On to "Wisdom", Part 1

James 3:13-14

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.

First off I want us to remember that James is still talking to THE CHURCH, not necessarily individuals (Although just about everything in scripture can be applied to our individual lives specifically!!!)which is why he says "Who AMONG you is wise and understanding?"

And what is it that sets you apart in the body as having wisdom? 2 things; showing it by your deeds, and having the ability to discern what the mission is by being gentle by not causing rifts or roadblocks in the GREAT commission. How do we know?

Because James points out the OPPOSITE attributes of those people who are wise. They are jealous, and selfish, and arrogant people who are very prideful and are looking out for #1....THEMSELVES!!!

And James (being the straight forward, in your face man that he is) says that when you have those attributes in the church, you "lie against the truth"....OUCH!!

I GUESS THAT'S NOT VERY WISE!!!!

Tomorrow....we'll see where this kind of WISDOM comes from.

Til' tomorrow....PEACE OUT!!

P Biddy

Prayer and Leadership

Not quite sure who's even reading this blog these days but I want to ask for those of you who are to please pray for me.

I believe my "honeymoon stage" as the Pastor of Emmanuel First Baptist, Sparks NV has come to a screeching halt and we are going to be tested to see if we are REALLY committed to be Kingdom Builders or simply Christians "going through the motions".

Which is why, if you're reading this, I want to ask that you pray for my leadership and that I will stay the course even when the proverbial STUFF hits the fan.

Thanks,

P Biddy

Taming the Tongue, Part 2

James 3:7-11

For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water?

To finish up this thought process of "Taming the Tongue" I want to focus on 3 specific sections or words in these verses that I believe James uses to drive his point home.

They are "full of deadly poison" (vs. 8), the word "curse or cursing" (vs. 9&10), and the word "bitter" (vs. 11).

James equates the tongue as being full of "deadly" poison for a reason. Gossip and backbiting can literally doom a church; which leads us to the word curse.

kataraomai is the Greek word for curse and literally means to speak DOOM into someones life. (Which of course is the exact opposite of what blessing is)

When doom and gloom is all that comes out of the mouths of those in the church then nothing but "bitterness" is what comes out...WOW what coincidence!!!

This is why James uses the very terminology he does to explain that the tongue can ruin the body of Christ if we let it turn the freshness and blessings of God into nothing but bitter poison used by the enemy to curse and ruin it.

There's really no place for the believer to allow both the blessing of God and the cursing of one another in the body of Christ.

So in the words of Rodney King....Can't we all just get along!!??

Peace out.

P Biddy

Taming the Tongue, Part 1

James 3:3-6

Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.
Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires.
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

I've heard this portion of scripture misrepresented more than any other. People use it to proof text what the want to say about what you and I would call "cussing"...This is NOT what James is talking about!!!

Context is KING when understanding scripture and actually READING the words is just as important.

James starts out with putting bits in the mouths of horses to steer the whole BODY. Why did he use this analogy? Was he a jockey or have a horse fetish? NO, and NO!!! He uses it because of the fact that the analogy is PERFECT for what he is trying to get across to THE BODY.

Gossip, slander, grumbling, complaining, and all other types of speech that tear apart at the unity of the BODY of Christ is a fire straight from the pit of hell. Satan wants nothing more than people IN the body to tear itself apart from the inside out because when we do it for him it makes his job MUCH easier.

Such use of the tongue (the smallest part of THE BODY) can set the WHOLE CHURCH on fire. How many churches have split because UNITY could not be reached? I'll tell you that any time a church splits, Satan wins a battle.

Now I know that what he intended for evil God can in turn use for good, but God doesn't intentionally set the church of Jesus Christ on fire so that He can make more denominations!!! As a matter of fact it is completely contradictory to what Jesus prayed for in what is known as the High Priestly Prayer that Jesus prayed right before He went to the cross. He prayed for UNITY in HIS body.

We'll finish up this "tongue thang" tomorrow but for now here's a question....

Are you and your tongue building UP the body or tearing it apart???

But until then....

Check out this blog article and let me know what your thoughts are?

www.thomrainer.com/2009/07/what-the-unchurched-dont-like-about-christians.php

P Biddy

Heading to Camp for a Week

So I'm gonna take the week and spend some time back in the "grass roots" of my ministry.....Teenagers!!!

I'm heading to Camp for the week with Darin (My "Family Guy")and so I'll have to start the questions when I get back.

Here's praying kids don't hate me now!!

P Biddy

Question 1 - A teaser

OK...So it's 10 pm out here in Nevada and I've had a REALLY busy day, so I'm gonna use a mulligan here.

I actually mentioned this part of the question on Sunday:

How tall are you?

Assuming that this was meant to be a "funny" I will still pacify this trivial question with this witty response.....

It depends!!!

When I joined the Navy they put 5' 6" on my "official" Military ID card....However, upon further review I realized that was just "Military Intelligence" which is really the worlds biggest oxymoron.

SOOOOOOO.....in all reality, I am actually only 5' 5 & 1/2" tall.

Hope that helps!!!???

Tomorrow I promise to answer one of the "serious" questions!!!

P Biddy