Tired of constantly being broke, and stuck in an unhappy marriage, a young husband decided to solve both problems by taking out a large insurance policy on his wife (with himself as the beneficiary), and having her killed.
A "friend of a friend" put him in touch with a nefarious underworld figure, who went by the name of "Artie". Artie explained to the husband that his going price for snuffing out a spouse was $5,000. The husband said he was willing to pay that amount, but that he wouldn't have any cash on hand until he could collect his wife's insurance money. Artie insisted on being paid SOMETHING up front. The man opened up his wallet, displaying the single dollar bill that rested inside. Artie sighed, rolled his eyes, and reluctantly agreed to accept the dollar as down payment for the dirty deed.
A few days later, Artie followed the man's wife to the local Kroger grocery store. There, he surprised her in the produce department, and proceeded to strangle her with his gloved hands. As the poor unsuspecting woman drew her last breath, and slumped to the floor, the manager of the produce department stumbled unexpectedly onto the scene. Unwilling to leave any witnesses behind, Artie had no choice but to strangle the produce manager as well.
Unknown to Artie, the entire proceedings were captured by hidden cameras and observed by the store's security guard, who immediately called the police. Artie was caught and arrested before he could leave the store.
Under intense questioning at the police station, Artie revealed the sordid plan, including his financial arrangements with the hapless husband. And that is why, next day in the newspaper, the headline declared:
CLEARLY FROM SCRIPTURE WE SEE THAT THIS MEMBER IS A MEMBER THAT WE ALL POSESS. THE MEMBER IS THE TOUNGUE! IT HAS THE POWER TO START GREAT FIRES. INTERESTING THING ABOUT FIRE… FEW THINGS LEAVE UGLIER SCARS THAN FIRE DOES.
MUCH HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT THE TV AND IT'S DEVESTATING EFFECTS ON OUR LIVES, BUT OUR CHURCHES, BUT I WONDER HAS THE THE TV EVER HURT US LIKE THE TELEPHONE HAS? (I MIGHT SAY TO ANY PREACHER'S LISTENING, WE MIGHT NEED TO GET RID OF CAMP MEETING, IT SEEMS TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR TEARING UP A FEW CHURCHES AS WELL…)
I am more deadly than the screaming shell of the cannon. I win without killing. I tear down homes, break hearts, wreck lives. I travel on the wings of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me, no purity pure enough to daunt me. I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless. My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea and often as innocent. I never forget and seldom forgive. My name is Gossip.
--- Morgan Blake, sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal.
Raise your hand if you have ever been hurt? Raise your hand if you have ever been wronged? Raise your hand if you have ever told someone about being hurt or being wronged…
– so is sharing being wronged wrong? You say Bro. Mays that's bearing one anothers' burden.. that's fulfilling the law of Christ. You are Right.
-- Yet tonight on the authority of the word of God we've got to learn that at times we need to Bear our own Burden.
Let me make some sense of this… and illustrate the way we do this: Have you ever had a bad day or just been going through a bunch of Trials and someone said something to you and it really upset you. What they said may have thoughtless, it may have been Roud, but later on you got over it, and when you were in a better state of mind what they said really didn't bother you as much? I've had that experience… so have you… but sometimes while we are still not over it we share that Hurt as we precieved it and Long after we are over the Hurt those who we've shared it with are still Bitter and mad at those who hurt us.
Before you ever bear a burden to another, Bear it to Christ. Think about the Lord's names in Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
JOSEPH SCRIVEN WAS DUE TO GET MARRIED IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 1800'S. MR. SCRIVEN HAD WEALTH, EDUCATION, A DEVOTED MOM AND DAD AND A PLEASANT LIFE. BUT SOMETHING VERY SAD HAPPENED.. THE NIGHT BEFORE HE WAS TO BE MARRIED HI FIANCEE DROWNED. WISELY, HE REALIZED THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD HELP HIM WITH HIS SORROWS WAS HIS DEAREST FRIEND, JESUS. SCRIVEN LEFT IRELAND FOR PORT HOPE, CANADA, DETERMINED TO SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE BEING A FRIEND AND HELPING OTHERS. HE GAVE AWAY CLOTHING AND POSSESSIONS, AND EVEN WORKED WITHOUT PAY TO HELP OTHERS. WHEN HIS MOTHER BECAME ILL HE WROTE A COMFORTING LETTER TO HER WITH THESE WORDS:
HIS MOTHER FRAMED THE POEM AND AFTER SHE DIED HE PLACED IT BESIDE HIS BED… ON HIS DEATH BED A FRIEND SAW THE POEM AND ASKED WHO WROTE IT.. HE TOLD HOW HE WROTE IT WHEN HE LOST HIS FIANCEE. THE FRIEND PUT THE POEM TO SONG AND WE'VE SUNG IT HERE NO TELLING HOW MANY TIMES.
