"Then the Lord said, 'Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.'" Amos 7:8b Unless you're a brick layer or a carpenter of some sort, you probably don't spend much time playing with a plumb line. Basically, it's a string with a weight on one end. Someone who is building a strong wall will no doubt want it to be perfectly vertical, straight and true. This is accomplished by judging the wall against the perfect standard of a plumb line. Through the prophet Amos, God was bringing truth and judgment to Israel. They had built upon the wall that was Him (perfect, straight and true) with all types of idolatry and sinfulness. Unfortunately for many Christians, we do the same thing today. We acknowledge God as our Savior, and then we allow the enemy to pull us off the path far enough that we begin to erect statues to ourselves and place idols where God's wall should be being built in our lives. We would do well to remember that one day a plumb line will be taken to what we've built. Will it stand the test? "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames." 1 Corinthians 3:10-15  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Of all the things God is concerned about, being convenient just isn't one of them. He often uses inconvenient requests and difficult timing to jerk us out of our comfort zones. Once He does that, getting our attention turned completely on Him seems much more likely. Of course, even then some refuse to focus on Him, choosing to dive directly back into whatever is "convenient." Several day later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you." Acts 24:24-25  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Of all the love affairs people have, the most pervasive and intense are our love affairs with ourselves. It starts almost with our first look in the mirror. Love at first sight, if you will. What God needs to do is help us understand that He loves us far more than we could ever love ourselves. In fact, the love we have for ourselves is actually in the way of Him loving us. If we are to ever understand God's love, we've got to forget about "self" and focus that love on Jesus! "No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." Jesus of Nazareth (John 6:27)  Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Although I'm staunch in my support of pro-life and pro-family candidates, I must be honest that the two don't always go hand in hand. While I struggle with the fact that half of all the people in the world today are pro-abortion (although they would surely say "pro-choice") and many more seem to be fine with federally funding research that would destroy human embryos in favor of "science," I'm frankly concerned for the future of our nation. I see churches who call themselves "Christian" support platforms that Jesus would never have supported and I watch as fellow pastors and ministers clearly make judgment calls that are not theirs to make biblically. The whole situation leaves me wondering. Is our nation so distant from God that we could slip this far and few would notice? Maybe so... but God is still on the throne and nothing that happens has escaped His eye! Although these days are troubling in many ways, maybe they will somehow cause us to turn to Him again. When times come that we can no longer trust even our government, thanks be to God that we can still trust in Him! "But I trust in you, O LORD ; I say, "You are my God." Psalm 31:14 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Remember that Bible guy, Jonah? He got all upset and tried to run from God, winding up in the belly of a fish for a few days. I've often wondered, why didn't God just turn him around and head him in the right direction in the first place? And what about you and me? Do we not often wind up going places, or doing or saying things that God would never have approved? We might immediately feel bad, but the damage is often already done. So when people ask you why God allows so much evil in the world, remind them that God is not the author of evil--Satan is, and we frequently do his bidding. Out of pure love, God is dealing with our evil even though it cost Him His Only Son. You might also remind them that God did not make us to be robots, but rather friends! We have the ability to do amazing good and the ability to do terrible things beyond imagination without Him. Tell them to fear not though, because evil will be put to an end soon--in God's own time. But until then, evil is not God's fault. It's ours. "Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. The defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance. Therefore, the Lord says: 'I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.'" Micah 2:1-4 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

I had the opportunity to spend some time in Jerusalem and I learned a lot about the nation of Israel. In many ways it helps the Bible come alive for me as I read of places I've actually seen and attitudes of the heart I've experienced for myself. One of the things that surprised me was the incredible ability of the Israeli army to defend that small piece of land they have. It seems remarkable that such a small nation could have such military ability and could have remained viable for a few thousand years even though they have enemy nations and terrorists on literally every border. How could they be so hated by much of the world and still survive? That fact alone testifies to God's ability to bring His people through good times and bad, and still to protect and provide for them. Today's Christians could learn a lot from the testimony of Israel and God's faithfulness to them, even though they disregard His Son as the Messiah (the Savior). Friends, this is great stuff to remember whenever you feel like you have enemies all around you! "But now many nations are gathered against you. They say, 'Let her be defiled, let our eyes gloat over Zion!" But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, he who gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor." Micah 4:11-12 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Have you seen any of the newspaper and magazine headlines that claim that Christians must be "dumb" or just "idiots" because we actually believe in crazy things like the virgin birth of Jesus, a literal interpretation of the Bible, that Adam and Eve were REAL people, etc? Well if you haven't, I must admit you're not paying attention, but either way I'm proud to be called an idiot if that's what pleases them. All their worldly intelligence and "proof" that God is a myth will be piled on their heads before they know it. May God have mercy and show them the wonders of His Truth as well. "For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.' Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." 1 Corinthians 1:19-21 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate

Today's pop culture will often try to persuade us that God loves and accepts everyone. The notion that God will eventually accept all people regardless of their deeds, their beliefs or their faith in Him is ridiculous even on its surface. Who of us would believe that God would embrace Adolph Hitler or Sadaam Hussein? But what we forget is that we are all wicked inside and capable of equally terrible evil. Without Christ as a redeemer we are also all facing the same consequence--total separation from God forever. And even this is not God's fault. Those who face these consequences do so because of their own rejection of God, not because of His rejection of them. "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12 Pastor Jim Kilby Your donation spreads good news! www.harvestyouth.org/donate