(Blog) Abracadabra: Good or Evil? - Ep. 998 - October 19, 2026

Abracadabra: Good or Evil? What Our Words Can Do

Our discussion of "abracadabra" centers on a biblical concern: words can create good or cause harm. In Episode 998 of The Smith and Rowland Show, we consider the claim that the word comes from a Hebrew or Aramaic phrase meaning "I create as I speak."

What you say about yourself and others belongs in that discussion, too. The conversation begins with a power cord joke before turning to the responsibility we carry when we speak.

A Power Cord Conference and "One Accord"

The opening joke imagines a conference where different kinds of power cords think they're better than one another. The first answer is that everyone has received "a measure of power."

Then comes another solution: cut off the different ends, give every cord the same connection, and they can all come into "one accord."

It's the kind of wordplay that prompts laughter and an accusation that someone has gone over the cliff. Alongside the familiar Kingdom Prophetic Society introduction, it sets the tone for a conversation that soon becomes serious.

Words can make us laugh because we recognize their meanings and hear the connections between them. Our deeper concern is what happens when speech deceives, wounds, or gives voice to faith.

Communication Can Carry Harm

With so much happening through news media, the internet, and podcasts, we're surrounded by communication. During the conversation, we connect the biblical language of the enemy's darts with the phrase "trafficking communications."

That's how we frame the concern: messages travel, and the words they carry matter. Communication itself doesn't have to be harmful. However, it can become a means of accusation, deception, or destruction.

Because we communicate through words, our speech deserves more attention than we often give it. Jeff describes a personal conviction that the Holy Spirit is addressing this issue in his own life, and perhaps in others' lives as well.

"The hardest thing you'll ever do is discipline what you say."

That admission matters. We're discussing a struggle we share, not a standard we've already mastered.

Peter Connects Good Days With Guarded Speech

The passage from 1 Peter gives the conversation a clear foundation:

"He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile."

Peter connects loving life and seeing good days with restraint in speech. Evil words and deceitful language belong directly in that discussion.

We acknowledge how difficult that restraint can be. A person may feel they're making progress in matters of the heart, yet still struggle with a "flapping tongue."

Our point is that speech has consequences. We describe this as a spiritual law, something a person reaps rather than a test graded on a curve. Scripture returns to the subject repeatedly because what we say carries weight.

Jeff's concern is personal: the Holy Spirit's conviction reaches into ordinary conversation, including the words spoken without much thought.

James Describes the Tongue's Destructive Reach

James gives some of Scripture's strongest descriptions of harmful speech. We read his account of the tongue as a fire, a world of iniquity, and an unruly evil full of deadly poison.

Although the tongue is small, its effects can spread far beyond the moment of speaking. James compares it to a little fire that kindles a great matter. He also warns that a person who appears religious but doesn't bridle the tongue deceives his own heart.

That warning puts speech inside the practice of faith. Religious activity doesn't cancel the damage done by an unrestrained mouth.

Other passages show the importance of speech in different ways. Philippians declares that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus also tells his followers to speak to the mountain.

Together, these passages lead us to take seriously both what we say and how we say it. The biblical emphasis is too consistent to dismiss as a minor concern.

Language Runs Through the Biblical Story

Babel and Pentecost

At the Tower of Babel, God confuses language to interrupt a human plan outside the boundaries of his will. In our discussion, that event shows how shared language can enable people to pursue a common purpose.

We contrast Babel with Acts 2. At Pentecost, we describe the Holy Ghost's work as a unifying work through language, allowing people to understand the wonder and mystery of Jesus Christ.

One event disrupts human cooperation. The other brings understanding through the work of God. Both place language near the center of what happens.

Creation and the Word Made Flesh

Genesis adds another part of the discussion: God speaks creation into existence. We connect that account with John's declaration that the Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word became flesh.

Alan emphasizes that God's creative word has continuing, eternal value. Creation continues beyond the moment in which God first speaks.

Because Scripture also says we're made in God's image, we ask whether our own words may have effects that continue after we've spoken them. We don't claim to understand the full extent of that connection. However, it contributes to our conviction that speech can be creative as well as destructive.

