The Plumbline

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4) Charles Spurgeon reminded us, "The Lord gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction." While none of us actually 'signs up' for trials, they come our way. We won't always 'delight' in those afflictions or trials, will we? Some of us will even complain that we don't 'deserve' the affliction because we have been doing everything God asked us to do. It doesn't matter how 'right' we live at times - those afflictions still come! Why? They build our faith, increasing our endurance under pressure, often even softening our inner man, making us more receptive to what God wants to do 'next' in our lives.  I...

Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up and went home! Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority. (Matthew 9:5-8) I am not an authority on 'crowd thought', but it was not uncommon for the 'crowds' to come to Jesus, seeking signs and wonders, looking for all the 'good stuff' this 'man' had to offer without any commitment on their part. They'd bring the hurt, unhealthy, and even the insane, all in the hope of seeing some kind of 'action' on his part that changed the course of these people's lives. All those signs and wonders, and they still thought Jesus was a mere 'mortal'. Don't believe me? Read that last sentence again: "And the...