You Can’t Say it

I was born twice in New Zealand, and even after 19 years of living in the United States I still have trouble with my accent. My big problem is with the letter “r.” I often travel with an associate (Mark Spence), and when I introduce him as “Mark,” people often say “Did you say, ‘Muck’”?

The other day I had to make a call and ask for a man named “Art.” When I asked for Art, he said, “Who?” I was saying his name and he didn’t even recognize it.

Before you laugh, there are certain words that American’s can’t say. One is the Down-under colloquialism “G’dday.” You may think that you can say it and sound authentic, but, believe me, anyone from Australia and New Zealand can hear the difference.

Authenticity of accent is so real, New Zealander’s used the name “Blenheim” as a password in the Second World War. German’s can’t say it correctly. They automatically emphasize the “heim” as "Blenhighm." In the Bible, Israel did a similar thing. They used a password that the enemy couldn’t say, and when they detected it, they killed him.

It doesn’t take long to pick a lack of genuineness in the Kingdom of God. When a Christian has even a few minutes fellowship with someone who professes faith in Christ, it’s not hard to figure that something isn’t right. This is because becoming a Christian isn’t a change of mind. It’s not an adherence to religious belief or dogma. It’s a complete rebirth. It’s not a wax and polish, a tune-up, or a new paint job. It’s a brand new car (I have trouble with that word) . . . vehicle. That’s what astounds me to the extreme about Christianity. A true convert experiences the power of the invisible God giving him (or her) a brand new heart. When we talk about the “heart,” some (atheists) think we are referring to the blood-pumping machine. But the dictionary definition helps. The heart used in this way is “the center of the total personality, esp. with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion . . . esp. as contrasted to the head as the center of the intellect.”

So if you think that the language we speak sounds foreign, seek God with all your heart. Simply apologize to Him for doing what you know in your heart is wrong. Then turn from those sins and put your trust into Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation. Then you will know in your heart of hearts that there is a God who gives eternal life to those that call upon Him, and you will know in the very center of your total personality that there’s a real Heaven, and a very real Hell.