The Taming of the Tongue

6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

today i read James chapter 3. the selected verses above make me wish i could not speak at all, then i wouldn't have to worry about not being able to tame my evil tongue. James 3 goes into further details about being a teacher and how teachers are held to a higher standard and how they will be held to a higher accountability for every word that is said. he says not to presume to be a teacher because of these things. i am a teacher in sorts, as a disciple of the Lord anointed by the Holy Spirit i am a teacher. i do not presume to be a teacher in the church, but as head of my household i am a teacher to aria and to lyndsey. as a worship leader called by God i am a teacher to all those under my authority in the worship team. i am a teacher. so it is unavoidable i am a teacher held to a higher standard because when i use my tongue people listen. but, how can i speak now that i've read this verse. if the tongue is a world of evil in my body set on fire by hell itself i don't want to speak. i don't want the corrupt vision of my evil world coming out instead of the praises of my Almighty. so i have decided not to speak in an attempt to tame the tongue. for if i do not speak then none can find fault in what i say.

though i wish not to speak i still write, the words will never cease to flow whether from my mouth or from my finger tips. the words come, i could just as easily write curses of my fellow brothers than i could say them. i could just as easily write songs of praise with my hands as sing them. so how then do i stop the use of my evil tongue?

James says that the tongue is untamable. Paul says that the flesh is always warring inside of you.

i must take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. that is the only way to win against this invincible tongue of evil. not only every thought but also every action, every thing done in the day needs to, no must be, taken captive and made obedient. we must as a whole remain in Him so that He can remain in us. by that, good will be inside of us, and how can good and evil abide together? in Mathew 12 Jesus tells this to the pharisees.

35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

if the tongue is untamable then how do we keep this evil from boiling up and spilling over from inside us even while we praise our Lord? we must then speak only what the Father tell us to and all other times we must remain silent. so in a sense we must become mute and our fingers become numb unable to hold even a pencil or feel the keys on the keyboard. only then will we be available to be spoken through or have our hands flow with the words of the Lord. together we should pray that our evil tongue from hell itself should be cut out, that our stone hearts where our flesh resides should be removed and replaced with the Word and a Spirit filled heart. only then will we "tame the tongue" and keep the evil inside from coming forth.

Green Grass Still Growing

Ephesians 6:10-18

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.


melinda and i were talking of what exactly it means to put on the full armor of God. what is the armor and how do you put it on?

the Armor is like staying in the green grass that i spoke of before. it is the very same as being kept in His name. Jesus is the Armor of God. He is Truth. He is Righteousness. He is the Gospel of Peace. He is the One in which we have Faith and Salvation. He is the Sword of the Spirit the Word of God. i think that once we believe and become the new creation in Christ; once the sanctification begins, we are clothed in Him. we have put on the full Armor of God. we have put on Jesus. but, put this way it ceases to be an action. Paul says to put on the full armor of God, so it must be an action that we perform. so to actively put on the Armor is to obey God's words, to obey The Word. so to be fully Armored is the same thing as being clothed in Him, and being clothed in Him is the same as being kept in Jesus' name. then all things we do should be attached to Him, through the vine which is where we are kept. by that we stand firm against the flaming arrows of satan, in the light where he can not penetrate. we must stand firm in the True Vine for everything we do, that is the only way to receive the nourishment necessary to live in this dark and crooked world.

The Green Grass Grows All Around

On thursdays i meet with kevin and teresa to prepare for the worship of the Lord on thursday night practices and sunday services. Today we spoke about John 17 and being kept in the name of Jesus and therefore in the name of the Father so that we may be unified in His glory. We spoke of being sanctified through and in His Word, and being sent out into the world even though we are not of this world. Jesus said that we(believers) are sent into the world that they(unbelievers) may know who He is. In Genesis 1 the Lord told adam and eve that they were not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In other words they were to do as He commanded, to remain in His word. In chapter 2 he told them to be fruitful and multiply and to go out and subdue the earth. Kevin said this was one and the same command. As soon as he said this it clicked, one of those ah ha why didn't i see that before moments.

