Ecclesiastes 12:10

    Abraham Lincoln once observed, “ If you approach a man and mark him as one to be shunned and despised… he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and heart .”  Once we make someone defensive, it closes our ability to have a productive conversation.  But it also works on us as well.  Often, when presented with something that hits a little too close to home, we get defensive. And in doing so, we miss out on the chance to grow and learn. If people often accuse us of not listening to them, it might just be that our defensiveness has us unable to hear them. So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? Galatians 4:16   Real honesty isn’t just in what you say but also in really listening to those who might be trying to help you.  It might not be flattering, but it might be productive.   The key to better conversation might be taking the defensiveness out of your ears.  

   Vesta Stoudt was working as a factory worker during World War Two packing ammunition boxes. She knew that there was a problem.   The ammunition boxes were difficult to open. Now in a firefight, you don’t want to struggle to open the box, but you also don’t want a box that lets live ammo spill out in transport.  So she came up with a solution. She told her bosses. They shot her down without much consideration. She tried again. No result. So, she took it up the chain of command. Way, way up the chain of command.  On February 10, 1943, she wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the problem and offering a solution. Luckily for us he listened.   Because her idea didn’t just help win the war, it became one of the most useful things in the world. Her idea was a strong cloth tape with an adhesive to close the seams. The idea would become duct tape, quite possibly the most useful ‘fix it all’ in the world.   Proverbs 19:20 sa...

  A man comes into a doctor's office and frantically asks the doctor, “Do you have a cure for hiccups?” The doctor stands up and slaps the man right across his face. The stunned man says, “Why did you do that?”. The doctor smirks and responds, “Well, do you still have the hiccups?” The confused man replies “I never did, it’s my wife who has them, she is out in the car”   Proverbs 18:13 tells us, “ He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him .” I’m afraid too many of us are like that doctor and are quick to dole out solutions before we really know what the problem is. So many problems and people in our world are more complex than we realize at a cursory glance. If we are quick to judge and quick to speak, we might also be quick to harm.   Before we make a fool out of ourselves, it might be better to listen and think before we react. It may save more face than our own. 

   I wonder at times if I developed reverse speaking in tongues.  Instead of the ability to speak and the person hear me in their native language, it seems when I speak to a person it is as if I am just speaking gibberish.   Ok, I know it is not really that. It is not my language that is off but people just are not paying attention. If a person is unwilling to listen it does not matter if I am speaking English or Cantonese they will not understand.   When God wanted to separate people, he confused their language (Genesis 11). When he had a message for the entire world, he made it so everyone heard it in their own language (Acts 2). "And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?  … —we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God." Acts 2:8-11    Are we listening to those who are telling us God’s message today? I often hear people criticize preachers that they are not preaching th...

    The fact that God gave us two ears and two eyes and only one mouth should give us some indication on how he expects us to use them. James 1:19 “ This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger ;”   John Maxwell once wrote, “ A funny thing happens when you don’t make a practice of listening to people. They find others who will. Anytime employees, spouses, colleagues, children, or friends no longer believe they are being listened to, they seek out people who will give them what they want. Sometimes the consequences can be disastrous: the end of a friendship, lack of authority at work, lessened parental influence, or the breakdown of a marriage .”     How many times in the Bible do we read the phrase “ he who has ears let him hear ”? That is because listening is as vital of a skill as needed. People want to be listened to and we need to listen to them.     If you talk tw...

 Theodore Roosevelt was an outdoorsman. He'd rather be hiking in the woods or hunting in the savannah than at some gala.  But as president of the United States it was part of his job to host dignities and do meet and greets.   What Roosevelt hated most about these session is how even when speaking pleasantries and greeting one another, he found most folks paid little attention to what was actually being said. To amuse himself, Roosevelt would greet people with a smile and exclaim “I murdered my grandmother this morning”.  Most people never reacted to the statement.  But one diplomat did. After the remark he leaned in and whispered to the President, “I’m sure she had it coming to her”.   It’s not just diplomats that hear but don’t listen. People do that with the word of God all the time. You can tell because they don’t react to what it is telling them. It might pass into their ears but that doesn’t make any change in their lives. But one who ...

   I’ll let you finish but first let me say one thing…   One of the most annoying and frustrating things to do to someone is to interrupt them. [1]   Nothing makes you feel less important than to have someone take what you said in another direction before you can even get it said.     I’ve learned to deal with it by not taking it as an insult but enjoying it for its comic effect.  P eople that interrupt often sound very senseless and will have conversion that resemble a roller coaster more than an intelligent exchange of ideas. They jump to conclusions so fast it will spin your head and make points so absurd that it is a shame it isn’t a joke.     It is hard to make sense, when you don’t know what is going on. He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him. Proverbs 18:13    However, the interrupter is becoming a pretty standard player in our world today.  ...

   It was a perfect sermon.  When Paul speaks at the Areopagus in Acts 17:22-31, the sermon was everything that a preacher could want.  Before the lesson, a buzz had been generated (Acts 17:18).  He had an educated audience open to new ideas, wanting to hear him speak. (Acts 17:19-21).Even the location gave the lesson a sense of importance.    His presentation had all those things that your speech teacher tells you to add to be effective.  A great opening hook (The Unknown God), quotes from people that would respect and admire, great individual lines that would stick in your memory.  It paints vividly a picture of a powerful God that created all but is missed by man in his ignorance, a God that has been wanting for mankind to reach out to him, so he can save them from destruction.  It closes with a might crescendo, a call to change, and a reason to act.  It is simple yet profound, gentle yet challenging, respectful yet d...

   John  Sedwick was a civil war general that is remembered for his last words more than his military record. During a battle in 1864, his troops were probing skirmish lines ahead of Confederate defenses and he was directing artillery placements. Confederate sharpshooters were about 1,000 yards away and their shots had caused members of his staff and artillerymen to duck for cover and suggest he do the same. Instead Sedgwick strode around in the open and was quoted as saying, " What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line ?" Although ashamed, his men continued to flinch, so Sedwick replied, " I'm ashamed of you, dodging that way. They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance. " Well you may have guess what happened next. Just seconds later he fell forward with a bullet hole below his left eye.     Proverbs 12:15   The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who lis...

  There is an old joke about a man driving down the road. As he reached the top of a hill, he saw two ministers standing by the road with a sign that read, “Turn Back Now! Death and danger lie ahead.” The man rolled down his window and yelled at the pair, “Why don’t you two give it up. No one listens to that fire and brimstone talk anymore.” The two ministers looked at each other puzzled as the sound of screeching tires and crashing could be heard. The younger minister turned to the older one and said, "Maybe he is right, let’s just change the sign to “Bridge Out”     Proverbs 9:8 informs us:   "Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you."   Nobody likes to be told they are wrong but it is often times in our best interest. Instead of being the fool that attacks those that point out his mistakes, it is much better to be wise and allow others to show us areas of our life that may in wrong puting us in danger....