Communication

Did you ever have to eat your words? Pull a stuck foot out of your mouth? It’s too bad that the part of us that most often gets us into trouble is the part that is most often the quickest to respond—the tongue. No wonder James 1:19 admonishes, “…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

We live in an age when technology and its practical and everyday uses are exploding. The fields of medicine, industry, finance, and especially communication are all being dramatically impacted by the use of technology. The cell phone and computer are chief among those innovations directly impacting our lives.

One of my pet peeves is email. More specifically, it is email that is used as a substitute for a personal touch. Ministry is people work. It involves building real relationships and nurturing spiritual growth.

The preacher’s voice is one of his most treasured resources. Communication with people is essential to preaching, counseling, and witnessing. Some men are blessed with a golden trumpet for a voice, while others have a much weaker, less forceful voice.

Proverbs 12:25 says, “Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.” Over and over in the Bible we see examples and read exhortations about how words can be used for righteous and relevance or for ruin and rebellion. In Proverbs 12, we read about what words can be:

Remember when your mother taught you to “think before you speak”? It’s good advice for when you speak electronically, too. God commands us, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

Paul’s ministry in every city was validated partly by his sterling testimony and carefully nurtured relationships.

One of the greatest modern myths is that there are no essential differences between men and women. This is unbiblical, unreasonable, and dangerous to your marriage.

My prize possession as a boy was a Sting-Ray bicycle. Not only was my bike a source of pleasure and fun, but it was necessary equipment to my job as a paper carrier.

Most people think they are good communicators, but statistics show that most of us are not. This means we think communication is happening, when it actually isn’t!

We once had what we called “general cleaning” at our Bible college. Everything on the property was thoroughly cleaned. Some of the students did “general cleaning” on what little grass, plants, and flowers we had.

I am the proud father of four beautiful children. I am in the beginning stages of parenting and praying that God will give wisdom as my wife and I seek to rear our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We truly desire to build a household of faith!

The statistics are alarming—and readily available with a simple Google search—that young people are leaving church in droves during that crucial transition between high school graduation and the complete embracing of adulthood.