How Is Your Listening?. . . . Part 1

Every week preachers are routinely evaluated by how well they did or did not do with the messages they preach. The congregation is constantly evaluating, for the most part in the private confines of their mind, the value of a sermon. In the interest of time, they evaluate the length. The complaints are that it is usually too long. While I have certainly been trapped a few times with long, windy sermons the other end of the spectrum ought to be considered too. Was the sermon too short? So the private thoughts continue about preaching—length, subject matter, tasteful, diplomatic, and so forth. Consider with me how deadly it is to begin to evaluate sermons in this particular manner.

First of all, it caters toward making preaching entertainment. Preaching is nothing more than a dish that is being sampled at a recipe contest and tested for its sweet taste. Preaching becomes just another venue to say “Good!” or “Bad!?” just like one of John Grisham’s latest novels. Preaching can be evaluated just like a cake, a steak, a book, a play, a podcast, or you fill in the blank.

When we listen to preaching for the sake of entertainment, it will do nothing for our soul growth in the long run. What few people understand is that this is a very active role of spiritual warfare that takes place every single Sunday of the year. Spiritual warfare is anything that reduces your ability to take in spiritual things and accommodate them to your life. Most people who think of spiritual warfare immediately want to equate it with an ethereal, mystical never-land that is filled with ghosts and goblins and all sorts of other matters. To do this means that we have fallen into Screwtape’s trap—making too much of spiritual warfare. So you have to watch your listening and stay focused on what you are hearing. If it helps, take notes. If taking notes is not a good option for you then consider that preaching is just as much an act of worship as is praying, singing, and giving. All worship is a verb and preaching means that we are active participants in the preaching—through listening!

Secondly, it creates hero worship. When we thumb up and thumb down preaching with our expectations, it won’t take you long to understand that some men are more gifted in the pulpit than others are. I am convinced that there are some who could be jerked from their beds at 3 AM and hastily thrown into a pulpit and ordered to preach and they could do it. Not only could they do it, you would be blown away by their personal gifting and talents. Thank God for those men like that but all of us don’t pass the muster in the 3 AM test!

Take it from me as I am well aware of this fact. In my early (undiscerning?) years, I was very impressed by those with a flair for talent in the pulpit. As the years passed and I gained some maturity and discernment, I started noticing that flair in the pulpit did not always equate to personal holiness and personal godliness of life. A man could be a star-studded wonder in the pulpit and could be a rogue in his personal life and he was given a pass for it. Forgive me for my forthrightness but we need more authenticity of life than flair in the pulpit. If you have an authentic life, you will have an authentic anointing to preach the Word.

So be careful how you listen. One of the things that can happen to a pastor who spends his life in one church is that more often than not, he preaches with his life and not so much his words. That congregation hears what he says but they do far more hearing with their eyes than with their ears. All of us who have been called to preach owe it to those places that we serve to live cleanly and clearly as we articulate the Gospel.

Thirdly, it diminishes the power of the provoking Word in your life. We all love those moments when the encouragement is flowing and the inspiration is at a high pitch during the preaching. We can feel good because our spiritual and moral flaws are not confronted. We can feel the mental massage as the Word brings about a spiritual rush of adrenaline in our lives. But constantly evaluating preaching in this way quickly reduces (annihilates?) the ability of the Word to provoke us toward living a higher life. You need more than a “feel-good” sermon, you need transformation. This necessary transformation takes place in our minds (Romans 12:1-2) and it is greatly facilitated when we are willing to hear the Word and allow it to provoke us.

Most spiritual provocation is going to make you mad but just stay with it because you are now on the way toward spiritual growth. We love for our physicians to talk straight to us about our temporary human bodies but we take great offense for our pastors to talk straight to us about our souls which are eternal. You will resort to all sorts of suggestions to get your weight down, your blood pressure down, your cholesterol down, and a host of other things but it is hard to make the same changes that lead to spiritual growth. Yet the provoking preaching of the Word is the only real way that we will notice that we have true spiritual revival and personal growth.

So if you are evaluating preachers on their preaching. . . Can we evaluate you on you’re listening???

More tomorrow. . .

