Have you ever been surprised by what comes out of your mouth or what comes out of the mouth of others? It seems we all make the mistake of talking before we think. The question is why? Why do people embrace themselves, and for that fact, why do we embrace ourselves by speaking things that are not factual or down right lies?

In our fast paced culture, there are so many voices literally screaming for our attention and trying to get us to believe and follow their advice. The problem is, how do we know which one is right? And are they right all the time? Take binoculars for instance. These devises are great and important when trying to see details from far away, but they are terrible if you’re trying to take a splinter out of your hand!

I recently read a great article on “Medical Myths“.  It profiled health practitioners advocating certain remedies for particular illnesses.  However, as opposed to providing answers or pointing to to potential cures, they concentrated on “masking” the symptoms.

You may be wondering why a bible teacher would be reading a medical article journal article, but it’s really simple.  In life there are so many parallels.  Both natural and spiritual.  Often you can find something in one area that correlates to another, and that discovery opens up our understanding about life and the answers we seek.

Have you ever noticed how we seem as a culture to have no brakes on our mouths?

Not too many years ago, we debated issues and ideas. Now we slam anyone’s character when they don’t agree with everything we think is important. Instead of addressing the idea or topic, we think the only way to win an argument is to make the person we are talking about appear small or insignificant.

One of the few things children are not taught is how to be humble enough to ask for help regularly. If you were encouraged to ask, you were a fortunate child. As adults, we assume kids will figure out they need others in their lives to learn and navigate this life. Too often, kids experience criticism in their quest to learn and end up being afraid of showing any kind of weakness with regards to their intelligence or skills.

All to often, when kids become adults, they carry this baggage of insecurity in their souls, which cheats them of a rich life with others. With all the electronic devices we use, we have become so unaccustomed to asking for help from another human being, and instead, refer to the internet to solve our ignorance or lack of inexperience. Now the internet is a great tool, like all the YouTube tutorials, but t’s so sad that we are becoming more insecure rather than well-balanced as human beings because of using it. Texting, emails and the like are convenient, but have a cost of isolation and further awkwardness in interacting with others.

Billy Graham’s body is being laid to rest here in Charlotte, North Carolina today.

Few ministers have impressed me like Billy Graham. Though he was a man who was not perfect, he reflected a key value which I wish many other ministers did: Humility!