Watch your mouth

We really need to learn to be careful with our words.

Most words are important and tend to get thrown around flippantly. And, I don’t mean  just the bad ones.

Criticism, condemnation, cursing all cut deeply. Even if the hard to hear words were not spoken with malicious intent.

For example, I got to play bass with our worship team at a children’s camp a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun and the kiddos were totally into it. There were a couple of days I was really feeling it, and loved saying, “I’m with the band.”

But, one day in the lunch line this precious little 4th grade girl asked me, “Why are you so old and the rest of the band is, like, teenagers and stuff?”

She didn’t mean a thing by it, but I have done at least a 1,000 sit ups since then. Pass the Rogaine, please!

I think its obvious we need to watch what we say when negativity (intentional, or unintentional) comes tumbling out of our sound holes like a devastating mudslide. But, that’s not what I’m writing about.

I think we, especially believers, need to be careful how we use our words, even in a positive sense.

For example, watching the NBA playoffs… by the way… you did hear that the Dallas Mavericks are world champions… MMMMAAAAVVVVEEEERRRRIIIICCCCKKKKSSSS!!!!

Pardon me, getting back to the original thought, watching the NBA playoffs I have innumerable times seen a Bible-believing, Jesus-trusting professional athlete give a court side interview and thank Jesus for the win, or give glory to God.

But, have you ever heard an interview from the losing locker room where some dejected, defeated athlete asks, “Why does Jesus hate me?”

Or, worse yet, have you heard an athlete give glory to God in a halftime interview and them watch them mouth the F-bomb half way through the third quarter.

We need to watch Continue reading “Watch your mouth”

Sticks and Stones

Last week at our midweek Bible study called SURGE, we deviated from our normal study of the book of Acts. I took us on a journey of dealing with conflicts and attacks in an Old Testament story.

I’ve been asked more than a dozen times since then if we had that teaching on video. Sorry, we haven’t been recording that midweek service. But, I will do my best to report the essential elements from that teaching in today’s blog. I hope it’s a blessing to you, like it has been to me.

Dealing with conflict and difficult people are part of everyone’s life, but the problem is everyone thinks in their situation or line of work that they have it the worst!

And, unless you’re a pastor, that’s just not true… did you sense the sarcasm?

Every experience in every situation is different, and the truth is that no matter where you come from or who you are dealing with conflict and conflicting people and one of the toughest things in life. Continue reading “Sticks and Stones”