Transcript
A (0:00)
Welcome to homegroup. This is Rick Renner and I'm here with the legendary Denise Renner and my legendary Rick. You are to me.
B (0:10)
Well, that's a good thing.
A (0:11)
I think you're amazing and you're a great example to me and to many others.
B (0:15)
Oh, Rick, thanks. I want to be, and I want to say to you, welcome. We're so glad to be with you today.
A (0:23)
And today we're going to talk to you about the, the tongue. Are you ready? It's going to be good. So reach for your bible and I want you to turn to James 3. And Denise, I think today we're going to start in verse two.
B (0:35)
Okay.
A (0:36)
So in James 3:2, the King James version says, for in many things we offend all. And the word offended is used here just means to mess up to make a mistake. Well, we all make mistakes. That's basically what James says, we all make mistakes. But, but if any man offend not or doesn't mess up in word and in Greek it says in logu, it means in his speech the same is a perfect man. The word perfect here means mature and able also to bridle the whole body. And this is quite a revelation because according to this, if you're able to control your mouth and control your tongue, then you will be able to control your whole body. Which means if you can control your mouth, you can control how much you eat. If you can control your mouth, you're able to control your emotions, you're able to be disciplined. That's exactly what James says in this verse. That's the power, Denise, of the tongue. It's amazing. Then he says in verse three, behold. And the word behold in Greek is the word edu. It means wow, wow, wow. Listen to this. We put bits in the horses mouths that they may obey us and we turn about their whole body. Well, it's referring to a horse bridle. And this really is amazing that with a little bridle in a horse's mouth you can control a huge muscular horse. I mean, that's amazing. A horse with all of its muscles, all of its horsepower and with a little bridle in the mouth you can control the movement of a horse. And of course, James is likening this to the tongue. Then he says in verse four, behold. Again he uses the word behold, the Greek word he do. Wow, wow, wow. Listen to this. He's really raising his voice to make a point. Although the ships, and this word ships describes large ships which though they be so great, there we see it's large and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about by a very small helm whithersoever the governor listeth. And I want to tell a story. Many, many years ago, I was doing a meeting in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a man in the Crowd was the U.S. sailor of the Year. And he came to me after the service and he said, I have some privileges because I'm the US Sailor of the Year. Like to know, would you like to take a tour of the United States largest aircraft carrier that's never been officially deployed yet? He said, I have that privilege because of who I am. I said, gee, I think that'd be fun. So the next day I met him in the morning. In the morning at the big place where the aircraft carrier was docked. And Denise, it was shocking. It was three football fields long. It was the USS Roosevelt, which today is being used in action, honey, three football fields long. I remember when our car pulled up because we were able to park right next to the ship. I looked up and I thought, oh my gosh, this car, we are tiny compared to this great, great ship. So finally we went on with the US Sailor of the Year and he began to give me a tour of that ship. In Denise, I was on that ship for four hours and all we saw was a little part of it. There were 16 floors below the water. I can't remember, but I think there were eight or nine floors above the water. It held about 4,000 sailors, which means inside that ship there was an entire apartment complex. Inside that ship was a huge cavern. Now this is what just blew me away. Inside the ship were more ships, there were other ships, and inside the ships there were helicopters, there were airplanes. And I don't mean just a few. It was loaded with other ships, helicopters, airplanes. And Denise, on that day I went through little holes and little doorways I didn't even know my body could get through. And we went through one and went down, down, down, down, down, down, down. Then we went up, up, up, up, up. And finally I said to the man, where is the fuel that runs this ship? He said, well, this is a nuclear powered ship. He said, I can't take you there because it's classified, you're not allowed to go there. I said, well, how much fuel is on this ship? And he said to me, when this ship finally leaves, it doesn't have to come back for 25 years for more fuel. That is amazing. 25 years. And then we went up on the deck and we were going to walk around and look at all the airplanes Honey, three football fields long. And finally I said, I want to go to the deck. I want to see where you drive this thing. So here we go again, climbing ladder after ladder after ladder. Finally we got up to this deck that where there were windows and you could see the whole ship below. I said, where's the steering wheel? He said, it's right there by you. I looked and there was a small little gadget. I said, you have got to be kidding me. I said, that is how you turn this ship. He said, it doesn't take much to turn this ship. It may look small, but it's got a lot of power. Well, every time I read this verse, that's what I think about. It says, behold, though they are so great and are driven of fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small helm whithersoever the governor listeth. And here you have the picture of the captain of the ship with that little tiny wheel, turning it wherever he wants it to go. And the word helm here really is the word for a rudder. So you have that small little wheel connected to a single rudder, and the rudder alone has the power to direct where that ship is going to go. That was just amazing to me, Rick.