Beyond the Stained Glass

God calls us to practice patience even when oppressed. James identifies the oppression of the powerfully wealthy against the powerless believer. In such instances, we are called to rest in God's eternal plan that includes the judgment of the wicked oppressors. We show patience as the prophets before us because the gospel calls us to and provides rest even in our oppression.

Most people plan and dream of future things they want to do. When we plan, do we include God's will in those plans or do we plan as if God doesn't exist? When we exclude God from our plans, we sin against him with a prideful disposition that acts as if we are in control of the world in which we exist. We act in ways that suggest we are solely responsible for our successes. James tells us we have knowledge that tells us this is not the case, and that knowledge condemns us.

The appetite suppressant for the war within you is humble submission to God's plans for his children. We are called to be peacemakers and to resist the temptation to enter into needless conflict. When we fail to resist needless conflict God has provided us a plan for recovery. 

James contrasts wisdom from God and of our own making. The qualities of each are quite distinct. Our wisdom apart from God’s wisdom is unspiritual and demonic. When we rest in the wisdom from God we display virtues from God. The contrast of the two sources of wisdom are also distinct, wisdom from God provides peace while wisdom of our own making only provides chaos. We are called to cultivate peace as a child of God, therefore we are called to rest in God’s wisdom not our own.

The tongue has awesome power. Speech has the power to destroy or build up. James calls us to rely on the wisdom of God in the use of our tongue in James 3:1-12. We must rely on the power of the gospel to overcome desecrating the image bearers around us with unrighteous speech. Righteous use of the tongue provides a single voice about being a child of God.

In the Christmas season, we celebrate the first coming of Jesus. Generally, we focus on the events that surround his coming such as the historical setting or the prophecies that pointed to his coming. In this podcast we look at why Jesus came, what was the point of the second person of the Trinity taking on the form of mankind? We look to the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel for the answer.

Interview with Pastor Galanza of Mount Holy Christian Bible Church of Metro Manila and Dean of Students at the Center for Biblical Studies about how James 2:14-26 is applied in the Filipino context and what we can learn from the global church.

Receiving the gospel in faith will result in good works. If your faith is without works, it is not genuine faith. Just as Abraham and Rahab revealed genuine faith through works, so must our faith produce kingdom work. 

Those who show partiality are violating the law that requires God's people to love their neighbor as themselves. Showing partiality demonstrates one's continued bondage to the law. The law of liberty frees us to show the love of the gospel even to the unlovable and truly love others as we love ourselves.

The gospel compels us to not participate in marginalizing the poor and powerless around us. We too were poor and marginalized, trapped in our sin until Jesus rescued us. When we marginalize those around us, we forget what the gospel did for us.

We are to receive the instruction of the scripture with a teachable spirit. This requires us to put away habits and vices identified with our former life. As we encounter God’s word we must receive the word properly; respond to the calls in the word for change; and commit to practicing obedience that reminds us that we are practicing true religion. All this is to be done in the humility that Christ demonstrated for us.

Many times we do not see clearly in temptations. We look for someone else to blame for our bad decisions, in many cases even God. Instead of pointing the finger of someone, James reminds us of the resources provided for Christ-followers to overcome temptations.

James calls us the consider it Joy when trials come upon us. Trials provide an opportunity to further our maturity by practicing virtues. We endure trials faithfully through God's wisdom that provides the virtues needed to be faithful followers of Christ.

The beginning of this book provides a context for the message of the entire book. James stands in the tradition of the prophets in calling Christians scattered throughout the world to rest in the wisdom of God, not human wisdom. James will address five areas where we typically rely on our own wisdom instead of God's wisdom. Therefore James is calling us to live wisely through life's temptations.

This is a weekly podcast that takes biblical teaching beyond the stained glass of the church to our everyday life. In these weekly episodes, we will explore biblical teaching and apply them so that we can courageously embrace the call of scripture to bring glory to our Lord in all that we do.