IS YOUR BURDEN GREATER THAN THIS MAN'S? I SAY HE TURNED THIS BURDEN OVER TO THE LORD AND GOD MADE A GREAT MAN OUT OF HIM. BUT HOW MANY HAVE THE SAME BURDEN AND GET BITTER AND HATE GOD?
When an immigrant comes to America, before he can become a citizen he must renounce all his commitments and allegiance to his former homeland and pledge 100 percent allegiance to America. Then and only then will the U.S. Government grant him citizenship. That's the way it is with Jesus. When you accept Christ as Lord and Savior, you renounce Satan completely. You can't "split time" by serving Satan part-time and Christ part-time. WHY DO YOU THINK OUR GOVERNMENT HAS CHOOSEN TO DO THIS? SIMPLY BECAUSE YOUR TOUNGUE WILL TELL WETHER YOU HAVE TRULY COME CLEAN AND WHERE YOU ALLEGIANCE IS!
SOMETIME, I'LL HEAR ABOUT A BUNCH OF FOLK GETTING SAVED, AND THEN SOMEONE WILL SAY, OH, THEY WERE JUST REPEATING WORDS, THEY DIDN'T MEAN IT… THAT MAY BE THE CASE SOMETIME, BUT REMEMBER THESE VERSES!!!!
I BELIEVE THE TONGUE TELLS A LOT MORE THAN WE'D LIKE TO ADMIT… THE TEXT SAYS IT'S SET ON FIRE BY HELL! THE DEVIL WILL TRY AND RUIN THIS CHURCH WITH SOMEONE'S TOUNUE! I HOPE IT WON'T BE YOUR'S!
The story is told of three pastors who went fishing together in the northern wilderness of Canada. While they were there they became quite cordial with one another and began to talk about their innermost thoughts. One confessed that he had been guilty of certain sins. He named them, then he urged the other two to confess their weaknesses. The second pastor confessed that he too, had certain weaknesses and recounted them in detail. The third pastor remained silent for a long time. Finally when pressed by his fellow PREACHERS to reveal his weaknesses, he said, "Brethren, I don't think you want to know my weaknesses, but since you insist, I am going to tell you. I just love to gossip, and I can hardly wait to get home."
One preacher recently spoke to this subject. He suggests that we should ask five questions before listening to a carrier of an evil report:
Widening the circle of gossip only compounds the problem. Proverbs 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Refusal to identify the source of information is a sure sign of an evil report.
Spirituality is not measured by how well we expose an offender but by how effectively we restore an offender (Gal. 6:1). Satan will sift you like wheat.
Even facts become distorted when not balanced with other facts or when given with negative motives.
The first occasion was in 1887, twenty-two long years after his assassination. Why? You may be surprised to know it was not to determine if he had died of a bullet fired from John Wilkes Booth's derringer. Then why? Because a rumor was sweeping the country that his coffin was empty. A select group of witnesses observed that the rumor was totally false, then watched as the casket was resealed with lead.
The second time, fourteen years later, the martyred man's withered body was viewed again -- this time by even more witnesses. Why again? For the same grim purpose! Rumors of the same nature had again implanted doubts in the public's mind. The pressure mounted to such proportions, that the same ghoulish, grotesque ceremony had to be carried out. In spite of the strong protests of Lincoln's son Robert, the body was exposed a second time. Officials felt the rumors should be laid to rest along with the Civil War president. Finally -- the corpse was permanently embedded in a crypt at Springfield.
ASK THIS QUESTION AND YOU'LL FIND OUT A LOT ABOUT MOTIVE…
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU TELL OTHERS….