Hell? No!

Sermon at North Hill, March 26, 2011.

The other day outside Safeway I met a couple kids selling Girl Scout cookies. I wasn't interested in their cookies, but I gave them a couple of dollars as a contribution. I don't receive any direct benefit from the Girl Scouts. My kids were never members of the Girl Scouts. I don't know if any of my neighbors are members of the Girl Scouts. But I believe the organization does good work. So I gave them a couple of dollars. I'm rich enough but a couple of dollars won't break my bank, and I figure a couple of dollars will encourage them.

Every year I give money to an organization that supports a website, blueletterBible.org. I use the web site regularly in my Bible research for my sermons. So, I figure I owe them some money for the service they provide me. I wouldn't have to give them anything. Their website is free to any user. But I received personal benefit and by contributing I hope to make this Bible study resource available to others as well.

Every year I also give money to the Washington trails Association (WTA). What do I get from my contribution? I receive a magazine four times a year. I also enjoy access to their website which provides hundreds of reports on trails all across Washington. In addition to any direct personal benefit I receive when I give money to the WTA, I am voicing my support for trails and hiking and outdoor recreation. WTA sponsors work parties that volunteer thousands of hours every year doing trail maintenance. My money helps with that. The organization also lobbies for policies supportive of outdoor recreation. My dollars through this organization help to spread the influence of my values through the larger community. Every dollar I give to the Washington trails Association is a vote for the outdoor culture that I think is conducive to a healthy society.

I don't need the WTA in order to go hiking myself. I don't need the WTA to tell me where the trails are or what to put in my pack. I can buy my own bird book or wildflower book or tree identification book. But I cannot by myself build and maintain the trails. By myself I cannot create a culture hiking and camping and other kinds of outdoor recreation. That can only be done cooperatively. So I give my money as a way of participating in that cooperative effort.

The people here at North Hill contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Seventh-day Adventist church every year. Why? What do we get out of these contributions?

We get direct benefits. Church is where we meet our friends. We experience the uplifting joy of shared music. We count on sermons to challenge our thinking, to inspire us, to renew our confidence in God. Sometimes, when we are in trouble, church comes through with concrete, down to earth assistance. Many of us have experienced the benefit of Adventist education for ourselves or for our children.

But I am not sure these kinds of direct, somewhat measurable, benefits justify the amount of money that some of us put into church. There's something else going on. And today I want to encourage all of you to join in that secret, extra something that fuels our giving.

When we contribute to church, we are helping to support a culture, a society that has a special understanding of the world and a distinctive way of living. Our gifts of money play a direct role in giving life to our deepest convictions and our most precious practices.

Sometimes, people talk about church in terms of "what I get out of it." That's not a completely illegitimate question. But it is somewhat immature. I don't get anything out of giving to the Girl Scouts. That is I'm not going to go on a Girl Scout camp out. My kids are too old to enroll and Girl Scout programs. There is no direct simple benefit to me. But as a wise old man, I realize that there is a value to society as a whole and having programs like the Girl Scouts. So when the girls are out front of the grocery store collecting, I give. I give because I believe in girls. I give because I appreciate the hundreds and thousands of hours of volunteer service given by the parents and other adults who participate in the Girl Scouts. I give because the Girl Scout program is serving people in places I can't go.

It's the same with the Washington trails Association. I do not receive $100 of personal benefit from the organization. But I do believe the goals of the organization. I believe that the organization is helping to bring to the larger society values that I hold dear.

So with the church. When I give to church, I am giving to an organization that bring some benefits to me personally. But even more importantly, when I give to the church my money is helping to create a community, a society that embodies the ideals that I hold dear.

The church multiplies the effects of my money. When my money is added to the money given by tens of thousands of other people the cumulative effect of our giving makes a large difference in the world.

What is the job of the church? To provide good music? To be a place where people can make good friends. To provide interesting and inspiring preaching?

The church should do all of these things. But they are not the central mission of the church. They are tools the church uses to accomplish the mission the Jesus outlined. Jesus described his mission in the mission of the church in several different places. One of the most famous is found at the end of the book of Matthew. Jesus told his disciples, "go into all the world and make disciples of all people. Baptize them and teach them to obey everything I commanded you."

