Bible

Beware of What Sounds Good

July 16, 2013 by Art of Eloquence

These feel good sayings have become quite popular these days. While they sound good, many of them just aren’t true-even if they are said by a famous and well-respected celebrity like Dr. Seuss. Beware that you don’t fall for them, and worse yet, communicate as if they are true.

Take this one for example. Not everything you feel needs to be said. Those who matter to you may, indeed, mind how you say them even if they don’t mind what you say. And those who mind may not matter to you, but they matter to God.

How we say things are often even more important than what we say. How we communicate with each other is important to God. He cautions us about the use of our mouth, words, lips and tongues all throughout the Bible.

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6

My tip for this week: When you see quotes like these, make sure you read them…carefully before you accept them as truth and act accordingly.

NOTE: Don’t forget to submit your communication questions to jojo@artofeloquence.com for my monthly Ask JoJo section of my blog. I’ll pick one question per month to answer right here on the blog! You can ask anything related to communication skills from a tip on how not to be nervous making a speech to what games your kids can play that will help them hone their communication skills and even if your website or blog is clearly written!

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Filed Under: Communication Reviews Tagged With: Ask JoJo, Bible, communication, communication skills, Dr. Seuss, Sayings

HOW to praise God in the storm part 1

November 19, 2012 by Art of Eloquence

Most Christians have heard many times how we are to praise God in the storm, but what has always frustrated me is that nobody has ever told us how to do that. It’s hard to just begin feeling thankful when you’re in the midst of a financial mess or a loved one’s death. Merely understanding that you should do something doesn’t help you do it.

All devotionals on this topic will tell you to read the Bible and pray. This is obvious since we are trying to get closer to God and further away from our pain or struggle. This is also something we should do when we are not struggling. But just reading the Bible when you are struggling may not help your attitude turn to gratitude and you may not even know how to pray for a situation, especially if it has been a long and confusing one.

There are many devotionals on thankfulness that talk about this so I’m not going to spend much time on it since you’ve probably read enough of them to quote them verbatim. I’ll just say that it’s important to continue to pray and read the scriptures even when we are at our wit’s end and even when we are no longer able to envision that God would help us because, the moment we no longer seek God, we begin to drift away from Him. “Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.” -Psalm 119:143

So how do we begin to feel thankful? Well, last week I prepared our hearts a bit by sharing with you what we should remember. But that often isn’t enough to bring us through from frustration and despair. After many years upon this earth I have found some things that have helped me to become more thankful and bring me to the point where I can praise God during the storms of my life.

1. Start small and build

Thank Him for whatever blessings you can think of, even if you have a hard time coming up with things you are thankful for and even if you don’t feel very thankful when you write it or say it. There is an old saying, “act as if.” If you begin to thank God for the blessings, no matter how small, in your life, you will begin to see more and feel it more as you go.

Somehow my attitude changes when I concentrate on the little blessings. I remember an old saying my relatives had when I was a child, “thank God for small favors.” It has become a popular secular saying that has come to mean something quite different so I don’t suggest you actually say this to yourself. I think it must have started out meaning that we should thank God for the small blessings in our lives to help us see the blessings He has given us. Unfortunately, what it has come to mean is a snarky commentary that God only grants us small favors.

See how your attitude changes when you say, “thank God for small favors” instead of “thank you, Lord, for these little blessings?” One suggests that’s all we expect the Lord to give us and the other reminds us that these are just the beginnings of blessings God wants to shower upon us. That one little communication change changes everything.

Think back to all the times when you had just missed a disaster. How do you think that miracle happened? Envision what God must have been doing to protect you and then feel the love that lead God to that act. I remember a time when we drove from California to ARIDzona to visit my folks. On the way there (which is here now), we heard the brakes begin to screech. All the men at the event thought it wasn’t a major issue so we didn’t drive the car during our visit and headed home where we planned to have them repaired. There was a great deal of traffic that holiday on the way back and got progressively worse on that six hour drive home. We were able to make it all the way home and, as we coasted into the garage, the brakes completely failed leaving us unharmed and safely in our garage. Thank you, Jesus, for all the disasters we avoided that night alone!

