"Weapon Of Mass Destruction (Wmd)"

13 September 2009

U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris

504th Compound’s Multi-Purpose Facility

C.O. B. Adder

Tallill, Iraq

BIG IDEA: There is a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and a disciplined tongue; and spiritual immaturity and an undisciplined tongue (or a Christian who talks too much).

REFERENCES: Proverbs 15:1 (ESV) A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger; Psalm 140:3 (ESV) They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of asps; Proverbs 16:27 (ESV) A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire; James 3:1-10 (ESV); Proverbs 1:20-33 (ESV) – Wisdom Calling Out; Psalm 19 (ESV) – The Law of the Lord is Perfect; James 3:1-12 (MSG) – When You Open Your Mouth; Mark 8:27-38 (ESV) One moment Peter utter words of life, then moments later he utter words of death; Proverbs 12:18 (MSG) Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise; Matthew 7:1-5 (Judging Others);

I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: James 3:1-10 (ESV)

II. READ THE PERICOPE: James 3:1-10 (ESV)

III. READ THE TEXT: James 3:5-6 (MSG) It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to affirm to others that mature Christians can be identified by their speech.

V. SERMONIC THEME: “Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD)”

VI. INTRODUCTION: Words of powerful. The Good Book tells us that Words have the power to give life or destroy life. As a result, Christians should be careful of what they say.

Many of you are already aware – while some of you are learning – that I’m a firm believer in Words of Affirmation; or should I say, I believe in saying positive things to encourage and build others up - rather than negative things which bring people down.

It’s my presupposition that Words of Affirmation is extremely important especially since we have so many negatives surrounding us (at work, home, church, and on deployments).

As a result, I believe that we need to intentionally do what we can while convincing others to join us in altering the negative influence in our lives – and in the lives of our fellow Soldiers/Officers.

If each of us were to say at least three encouraging words or phrases to three different Soldiers/Officers, daily, we would change our environment and alter the impact that harsh words have had on others and change their lives.

******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******

MOVE 1: Benjamin Franklin – one of our Founding Fathers - was once quoted as saying, “A Slip of the foot, you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue – one may never get over”.

a. Who can ever forget the fact that the phrase, “lose lips sink ships” was popularized during World War II?

b. Likewise, my brothers and sisters, we are now 45 days - and a wake-up - away from TOA (Transfer of Authority);

c. and as the spiritual leader of this brigade, I can tell you that Sharp Rhetoric, Harsh Words, and violation of confidentiality are all at an all times high.

d. I contend that there is a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and a disciplined tongue; and spiritual immaturity and an undisciplined tongue (or a Christian who talks too much).

******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******

MOVE 2: David in Psalm 140:1-5 (MSG) said: “God, get me out of here, away from this evil; protect me from these vicious people.

a. All they do is think up new ways to be bad; they spend their days plotting war games. They practice the sharp rhetoric of hate and hurt, speak venomous words that maim and kill.

b. God, keep me out of the clutch of these wicked ones, protect me from these vicious people; Stuffed with self-importance, they plot ways to trip me up, determined to bring me down.

c. These crooks invent traps to catch me and do their best to incriminate me.”

d. Weapon of Mass Destruction.

******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******

MOVE 3: This past Thursday, in a presentation dubbed “eight years later,” we commemorated the events of Tuesday, September 11, 2001 ….

a. … by reminding everyone (in attendance in the TAC and HHC, 504th Orderly Room) why we are here in Iraq.

b. For don’t you remember, former President Bush uttered on National Television that we – Americans – would never forget?

c. In fact, he pledged that “We would hunt down the cowards that were responsible for our nation’s trauma.