By John Stallings
I didn’t believe Bill Clinton when he said he smoked marijuana but didn’t inhale; neither do I believe Sen. Barack Obama when he claimed he was unaware of the incendiary, racist anti-American sermons of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
It stretches credibility for me to believe that the Sunday after 9/11 when this nation was shaken to its core & multitudes that rarely go to church crowded into places of worship across America to mourn, Barack Obama decided to skip church.
I was born at night but not last night.
But to be fair, I also have to blame our liberal media who should be fair & balanced, for not having found this story long ago. I mean, look what happened in 2000, when George Bush stopped by Bob Jones University to give a standard stump speech during his bid for the presidency. That was one single moment but the media had a “conniption fit,” while 20 years in Obama’s church life is explained away when his “crazy uncle” married him & baptized his children too.
All of us make mistakes & that includes the Rev. Wright & most of us apologize when we transgress, except those who obviously feel an apology would so diminish them they can’t get it out. But it seems to me that Rev. Wright is sticking by his abominable rhetoric because as far as I know he has offered no apology.
Forgiveness in my mind is automatic in one sense, especially for the believer, but in another sense its greatest work hasn’t come to fruition until an apology has been made by whoever needs to make it.
Forrest Gump’s statement comes to mind; “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.” If Forrest could figure that out certainly you & I are smart enough to know by the tone of a person’s voice when they are speaking minus Christian love.
But the good Senator Obama has thrown his granny under the bus & now it seems he’s put Rev.Wright there also, likening him to a “crazy uncle.” Clearly in his attempt to deflect from Wrights anti-American rantings Obama stepped in another hole about the race issue.
Rule number rule one for public figures, -- when you’re in a hole, stop digging.
The Rev. Wright may have enough degrees to be called Dr. Fahrenheit but his statements are among the most uneducated ones I’ve ever heard.
It’s immaterial to me if he preached hateful things often or only occasionally. It doesn’t take much language like that to do real damage. Rat poison is 95% wheat & other tasty products rats like, & only about 5% poison. If that wasn’t the case no rat would eat it & I hear they gobble it down.
I’ll guarantee you if you told your wife you didn’t like the way she cooked & kept house just one time, you’d find out how much damage can be done with one statement like that over a twenty year period.
Before I leave the Rev. Wright, I’d like to humbly suggest some words he could use in the future if he wants to offset the damage he’s done.
INSTEAD OF – “GOD ----- AMERICA,” WHY NOT LEAD US ALL IN THESE WORDS THAT ACTUALLY COMPRISE A PRAYER PUT TO MUSIC BY IRVING BERLIN, THE YEAR I WAS BORN;
“While the storm clouds gather across the sea,
Let us pledge allegiance to a land that’s free.
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer,
GOD BLESS AMERICA,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her, and guide her,
Thru the night with a light from above,
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME.”
Notice the second line of that prayer’s chorus; “Stand beside her.” America certainly isn’t perfect but in reality she’s us. She needs we, her loyal citizens to “be supportive & prayerful-- “& guide her through the night with a light from above.” That “light from above” invokes God’s concern for the affairs of our great nation. “Through the night”-- represents the dark night of terrorist’s attacks & an avowed enemy who prays & works for America’ destruction. “My home sweet home” reminds us that we do have an awesome homeland & those who hate us are only jealous of “what God hath wrought.”
But the purpose of this blog isn’t to discuss Obama, nor really for that matter the right honorable Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I want to discuss the power of words & the taking of the Lord’s name in vain.
First- -- the power of words.
In the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey, there’s a variety of crane that tends to cackle a lot. I guess it’s in their DNA to do it, like we humans yawn without really planning to.
All that noise gets attention from eagles, one of their natural enemies & they just swoop down & grab one up for a tasty meal. The experienced cranes have found a way around this & they will pick up a rock large enough to fill their mouths thus preventing them from cackling & becoming an easy lunch for an eagle.
Isn’t it strange that mankind has been able to split the atom, walk on the moon, construct enough WMD to destroy this world many times over, yet can’t seem to control an opening in the front of the human head called a mouth & the little small piece of muscle tissue that lives there?
