O Be Careful Little Mouth What You Say

The rhetoric erupting from our current culture reflects a loss of the ability to communicate one’s beliefs and opinions in a respectful and winsome way. Wherever you turn, one sees verbal tirades flowing from the mouths of people who feel they are justified in giving people a piece of their mind. Often such speech reflects more negatively upon the character of the speaker than the one they are lambasting.

     In the political arena the way candidates speak to one another has become so repulsive that many are beginning to ignore their dialogue. They do not want to listen to another harangue from a political leader displaying a character that one would not condone from a preschooler. It is hard to imagine wanting a leader to represent our nation who conducts themselves in a manner that thwarts clear communication, cooperation, and negotiation. Shock speech may make good sound bites, but it does little to develop dialogue between people of opposing views.

     In the field of entertainment many stars have replaced four letter words for meaningful insights. How often one has to be bleeped by a program sensor does not measure passion; it measures crudeness. How sad that a person carrying the label “star” cannot construct a sentence without profanity. Perhaps assigning the title of “star” to such individuals reflects the state of our nation’s cultural character. A culture’s heroes reflect what a culture applauds, tolerates, and even expects. If this is true, our national character is sorely in need of refurbishing.    

     Even in churches there are evidences that careless speech has invaded the lives of those who are supposed to represent God as His ambassador. Occasionally one will hear a preacher justify his “colorful” speech as necessary to connect with contemporary culture. So they resort to crude, rude, or even questionable speech. However, an ambassador is to reflect the one they represent regardless of the circumstances in which they find themselves. If one is an ambassador of Christ, then they ought to reflect His character. Rick Warren notes, “Character is never built in a classroom. Character is built in the circumstances of life.” In the face of mistreatment Christ controlled His speech “While being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats” (1 Peter 2:23). We should expect His ambassadors to reflect such control of their speech.    

     The Bible clearly portrays our speech as a reflection of our character – what is really in the control center of our life. Jesus taught, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45). One’s speech is revealing and a good litmus test of what a person is really like. If lies and unguarded speech flow from a person’s mouth, you know what is really lurking in their life regardless of their personal assurances.

     The Bible also reveals that one’s speech is a measure of a person’s self-control. The Apostle James stresses that faith is revealed by deeds (James 2:18). Shortly thereafter he points to the deed that is most revealing – ones speech. James 3:2 says, “If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life” (MSG). The verses following in James 3 illustrate both how difficult and necessary it is to control our speech. How disappointed I have been at times when my words reflected that I was under control of my misguided emotion rather than displaying the fruit of the Spirit which is self-control (Galatians 5:23).

     When our speech is reflecting the character of Christ in our lives and the regulating control of the Spirit is displayed in our lives, then certain qualities are manifested in our speech. There are many described in the Bible but three come to mind. First, our speech will be gracious. Colossians 4:6 says, “Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out” (MSG). One saint of old well said, “Speech… ought to be in a graceful way, with a cheerful and pleasant countenance, in an affable and courteous manner, and not after a morose, churlish, and ill-natured fashion.” Wouldn’t that change the dialogue of our contemporary culture!  

     Speech should reflect a quality that is healthy. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift” (MSG). We live in a wounded world. Words that create infection should be avoided as much as dirty utensils in an operating room. How often words do more damage than good as they are released into conversations.

     A final quality that comes to mind is respectful speech. 1 Peter 3:15 “Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy” (MSG). How often we see people who appear pleased when they have put people down and overlooked the possibility of building people up by “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Truth needs love, but love always speaks the truth.

     As a child I was taught a simple chorus in Sunday School that said, “O be careful little mouth what you say,

O be careful little mouth what you say, There's a Father up above, And He's looking down in love, So, be careful little mouth what you say.” Maybe we need to heed that reminder more often!

Delusion of Safety or the Conviction of Security?

A number of years ago I had bitten off more than I could chew as far as my schedule was concerned. Evidence of over commitment was the appearance of irrational anxieties. One area was flying in an airplane. While a common anxiety for many, for me it was a new experience. Feeling unsafe in a plane was a problem. In addition to my role as a fulltime pastor, I would fly about once a month up and down the east coast to do teacher seminars for a publisher. A flight to an upcoming conference left me feeling anxious and dreading what before had been enjoyable. Frankly, I could not get past the feeling that I was not safe in an airplane 30,000 feet from the ground.  

