HOW You Say It determines…

Tactful speaking and making what you say palatable to the hearer requires forethought and intention. Truth can be spoken but whether it is received depends much upon the one's attitude in speaking it. Think about it, if someone came up to you and revealed things that needed corrected in your life and all of it was true, however, they said it with a nasty attitude – how would you respond? Of course you would reject it, not because it was true, but because the attitude of the person turned the truth bitter.

The following story is from an unknown source but it illustrates the lasting impact of a right attitude.

John Wesley and a preacher-friend of plain habits were once invited to dinner where the host's daughter, noted for her beauty, had been profoundly impressed by Wesley's preaching. during a pause in the meal, Wesley's friend took the young woman's hand and called attention to the sparkling rings she wore. "What do you think of this, sir, for a Methodist hand?" The girl turned crimson.

Wesley likewise was embarrassed, for his aversion to jewelry was only too well known. But with a benevolent smile, he simply said, "The hand is very beautiful." 

Wesley's remark both cooled the too-hot water poured by his  friend, and made the foot-washing gentle. The young woman appeared at the evening service without her jewels, and became a strong Christian.

I have nothing against the wearing of jewelry but I thought the attitude of John Wesley made all the difference in this woman’s response.

Colossians 4:6 (KJV)
⁶ Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

The purpose of salt is to:

• preserve foods
• improve taste – make palatable
• enhances the color of food
• A nutrient source

Finis Dake said in reference to this verse:

Let your speech be always spiced and seasoned with answers that will oppose sin and preserve from the corruption thereof. Let it be holy, wise, gracious, Christian, savory, wholesome, courteous, respectful, desirable, and worthy of being kept in the memory of others.

Salt in this verse has much to do with the attitude, or the way we speak the truth. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say “what to answer” but “how to answer” every person. Not that truth is unimportant, but the attitude makes the spinach of truth more palatable and ingestible for the hearer.

If you have been dealing with someone about salvation, or trying to get a person to see the error of their ways, and you are not seeing success. Don’t change the truth, change your attitude and see what happens. You might be surprised at the change in their response.

Thank God for the Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (KJV)
¹² Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
¹³ But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
¹⁴ And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
¹⁵ Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
¹⁶ For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
¹⁷ And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
¹⁸ Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

The cross and the resurrection are two sides of the same coin. In other words, both are equally important and each depend upon the other to be effective. The blood of the sinless lamb was necessary to be shed so that the ransom of sin’s debt could be paid in full. However, what ultimately enacted the power of the cross in it’s effectiveness was the resurrection. The rising from the dead was the proof that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was accepted by the Father. If Jesus would not have raised from the dead, the blood would have been dormant in it’s ability to save one from sin. When the Lord arose, he unleashed the power of the blood and made forgiveness available to all. 

According to the above scriptures, if Jesus would not have raised from the dead then the following would have been useless, vain, pointless, and to no purpose.

• Our preaching would be in vain.
• Our faith would be vain.
• We would be false witnesses.
• Believers would still be in their sins.
• Those that have died would perish.
• We would be of all people, most miserable.

The good news is – he did raise from the dead!

1 Corinthians 15:20 (KJV) But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Therefore the opposite becomes true:

• Our preaching is effective
• Our faith produces
• We are true witnesses
• Believers are NO longer in sin’s bondage
• Those who died in Christ are alive with him in Heaven
• We are NOT miserable but full of hope

Resurrection implies a new beginning. Something has to be dead before it can be raised. According to Romans 6, at the moment of salvation we die, and are buried with Christ and then raised to newness of life. It’s a new beginning, life, and purpose.

My prayer for this Easter season is that many people will experience what Jesus has accomplished for every person. Like a sponge, he absorbed all of our sins and took them all away. Then, he resurrects his own nature in us through regeneration by the Holy Spirit’s miracle in our lives.

Go and live this experience and watch how God will affect others through you for his glory. God bless you this Easter season!!!

To Tattoo or Not Tattoo is the Question

Leviticus 19:26-28 (KJV)
²⁶ Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.
²⁷ Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.
²⁸ Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks (tattoos) upon you: I am the LORD.

