Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. If you were to visit my office, you would see several essentially worthless pieces of paper prominently displayed. As I am typing this, I can…
Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will…
For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. A friend here in Brazil once told me about a prayer meeting he attended. When the time came to share prayer requests and praises, one man stood up to thank the brethren for praying for the sale of his car. “God…
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. One of my absolute favorite aspects of Brazilian culture is the rodízio. For the uninitiated, a rodízio is a steakhouse where various cuts of meat are brought to your…
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. As we continue in our study of the book of James, we see that the author has packed a lot into the first four verses. He has challenged us to…
James 1:4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. In my ever-so-humble opinion, one of the most underrated films of recent days was Disney’s reboot of The Lone Ranger. One of the “running gags” of the movie involves Tonto, hilariously interpreted by Johnny Depp, making dubious…
…knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. In last week’s installment of our verse-by-verse examination of the book of James, we noted that the author gives us a somewhat counter-intuitive instruction. In the face of trials, we are to “consider it joy”. Consider is a mind word, not a emotion word. James is…
When I was a teenager I got a job at a local fast-food restaurant. As we lived out in the country, my parents graciously (perhaps a tad naively) allowed me to use the family car to make the communte. To get to work, I had to navigate a particularly curvy stretch of asphalt known as…
The following is the first in a series of devotionals I have given at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on Wednesday evenings. I will be posting new installments every Monday. Introduction In order to fully understand a book, it helps to know at least a little about the author. What James tells us about himself in…