Certain Men. . . . Jude 4

The news has been caught up this week with Wikileaks and its very troubling posting of critical documents concerning the war in Afghanistan. The man in charge of the website is Julian Assange whose decision to release the documents for the whole world to see has placed a number of allies of the United States military at great risk. It is not without reason to believe that it could lead to the death of these Afghani supporters by the Taliban once they have determined their identities.

But the greater and more troubling issue is how that Wikileaks obtained the documents. According to the Wall Street Journal Online, it appears that they were helped by Pfc. Bradley Manning who worked on the inside to gain access to these top-secret files who then managed to download them and pass them to Assange. As stated today (7/29/10), the military and government investigators have “concrete evidence” that Manning is the culprit.

In observing this story at the periphery during the last week, I have continually been drawn toward the Scripture that Jude left for us in his brief epistle:

Jude 4 KJV For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude 4 ESV For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. [Cross References: 2 Pet. 2:1; Gal. 2:4; 1 Pet. 2:8; Acts 11:23; Titus 1:16; 2 Pet. 2:1; 1 John 2:22]

There are those who would bring about a breach from the inside. The greatest challenge the church has is not from the outside but those who work to destroy it from within. When you look at the history of the Great Wall of China you will discover that it was never breached from the outside but it was always from within. Some unscrupulous and unprincipled gatekeeper was bribed with money to let the enemy gain the entrance.

Most people who attend church rarely like to entertain the idea that there are negative spiritual influences that is at work on the inside of the church. Far too many have a sentimental view of the church that makes it just a warm fuzzy playground to get our fears and anxieties massaged and put to rest. It is a place more of fellowship than of stimulating personal spiritual growth that directs us to a deeper prayer life and greater understanding of the Word of God. It is not about transformation as much as it is about affirmation.

Over the years, I have greatly enjoyed to read through the commentaries and writings of the Puritans. As with all books, it is important to read with a filter and have the ability to critically think and analyze what you are reading. I subscribe to this idea with all that I expose my mind and spirit to. It is important that we not just let our minds be open to anything and everything that comes down the pike; ultimately it has to stand the principles and tests of Scripture no matter who the author or speaker is. With that thought in mind, I am going to list a few lines from Thomas Manton’s commentary on Jude. Particularly notice the fantastic word pictures that Manton is given to.

From the Preface:

When the Christian church began first to look forth in the world, there were adverse powers without ready to crush it, and Libertines, who like worms bred within in the body, sought to devour the entrails and eat out the very bowels of it.

The monsters of Africa came from the unnatural commixtures of the beasts running wild in the deserts; so when men had once broken through the hedge, mingling in their own fancies with the Word of God, by an unnatural production they brought forth such monstrous and absurd opinions.

Our greatest defense against the enemies from within is a strong hunger for the Word and the constant exposure to it. Both hunger and exposure to the Word helps us to be able to identify and ward off the attacks of those who have “crept in.” One of the jobs of the shepherd is to provide a solid and secure sheepfold. This only takes place through prayer and the ministry of the Word. Nothing else has the capacity to preserve the fold like these two elements (Acts 6:4).

How does a pastor open up the fold to the wolves who can creep in? The following ways are some of the ways that it can happen:

• Soft and easy messages that never confront anything.
• Marketing the church to get a crowd.
• Not allowing the Word to be authoritative in its call for holiness, surrender, and dedication.
• Having a majority of people attending who are actively embracing worldly lifestyles, who have unholy minds, and commit ungodly actions.
• Pastors who do not commit themselves to teaching and preaching through consecutive passages of Scripture that deals with the righteousness that God longs for.
• Being critical of those who love the Truth of God’s Word enough to defend their convictions.
• When worship becomes more entertaining than it does soul-building.
• When the examples in leadership falls into mire that Nadab and Abihu along with Samuel’s sons lived in. Worldly, carnal, immoral, and distracted sums up their actions.
• Falling prey to the sin of silence that never raises a voice of concern about the direction of the ship.

I have a feeling now that the Pentagon is wishing that they had been much more vigilant than what they had been before Pfc. Manning got into their top secrets.

