How Ironic!!!

James 3:1

Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.

Yeah, that's pretty much why I became a Pastor.... Cause I want "stricter" judgment.

ARE YOU FLIPPIN' KIDDING ME???!!!

But yet that's what this verse is saying. That those of us that choose to be teachers of the word are held to a much stricter standard and judgment.

BUT HERE'S THE CATCH....NOT BY YOU; but by God.

This past Sunday I got my very first "nasty gram" from a woman who claimed to be a believer who wrote that my "testimony was empty" and that my sermon was "nothing but a show" and that my "type of Christianity does nothing for the Kingdom of God". (OUCH!!)

To top things off, she handed this note to one of the ushers, who in turn passed it along to me. (In Philly we call that being Chicken ______ , but I digress.)

Anyway, what hurt me the most is that this woman (who didn't have the Christian decency to at least give me the note herself) has NO IDEA how much pressure a Pastor is under and that I am already being judged more strictly by the God of the universe whose standard is impossible to reach.

And yet, because I LOVE HIM so much....I try to study His word, and try to uphold it to the highest standard it deserves....and YES most times fall short, and yet still serve Him with ALL I AM.

Ma am' I know you won't read this, but if for some odd "Chance" you do let me say that if you REALLY knew me, then you certainly wouldn't have judged my heart and passion for my Lord as nothing but an empty show, but of someone who loves their Lord and wants to PASSIONATELY make sure that everyone hears the truth that the God of the universe loves them and sent His Son to die for them.

And IF I DON'T tell them....then I'M THE ONE who gets judged more strictly...and I really don't need anymore judgment from God when there's people like you out there trying to do it for Him.

P.S. I FORGIVE YOU!!!

P Biddy

The Importance

James 2:26

For just as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.

If I may....Let me say....this is really where James takes out the hammer and nails this sucker home!!!

I'm going to do something real quick and so I hope you follow me as I switch gears.

Here are some verses from Ezekiel 37 and they go something like this:

37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones.
37:2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry.
37:3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”
37:4 Again He said to me, “ Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’
37:5 “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.
37:6 ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”

The word "breath" in these verses is the Hebrew word RUACH which is translated to wind, breath, or spirit. And so in these verses the prophet Ezekiel is talking about dead people coming to LIFE because of the breath (or SPIRIT) of the Lord being breathed into them for one reason and one reason only....That is to "know that I am Lord" (Not me of course, but God)....anyway, I digress....

Friends, without the Holy Spirit of God dwelling inside of you (or breathing NEW LIFE into you) then you will be DEAD (or Eternally separated from God) for....well, ETERNITY.

James is equating "Faith" without "works" in the same manner.

He is saying....If you do not have the works of your faith, it's just like doing religion without having the Holy Spirit.....It's Useless!!!

Listen friend, if you have no idea what in the world I'm talking about and you need to KNOW for sure you will be in an eternal relationship with God in heaven then please e-mail me to find out more about what I'm talking about. It might just be the most important e-mail you ever send.

bminnes@sbcglobal.net

For the rest of us....who call ourselves Christians....Can you see how IMPORTANT the proof is in the pudding???

Are you TRULY living out your Faith?? Our are you simply going through the motions??

Grace and peace.

Further Evaluation

James 2:18-23

But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God.

There are 2 things that catch my eye when I read these verses. The first one is the fact that DEMONS not only "believe" in God but they KNOW God and shudder. It's funny to me that some people claim to have "Faith" or "believe" in God and yet really have no fear for their eternal future. Once again proving that it really doesn't matter what you SAY you believe but IF you actually live it out.

The second is that James uses Abraham, the father of the Jews, to describe what TRUE FAITH looks like.

Now I gotta tell ya....I LOVE my girls and if God told me to take one of them up onto a mountain top and slay them I might just tell the Big Guy where to go. (Just being honest here!!!) and yet, here's Abraham who TRUSTS God sooooo much that he takes Isaac and is ready to sacrifice him and because of his faithfulness God credits him as "righteous", and it says God called him his "friend". WOW!!!

Can you say you are a "friend" of God??? Do you have that much FAITH that you would do ANYTHING God told you to do??? Once again, just being honest....I'm not sure I do.

But that's why we're on a journey with Him, and that's why He shows us more grace than we really deserve....Because He loves us so much more than we can even love ourselves.

And I don't know about you....But THAT thought makes ME shudder!!!

Peace out.

The Illustration

James 3:15-17

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “ Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

Let me just start off by cutting to the chase (and excuse me for being a bit Philly here...) but James' point here, in a nutshell, is this:

PUT UP OR SHUT UP!!!

Faith, at it's core is trusting or believing; it's really that simple.

But Faith is not something you merely HAVE, it's something you PROVE by what you DO.

(Please let ME Illustrate)

Let's say you have never jumped out of an airplane before? You get up to, ohhhh I don't know, 6000 feet....and the Instructor says, "OK JUMP!!!"

NOW.... how do you know you have FAITH??? (Faith that what you learned is true, faith that the chute will open, faith that you will land safely....)

ALL kinds of things are racing through your mind and IF YOU JUMP, then didn't you have trust (i.e. FAITH) in all those things which led you to DO SOMETHING. (i.e. Jump)

See, you could "Tell" the instructor you have all the trust in the world, but without actually jumping you have proved nothing....You're "so called faith" is USELESS.

So are you DOING your faith???

Tomorrow....A further evaluation from James.

The Inquiry

James 2:14

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

What a way to break back into this blog!! What a question huh?

It might just be one of the greatest questions of the Christian faith amongst, well, Christians. (Or "self proclaimed" Christians)

Why do I say that? Well, it's ironic to me that when a non-believer "sees" someone "acting" like Christ then it's fairly obvious that that person is "saved" (Or at least that there's something different about that person that intrigues them to want to know why??)

But among Christians this is almost the great debate. (And I'm gonna shoot real straight with ya on this one!!!)I believe that's because most Christians are just flat out content with having their "personal salvation" (I hate that term by the way) that they could care less if they "do" ANYTHING with it. And so it becomes the "inquiry" into weather or not a person is REALLY saved or not???

Let me be crystal clear for you if you are a believer.....God didn't save you JUST for YOU!!! God chooses to USE you to be a vessel to save others, and so if there's EVER a reason for someone to ask "Is _________ saved because he/she has NO WORKS" then friend maybe you just don't get this salvation thing.

If God wanted to save you for you then why at the moment you accepted Jesus Christ did He not rapture your butt up into the heavens for eternity RIGHT THEN???

Answer: Because there are WORKS that He has prepared in advance for you to do. (Eph.2:10)

Think about it, and tomorrow.... James' Illustration.

Grace and Peace.

Father's Day

SLACKER

OK, so as I sit here on June 20th, 2009 I feel like such a slacker. I've been through bronchitis and hernia surgery that kept me off my game and writing every day on this blog. As a matter of fact what it really taught me was that obviously it doesn't take much to get us distracted.

And so a day before Father's Day 2009 I am determined to honor my Ftaher by not being distracted again.

I started this thing and want to make my Yes, "YES" and so starting Monday morning I will be picking back up where I left off in James.

If you are still out there and have been waiting, I will also try and interject some discussion thoughts as well.

Til Monday.

Brian