Alex Dunlap has written a tract entitled- Ten reasons why I swear, the purpose of which is to show us how foolish swearing is. Here are the reasons he gives;
1. It indicates how clearly my mind works.
2. It’s a fine mark of my manliness.
3. It shows my awesome self-control.
4. It pleases my mother so much.
5. It makes me such good company & such a brilliant conservationists.
6. It leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind about my good breading.
7. It impresses folk that I have more than an ordinary education.
8. It’s an unmistakable mark of culture & refinement.
9. It allows me to fit in with people of culture & refinement.
10. It’s my way of honoring God who says; Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.
The Third Commandment deals with much more than filthy words. This commandment deals with the profane use of God’s Holy Name. God’s Name is Holy & isn’t to be used unless it’s in connection with His praise or His proclamation. But sadly it seems that God’s name has become nothing more in many quarters than a curse word to be thrown around at will.
Profanity is defines as, “Characterized by irreverence for God, impious, base, a profane act or utterance.”
Profane speech is typically language that involves taking God’s name in vain, vile or vulgar, viciously degrading to others, and/or gutter in nature. The Bible regulates man’s speech. [Ex.20:7, Jas.3:10, Matt. 12:36, 37.
A little girl was attending Sunday School for the very first time & as she heard the Christmas story she blurted out; “why did they name that sweet baby a swear word?” It was the first time she’d ever heard His name used outside of a curse.
We’re literally surrounded by profanity. Did you know in one year’s time prime-time T.V shows 8,333 acts of violence, 14,313 incidents of sex & 23,566 uses of profanity? Words that were once banned are now heard about once every five minutes on prime-time T.V, sitcoms.
Many movies that are now considered family oriented contain vile, filthy & cheap language. There’s a movement in America to promote filthy speech. According to an article appearing in the Rocky Mountain News, September 8, 2001, by Diana West, the major television networks NBC, ABC & CBS have a pledge: “According to a front-page report in The New York Times, the networks’ solution to restore their endangered audience is this, to put more dirty words on the air.” This isn’t a joke, it’s a movement.
Most stand-up comics would be speechless if all profanity were kept out of their routines. The goal seems to be lower & lower levels of degrading language to the point of wallowing in the mud.
I didn’t believe Bill Clinton when he said he smoked marijuana but didn’t inhale; neither do I believe Sen. Barack Obama when he claimed he was unaware of the incendiary, racist anti-American sermons of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
It stretches credibility for me to believe that the Sunday after 9/11 when this nation was shaken to its core & multitudes that rarely go to church crowded into places of worship across America to mourn, Barack Obama decided to skip church.
I was born at night but not last night.
But to be fair, I also have to blame our liberal media who should be fair & balanced, for not having found this story long ago. I mean, look what happened in 2000, when George Bush stopped by Bob Jones University to give a standard stump speech during his bid for the presidency. That was one single moment but the media had a “conniption fit,” while 20 years in Obama’s church life is explained away when his “crazy uncle” married him & baptized his children too.
All of us make mistakes & that includes the Rev. Wright & most of us apologize when we transgress, except those who obviously feel an apology would so diminish them they can’t get it out. But it seems to me that Rev. Wright is sticking by his abominable rhetoric because as far as I know he has offered no apology.
Forgiveness in my mind is automatic in one sense, especially for the believer, but in another sense its greatest work hasn’t come to fruition until an apology has been made by whoever needs to make it.
Forrest Gump’s statement comes to mind; “I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.” If Forrest could figure that out certainly you & I are smart enough to know by the tone of a person’s voice when they are speaking minus Christian love.
But the good Senator Obama has thrown his granny under the bus & now it seems he’s put Rev.Wright there also, likening him to a “crazy uncle.” Clearly in his attempt to deflect from Wrights anti-American rantings Obama stepped in another hole about the race issue.
Rule number rule one for public figures, -- when you’re in a hole, stop digging.
The Rev. Wright may have enough degrees to be called Dr. Fahrenheit but his statements are among the most uneducated ones I’ve ever heard.
It’s immaterial to me if he preached hateful things often or only occasionally. It doesn’t take much language like that to do real damage. Rat poison is 95% wheat & other tasty products rats like, & only about 5% poison. If that wasn’t the case no rat would eat it & I hear they gobble it down.
I’ll guarantee you if you told your wife you didn’t like the way she cooked & kept house just one time, you’d find out how much damage can be done with one statement like that over a twenty year period.
Before I leave the Rev. Wright, I’d like to humbly suggest some words he could use in the future if he wants to offset the damage he’s done.
INSTEAD OF – “GOD ----- AMERICA,” WHY NOT LEAD US ALL IN THESE WORDS THAT ACTUALLY COMPRISE A PRAYER PUT TO MUSIC BY IRVING BERLIN, THE YEAR I WAS BORN;
“While the storm clouds gather across the sea,
Let us pledge allegiance to a land that’s free.