Until next time. . .

Hired to Be Holy -- Part 3 -- Tell 'Em What They Want To Hear

In this series of blogs, we have been entertaining the different aspects of what it means to be in a position where you are “hired” to be holy. The first post was more introductory about the position. The second post dealt with authority and its abuse despite the appearances of being “holy.” This third in the series goes at the opposite end of spectrum by just giving people what they want. Not nearly what they need but what they want.

Most have probably heard a variation of the story about the fellow who was walking down the street and saw a sign in the window of a shop that said “Fresh Bread.” When he saw the sign, his mouth began to water as he thought about the fresh baked bread. So despite time constraints, he went in the door of the shop and told the proprietor that he would like some of the fresh bread. The proprietor laughed heartily and told the man, “Sorry, we don’t make bread, we paint signs.” It really wasn’t false advertising because it was indeed a sign company instead of a bakery. However, if a sign out front clearly states that we are a church shouldn’t there be something righteous and holy being offered on the inside?

What a diluted time that we live in! But when the pastor is under the pressure to perform with preaching a deadly path can be taken. No matter what we preachers do, we have to understand that the Gospel is confrontational. It is confrontational in that its premise is that man is a sinner and if he does not experience the new birth and is converted, he is lost and will end up in hell. There is no way to soft-soap that message unless you forget it and instead try to use a mental massage to relieve the stresses and pressures of the daily life and the reality is that you can. You can learn to use gimmicks and scatter a few Scriptures here and there and turn the message into a cream puff of inspiration that does not create any hunger for God or His Word or the Spirit either. When that takes place, it will not be too long before the church has turned into a crowd of unconverted people. But the pastor is still living up to his expectations of everyone because of his public trappings of holiness.

But just as deadly as pastor who is an authoritative dictator so is the man who cannot open his mouth and preach to a generation of people who are experiencing a spiritual famine in the land. Sermons that are “feel-good” sermons or those that are constructed to meet the “felt-needs” of the people are superficially shallow and will be forgotten before the people clear out from the restaurants. The temptation toward the superficial is one of the oldest tricks the devil resorts to among men who are told to proclaim the Word. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both preached vehemently against those shepherds who did not lead. They were compared to dogs that could not bark and to shepherds who used the flock to the meet their own needs.

I am pleading with you men who preach to get on your knees somewhere and determine to become a man that is willing to preach with conviction. There will never be any passionate, convicting preaching unless a preacher has poured his soul somewhere in a place of private prayer. He cannot be a preacher of conviction unless he has also given himself to constant study of the Word. Tear the sign off of the door that says office and replace it with a sign that says STUDY. More times than I have ever deserved, God has used my mouth to get the Word through to a people who live in a land of idolatry that is constantly working to entice them. That is what a land of idolatry calls for, a Word from God.

Where were you on September 11, 2001? Most of us will never forget where we were on the fateful Tuesday morning when the terrorist attacks begin. I had just finished a CT biopsy and was rolling a patient to the recovery area when one of the guys I worked with told me what had happened. I just happened to be checking a patient in when I saw the first tower collapse in New York City. A kaleidoscope of emotions were felt by all of us on that day—anger, sadness, fear, deep grief, and a fear of the unknown. On that night, our church was opened for prayer and despite it being an off night it was pretty packed with people. There were even strangers we did not know who came in for prayer.

But let’s play a what-if scenario. What if on September 9, 2001 you would have had a dream that would have shown to you everything that was going to happen on 9/11? What if you were an employee at the World Trade Center or the Pentagon? What would you have said to those people on September 10? Chances are no matter what you would have said you would have been dismissed as a crackpot. You could have warned that planes would be used as weapons to destroy the building and that three-thousand would die and others would have multiple injuries. But because it was not what people would have wanted to hear, I feel sure that most of them would have dismissed it.

That is the exact same scenario that every preacher/pastor/teacher faces every week in America. We have so much to enjoy and take part with here. We have so many perks and freedoms that we often forget that there is a great day coming when we will have to give an accounting for our deeds, words, choices, and actions. There are planes that are about to hit the building. . . the worst thing that those who are hired to be holy is not tell the people what information they need to help them. . . . .