Think back to all the times when NOTHING bad happened. What disaster might have occurred? Thank Him for those as well. How many times were you thinking of going to ABC when something changed your mind and you narrowly avoided a known disaster? My husband once decided not to go to work one day because the only route there (70 miles one way) was covered in snow and notorious for closure. Later we found that many of the people who traveled that road were stuck down the hill unable to get home for a day or two. And what about all the other situations we have no idea we could have found ourselves in?

2. Blessings for worst not happening

In the midst of terrible pain it’s often hard to see what could be worse and, to be honest, we don’t often care. We just know where we are now is bad. However, looking at the bright side can truly make a person thankful because, believe it or not, there are so many situations where we could be worse off.

Food prices up? Praise God that you have the money to buy them. Health bad? Praise God that you have the time to rest. Sick? As you pray for healing be thankful it isn’t fatal. Serious illness? Be thankful that there is still hope. And if a loved one has passed away, praise God he is no longer suffering and is with Jesus in heaven.

Now these things may sound easy to some, but they are not at all easy to do when you are in the middle of a struggle especially when that struggle has already taken a toll on you for many years. However, if you start small, are consistent and build, your faith will increase, your sorrow will lift and your joy will return even if you aren’t happy about your circumstances. (I’ll talk more about the difference between joy and happiness in my next article so stay tuned.)

In the midst of despair, sadness and being overwhelmed with struggle, we may find it difficult to just pick ourselves up by our Christian bootstraps and just “be happy.” However, these little things have helped me get just one step closer to being thankful and have reminded me that God is there with me and He’s working on my behalf even if I can’t feel Him through all that life throws at me. I pray they are blessings to you and you can begin to see how you can be thankful and praise God during your struggles as well.

Next time, I’ll be back with some more tips that will help us to be thankful so we may praise God in the storms of our lives.

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: Bible, devotional, God, gratitude, praise, Prayer, storm, struggles, Thankfulness

The Assertiveness Myth

August 29, 2012 by Art of Eloquence

All this month, we’ve been talking about shyness. On the flip side of shyness is assertiveness, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be either. Check out this article, The Assertiveness Myth:

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” -2 Timothy 1:7

In the 70’s and 80’s there was a fashion trend (a fad) in communication. Assertiveness Training was all the rage. It presumed that most people were shy and needed to assert themselves in order to take their rightful place in a conversation and get their point across. It was believed that charisma and persuasion were the solution to everything from winning arguments to getting ahead in your career. It’s motto was speak loudly and carry a large attitude.

In its heyday, the lesson of 2 Timothy 1:7 was badly distorted by this movement. People were encouraged to disregard respect for others in favor of some rather obnoxious behavoirs like repeatedly demanding something until the other person acquiesced. Assertiveness gave way to outright aggression in the name of self-esteem. Many touting Assertiveness Training all but convinced us that you could have no self-esteem unless your point of view was accepted or at least persuasively put forth.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29

This new found assertiveness-turned-aggression was wreaking havoc on relationships. Even those with a naturally bold personality found that this new brand of assertiveness came off as just plain rude. For one thing, being assertive is not the same thing as being aggressive. Assertiveness without grace or respect is rude and in the wrong circumstances is ineffective or even counterproductive.

The line between being assertive and being aggressive was virtually erased by this training. Let’s go back to basics for a minute. Assertiveness, as defined by Merriam Webster, means “disposed to or characterized by bold or confident statements and behavior.” Aggressiveness is defined as “marked by combative readiness.” The Lord tells us to be bold for He has not given us a spirit of fear, but He also clearly implores us to be respectful and gracious when communicating with others.

“There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.” Proverbs 12:18

Another problem with this variety of “assertiveness” is that it isn’t well suited to all situations. There is a time and a place for assertiveness. While it’s important to speak up for what is right, it is equally as important to do so at the right time and in grace. Your mother was right! Manners are vitally important. You do catch more bees with honey than you do with vinegar so it’s important to wait our turn to speak instead of insisting upon equal time. It is often necessary to hold our tongue when it isn’t the time or place for a particular discussion. Further, it’s sometimes beneficial to lose the battle in order to win the war. Speaking up is an important part of communicating and learning to do that effectively doesn’t always require assertiveness as much as it does grace, respect and a bit of training. Sometimes the situation requires finesse, understanding, love, respect, logic, explanation, rapport or support.