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer,
GOD BLESS AMERICA,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her, and guide her,
Thru the night with a light from above,
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME.”
Notice the second line of that prayer’s chorus; “Stand beside her.” America certainly isn’t perfect but in reality she’s us. She needs we, her loyal citizens to “be supportive & prayerful-- “& guide her through the night with a light from above.” That “light from above” invokes God’s concern for the affairs of our great nation. “Through the night”-- represents the dark night of terrorist’s attacks & an avowed enemy who prays & works for America’ destruction. “My home sweet home” reminds us that we do have an awesome homeland & those who hate us are only jealous of “what God hath wrought.”
But the purpose of this blog isn’t to discuss Obama, nor really for that matter the right honorable Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I want to discuss the power of words & the taking of the Lord’s name in vain.
First- -- the power of words.
In the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey, there’s a variety of crane that tends to cackle a lot. I guess it’s in their DNA to do it, like we humans yawn without really planning to.
All that noise gets attention from eagles, one of their natural enemies & they just swoop down & grab one up for a tasty meal. The experienced cranes have found a way around this & they will pick up a rock large enough to fill their mouths thus preventing them from cackling & becoming an easy lunch for an eagle.
Isn’t it strange that mankind has been able to split the atom, walk on the moon, construct enough WMD to destroy this world many times over, yet can’t seem to control an opening in the front of the human head called a mouth & the little small piece of muscle tissue that lives there?
Alex Dunlap has written a tract entitled- Ten reasons why I swear, the purpose of which is to show us how foolish swearing is. Here are the reasons he gives;
1. It indicates how clearly my mind works.
2. It’s a fine mark of my manliness.
3. It shows my awesome self-control.
4. It pleases my mother so much.
5. It makes me such good company & such a brilliant conservationists.
6. It leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind about my good breading.
7. It impresses folk that I have more than an ordinary education.
8. It’s an unmistakable mark of culture & refinement.
9. It allows me to fit in with people of culture & refinement.
10. It’s my way of honoring God who says; Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.
The Third Commandment deals with much more than filthy words. This commandment deals with the profane use of God’s Holy Name. God’s Name is Holy & isn’t to be used unless it’s in connection with His praise or His proclamation. But sadly it seems that God’s name has become nothing more in many quarters than a curse word to be thrown around at will.
Profanity is defines as, “Characterized by irreverence for God, impious, base, a profane act or utterance.”
Profane speech is typically language that involves taking God’s name in vain, vile or vulgar, viciously degrading to others, and/or gutter in nature. The Bible regulates man’s speech. [Ex.20:7, Jas.3:10, Matt. 12:36, 37.
A little girl was attending Sunday School for the very first time & as she heard the Christmas story she blurted out; “why did they name that sweet baby a swear word?” It was the first time she’d ever heard His name used outside of a curse.
We’re literally surrounded by profanity. Did you know in one year’s time prime-time T.V shows 8,333 acts of violence, 14,313 incidents of sex & 23,566 uses of profanity? Words that were once banned are now heard about once every five minutes on prime-time T.V, sitcoms.
Many movies that are now considered family oriented contain vile, filthy & cheap language. There’s a movement in America to promote filthy speech. According to an article appearing in the Rocky Mountain News, September 8, 2001, by Diana West, the major television networks NBC, ABC & CBS have a pledge: “According to a front-page report in The New York Times, the networks’ solution to restore their endangered audience is this, to put more dirty words on the air.” This isn’t a joke, it’s a movement.
Most stand-up comics would be speechless if all profanity were kept out of their routines. The goal seems to be lower & lower levels of degrading language to the point of wallowing in the mud.
1. GOD”S NAME IS A VENERABLE NAME. [Sacred, Holy, worthy of respect.]
There are many names given in the Bible but let’s concentrate on just 2.
1. LORD---When you see this name in the Bible it’s the English rendering of the word “Jehovah.” It describes God as the self-existence eternal One. It’s the name “I AM.” He revealed Himself the Moses in EX.3:14. This name is used to declare God’s nature that is unchanging & eternal. Mal.3:6—James 1:17. In the Bible Jehovah is coupled with other words to form compound names for God which reveal more about His nature & his attributes.