Until next time. . .

Hired to Be Holy -- Part 2 -- Authority

As described yesterday, vocational holiness is the defined boundaries which those men who are in public ministry positions must uphold. There are certain places and things that a pastor cannot do. For instance, I cannot go to one of the local watering holes here in my hometown and say that I am just going to get a Coke. I cannot spend time riding around town with a young attractive twenty-something in my little Civic as this does not fall into the acceptable lines of vocational holiness. I cannot attend events that are unbecoming to the ministry that I am called to fulfill. However, as stated yesterday, this tenor of vocational holiness for ministry leaders can create a host of problems because it causes them to fall into the default mode of holiness by avoidance. Avoidance of certain places, certain people, and certain situations falls far short of God’s high call for holiness.

One of the areas that holiness has to prevail is the area of authority. A pastor, who is also considered a shepherd, has to allow the tools of his trade to be touched by holiness. A shepherd commonly has a staff—used for guidance and direction—and a rod—used for correction and discipline. Just as a shepherd would wield a rod of correction for the sheep, the pastor has to use the rod of correction sometimes to manage and deal with situations that calls for righteous judgment.

In a little book written by Kevin Leman and William Pentak called The Way of the Shepherd; they make some observations about the rod of the shepherd. A rod that is used too much will lead to a loss of goodwill from the people and a rod that is not used enough or not at all will lead to the loss of their respect. The rod is responsible for three things: protection from predators, protecting the sheep from themselves, and for the work of inspection.

But if a shepherd has only been hired for holiness, he will abuse and misuse the rod in such a way that will destroy the flock. Too much, too soon is never good! However, if that rod has been touched with the holiness of God, the instruction of the Scriptures, and a love for the flock, the shepherd will find a life that is pleasing to God.

Our authority has to have a constant baptism of holiness for if it does not, one can resort to manipulation and political maneuvering. It can lead to the same trap that Diotrephes fell into when he decided he wanted pre-eminence and began to soil the church with his unholy ambitions. No where are the temptations the highest than in the precincts of the structured forms of church government. Power can cause people to do maddening things and it routinely can cause preachers to lose every bit of their sense of spiritual direction. They can begin to jockey for position and for votes because of the subtle temptation to be something in the Temple yard (Matthew 4:5-6).

Authority that is out of control can soon become mired in things that are far less than holy but if a minister is still fulfilling the capacities of vocational holiness it is difficult to deal with out of control authority. How can a minister be certain that he is not falling into the trap of taking authority that is not rightfully his? There are several ominous signs that one is in for a fall when these characteristics are present:

• If a pastor has no one that he is accountable to. All decisions have to come through him for the functionality of the church to continue. A man who operates in this manner will soon become a law unto himself. This holds true for a church of 25 or an organization of 25,000. I encourage you to look for your own historical examples. . . they exist in your own circle of experiences.

• If a pastor becomes less and less approachable and those who have needs will use a “middle-man” to come to him with difficulties because they are fearful of him, trouble is brewing for this leader.

• If a man increasingly becomes isolated—from criticism, from close personal relationships with ordinary members, and from life in general—this is another sign that failure is on the horizon.

• If a pastor has a congregation that is always deferring their praise toward him instead of God, this calls for alarm.

• If a pastor resorts to politically manipulating young budding ministries and crushing them because he is intimidated by their talents, authority has become too heavy handed.

• If a minister, in his preaching or in his casual conversation, is always the hero of every situation, be careful. . . authority is most likely being abused.

• If a pastor increasingly resorts to stating that the voice of God is speaking to him or the famous “God told me” at the expense of purely Scriptural guidelines, he is in hot water. It matters not a whit to us what “God told you,” if it does not line up with Scripture. . . you are wrong! (For this kind of behavior to be confronted there has to be a strong proficiency to know the Scriptures. One cannot just be acquainted with the stories but he must know the Book.)

These are the steps that the real, literal devil (aka Satan) seeks for a man to follow as he entices him to the pinnacle of the Temple to leap. Uzziah fell like this. Aaron fell like this. A host of others fell to this trap but all the while they were living in correct vocational holiness.

