No Other Gospel...

Paul in this week's passage used some very powerful choice words in speaking with the churches in Galatia. In part two of his salutation, he offers a warning against a false gospel.

 According to Barna Research “One of the most frequently used phrases in Christian circles is "the gospel." What is amazing is that very few adults can actually define what this term means. It could either refer to its literal translation, "good news;" or to the perspective that salvation is available only through the sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ and a person’s acceptance of Christ as their savior.

Among born-again Christians, only 60% correctly identified at least one meaning of “the gospel.” We see that the problem goes even deeper though in that we are facing a Biblically illiterate culture. Research shows fewer than half of all adults can name the four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. Finally, 60 % of Americans can't name even five of the Ten Commandments. These are but a handful of the stats that are out there. 

This week we start to see the core of this letter in that the people at Galatia have turned away from the life-changing truth of God’s word to a false gospel. 

Paul’s message for us is that the real gospel stands alone, it doesn’t need any additions because it alone is what guides us to saving faith in Christ. The gospel alone is what brings about life change. Thus perverting or distorting the gospel is proven detrimental.

Paul is telling the churches if anyone including himself comes in and preaches a new gospel drag them out by their hair and let them be damned. Ouch...

Then he begins the transition to the next paragraph in verse ten which happens to be one of my favorite passages. Such wise words to live by.

Check it out for yourself – Hope to see you Sunday!

Galatians 1:6-10 

(6) I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— (7) not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to change the good news about the Messiah. (8) But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! (9) As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!

(10) For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

The Freedom of Grace

Short post this week as we are getting ready to start a new series working our way through the book of Galatians. Over the next 15 week's we will be looking to redefine everything using the gospel of Jesus Christ as our cipher. As we lay our foundation this week in Galatians 1:1-5 we see some critical information needed for us to construct the filter which we will use in living our lives. 

"Paul, an apostle—not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me: To the churches of Galatia.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

(Galatians 1:1-5)

In these first five verses, we see our author (Paul, an apostle). We recognize the authority by which he writes (not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father). We see Paul's Associates  (all the brothers who are with me). We also see the audience (the churches of Galatia). Verses 3-5 provide further insight with Pauls asperation (Grace to you and peace) and Christ's sacrifice (who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age). Finally, the need for our submission to God's sovereignty in our salvation (according to the will of our God and Father).

Who would have thought there would be that much packed into these five short verses! We will be digging in with more detail this Sunday. I hope you will join us as we walk this journey together! 

See you Sunday! 

Faith that Prays

This week we close out our 12 week series in the book of James looking at James 5:13-20.

I love how James starts off this section, keep in mind he knows exactly what they are going through so these questions are more rhetorical in nature – James is saying if you are suffering? PRAY! Are you happy? PRAY! Are you sick? PRAY!

James is reminding us that our first response should always be God, upward…

Prayer is not measured by its length—it is measured by its depth. It has been said that faith moves mountains, but prayer moves God…

Unfortunately, all too often He is not our first response… we seek to find comfort from other people, or we try to take things into our own hands… Think about it... You should be so in love with God that your first instinct in the good times and the bad is to call out to him... 

For many Christians, the extent of their prayer life is at the dinner table. “Good food, Good meat, Good God, let’s eat...” And you know what the devil doesn’t mind those types of prayers, because they go nowhere. Just empty words uttered in ritual...

If we want to be effective-if we want to experience something powerful…it comes through prayer.  And James says, stop and pray! The person you need to talk to is God!

“The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.” (James 5:16b)

You know when you are just madly in love with someone and you have good news, and you want to tell them… or if you’ve got bad news, you want to tell them first… That’s the idea behind what James is saying… the idea that God is supposed to be the very center, the core of your life…

Simply put, if I’m going through a trial, I should come before Him, before anyone else… and if things are great I am to just immediately burst out in praise because I realize it all came from Him… When it comes to trials and difficult times, we often tend to throw in the towel before we throw up our prayers.

Isn’t it amazing that our prayers can move the heart of God who created the universe?

