8-8-08 Gossip-Free Challenge Begins!
Tomorrow is the beginning of an eight-day "gossip-free" challenge that is sweeping the nation, thanks to Pastor Kevin Hester of The Sanctuary Baptist Church in Coloma, Michigan.
If you think about it, it is a great idea as a challenge. Can you go even one day without either speaking gossip or listening to it? Not if you watch television, read magazines and newspapers! Most of the media is built upon gossip!
Pastor Hester is challenging his congregation and Christians across the country not to participate in gossip for at least eight days. The campaign is called, "Gossip Free" and is set to begin on Friday, Aug 8, 2008.
Gossip is a timeless problem that is warned about in the Bible, fills the pages of countless magazines and even glamorized on television shows like "Gossip Girl."
Pastor Hester believes there is nothing attractive about gossip.He says gossip is devastating and the Bible says we are not to do it. He points out that it is listed right next to murder in the "seven things God hates".
Hester and his church have distributed some 2,000 "Gossip Free" bracelets along with his "Gossip Free" booklet.
"We're challenging people to go eight days, from speaking gossip and from listening to it," he said.
While many believe that gossip is just harmful chatter, Hester begs to differ. He says it can be like cancer. If you don't take care of it early, it just grows and grows until ultimate destruction occurs.
Response to Hester's "Gossip Free" challenge has been tremendous and has attracted national media attention, and scores of emails from people across the country.
"Every few hours I check my cell phone and I'll read emails and one came across how a lady who's been a chronic gossiper for 40 years was just so encouraged by the movement that we're doing right now that it's changing her life," Hester said.
Residents of Coloma know going gossip free is not going to be easy.
Jennifer Moore said, "It's hard to keep from it completely, but this reminds me everyday."
Moore's 14-year-old son, Joey sees gossip as a sin.
He sees gossip as a sin, but points out God forgives sins. He says if you are ready to be forgiven for them he thinks the first step would be try going gossip free.
Some local businesses are also embracing the challenge to rid their workplaces of toxic talk.
Rebekah Trosper is a member of Hester's church and a department manger at the Benton Harbor Walmart. She introduced the "Gossip Free" challenge to her co-workers.
"We have associates trying challenging each other trying to see who's going to gossip first," she said. "They are taking it seriously. It's already reduced the gossip in the store."
So, my question to you, dear reader, is: Are YOU willing to take the 8-day "gossip free" challenge? You might want to check out the Gossip-Free Site. But remember, the start date is 8-8-08.
APRIL LORIER - So. California. An award-winning poet, inspirational author and speaker. A survivor of both child abuse and adult domestic abuse, April inspires women to be all that God designed them to be! She first gained recognition as a children's rights crusader while successfully fighting for the passage of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), which was signed into law by Ronald Reagan.
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