"Well, she said that ..."
"I heard he..."
"Really? What did she do about it?"
"I heard he..."
"Really? What did she do about it?"
We have all been in a conversation where words like these have peaked our interest and stirred our desire to know more.
Today, I am going to touch on an area where all of us have a problem and I like to refer to this area as the 'Danger Zone'. We have probably all seen the movie "Top Gun" that was so popular in 1986. What? You don't remember that movie? Well, maybe this will jog your memory: It is the movie where actors Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer fly fighter jets and look really good doing it! Oh?! Now you remember. I thought so!
Anyhow, that movie helped shoot the song performed by Kenny Loggins, to the #2 spot on the music charts after debuting at #85!! The song stayed in the top 10 for four weeks and in the top 40 for 9 weeks!! The song ends with the lyrics, "Out along the edges always where I burn to be the further on the edge the hotter the intensity highway to the Danger Zone gonna take you right into the Danger Zone, Highway to the Danger Zone"
Okay, okay, I am full aware they are technically referring to the excitement of big engines and pushing them to the edge. The song was perfect for this particular movie about fighter pilots, although a quick trip through research shows that the song was originally written about a car, a corvette, if I'm not mistaken!~ However, I want to go out on the edge and use it as an analogy for my topic today...
Let's take the phrase 'out along the edges always where I burn to be the further on the edge the hotter the intensity'. This is exactly where gossip gets us. Bear with me, I will make my point and bring this together, I promise.
Gossip, or as I refer to it, the Danger Zone of our conversations, does not always start full-fledged in gossip. It starts with subtle phrases like I mentioned above, "Well, she said that ..." and "I heard he..." or "Really? What did she do?" This is where I compare gossip to the phrase 'out along the edges always where I burn to be', because we all have our desires to know just a little bit about the person being discussed. So, what do we do? Even though we know it is wrong we make a conscious decision to just get a little more information, just put our toes in - so to speak. Telling ourselves that we can stop this 'pushing to the edge' before it turns into all-out gossip.
Then, we hit the second part of the analogy 'the further on the edge the hotter the intensity'. Well, if you are following my train of thought at this point, you know that as we push the edge, the more we share the more we want to hear. Then comes the 'hotter the intensity' part. We are at a point where both of our feet are full in the fire of gossip. Uh oh, how did that happen? I told myself I could stop this before it turned into all out gossip, yet, here it is already at all out gossip.
Okay, if you don't have and never had the problem or temptation of gossip, God bless you. You are one of the very rare ones. But, for the rest of us 'normal' carnal-born sinners, we have a problem with it. I will tell you the truth my friend, one of the biggest places we have this problem is in our churches. So, how do we solve this problem? How do we help ourselves?
The answer is obvious and right in front of us, but, just like many things in this day and age, we just don't always see it. The answer is simple. So, my personal feeling is that we need to individually take the simple answer and apply it to our lives. Here it is right from scripture:
Leviticus 19:16 (NIV) " Do not go about spreading slander among your people."
Psalm 15:1-3 (NIV) "LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman."
Proverbs 26:20 (The Message) "Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."
Let us take a few moments and really soak in those scriptures...
My father is retired from the ministry and leads the men's ministry at the church where my husband and I go. My father is one of very few men in my life that I trust whole-hearted as a sincere man after God's own heart. He seeks God in everything he does and wins people to the Lord with a caring heart, no matter where he is. But, most of all, he is a man who does not speak of other people and whose walk is seeking to be blameless and righteous and he speaks the truth from his heart.
I mention him because recently he said something that hit me right in my soul and has changed the way I read the scriptures. He said, and I quote, "people are too inhibited when they read the scriptures."
So, let's read those verses again and let's truly let the words soak into our souls and into our lives and let the living, breathing Word of God do the changing in our lives. We can do all things - but only WITH CHRIST!! Never on our own. And what better place to learn than God's own Word!
Scripture Verses for today:Today, I am going to touch on an area where all of us have a problem and I like to refer to this area as the 'Danger Zone'. We have probably all seen the movie "Top Gun" that was so popular in 1986. What? You don't remember that movie? Well, maybe this will jog your memory: It is the movie where actors Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer fly fighter jets and look really good doing it! Oh?! Now you remember. I thought so!