…so let’s talk about prayer… See ya Sunday! 

Concerning Patience

We live in an on demand society... Want to watch a certain movie? Not to worry, open up any number of streaming services, pay a few bucks and you have your movie... No movie rental store, no need to have a huge stack of VHS or DVDs laying around...

Likewise, want to research a topic? Just pull out the phone, pick up the iPad, or open the computer up and ask Siri or Google depending on your preference... In 10 minutes on the computer you can amass more data than you could in a week in the library...

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking these things... None of these things are problems on their own but what they and numerous other things just like it have cost us is the ability to wait. We have lost the discipline of patience....

James addresses the need for patience in this weeks passage 5:7-12... He gives us two little words that bring us so much trouble... "be patient..." 

Therefore, brothers, be patient until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth and is patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.

Brothers, do not complain about one another, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge stands at the door!

Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience. See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. Your “yes” must be “yes,” and your “no” must be “no,” so that you won’t fall under judgment.

Twice in verse 7, once in 8 and 10 and then verse 11 talks about enduring which comes as a result of patience it is pretty clear what the theme of these four verses is... Our need to "be patient" until the Lord comes....  

James gives us three great examples in the farmer, the prophet, and the Lord's servant Job. Hope to see you on Sunday as we will spend time looking at each of these in more detail. 

However, I want to leave you a nugget to chew on til then...  In each of these pictures of patience we are called not just to wait upon the Lord but also to honor the Lord in what we do while we wait.

What are you doing while you wait?   

See ya Sunday!

It's Not a Money Problem...

This week’s passage in James (5:1-6) if you were to read it without context and without careful examination might lead you to believe that James is condemning those who are wealthy… 

But you must as always read the passage carefully and place it into context of what else he has said and how he has said it…

James in the first six verses of chapter five is declaring the fact that judgment is coming and lists off four “crimes” of the wealthy which were hoarded wealth (2-3); unpaid wages (4); self-indulgence (5); murder of innocent people (6).

This is big, but in reading this we need to recognize a few things…

There is very good reason to believe that the individuals that James is referring to are not believers. If you remember the book of James is written to the believer but here James does not refer to the rich as “brothers” as he does in other places in his letter, nor does he call on them to repent and change their ways. Rather they are instructed to “weep and wail” because of the judgment they will undergo.

Now we know well and good that there are wealthy people who love the Lord. This passage is however not speaking of them, though it should be a warning to them as it should be to all of us.

As we further examine what “rich men” are described as throughout the rest of scripture and overwhelmingly you find that the same judgment holds in both the Old and New Testament… Why?

Because it becomes a matter of trust… The rich man all too often trusts in his wealth to resolve his problems rather than trusting in the Lord to provide.

It becomes a matter of priority… The rich man’s priority all too often is to his fortune and to the increase of it…

Finally, and ultimately it becomes a matter of the heart… The rich men that James is describing have lost their hearts to their riches. They love their wealth more than they love God... This is why Jesus said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven (Luke 18). They are trusting in the wealth to save them, prioritizing their fortunes over God and will face eternal judgment in the end...

So that leaves the question only you can answer but that your fruit will show of where is your heart?

Hope to see you Sunday!

Doing Right Because It's Right...

This week James is going to be putting a bookend on the discussion that we began in chapter 3 regarding the tongue. 

Now I’m just going to put this out there this morning – James has some very difficult words for us to obey today. His words as we read them will sound very familiar alongside the other teachings we have heard over the past six weeks, they echo the teachings of Christ in the New Testament, of Paul in his letters and the lessons we have taught throughout our lives. I mean I know I can’t be the only one who was ever told if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything all?

Yet each day we are faced with this choice our words like a tiny spark that sets a raging fire if we fail to engage our filters we will fail. If we fail to engage in our actions we fail…

Check out what James says – (4:11-17)

“Don’t criticize one another, brothers. He who criticizes a brother or judges his brother criticizes the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.”

You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.”

This passage is so full of meat we could spend months digging out the but there are a couple that I want to share with you this morning and you can join us Sunday morning at church or via Facebook to go deeper!