Even a place where aggressive communication used to be the norm is no longer considered appropriate or effective. Conventional thinking about both leadership and parenting styles have also changed in recent times. It’s no longer fashionable for a leader to bark out orders and the face of leadership has changed to a more relational style. Children usually respond better when parents explain their reasoning, allow for discussion and let their children know they were heard. “Because I said so” and “do as I say, not as I do” never really worked well. Parents need to be an example for kids not just an authority. Respect on both sides of the parenting aisle goes a long way to a healthy family dynamic.

Assertiveness, even if it isn’t aggressive, is not the answer to every conversation. Persuasion isn’t always necessary or effective. Effective communication is so much more complex than this. Every person is unique, every encounter presents a unique situation and each calls for a different approach. Making friends and making a speech are not interchangeable, therefore, they each require a different set of communication techniques where assertiveness may or may not be appropriate.

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JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: assertiveness, Bible, myth, scripture

Fulfilling Titus 2:7-8

March 26, 2012 by Art of Eloquence

“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.” -Titus 2:7-8

The NIV translation puts it this way, “In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.” Titus 2 is talking about being a good Christian example to others. In fact, Titus 2:15 goes on to say: “These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.” The Lord is cautioning us that we are to speak such that we cannot be condemned by others because they will have nothing evil to say of us. What does that mean, exactly, both for us and for our listeners?

First, does this mean we shouldn’t say anything that unbelievers don’t want to hear? Does it mean we don’t stand up for our beliefs? Clearly no. The Bible directs us to share the Good News and tells us that we will be persecuted for His name-sake. God is telling us to speak in grace and truth so we cannot be accused of lying or being mean-spirited.

And secondly, does this mean that, if we speak in grace, nobody will speak out against us or accuse us of wrong doing? Absolutely not! While that would be nice, remember that we will be persecuted for His name-sake. It means we will be blameless both in the eyes of the Lord and that, while others may persecute us because they don’t like what we’ve said, they won’t be able to show us to be hateful or liars.

Sometimes that can be a difficult distinction to make. Most Christians wouldn’t knowingly choose to come off as rude. I say most because I have run into some who think the ends justify the means because they are doing God’s work. Mostly, though, it’s a matter of an unfortunate choice of words, giving an inappropriate example or saying something we don’t realize will alienate the very ones we are trying to reach. This is exactly why I wrote Say What You Mean: Defending the Faith. If you’d like more information on sharing your faith in a more comfortable, conversational way, scroll down to the bottom of that page and download our sample lesson.

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: Bible, scripture, The Lord, Titus 2

Living Water

August 24, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

What does it really mean to thirst and what is the deeper significance of Living Water as spoken of in the Bible?

Last week, my friend Cindy posted about Living Water on her blog. It got me thinking about the deeper meaning of God’s Word. A while back my daughter sent me some audio files of Ray Vander Laan who had spent time in Israel learning about the culture of the Jewish people. He talks about how not knowing the culture of the Jewish people and the times the Bible was written in can dull our understanding of the deeper meanings of God’s Word, for example, Living Water.

My parents have lived here in the ARIDzona desert for about 12 years. Though I had visited them a few times a year during that time, until I moved here three years ago, I really didn’t fully understand the devastation the sun can cause your body and what that felt like. It’s just very different from anywhere I’ve ever lived and that’s saying a lot because I’ve lived in a lot of places. Ray Vander Laan specifically mentions Arizona as he discusses the strength of the heat and sun in the desert of Israel.