What does real, godly and holy authority look like? He is more than willing to admit his own fallibility. This does not mean he is involved in low-living but just that he has a holy task to fulfill which taxes all of his spiritual senses. Holy authority will be Christ-like in that there is never an attempt to cover his ignorance, weakness, or failure. Holy authority is constantly in a training mode that is making disciples and training others to fulfill our overwhelming task of evangelism. Holy authority has one goal—to encourage a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.

We who are leaders must constantly be working toward having a strong exposure to personal, private prayer and a constant diet of the Word. Prayer and the Word are two of the primary ways that God uses to cleanse imperfect vessels. We have to commit both to the discipline and duty of these aspects of worship or it will not be long until we become spiritually vulnerable to mediocrity.

Hired to Be Holy -- Part 1

Robert Murray McCheyne—Do not forget the culture of the inner man—I mean of the heart. How diligently the calvary officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are God’s sword, His instrument—I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.

A few days ago, I was foraging around the house looking for something to read. I wanted something easy that required little thinking on my part, purely entertaining in its content. My eyes caught a Louis L’Amour western entitled Galloway. Although I had read it years ago, I could not remember the plot and so I launched into it. Before too many pages I started tracking along with the story again.

Galloway is a member of the famous Sackett family and has a brother named Flagan. In the book, they band together with some of their cousins and work to establish a ranch in a place called Shalako and the story revolves around that episode in their lives. I won’t spoil it for you in case you want to pick it up and read it for the first time or the second time.

However, in that book, my thoughts were stimulated when I started reading about the contentious range boss, Bull Dunn, who has a bunch of rowdy roughnecks for sons. Not only are his sons obnoxious bullies they are gifted with an inbred meanness that pours out all the little town of Shalako. To compound their nasty presence, Bull Dunn, hires a couple of killers to tote pistols and intimidate and beat down folks who oppose them.

In consideration of those hired guns, I begin to think about all the jobs that can be hired out—plumbers, electricians, carpenters, accountants, physicians, and preachers. When there are certain jobs that we want done, somebody to hire is never far away from a Google search or those things called phone books.

It was with that understanding that I started thinking along the lines that I, too, am hired to do something. I am now a pastor and our society, despite all the public ministerial collapses that have made national news in the last few years, there is still a certain expectation that they have for a pastor to be “holy.” It is called vocational holiness. . . . and it can be deadly!

If we pastors and ministers are not careful our calling to vocational holiness can become very legalistic in appearance. It is important for me to stay away from certain places. It is important for me to maintain a certain sense of dignity with the public calling. It is important for me to associate with some folks and not to associate with other folks. It is important for my conversation to be free of profanity. It is important for me to be kind and considerate. It is important to be holy because I am hired to be holy.

But when you are hired to be holy, you can keep up a public façade outwardly and be a dirty dog inwardly and very few people will know it. That was the driving point the Lord was getting at in Matthew 23 when He begin to call out the Pharisees for who they were. Clean outwardly but putrid inwardly. White outwardly but dead inwardly.

Charles Spurgeon—All our libraries and studies are mere emptiness compared with our closets. We grow, we wax mighty, when we prevail in private prayer.

You see a minister can perform at a level of vocational holiness, which is his job, and never really be holy. He can speak in the religious platitudes that people expect him to fulfill and have a spirit that is totally foreign to God. My mind has been drawn to this ever since I read that little western by L’Amour while at the same time was working through a series on the book of Acts.

Luke tells us that Jesus begin to both do and teach. When it is a part of your teaching is part of your life, much credibility is gained. But when your life is not part of your teaching, trouble can be on the horizon. The old adages, “practice what you preach,” or “walk the talk” are good encouragers that often we teach more with our actions than we do with our words. The same pattern has to take place in the life of all of those who are seeking to be authentic models of godliness. Obviously there are none who are perfect but this mentality should not cause us to throw in the towel and decide to just quit, there has to be a desire and pursuit of a higher level of living.