James is discussing with his flock about an issue that has erupted in the church… 

The problem? People inside the church who were seeking to perpetuate their own standing in the church…

Unfortunately, today’s church we are no less immune from this sort of thing than was the church that James was writing to so long ago.

It’s all too common to hear the news of churches that have split over secret meetings and false accusations…

When this passage begins in verse 11 this idea of speaking against one another we see is a very major offense. What James IS talking about slander, backbiting, backstabbing and evil criticism in the attempt to place undue, undeserved, unfounded, unfair judgement on a fellow Christian. 

What James IS NOT talking about is the biblical model we have from Matthew 18 of going to that person one on one to discuss a problem… This was a negative, sinful approach… This is the behind the back, secretive power plays that judges peoples motives…

James is saying (and saying it rather strongly) that this behavior is wrong…

James doesn’t just stop there by saying our words and use of can be deadly but finishes this passage by saying our lack of doing the right thing, whether by word or deed, is in fact sin…

And friends, it isn’t doing the right thing based on your opinion it is the right thing based on God’s Word! Just because you feel something should be a certain way, just because you believe with all your heart something is right (or wrong) if you are not in agreement with God’s Word then you are sinning!

Let’s be on the same page as God! Let’s engage our filters on our words, and engage our lives to do what’s right according to his word!

Hope to see you Sunday!!!

Pride Produces?

This week as we explore the first half of James 4 we are faced with a painful truth... 

That is that the source of all of our problems, the source of all of our wars, and all of our suffering, is not from an outside enemy rather from within us... 

James says: "What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from the cravings that are at war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires."

Reading this I am drawn back to James 1 when he tells us that "each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death." 

James is bringing his readers back to this principal he introduce earlier reminding them that the source of our temptations is our "own evil desires" here in chapter 4 James is expanding this concept to say that nothing less than our own sinful pride is what causes fights among us... 
Human nature is that we naturally want to shift the blame for our mistakes... We can do no wrong... It's always the other person... Always the other church... Often we wrongly even seek to blame Satan for our failures... 

But James is saying hold on a second... You don't have because you don't ask, and when you do ask you don't get what you are asking for not because God doesn't love you but because you are asking with the wrong motives... you are seeking to glorify yourself not God... 

We know that based on God's word world peace isn't going to happen till  Christ returns and sets things right but there can be peace among believers and we can be the instruments of peace in our families, churches, communities... 

How? By recognizing the principle in which James is teaching and applying it to our lives... 

We must avoid allowing pride to sneak in and destroy us from within!

Let's be peacemakers today! 

See ya Sunday!

Live Well, Live Wisely, Live Humbly...

Micah 6:8 says – “Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” (HCSB)

We see that sentiment echoed here in James 3:13-18, where James is asking what I think is a rhetorical question of his flock James says:

“Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.” (MSG)

These are some pretty powerful words from James –  he is telling us that wisdom isn’t of this earth that wisdom real wisdom only comes from one source and that the mark of real wisdom is that it is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere…

If you are looking at this list and thinking well I think can cover a few of these but the rest I’m not so sure of… I don’t think I am all that impartial or all that open to reason… or maybe I cover all of them but fall short on the purity… James says you will ONLY enjoy the results if you put in the work…

Let’s work together to see the kingdom of God prosper! Let’s work together to grow in our Christian walk!

See ya Sunday! 

The Power of a Single Word

As I studied our passage for this week (James 3:1-12)  study led me to reflect on what the Bible had to say about words... If you start in the beginning  in Genesis - as you read the creation account you find that God uses words to do some amazing things - Genesis 1:3 says "then God said..." God spoke... He used words and if you notice as you reading the rest of the chapter each time God created something we see these words "then God said..." 

God created the heavens and the earth the power of His words...  By the power of THE Word!

God also uses words to give us commands - Genesis 2:16-17 tells says "and the LORD God commanded the man..." here God was instructing Adam, his crowning creation, which trees from the garden he was free to eat of...

Genesis also reveals to us that God isn't the only one who can use words...