Living in the desert of ARIDzona, I know all too well the meaning of living water. I’m normally dehydrated, but living here, I have felt heat exhaustion many times and it is very much like living without God. Without enough fluids in your body, you become confused, and tired. Too much dehydration and you are unable to walk without help. I’ve passed out several times due to the heat because I didn’t have enough fluids. The confusion and symptoms make you choose the wrong things which make your condition worse. You don’t feel like drinking and so you drink even less. Living without God or without listening for His guidance, is much the same. You get tired and weak. Confused as to what is good for you, you can choose the wrong things which will cause you to fall deeper into your troubles. If you analyze the words God uses to describe things, you realize just how carefully He chose them. The symbolism is rich, if you look for it.

Part of communication is understanding the context and the background. We may understand being thirsty, but we cannot understand the depths to which real thirst can reach if we don’t understand the desert. The same is true for many other concepts the Bible speaks of. I’m going to try to explore and report on more of these in the future. If you have any that you’d like to learn more about, please post them here. If you’d like to be a guest author here explaining one of these concepts, please contact me jojo@artofeloquence.com I’d love to share the deeper meaning of God’s Word here on the blog.

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Filed Under: Ask JoJo Tagged With: Bible, God's Word, Jewish People, Living Water, Ray Vander Laan

It’s Praise Week

May 2, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Have you subscribed to Communication FUNdamentals’ RSS Feed? Don’t miss a post!

It’s Praise Week here at Communication FUNdamentals!

The Bible talks about praising God, and we should, for all the blessings He has given us, but it also talks about supporting and being a blessing to others. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Edifying means to build up. God wants us to build others up, to lift them up when they are down, to support them. This scripture also tells us we should do this in order to minister grace to them. Grace means showing mercy, kindness and service toward others. Here’s why this is so important.

I always knew how important it was to praise others, but recently my daughter brought to my attention an article that tells us more about why. It says research shows Young People Prefer Praise.

“We looked at all the things college students love and they love self-esteem more,” says lead author Brad Bushman, a professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University in Columbus.”

The article further stated that the students surveyed preferred experiences that boosted their self-esteem and cited things like getting good grades and compliments. It went on to say:

“Part of what researchers analyzed was the difference between “liking” and “wanting,” based on study participants’ self-reports. They said they liked the rewards listed in the study more than they actually wanted them, which Bushman says is considered healthy. However, the liking-wanting distinction was smallest for self-esteem, suggesting a stronger desire for it than the other rewards.”

So not only did they like receiving these rewards, but they actually craved or wanted them:

“It’s about confidence in your ability to deal with life’s challenges and a sense of personal worth, rather than generalized praise and undeserved rewards.”

The article suggests that craving self-esteem can be harmful to a society when it crosses over into narcissism. However, I believe this is much more likely for those who don’t follow Biblical principles which say to put others before ourselves.

I wonder if this rise in young people wanting or even craving experiences or feedback that fills self-esteem needs is because society as a whole is just so much busier than it used to be. People are working two jobs to make ends meet. Moms are worried about their children running with the wrong crowd or having too much free time that they are scheduling many more activities than they once did. Nobody knows their neighbors anymore. Are we all too busy these days to take the time to pay those compliments we used to? Do people today feel lost in the crowd? Is life more complicated today making it less likely to feel we are doing well? Does society push self-esteem too much? Or is it that society teaches us to seek conformity rather than treasure our uniqueness ? Are we looking for acceptance from a world that says we are just one of the crowd? Or does society no longer believe in a God who treasures each individual created with love?

What do you think?

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Article, Bible, Blessings, communication, Communication FUNdamentals, compliments, edifying, Ephesians 4:29, God, grace, praise, research, rewards, scripture, self esteem, study, supporting, week

Art of Eloquence’s Seminar Schedule for 2011

January 26, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Art of Eloquence is all about sharing the Communication FUNdamentals and we do that each year in creative and unique ways. Though we do sell a variety of eBooks and digital products that teach preschoolers through adults various topics within speech communication, we are mostly a ministry. That is to say, we give away a TON of information and free gifts each year.

