America has long been a nuclear superpower on the world stage. Since the days of the Manhattan Project to our current time, the United States has possessed the capability for destruction on a scale incomprehensible to most people. And while such power becomes a deterrent to those who would do us harm, it also comes with great responsibility and peril to those who wield it.
For example…
On September 18, 1980, at approximately 6:00p.m., an Air Force PTS team (Propellant Transfer System) entered the Titan II Missile Complex 374-7 in Damascus, Arkansas. Their purpose for being there was to replace a small part on the missile. At about 6:25p.m., a two man team went into the missile silo to work on the missile.
Now, the Titan II missile was no small thing. As the name would indicate, the Titan II was enormous. In the documentary Command and Control (American Experience, PBS), Missile Combat Crew member Allan Childers described the sight…
“You couldn’t see the warhead from the bottom ’cause you were 8 stories down, and the cone of the warhead disappeared off in the distance.”
The Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile stood approximately 7 stories high, weighed around 330,000 pounds (165 tons), and carried the most powerful and destructive weapon in the history of warfare in the United States (possibly the world); a nine-megaton thermonuclear warhead that had three-times the destructive capability of every bomb dropped by every army during World War II combined, including the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. This was a weapon with the capability to wipe out — not just a city — but a civilization.
As the crew began to work on the missile, the unthinkable happened. The socket they were using to remove the pressure cap disconnected from the wrench, and fell about 80 feet to the bottom of the missile silo. The eight-pound socket ricocheted off a thrust mount and struck the side of the missile, rupturing the fuel tank.
Over the next several hours, dozens of people across the military and defense department spectrum worked frantically to come up with a solution to keep the situation from turning into a nuclear disaster. During that time, over 14,000 gallons of rocket fuel continued to leak from the rocket into the silo.
In the early morning hours of September 19, tragedy struck.
While crews on site continued their work, the fuel ignited, and the missile complex exploded in a ball of fire seen for miles. About 21 personnel were seriously injured in the blast, and one PTS crew member, Senior Airman David Livingston, lost his life. Miraculously, the nuclear warhead itself did not detonate, and the destruction was confined to the immediate area of the missile silo and complex. The nuclear warhead was later located — still intact — in a nearby ditch, having been blown clear of the silo by the massive force of the explosion.
Now think about it. This catastrophe was caused because a small, eight-pound socket — something a minuscule fraction of the size of the missile — was accidentally dropped. And all it took then was for the tiniest spark to ignite the leaked fuel for the entire facility to turn into a deadly inferno.
This tragedy reminds me of the words of James…
Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body. Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.
See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. ~ James 3:3-6
A tiny bit controls a thousand-pound horse. A tiny rudder steers a massive ship on the wild sea. Thousands of acres of forest can be set ablaze by an unattended campfire or a carelessly discarded cigarette butt.
In the same respect, the tongue is among the tiniest members of the body, but has the potential of an emotional “nuke”. Wars have been started because of words. Lives have been destroyed because of the power of the tongue. Marriages and friendships have been laid waste in the wake of destructive words.
James goes on to say…
With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. ~ James 3:9-12
King Solomon put it this way…
The mouth of the righteous is a well of life,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked. ~ Proverbs 10:11
Whether it is how you whisper to a child, speak to a friend, orate to a large gathering, or proclaim from the mountaintop through media… words have meaning. Words have consequences. Words can be a fountain of life, or a weapon of destruction. Words are more than just mindless blathering… they are the reflection of the deepest recesses of the heart. Jesus drove this point home when He said…
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. ~ Luke 6:45
Maybe your words have already harmed another. Maybe, because of something you said, the elements are already in motion, counting down to an inevitable explosion. It’s not too late! Just as words of anger, jealousy, and malice can set the potential disaster into motion, words of forgiveness, healing, and contrition can avert that same disaster. It just takes the putting down of pride and the willingness to be the “bigger” person; to be righteous instead of “right”. It just takes putting on the mind of Christ, and being an agent of peace and unity instead of chaos.
Don’t wait until the little “dropped sockets” of life allow circumstances to build to critical mass. Let your words be a well of Life for someone else today.
In about two weeks, America will once again go through the pomp and ceremony of inaugurating a new president, meaning new leadership and new direction in our nation. While January 20 (and a few days following) will be filled with all manner of spectacles, traditions, and commentary, it will merely mark the beginning of an administration that came to power on promises of ending corruption, national security, and returning us to being a nation “of, by, and for the people.” President Trump will have his hands full, leading our country during a time of political unrest, social division, international instability, and unfettered terrorism.