Anyhow, that movie helped shoot the song performed by Kenny Loggins, to the #2 spot on the music charts after debuting at #85!! The song stayed in the top 10 for four weeks and in the top 40 for 9 weeks!! The song ends with the lyrics, "Out along the edges always where I burn to be the further on the edge the hotter the intensity highway to the Danger Zone gonna take you right into the Danger Zone, Highway to the Danger Zone"
Okay, okay, I am full aware they are technically referring to the excitement of big engines and pushing them to the edge. The song was perfect for this particular movie about fighter pilots, although a quick trip through research shows that the song was originally written about a car, a corvette, if I'm not mistaken!~ However, I want to go out on the edge and use it as an analogy for my topic today...
Let's take the phrase 'out along the edges always where I burn to be the further on the edge the hotter the intensity'. This is exactly where gossip gets us. Bear with me, I will make my point and bring this together, I promise.
Gossip, or as I refer to it, the Danger Zone of our conversations, does not always start full-fledged in gossip. It starts with subtle phrases like I mentioned above, "Well, she said that ..." and "I heard he..." or "Really? What did she do?" This is where I compare gossip to the phrase 'out along the edges always where I burn to be', because we all have our desires to know just a little bit about the person being discussed. So, what do we do? Even though we know it is wrong we make a conscious decision to just get a little more information, just put our toes in - so to speak. Telling ourselves that we can stop this 'pushing to the edge' before it turns into all-out gossip.
Then, we hit the second part of the analogy 'the further on the edge the hotter the intensity'. Well, if you are following my train of thought at this point, you know that as we push the edge, the more we share the more we want to hear. Then comes the 'hotter the intensity' part. We are at a point where both of our feet are full in the fire of gossip. Uh oh, how did that happen? I told myself I could stop this before it turned into all out gossip, yet, here it is already at all out gossip.
Okay, if you don't have and never had the problem or temptation of gossip, God bless you. You are one of the very rare ones. But, for the rest of us 'normal' carnal-born sinners, we have a problem with it. I will tell you the truth my friend, one of the biggest places we have this problem is in our churches. So, how do we solve this problem? How do we help ourselves?
The answer is obvious and right in front of us, but, just like many things in this day and age, we just don't always see it. The answer is simple. So, my personal feeling is that we need to individually take the simple answer and apply it to our lives. Here it is right from scripture:
Leviticus 19:16 (NIV) " Do not go about spreading slander among your people."
Psalm 15:1-3 (NIV) "LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman."
Proverbs 26:20 (The Message) "Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."
Let us take a few moments and really soak in those scriptures...
My father is retired from the ministry and leads the men's ministry at the church where my husband and I go. My father is one of very few men in my life that I trust whole-hearted as a sincere man after God's own heart. He seeks God in everything he does and wins people to the Lord with a caring heart, no matter where he is. But, most of all, he is a man who does not speak of other people and whose walk is seeking to be blameless and righteous and he speaks the truth from his heart.
I mention him because recently he said something that hit me right in my soul and has changed the way I read the scriptures. He said, and I quote, "people are too inhibited when they read the scriptures."
So, let's read those verses again and let's truly let the words soak into our souls and into our lives and let the living, breathing Word of God do the changing in our lives. We can do all things - but only WITH CHRIST!! Never on our own. And what better place to learn than God's own Word!
Leviticus 19:16 (NIV)
"Do not go about spreading slander among your people."
Psalm 15:1-3 (NIV)
"LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman."
Proverbs 26:20 (The Message)
"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."
Thought for today:
If we are truly seeking to be godly men and women...
Why even play with the edge of gossip?
Song for today:
I know full-well that this song is from the 80s and does not fit into the Christian
music realm, but, it was definitely where I got my inspiration for today's topic.
"Danger Zone"
Performed & Written by Kenny Loggins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPYF2p-cGx8
This is the song that will help us remember
to seek after God's will for our lives and not our own
"More Like You"
Performed by Clay Crosse
Sorry- no youtube video available at this time!
However, this link is where you can read the lyrics and play the song:
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/clay-crosse-more-like-you-lyrics.html
"Do not go about spreading slander among your people."
Psalm 15:1-3 (NIV)
"LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman."
Proverbs 26:20 (The Message)
"Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."
Thought for today:
If we are truly seeking to be godly men and women...
Why even play with the edge of gossip?
Song for today:
I know full-well that this song is from the 80s and does not fit into the Christian
music realm, but, it was definitely where I got my inspiration for today's topic.
"Danger Zone"
Performed & Written by Kenny Loggins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPYF2p-cGx8
This is the song that will help us remember
to seek after God's will for our lives and not our own
"More Like You"
Performed by Clay Crosse
Sorry- no youtube video available at this time!
However, this link is where you can read the lyrics and play the song:
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/clay-crosse-more-like-you-lyrics.html
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