One of the ways we love to serve is by hosting various seminars throughout the year on the Art of Eloquence Workshop and Seminar Channel on TalkShoe! We are planning a fabulous line up of seminars and workshops featuring a variety of co hosts and panels of speakers to help you become more effective communicators both in your personal and business life. We have already scheduled some amazing topics and speakers for the first half of the year. Take a look at what is coming up in 2011!

What you need to know about sharing your faith
01/27/2011 6:30 PM EST (THAT’S TOMORROW!)
Dianna Wiebe of Grapevine Bible Studies and JoJo Tabares of Art of Eloquence team up to give you practical advice about the Bible and how to share your faith effectively and in a more conversational and relaxed way.

Communication: Much More Than Just Speech-Making
02/24/2011 11:00 AM EST
The Lord talks about our tongues, mouths and words literally HUNDREDS of times in His Word and almost none of it refers to formal speech-making. You may be able to live your entire life without having to make a speech but you won’t get through one day without communicating something to someone. Learn just how important communication skills are in everyday life for your relationships, marriage, parenting, business, ministry and career! Joining JoJo is Cindy Rushton (Homeschool and Marriage expert), Randee Krumwiede (Christian Counselor) and Gazelle Simmons (Virtual Assistant).

How Communication Skills Can Grow Your Business in 2011
03/28/2011 12:00 PM EST
You may not realize it, but almost every aspect of your business involves communication skills. The more effective you are at communication, the more success you’ll have in your business. Jill Hart of CWAHM and a sampling of Christian Work at Home Moms join JoJo Tabares of Art of Eloquence to share tips and techniques for better communication with your customers, co workers, suppliers, employees and more!

What’s Your Communication Personality?
04/28/2011 11:00 AM EDT
How knowing your communication personality can help you be a more effective communicator in your personal and business life. More details to follow

Godly Communication
05/26/2011 11:00 AM EDT
It takes 21 days to make a habit; why not make one for God? I challenge you: Make a habit to speak in a more godly way and see what you reap and what you sow. I’ll show you how. Details to follow

Six Ways to Be a Bad Conversationalist
06/30/2011 11:00 AM EDT
Based on my popular article of the same name, I’ll share the conversation mistakes people make and how to avoid them. More details to follow

How to Teach Communication Skills to Your Children
07/06/2011 11:00 AM EDT
Homeschoolers are usually on the cutting edge of education, using the most creative and fun curricula for teaching even the most intimidating subjects. One subject even most homeschoolers don’t teach is speech communication. Learn some fun ways to teach your PreK-High Schooler the skills they’ll need to master the art of eloquence that studies show can help them in almost every aspect of life! More details to follow

How to join us live:
Visit: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736
Or Phone in: (724) 444-7444 Call ID: 19736

How to listen in after the live seminar:
Visit: http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/19736
Click on the orange “Listen” button

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News Tagged With: Art of Eloquence. Seminars, Bible, Christian work at home moms, Cindy Rushton, communication, CWAHM, Dianna Wiebe, faith, Gazelle Simmons, Grapevine Press, Jill Hart, JoJo Tabares, Randee Krumwiede, Speech, speech making, talkshoe, workshops

What is speech?

January 5, 2011 by Art of Eloquence

Those of you who remember my weekly internet radio show on the Communication Comedy Network will remember my character Professor Wordsmith. She (I) did the Word of the Week segments. In 2011, I’m going to be bringing back some of the old characters I played on the show as YouTube videos. I thought I’d bring her segments here to Communication FUNdamentals for Word Wednesday. This week’s word is something most people do associate with communication: speech! But as we’ll see, speech is much more than a formal recitation of gun control or abortion rights.

According to Merriam Webster, speech is:

“1a : the communication or expression of thoughts in spoken words b : exchange of spoken words : conversation 2a : something that is spoken : utterance b : a usually public discourse : address 3a : language, dialect b : an individual manner or style of speaking 4: the power of expressing or communicating thoughts by speaking”

So speech is much more than a formal reciting of someone’s ideas on gun control or abortion. It is the very act of communication. I’ve coined a JoJoism which states, “While you may manage to live your entire life without making a speech, you will not get through one day without communicating something to someone!” and this one as well, “The most important communication isn’t the speech you’ll give to a crowd. It’s the conversations you’ll share with friends & family.” Communication is something we do every day. We use the power of speech to discuss many things with many different people.