Changing Definitions Changes Understanding

The Need for Stable Meanings

A major concern in the conversation is what happens when a familiar word receives a different definition. People may continue using the same term while no longer sharing the same understanding.

We connect that concern with dispensational Bible interpretation. As we describe it, this approach respects the laws of language rather than freely assigning meanings to words and passages.

Jeff recalls an older preacher, possibly Dr. Tom Malone, who said his family didn't allow slang when he was growing up. In that household, "cool" referred to temperature. It wasn't a term someone could redefine at will.

The example leads to a broader point about communication between generations. When definitions shift, people can use familiar vocabulary and still fail to understand each other.

Term Switching and Hidden Meanings

We also discuss what we call "term switching": taking an established term, assigning it another meaning, and persuading people to accept that new definition. We identify this as a concern in the formation of cults and in distorted religious teaching.

The conversation extends to slang and some language in rap music. We express concern that certain terms can carry coded meanings understood by one group but missed by others.

In that context, we describe deliberate deception through language as a form of witchcraft. Our concern is the spiritual use of words to conceal meaning or redirect understanding.

Names and Symbols Carry Meaning

Names provide another example of language's importance. We discuss how, in Hebrew biblical culture, a name could carry meaning tied to a person's identity or circumstances.

A name wasn't chosen only because its sound was pleasing. Its meaning mattered, and we suggest that people could live in ways connected to the name they received.

That helps explain our concern about preserving meaning. If God attaches significance to a name or word, changing its definition isn't a casual matter. During the conversation, we describe changing the meaning of God's language as blasphemous.

The rainbow raises a related concern about symbols. We discuss it as a sign of God's covenant and mercy, then express concern about its changed public associations.

Here, we're addressing two connected issues: a word's definition and a symbol's association. Both affect what people understand when they hear or see something familiar.

The "Abracadabra" Explanation We Discuss

Alan introduces "abracadabra" through a memory of an older preacher who preached a message about the word. That unexpected subject led him to look into its meaning.

During the conversation, he cites an explanation connecting "abracadabra" with an Aramaic or Hebrew phrase. The meaning he gives is "I create as I speak."

We discuss that proposed origin as an example of a word whose association, in our view, has shifted toward magic and witchery. Alan compares that shift with the earlier discussion about the rainbow.

Our purpose is to examine the claim and its connection to speech. We don't encourage listeners to go around saying "abracadabra," and we don't claim that the word appears in the Bible. Alan explicitly clarifies that point.

We also compare the explanation with "amen," which we describe as meaning "so be it." The connection we draw concerns the weight attached to spoken words.

The conversation returns to a larger question: if words can have creative effects, what are we doing with the words we use every day? Alan acknowledges that he doesn't fully understand how that works. At the same time, he confesses his own failure to speak with enough care.

Why Harmless-Sounding Language Still Concerns Us

The familiar use of "abracadabra" in a magic performance gives the discussion another direction. A performer says the word, and something pleasant or desirable supposedly appears.

We express concern about the way something associated with magic can enter ordinary life through an appealing presentation. In our discussion, that's how deception can gain acceptance: it offers something that looks good.

That concern includes children playing with terms whose associations they may not understand. We resist the assumption that a familiar expression deserves no attention simply because it appears harmless.

At the same time, our emphasis remains on the words we speak rather than on promoting or repeatedly using "abracadabra." The example brings us back to the Christian responsibility to recognize that speech can build and destroy.

We also observe that Scripture gives extensive attention to destructive speech. The warnings about the tongue leave little room for treating language as inconsequential.

Good Works, Good Words, and What They Reproduce

"After Its Kind"

Jeff recalls teaching from Genesis 1 and its repeated phrase "after its kind." He connects that principle with Jesus' statement that his followers would do his works and greater works.

The application in our conversation is that good works reproduce. Good works can lead to great works, and those works can produce greater ones.

We then apply the same thought to speech. Speaking good things can produce further good speech and further good results. Life produces life.

This is another place where Jeff acknowledges conviction in his own life. Understanding the principle doesn't mean we consistently discipline our language according to it.

The Words We Speak About Ourselves

Alan brings the discussion closer to home by considering self-assessment. Rejection and hurt can affect the way people speak about their identity.

