For we all stumble in many ways (James 3:2, ESV). What a refreshing admission, especially considering James’s emphasis on behavior! Still, our acknowledgment of the real need not dim our belief in God’s ideal for us as His representatives on earth. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, … Continue reading –>
Read James 3:1. What important point is he making here about accountability? Teachers in the church and in Christian schools have an especially heavy responsibility because they shape minds and hearts in ways that will last for years. This effect includes the rippling impact they will have on many others beyond their immediate sphere of … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: James 3:1-12; Deut. 6:6-7;Luke 9:51-56; Prov. 16:27; Matt. 7:16-18. Memory Text: For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned (Matt. 12:37, NKJV). Words hold tremendous power. A word fitly spoken (Prov. 25:11)-praise, poetry, stories can shape lives in profound ways. What we … Continue reading –>
Told to Enoch Iglesias by Victor Vergara I was born into a very poor family in a little town north of Medellín, Colombia. Our poverty carved out a hard life for us. Our town has no adequate water supply, no electricity, no telephone. Our houses are made of mud pressed over bamboo poles, for we … Continue reading –>
Further Study: “When self is put entirely away, then you can obtain a new and rich experience, you will discern your own imperfections as you lie low at the foot of the cross, and as you view the perfections of Christ, self will sink into insignificance. Christ will appear to the discerning eye the perfection … Continue reading –>
This blog will depart from my usual gentle, winsome tone. I’ve avoided using my posts as a bully pulpit, but I can no longer forbear. It’s time for a stern rebuke regarding our spiritual condition. Earth’s probation will soon screech to a halt when Jesus comes with his glorious retinue of angels, and I must … Continue reading –>
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? (James 2:25, NKJV). Read Joshua 2:1-21. How do we understand this example, again in the context of salvation by faith alone? According to Hebrews 11:31, the inhabitants of Jericho did not believe. Most modern … Continue reading –>
One hot July afternoon at an Oklahoma Camp meeting, I visited a friend in her tent. Just outside sat my friend’s 13-year-old daughter with a friend she had just met. This was her friend’s first camp meeting. He had come with his grandfather who just became a Christian. He did not know what to think about all the meetings … Continue reading –>
[Thought questions for Faith that Works November 4, 2014] 1. Faith without works is dead. James didn’t mince words, did he? Why did he speak so boldly, so plainly, about how faith is as useless as a dead body in the Christian faith? If the doctor-preacher in the story at the beginning of the lesson had … Continue reading –>
Read James 2:21-24 and compare it with Romans 4:1-5, Rom 4:22-24. How is the faith of Abraham described in these texts, and on what is justification based? Interestingly, both James and Paul quote Genesis 15:6, but they seem to arrive at opposite conclusions. According to James, Abraham was justified by works, but Paul seems, in … Continue reading –>
Key Thought : Faith and works cannot be separated. We can’t be saved by our works, but without them, our faith is useless. [Lesson Plan for Faith That Works November 3, 2014] 1. Have a volunteer read James 2:18. a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text … Continue reading –>
If works are absent, there is only one other way to prove the genuineness of one’s faith: by orthodoxy. If I believe the right things, then I must have faith, right? Read 2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Timothy 2:4; James 5:19-20; 1 Peter 1:22; and 1 John 3:18-19. What do these verses tell us about how … Continue reading –>
