Scripture

But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.

~James 3:8, LSB

Quote

Although it weights only two ounces, the tongue has disproportionate power to determine human destiny.

~Kent Hughes

Some of my readers will remember the name Paul Harvey. He was one of the few bright spots in the media world and he had a gift at making any story interesting. This is one of his old stories. In 1899, four journalist accidentally bumped into one another at the Denver, Colorado train station. There names were: Al Stevens, Jack Tourney, John Lewis and Hal Wilshire and they all worked for Denver papers. Hard to believe now, but Denver had four major news papers: The Post, the Republican, the Times and the Rocky Mountain News. It was a Saturday evening and they were all looking for a scoop for the Sunday edition. They gathered at the train station hoping some celebrity would arrive and they could get a story out of them but that didn’t happen and so the four reporters went together to a near by bar where they liquored themselves up and discussed their woes. In their desperation, they decided to create a story. Hum, does this sound familiar? As they laughed and talked the subject of the Great Wall In China came up. None of them took it serious to begin with but the more they talked, the more interested they became in the Great Wall of China. So they fabricated a story about the Chinese tearing down the Great Wall to invite western trade. The next day all four Denver papers went with this fabricated story and it hit the wires and went east like a wild fire. Eventually it got to China who interpreted it to be western sabotage and this resulted in the BOXER REBELLION. Hundreds of missionaries where murdered by the Chinese and thousand detained. This lead to twelve thousand troops and six countries going into China to get their people out safely. It all began with an innocent lie, or so they thought. The lie which was intended to be prank turned into a tragedy.

Read James chapter 3 in the Passion Bible or if you can’t find it, read the JB Philips paraphrase. The tongue is one of the smaller parts of the body weighing only two ounces but it is a deadly evil full of toxic poison. It is like a tiny match that starts a forrest fire. Once the wind hits that initial flame, the fire spreads rapidly and it gets bigger and bigger as he moves across the landscape. If you can read James three in one of the modern translations and not get convicted, you are a much better person than I am. In defense of the four journalist, I don’t think there was any malicious intent but that did not stop the bloodshed. We do know people who use the tongue as a weapon. They use the power of a lie to slander and injure others. I don’t listen to any political ads. Democrats get free ads because the media slanders all conservatives.  I hate slander. I have seen it destroy lives and ministries. I want no part of it but it is a tool in the unbelieving world. I am reading Eric Metaxes book on Diet Bonhoeffer and he tells how the Nazi Party took over Germany. The parallels between what the Nazis did and what the democrats are doing right now are appalling. Let me run his list by you quickly:

1. They controlled the media narrative
2. They staged and used events to instill fear in the people
3. They demonized all opponents
4. They created a racial divide {Aryan Paragraph}
5. They canceled Radio broadcast from the opposition
6. Once in control they moved rapidly

{Letter To The American Church, p.39}

Extra

Sorry about the late start. I am one of the pallbearers at Juniors COLS and so I had to leave early. I have about three hours before going back. May not have time today but I think I will do a series of Junior stories in the extra. My way of remembering Junior. Junior was an anointed man with a gentle and patient spirit. I never saw him be unkind to anyone or even but upset with anyone. In the old days, Junior stayed at our home and ate at our table. I have a lot of stories about Junior. He was with us in REVIVAL the week before Hannah was born. When June went into labor, she was talking out of her head and she kept, “Tell Junior there are plenty of tomatoes in the crisper.” We are going to miss Junior.

June tells me we have some severe weather coming next week. I think they are getting it out west today. I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.