A Plumb Line for Living

If you’re like me there’s something alluring about the New Testament Church. As I read the book of Acts I’m drawn in, intrigued, energized, and a little mystified.

What is it about the Early Church that has the ability to challenge and confront the status quo, while simultaneously encouraging potential, passion, and power? For me it’s all about getting back to basics, focusing on those things that were fundamental, foundational, and imperative to the Early Church.

With any new movement there is the great benefit of building from the ground up. By beginning with the cornerstone, alignment takes place for the entire structure. This cornerstone, this alignment, is critical to the strength of the building as it was designed. But when we become detached from the original plan we can find ourselves in jeopardy of compromising the integrity of the entire structure.

When I misalign the fundamentals, or even allow other good things to divert my attention, I risk diminishing my potential, passion, and power as a man of God.

So how do I make a correction? How do I realign? By getting back to the basics that the Early Church was devoted to. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42 NIV) These were the basics, the passion, and the power of the Church, which energized the spread of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I can become easily misaligned when I lose my grip on the basics, instruction in His Word, connection with His people, reflection upon His sacrifice, commitment to speaking with Him through prayer.

The basics were the power behind the Early Church; it is the reliance upon these basics that continue to be the power of the Church today.

So let’s get back to the basics.

Just a thought…

Something About Nothing

What does it feel like to do nothing? I mean really nothing. No demands, no noise, no interruptions, no expectations. That’s difficult to imagine—even my leisure time is filled with something: a book, a newspaper, a television program, or a favourite diversion. Seldom do I do absolutely nothing.

In our day and age, I think the idea of doing nothing appears wasteful, unproductive, and even negligent. There are always needs to be met, expectations to be fulfilled, and there is always something to be done. We are driven to maximize, not minimize, our valued time.

I don’t know about you, but there’s a risk in buying into the hyperactivity of our fast-paced world that only esteems you when you say you’re busy. When asked, “So how are things going?” you rarely hear the response, “I’m doing nothing, in fact I’ve dedicated time for nothing.”

Perhaps one of the greatest disciplines absent in this life of exponential demands and activity is the discipline of doing nothing.

So what does “nothing” look like? Silence. It’s the absence of distraction, expectation, interruption, schedule, manufactured noise, and the torment of a relentless to-do list. And what can “nothing” provide for us? Well, potentially an emptying of self, the release of pent–up emotion, anxiety, stress, and a replenishing of hope, peace, contentment, purpose, and the undisrupted presence of God.

In quietness I set myself aside for God that I might hear from him. Not on my terms, not managed or manufactured, but simply absorbed in His presence.

Andy Park wrote,

In the secret, in the quiet place

In the stillness you are there.

In the secret in the quiet hour I wait, only for you,

Cause I want to know you more

Take time to wait upon Him. Take time to empty yourself—be still, without agenda, come with nothing, and experience the renewal of your hearts and minds having simply been in the presence of God.

Just a thought...

THE 10-90 RULE OF LIFE

Who of us has not experienced the intense weight of suffering, whether it is physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual? I’ve heard it described as a pressing down, a heavy weight on one’s chest, intense anxiety, even trudging through thick mud exhausted with the prospect of moving even one step further. Suffering can be overwhelming and oppressive.

The burden you carry may not even be your own. Empathetic or sympathetic concern for the suffering of others can be as oppressive as any distress we might experience personally.

Given that suffering can be a frequent companion, how do we cope when confronted by the stress, pressures, and burdens that come from simply living life? Here are a few thoughts:

1. Be determined to be a person of character. When you intentionally pursue being a person of integrity, your character shapes your decision-making. The decisions of life become more obvious and compromise-free. Many times we are weighed down by the burden of our own poor personal decision-making. We are seduced by the easy, quick, or immediately gratifying answer. Don't get distracted. Stick to your guns. Making right decisions eliminates the stress of carelessness.

2. Don't carry the weight alone. Some of us try to get through the struggles of life on our own, but isolation in the middle of difficulty can intensify the burden. Burdens are best carried with the support and love of others. Choose carefully and surround yourself with authentic, trustworthy, wise, and godly people.

3. Trust. There is One who loves you more than you can imagine. There is no burden that you carry He cannot identify with, no trouble that Christ does not desire to walk through with you. Trust the Lord, even when life doesn't make sense. What we don't understand today we live knowing He does. The Lord has all our todays and tomorrows in His hands.

We all share the same reality of suffering that confronts a fallen world. But we also share a choice of how we will respond to the troubles and burdens of life. We can choose to let them crush us, or embrace those attitudes and influences that will allow us to live above circumstance. As Chuck has said, "Life is 10 per cent what happens to us, and 90 per cent how we respond to it."

Just a thought,