'The pen is mightier than the sword' was coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy, 1839: True, This! - Beneath the rule of men entirely great, The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold The arch-enchanters wand! - itself a nothing! - But taking sorcery from the master-hand To paralyse the Caesars, and to strike The loud earth breathless! - Take away the sword - States can be saved without it! Bulwer-Lytton may have coined the phrase but he was preceded by several others who expressed essentially the same idea: George Whetstone, in t, 1582, wrote "The dashe of a Pen, is more greevous than the counterbuse of a Launce." In Hamlet, 1600, Shakespeare gave Rosencrantz the line "... many wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills and dare scarce come thither." Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621 includes "From this it is clear how much more cruel the pen may be than the sword." Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Thomas Paine in 1796, in which he wrote: "Go on doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword."
Romans 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Ephesians 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
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I am writing this blog entry on the basis of a really good friend of mine who announced that he killed his facebook account. Yes, that is true, he has stopped his use of facebook. The mere thought of stopping "communication" through the internet probably has some of you in pure panic. Don't fret! I am not here to be judge or jury of the blogging community. The only thing that I would like to ask you all is this: Is the fruit of the Spirit present in your walk, your words, your pen? If not, what are you doing then.
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Galatians 5 puts it this way: Life by the Spirit
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. ------------------------- The danger that we share with this hi-tech world are real and un-relenting: Gossip, Slander, Fornication, Adultery, Lies, Hate, Malice (do I need to continue?). All I am saying is this: Test yourselves and your motives. If you do not see any fruit in what goes in through your eyes and/or ears nor any fruit that comes out of your mouth and/or actions, then confess this to God and cut off that which offends you. Fruit for thought! Have a blessed day...