Faster Than the Speed of Light

They exist all around us! Everywhere you go they are flying by, trying to find a way in. They are one of Satan’s greatest forms of attack on the Christian community. They are invisible, yet the effect they have leaves visible proof of their existence. What are they you ask? Rumors! Faster than the speed of light they leave one mouth and fly across campus, leaving chaos, hurt feelings, tattered friendship and a general mistrust in their wake.

Starting out with an ‘innocent’ observation they quickly grow into bold faced lies. One may observe two friends who happened to sit by each other somewhere on campus. With a smile, you turn to another friend, “That’s sweet, I think he may like her.” They agree. Later on, they will mention it to another friend, “John likes Jane, isn’t that sweet?” With each retelling the oblivious couple’s relationship grows proportionately. Soon, John doesn’t just like Jane; Jane likes John, as well. Then they are dating. Eventually, they will either break up in an awful fight, be engaged, or be involved in inappropriate activities. John hears about it, and carefully avoids Jane, because he likes someone else and doesn’t want to scare her off. Jane is hurt, because she did kind of like him, but wasn’t really looking for more than friendship. Before they know it a friendship is ruined all because people consider it necessary to tell what they ‘know’, whether they know it or not.

In the NKJV Bible the word gossip appears 53 times. All of them negatively! If we, as Christians are truly trying to live a Christ-centered life, and walk in his light, why do we engage so freely in something the Bible is so clearly against. In the fifteenth Psalm, the Psalmist is asking who will dwell in the house of the Lord. Then, he proceeds to tell us who will be allowed to dwell there. “2He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart 3and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, 4who despises a vile man, but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, 5who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”(NIV)

Notice how in verse three it says [he who] ‘has no slander on his tongue.’ The dictionary calls slander ‘a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report.’(1) So if we are spreading malicious, false, or defamatory reports about our fellow man, we are unworthy to dwell in the house of the Lord. By spreading these false reports we are doing wrong to our neighbors. The final phrase of the verse says ‘casts no slur on his fellowman’. Slur is defined as: “a disparaging remark or a slight”(1), or “a blot or stain, as upon reputation”(1). Every time we spread these slanderous remarks about other people we are casting slurs on them. We are staining their reputations! When we open our mouths to share the latest juicy tidbit, we are yielding to Satan’s schemes. We are allowing him to have a foothold in our lives! We are sinning against God and man.

Let us as Christians build a wall against Satan’s attacks. Stop the rumors! Stop the gossip! Let’s block up our ears and ignore all the gossip. If no one will listen to slander, and false reports, soon people will stop spreading it. Let us close our mouths tightly. As momma always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!” Who really cares who is supposedly dating whom? Who really needs to know that John likes Jane? If you hear something or are tempted to repeat something about someone, ask yourself these questions. Is this building up my fellowman? Would I repeat this if Jesus were standing right next to me? Will telling this or listening to this help me or my listeners become better people? Is this something God would approve of?

In closing, I leave you with one final verse. Psalm 19:14 says “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (NIV) As we go through our lives in this rumor-flooded world lets make this our prayer! Let’s keep our thoughts and words pleasing to God, so that we may be worthy to dwell in His house.













1.
American Psychological Association (APA):
slur. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved November 12, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slur
Chicago Manual Style (CMS):
slur. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slur (accessed: November 12, 2008).
Modern Language Association (MLA):"slur." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 12 Nov. 2008. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slur>.

The Scent of Snow

As I stepped outside for the first time that morning, I smelled it; the scent that refreshes my senses and leaves me feeling refreshed. It is a scent that you can only smell at certain times of the year. It is the scent of snow. Laughing, I turned to a friend who had stepped out with me. When I asked if they smelled it they responded that snow did not have a scent, all they smelled was rain and pollution. This sparked a discussion that lasted several days and involved many of the people on campus. The scent of snow, or the lack thereof was widely discussed at lunch tables and over homework.

What does snow smell like you ask? Some people say that is a crisp, fresh scent. Others claim that snow has a slightly metallic scent, like blood. A few people said that snow smelled like water or rain. Included in the list of adjectives were things like: dirt, refrigerated water, cold, musty, wet, and others. The most commonly used adjective was crisp and clean.