Some are;
A. Jehovah- Jireh- “The Lord will provide”—Gen.22:14
B. Jehovah-Nissi—“The Lord is my banner.”—Ex.17:15
C. Jehovah-Shalom—“The Lord is peace.---Judges 6:24
D. Jehovah Shammah—The Lord is there---Ez.48:35
E. Jehovah Tsebaoth—The Lord of Hosts”—1 Sam.1:3
F. Jehovah-Rohi—“The Lord is my Shepard”—Psa.23:1
2. GOD—Elohim—refers to the One Supreme, faithful triune God. This is the most common word for God in the Bible, being used over 2,000 times. In fact when God stepped out of eternity to reveal Himself to us that’s the Name He chose; a name depicting Him as the Strong, faithful dependable God.
Other names for God in the Old Testament are, El-God, El-Shadday-God Almighty & Adonai—Lord.
It’s interesting that one of the first lines in The Lord’s Prayer is, “Hallowed be thy name.”
We should also keep in mind that included in the words we are forbidden by God to use are words that curse & degrade man. While I’ve never taken the Lord’s Name in vain, I’m sure that during unguarded moments I’ve put people in the “spiritual burn unit” with my words. For that I greave & have repented & will do so by God’s grace each time I miss the mark. Listen to James 3:9;
Therewith bless we God even the Father; and therewith we curse men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Pastor James goes on to further explain in verses 10-12 that when a person uses speech to blaspheme God or degrade man, he is showing the corrupt nature of his own heart. Listen;
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing & cursing. My brethren these things ought not so to be.
Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water & bitter? Can a fig tree my brethren bear olive berries? either a vine, or figs? So can no fountain both yield both salt water & fresh?
I was thinking about something recently. I’m not saying that George Bush has been perfect & I’ve certainly had my differences with him & have said so publically. But I’ve watched the news & stayed abreast of current events about as much as anyone in the last eight years, & I can’t remember ever having heard Bush say a negative thing about anyone. Maybe you can enlighten me here but I just haven’t heard it. I’ve heard him chide the Congress for their laxity but to be frank there have been times I’ve felt he should have said more. But never have I heard the man engage in a personal attack against anyone & that’s more than I can say for most politicians.
I’m just saying that the fact that hardly anyone will say good things publicly for the president nowadays is as much a comment on us as a nation as it is on the man. One man's opinion.
I heard Brother Andrew speak for the first time just recently. I don’t know much about the man other than he’s legendary all over the world for his missionary work & his writings. The statement he made that stuck with me was in reference to a conversation he had with a devout Muslim recently. The Muslim man said, “You Christians aren’t doing a very good job of following Jesus & you need to get back to your book,” meaning the Bible.
Brother Andrew agreed with the man’s statement. Then the Muslim man said, “We Muslims aren’t doing a very good job of following Muhammad either. We need to get back to our book.” He of course spoke of The Quran. Brother Andrew continued, [of course he was now speaking to his audience, not the Muslim man,] “We’d better pray they don’t start following Muhammad more closely if they do there’ll be a blood-bath all over the world.”
Then brother Andrew asked the man what he felt the Muslims wanted as a people, whereupon the Muslim man answered, “We want someone to tell us who God is.” Think about that statement. In the final analysis they are hungering to know about the real God of heaven & in all probability wondering deep in their souls if they’ve found the right one. We of course know the answer to that. The thought struck me that we in America who are acquainted with the true & living God should be doing a better job of educating people as to who our God really is.
Of course the first thing we must do is stop using God’s name so casually & began to ascribe worth & honor to His name in every way possible. We will all stand before God & give account for the ways in which we’ve used His Name. When we make promises & vows to God then turn around & do the opposite we’re misusing His Name. The person who uses God’s Name in vain can never be fully right with God & in a position for His blessings until that sin is repented of.
I heard about a foul-mouthed old miner who after he was saved had to retrain his mules. It seems after he cleaned up his speech the animals weren’t able to understand a command he gave them.
One day a farmer was late getting home & his wife asked him why it took as long. His reply was, “Well I picked up the preacher down the road & after that moment those horses couldn’t understand a thing I said.”
God’s plan for His people is for us to guard our tongues in everything we say, especially when we use His name.
Years ago a missionary to the Orient witnessed a 20 year old native approach a heathen idol, kneel down, pull out a knife & cut his tongue out. Within minutes the young man had collapsed in a pool of his own blood & died at the idols feet.
God wouldn’t be glorified in our doing such a foolish thing, but He does want our tongues consecrated wholly to His worship, His adoration & His glorification.
I love The Gaither’s song,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about that name.
Master, Savior Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven & earth proclaim,
King’s & kingdoms shall all pass away,
But there’s something about that name.
How are we using our tongue?
REMEMBER, GOD’S LAST NAME IS NOT DAMN!
BLESSINGS,
John
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