James

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a…

The epistle of James has often been referred to as the “Proverbs of the New Testament”. It’s a fair description because this epistle contains a wealth of wisdom and thought about godly living. It is easy to misinterpret the book of James because, on the surface, he seems to be advocating justification by works. If this book is approached from the perspective of law keeping, then it is simply a list of “do’s and don’ts”. If, however, it is approached from…

A thick, smoky haze has hung over East Tennessee the past few weeks as wildfires have run rampant across our beautiful mountains. Thousands of acres of land have been destroyed, roads have been closed, and tens of thousands of people have experienced respiratory problems or had to alter their lives because of the smoke. The cause of these fires has been largely attributed to arson. It is hard to imagine that most, or all, of these devastating fires, were caused…

As I read James 2, I am reminded of our Lord’s words to the Pharisees in Matthew 23: 23. “For you… have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done…” James is instructing rather than condemning here, but he reaches right to the heart of Christianity. James deals with our propensity to judge one person more worthy than another as we walk through our daily lives. We don’t view people…

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you   But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James 1:5-8   Let me…