At the heart of the mission of the church is this call to teach people the truth as it was seen by Jesus. Jesus spent much of his time during his three years of public ministry healing people. He worked miracles to see people. He raised the dead. And he taught. And taught and taught and taught. Jesus made it very clear that ideas and beliefs are important.

Just as he spent a lot of time teaching people, so the church is called to pass on those ideas, to pass on those beliefs and convictions.

When we give money to the church we are helping to spread the beliefs of Jesus. We are giving life to the convictions and doctrines Jesus taught. And going beyond that, we are giving life to doctrines and insights that have arisen among Christians as the result of two millennia of reflection on the mission and message of Jesus.

Of course, the church does not perfectly embody the character and teachings of Jesus. There is no large group of people that is flawless. (There is no small group of people that is flawless either.) Still, if I want the ideas, the beliefs, the teachings of Jesus to touch the lives of my neighbors, my children, my grandchildren and people around the world, then giving money to the church is one powerful way to pursue that objective.

There are about 2 billion Christians in the world. So so we have lots of company as we work to spread the values of Jesus. Our respect for the Bible, our beliefs that God was present in the person of Jesus Christ and that Jesus is coming again to inaugurate a bright new future – these beliefs we share with 2 billion other people.

Adventists treasure some convictions that are not so widely shared, even in the Christian community. Over the next couple of months I want to examine some of these special beliefs, the special heritage of Seventh-day Adventist Christians.

A quick list of some Adventist treasures:

Jesus. Jesus above Paul. Jesus above Moses. Jesus above Mohammed. Jesus above Buddha. (Notice, I am not saying that everything everyone else says is false. Just because something was taught by Mohammed or Buddha does not make it false. On the other hand I am saying we look to Jesus above all others. Not only do we subordinate non-Christian spiritual authorities to Jesus. We subordinate even the apostles to Jesus. So when we read something in Paul that appears to contradict the teachings of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus hold preeminence.)

God is love. Of course, all Christians agree with this. Adventists have developed a distinctive way of using this conviction as a theological lens.

Sabbath. We are Sabbath keepers. We are Sabbath promoters.

Soteriology. We are saved by God not by a formula—not even by the formulas of John 3:16 or Romans 10:10. While the classic evangelical formulas can be very helpful for people seeking a connection with God, God's saving action is not constrained by those formulas.

Human value and human nature. We understand a single human being to have a value comparable to the value of God himself. This is one of the meanings of the crucifixion. We also understand that humans are capable of sin. So while we value human beings, and thus are pro-life in the largest sense of the word, we also distrust human beings and believe that all human authority should be constrained by other authority. So we oppose monarchy and dictatorship. We oppose popery and bibliolatry. We oppose war and the American system of capital punishment (which is far more likely to execute poor people and brown and black people than rich people or white people even taking into account differences in crime rates).

Divine Judgment. There is no formula that can predict the eternal destiny of any human being. Observing a person's outward behavior, whether that behavior is words, actions or facial expressions, cannot provide a sufficient basis for making a conclusive determination of their eternal fate. The Bible doctrine of judgment insists that God will examine the entirety of a person's life. This flatly contradicts two key opinions held by many Christians: 1. All people who have not fulfilled the formulas spelled out in John 3:16 or Romans 10:10 are automatically damned. 2. The only consideration in the judgment is a person's profession of faith or lack thereof. The Adventist position insists, 1. God is judge. There is no automatic salvation or automatic damnation. 2. A person's whole life matters. You cannot reduce a person to a single formulaic statement.

Law-keeping is the key to good living.
Miracles are no substitute for obedience. Grace is no substitute for wisdom. God gives laws as a guide for healthy, happy living. As a church, we unabashedly advocate lawful living. That's what God wants for us. That's what we want for our children. It's good.

No eternal torment. We find it inconceivable that a God of love would supernaturally keep billions of people alive for billions of years for the sole purpose of torturing them. We point to multiple passages of Scripture which explicitly and vividly describe an end to the existence of sin, suffering and sinners.

Health.
Salvation is not only a blissful future in another world. It is also well being here. Just as Jesus devoted much of his time and energy to healing people's physical bodies and addressing their physical needs so we believe it is the mission of today's church to attend to people's overall well-being. Him and him Margie We believe it is an essential part of the mission of the church to teach people habits that support physical, mental, and social health.

