Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Rudder Wisdom

"Look also at ships:
although they are so large
and are driven by fierce winds,
they are turned by a very small rudder
wherever the pilot desires."
(James 3:4)

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin comments: Over the past decade, whenever I have lectured throughout the country on the powerful, and often negative, impact of words, I have asked audiences if they can go for twenty-four hours without saying any unkind words about, or to, anybody. Invariably, a minority of listeners raise their hands signifying yes, some laugh, and quite a large number call out, no! I respond by saying, "Those who can't answer yes must recognize that you have a serious problem. If you cannot go for twenty-four hours without smoking, you are addicted to nicotine. If you cannot go twenty-four hours without a drink, you're most likely an alcoholic. Similarly, if you cannot go for twenty-four hours without saying unkind words about others, then you have lost control over your tongue."


“He who guards his lips guards his life,
but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.”

(Proverbs 13:3 NIV)


"A turtle lays thousands of eggs without anyone knowing,
but when the hen lays an egg, the whole country is informed."
Malayan proverb


"I have never been hurt by anything I didn't say."
Calvin Coolidge


“He who answers a matter before he hears it,
It is folly and shame to him.”

(Proverbs 18:13)

"It would be better to leave people wondering why you didn't talk
than why you did.
When all is said and done,
there's a lot more said than done."

Author Unknown

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool
than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
Abraham Lincoln

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am really excited to see the link on this blog site to Answers in Genesis. (See 'Links' at the top right.) Everyone should visit this website of a wonderful ministry that defends the authority of the Bible from the very first verse and scientifically refutes evolution and the billions of years of history taught by "modern science" (contrary to the Biblical view of history presented in Genesis 1-11). They are also building a state-of-the-art Creation Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio in northern Kentucky.

Did you know that AIG has fantastic traveling speakers and can bring a weekend seminar to our church for (sometimes) as little as a love offering? They also have a colorful quarterly magazine that can equip us and our children to refute the false (yet foundational to every area of thinking) evolutionary view of history and science that they are recieving in the public schools and in the culture at large. Check AIG out!

Anonymous said...

I think it's just not speaking to or about other people with negativity but ourselves as well. For me I think the world of other people, even the ones that have hurt me I tend to think they are higher than me. The problem lies in what I think or say to myself. I can definitely go 24 hours without saying something negative about or to someone else but about or to myself? Now that's hard for me. It's a matter of choices though, as Pastor John taught last night when a negative thought comes in we have to bring it to the Lord and say to the enemy, "no I can't and will not go there" and then turn the wheel of will from our thoughts to the Lord's character.