     My pride kept me from admitting the problem to the company and I began to look for ways to get around my anxiety. I drove to as many conferences as possible which only added to my overtaxed schedule. Then I came upon an idea. Why not take a train to various conferences since many of the conferences were in cities serviced by Amtrak? I was pleased with having come up with a solution thereby saving face and feeling safe.

     The first train trip was to a conference in Boston. The trip to “Beantown” was a wonderful experience. I felt safe and not the least bit anxious. On the return trip I sank into the train seat confident that this was a perfect alternative to an airplane flight and subsequent anxiety. Crossing a bridge into Harlem, NY, changed that self-assured attitude. The train derailed leaving well shaken passengers inside the passenger cars. My delusion of safety quickly evaporated that night in a darkened rail car! Interestingly enough, that was the last time I was anxious about flying! The Lord graciously reminded me that He could keep me as secure at 30,000 feet in an airplane as 3 feet off the ground in a rail car.

     Often we develop attitudes or embrace actions that we think will make us safe. The problem is that we do not live in a safe world. We do not control life. At best we try and adjust to the dangers that we see in an unsafe world. We wear a seat belt – that is good. But that does not keep us from being in an accident and being injured. We see government make laws and policies to try and protect the citizenry – which the Bible says is their responsibility. But no law will stop a person intent on doing evil from doing so. Parents take precautions in the way they raise their children – a God ordained duty. But there are no guarantees that a child will not rebel and make foolish choices later in life. Even in a perfect environment with a Divine Parent, Adam and Eve still chose to reject their Heavenly Father’s guidance and plunged creation into chaos.

     So does this mean we should live in despair? No. An alternative to living in a delusion of safety is to live with the conviction of security. Safety says we will not encounter dangers, harms, and adversity. Security says that if we do encounter these possibilities we know we can endure and even thrive in the face of living in a fallen world.

     Three men exemplified this sense of security in Daniel 3. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had mandated worship of an idol or face the consequence of a horrible death in a fiery furnace. The safe response of these men would be to comply with the cultural pressure and worship a golden image thus placating the demands of government. However, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego chose to obey God’s Word rather than a king’s demand. What they decided was not safe. In their minds they were convinced that they could be secure even though they were not safe. Therefore they boldly responded to the king’s command, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us… from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known… we do not serve your gods” (3:17-18). That was a secure response not a safe one. They were secure in the relationship they had with Jehovah God that allowed them to forego the delusion of safety they could obtain from abandoning their convictions.

     The result for these three men was both a furnace and deliverance. They were placed into the fire but they were secure and not separated from God. In fact, the biblical account records that even the King noticed that God was with them (3:25). These men ended up as a testimony before a king and nation as the “servants of the Most High God” and they “trusted in Him.” They revealed one could be secure even when things are not safe (3:26-30).

     Do we live in a safe world? Are you kidding? Devastating diseases, barbaric terrorists, atomic conflagration, social unrest, financial instability, international chaos, and a hundred other potential dangers confront us. Yet in all of this we can maintain a conviction of security. That security does not arise because of our power, wisdom, or other assets. Our conviction grows out of a person having a relationship with the Most High God of the universe. Once we are assured we are connected to Him by faith then we can say with boldness, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Paul goes on to say that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ, Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31, 37-39).

     Life can be lived very differently when we live beyond the delusion of safety and embrace a conviction of security. "It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:8). 

Transforming Message of Christmas

Sometimes the euphoria of the Christmas season does not match the emotions of our heart. Perhaps events invading our personal lives make our emotional lives more like the steel gray skies of December than the bright glittering ornaments hung on a Christmas tree. Many may enter into this Christmas season with more emotional uncertainty than perhaps they have had in many years.

     Maybe personal difficulties have bruised one’s emotional psyche. A disturbing medical exam, financial uncertainty, family crisis, or the death of a friend or family member has altered a spirit of celebration transforming it into a caldron of emotional perplexity as one tries to process unfathomable news. Compounding these personal dilemmas are the national and international events announcing terrorism, death, hatred, and all sorts of unspeakable mayhem. The cascade of turmoil seems to sneer at the refrain of “peace on earth and good will to men.” How can we even mouth those words when we live in a world of pain, individually and on the international stage?