The Bible talks about speech, our tongues, lips, mouths and words literally hundreds of times. The Lord tells us what happens when we speak in grace, ““Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Colossians 4:6 and He tells us what the consequences are if we do not, “An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of the citadel.” Proverbs 18:19

Some have tried to assert the notion that learning formal speech will prepare you to be an effective communicator, but I disagree. While learning formal speech will help you formulate your ideas and help you with your powers of persuasion, they will not necessarily help you in a conversation. Did you ever know anyone who never lost an argument, but frequently lost a friendship because he was a bit pushy? That’s because you cannot approach a conversation the same way you do a formal debate or speech.

Just as learning to communicate effectively in a conversation is different from learning to deliver a good speech, learning to master different types of speeches takes slightly different skills. Even within the formal speech, there are many different kinds of speeches: persuasive, political, impromptu, debate, etc.

If you read my blogpost from Monday, you’ll know that I’ve challenged you all to a speech this month. I’m sharing some mini lessons on speech-making all this month to help you along. If you’d like to learn a bit more about speech or you’d like to get a good listing of great speech topics, visit the Art of Eloquence Speech and Debate Page.

By the way, I’ve started my online seminars back up this year and the very first one will go more in depth on this subject. It’s Thursday, January 27th at 8am PST/11am EST on TalkShoe! You can see the next several month’s topics there as well.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bible, Comedy, communication, network, radio, show, Speech, Subscribe Here!, Wednesday, word

Merry CHRISTmas from Art of Eloquence!

December 6, 2010 by Art of Eloquence

Art of Eloquence has never done anything like this in the entire eight years we’ve been in business!

Studies and research show that effective communicators are happier and have deeper relationships than their less articulate counterparts. The Bible is FULL of scriptures (hundreds and perhaps thousands of them) that instruct us in the proper use of our mouths, lips, tongue and words. This because our communication either promotes peace or invites war.

It was for this reason that I wrote 21 Days to More Godly Communication and it is for this reason that I created a secret page link on that eBook where I continue to write scripture-based communication articles to this day! We believe that studying what the Lord says about how we communicate with each other can bring peace to our marriages, friendships, families and co workers!

As part of our CHRISTmas gift to our customers, subscribers and friends for the next 21 days (the 21 days before CHRISTmas) we’d like to offer 21 Days to More Godly Communication absolutely free!

This year my church, North Ridge Community Church, had begun work this year on becoming a B.I.G. church. No. Not big in size, but B.I.G. as in Biblical, Influential, and Grace-Based. North Ridge has been striving to become more of a meeting place for our local community. Our goal is to complete our common areas next year in order to better house community events so we may have more of an opportunity to minister and bless our community while leading them to a deeper or first knowledge of Christ Jesus.

To that end I am prayerfully asking you to consider making a donation when you download your free copy of 21 Days to More Godly Communication.

To read more about North Ridge Community Church, our Ridge Bridge Outreach, 21 Days to More Godly Communication and be download your free CHRISTmas copy of 21 Days to More Godly Communication, click here!

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Filed Under: Art of Eloquence News Tagged With: 21 Days to More Godly Communication, Bible, Christ, Christmas, Communicaiton, donation, download, free, Jesus, North Ridge Community Church, Peace on Earth

On taking the 'God Parts' out

June 23, 2010 by Art of Eloquence

Art of Eloquence is fast approaching the completion of its eighth year in business this November. It’s been a very interesting ride so far. I’ve learned a great deal about business, about myself and my faith.

When I wrote my first study, Say What You Mean (for Teens), I really wasn’t thinking of this as a business or even a ministry. It was simply an answer to a homeschool friend’s need for a more comfortable way her shy daughter could learn to communicate more effectively. It was important to me that the approach to overcoming shyness and strengthening communication skills be fun and reflect the teachings that are so prevalent in God’s Word. I have literally found HUNDREDS of scriptures that pertain to communication and many of them contain lessons I studied in the pursuit of my secular degree.

