Cup A Joe

Ray, Chuck and Johnny

   We have a pretty good cross section of people reading this blog. We have three that I know of with Theological degrees and maybe 2 more of you that I am not sure about. We have two Lead Pastors of  smaller churches, an assistant pastor of a mega church, a director of evangelism in a mid size church and a treasurer of a denomination district. Most of these folks know their Bibles pretty well.

   We also have a rather large group that have studied the Bible some but would like to turn it up a notch and then a third group of people that don't have much interest in the Bible but they are going to begin to feel a GREAT deal of interest in the scriptures, they just don't know it yet.

   This post is for the second and third groups and it will be short and sweet. It is about those links over to the right; there are some great Bible Study tools over there.

   

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Link #1, Are You Good, is a useful tool put together by the world's greatest living street evangelist, Ray Comfort. If you don't understand EXACTLY why you personally need a Savior this will explain it for you more perfectly than anything I've ever seen or read but BE CAREFUL if you go there; you might not return the same person.....go ahead...you skeered?? 

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The second link is Chuck Smith(Calvary Chapel). That wonderful smiling man above is Chuck. I love him so and am so grateful for him. He is also the man on the left in the picture below from about 30 years ago. Smiling there too. Those two kill me as they celebrate a new birth together:

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   For people new to the Bible, this is a great site. Every 2 years or so, Chuck teaches verse by verse through the entire Bible. Why wonder if you are teaching the flock everything they need to know, huh? Just teach it all. Well this site contains all the sermons from the last time he want all the way through. Click on it and you can then listen, watch, or read a sermon on any Chapter in the whole Bible. This is an incredible resource and it's not too deep and not too shallow, it's juuust right. I have been listening to Chuck for 14 years and I use this web site several times a week as a kind of audio commentary. One of our readers introduced me to Chuck in March of '94 and I will be forever in his debt. Priceless !!

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  And next is John Piper's site. He has sermons going back to 1981 on his site and covers about any question that a person could have about a Biblical issue. This is for those that might want to go a little deeper in their Bible Study. Where Chuck Smith might go through 2 chapters in one sermon, this guy might camp out on 5 verses for 6 weeks but with an authentic passion and joy that is deeply contagious. No one brings me closer to tears of joy or death by fright than this guy.

  Take advantage of these sites. Some of you do use them from time to time and that's great. But folks, there is no possible way to understand Christ and His plan for this world (a world that includes you) without consistantly reading the Bible. It can't be done. Please let me know if I can help or if you have any questions. A little known fact; You can't get an answer without asking a question.

Fershizzle??

   

Your Ears Must Flutter

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Done with James. What's Next? Sermon on the Mount maybe?

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   Last night, Cheryl and I went up to Newspring to help on the Membership team. We are assimulators. That is, we interview prospective member's to determine if we should allow them to join the Church at this time. Newspring averages about 2 of these Membership classes per month; 30-50 or so a class. Had 70 last night. My boy Taylor joined at the last one.

  We take this very seriously. It got me wondering; about some of you and some of those that were there last night. Do you know what A Church or THE Church really is. I mean:

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This is A Mosque:

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<and this is A Synagogue:

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But this is not A Church:

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<and neither is this:

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,A church is a group of believers, not a building and THE church, well this is THE Church:

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John 10:26-30(ESV) -but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father,who has given them to me,is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."

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AND:

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1 Peter 2:9-10(NKJV) -But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

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   This is the Church that Cheryl and I were concerned about last night. His Sheep. We weren't offering them a new church membership to Newspring. We were making sure that they have already joined the Church described above. The people above are all very different but they all have one thing in common; they all truly and completely trusted that God's sacrifice for their individual sin, His Son, was the only way they could be forgiven and gain entry into Heaven. And of course, their lives are reflecting that belief.

   One of the things we are trained to ask a "potential member" is, "If you were to stand before God right this very moment and He asked, 'Why should I let you into My Heaven?' ....What would you say?" What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say? What would you say?

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I need me a Cadillac.