He suggests that some of the harmful declarations people live under may come through their own words. We discuss the possibility of speaking a curse over ourselves by repeating damaging judgments about who we are.

The concern follows the same principle we've been considering throughout the conversation. If words have consequences, that includes the words we direct toward ourselves.

Faith Language and Calling Things Forth

Our discussion of Romans centers on the phrase about calling things that are not as though they were. We connect that language with faith and the creative possibilities of speech.

However, we include a clear qualification: what a person calls forth must be known to be of God. The discussion doesn't give unrestricted authority to declare anything a person wants.

As we explain our understanding, faith recognizes that something isn't yet present and speaks about it as though it is. We consider the transforming power implied in that language.

Then we return to the more uncomfortable side of the subject. If speech can have creative effects, harmful words may also produce consequences.

That leads to personal reflection about what we've spoken into reality that we shouldn't have, and what we've spoken that belonged there. The conversation holds both possibilities together: words of faith and words that damage.

Preserving the Words of Scripture

Why We Continue to Use the King James Bible

Because definitions matter, Bible translation becomes part of the conversation. We explain why we regard the King James Bible as a trustworthy translation.

We don't claim it's perfect, and we acknowledge that other translations exist. Our confidence comes through our study and our experience of the Holy Spirit using it.

Alan gives a personal testimony. At 73, approaching 74, he can look back on the Holy Spirit's work through that translation in his own life. His point is direct: he recognizes the Holy Spirit's use of it, so he has no reason to dismiss it.

The Risk of Trying to Improve What God Gives

Jeff connects this with a broader concern: trying to improve something God has given can damage it. Making something more current or culturally relevant doesn't automatically preserve its meaning.

We refer to Revelation's warning about altering the words of the book. That warning supports our insistence that difficulty understanding a passage doesn't justify changing its words.

This also explains the seriousness of our earlier comments about definitions. If a translation changes the meaning of God's words, we regard that as more than a stylistic issue.

Our concern is faithfulness to what God has said, even when understanding requires patience.

Remembering Faith and Criticism at Shiloh

Praying With Expectation

We recall the revival days at Shiloh as a time of strong faith and repeated answers to prayer. Expectation was high because we had seen so many things happen.

Alan describes answers that went beyond what we asked, sometimes to the point that we became almost afraid to ask for more. We remember speaking and praying about things that weren't yet present, then seeing them come forth.

These are personal memories of that season. They help explain why the relationship between prayer, faith, and speech carries such weight for us.

Answering Accusation With Prayer

Those meetings also drew criticism and accusations. We remember people calling us fake and speaking against what we believed God was doing.

Our private joke was that someone who came to tell us off might become our best friend in about two days. Instead of returning the curse, we'd pray for that person. We recall occasions when hostility gave way to friendship, weeping, and reconciliation.

At the same time, we remember criticism and judgment working against the revival. Words of faith accompanied the meetings, while other words opposed them.

We describe accusation as a recurring strategy of the enemy. In our experience, spoken criticism could damage people and help bring a work to a halt.

A Prayer Against the Weight of Unkind Words

The episode closes with a prayer for listeners who have carried the effects of cruel speech. Alan names several places those words may have come from: childhood, school, work, a spouse, or a friend.

The prayer asks, in Jesus' name, that those unkind words lose their hold and fall to the ground.

"They must fall to the ground and have no prophetic meaning in anybody's life."

We also acknowledge God's words over the people listening, including calls to ministry that hurtful speech may have hindered. The prayer asks that those damaging declarations no longer hold people back.

This brings the discussion into a personal setting. The words under consideration include things people remember hearing years later, as well as judgments they've continued repeating about themselves.

Our response is prayer that rejects the authority of those unkind words and acknowledges what God has spoken.

Taking Responsibility for the Words We Speak

The "abracadabra" discussion brings us back to responsibility for speech. Peter's instruction, James's warnings, and our own experiences all press us to take the tongue seriously.

We acknowledge that we haven't always done that well. Our closing prayer gives voice to the same conviction: harmful words shouldn't determine a person's future, and God's words deserve our trust.

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