     We have the tendency to look at current history as the defining moment of all history. While our present circumstances are important, they are not empowered to process and interpret our past nor define and determine our uncertain future.  It may be true that we currently live in extremely uncertain and difficult times; however, this state of despair is not new to the planet earth. This came into sharp focus recently as I read and reflected on the words to the familiar Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” written by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

     His world had received one difficult emotional blow after another. Two years prior to writing the poem “Christmas Bells,” from which the carol is derived, his dear wife was killed in an accidental fire. Then in November 1864, his son, Charles Appleton, a Union soldier in the Civil War, was seriously wounded in the Battle of New Hope in Virginia. Longfellow was submerged in a world of grief. Compounding all of this was the seemingly endless national tragedy of the bloody Civil War. For years this war had deposited human tragedy into every community in the country. On Christmas day 1864, encompassed by a world of pain, Longfellow sat alone and penned his words of honest struggle and emotional despair.  He concluded with words of hope that assuaged his own wounded heart. Eight years later the poem he wrote was set to music by John Baptiste Calkin. Longfellow’s words, birthed in the midst of turmoil, have over the years sounded a bright word of hope in a dark world of despair.

     Longfellow wrote how that Christmas the bells announced a familiar message of “peace on earth, good-will to men.” Events in his life, however, had caused him to question that joyous message. He honestly admitted, “And in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said.” He reasoned, “For hate is strong, and mocks the song, Of peace on earth, good-will to men.” If he had stopped his poem there, how bleak his world would have been. Thankfully he adds, “Then peeled the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead: nor doth He sleep.’”  When he allowed his view of life to be impacted by the truth that God was not detached from human tragedy nor inactive in the lives of people his perspective changed.

     He confidently concludes his poem by writing, “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men.” That realization changed his view of life. He noted, “The world revolved from night to day.” His dark world of despair was altered by the bright hope that a living active God can bring into a life shrouded in a cloak of difficulty and uncertainty.

     Several weeks ago in Germany I met a Syrian Muslim refugee who joined the million refugees flooding into that country. To say that this man was living in a world of hurt would be an understatement. His home and business had been bombed into oblivion. He had fled the murderous intentions of political leaders and terrorists to find a safe haven in Dresden, Germany. There he heard the message from the Bible that Longfellow wrote about, “God is not dead nor does he sleep.” He learned that God sent his Son, Jesus, at Christmas. He discovered that he was so loved by God that that same Jesus came to die for him and offered him a new life – one that is eternal. He accepted that gift that God offered by His grace, believed, and is now identified as a believer in Jesus Christ. This year he sees Christmas as a believer, not as disbeliever. I saw the joy and peace in this man's face. He still lives in a world of hurt and remains submerged in difficult circumstances. He has nothing of this world's goods, but on the other hand he now has every blessing in Christ Jesus. He has a perspective that is very different from the one he once had.

     Luke records Jesus’ birth announcement made by angels saying, “I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord… ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (2:10-13). There is a message that can transform even our deepest gloom into glorious hope!

Personal Christmas Greetings 2015

Christmas Greetings from Bob and Doris Reid 2015

We trust you and your family have had a good year. It has been a good year for us and one in which we praise the Lord for many of His blessings. It is hard for us to realize that it has been four years since we left the pastoral role in a local church and settled into a role of serving on a college campus at Lancaster Bible College (LBC). Much has happened in this past year and since it has been several years since we gave you an update, we decided to do a more formal summary.

     Bob continues to serve as Pastor at Large at LBC. In this capacity he spends his time divided among students, faculty, staff, administration, pastors and churches. After serving two years as Interim Chair of the Bible and Theology Department, a new chairman was hired and much of the administrative load was removed. Following this he was asked to chair several projects to rewrite and develop several documents for the college and completed them this Fall. Now he spends his time relating to students, pastors, and churches. Additionally, he preaches almost every weekend either at churches or conferences. He was able to fill the pulpit for 8 months for New Life Bible Fellowship in Oley, PA, which was without a pastor.

                After being away from our former church for almost 2.5 years, they invited us to return and teach in Adult Bible Fellowships when our schedule permits. Doris teaches about twice a month and Bob when he is not preaching elsewhere – about every six weeks. We enjoy again connecting to a congregation we deeply love and appreciate.

     Bob also writes a newspaper article every six weeks, and has been asked to Tweet (twitter.com/Bob_Reid_In_Him) and Blog (http://reidsreflection.blogspot.com/). He also enjoys reading Facebook entries of family, friends, and ministry associates from around the world – “friend” him!