A recent internal conversation with my.....self:

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Me: Self??

Self: Uuhhh........yeah ?

Me: You suck !!

Self: Whatever !?

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James 4:1-10 (ESV)- What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

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   Your old self wants stuff. Cadillacs, low golf scores and a bigger house yes but also, the salvation of a friend because you could claim a hand in it or worse, the salvation of a child because their behavior is effecting your reputation. Oh my but it can get ugly when God does the self examination instead of me. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly". But God does say:

   

Matthew 21:22- If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

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  We fall prey to the "God has a wonderful plan for your life" mantra that we are constantly hearing. Our "old self" hears that and laps it up and in fact, the statement is true. But here is how it should be heard and how the New Man (saved) will hear it:

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"God has a wonderful plan. Period. I must adjust my life to it so His plan IS the plan for my life."

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   Many have prayed and been denied so often that they don't believe Matthew 21:22 but it is as true as it ever was. But have you been asking "wrongly". Let the Holy Spirit have a look and you have a LISTEN for a change.. next prayer time.

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   Hate to quote Rick Warren to some of you but he said it quite well:

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It's not about you.

WHO ARE YOU?

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This was written over 700 years before Jesus' birth:

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Isaiah 53

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Who has believed our message?
      To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
      like a root in dry ground.
   There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
      nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—
      a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
   We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
      He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he took up;
      it was our sorrows that he carried.
   And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
      a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
      crushed for our sins.
   He was beaten so we could be whole.
      He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
      We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
   Yet the Lord laid on him
      the sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly,
      yet he never said a word.
   He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
      And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
      he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned,
      he was led away.
   No one cared that he died without descendants,
      that his life was cut short in midstream.
   But he was struck down
      for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
      and had never deceived anyone.
   But he was buried like a criminal;
      he was put in a rich man’s grave.

But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
      and cause him grief.
   Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
      he will have many descendants.
   He will enjoy a long life,
      and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
      he will be satisfied.
   And because of his experience,
      my righteous servant will make it possible
   for many to be counted righteous,
      for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
      because he exposed himself to death.
   He was counted among the rebels.
      He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.

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Romans 10:9-10- That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

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  He can't be fooled...It's time to get it right....Who are you?

   

Counting Sheep and Counting Cost.

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More James, calling you OUT baby:

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James 4:1-10 (ESV)- What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

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   Adulterer (Vine's Expository Dictionary)- Comes from a Greek word Moichos and it means- One who has unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another.

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   As a man, I cannot think of anything that would hurt me or anger me more. It is a very strong word that when used, would be trying to convey that someone has committed the ultimate betrayal. It is sharing THE MOST intimate thing two people can share... with an outsider. It shows that for that moment, someone is COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY selfish. Yet, though no intercourse was involved, this is the powerfully descriptive word God prompted James to use in describing those who would be "a friend of the world".

   What is a friend of the world? Or what are some examples of being a friend of the world? Well some are obvious and some...not so much. I'll give you one big example (for me) that might not seem obvious but God seems to have pounded it into my consciousness because I HAVE cheated on Him SO MUCH! 

• The last 30 minutes of sleep in the morning. Oh how sweet! I have, and I mean many times, woken up 30 minutes to an hour before the alarm. I didn't have to pee (older folks will understand this), I didn't have a dream and there was no loud noise..just boom; wide awake at 4:30 AM. The only thought on my mind is, "You need get up and pray and read your Bible" as if the thought was what woke me up. Sometimes the thought even included what I should pray about. Now I'm not one to say 'God told me this' or 'God told me that' but as I am laying there each time, I knew, at the very least, that THE THOUGHT......was right. No matter where the thought came from, I should get up and pray. Now as I write this and I consider who He is and I consider then, who I am and then I see myself rolling back over to get that last bit of sweet sleep......I AM CRUSHED by the thought of the lost opportunities in my past to be alone with MY LORD in the early morning.

