Do you ever have to deal with anger? A little review: what we need to remember about James is that James writes from a total Jewish perspective. James is sometimes called the "Jewish gospel." So much of Christian literature comes from a Greek perspective, which is about afterlife. James isn't concerned with afterlife. James is concerned very much with the practical difference, the transformation. James is talking about anger. How do you handle anger in a healthy way? James 1:19, "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because our anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."

Pray with me. "Father, we are so much Your children; and like all children, we experience the gamut of emotions. So teach us to mature through Your Holy Spirit and this emotion that defies all logic that we may be the love of Your Son to all those around us. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen."

All through James are some very practical actions to deal with anger in a healthy way. Here's the first one: practice active listening. Take note of this: everyone should be quick to listen. Active listening is always based on two questions. In any healthy relationship, active listening asks the question, "What do you mean? What I'm hearing is not always what you're trying to say." Even the words used sometimes, I'm a master of using the wrong word. Even the wrong words sometimes is not really what you're trying to express. Carolyn and I have been in frustrating situations where both of us are speaking and we're not really listening to what the other person is saying. Do you ever get into those kinds of situations where your conversation goes right past each other? It's so frustrating. Even after 36 years of marriage, I just want to say sometimes, "Carolyn, let me get it out! Let me say the whole thing and try to figure out here what I'm saying." What are you saying? So often, what I'm hearing is not what you mean.

The second question around active listening, and this is really important: "What are you feeling?" Especially when I'm frustrated or angry, I don't seem to have the expansive vocabulary to really express the feeling. I've gotten a whole lot of press in the Dayton Daily News about my stance on Jeremiah Wright. Jeremiah and I know each other, we worked on our doctoral degrees together, and we traveled to Russia together in 1992 to meet with Gorbechev on the first communist-free Easter. One of the pastors who has come out of his church has preached in our church about seven times, Frank Thomas. Many of you are aware of Frank. Frank is representative of many of the people that I have met from Jeremiah's church. Because of the people I know from Jeremiah's church and the expanse of his 30 years of ministry, the sound bytes that we are hearing do not represent everything that some of us know about Dr. Wright. Obama says he disagrees sharply with some of the expressions as I do. I don't believe our government infected its citizens or anyone else's citizens with HIV, but the question I have to ask myself is in active listening before I speak, while not condemning Pastor Wright, is, "What is he feeling? What is the feeling behind the words?"

What I remember is that we were standing on Red Square together in 1992, May Day. All around us, the older Russians were demonstrating to restore communism. By "older Russians" I mean those in their 60s, 70s, 80s. It was the older Russians who wanted communism because they were retired on $9-a-month pensions. So what did an open economy mean? What is a more democratic system? There were about 15 of us who were African American - from the largest African American churches in America; and, four of us that came from European backgrounds. Americans stood out on Red Square on May Day. So the Russian press came running to us saying, "Americans! Americans! Americans!" We said, "Yes." They had cameras and microphones and said, "Look at this." They had a monitor and it was just announced on CNN that the trial of the police officers who had beaten Rodney King without mercy when he was handcuffed and on the ground and the judicial system declared that all of these police officers were innocent. Do you remember that tape? The Russian press was asking, "How do you say this is justice when it's on camera? How does this happen in the Land of the Free?" I was incensed. Cognitively, it hit me as how we're not playing on an equal playing field in this country. But when I looked at Jeremiah Wright and Frank Thomas, they had tears running down their faces. From that day, I was able to identify with my sisters and brothers in a way that I was never able to before. So one of the questions we always have to ask before we speak is, "What are you feeling behind those words?"

Pastor Mike Huckabee, yes, Pastor Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor, I love what he said about this on MSNBC, "As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say, 'That's a terrible statement,' I grew up in a very segregated south and I think you have to cut some slack. And I'm probably going to be the only conservative in America who's going to say something like this, but I'm just telling you. We've got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie, you have to go to the back door into the restaurant and you can't sit out there with everyone else, there's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office, here's where you sit on the bus - and you know what? Sometimes people DO have a chip on their shoulder, and resentment, and you have to just say, 'I probably would, too. In fact, I might have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.'" I love what Mike Huckabee said because Mike Huckabee is slow to speak and he's actively listening and getting in touch with the feeling behind the words.