Money.
In this area, there is no uniquely Adventist perspective. I place it here because money management is so integrally linked with spiritual, social, and family health. Our use of money powerfully affect our well-being and powerfully expresses our real convictions.



Today, my focus is hell. It is, as someone blurted out during my sermon on Sabbath, a hot topic. :-)

Rob Bell, an evangelical pastor in Michigan, has written a book titled Love Wins. Bell questions the classic evangelical doctrine about eternal torment in the formulaic damnation of people outside formal Christianity. There has been a fierce outcry against him. Big names in the evangelical community have a damned Bell because he has softened damnation.

While Bell does not understand hell in the same way that Seventh-day Adventists do, his book represents a wonderful step forward for the evangelical community, and for Christianity as a whole.

What do Adventist believe about hell?

In Matthew 13 Jesus twice refers to the fate of the wicked as being similar to something that is thrown into a blazing furnace. Things thrown into a furnace burn up. They cease to exist. This imagery of hell as a furnace connects the traditional picture of hell as a fiery place. However, the furnace imagery flatly contradicts the notion of perpetual torment. Even soggy, wet wood eventually burns up. The fire consumes it. And this is what Adventist and many other Christians believe happens in hell. The wicked cease to exist.

Perhaps the best way to put the difference between what Adventists believe the Bible teaches about hell and the traditional view is this: Adventists believe hell is an event. It is something that happens at the end of time. Traditional views describe hell as an eternal place. It will endure as long as heaven and God himself.

There are two major criticisms of the traditional view. First, how could a God of love torture anyone for billions of years? Second, how could any person, no matter how wicked, do enough evil in a limited life span available to humans to justify torturing them for literally all eternity? The doctrine of eternal torment obviates any real meaning for either love or justice. Both words and the concepts they express become meaningless if eternal torment is true.
Those who try to defend the idea everlasting hell insist they do so only because it is the clear teaching of Scripture. They cite passages that do appear to support the idea and insist that the counter passages regarding hell and all the Bible's teachings about God's love must be reinterpreted to agree with their understanding of the few verses that appear to support eternal torment.

Our rebuttal is simply this: there are multiple passages in the Bible that clearly teach the extinction of evil and evil people. There is a superabundance of affirmation in the Bible of love is supreme characteristic of God. We insist that the few passages that appear to support eternal torment must be reinterpreted in the light of the counter passages regarding hell in the over arching theme in the Bible of God's love.

The Bible basis for rejecting eternal torment

Following is a collection of Bible verses that I copied from Bibleinfo.com. These passages form the basis of the classic Adventist teaching regarding hell. To repeat what I said earlier: we understand hell as an event at the end of time. It is not a place that exists now or will exist after Jesus has fully established his kingdom (Revelation 21).

The wicked have not yet been rewarded. Revelation 22:12, NKJV. ‘“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”
Those who do not believe in Christ perish. The opposite of everlasting life and existence is death, or cease to exist. John 3:16, NKJV. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Does God burn sinners into the ceaseless ages? The wicked do not burn forever. Psalm 37:20, NIV. "But the wicked will perish: The Lord's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish—vanish like smoke."
The unchanging sinners will be burned up and nothing will remain, just ashes. Malachi 4:1,3 NIV. "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty. Not a root or a branch will be left to them…Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the LORD Almighty.”
Hell is not a place in the center of the earth; it is an event on face of the earth. Revelation 20:9, NKJV. “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”
“Eternal fire” refers to the results that are eternal, not fire that is eternally burning. Sodom and Gomorrah suffered eternal fire but they are not burning today. Jude 7, NIV. "In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." 2 Peter 2:6, NKJV. “and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly.”
The fire will be unquenchable, but when there is nothing left to burn it will go out. Matthew 3:12. "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering the wheat into His barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

God does not enjoy seeing anybody destroyed, and has done everything possible so that nobody would have to be. Ezekiel 33:11: “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”

But there is coming a time when God will rid the world of sin, of wickedness, fear, death, sorrow, and pain. Revelation 21:4: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”




For most of us who have been Adventists for a long time this is common sense doctrine. We do not realize how rare and special this belief is.

