By: Dale Weckbacher
As we witness the moral decline of our world, it is obvious
that what our world needs is a revival.
Spreading the good news of the Gospel has never been easier for today we
possess tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogging, texting, and email. Of course we can still share the Gospel
face-to-face as well. Based on the power
of these tools we would expect to be witnessing a great revival in our world
but unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case.
That is why I wrote Empowered Evangelism. Empowered Evangelism is a call to action
designed to help believers in Jesus Christ overcome their fears and lack of
knowledge of secular philosophies dominating our culture. It also tells us how to effectively use the
tools of prayer, the Word, and the assurance that Jesus is Messiah to empower
us as we share the Gospel. I am a
self-published author and my books, “Jesus Trial” and “Empowered Evangelism”
are available on EBay. I have provided a
link at the upper right portion of this page to purchase the books. I accept all major credit cards so don’t
hesitate for our world is primed and ready for revival. All that is missing is for us to be empowered
to share the good news with them. Now
for this Saturday’s posting.
James 3:5-6
5 Even so the tongue is a little member and
boasts great things.
See how great a
forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.
The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets
on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
NKJV
James 3:5-6 is a warning.
It is like the yellow warning sticker we see warning us of something
dangerous. It is interesting that James
compares the tongue to a forest fire. In
Arizona where I live, we were saddened last year by the death of nineteen
firefighters in the Yarnell Hill Fire. (1) These brave firefighters understood the power
of a forest fire and even though they took all the necessary precautions,
tragically lost their lives. (2)
Our words can be equally destructive and are something we
must use wisely. The pastor at my church
has recently been teaching on learning to think before we speak using the
acronym T.H.I.N.K
T) Is what I
am about to say truthful – the rarest commodity in today’s culture is not some
precious metal or precious stone, its truth. Lies do indeed seem to spread like a forest
fire and can erupt into riots as we now see in Ferguson MO. Now that we are beginning to see the full
story of what happened in Ferguson, it is becoming clear that the officer was
in a struggle for his life and the situation escalated into the tragic
shooting. However, the media and race
hustlers did not stop to think about the truthfulness of what they were saying
and the result was the conflagration of riots, violence, and destruction in
Ferguson Mo.
H) Helpful – If
truth is rare, destructive speech that cuts individuals down is plentiful. Once again, campaign season is in full swing
and with it comes the negative advertising.
If all of these ads were truthful, we would not vote for anyone on the
ballot. However truthful or not, these
ads are not helpful to those of us focused on the issues. We do not want attack ads for we want to know
is what the candidate will do when elected to office.
I)
Inspirational – Confidence is critical to success in any endeavor. Quite often in professional sporting events,
where all the participants are highly skilled professionals, the difference
that affects the outcome of the game is confidence. Our society would be better served if we took
the time to think about what we are about to say and said something
inspirational instead of critical. If
you do not know of anything inspirational to say, use the Bible.
N) Necessary –
Silence is golden but as an author, not very profitable. However, we can do much damage when we say
something that is not necessary. Even
when we may be trying to say something to comfort someone in need, we may talk
too much and say something unnecessary that actually hurts them. Sometimes the best thing we can say and do is
to listen and pray for them.
K) Kind – Is
what I am about to say kind. Unkind
speech pollutes our airwaves, Facebook, and Twitter. The shooting in Ferguson has shown us that this
unkind speech can start a forest fire of rioting and violence. The best way to win a fight is to avoid
it. A kind word in a time of strife can
calm tempers and prevent the conflagration of a fight or argument. We should therefore seek to say something
kind, even when our temper is flaring for the Bible tells us that doing so is
like heaping hot coals on the heads of our enemies (Proverbs 25:21-22). Granted this scripture tells us to give them
a piece of bread or water to drink but I believe a kind word will also have the
same effect.
This however,
is not a call for political correctness for I believe political correctness
actually prevents us from saying something truthful that may help someone. I am only saying that words can be
destructive but if we learn to think before speaking, our words can also be
constructive. This is why the Bible
says,
James
1:19
So
then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow
to wrath;
NKJV
Stopping to think before speaking
will make us slow to speak. While we are
not speaking we can listen to what someone is saying and the time we spend
thinking can cool tempers and prevent arguments, violence, or even riots. We need smart, not politically correct speech
so I urge everyone to remember the acronym T.H.I.N.K. before speaking.
1. azcentral.com. Yarnell Hill Fire:
Remembering the fallen firefighters. www.azcemntral.com. [Online] The
Arizona Republic, July 9, 2013. [Cited: August 22, 2014.]
http://www.azcentral.com/news/free/20130701yarnell-hill-fire-firefighters-names.html.
2. Fox News.
Portable shelters couldn't save 19 members of elite hotshots firefighting crew
killed in Arizona blaze. www.foxnews.com. [Online] Fox News, July 2,
2013. [Cited: August 22, 2014.]
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/02/19-firefighters-killed-battling-arizona-blaze/.
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