Reverence and thoughtful measurement that God's Word provides (Colossians 3:1-17)

Colossians 3:1-17, encourages us to focus on heavenly life with Christ; true life hidden, glorious. Reject sinful nature, embrace renewal in Christ; unity and transformation define new life. Clothe yourselves with love, forgiveness, humility, and Christ’s peace. Let Christ’s message guide all; live gratefully as his representatives.

I'm going to gramma Gail's church in Edina with Tony today. At this church they take communion every week and hold the sacrament with Holy Reverence. We had breakfast yesterday and talked about how the Bible shapes our thinking and renews our minds as we worship in the Word (Romans 12:1-4). 

Communion is taking God's word to heart (John 6:56), faith comes by hearing the word about Christ (Romans 10:17). Just as every human birth has two parents, so divine birth has two parents: the Word of God and the Spirit of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6).", "for you have been born again [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] not of seed which is perishable but [from that which is] imperishable and immortal, that is, through the living and everlasting word of God. (1 Peter 1:23 AMP)" - God’s Word nourishes our souls and renews our mind (Revelation 10:9-11)

Enjoying thinking about the plumb line in scripture (Isaiah 28:17, Amos 7:7-9) as I was reading Mystery of Christ's body being revealed (Rev 10:7, Eph 1:9–10, Rom 1:16-17)

A plumb line is a ancient builder's tool: a weighted string dropped vertically to establish a perfectly straight, true line. Builders used it to check whether a wall was genuinely upright or dangerously crooked. In Scripture, God borrows this image powerfully as a metaphor for divine judgment and moral standard.

Amos 7:7-9 — The Wall That Cannot Stand

In Amos's vision, God stands beside a wall holding a plumb line and asks, "What do you see, Amos?" The answer: God is setting his plumb line against Israel. The meaning is stark:

• Israel was once built straight, according to God's covenant standards
• But the nation has drifted so far from true that it cannot be corrected
• God declares he will "spare them no longer" — the wall must come down

The specific judgment that follows (v. 9) targets the high places, sanctuaries, and the house of Jeroboam — the centers of false worship and corrupt leadership. The plumb line exposes that Israel's religion and governance are structurally unsound.

Isaiah 28:17 — Justice and Righteousness as the Standard

In Isaiah, God announces he will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line. The context is a rebuke of Jerusalem's leaders who have made a "covenant with death" — trusting in lies and false alliances rather than God. The plumb line here does two things:

• It sets the positive standard: God's kingdom and his anointed cornerstone (v. 16) will be built on justice and righteousness
• It demolishes the false: the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, because nothing built crooked will survive God's measurement

The Theological Core

Taken together, the plumb line passages teach several things:

God has an objective standard. The plumb line isn't arbitrary. It represents God's own character — his justice, righteousness, and covenant faithfulness — against which all human structures (nations, worship, leadership, moral life) are measured.

Deviation accumulates and eventually collapses. A wall slightly off plumb may stand for a while, but the further it leans, the more certain its fall. Both Amos and Isaiah address nations that had drifted gradually but were now past the point of self-correction.

Judgment is diagnostic before it is punitive. God holds up the plumb line not out of cruelty but because a crooked wall is a danger to those living under it. True love requires honest measurement.

The standard also points to hope. In Isaiah 28, the plumb line is tied to the cornerstone God lays in Zion (v. 16) — quoted in the New Testament as a reference to Christ (1 Peter 2:6; Romans 9:33). The one who is the true standard is also the one who builds the only wall that will last.

The plumb line is ultimately God saying: I know what straight looks like, and I am measuring.

Lord help me to take your Word seriously and reverently today. Amen. 

Read More ->>

Mercy defines the Sabbath day, discover how to "delight in the Lord" (Isa 56:1–7,Isa 58:13–14)

This is what the Lord says:

“Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display my righteousness among you. Blessed are all those who are careful to do this. Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest and keep themselves from doing wrong.

“Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people. And don’t let the eunuchs say, ‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’

For this is what the Lord says: 

I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me...“I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22-25) and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer (1 Corinthians 6:19). I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Isa 56:1–7

Over the past few months I've been looking at Stop in the Name of God with guys from Teen Challenge Portland house. I wanted to share with the guys that resting in the Lord is a great way to spend Saturday, healing and new paths open up as we rest in the Lord and focus on "seeking his face." in community. 

