Fleetmack.com - Actions Are Louder Than Words

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Actions speak louder than words, but that doesn't mean you should shut up
12-08-02

Well, as usual here I sit in the midst of time with several things on my mind. Usually most of the things I write are written in the wee hours of the morning during a night of my disturbed rest, but tonight it's a meager 10:30 at night, so I've got quite awhile before the rooster crows! So I really don't have much of a topic this time around, I just read 4 or 5 letters in the New Testament today and there were so many things in there that either hit close to home or cloned my beliefs that I'd like to share them. I'll inform you why they hit close to home, or why I believe in them. Mind you that each of these are from an interpretation of the Bible, so they are not the exact wordings you may find in your Holy Bible. After these 6 or 7 passages, I have a few more things to say, so if you don't really want to read these passages, read them anyways, then read what's below them.

James 2:10
Whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking them all

There is no breakdown of which sin is greater than another. We are in no place to judge each other. This statement just proves that we are all sinners and have absolutely no right to look down upon others. If I am a liar and someone else is a murderer - I shall not point fingers because in the eyes of the Lord, I'm just as bad! Lawbreakers are lawbreakers and sinners are sinners. Jesus is the only one righteous enough to judge us because he is the sole one who is without sin. No sin is worse than another, they are all sins.

James 2:24
You see, then, that it is by our actions that we are put right with God, and not by our faith alone.

It appears as if I have contradicted myself already in my short month and a half of writing about this. If you will read my short thoughts on faith you will see that I "believe" you only need faith to get by in life. Don't get me wrong, most of the things in that article I fully believe - but faith alone is not the answer. Your faith must be whole in prayer, but you also must act. If I say I am a follower of Jesus and I have faith he will save me, I can't go out on weekends any more and get drunk in an attempt to get laid. I can't write this article, talk to my friends about Jesus, then go and lie, cheat, and steal my way through life. My actions must change in a positive way. I must reflect Jesus' life and try to follow as closely in his footsteps as I can. Personally - I'm trying hard to do this, and as they say on What About Bob?, I'm taking "Baby Steps". For instance - right now, I am not going to drink at all until Christmas. Difficult? Yes. But once that is surpassed, it's just something else I'm doing right for Jesus.

James 4:17
So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin.

Actions aren't the sole sins of this world. The lack of action is a sin as well. If I keep my mouth shut instead of spreading the word of Jesus, I am sinning. Maybe that's not a sin for everyone, but I feel guilty if I don't do it - that means my conscience is telling me to do it, that means God wants me to do it. The "it" i refer to is spreading the word of Jesus. I will see the direct results if I keep my mouth shut. I will be a sinner just like all the murderers of the world if I don't do what I feel is right. I need to talk to my friends and even people I don't know about Jesus. No, I'm not going to put on a black suit and tie and go door to door soliciting Jesus, but if I'm at a dinner table with you, I'll probably bring it up before you know it.

James 5:19-20
My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner's soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.

I'm not looking for praise in what I do. I'm here to help you. I need to pray to Jesus to give me the strength to help, but I want to be the one who turns sinners back to the correct path. How wonderful a feeling that is, to get someone to see Jesus. Not out of selfishness, but I'd love to be able to regularly make people see the correct path and start strolling it on their own. Once you discover the power and love of Jesus, it's so easy to share it with people and I get excited to write and talk about it! Why would anyone want to miss out on this??

Peter 2:20-21
For what credit is there if you endure the beatings you deserve for having done wrong? But if you endure suffering even when you have done right, God will bless you for it. It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps.

To be blunt as hell, what this means to me is - laugh your ass off at me for all I care. If I say I love Jesus and you mock me or laugh at me - I could care less. Sure, it always hurts to be laughed at, but it almost feels good at the same time. To know I can suffer just a tiny bit for Jesus after he suffered so much for me is a great feeling! I mean come on! Jesus was nailed to a cross and died for me! I think I can handle you laughing at me or making fun of me for loving someone that did that. It's almost an honor and I'd almost like to put myself in a position to get hurt just so I can show him what I can do for him. Maybe some of you have read this page and thought "this figures, Mack's just on some new stupid idea like he always is." Go ahead and think that! Go ahead and laugh at me - at the same time you laugh at Jesus. Do you think it's funny he suffered and died for you? If you do, go ahead and laugh. I pray for you that you stop laughing and see the light, otherwise you will be spending an eternity in hell, and I wish that upon nobody.

