Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz...

...it's the most remarkable word I've ever seen. It's amazing that this alphabet contains just 26 letters, but they can be put together in ways that can make people respond with such emotion. Here are some of the most powerful arrangements of letters that I've seen, especially over the past few months:

b-a-p-t-i-s-m

a-l-c-o-h-o-l

C-a-l-v-i-n-i-s-m

W-a-d-e B-u-r-l-e-s-o-n

e-m-e-r-g-e-n-t

P-a-i-g-e P-a-t-t-e-r-s-o-n

b-l-o-g-g-e-r-s

r-e-s-u-r-g-e-n-c-e

Spell each of these words on a computer screen or in a state baptist paper and a lot of people immediately react with anger, even bordering on rage. Should these words make us angry? Are there any words that should make us angry? Or have we failed to exercise the spiritual gift of self-control and let ourselves instead be controlled by fickle emotions. The SBC seemed very concerned that we "...be not drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit." But it seems that the greater danger is not that we are controlled by alcohol, but that we are controlled by anger. To paraphrase James, "Behold how great a mind is enraged by such a few letters."

Dave