life is their simple trust - in their neighbors, in their family, and in their God. One of the characters on the show, Ike Godsey, is the store owner and local postmaster. His store is never really seen as what we'd call "impressive" by today's standards, but it always seemed he could get his hands on whatever anyone was looking to obtain - even if he had to special order it. Sometimes we forget we have a great big God w...

"Heaven's my throne, earth is my footstool.  What sort of house could you build for me?  What holiday spot reserve for me?  I made all this! I own all this!"   "But there is something I'm looking for: a person simple and plain, reverently responsive to what I say."  (Isaiah 66:1-2 MSG) It is an encouragement to me to know that God is not looking for the eloquent or fancy to use for his purposes because I am neither. He is looking for the simple and plain to utilize as his instruments of grace and mercy to a hurting and hungry world. I spent some time a while back just looking at the various definitions of "simple" and "plain" found in Webster's dictionary. It is always a wonder to me to discover the "less than common" meanings of the various words we use in our English language. Know what I discovered? Simple isn't all that simple and plain isn't all that plain! For example, did you realize 'simple' mea...

Have you ever stopped to consider just how complicated we can make life? We have a way of taking things to the extreme, don't we?  I don't think we would have ever ended up with "super-sized" drinks, burgers, and fries if we didn't take this idea of taking things to the extreme a little too seriously! When we try to over-think things, we usually add complexity to the situation, don't we?  I think we tend to think unless we have the next greatest idea, or get all "deep" in our answers to someone, we aren't really going to shine.  In fact, I think we sometimes face scripture this way - thinking we have to get all "deep" and have some totally "awesome" interpretation of the meaning of the passage.  Maybe we just complicate things too much by thinking "too deeply" since God's message was written to common people, with common problems, needing common answers, and common sense! I tested everything in my search for...

2-5 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me. (Matthew 18:2-5) The disciples have just finished asking Jesus the "important" question that had been in the back of their minds:  "Who gets the highest rank in God's kingdom?" This was probably eating at them for quite some time - being as competitive as we humans are by nature, it was only natural that they would want to know about status in the kingdom.  Then we are told that Jesus uses an "object lesson" to convey the answer - the child is called over.  Why a child?  Why an obje...