Prayer is not partisan. While I never voted for President Obama, and disagreed with him on much of his agenda, I prayed for him nearly every single day. I genuinely hoped and prayed that he would be a good and just president. My prayer is the same for President Trump. I pray that he will surround himself with Godly counsel, that he will listen to wise advisers, and that he will always put America’s best interests — spiritually, socially, and economically — first (this includes an unwavering support for Israel).
Last, I would encourage all of us — as Americans — to be diligent in seeking after holiness, righteousness, and decency. Make a difference in your own circle of influence. Last year, I wrote a book called 
America! America!
The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack… (
But there is another lesson to be learned… a spiritual lesson that comes from one of the little known, little remembered facts about that fateful day. Typically, when we think of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it conjures images of massive aircraft carriers, hundreds of airplanes, bombs falling from the skies, and the fire and smoke rising from the wreckages of the U.S.S. Arizona, the U.S.S. West Virginia, the U.S.S. California, the U.S.S. Oklahoma, and many, many other ships. But what we miss is something that was discovered much later; something that lies beneath the surface of the chaos and destruction of that day.
According to the NOVA 
The story, posted in 
Political correctness has indeed reached a tipping point, and for the left-wing crowd that wants to be able to say, express, and champion every progressive, “enlightened”, offensive, and ungodly idea under the auspices of “free speech”, well… here’s your First Amendment at work.
With these words, written on October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln began his Thanksgiving Day Proclamation that set aside the last Thursday* of November as a national “day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father Who dwelleth in the Heavens“.
When President Lincoln penned these words, our nation was engulfed in the heart of the violence, bloodshed, and tragedy of the American Civil War. Yet, President Lincoln chose to find goodness. He chose to look forward with hope to a future of peace, prosperity, and promise. In spite of the hopelessness, despair, death, and destruction that consumed the nation between 1861 – 1865, President Lincoln looked back to better times, and had faith that such times would return.
So this Thanksgiving, if your life is joyous, be thankful for that, and for all of God’s many blessings.
Yesterday (as a “Throwback Thursday” post on social media), one of my staff posted an old picture of me in the recording studio where we used to record our CenterPoint radio broadcast. CenterPoint was our daily, 13 minute daily devotional program that aired around the world for 14 years, but which we (reluctantly) decided to discontinue at the end of 2012.
As we are now seeing, our hopes for a peaceful transition of power seem to be interrupted. People who are protesting the outcome of last week’s election are staging protests, riots, “cry-ins”, and other forms of social absurdities, decrying the upset victory of Mr. Trump over Mrs. Clinton in the Presidential Election. With a media that went “all-in” for Mrs. Clinton, the biggest casualty of last Tuesday was, in my opinion, any credibility the mainstream media had left. However, we would be sorely mistaken in thinking that they would go “softly into that good night”. We would be naive to assume that the mainstream media and the left’s devotion to liberality and progressivism would stop with, what many are calling, a stunning “rebuke and repudiation” of their principles, practices, and policies.
The word “scorpion” comes from the root word “skeptomas” from which our English word “skeptic” is derived. It means to question and scrutinize the truth. These scorpions poison humanity with lies that create wrong decisions that bring pain.
Demonic attacks always begin with undermined truth. The attack on the truth is intense today and it is important that we be equipped to take down the lies that are destroying our homes, churches and nation.
Yes, we have been invaded, but not by an army of men with modern weapons. We have been invaded by spiritual forces that are at work at this very hour, chipping away – bit by bit – at the very underpinnings of this nation that was founded on the Judeo-Christian
America has spoken. We have elected our next President and Vice-President. While some across our nation are rejoicing, others of our neighbors mourn. In a political campaign that was as vicious and divisive as any in my lifetime, I think it is important for all of us to remember that the Republic will endure. We have weathered far worse than this — wars, the Great Depression, more wars, scandal, etc. — and we still remain.
I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there. . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests—and it was not there. . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce—and it was not there. . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.
Could it be that we have finally become weary of being a nation with a broken moral compass, evidenced by rampant police assaults, out-of-control violence in our streets, rabid support for the abomination of abortion-on-demand, acceptance of deviant sexual behavior, and open hostility to the things of God?
It will take understanding. As believers who trust in the inerrancy of the Bible, sometimes we are less than patient with those who are not believers. It is up to us lead in love, and show the love of Christ by example. Charles H. Spurgeon once said…
The Heart of Abba - Ron Phillips 