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Tag: integrity

Votes in the ensuing election . . .

October 25, 2016 /

John Wesley

Dear Friends,

In light of our being in the closing days of the presidential campaign I want to share with you words of wisdom penned before our country was even birthed. May they challenge us to be people of integrity in all we say and do in these days ahead.

From the journal of the Rev. John Wesley

Thursday, October 6, 1774

“I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election and advised them,

  1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy:
  2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against: And,
  3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.”

 

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

 

Source:

This quote has been making the rounds of the internet lately. I did look it up to verify its authenticity from the writings of John Wesley.

Wesley, John. “An Extract of the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s Journal from September 13, 1773, to January 2, 1776.” The Works of John Wesley, 3rd ed., vol. 4, Baker Books, 2007, p. 29.

Wikileaks has your files

October 11, 2016 /

microphones

Dear Friends,

I have been pondering something the last few days. What if, to your horror, you discovered someone had successfully recorded everything you said in the past week and, to make matters worse, those audio files were now in the hands of Wikileaks? Ten years from now would you be able to run for political office without fear of the recordings being played on the evening news? What if you were going through a divorce? Would you be terrified your spouse’s lawyer would find out about their existence? What if an employee was suing you, or a co-worker, or neighbor? Would you hope these files were deemed inadmissible to the court? What if you were dead and your children wanted to find something that would remind them of the person you were? Would you want them to listen to these files?

If the thought of anyone having a recording of the words said in the week strikes cataclysmic terror to your soul, why? What do you need to change this week about the things you think about and say so you never have to worry about anyone listening to the files?

Paul says in Ephesians 4:29, ” Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Would our talk be consistent with the sage advice of Paul? Are we building people up or tearing them down? Decades from now will our words be a solid foundation on which we have built our life or will it be a foundation of clay that crumbles underneath us?

Blessings,
Pastor Stephen

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