The Plumbline

All growth begins with a solid 'planting'. It is Fall in Arizona, which means those of us with Bermuda grass all summer are scalping it low, sowing loads and loads of Rye seed, and awaiting the beauty of that bright green to emerge once again. Yes, we Arizonans are silly enough to want 'year-round' grass! The 'sowing' of the seed is on top of the existing grass, making it necessary to scalp that Bermuda lawn down very, very low. This method sometimes involves people putting either steer manure over top of the Rye seed, or a topsoil for grass, but not all of us do that. Some of us just sow and hope the birds won't scavenge every last seed! When the milder days begin to produce the subtle warmth to produce the growth, the blades of Rye will emerge through, having 'taken root' where they were sown. They weren't exactly 'planted', but it is sown where it can make good contact with the soil, in hopes it will take root. All it takes is contact...

Stephen - a man appointed by the disciples to be a "deacon" in the church, 'shows' us what it is to really serve. In his role as deacon, he was given the responsibility to make sure the widows, orphans, and poor were cared for. His role as deacon allowed the first century disciples to go on with their work of spreading the gospel message to those who had not heard the 'good news' as of yet - preaching, healing the sick, and sharing the good news that Christ was raised from the dead. His ministry, although some would think it quite insignificant to be a deacon, gained him some momentum and there were people who were a little "miffed" because they could not match his wisdom, level of service, or commitment. Stephen, brimming with God's grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them. But then some men from the meeting place whose membership was made up of freed slaves, Cyrenians, Alexandrian...