I've only had one positive letter. I have been called everything, they used the "N" word on me, and it's a word that has never come out of my mouth. Chris Rock and some other folks say that there's never a white person that hasn't uttered that word somewhere. I've never uttered that word, I think it's a terrible word, it should never even be used. But if that's what you want to call me, then I'll be one. I'd rather stand there than some other places. I've been called an MF and everything else. I've been called a Jew-hater in this whole predicament and the Lord of my life is a Jew, isn't that interesting?

I don't care how we feel, or even when someone else is wrong, what we have to remember is any time we strike out to cut or demean someone else's character, we do it to Jesus. It's exactly what the word says in Romans 15:3, "But it is written, the insults of those who insulted you have fallen on me." Think about that a minute. The first thing we have to do is practice active listening. The second thing we have to do is count to 10. Do you see that? Slow to speak. Think it through before you speak. I remember my mother used to say to me, this was a continual statement, "Mike, will you engage the brain before you open the mouth?" Some of the stuff I see when I research these messages you never get to hear. Here's one I want to tell you. Mark Twain put it this way, "When you're angry, count to four, and when you're really angry, swear." I wouldn't recommend it, but it's been known to work in my life sometimes. Never at people though.

Why we need to count to 10, or be slow to speak, is that God is still God. Do you remember Jesus' trial with Pilate and how Pilate kept throwing things at Jesus and Jesus just stood silent before his accusers. I've oftened wondered why? He knew that no matter what he said, it wasn't going to make a difference. He wasn't going to win that argument. His words weren't going to change this situation. But God is still God and sometimes you have to shut up and trust God.

Not only do you have to think it through before you speak, and be slow to speak, but you need to pray. Most people don't understand what the book of Psalms is all about. The book of Psalms is not a book of theology and Christians make a big a mistake when they try to use the Psalms to prove a God truth. I've heard Christians use the Psalms to support positions like war. The Psalms are really just prayers and they show us how to work through a whole range of emotions. Emotions aren't logical. The Psalms are really prayers on how you don't dump your emotions on other people; you dump your emotions on God. A lot of times people say, "How can you believe in a God who is angry at people and destroys people?" Then you read the book of Psalms and David prayed, "Lord, I want you to rip my enemies in two." We know from the teachings of Jesus that that's not the character of God. The Psalms are about David dumping on God, which kept him from tearing his enemies in two. But the problem was, he tore too many enemies in two and God wouldn't let him build the temple. He said, "David, your hands are too bloody." That's what the Psalms do, they teach us in a healthy way. In the staff here, we always say that you're supposed to "complain up, but not out."

David prayed in Psalm 19:14, and this is why we need to be slow to speak, "Let these words of my mouth (before I speak) and this meditation of my heart (that means my feelings toward other people) be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and Redeemer" I'm getting ready to say something here, God, so before I speak, let the words and the thoughts of my heart toward another person be acceptable in your sight. What's going to keep me from doing something stupid - the Lord's my strength and my redeemer.

Isn't James so practical about how Christ works in everyday life? The third action that James is saying is commit to God's right action. Do you see what it says in James 1:20, "Anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." So what we're committed to is not that I get my point of view, or I win, but that I'm committed to God's bigger purpose here, I'm committed to God's right action in this situation. Let's be honest. Most anger is unrighteous anger and most anger is tied to my ego. I want my way in this. You don't understand my way. Ego is edging God out. What matters to God is being right in relationships. That's what righteousness means - right in relationships. First, right in my relationship with God, then right in my relationship with people. This is a Catch 22. If I'm not right in my relationship with people, I can't be right in my relationship with God. Remember, Jesus said if you're coming, like today, to make an offering at the altar, communion, and you have something against a brother or a sister, then go and make it right with the brother or sister before you come and make you're offering to God. With God, being right in our relationships is more important than being right.

I had one positive email last week. This person lives somewhere in Dayton and thanked me for not condemning Jeremiah Wright as a pastor. At the end of that email was this great line, "It is when what we have in conflict is dominant, that what we have in common must be emphasized." I'm going to stand with my brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is no place for us to be divided amongst ourselves. When we have conflict with each other in the church, then we emphasize and stand in what we have in common.