A minister has an even higher calling in both vocational holiness (the public aspect of ministry) and personal holiness (the aspects of the inner life). Every minister must both do and teach! A crucial part of a minister’s life means that he must be given to being godly and holy. Week-in and week-out there must be a steady diet of the Word and of prayer for every minister. If there is the steady diet of the Word and prayer, spiritual growth is a certainty. It will keep us living in the light of integrity.

A minister has to take great to follow the example set forth by the Lord. There are several reasons that he must be given to a life of character.

First, he endures much more severe temptations than others simply because of the intensity of the spiritual battle. As a spiritual leader there are those who look to his example and the bar needs to remain high.

Secondly, if he falls the impact is often devastating. It can rend a church and the devil is aware that if the shepherd is smitten the sheep will scatter.

Thirdly, because a minister has a greater knowledge of the truth, he is more accountable, and has a greater chastening to endure for his sin.

Fourth, the sins of the elders are more hypocritical than others because they preach against the very sins they commit. Every leader needs an abundance of the grace and power of God because of their greater responsibility and visibility (This list adapted from 1 Timothy commentary by John MacArthur, p. 103).

Richard Baxter—Many a tailor goes in rags, that maketh costly clothes for others; and many a cook scarcely licks his fingers, when he hath dressed for others the most costly dishes. . . It is a fearful thing to be an unsanctified (unholy) professor, but much more to be an unsanctified preacher.

Gutter Talk

Pay close attention to the words around you. Start listening to what people are saying at the tables next to yours in the restaurants, in the line at department stores, to casual conversations at lunch, and to the words of co-workers, family members, and friends. What are they saying? Are their words clean or has the conversation of America deteriorated toward becoming crass and barbaric?

All of the details of the past election having been coming to light in the last two or three months through multiple books that are being written. The John Edwards story has been detailed by Andrew Young. John Heilemann and Mark Halperin teamed up in Game Change. Karl Rove has written about his tenure with George Bush in the White House and other thoughts on the political landscape of the nation. One of the common themes and terribly disappointing factors of all of these books has been the extreme proclivity toward profanity. The Clintons, the Obama’s, the McCain’s, the Edward’s words have all been quite shocking. Add to that VP Joe Biden's mic gaffe when he dropped a choice word a few months ago and it was broadcast on national networks.

There has always, whether warranted or not, been in my mind the idea that those who served our country at the highest level should have some level of character and nobility about them. But it appears that civility and being a gentlemen has become a lost art. From Bill and Hillary Clinton’s raging about some of Obama’s techniques in the primaries to Obama’s criticism of Hillary and her team about snubbing him, to Ted Kennedy’s antics in the hallways of government, to John McCain’s totally unacceptable language used to staff and subordinates, and John and Elizabeth’s shouting matches filled with some of the rawest language ever heard, it appears from the top end to the bottom end, America’s language is sinful.

Shortly after reading some of these books, Teresa and I took a vacation with our kids to Disney World. I was again shocked at the language that I heard when I was standing in line. It seemed as if both young and old have digressed to a point that the air was fouled about them because of the language. The speech of our society has gone south very quickly. Some might tell me that my ears have been protected for a lot of years from this kind of thing but I can well remember some of the juvenile language of my fellow 7th graders at school. The speech in this day has well exceeded that.

I dare say that if I were to ask any of these people if they were Christians, the majority of them would profess some vague sense of religion but it is obvious that true conversion has not taken place because their speech betrays them. Jesus was clear that when he said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth would speak (Matthew 12:34; Mark 6:45). Whatever is in the heart (mind) will come out in the form of words. That is why that you only need to listen to people talk for about 5 minutes to know where their heart is.

Up until a few months ago, I had no idea who a prominent “comedian” was until he died. When they were eulogizing him, he was cast as a great America who caused us to think. So because of my unfamiliarity with him, I went to Youtube, watched a few clips, and was very sorry that I did. I was shocked that people would pay $35-50 to see this uncouth, angry, and blasphemous fellow go through his routine in the name of comedy and then laugh at his antics. Some of his rants were directed toward God, although the comedian did not seem to believe in God. I have a feeling that 30 seconds after his departure from this life, he was confronted by the very God he did not believe existed. I wonder how that went.