Peter 4:2-5
From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires. You have spent enough time in the past doing what the heathen like to do. Your lives were spent in indecency, lust, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and the disgusting worship of idols. And now the heathen are surprised when you do not join them in the same wild and reckless living, and so they insult you. But they will have to give an account of themselves to God, who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Do you wish you hadn't read that? Do you wish you had never heard of Jesus so you don't feel guilty when you do certain things? Sometimes I feel that way. It's not right, but I'm not going to lie. I love having sex. I love getting drunk with my friends. Does this make them right? Perhaps in the past it wasn't wrong because I didn't know Jesus expected me of it. But as Peter says in this particular passage, once you know - you have to abide by it. This is no reason to not read the Bible (for fear of the rules to enter the Kingdom of God). If you do what God commands of you, you will be able to live a very fulfilling life on earth. If you know something is wrong and do it anyways, you are a sinner. I've had my time. I'm almost 24 years old. I've had my share of sex. I've had my drunk times. Do I regret them? Maybe. Do I have the urge to continue in those ways? Maybe. Do I realize they're wrong? Yes. I ask God every night in my prayers to guide my decisions and realize the outcomes of what I do.

2 Peter 2:20-21
If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been much better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and then turn away from the sacred command that was given them.

Do not turn your back on Jesus if you already know Him! I did this once. I came back to Him, but if I turn away again, (to put this in layman's terms) - man am I going to piss Him off! How could I do this? I now see the love and power Jesus has, why would anyone turn away from this? If you do, you are in some deep shit. By deep shit, I mean you better realize what you've done, beg for forgiveness, and turn your life around once and for all! Do you want to burn in hell? I don't - but that's not the only reason I serve God. I do not serve God out of fear for what will happen if I don't. I serve God out of love and respect for Him. If I turn my back on that, not only am I foolish, but I am undeserving of His love.

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So those were the passages I just read and was intrigued by. They really have nothing to do with the title of this article do they? Humph, I guess I'll just have to talk about that too then ;o) Actions do speak louder than words, much louder. Who gives a rat's ass if I say I love Jesus if I just sit at home and watch TV all the time. I do a hell of a lot more than most people and I still don't feel like I'm doing anything. Again - NOT AT ALL trying to praise myself for what I do, but lately I've been going to church twice a week and attending this other thing on Tuesday nights called TNL. Check out their website if you wish, I really haven't been there enough to tell you exactly what it is, but it's basically a service for young adults that covers specific topics in our lives and how Jesus is involved in them. Anyways, on top of that, I actively read the Bible and I write these stupid little things on fleetmack for some random people to "enjoy". But you know what? I still don't feel like I'm doing anything. But I know it's a hell of a lot better than if I claimed I was Catholic and just sat in a building and daydreamed for an hour a week like I used to do. That was just a lot of wasted time. That does not mean being Catholic and going to Church is a waste of time by any means, it just means if your actions are meaningless like mine used to be, don't even bother making those actions.

Hypocrisy in the world of religion can take form in the place of people not doing what they say they do. If you go to church for the fashion show like 98% of the people in Carroll, Iowa do - you are speaking with words, not action. If you are getting hammered every night then go home and kneel before God to say your prayers, your actions are not what God wants to see. I'm not going to tell you which actions are right and which actions are wrong for the simple reason that I don't know. Everyone has their own beliefs about what is right and what is wrong - but you must act upon what you think is right!

Don't you hate the person who says they're going to do something and they never do (Wilson is the exception because it's funny when he does it!). I mean seriously, the people who want to quit smoking but never do, the people who want to get married but never do, the people who want to get in shape but never do - JUST DO IT ALREADY!! Your words are fooling nobody, as Mr. Sexton would say, "I'm from Missouri, SHOW ME!" Your actions are what is going to make people believe - in the same way, your actions are what God is going to look for when he judges you. But at the same time you must act in the way Jesus would want you to, never "shut up" as I said above. You must talk about Jesus, share him with your friends and family, and never stop talking to Him!

There's so much more I could say, but I want to leave a lot of space for your own thoughts. If you have any thoughts you think I may enjoy hearing, send them to me (for those of you not using outlook who this link doesn't work for, my addy is bryan@fleetmack.com) , don't worry - I won't publish anybody's religious thoughts on the feedback page and I won't share them with anybody else, I'm just curious. Take care and God Bless.