For the past 40 years, I have spoken, more often than not, weekly in a church, a conference or meeting of some sort, with a microphone.

For those who do such things on a regular basis, there is built into the occasion an occupational hazard which centers on a little device known as a lapel microphone.

A small device to be sure, but these little gems have all the makings of a large embarrassment if not properly employed.

I am forever grateful to those who faithfully serve in media and keep speakers muted until necessary… God bless ‘em all!

Thankfully long ago, God took control of my tongue!

You see it’s very important what we say, because even if you aren’t wearing a lapel mike the Lord is hearing every word.

James reminds us of the power of our tongue. “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body.”

I read about a man that worked in the produce department of a grocery store.

One day a lady asked if she could have a half-a-head of lettuce.

He replied, “Half-a-head? Are you serious? God grows full heads and that is how we sell them.”

The lady said, “You mean that after all the years I’ve shopped here, you will not sell me half-a-head of lettuce?”

The man said, “Look, if you like I’ll ask the manager.”

The lady said she would appreciate that, so the man marched to the front of the store and manager’s office.

He said to the manager, “You won’t believe this, but there’s a lame-brain idiot of a lady that wants to know if she can buy half-a-head of lettuce.”

About that time, he noticed that the lady was standing behind him.

Quickly he added, “And this nice lady was wondering if she could buy the other half.”

Pretty quick thinking, and of course a funny story. But often the power of the tongue is used in ways that hurt and destroy.

The scriptures remind us that the tongue has great power and therefore it needs to be under the control of God and not us.

In 1899, four newspaper reporters from Denver, Colorado met by chance in a Denver railway station. Their names were Al Stevens, Jack Tournay, John Lewis, and Hal Wilshare.

They represented the four Denver newspapers: the Post, the Times, the Republican and the Rocky Mountain News.

Each had been sent by their respective newspaper to dig up a story for the Sunday editions. All four were facing empty-handed return trips to their editors.

Al said he was going to make up a story and turn it in. The other three laughed.

One suggested they walk over to the Oxford Hotel get a bite to eat.

They did and during their time together, Jack said he liked Al’s idea about faking a story.

They all decided to come up with a story that would really get people’s attention.

They decided that a story from foreign angles would be harder to verify, so they decided to do a story about China.

John said, “Try this one on: Group of American engineers, stopping over in Denver en route to China. The Chinese government is making plans to demolish the Great Wall; our engineers are bidding on the job.”

Harold was a bit skeptical. Why destroy the Great Wall of China?

John thought for a moment. “I’ve got it. They are tearing down the ancient boundary to symbolize international goodwill to welcome foreign trade.” By 11 p.m. the four reporters had worked the details of their story.

After leaving the Oxford Bar they walked over to the Windsor Hotel and signed four fictitious names in the hotel register.

They instructed the desk clerk to tell anyone who asked that four New Yorkers had been interviewed by reporters and had left the next morning for California. The Denver newspapers ran the story. Front page. The Times headline read, “Great Chinese Wall Doomed! Peking Seeks World Trade.”

Their story was picked up and expanded by newspapers throughout the U.S. and then by newspapers abroad.

When the Chinese learned the Americans were sending a demolition crew to tear down their national monument they were outraged. Particularly upset, were the members of a secret society, a volatile group of Chinese patriots who were already wary of foreign intervention.

Inspired by the story they exploded, rampaged against the foreign embassies in Peking, and slaughtered hundreds of missionaries.

In two months, 12,000 troops from six countries joined forces, invaded China with the purpose of protecting their own countrymen.

The bloodshed that followed, sparked by a journalistic hoax invented in a Denver barroom, became the white-hot conflagration known as the Boxer Rebellion.

Mountain climbers will tell you that it only takes a whisper to start an avalanche. One word can smear a character and destroy a person’s life.

May the Lord have full control of our words… remember, the mike is always on!

Tim Throckmorton is the president of Lifepointe Ministries.