So how can we do that? The Bible is so practical. It's why I spend an hour every morning just to write my perspective in my spirit. How do you deal with anger in a redemptive way? I want you to turn to Ephesians 4:26-27, "In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." The word is saying acknowledge your anger. Anger is not bad. It's what we choose to do with our anger. It says in your anger, don't sin. It doesn't say don't be angry. Anger can be a source of healing. What happened when Carolyn got angry with me in year 20 of our marriage and said you get your stuff together and we live by all of the word in this household or you're out in six months? Healing. There is a righteous focus to anger.

One of the reasons we need to acknowledge our anger is if we don't, it becomes repressed and repressed anger can have several things. It can lead to passive-aggressive behavior, which ruins relationships. It can create depression when we repress and don't speak about our anger. It also says don't let the sun go down while you're still angry. In other words, deal with your anger on a daily basis. I've been guilty of this sometimes. Someone on the staff will do something consistently that I don't feel is right and I don't say anything about it. I let it go, and I let it go, and I let it go. When you finally say something about it, you explode. Even though you might be right in your anger, the way you deal with your anger is not healthy.

I was always the rebellious child, the only one that ever got spanked in my family, and I'm not advocating spanking. I'm the only one that my grandmother ever spanked out of seven grandchildren. Can you believe that? When your grandmother spanks you, that's bad. Carolyn was the obedient child and her older sister was like me. Carolyn never spoke against her parents, she was never grounded, she did everything she was supposed to do. She never disagreed with her mom and dad. So when we got married, she could just let it go. At first, I couldn't understand this. Ultimately, I came to understand that she was letting go of 23 years of stuff. Now she felt she was with a safe man, that she didn't have to worry about my response. Again, men, it's one of the things we need to do with our wives, not just listen to the words, but keep asking that question, "What are you feeling?"

Here's the next thing it says: don't give the devil a foothold. Always, always seek the redemptive response. There are no paybacks here. It's not giving someone what they deserve. Remember, God alone is the judge. The Bible says God is the one who will pay back; we're not to pay back. Seek a redemptive response. Focus the energy of your anger on God's redemptive purpose.

I was working out at the gym yesterday morning and this is the way I found out about Chris Henry, the Bengal receiver. Guys in the gym were standing around talking between sets and one of the guys said, "You know, those professional athletes really tick me off. That Chris Henry..." Chris Henry is a very talented receiver, 24 years old, and they finally fired him after getting arrested the fifth time in two years. Crazy! How do you do that kind of stuff? They were going on and on about athletes that are spoiled and make all this money. I said, "You know what you need to do if you're so angry, is start working with at-risk kids. Take that anger and turn it into a redemptive purpose." One thing that ticks me off is our indifference toward situations like Darfur, Sudan, where genocide is happening. Instead of just being angry when I read the newspaper, I was somewhere again this week speaking about Darfur in Bloomington, Illinois. It was amazing! We had a full house. The place was so crowded, even with eight stations, it took a half hour for everyone to get through communion. Every week I'm somewhere - I'm heading to Plano, Texas, and then Minneapolis, telling people to give all their life to Jesus. Giving all of our life to Jesus means that we will work for the kingdom of righteousness in every dimension to eliminate evil in every way on Planet Earth. The place was so crowded, even with eight stations, it took a half hour for everyone to get through communion. Turn the energy of your anger. In two weeks, Nick Clooney and others are going to be speaking at the Convention Center for a march called Dayton for Darfur. My own son is going to be speaking also. Let's not forget, we're already planning our next trip in November - only a month away from our miracle offering. We've just invested almost $200,000 to expand agriculture. We've added 2,000 families and 11,000 people to our agricultural program so we want to film the harvest.

Isn't the Bible, the word of God, incredible about how it leads us in such practical daily ways. Communion is really about conversion. It's turning to Jesus' grace again, receiving Jesus' life and committing again to follow Jesus in a new way. The Bible says that we should never come to this communion table casually, but we should always examine ourselves and confess our sins. So to your heavenly Father, speak honestly about where you have been negligent, where you have failed, where you're powerless over brokenness. Receive his grace which has no limits; his forgiveness, which can't be taken away; his life and his power. Commit again to follow in a fresh, new way. Pray with me the prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.