Our downstairs heat is out. There are a few benefits to this ...  #1. The electric company will hopefully get less of our money and #2. Our fireplace has been used almost every evening. There is something amazing about watching a fire in all of its stages. Fire is one of those miraculous gifts God created. I am always in awe of its beauty and power and still I am frightened by the destructive force of that latter quality. Fire is a common presence in our every day lives and maybe in this technology based world we forget it is one of the four basic substances the ancients viewed as the elements. Fire is in our daily lives from the tiniest spark of electricity, the combustion that allows our vehicles to run or even a simple fire to warm a home. Fire shapes the world though, when lava flows and at the same time it brings destruction to homes and forests. Fire, that amazing creation is what lead me to this verse. As I said, I was sitting on the couch, watching the embers glow. I was fascinated by the way a hard chunk of wood can look so alive when it becomes that glowing ember. Its colors of reds, oranges, and even blues seem to ripple across it’s surface. Then, I went back to reading a book I currently have on my Kindle. Then it struck me – fire, embers, kindle … haha! I had to go to my concordance and was led to James’ message. Fire’s detrimental nature inspired the epistle James to invoke the image of fire destroying great forests to remind us to chastise our actions and speech.

...

James 3:1-5

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

It has been years since my children have sang the little songs we hear in Sunday school, but the other day I was listening to Casting Crowns, and the song “Slow Fade” played, and at the end of the song a little girl is singing “Be Careful Little Eyes What You See”. I remember my children singing this song and I remember one verse of the song was “Oh be careful little mouths what you say, for the Father up above is looking down with love, so be careful little mouths what you say”. This was James’ message in this passage, but I wonder if James could have taken that message a step farther and written it’s antithesis as well. At the time James was writing to Jewish Christians that were scattered and who were incorporating worldly ways into their faith. They were quarrelsome and boastful. I wonder what James would say to the Christians today who say nothing about their faith. There are those people who are chastised by embarrassment, are timid, or even fear of being considered politically incorrect.

As a Christian in this day, in the year 2010, shouldn’t I consider myself a teacher? James’ warning is still true, I should be careful what I say and do – I know I am not perfect and have made MANY mistakes in my life. I try not to boast of my personal achievements or even those of my children – I am proud of them and honor their achievements, but I try not to be boastful. Being boastful would mean that I would be speaking with exaggeration and excessive pride. I acknowledge the fact that I am bias about my children, as every parent is and try to remember that the gifts that they have come from God alone. We should be careful what we say – YES! Yet, at the same time Christians today should not chastise ourselves to the point that we say nothing at all. We should be spreading the word of our salvation through Jesus Christ and by the grace of our Lord God.

Yes, I could do great damage with my tongue, but instead I hope to use my words to spread the embers of my faith – to send them out to kindle belief in others, and in return fan the flames of my own faith. This blog has become my place to voice my opinion and to speak easily about my faith and many other things. I share my life here. I write to share my thoughts, dreams, realizations as I go through this phase of self-revelation and self-acceptance. I know not all who read this are Christians. I even know that some of you do not believe in my God at all. I will not lie to you and tell you that I do not hope you will see the light that believing has brought into my life. I hope you see my God’s effect on me. I even pray that you will find and feel that internal peace and joy as well. Do I want to beat you over the head with it? No, absolutely not, but you know that I write what is on my mind and heart. This is what I was led to write today. I am not afraid and I will not fade away or hide my faith.