That Socrates was one smart Greek

As Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." While I won't claim to deify him, I do think he's right.

David cried to God in Psalm 139, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Don't we need to ask God to change us completely?

Accountability has been essential in my life since high school when my YL leader at the time, Ed Hampton, got me started. I was so heavy into porn at the time and lusting was threatening everything I had. Knowing that God didn't approve of my lifestyle wasn't enough - after all, Jesus wasn't exactly the most visible person I knew. There's something about disclosing my deepest pains and struggles to a trusted friend that seems to make God visible. Many accountability categories have come and gone as the years have passed, and much success has occurred.

The newest category is my language. For several months now, I've been telling my high school guys that it's not so much that cussing is the sin of all sins, it's just that God is to be glorified in every aspect of our lives, including our language. Therefore, cussing falls into the same category as telling dirty jokes and ripping on each other - this type of language simply doesn't glorify Jesus. During those same months, my language has decayed to filth. As recently as a few weeks ago, I thought my tongue was hopeless to ever be clean again.

I've frequently said (and will likely frequently continue to say) that I want Toby to grow up and learn what is right by watching his daddy live a life watching his Daddy. We know that Jesus hung out with the prostitutes and tax collectors. We know that he reached out to the Samaritans. But we also know he was incorruptible. Therefore, without being too legalistic, I decided to wash my mouth out with soap, including obvious substitutions such as "frickin'", because I know it's essentially just my f-bomb.

So now, every Thursday night, Minefield and Chronicles and the rest of the young men pepper me with questions about my language before we start our group. And the combination of the Holy Spirit, their accountability, and my effort has yielded a much cleaner mouth. I encourage all who are within the sound of my voice to examine your life, choose to clean anything that is dirty, and get a trusted friend to help - it's just an example of the church working in our everyday lives.
I should say "a much cleaner mouth with the exception of this weekend". Allow me to introduce Exibit A: Joshua, the organist at the First Baptist Church of Peoria Illinois. Dealing with this chach at Abbey's wedding made me return to my old language (as well as my old temper and my old desire to see what someone would look like if an anvil fell on their face, like in the old Wile E. Coyote cartoons). So, if anyone is reading this and thinking of getting married near Peoria IL and is looking for a church organist, allow me to enthusiastically recommend you stay away from Joshua Hearn. Unless, that is, you think it might be fun to hire an egotistical jerk who cares way more about his paycheck and large milkshakes than he cares about being courteous at the wedding he was hired to play at. I still want to know why he ran into the sanctuary 10 minutes late without shoes on and his pants half-zipped. (No lie.) So congratulations, Joshua, you are the Room 113 Chach of the Day! (I really hope a bride-to-be someday googles "Joshua Hearn Wedding Organist" and gets this page... somebody remind me that Jesus loves this guy...)