A disciplined faith encompasses a subject that is in everyone’s mouth: the tongue. J. Wallace Hamilton said, “In the beginning was the Word . . . and since then a billion, million words have been spoken” (Still the Trumpet Sounds). Words matter. The person who said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words […]
Week 06 Application | Those Pesky Slips of the Tongue
According to an article in Psychology Today, most of us make between seven and 22 slips of the tongue every day. That’s one or two errors for every 1,000 words we speak. Verbal banana peels come in a variety of forms. Sometimes our brains work faster than our mouths, so we say “plaster man” instead […]
Week 06 Mission | Seasoned with Salt
Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:5, 6). One summer when I was in high school, my mom, who was a farmer’s wife, went to […]
Week 06 Character | The Greatest of These
Thousands if not millions of couples stand together and listen to a minister read 1 Corinthians 13 during their wedding ceremony. Many guests hold hands, cast sideways glances, and smile in memory of their own special moments. What a perfect statement for a wedding ceremony: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But […]
Week 05 Study | Faith Without Works Is Dead
We conclude our three-month study of faith this month. Two lessons come from the “blue jeans theology” of the New Testament, namely James. This small five-chapter letter lives close to the ground. It is New Testament wisdom literature and nitty-gritty. It is similar in content to the Sermon on the Mount and might just be […]