We see in Genesis 3 that Satan can use words as well... Genesis 3:1 "now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, "you can't eat from any tree in the garden?" 

It is important recognize the devious nature of Satan here, his very words distort and twist God's Word...

Words both good and evil are powerful and this brings us to James 3 where we are reminded of the powerful truth that God and Satan are not the only ones who use words...

We should choose our words carefully as they have the power to build up or tear down lives in a single breath...

Hope to see you Sunday!

Living Faith

James demonstrates near perfect exegetical form in James 2:14-26… He gives his main point in vs 14 and then illustrates it in vs 15-17. Verses 18-19 offer some constructive objections to his point and then in verses 20-26 he closes reiterating his point with two examples from the Old Testament. Finally closing restating his main point in vs 26. His teaching is echoed in the letters of Paul and in the very words of Christ...

The point that James makes is that faith that is not followed by actions is a lifeless faith.

Now to be clear -  James isn’t saying that you are saved by your works rather that if your actions are a result of where your faith is… remember our theme?

What you do = what you really believe! 

If you truly have placed your faith in Christ, good works are a natural outflow of that faith…

No good works? Check your faith…

Friends, I have no desire to be a hellfire and damnation preacher, but even more so I am terrified at the prospect that people could be sitting there lost as could be… deceived by their own minds… thinking that their knowledge of God, that their belief in a higher power is sufficient to save them...

It breaks my heart when I see people die right here in my own community, people with no fruit of faith in Christ, and yet our church-filled community concludes that surely they are with God in heaven…

We must stop this madness… We must tell the honest truth no matter how painful!

It’s just not true!

Now let me be clear on this – no one knows the innermost secrets of a person’s heart, nor are we the final judge… That is reserved for God alone…

But friends God’s word is clear: if you claim faith but there is no fruit is you are nothing more than a dead corpse…

There’s no life there… instead, there’s death in hell for all eternity…

Simply calling yourself a Christian, or simply having raised your hand years ago making a “decision” to follow Jesus is not worth anything…

A faith that does nothing is dead…

Growing up in a Christian home isn’t enough…

Going to church isn’t enough…

A real, vital, genuine faith in Jesus will express itself in a life of godly work.

What is your faith doing in your life today?

The problem of prosoplasia...

This week we are starting into James Chapter 2 and right off the bat we are confronted with a significant problem plaguing the church. That is the problem of prosoplasia (pros-o-pol-ape-see'-ah).

This problem is as bad as it sounds... It is like a cancer that has systematically infected and eaten away at the church over the past 2000 years. Really if you dig deeper you find God warning against this problem in Leviticus 19 so we know that the church is not unique in this struggle but that it is a plague on mankind... 

Prosoplasia is the Greek transliteration for the word partiality or favoritism... 

Now before you launch in on attacks let me say this - as with most things there is a time and a place for favoritism... We have our favorite sports teams... (Go Gators!) We have our favorite tv shows or movies... We have our favorite restaurants... 

That isn't the type of favoritism that I am talking about although if you allow it to it can turn into that... 

Now this text doesn’t just apply to poverty. The reason is because of the way this word “partiality” is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

This word in the New Testament literally means “receive according to the face,” or in other words, to make judgments about people based on external appearance.

If you look at Romans 2 you find Paul is dealing with an ethnic and racial (and religious) issue, namely Greeks and Jews.  He says that both are liable to judgment because of their sin. Then gives the reason in verse 11: “For God shows no partiality”—which is the same word as here in James 1.

James might be dealing with the issue in relation to wealth and poverty but we can see as Paul demonstrates we show favoritism in many other ways. Favoritism is present anytime we are making judgments on people based on external appearance…

This could be according to dress, general physical appearance, color of skin, or a host of other characteristics… 

We must guard our hearts against this type of favoritism... 

We are called to be set apart from the ways of this world this means that we must live out our faith and in doing so live out the Word. 

If we show favoritism, we are not showing mercy and if we are not willing to show mercy we are demonstrating that the mercy of Christ is not within us... 