When I give my money to the Seventh-day Adventist church I am voting with my dollars for a better picture of God. I am voting against the picture of God painted by the Westboro Baptist Church people. I am voting against the picture of God taught by Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Seminary in Dallas. (He argues contra Bell, that every human who does not have a “conscious faith” in Jesus will be “eternally conscious” in the torments of hell fire. So every human who is born with mental defects that prevent them from developing the requisite mental and verbal skills for understanding and testifying to the truth of Jesus' vicarious death for their sins is automatically destined for an eternity of torment in the fires of hell. When I give to the Adventist Church I am voting against the view of God taught by John Piper a famous conservative Protestant theologian, who is so offended by Bell's questions about hell that he has publicly written Bell off as a Christian preacher.

Like every other human institution – like Greenpeace, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the Libertarian Party, ADRA, the Sierra Club, World Vision, 3ABN – the church is a confounding mix of ideals and human frailties. However, this one conviction, this one doctrine – no eternal torment – is worth half my life savings.

The world needs to know that embracing Jesus does not require us to embrace a diabolical view of God. To believe that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself does not require us to believe that everyone who does not perfectly understand that is automatically consigned to billions of years of indescribable torture.

Christianity properly understood is the good news about a God of love. It is the good news that God's great goal is restoration, redemption, healing, reconciliation. It is the incredible news that suffering, even the suffering of the most wicked people, will come to an end. The destiny of every human being and the destiny of the universe is ultimately peace.

That's good news. It's worth putting money into.

Talking to Ourselves

Sermon for March 19, 2011
North Hill Adventist Church.

I talked about what we say to ourselves. A couple of ideas: No whining and no boasting. Both are seriously destructive. Whining reinforces my image of myself as a pick them. Boasting reinforces my image of myself as a self made person.

Reality, of course, is that my greatest triumphs come from a mix of gifts that came to me quite apart from my deserving or earning and my discipline and work habits.

And in my greatest difficulties in most perplexing predicaments there is always still something I can do. Perhaps all I can do is close my eyes and refuse to berate myself. Sometimes all we can do is rest.


One way we can help ourselves to say good things to ourselves is by memorizing good words, especially the words of the Bible.

To hear the sermon, follow the link to the audio file.

Maybe sometime I will get around to posting the manuscript.

Five Rules for Managing Money

Sermon preached at North Hill Adventist Fellowship, Sabbath March 3.

I may get around to posting the sermon. Here are the five rules: Earn some. Save some. Spend some. Give some. Don't borrow. Bonus rule: Don't gamble.

Work is a good thing (if we have a good job.).

Saving, i.e. spending less than we have, is the first sign of wealth and the first step toward enjoying money.

Spend some. It's okay. That's what money is for.

Give some. The ultimate form of enjoying money. When I give, I am aware of having so much money, I have more than I need. This is the ultimate proof to my heart that I am wealthy.

Don't borrow. This is really aimed at credit card borrowing. DON'T. PLEASE. If you've gotten caught in this trap get help, but not from anyone who is going to charge you anything. Borrow a Dave Ramsey book from the library--FREE!!! Read it and do what it says. Or go to someone in your church who is trustworthy and experienced in managing money and ask their help.

Only gamble if you have so much money left over after saving, spending and giving you don't know what to do with it. Gambling is a poor form of investing or credit repair. It's a really, really, really, really bad get-out-of-debt plan.

Words: Five Rules

Sermon preached at North Hill, March 12, 2011
Primary texts: Genesis 1 and John 1. Matthew 5:21-24, 33-37; 12:34-36


Money is powerful. For the cost of 5 cans of potato chips you could pay the cost for providing clean water for one person for a lifetime in the African nation of Cameroon. For the cost of 2 cans of potato chips, you could finance a week's tuition for a single mom in Nigeria, changing her life forever. There is incredible power in some pieces of paper or some numbers in an electronic transaction.

Managing wealth is one way we connect with God. Managing wealth, taking deliberate, intentional action with our money is one way we can act like God. Last week I offered five rules for managing our money. When we follow these rules, we become partners with God. Money becomes a source of happiness for us and for others. When we follow these rules, usually money is no longer source of stress.

