Gossip and the Gospel

I highly recommend Gossip and the Gospel and am delighted to share it with you. 

In keeping with his generous nature, author Timothy Williams offers Gossip and the Gospel completely free of charge.

Find out more here.

Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

Gossip has always been a problem but, in today's internet age, it's even easier for one person - or a small group of individuals - to "stir up dissension" by spreading false accusations, rumors, lies, and slander. People are all too ready to believe anything they hear or read, and are quick to make judgments, without knowing the whole story or knowing all the facts. It happens to celebrities, it happens to politicians, it happens in business, and - sadly - it even happens in church.

But the Bible is clear that gossip is a sin. It is never good, no matter how much it is dressed up to sound noble. It doesn't matter who is saying it or writing it, or how plausible it may sound. Gossip serves no useful or constructive purpose. Its only result is damage and destruction.

The kind of accusations that come from gossip are like smoke - they appear large and thick and overwhelming, and they are certainly dangerous - but they are totally insubstantial. There is no point fighting against every specific piece of smoke, because there's nothing solid to fight against. If some smoke is dispersed, more just comes to take its place. The real problem is the source of the smoke, the fire of gossip.

Proverbs 26:20 Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.

Every time someone blindly accepts gossip, or spreads it, or doesn't stand against it, or even listens to it, more wood is added to the fire. There's only one way to deal with gossip, and that is to fully reject it according to the commands of God.

Again, I cannot recommend Gossip and the Gospel enough. You'll be glad that you took the time to read it!

Download the free eBook, available here.

The Beaverton Court Case & the Moon

From far away a full moon often appears flawless, and one can become easily distracted gazing at its beauty on a clear night. Up close, however, crashing craters and barrenness mark its true form.

The Beaverton court case is like the moon. 

You see, God uses it to divert all the false Christians away from the true church.

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'  (Matthew 7:22-23)

Looking forward to the new city where true Christians will spend eternity praising God – where the moon is no longer needed because of His radiant glory!

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  (Revelation 21:23)

Let the Lord be praised!

Justice

We all know that some reputable judges preside from the bench, but unfortunately those who refuse to maintain justice outweigh those who truly deserve our respect.

As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.  (Ecclesiastes 10:1)

More than one attorney has shared with me that, while in chambers, judges (yes, plural) admitted that although they knew their rulings were unfair, they simply didn’t care. 

These judges actually expressed, “I’m ruling this way because this is my court room, and I can.”

I thought judges are called to serve the people – not themselves – to maintain justice and do what’s right. 

This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right (Isaiah 56:1a)

Sadly, power and arrogance continue to corrupt in some cases, and we find our courts anything but just!

Indeed, it seems that some judges care not to do what is right, but prefer to jump on a witch-hunt band wagon – as in the Beaverton Grace Bible Church case where Judge Jim Fun ruled in favor of the slanderer.

Only those up to evil slander could rejoice in a judge that re-affirms the Salem Witch Trials that founded America!

Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it fully.   (Proverbs 28:5)

Judge Creates War

Just as in the days of old when the judicial system gave us slavery and brought on the civil war, Judge Jim Fun in Beaverton, Oregon has created a war – brother against brother – instead of upholding the law of peace.

For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.  He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.   (1 Peter 3:10-11)

It’s a sad day when a judge justifies, indeed encourages, slander. In fact, Judge Fun has done more than that – he’s authorized it.

In his ruling dismissing Grace Bible Church’s lawsuit against former parishioner Julie Anne Smith for defamation, Judge Fun actually authorized her to slander:

“(Pastor Chuck O’Neal) has the right to govern his congregation in the manner in which he chooses, and defendant Julie Anne Smith is authorized by law to express her disagreement with his performance of those activities.”

Never mind that this woman reportedly harassed this pastor, his family and his church for three years. Never mind that she labeled them a “cult” simply because she claimed they were a legalistic church.

Could it be that Ms. Smith simply chose not to live Scripture out in her daily life and therefore be transformed? After all, the only thing that counts is a new creation (Galatians 6:15).

Ms. Smith declared that she felt shunned by current church members. Could it be that those members wished not to associate with someone who publicly slandered them? Perhaps these believers decided to obey the Bible.

But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.   (1 Corinthians 5:11)

It seems to me that Ms. Smith joined and left the church on her own free will. That doesn’t sound like a cult to me. It sounds more like a witch-hunt at the hands and mouth of a former member – and now a judge.

Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. (Amos 5:15a)