9 Sep, 2009
So Little, Yet So Destructive.
Firefighters Contain 60 Percent of Relentless Wildfire North of Los Angeles
Fire officials were watching for gusty winds Tuesday as they planned to set preventive backfires to burn out brush that has fueled a giant wildfire north of Los Angeles.
Winds caused a flare-up Monday, forcing officials to postpone plans to set the backfires to create a buffer south of the ferocious fire to protect the foothill neighborhoods of the San Gabriel Valley.
The winds were expected to gust up to 25 mph in the late afternoon.
"It's keeping this thing volatile," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Stan Bercovitz said.
The 14-day-old fire has blackened 160,357 acres, or 250 square miles, as it burned deeper into the wilderness. It was 60 percent contained.
(For the rest of the story and more pictures go to: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,547760,00.html?test=latestnews )
3-5A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
5-6It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
7-10This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
10-12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
What does God's Story teach us about the power of our tongues?
For the last several weeks the fires in California have been at the front of the news. A few times each year we are bombarded with news of fires destroying peoples lives and forcing families into exile. We understand the destructions of fires far to well. They have become so familiar it really doesn't even phase us much.
The writer of James tells us that the tiny muscle in our mouth is much like a wildfire. Okay, it isn't so much the muscle itself, is it? The real issue is the heart that controls the tongue. It doesn't take a lot of effort to tear someone down. Words can cause a lot of pain. Can you think of time when someones words had a profound impact on you, good or bad?
How can words build your friendship with Jeus?
As you think about a time where words had an impact on your life, ask yourself a couple of questions... "Why were those words so important? Would they have meant the same if someone else had said them?" There is strength in words. There have been words spoken to me that have changed how I see myself and altered choices I have made.
Words are also a great way to build our friendship with Jesus. Written words, the Bible, are one of the best ways we have to get to know what Jesus is like. It gives us glimpses of God's personality, and shows us how much He loves us.
How do your words affect your friends?
Now that you have taken time to consider how words have affect you, take a moment and consider the things you say to your peers. Are you using words that tear down or words that help friends better understand God?
You have two stories to share with your friends; your own story, and God's story – then you get to show them how those stories connect using words.
Take the challenge that James offers in his writting, ask God to take control of your tongue to build his Kingdom.
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