Of course, money can be used as a tool for evil. Last month Dr. Michael Mockovak, co-founder of the popular Clearly Lasik eye-surgery centers, was found guilty of hiring someone to kill his former business partner. The failed plot was going to cost him $125,000. Apparently $125,000 is the going price for hiring a hit man here in the Northwest. In March, an attorney who lives in Idaho, named Edgar Steele, was indicted for offering $125,000 to a man named Larry Fairfax to kill Mr. Steele's wife and his mother-in-law. Fortunately that plot didn't work out any better than Dr. Mockovak's scheme.

My point is, you can use money to heal or to harm, you can use money to bless or to curse. Obviously, we are supposed to use our money to bless and heal. Money is a gift God has given us to be used for his glory, our own well-being, and the benefit of others. Money gives us God-like power to bless.

Today I want to talk about another gift. This gift is even more powerful than money. It connects us with God even more powerfully than money. The gift of speech, the gift of words. When we manage wealth wisely we are acting in the image of God. When we manage our speech wisely we come even closer to the identity and heart of God.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. … Then God said, 'Let there be light.'" The first thing God does is speak. His words become the resource of reality. Throughout the Bible the most salient characteristic of God is his speech. He gives commands, warnings, promises. At Mount Sinai, God "appears" to Israel. There is some thunder and lightning, there are dark clouds. But the most important fact about the appearance is what God says. It's God's words, not his shape that is indelibly imprinted in the awareness of his people.

When we come to the New Testament, to Jesus, we see again this focus on the words. The gospel of John introduces Jesus by saying, "in the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the Word was God." The gospel of Matthew announces the beginning of Jesus' ministry with these words, "the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light." Then it announces, "Jesus began to preach." Jesus' words brought light.

The vital heart of the mission of Jesus was words. Words that gave hope, words that gave wisdom, words that connect us with God. People came to Jesus because he was a powerful healer. They stayed and stayed because he was an absolutely riveting speaker. I like the picture given in Luke 5. “One day as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats.… He got into one of the boats… Then sat down and taught the people.

Crowds of people, probably thousands people, standing, sitting, hanging out on the shore, captivated by the words of the man in the boat.

What did they hear? Why did thousands of people stand for days on occasion listening to Jesus talk?
There was life in his words. There was hope, there was wisdom, there was divine love. There was light.

This is what God wants to do with our words. Create light. God wants us to talk in such a way that when people listen to us they hear hope, wisdom and goodness. That's what Christians do with words.

In the sermon on the Mount, which is recorded in Matthew 5-7, Jesus lays down the fundamental principles of his kingdom, the basic rules for his disciples.

The first rule: Be light.

Applied to speech, this means: say nice things. Say good things. Say things that will bring encouragement hope and help to others. When you come into a room does it get brighter or darker? When you enter a conversation, does it get lighter or darker?

Rule one for Christians in regards to words: say only those things which will be helpful for building others up, or protecting others.

When you talk to your kids does their world get lighter? When you talk to your husband, your wife, your parents?

Rule number two: Don't say mean things.

Jesus talked about murder (Matthew 5:21ff.). Obviously he was against it. However, he was almost dismissive of murder as a commandment. Here's what he said, "you have heard that it was said do not commit murder." Obviously, the people in his audience knew that murder was wrong. Jesus would have been wasting their time if he spent any energy trying to “persuade” them that murder was wrong. They already knew that. So Jesus applied this commandment in a new way. It was an application that stretched his audience then. It still stretches us today.

"You have heard that it was said long ago, do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. . . . Anyone who says to his brother, "You idiot!" will be in danger of hellfire."

When we use speech that is dismissive of the character and value of the people around us we are guilty of an evil similar to murder.

Stay with that for a bit.

Did you use speech this week that was dismissive of the character or value of another person? When we use words that demean others, when we use words that slice and dice others, we are acting in a way that is morally similar to murderers.

Jesus takes it further. “If you're on your way to worship with an offering for God and on the way remember some wound you have caused your brother or sister, turn around and go home. Go find the person you have offended and be reconciled to them. Then come and offer your gift.”