The green grass grows all around all around the green grass grows all around. We are kept in the Name by which we are saved. We are in the Kingdom of God . Eden was the Kingdom of God. We are the Kingdom of God. We are to go out into the world sanctified by His word, in which we are to live daily, and grow. It is to often that churches go out and plant more churches to crush the world with christianity. What i learned today is that we are to grow as the grass grows. I have st. augustine grass in my backyard, it started as a piece of sod and is now covering half of the yard. All i did was throw it on the ground and water it. This piece of sod is like the Kingdom of Heaven. The water we receive is the sanctification from the word, and we are the grass. If we are watered daily, hourly, constantly, we will grow as the Father wants us to grow. My grass sent out runners still connected to the main body of grass, that way it can not die. We are to go out and take over or subdue the earth the way the grass subdued my backyard. Never separated, to conquer the world, as weeds sprout here and there. But, to live and grow as one organism, unified in Christ by the name with which we are saved.

I desire for us all to be unified so that we can grow as one piece of sod connected and constantly watered, so that we can subdue the earth and spread the Kingdom of God.

I'll Wait for The Lord

Hebrews chapter 6 verses 10-12 says
God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show the same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

My wife and melinda have been discussing together about waiting and what it means to wait for the Lord. I heard a radio dj say that waiting is an activity. I believe that waiting is constantly praying, fasting and resting in His word. To live in His word not just daily, but to reside in it to be there more than anywhere else. I regret that i do not live there in His word, i like to think of myself as a visitor, one that would be like kenny from the cosby show, who is there more often then not but only for the free food and for the wonderful entertainment. While i'm there i learn from Him, speak to Him, follow Him as a little brother follows the older. I am beginning to fully understand what it is to wait. It is not being lazy, not doing anything while the things of this world pass you buy. It is learning of Him, learning to be like Him and learning His word so that he can speak to you. That way when it comes time to act you act as He wants you to act so that the things of this world don't pass you by, rather you affect a change in the world, because they can't help but to see you are like Him.

So, knowing what waiting is, i will wait with all diligence and with a great sense of urgency. I will prepare myself for the battles ahead so that i may act out the Lord's will with confidence and in truth. I ask that you all pray with me so that we will be ready when the time comes to inherit our promise through faith. We must all reside forever in His word and be in constant prayer, to pray without ceasing so that we can do as He pleases.
We Must Wait!

The Son is Hot

I went running again today, to the same park. Again creation expressed the Creator's Glory. Today i studied Hebrews chapter 1 and 2. It spoke of Jesus being all God, but less than the angels and crowned with glory and honor. It also said all things are under His feet. So, i got to thinking, like stacy, what is hidden away that i have failed to lay under His glorious feet?

On my way back i prayed for certain people that have been given to me to pray for. I prayed for my family, all the while the sun was beating down on me. I thought of a joke lyndsey and i have "the sun is hot!" But, then i thought about what a beautiful picture the sun is of the True Son. If the sun were not hot we would surely die. Like wise, if the Son were not hot if He had been only lukewarm we would surely die. All things on this earth could not exist without this incredibly hot sun. Just as we could not exist without The Son being incredibly hot and aligned with the Father.

I was given a dream and interpretation of that dream from the Father. This dream gave me an authority over those who i was praying for. It hit me that this is what i haven't placed under His feet. All things he has given me are His in the first place. He gave them to me to nurture and to expand His Kingdom but, instead i used them, i took responsibility for it all. Instead of doing this i should of given all these things right back to Him. Jesus gave these things to me so that i could make them subject to Him. Which made me feel kind of silly after i read Hebrews because all things have already been laid under His feet i just have to let Him pick it up and use it.

I may just start running everyday because it seems the Lord speaks to me about things on these runs. maybe i just don't think about other things because i am to busy trying to breathe. But, i am thankful that He chose to lift up my couch, as the great wiffleball legend puts it, to show me that He can not use me as a tool unless i lay all things He has given me as tools under His feet.