Let's embrace the mercy of Christ today and extend that mercy to those around us! 

How we treat others is the evidence of our relation to Christ. 

Whether we like them or not… 

Whether they like us or not… 

We are called to hold the standard of Christ. The standard of mercy... 

If we have been set free from sin's condemnation and dominion by Christ, then we live in liberty. And in this liberty there is a law—the law of liberty, that is, the law of love. 

We will be judged under this law... 

Good treatment and bad treatment, honor and dishonor, rejection and acceptance should not be based on any earthly standard much less on riches or race.

Let's embrace His mercy and grace together!

See ya Sunday! 

Hurry up and Listen...

James 1:19-27 give us yet another list of commands laced in beautiful imagery seven in all.

We are commanded to (1) “understand this” we are to be (2) “quick to hear,” (3) slow to speak,” (4) and slow to anger.”

These first 4 commands are saying listen up! We need to stop being so quick to chime in… we should listen first and foremost and then when the time is right speak...

The next command we see is to (5) “rid ourselves” of all moral filth and evil. The Greek word for this is apotithemi (ap-ot-eeth’-ay-mee) and it literally means to lay aside, or renounce. It carries the idea of shedding a garment.

But as we “rid ourselves” of one we are instructed to (6) “receive” in simple humility God’s Word implanted in our hearts. When a seed is planted what is the expectation? That is always remain a seed? No! As the seed of an apple tree germinates it sheds its outer shell and life grows into a fruit bearing tree. Likewise, we at the hands of the Master Gardener shed our old selves and mature into a fruit bearing crown of creation.

The final command we see in this passage is to (7) “be doers” not just hearers…. Just coming to church week after week will leave you sorely disappointed one day when the Lord says your time here is done. James is instructing his readers to take the implanted word which they have heard, and apply it to their actions.

And it’s not just talking about doing… we are great at talking a good talk about our faith but James tells his readers at the end of the passage that real religion, religion that honors God, is religion that acts, a faith that cares for the homeless and the loveless where they are, not just offering them an encouraging word but truly caring for them.

Will you join us in being doer’s? Will you be implanted by the Living Word of God?

Don’t forget to read James this week!                                          

See ya Sunday!

James 1:19-27

My dearly loved brothers, understand this:

Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you.

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, then his religion is useless and he deceives himself. Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

It’s not my fault…

Social media is sodden with people refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. Not trying to be negative, just looking at the facts. The fact is, playing the blame game is one of the most destructive human pastimes. I wish I could say that this is unique to the culture today but if you look throughout the scriptures you see individuals and even nations trying to do just that shift the blame…

Right from the beginning we Adam and Eve in the garden and what happens? Adam blames Eve (the woman God gave him) and Eve blames the Serpent (whom God placed in the Garden…) Cain killed Abel because God didn’t honor his sacrifice… And this is just in the first few chapters… Notice who ultimately gets the blame when we shift it from ourselves? God…

James gives us some instruction regarding trying to shift blame in the second part of chapter one:

No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn’t tempt anyone. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death. – James 1:13-15

God isn’t the one at fault when we make a mistake, we are… Now this doesn’t mean there are not outside influences that play a role in our falling to temptation, but look at what it says! We are drawn away and enticed not by Satan’s evil desires, not by the evil desires of our neighbor, or by the influence of anyone else… it is our own evil desires. “We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust…[1]”

If we are going to live out a gospel centered life, a life guided by the principles of the book of James we need to cease this madness.

Imagine the world if we each would own our own mistakes?

If we would only give up the idea that someone always has to be blamed and made to pay. We need to accept the fact that everyday life isn’t a court of law and we are not the judge and jury.

By accepting yourself and others unconditionally we live as Christ. This doesn’t mean you can’t negatively rate your own actions or those of others; but it does mean that you shouldn’t berate yourself or others.

Ultimately we only achieve victory in Christ. It is in Christ we can overcome this need to blame someone else for our failures and actually make progress towards the goal set forth for us in James 1:4 “…that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

Will you live a Gospel Centered James focused life?

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[1] The Message (James 1:14)