          Doris continues to be busy in numerous endeavors like: ministering to students at LBC with her gift of hospitality; serving on the board of Lancaster Child Evangelism Fellowship; officiating lacrosse; engaging in a number of other volunteer opportunities at Calvary Fellowship Homes (CFH) including serving on their Strategic Planning Committee. She likes to stay busy! Probably her greatest joy is to get a call that indicates that grandchildren need babysat! She also joins Bob in working with students from LBC in a group called Generation to Generation. This pairs students from the college to older saints from CFH.    

     We celebrated or 45^th wedding anniversary this year. We were in beautiful Dresden, Germany this November with a small team from our church serving with Jeff and Anne Ingram who are planting a new church in the area. We have enjoyed short trips here and there but like to use the time off to be with our children.  

     Our children and grandchildren are doing well. Andy and Kristine are still in upstate New York where he teaches history and English in a public school and raises steers, chickens, and a large garden. Kristine is a busy homemaker and home schools 2 of her children. This year Kathryn (13) became a teenager and now attends South Lewis Middle School where her Dad teaches. She skis, reads, and loves the outdoors. Emma (10) is home schooled and enjoys ballet, crafts, and skiing. Calvin (7) is also home schooled and loves his four-wheeler, playing outside, skiing, and wrestling sisters.

   Charlotte and Jamie continue to live in the Bucks County area of PA. Charlotte teaches English part-time at Carin University and home schools the children. Jamie is Senior Enrollment Advisor for Capture Higher Education where he works with a number of universities in the Northeast region of the US. Reid (9) loves mechanics/ and reading. Meg (8) engages in sports, reading, and social life. Lewis (4) loves everything and is full of energy.  We are so thankful for our family. We enjoy times with them and wish it could be more often.

     We would love to see you and have an open guest room for your visit. We would love to hear from you too and hear what is happening in your life!

                                                                                             
                                                                                              Email: bdreid1@verizon.net  or  breid@lbc.edu

                                                             

Post Germany Reflection at Christmas

Flying back from Germany a week ago I began reflecting, processing, and focusing upon one thing I observed in the previous days. I saw the chaos of a one million refugees flooding into a country from the Middle East and many other countries of Africa. They were fleeing war, terrorists, famine, poverty, and inhuman governments. Germany is a country one half the size of Texas and yet welcoming this vast horde. This also is a country conflicted as to how to respond as opinions were divided. Yet amazingly I observed a nation responding to the plight of the refugees rather than being paralyzed by rhetoric even as they sorted out the strong differing political opinions. I noted politicians with courage directed by conviction and not political polls. I experienced many things that the media in the USA is not reporting. I saw God working.

I observed the Christian community reaching out to the refugees. The percentage of people who claim to be Christians in Germany does not begin to compare to those who profess to be Christians in the USA. Yet those Christians were stepping out by faith and not focused upon those who may or may not be a dangerous refugee. They had chosen to be ruled not by fear and hatred but by faith and love.

A many century old statement came to mind by Thomas Aquinas, "God is so powerful that He can direct any evil to a good end." In this Christmas season I am so glad that over 2,000 years ago, God led a refugee family to Egypt to flee the murderous intention of an evil political leader (Matthew 2:13-18). The result... protection of Jesus and the fulfilment of prophecy.

I am also thankful this Christmas season that a Syrian Muslim fled the murderous intentions of political leaders and as a refugee came to Dresden, Germany, heard the Gospel, believed, and was baptized as a believer in Jesus Christ. This year he sees Christmas as a believer not as disbeliever. To see the joy and peace in this man's face while having nothing of the world's goods, but on the other hand now having every blessing in Christ Jesus, gives another perspective on the issue of refugees around the world. God not only rules, He overrules the evil intentions of Satanic forces.

In these unsettled days when the Bible honestly says that "in the last days evil men will wax worse and worse" (2 Timothy 3:13), Christians need to process events from a Divine view of history.  Present history does not determine ultimate history. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is triumphant over all false religions and world powers. He is the One who wins the battle for world domination (Revelation 19). May Christians live for the glory of God in this unsettled world walking by faith and not by sight or fear-filled rhetoric.

Looking forward by faith to the day when "peace on earth and good will toward men" will be fully realized.