If we are slicing and dicing with our words, our worship at church is worthless. I am not suggesting that we should stay away from church unless we are flawless in our speech. I am saying if your words at home make those who hear them cringe and ache, before you head out to church, ask their forgiveness.

If it is a common occurrence in your home for words to cause pain, get help to change the pattern. You do not have to continue using words as weapons. There is help available. You can learn to use words to bring hope and happiness. You can learn to avoid using words as instruments of anger and revenge. God does not want us using words to bully, badger, nag, sass, intimidate. Words are to be instruments of righteousness, tools for building relationships, vehicles of hope.

So do not overly congratulate yourself because you did not hire a hit man this week. Rather, congratulate yourself if your spouse and your children heard from you words that were helpful, hopeful, full of affirmation and encouragement. If you wonder what your spouse thinks about your words, ask them.

Jesus first rule for words: Make them instruments of light.

The second rule: don't say mean things.

Rule three: Tell the truth.

Further down in chapter 5, Jesus gives another rule for speech. Tell the truth. Speak in such a way that others who hear your words will know what you mean. And make sure your meaning lines up with reality. Tell the truth.

As I have said before, this means that you will not forward e-mails unless you have verified all of the facts that are in the e-mails. Especially advocacy e-mails. When someone send you an e-mail outlining how stupid or evil or malicious or dangerous some politician is, don't forward it. Do some research. So far I think every single e-mail like this I have ever received turned out to contain substantial factual error. The errors were usually the juiciest part. They were the dramatic statements that made the emails interesting. But they were still errors of fact, errors that were readily ascertained. All you had to do was spend two or three minutes Googling to discover that some of the assertions in the e-mails were factually incorrect. When we forward these e-mails we are violating Jesus' command to tell the truth. (We are also violating rule number two: Don't say mean things.)

So first rule a sure your words fuel hope and happiness. Second rule don't say mean things. Third row tell the truth.

Fourth rule. Don't use ugly words.

I made this one up. Don't use ugly words. Don't use any words that would be bleeped on the radio or have asterisks inserted in standard print media.

Don't use the F word. Don't say to your children, "you're stupid." Don't say, "you're lazy." Don't ever use the word fag in private or in public.

I could go on. But I do not want to use ugly words from the pulpit. And the reality is that I am so culturally out of touch I may not be aware of the latest ugly words. Use good words. Use words that enhance respect for the people. Do not use any titles, labels, or slang that imply disrespect or violence or dismissiveness or contempt. Just don't do it. And if you catch yourself, say excuse me. Then quit doing it.

Fifth rule. Memorize good stuff.

Memorize Bible passages.

David writes in the Psalms, “Your word have I hidden in my heart than I might not sin against you.” Jesus said, in arguing with the devil, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Of course in saying that, Jesus was quoting from the Old Testament.

In our Sabbath School classes for the kids, they are assigned a memory verse every week. Parents, make sure they learn it. Go over their memory verse with them every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY. Before the kids go to sleep, go over their memory verse with them.

If you don't have kids to review memory verses with, then get your own verse for week. It's a whole lot easier to memorize when you're young. That's one reason why it's so important for parents to lead their children in memorizing verses of the Bible every week. But even if you're older and your memory is like a sieve, still take some time to put Bible words into your head. Take a verse and live with it for a week.

Put good words into your head.

Authoritative Backup

Just in case you think I'm overstating the importance of our words, notice the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 12:34. “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the goods stored up in him and the evil man brings evil things out of the stored up in him. So I tell you be aware of this: men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. By your words you will be acquitted. By your words you will be condemned.”

Words matter. They can bring hope and life and healing. They can wound and slice and hurt. Words are not trivial. We must not excuse ourselves when we use words that are sharp and cutting.

Jesus was called the word of God. Throughout the Old Testament the most prominent characteristic of God with speech. In our lives together, if we are Christians, if we are followers of Christ, we will make our speech full of grace. As we do so, we will find ourselves partnering with God. We will experience the joy God experiences in speaking good news. As we share good news with others not only will they be touched by the warmth of God's grace. Our own lives will be warmed, our own souls will be watered. Our hearts will discover fresh hope in the bright words, the good words that flow from God through us to the world.