Bro. Jones, tell us a little about yourself and your ministry.
I’m called of God, and I thoroughly enjoy doing what God has assigned me to do. He had no difficulty getting me to accept my call to the ministry. I’ve been preaching now about 52 years. I began pastoring in Philadelphia, Mississippi at the age of 25 and continued until age 65. Then I stepped aside, and I am now sharing with congregations what I believe God gave me over a period of years.
What inspired this book?
I grew up hunting. It doesn’t matter how loaded the gun is, to get results you have to pull the trigger. I saw my tongue as a trigger. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
When I thought about all the scriptures that have something to say about the mouth and the heart, I started teaching on the subject. God expects you to come with right words. When right words are spoken, it’s a sign they came from a right place: the heart. When the heart speaks right words to God, it activates and releases your faith. When you say the right thing, it creates an atmosphere where spiritual things can operate. Speaking right words is almost like inviting God’s presence to come where you are because what you say is in harmony with what is written; therefore, God is at home in that environment–all initiated and activated by the tongue.
How do our words affect our future?
Inspiration, motivation and revelation are activated by right words. When the tongue is in line with God’s Word, it starts moving things in the right direction to do for us what needs to be done. Right words release the encouragement in our spirit that wards us against what we don’t want by filling us with what we do want. The more we say of what God said, the more we align our intents and purposes with God.
Why is it important for us to be careful of the words that come out of our mouths?
Speaking without thinking is dangerous. When we speak without thinking, we speak as natural people. When you think and speak, it allows you to be more selective. Why not talk more about what you want to see than what you don’t want to see? If you don’t want to see it, don’t talk about it. There are a number of things our ears don’t need to hear our mouths say, things like “Why me? I can’t take any more.”
Sometimes we’re not comfortable with this teaching as it compares to what the Charismatics teach. How is what you teach different?
I distinguish mere positive speech from saying what the Bible says. Positive preachers and Charismatics did a lot of talking but they had no Bible backing. When you think that by just saying makes things happen, that’s positive confession and it has nothing to do with faith. Faith does not come from nowhere; it is birthed from the Word of God.
Psalm 119:11 says “Thy word have I hid in mine heart…” Your ears should hear you saying what God’s Word says.
Are we talking simply about faith here, or is this something more?
Faith plus. All faith stems from belief in God’s Word — all faith. Verbalizing is what I call “pulling the trigger to make negative life positive.”
Faith comes by hearing. If my mouth speaks what God’s Word supports, I need to hear that. When my ears hear what my mouth says, my spirit can remind me to talk more about what God says.
What individuals in the Bible best illustrate the power of the spoken word of faith?
The woman in Kings would not say, “My son is dead.” She remembered a man who came through and said she would have a son, and she still believed he had contact with God. Rather than say what she saw, she wanted to get to the man who triggered her confidence in the beginning. She believed he had enough leftover faith to see/receive her son alive again. Acts like that bless me.
Can you share some personal examples or testimonies of how words have resulted in success in your life and ministry?
I can recall once when a gentleman visited the church. On his third visit, I turned to someone and said, “Let us agree that this is his Sunday.” Sure enough, he was baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost. One lady, whose husband got saved before she did, got angry and physically struck him. Two weeks later she went to one of our tent meetings. I was singing songs that were loaded with positive words. She came under conviction and she told her husband, “I am not going to work until I get the Holy Ghost.” He brought her to my house. She turned out to be one of the most enthusiastic hearers of God’s Word; even going as far as to come from the back of the sanctuary to shine the preachers’ shoes when they were preaching. She literally saw to it that the shoes of those who brought the Gospel were beautiful.
What are some practical ways that our readers can put into practice this important principle?
A wealth of scriptures is in the Book. The more positive things you have in your mind, the more likely you are to speak in positive terms. What better way to program what you say than by God’s Word? 1 Peter 3:10 says “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.”
The more of God’s Word you have inside, the more likely you are to address situations in the light of the scriptures. While some people call it “positive speech,” you will call it “rightful use of the tongue.” No need in telling a bear you have a gun loaded with buckshot; you’ve got to pull the trigger!
How to order your book, cost, etc.
The title is The Key To Your Future Is In Your Mouth. It can be ordered at avoicecrying.com. The price is13.95 including shipping.