All of the above things mentioned are in reference to heathen worship to their false idols. God wanted Israel to represent him which would put them in direct conflict with the practices of the heathen and pagan societies. His desire was for them to be careful not to identify themselves with unholy religious regimens and appearances. Israel was to reflect the holy nature of God in their attitudes and worship. Interestingly, in the New Testament, Jesus was casting out a devil one day and it said to him “I know who you are – the Holy One of Israel.” The Lord commanded this evil spirit to be quiet because he was stopping it from the attempt of identifying with Jesus. In other words, he was careful to maintain difference in the eyes of the people by not creating confusion.

In verse 27 above, the Israelites were not to trim the hair in the temple area of their heads, and they were not to make certain rounded corners to their beards. “What’s the big deal” you may ask? This certain hairstyle and beard appearance identified them as devoted to a certain idol. God wanted Israel to not take on these styles as a testimony to the heathen world that they were not idol worshippers.

Verse 28 is often used in the tattoo debate and there is legitimate reason for it. Historically, the pagan cultures would cut themselves and even mutilate their bodies as a sign of mourning for the dead. They would also print tattoos on their flesh in connection to superstitions and other religious affiliations. It became an insult to God who designed the human body and so the reason for the law stated here.

Now to the present day and would it be permissible for a Christian. First of all, we know the origin of tattooing was not God ordained, but the result of pagan rituals and idolatry. Therefore there are questions we need to ask ourselves:

• Will it glorify God? 1 Corinthians 10:31 (KJV) Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
• Some want to establish their identity or independence, while others get a tattoo in order to assert ownership of their body. However, the Bible encourages Christians: Romans 12:1 (KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
• Use your “power of reason” to analyze why you want a tattoo. If it is because you want to follow a fad or to show membership in a certain group, remember that your feelings may prove to be less permanent than the tattoo. Examining your motives can help you to make a wise decision.

What about the arguments used such as:
 
Q - Leviticus 19:28 is Old Testament and I live under the New Testament.

• Answer: The verse following 28 states the forbidding of prostituting one’s daughter and it’s the only place in the Bible that says this. Therefore, using this argument then one could say “since I’m not under the OT and I’m under the NT then it MUST be okay to prostitute my daughter.” There are many other "moral laws’ that are ONLY forbidden in the Old Testament, such as the human sacrifice of children. Nowhere in the New Testament is this forbidden. Does that mean that NOW under the New Testament, God Almighty endorses throwing babies into the fire as a human sacrifice? To be fair we have to use the same line of reasoning for both.

Q – Jesus Christ has a tattoo according to Revelation 19:11-16 so what’s good for him is good enough for me.

• Answer: Revelation 19:16 (KJV) And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. The vesture here is a mantle that is wrapped around his thigh. It is not referring to a tattoo on the skin of his leg.

Q – I can identify with those who have them and it gives me the opportunity to witness to people who normally would never listen to a preacher.

• Using that same line of reasoning we could also say that Christian women should dress like prostitutes and go witness to them. Or, maybe we should go to the Bar and have a few drinks with sinners because they won’t listen to a preacher. Jesus never changed his appearance to win souls, he simply went in the power of the Holy Spirit and represented the Kingdom of God.

Up until some years ago, this subject was never debated in the church or sanctioned by commentators. Let’s look at a few reputable scholars on the subject.   

Jamison, Fausett, and Brown Commentary: nor print any marks upon you—by tattooing, imprinting figures of flowers, leaves, stars, and other fanciful devices on various parts of their person. The impression was made sometimes by means of a hot iron, sometimes by ink or paint, as is done by the Arab females of the present day and the different castes of the Hindus. It it probable that a strong propensity to adopt such marks in honor of some idol gave occasion to the prohibition in this verse; and they were wisely forbidden, for they were signs of apostasy; and, when once made, they were insuperable obstacles to a return.

Coffman's Commentary on the Old and New Testament: "The cutting of one's flesh also characterized pagan worship as attested by the priests of Baal on Mount Carmel in the contest with Elijah. Tattooing was also a device of paganism. . . Christians generally disapprove of tattooing, despite the fact of the widespread use of it by many even today. In the light of what God says here, and in view of the history of it, it seems strange that anyone would pay someone else to tattoo him."

