Teaching | Simplicity of Speech | Simplicity E03
Practicing the Way with John Mark Comer
Practicing the Way
4.9 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2023
⏱️ 43 minutes
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Summary
“The mouth is the main thoroughfare of evil in human life.” – Dallas Willard
Simplicity of speech is a disciplined attempt to bring our speech into alignment with Jesus' heart. John Mark dives into what the New Testament’s author say about the power of the tongue and our words. Through it, he encourages us to simplify what we say in order to ultimately bring more blessing into the world.
Key Scripture Passages: Luke 6v43-45; Mark 12v13-17; Mark 15v1-5; James 3v1-12
Resources for this practice:
https://practicingthewayarchives.org/practices/simplicity
This podcast and its episodes are paid for by The Circle, our community of monthly givers. Special thanks for today’s episode goes to: Aidan from Grand Rapids, Michigan; Sydney, Cody, and Violet from Bellingham, Washington; Mark from Cary, North Carolina; Jim and Deanna from Portland, Oregon; and Ruben from Euless, Texas. Thank you all so much!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the John Mark Comer |
| 0:03.0 | teachings podcast by practicing the way. |
| 0:05.0 | This teaching was originally given at |
| 0:08.6 | Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon |
| 0:10.7 | as a part of the simplicity practice. |
| 0:13.0 | Dr. Francis |
| 0:20.0 | Dr. Francis Collins, who for many years was the head of the Human Genome Project and is considered by many to be one of the great scientific minds of our era and also as the follower of Jesus. |
| 0:31.0 | In his book, The Language of God, he writes about how human beings at the level of genetic |
| 0:36.0 | code are in essence a living language that what separates us from the animals is our capacity |
| 0:42.3 | for speech. Run that idea through the grid of |
| 0:46.1 | what theologians call original sin and it comes as no surprise at all that our |
| 0:51.7 | highest highs come from language. Think of poetry, which many |
| 0:56.1 | consider to be the ultimate expression of the human soul, or literature or |
| 1:01.8 | religion and philosophy, or think of scripture itself that we're about to read |
| 1:06.0 | where the mind of God and the mind of humanity come together on the page and at the same time our lowest lows also come from language. |
| 1:17.4 | The philosopher Dallas Willard said the mouth is the main thoroughfare of evil |
| 1:22.2 | in human life. |
| 1:24.0 | Read the news. |
| 1:24.7 | I mean, most of it, read it tomorrow morning. |
| 1:26.2 | Most of it is about the havoc left behind |
| 1:28.9 | by what somebody said, in particular |
| 1:31.0 | in our current political climate. |
... |
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