It seems like all forms of “entertainment” has to be filled with inane, smutty, gutter talk that has quite a low-brow appeal. If a person continually exposes himself to this kind thing, it won’t be long before those words are pouring out of him. He will hurt his friends, his co-workers, his family, and most crucially his children because it won’t be long before the little sinners are following the exact same path as he is.

Some random thoughts on gutter talk:

1. We all have a pretty good idea about what is acceptable and unacceptable. If we are to be pleasing to the Lord, our words ought to always be seasoned with grace.

2. We should constantly strive to uphold the concepts of Ephesians 5:4 which as the ESV states: Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

3. We should also find Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) to be a good rule of thumb also: Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

4. We need to remember that Colossians 3:8 (ESV) is specifically related to what we say: But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

5. A minister in a pulpit ought to be the last person, in or out of the pulpit, to allow his words to go to the gutter.

George Washington wrote one-hundred and ten rules of civility. Of that number, four are directly related to the content of speech and many others are indirectly related to what and how it is to be said. Here are the four:

49th Use no Reproachfull Language against any one neither Curse nor Revile.

61st Utter not base and frivilous things amongst grave and Learn'd Men nor very Difficult Questians or Subjects, among the Ignorant or things hard to be believed, Stuff not your Discourse with Sentences amongst your Betters nor Equals.

73d Think before you Speak pronounce not imperfectly nor bring out your Words too hastily but orderly & distinctly.

108th When you Speak of God or his Atributes, let it be Seriously & wt. Reverence. Honour & Obey your Natural Parents altho they be Poor.

You think we can get out of the gutter?

Reading the Classics -- The Count of Monte Cristo

School is officially out and summer has begun. One of the highlights for the summer for my younger brother and I was the trips to the library where we got involved in the summer reading programs. This was back in the early to late seventies and most libraries had very structured reading programs. Additionally they would give away awards for those who read the most. They also encouraged readers to move out of their age groups and go above to higher reading categories.

I can well remember while I was still riding the bus having a book to read both on the way to school and on the way home. Before you throw me under the bus and put me in the geek (or nerd) category, it was fairly common for boys to read. The sorry substitutes today are video games and other things that will cause your brains to turn into mush. I can remember reading massive amounts of good clean western fiction by Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey, and Elmer Kelton. I read through William Manchester’s book about Douglas MacArthur when I was in high school. That was where I came into contact with his speech about honor, duty, and country. It was incredibly inspiring.

Another book that I read in high school was a book about physicians. It was called White Coat, Clenched Fist and even though some of it was over my head, I was still inspired by it (it has since been republished). That book led me to Robin Cook’s The Year of the Intern which led me to the old books written by Franklin Slaughter who was also a physician. Slaughter’s books are filled with nobility and honor of the medical profession. One book seemed as if it was always spurring me on to read something else.

So don’t waste your summer. . . READ!!!! I have an older summer reading list that might interest you that can serve as a jumping off point for this summer.

If you have never read Alexander Dumas’ book The Count of Monte Cristo you are in for a real treat. It is a big book but don’t let that discourage you. It is one of the most incredible tales about a young sailor who is betrayed and the girl he intended to marry goes to a rival. He is then thrown into a real prison with rats, disease, horrible food, and so forth. He battles with depression, fear, and rage. During his tenure in the prison, he meets a fellow prisoner who is a priest and the kindly priest helps him. The priest ends up dying and Edmond escapes the prison. I don’t want to spoil it for you but there is an incredible surprise waiting on him when he gets out. He then turns about doing his best to destroy the man who robbed 14 years of his life.

Because of the exposure to this book years ago, there were themes in this book that I did not pick up on because I had not lived long enough. Suffice it to say that I have accumulated some miles along the way and I can now see the themes of hope, justice, vengeance, retribution, love, mercy, forgiveness, and brotherhood. These weren’t evident to me until a few dings of life had struck me.

You can purchase the Barnes and Noble classics (paperback) edition for less than $10 or if you have an e-reader (Nook, Kindle, Sony E-reader) you can download it for free from Feedbooks.

Go and READ!!!!!!