Charles R. Erdman, Commentary on the The Book of Leviticus: "The custom of tattooing was forbidden, while among all the nations of antiquity it was common."

Adam Clarke Commentary Leviticus 19:28: I have seen several cases where persons have got the figure of the cross, the Virgin Mary, etc., made on their arms, breasts, etc., the skin being first punctured, and then a blue coloring matter rubbed in, which is never afterward effaced. All these were done for superstitious purposes, and to such things probably the prohibition in this verse refers.

I truly believe without reservation that the practice of tattooing should be avoided by Christians. However, if one has tattoos from the sinful days of his/her life, the Lord has forgiven and we should not judge. This Blog is not written with a judgmental spirit but rather the intention is to get people to think and evaluate their response to this latest fad. Let us also remember, we are a holy people and God’s children.

We are to live a higher standard than the world. I want to end with a true story. Dr. Spence who was founder of Foundations Bible College in Dunn, North Carolina, told this story concerning his daughter. It was during the mini-skirt craze of the late sixties and early seventies. She had purchased a mini-skirt (unbeknownst to Dr. Spence) and she put it on one evening just before they were going out as a family. She came to the top of the stairs and hollered down to him “daddy, what do you think?” He looked up at his daughter and said these words “remember, you are a child of the King.” Without saying a word, she went back to her bedroom and changed into something more presentable. Dr. Spence said she never wore one after that.

Something to think about.

What is the greatest need of the church to become effective again?

What is the greatest need of the church to become effective again? Out of the four options listed in the poll:

• Witnessing
• Maturity
• Gifts of the Spirit
• Sound Leadership

 

Maturity is the one most people voted for. I do believe that maturity is the greatest need of the church, however, I do not believe that it will be arrived at without sound leadership. Everything rises and falls on leadership. At this present time, the church as a whole in America is immature. It is in this condition because spiritual leadership tolerates it. Many pastors have a perverted view of their position. Some believe they are employed to be the babysitter. Others, believe their job is that of an entertainer who is to put on a show every week for the audience. I am afraid that at the end of the day that pastoral leadership is amusing more goats than they are leading sheep.

The key to church growth, it's protection, and change, is sound leadership. No matter what condition a church finds itself in, it did not arrive there by accident. Someone led them in a direction that produced this condition.

This is why that the current church's condition will not be solved by emphasizing new programs, techniques, and borrowed psychology from the world. We must renew our demand of putting sound leadership back at the helm of our churches. Pastors today are evaluated by their ability to implement programs and how they can master a budget. However, God may have never called them to that position, and they may not have the anointing to form a congregation into the stature of Christ.

Consider which one of the following armies you would not be willing to face. An army of lions led by a sheep, or an army of sheep led by a lion? What is in the leadership is what will get into the rest of the followers. I would not want to fight the army of sheep led by a lion, because the sheep would take on the nature of the lion and would become vicious fighters. The army of lions would take on the nature of the sheep and would become cowards even though they possessed a powerful potential to be victorious. I have been around many ministers who are weak in their personality, no convictions, no drive, and whine about everything. There is a congregation of potential lions sitting in that church every week – I just want to shout it out – be a MAN and LEAD! Ladies too (smile).

Sound leadership is:

• has character and a good reputation
• has an obvious anointing to preach the gospel
• possesses sound doctrine
• thoroughly educated in the word
• meets the qualifications of 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1
• humble

Why is sound leadership so important:

• there is no development without leadership
• correction is to be administered by leadership
• no progress without it
• direction and attitude is set by leadership
• it is what keeps sheep from scattering

 

For a pastor to be successful in the Lord’s eyes, he must have true convictions about the principles of God's word. Convictions are what enables a minister to remain in a stable condition no matter what the circumstances and conditions are surrounding him. If leadership vacillates back and forth just to please people, if they change their belief system so they can be accepted, then they are not a pastor they are a compromiser.

Therefore, I agree that maturity is the greatest need of the American church. However, it will never reach this heightened state of perfection without sound pastoral leadership. Let’s make it a matter of prayer, that there be a revival of sound leadership back in the pulpits of America that will lead us victorious into the fight for people’s souls!