The Plumbline

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15) Confucius said if he walked with two men, he'd look at the positive example in one of them and imitate that behavior, while seeking to eliminate the negative behavior he observed while walking with the other man. I daresay that is a dangerous way to live our lives because choosing any 'standard' other than God to base our decision about what character needs to be built in our lives is living by a 'low standard'. We can see the negative traits or behavior in another and seek to eliminate similar behavior in our

Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.  (John Wesley). Have you heard that before? Have you stopped to consider just how true this statement actually is? Think about the days gone by, regardless of your age. I was born in the late 50's, so I have seen a bit of change around me. I have seen dress lengths go from mid-calf to just a tiny bit under the backside. I have watched as pant legs have gone from baggy to form-fitting, flared to skinny, finely tailored to ripped and torn. Hair styles have gone from bobbed to flowing lengt

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself. ( Henry Ward Beecher ) I have a small sign in my office that was given to me some years ago. It was given as a way of reminding me of my importance as a leader in healthcare. I was actually being honored by my peers when I received it, but it has been with me ever since because it reminds me of a very important fact - we lead by example. The sign simply says, "Every time we walk by the violation of a standard, we set a new standard." I believe this is a derivation of what Lieutenant General David Morrison said when he is quoted as saying, "The standard you walk past is the standard you accept." There are times we 'set new standards' because our behavior doesn't match the past standard we had come to follow, aren't there? When we drift from a standard, what is one of the most common things we do? Don't we attempt to cover it up by making an exc

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with  beauty and  truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy.  (Philippians 4:8 VOICE) Is it just possible some of the awful things which happen these days are because we have filled our minds with things not so very beautiful and/or truthful?  What lies do we believe, simply because we were told them and we didn't do the work to validate them?  What untruths do we propagate simply because we repeat them, not really thinking about what could be at the root of what we are repeating?  What sinister plans do we have in mind when we do some of the things we do in the name of this or that cause?  I start today with a bunch of questions because I think we don't do a very thorough job of asking the questions in life which help to perpetuate the beautiful or the truthful! Maybe we need to ask those questions of ourselves - and

Don't judge wine by its label,    or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor. Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—    the splitting headache, the queasy stomach. (Proverbs 23:31-32) I am not a connoisseur of wine, so I know very little about what makes a good bottle of wine.  You could show me one bottle right after another, and I would probably do what anyone who knows wine would cringe at - I'd pick it by the pretty label or the nice bottle!  The one who consumes the product in the bottle is the one who knows it best!   This passage speaks a lot more to me, though.  I think we do a whole lot of "label" reading, even a little look inside, then come to the conclusion that whatever we are examining looks good.  It isn't until we have consumed it fully (or it has consumed us) that we understand just how lousy the thing was!  We are left with a really bad taste from the experience of "consuming" what it was we were judging by nothing more

But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God.   Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start.   It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe – Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.   ( Galations 3:25-27) We arrive in style at our final destination in Christ – in an adult faith wardrobe.   In direct relationship with God, we are “more than washed up” for a fresh start.   We are completely transformed.   There is an exchange of character – although we may not immediately see the evidence of it in our daily lives, it has been accomplished.   Through our daily pursuit of his presence being cultivated in our lives, we come to recognize the changes already accomplished.   Paul describes our position in Christ as being in direct relationship with God - having no compromising or impairing element that would keep us apart from a holy God.   Close logical relationship because of th