“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!” - Isa 58:13–14

Sabbath is mentioned 154 time in the NIV. The "mercy defines the day" theme is perhaps the most continuous. Deuteronomy's Exodus-grounded rationale for Sabbath rest, "you were slaves, therefore your servants and animals rest" is not overturned by Jesus but drawn out to its logical conclusion. The healings are Deuteronomy in action, performed by the One who authored the Exodus.

The most surprising convergence is the mission column. Isaiah 56's vision of foreigners keeping the Sabbath at the mountain of prayer is so specific that Paul's synagogue strategy in Acts looks like deliberate fulfillment. He was not accommodating Jewish custom for pragmatic reasons, he was standing inside Isaiah's prophetic picture and announcing its arrival.

And the eschatological rest column shows the most sophisticated typological argument in the canon. Hebrews 4 is not proof-texting; it is reading Genesis 2, Psalm 95, and the Conquest narratives together and showing that the open-ended seventh day was always waiting for an antitype that only Christ's finished work could supply.

Theme	Old Testament foundation	New Testament fulfillment
Lord of the Sabbath God's sovereign ownership of the day	Gen 2:2–3 · Ex 20:8–11 · Deut 5:12–15 · Ezek 20:12,20 The Sabbath belongs to YHWH — "a Sabbath to the LORD." God himself rested, blessed, and hallowed the seventh day. Ezekiel calls it his personal sign between himself and Israel. Sovereignty over the Sabbath is an exclusively divine attribute, not delegated to any human authority.	Mark 2:28 · Matt 12:8 · John 5:17–18 Jesus claims the identical sovereignty: "the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." This is not a relaxation of the law but a Christological claim. John 5:17 makes the logic explicit — the Father's ongoing work grounds the Son's Sabbath activity. He who created the Sabbath now fulfills it in person. Type fulfilled in Christ's person
Mercy defines the day Liberation and rest for the powerless	Ex 23:12 · Deut 5:15 · Isa 58:13–14 · Lev 25 Deuteronomy grounds the Sabbath in the Exodus: "you were a slave in Egypt." Rest must therefore extend to servants, animals, and foreigners. The Sabbath year releases debts; the Jubilee restores land. Isaiah 58 redefines true Sabbath as justice. The day is structurally a liberation institution.	Matt 12:12 · Luke 13:16 · Luke 14:5 Jesus draws out the mercy logic already embedded in Deuteronomy. Calling the bent woman a "daughter of Abraham" deliberately echoes covenant identity and Exodus liberation. His ox-in-the-pit argument (Luke 14:5) appeals to mercy his opponents already practiced and extends it to a human being. OT humanitarian law → christological healing
Custom & practice The Sabbath as covenant identity	Ex 16 · Ex 31:12–17 · Num 15:32–36 · Neh 13:15–22 The manna narrative pre-Sinai established the weekly pattern before the law was given. Ex 31 makes the Sabbath a perpetual covenant sign. Violation was a capital offense in the wilderness (Num 15). Nehemiah enforced it at Jerusalem's gates as a marker of post-exilic covenant fidelity.	Luke 4:16 · Luke 23:56 · Matt 24:20 Jesus attended the synagogue "as was his custom" the covenant-keeper embodying the covenant sign. The women rested on the Sabbath even in their grief, honoring the commandment. Jesus' instruction to pray the flight not be on the Sabbath shows the rhythm still shaping his disciples' future. Covenant sign kept perfectly by the covenant Lord
Shadow & substance Critique and universalizing of observance	Isa 1:13–14 · Isa 56:2–7 · Amos 8:5 · Jer 31:31–34 The prophets already anticipated a deeper fulfillment. Isaiah condemns hollow Sabbath-keeping while simultaneously opening Sabbath participation to foreigners and eunuchs (Isa 56) — universalizing what Israel had privatized. Jeremiah's new covenant inscribes law on the heart, relativizing external observance as its ultimate form.	Col 2:16–17 · Rom 14:5 · Gal 4:10 Paul declares the Sabbath a "shadow" of the substance that is Christ (Col 2:17). The prophetic critique of empty observance is resolved: the reality the day pointed toward has arrived. Sabbath keeping becomes a conscience matter rather than a salvific one the OT itself prepared this trajectory. Prophetic anticipation → Pauline declaration
Eschatological rest The open-ended seventh day	Gen 2:2–3 · Ps 95:7–11 · Deut 12:9 · Lev 25The seventh day in Genesis uniquely has no closing formula ("evening and morning") — it is open-ended rest. Psalm 95 uses "my rest" as a future threat written after the Conquest, showing Canaan did not exhaust the promise. The Promised Land was called "rest" (Deut 12:9), but a greater rest still lay ahead. The Jubilee projects Sabbath rhythm onto a cosmic scale.	Heb 4:1–11 · John 19:30Hebrews weaves Genesis, Psalm 95, and Canaan into one typological argument: three Sabbath-rests (creation, land, Ps 95's future promise) converge on a single antitype — the rest believers enter by faith in Christ's finished work. "It is finished" is the ultimate Sabbath declaration. The rest that remains is eschatological, inaugurated now and consummated at the resurrection. Three OT types → one NT antitype
Mission platform All nations at God's Sabbath	Isa 56:2–7 · Isa 66:23 · Ezek 46:1–3 Isaiah 56 is striking: foreigners who keep the Sabbath will be welcomed at God's holy mountain, "for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." Isaiah 66 envisions all flesh coming to worship on new moons and Sabbaths in the new creation. Ezekiel 46 pictures the Sabbath as the rhythm of restored, universal worship.	Acts 13:14,42–44 · Acts 16:13 · Acts 17:2 · Acts 18:4 Paul built his entire Gentile mission around the Sabbath synagogue assembly. Isaiah's vision — foreigners gathering at God's house on the Sabbath — is precisely what Paul exploited across Antioch, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Philippi. The Sabbath gathering became the first and most natural platform for announcing that the One the Scriptures promised had come. Isaiah's vision → apostolic mission strategy