  Now for me, this was "friendship with the world". Maybe not obvious to you but very obvious for me. I was an adulterer. I cheated on God with my bed. I cheated on God with my comfort, my love of sleep. A small thing maybe. A small thing?? How in the world could I have ever struggled with time alone with God. You who are reading this, take a moment right now. Clear your head and think about your excuses. Think about Him. Think about you..........

Isn't it truly amazing how blindly, prideful we are?

   There are dozens of other things that have been exposed and continue to be exposed to me where I chose "friendship with the World" How 'bout you?

I will stay on this section of James in my next post and we will talk about why our prayers aren't answered or at least why we think they are not answered. And I will talk about Cadillacs. I love Cadillacs.

 

Pop Off James.

 

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The IT(Information Technology) department here at Cup A Joe, Inc. informs me that we will be able to post videos on our site very soon. Our marketing research has revealed that one of our primary customer groups are Grandparents and in a survey our company sponsored, 76% asked that we have more stuff about their grandchildren on our site. So, since the customer is always right, and just in time for summer and pee wee football/cheerleading we will be adding video capability to all the other wonderful things you can enjoy here at Cup A Joe. By the way our IT department consist of one whiz kid, who will be 13 years old next Monday and.........that's it.

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.    Monday weight loss report, Cheryl has lost 8 pounds total and I am down to 236 pounds. That is 12 pounds in 3 weeks. Not bad so far.

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   And here is one anonymous quote I received from Mom for you deep thinkers to ponder:

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  What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?

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   More James:

   James 3:11-18-Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

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   What James seems to despise is fake Christians. I fear he would despise me. True Christ followers are just that, Christ followers. He is not only ranting against the fake Christians face to face but telling true Christians how to recognize fakes. He really seems quite bothered by this; What would he do if he walked into one of our American Churches? I think his head would pop off.

Soul Window

   A great name for a rock group...Soul Window...... I LIKE IT!

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  James 3:2-10- For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body....

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If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well.....

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.....Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs......

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.....So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members,staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,these things ought not to be so.

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Matthews 15:18-19 (NIV)- But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean'. For out of the the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

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   Soul Window.......Your very on heart can fool you and badly. But if you would like a glimpse of the condition of your soul, try listening the next few days to what you say (or would very much like to say). If God allows you to hear correctly, prepare for a shock.

Don't make me pull over

  Speaking of Jesus and his siblings per our last post, can you imagine when Joseph loaded the old family station wagon for the trip into town. They probably weren't going to a Piggly Wiggly 'cause of the whole pork thing but maybe they were driving to the Nazareth Wal-Mart/Supercenter. All the kids are in the backseats and you know how kids are. This one touched that one or this one was staring at the other but you can't see them so you don't know who was wrong. As that parent at times, I periodically have wanted to resort to a corporate smackdown. That is a sweeping swing of the open hand into the general area of the back seat, slapping as many exposed legs as possible. It would sound like a short burst of machine gun fire. I figure I will have gotten the guilty party and when the innocents begin to complain I would try to explain to them the concept of sacrificing for the common good.

   Anyway...back to our trip in Joseph's station wagon; and yes, it was a station wagon. They didn't have mini-vans back then, duuhhh. Well, you know how bad a kid feels when one has been proven right over the other. Can you imagine one of your siblings being Jesus and Mom doesn't have to wonder who did what; she just asks her oldest son what happened. Think there might be some resentment there?...I am sorry to waste your time on this but as a parent with 3 kids who, it seems, are constantly bickering and fighting, I often have wondered how Jesus acted when he was six or nine years old and he was playing with his half dozen or so siblings. Did he ever yell, "MINE!" or "I'M FIRST!" or "I CALL FRONT SEAT!!". Am I hopeless?

   Maybe we should get back to James:

James 2:14-24, 26- What does it profit, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what good is that? In the same way, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. Great! But even the demons believe-and tremble. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the alter? Do you see that faith was working with his works(what he did) and by those works, faith was made perfect. And the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" and he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.

   I'll cut to the chase; the phrase "faith without works is dead" mean's if your faith isn't producing good works, you are still lost. The saving faith isn't really there if no results are seen. And I don't mean one or two things you did but an ongoing lifestyle of gratitude to the One who saved you. Don't tell me what you believe, show me what you believe.

