MANY people today are deadly afraid and opposed to speaking in tongues and yet it is their habit lo do so and often. I am not referring to Glossalia as in speaking in angelic or foreign language but speaking in a false tongue.

One of the things the word tells us that God hates is a lying tongue: (Prov, 6:17) yet it is common throughout cultures to lie without restraint.

While on deputation I heard things like, "We will pray for your ministry, brother." There was one church, the Pastor told me that. He also said he would rally others to help my ministry, Three months later I returned to the Church for a child's birthday party and no one spoke to me except one man who said: ''Didn't I see you here before? Aren't you a missionary or something?? I guess the Church forgot to get behind me in prayer.

You may say, well, brother, you just have to understand. and then go on to tell me how to let these people off the hook for doing what God hates and that is lying. Anytime we say an untruth or let something slip off our tongue without meaning it, it is a lie.

My older children will tell you that their father does not make promises too often. The reason for that is, I believe, if I make a promise, 1 must keep it. The Bible tells us our yeas must be yea and our nays, nay.

Many have told me that they will support our ministry. Two of them asked me just before I left when was I going and then said I would receive the check that month. Not only the check never come but neither did an excuse. Please don't tell me about good intentions, A lie is a lie no matter how good your intentions are. That's why the Bible tells us to say(Jas4: 15)"For shall ye ought to say. if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that, (Jas- 4; ! 6) But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Both of those Pastors made the same promise to another Pastor that I know, to support his ministry. and did not keep it. One of them went as far as putting his name on their website as a missionary they support but it is a lie.
As Pastors, we need to hold ourselves to the highest standard. Many of us believe that when a Pastor does wrong, it is to be overlooked. We should not say anything. It is a tight organization where we have to protect our own. Proverbs 28: 23 "He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue." A man is a man, whether Pastor or layman. A lying tongue can be anything.
When someone says "I will see you in church at 9:00 A.M. and they show up at 9:10, it is a lie. Do not make promises you cannot keep. Many people are in the habit of always being late to church.
If you say you are a Christian who loves and follows the Lord. then why are you late to his house? It is time we bring discipline back into the house of the Lord.

I hear all the time about Filipino time. It is said with a smile, as if it is an accepted fact. When I was in the South of the US, I heard about Southern time. In the East it was N. Y. time and for each instance, it was a lie.
Job 6: 24 "Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred." Job was a faithful man and sincere in all his ways and he asked God to teach him and be able to understand his errors. There was no man more humble and yet great at the same time because a great man will seek to be perfect before his Lord.

Some may look at this article and think it loo "legalistic" but I assure you. I don't care if they wear a tie or a barong or a polo shirt to Church. I do however, care if they lie.

At the time Esau found out that Jacob got Issac's blessings instead of him, he wailed. Why? Because he knew that once a man's word went from his mouth he could not retract it. Even Isaac who was not the holiest of the Patriarchal threesome, knew, his word had to be true. Would it not be a wonderful thing if we could watch the news and believe what each person was saying?

Once I heard someone say, (concerning something I had said), "Don't worry, if Pastor Jack said it, he will do it." There could not have been a greater compliment. I may not be the smartest or a great orator nor fancy with paper and pen, yet if my words are fruitful, I will gain the respect that others of higher caliber than I, also enjoy. It should be our goal to show to all, especially the unsaved, that Christians above all, are truthful and not of a lying tongue. Proverbs 12: 19 "The lip of truth shall he established for ever: but lying tongue is but for a moment."