Read More ->>

God’s Redeemed People The Doctrine of the Church

I've been thinking about Easter and the coming of the Holy Spirit that happened at Pentecost 50 days later. In 2033 it will be 2000 years since this occurred, 7 perfect years from now. It's amazing to think about how the world has changed from then till now. At the Cross where Jesus "laid down his life, only to take it up again (John 10:17-18)." He fundamentally changed our world. He redeemed the sinner, paid the ransom of death that sinful man deserved. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and gave us a grace period where the clarion call of God would go out into all the world proclaiming the good news. "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish - but have eternal life. The son did not come to condemn the world but to save the world through him..." John 3:16-17.

The world we live in is messy, for 2000 years we still have so much evil, death and destruction. Yet we all track time according to the birth of Jesus Christ. I love memorizing beyond "John 3:16 to include John 3:18-21 that explains "why the good news of God's son didn't automatically make everything awesome for everyone.

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

• Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" 

The cross of Christ broke down hostility between people. He taught us to love our enemies and then demonstrated this for us. "He said forgive them father for they know not what they do" and said "it is finished" before giving up his Soul. Hebrews 11-12 explains this  act of unwavering faith and it's impact on our lives today. "Romans road" show cases this reality of coming to the throne of God, in the resurrection power of Jesus and allow him to wash away our sins and give us new day.

• Romans 5:8: "God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" 
• Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" 
• Romans 10:13: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" 

Dying to Self to Live for God, The Doctrine of the Cross for a Believer 

To be found in the book of life, walk with God in righteousness (Rev20:14-15)

Prayer, help me to share your word with my friends today and live in HOPE (Help One Person Everyday) I have in You, amen.

So what is the church?

• God chose Israel to bless the world, yet their failures and exile could not derail His plan; He faithfully restored them and fulfilled His purposes through them. My friend Steve S said, Israel is the strongest reason to believe the Bible is true, I say it's 4/24/2026 AD "in the year of our Lord" everywhere on Earth. 
• The rebuilt temple pointed forward to Christ, in whom believers become the living temple, a spiritual house where God dwells by His Spirit. Love your enemies becomes a living reality, a testimony of our lives that is felt 30, 60, 90 more than what was sown in our hearts. 
• Christ's Church is a diverse, unified body of redeemed people from every nation, built on Christ as cornerstone and the foundation of the apostles and prophets. I've worshiped in Myanmar with redeemed people who physically shined with the Holy Spirit of God.
• Membership in Christ's Church is internal, not external; only those born again by the Holy Spirit and faith in Christ truly belong to Him, and God knows each one.