Mary, Mary...quite contrary.

    Finished reading the Bible Saturday morning. I am now studying one book(Luke) intensely while also reading five or six Old Testament and two New Testament chapters per day. For you non-Bible reading wimps, there are 1189 chapters in the entire Bible. At only seven chapters a day, you can read the entire Bible in 170 days. That's twice in a year. Can't you afford to invest that time? Can you afford not to?

   Weight loss update; I am now at 239 pounds and Cheryl has lost 5 pounds total. That puts us both ahead of our hoped-for schedules but we are still impatient.

   Now back to James; Almost all scholarship points to James as being Jesus' brother and by brother, I mean, like Jesus, he sprang from the womb of Mary. However, unlike Jesus and unfortunately for my Catholic friends, Mary became pregnant the old fashioned way with James. In fact, Jesus had several brothers and sisters. The reason I say unfortunately for my Catholic friends, is because  the Catholic Church, to this very day, teaches a doctrine called the Perpetual Virginity of Mary that is wrong. Billions of Catholics have been had. They've been bamboozled, hoodwinked and lied to. The ramifications of this teaching are staggering. I want go deeper on it here but just understand this, Mary needed a Savior just like you and me. Here is more James from Chapter 2:

James 2:8-13- If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; but if you show partiality (favoritism), you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy for the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement.

   Try a little experiment. Write the 10 commandments on your bathroom mirror. Now, try to break one without breaking them all. You can't be a little bit of a sinner any more than you can be a little bit pregnant. When you consider Jesus' teaching on murder and on adultery, these verses should really help us on our judgemental attitudes toward those we feel are greater sinners or worse people than we are. The fact of the matter is we were all in the same boat at one time and that boat is sinking fast. Have you grabbed the lifeline that will pull you to safety?

James the Just

  Finished reading the Book of James Thursday morning. That book brings back so many wonderful memories. It is the first book I ever studied intensely. It was recommended to me by a red-headed stranger. By stranger, I don't mean I didn't know him. I mean compared to everyone else, he was stranger.  I began studying it, the first time, just weeks after being born again in March of 1994. It was during a period when my eyes literally saw things differently and I was noticing and appreciating some things for the very first time. Grass was greener. Skies were bluer. Just walking to my car at the crack of dawn, I could be stunned to speechlessness by how the rising sun might be reflecting off the clouds that morning.

   Add to that, James is the first thing I am reading in the Bible!? My spiritual senses are freshly opened and raw and James is almost too much truth to handle at once. And only 5 chapters! You voracious Bible readers; check your Bibles. I bet there are a greater percentage of verses underlined in James than any other Book in your Bible. I still love James and it remains my favorite Book but instead of trying to describe it too you in such a way as to make you hunger for a bite, I'll just feed you some from here and see how it taste to you. I may even add a comment or two. In my next post, I'll have some more James and give you some background on James the author. My Catholic friends will definitely want to come back for that.

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James 1:2-8- My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways

   I've heard people say, and often, "I don't understand what God wants me to do"; or "I don't understand what that verse means." as if our lack of wisdom or understanding lets us off the hook or that the ball is somehow in God's court. I am guilty of this often but God is not a ball hog. The ball is in my court. Not only does he say ask for wisdom he says he will give you much wisdom and without making you feel stupid for asking. Many ask and ask often but gain nothing and there is only one reason why. Only one.

James 1:19-26- So then, my beloved brother, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourself. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, but does not control his tongue, he deceives his own heart and his religion is useless.

   I heard a great pastor say once that the reason God gave you two ears and one mouth is because he wanted you to hear twice as much as you say. Maybe we should have been created with 3 ears because that ain't working. Talktalkalktalktalkalktalktalkalktalktalkalktalktalkalktalktalkalktalktalk. We do talk but is anybody listening.

   Jesus said that you can't say you love God and not do what He says. Can't be done. We've all heard. How many of us do?