Just fewer than half the people surveyed claimed that snow had no scent at all. Some said that the atmosphere was what had the scent. Others claimed that snow neither had a scent, nor caused a scent. Still others simply laughed and said that the whole topic was crazy.
So I ask you, when you step outside the morning after the first real snow fall, what do you smell? Does snow appeal to all the senses, or simply to the eyes? Does snow have a scent? What does snow smell like to you?

Pies for the Prof.

This one is going to be different from most of the following blogs just because it's my blog and I can make it so. :) Isn't that great? My quest in this blog is what type of pie is better than the all the rest? Is there such a thing as the BEST pie ever? How many types of pie are there? Am I going to compare all of them? Certainly not, I don't have the time, nor you the patience for that. Let's just choose a few out of many.

A while back my family was having a reunion. Several of the girl cousins and our grandmother made pies. The kitchen was a mess, but it smelled wonderful! We all crowded around the counters, and rolled out our pie crusts, preparing them to bake. As we measured out just the right ingredients we talked about what kinds of pies we were going to make. My grandma and my cousin Amber decided to make cherry pies. Two other cousins wanted blueberry. Yet another wanted pecan. As for myself, I chose apple. As we began to prepare our pies. We began to discuss the merits of each pie.

Was one really better than the other? No, it was simply an issue of taste. Different pies taste better to different people. We pondered this for a minute or two and then someone asked what defined taste. What is it that makes Amber prefer cherry over apple, and myself like apple over cherry? If taste is merely a personal preference, is it possible to aquire a taste for anything we decide to like? Is taste dependant on the mind? Can we convince ourselves that an onion, an apple and a potato taste exactly the same? (They do by the way! Plug your nose and close your eyes and you won't be able to tell the difference.) What makes a cherry and an apple taste different. One cousin offered the theory that everything tastes exactly the same. We all simply decide that it tastes one way and so it does. Who is to say for sure?

After we pulled our completed pies from the oven, we each tried a bite of every pie. No matter how hard we tried to convince ourselves that they all tasted the same, it didn't work. An apple is simply an apple, no matter how many times you call it a cherry or pecan. Maybe taste is relative, but pies are a different story!

Decisions

The average person will make thousands of decisions every single day. As college students, the little decisions we make daily could effect the rest of our lives! Even the smallest decision could drastically change the rest of our lives. What kinds of decisions do we make? Let's take a look.

It's six a.m. and your alarm begins to go off, yet another day has begun. You now have three options. You can either hit the snooze; turn the alarm off; or just let it continue going until your roommate strangles you with their dirty socks. Weighing the options, you decide to turn the thing off, because the snooze is just SO annoying, and the thought of your roommates dirty socks makes you want to fast for a month.

Now you face another decision, will you get up, or will you go back to sleep? Since you are a good student, we will assume you get up. Then the decisions really begin. Which side of the bed will you get up on? Which foot will you put down first? Will you turn on the light and risk your roommate's wrath, or will you get ready in the dark? Will you take a shower or will you stink all day? As a friend, I strongly advise taking the shower; you will have many more friends if you do! What shirt will you wear? What skirt or pants will you wear? Will you iron them, or wear them in their wrinkled state? What shoes will you wear? Will you wear a belt, or not? How will you do your hair? Will you brush your teeth or scare little children with the green fumes? Once again for the sake of your social life, I recommend brushing! Will you take your school books with or you leave them in the room? Will you make your bed, or risk the random room check and $5 fine? Will you lock your door, or leave yourself and your roommate open to being pranked? Will you take the stairs or the elevator? All these decisions and it isn't even breakfast time yet.

Throughout the course of the day thousands of other decisions will come your way. You will decide whether to eat, or fast. Will you go to class, or skip? Will you go to work, or just not show up? Will you do your homework, or hang out with friends? Will you be kind to the student no one likes, or will you follow the crowd? Will you spend your money on snacks, or save it for a rainy day? Will you study in the library or in your room? Will you pay attention to the lectures, or stare off into space thinking about the cute guy/girl next to you? Will you really read the assignments, or will you just skim them? Will you be in by curfew, or try to slip in quietly. Will you stay up late and study, or go to bed? Many of these decisions will be made, without you ever consciously thinking about them. Some may impact the rest of your life, others will not make much difference at all. But the single greatest decision you will make every single day of your life is: What part will God have in your daily routine? Will He have full control? Will He be the One you base all other decisions around? Will you take time to be with Him, or will you ignore Him?

Ask your self today: Where does God fit in, in my life?