• God invites all people to join His redeemed community through faith in Christ, offering eternal blessing, present strength, and a future glory that surpasses everything this world offers.

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" - it's as simple as asking God for help, and help is very near: The Pilgrim's Progress (2019) | Full Movie

Read More ->>

Smashing bronze snakes: When God's gifts become idols

Jim shared this the other day and I really needed to let go of my past trophies and live in today's challenges. 

The Backstory

In Numbers 21, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it on a pole. Anyone bitten by snakes who looked at it would live (Numbers 21:8-9). It was an instrument of healing and a call to faith, nothing more.

Hundreds of years later, the object remained. But its purpose had curdled. By Hezekiah's time, the people were burning incense to it, had given it a name ("Nehushtan," meaning simply "a piece of bronze"), and were treating it as an object of worship (2 Kings 18:4). What God designed to point toward Him had become a substitute for Him.

Hezekiah destroyed it. No hesitation, no nostalgia. His reasoning was clear: the symbol had replaced the Savior. The created thing had eclipsed the Creator (Romans 1:25). It had to go, even though it once carried a holy purpose.

---

The Lesson

Even gifts from God can become idols when we cling to them wrongly. Traditions, symbols, spiritual experiences, past blessings — any of these can quietly take the throne that belongs to God alone. Israel did it with the bronze serpent. We do it with subtler things.

The warning echoes across Scripture. The prophet Isaiah records God saying, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing" (Isaiah 43:18-19). Jesus warned that no one pours new wine into old wineskins (Luke 5:37-38). Paul pressed forward, refusing to be held by what was behind (Philippians 3:13-14). Reverence for what God did must never become a chain that keeps us from what God is doing.

---

The Beautiful Twist

Jesus Himself references this moment in John 3:14-15: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

The bronze serpent was never the destination. It was always a signpost pointing forward to Christ. Hezekiah was not rejecting God's past work. He was protecting God's present glory by refusing to let a shadow replace the substance (Colossians 2:17, Hebrews 10:1).

---

Reflection for the Week

What bronze serpent do you need to smash?

It might be social media, a phone habit, an unhealthy website. But it can be subtler than that.

For me, pride in past achievements became an idol. I found myself protecting a former version of myself rather than remaining open to God's corrective input today. It is a kind of PTSD in reverse: worshipping a past experience, guarding an old award, rehearsing a former identity. The very thing God once used became a wall between me and what He wants to do now.

The Psalmist prays, "Search me, God, and know my heart... see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24). That is the prayer for this week.

Lord, help me look forward to Your presence and the promises You are fulfilling in me now and in the days ahead. Loosen my grip on what was. Give me eyes for what is. Amen.

Read More ->>

Holocaust Survivor Testimony at my work (CHAI)

This is the testimony of Janet Applefield (born Gustava/"Giga"), a Jewish child survivor from Kraków, Poland, one of only 11 children to survive a specific camp. She was 4 when the war began and was eventually given away by her parents to save her life.

Story Highlights

• The family's world before the war A warm, multi-generational Jewish family. Janet was pampered as the first grandchild. Her "Aryan appearance" (blonde, green eyes) would become a survival tool.
• The invasion and flight (1939) German bombing began September 1. The family fled east toward Russia, dodging low flying aircraft (German strafen ("to punish")), crossing rivers on foot. Her father found them through a newspaper ad.
• Russia two tragedies Two uncles were lured to a "town hall for jobs," marched to a ravine, and shot. Her grandparents, who refused to return to Poland, were deported to Siberian slave labor.
• Return to Nazi-occupied Poland Her father was arrested as a suspected communist. Jews were forced to wear armbands. Gestapo raided homes for valuables. The family tried to escape by train.
• The escape attempt that failed August 1942 a moonlit night, a horse and wagon, and Polish "blue police" who beat the family with clubs until they bled. No place to hide.
• The agonizing decision Her parents separated to improve the odds of one surviving. They gave Janet to Maria, a cousin's nanny. Her last words from her parents: "Be good, be strong, be brave we will be reunited soon." ("Be strong and courageous")
• Bełżec death camp Approximately 12,000 people were assembled in an open field. Men selected for slave labor. Elderly and children shot into mass graves. The remaining 53 boxcars traveled 5 days to Bełżec. 600,000 murdered in 6 months. Janet's mother, grandmother, aunt, and 3-year-old cousin Anushka were among them.
• Hidden with cousin Lala / false Catholic identity Janet became "Krisha" (Christina Antoshevich) — identity taken from the birth certificate of a dead Catholic girl, obtained from a Catholic priest. Lala was cruel, beating Janet with a fireplace poker and telling her "Your mother is dead, she's never coming back."
• Abandoned in Kraków Left alone in a church at 7 years old when Lala was arrested by the Gestapo. A woman found her weeping on the street and sheltered her. She was eventually placed on a Catholic Church-owned farm.
• Survival through performance When the blue police arrived at the farm, Janet instinctively sang and danced to distract them. They laughed, drank vodka, and left.
• Plaszów concentration camp / reunion with father Her father survived a gunshot wound to the face with no medical treatment. After liberation, they reunited. They eventually emigrated to the U.S. via Paris.
• Legacy Janet earned a BA and master's degree, raised three children, lost her oldest son David six years ago. She testified before the Massachusetts legislature, which then mandated Holocaust education. She authored Becoming Janet, with her grandson designing the cover.

