Just a Minute

Extracted Verses and Quotes from the Sermon

Biblical Verses

Mark 13:11

“But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”

Memorable Quotes

“When we were growing up, it was myself, my twin brother, and our two sisters. And we used to play one game all the time. We played it on Sabbath evening when the Sabbath was out. We played it when we’re driving in the car together.”

“My father would say, ‘You have one minute to speak without hesitation, repetition or deviation on the subject of…’ Then he’d give me a random subject. It could be polar bears, pineapples, Christmas, car tires, the public swimming pool, or the summer rains. Whatever the topic was, it really didn’t matter.”

“The rules of the game are you must speak without hesitation. So, you cannot say ‘uh’, you cannot have fillers like ‘you know’ or ‘like.’ Those are all fillers. If you say any of those things, then one of the other participants can challenge you.”

“If you have any deviation from the topic… then one of my siblings would challenge you and say, ‘He’s deviating from the topic.’ They would take over the topic for the rest of the minute.”

“You aren’t allowed to repeat any adverbs like ‘quickly’ or ‘softly.’ You aren’t allowed to repeat any nouns, prepositions, or verbs. So, you have to have one minute of speech that’s entirely fresh words that makes complete sense.”

“We learned very, very quickly to think on our feet. We learned that when somebody asks you a question, you need to give yourself 3 to 5 seconds of filler just to say something while you’re frantically processing your answer in your head before you give it.”

“For instance, somebody may say, ‘You have one minute to speak without hesitation, repetition, or deviation on the topic of polar bears, beginning now.’ And you may say something like, ‘I am delighted that you’ve asked me to speak about polar bears. There are Kodiak bears, there are grizzly bears, there are slothlike bears, there are brown bears, but my favorite bears are the polar bears who live in the Arctic area. And of course, there are no polar bears in the Antarctic because Antarctic means no bears in Latin, etc., etc.’”

“You may think to yourself, well, a minute, that’s not long to speak. Well, I can assure you it takes some skill and expertise to speak for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation on a topic that you’re given just like this and off you go.”

“Little did we realize that this was a great preparation for life. There is going to come a time when we have to give an answer for the faith that we hold dear. We are called to defend the faith. We are called to speak forth our testimonies.”

“Jesus says in Mark 13 that do not worry beforehand what you are to speak but words will be given you from on high. And so there is coming a time in the Christian’s life and experience when we have to give articulate answers to questions that we were not expecting.”

“If you’re raising kids or maybe at a coming family event or family gathering, maybe after Thanksgiving meal or a Christmas meal, have a go at this parlor game. Doesn’t cost any money. All you need is a stopwatch, a piece of paper, and a pen to keep the score and off you go.”

“You can talk about random topics and it may be a bit of harmless fun, but you’re preparing your mind. You’re preparing your mind to think very clearly, to think very quickly. You’re learning to articulate ideas on the hoof and off the cuff.”

“You’re learning to speak convincingly and with credibility when you have pretty much zero preparation. This is all preparation for Christians. How we are to share our faith in the final crisis.”

“I’d encourage you to try the game and just see how God sharpens that mind and trains that tongue and softens that heart so that when you speak it will be the Holy Spirit speaking through you.”

“May God bless you as you play just a minute. Have fun.”