However, as I began to form Art of Eloquence, I quickly learned that not everyone was happy with the ‘God parts.’ The woman in charge of a nearby YMCA said she would love me to come and teach there if only I’d ‘take the God parts out.’ A public school administrator informed me that she’d love to recommend that my studies be used in the district, if only I’d agree to ‘take the God parts out.’ My Dad shared with me that he felt that I’d get a lot more sales if only I’d ‘take the God parts out.’

Over the last eight years, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been offered contracts, money, sales, an enormous venue in which to display my articles if I’d only agree to ‘take the God parts out.’ I just could never bring myself to do it. It felt like I’d be turning my back on the Lord after He had done so much for me. It felt disrespectful, but more than that, it felt wrong.

When I got my degree from a secular university, I felt I had a firm grasp of the concepts I had studied. After all, I had a degree from one of the top ten universities in the country for Speech Communication. When I accepted Christ as my savior, I found greater meaning in the lessons He wrote for us in His Word. It more than enhanced my understanding; it put a necessary perspective on every aspect of human communication. I found that studying speech communication without mentioning what the Bible has to say about it, is like studying automobiles without mentioning Henry Ford.

As the years went by, I began writing more about being an effective witness for Christ both as an example and when discussing our faith with others. That’s when I really had some challenges to my approach! I’ve had people heckle me on internet radio shows and I’ve had some NastyGrams sent to my email. I’ve had people disrupt my online events, send scathing remarks to online groups and one lady who chastised me during a presentation I was asked to give for a group of Christians. I found out later that she was a member of one of my Christian Yahoo groups! She wasn’t aware that I was asked to do this presentation nor was she aware that the presentation was to a group of Christians. She simply felt it was ‘intolerant’ of me to quote scripture and talk about Jesus when there were people who didn’t believe in Him. So she stood up in the virtual chatroom so to speak and told me off, left the room and took several people with her.

Many times what I write cannot be divorced from scripture without diminishing the value or losing the integrity of my message. So, though I’ve been asked many times to ‘take the God parts out, for many reasons, I simply cannot do it and remain true to the voice inside me-the voice God gave me.

I can’t say that I haven’t been tempted. I wish I could report to you that I’ve never once allowed it to cross my mind that I might have much more of a following or more sales if I did ‘take the God parts out.’ And I know that there must be others out there who struggle with this issue whether they are authors or not. I’d like to share a thinking process that I use whenever I am presented with a situation like this. I hope it will help you.

If I were to take the scriptures out of my work, I might be able to reach a wider audience than just the percentage of Christians who feel it important to study communication from a Christian perspective.
If I were to reach a wider audience, I might be able to reach unbelievers and they may come to know Christ.
How many people, who are that uncomfortable with scripture, would actually be interested in these kinds of articles and studies which were written specifically for Christians?
How many of my articles and studies really speak to the unbeliever?
Wouldn’t I approach a nonChristian in a completely different way?
Isn’t there a reason God directs me to write this way?
So…shouldn’t I leave my writing the way I was directed to write it?

Some Christians are directed by God to write in order to reach unbelievers. Some have missions that speak to the churched. Each of us has to listen to the Lord to determine our own path and then ask ourselves questions periodically that will allow us to keep to the path the Lord has set before us.

What is your mission? What questions do you ask yourself in order that you remain on the path God has for you?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
JoJo Tabares holds a degree in Speech Communication, but it is her humorous approach to communication skills which has made her a highly sought-after Christian speaker and writer. Her articles appear in homeschool publications, such as Homeschool Enrichment Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, which also endorses her Say What You Mean curricula, including Say What You Mean Defending the Faith. You can also find JoJo on web sites such as Crosswalk.com and Dr.Laura.com. For more information on communication FUNdamentals and Christian-based communication skills for the whole family, please visit http://www.ArtofEloquence.com

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Filed Under: Communication Articles Tagged With: automobiles, Bible, communication, God, Henry Ford, homeschool, lessons, Lord, ministry, scripture, speech communication, YMCA

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