Christian Concepts That Were Ignored or Violated

These are the theological failures the testimony exposes — many perpetrated by people who identified as Christian.

1. Imago Dei — Every person bears God's image Genesis 1:26–27 is foundational. The Nazi ideology systematically stripped Jews of human dignity — armbands, ghetto walls, boxcars, mass graves. To dehumanize is to deny the image of God in another person. Many perpetrators were baptized Christians.

2. "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39) Jesus called this the second greatest commandment. The "blue police" — Polish, nominally Christian — beat a bleeding father and his terrified family with clubs for trying to survive. Collaboration with evil is not neutrality; it is a direct violation of this command.

3. "Do not murder" (Exodus 20:13 / Matthew 5:21–22) Jesus expanded this to include contempt and hatred. Six million Jews were murdered. The command was not merely broken — it was institutionalized.

4. Protection of the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3–4; Isaiah 1:17) "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed." Janet was a 7-year-old child wandering alone, weeping on a Kraków street. Most walked past. The biblical call to protect the vulnerable was culturally abandoned.

5. Hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2; Leviticus 19:34) "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers." The Jewish people were strangers in occupied lands — and were hunted rather than sheltered. Hebrews 13:2 echoes the angelic hospitality theme that runs through all of Scripture.

6. Silence in the face of injustice (Proverbs 31:8–9; Ezekiel 3:18) "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves." Many European churches were silent. Pope Pius XII's silence remains one of the most contested failures of institutional Christianity in the 20th century. Silence, biblically, is complicity.

7. Bearing false witness / propaganda (Exodus 20:16) Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda was the engine of genocide. Dehumanizing lies — that Jews were vermin, communists, sub-human — were spread through a society with deep Christian roots. Falsehood in service of hatred violates the 9th commandment at a civilizational scale.

8. Antisemitism rooted in theological distortion Replacement theology, misapplied "Christ-killer" rhetoric, and centuries of church-sanctioned anti-Jewish prejudice created the cultural soil in which genocide grew. This is a painful indictment. Malachi 3:6 — "I the LORD do not change; so you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed" — stands as God's own covenant fidelity against any theology that writes Israel off.

Where Christian Conscience DID Appear

The testimony is not without grace. Several people acted on what Christian conscience demands:

Person	Act
Alicia Goa	Sheltered a weeping, abandoned 7-year-old stranger at great personal risk
The Catholic farm administrator	Hid Janet on church-owned land
The Catholic priest	Provided a birth certificate that became a survival document
The unknown woman under the cape	The woman who pulled Janet close in the street, the most Christlike act in the story
The German foreman	Slipped Janet's father extra bread in the concentration camp

These are echoes of the Righteous Among the Nations people who, at risk of death, chose the costly path of obedience. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it "the view from below." Janet's testimony is ultimately a call back to that standard.

Janet's own conclusion: "The smallest acts of kindness have a ripple effect... I am the voice of all those people whose voices were so brutally taken from them."

That is, at its core, a profoundly biblical statement and a rebuke to every generation that forgets it.

Immigration, foreigners' and natives from the perspective of Holiness and Love (Lev 19, Matt 22:37-39, 2 Chron 7)

Read More ->>