The Book of James

I have been studying the book of James for about two months now. WOW! What an eye opening experience… I said to a parishioner the other day that I feel like God has been dissecting me. This “Spiritual dissecting” isn’t a comfortable thing but it is necessary to perfect me through Christ. Let me explain; we are born with all of this sinful junk inside of us called “original sin.” When we become saved we still have sin in our lives, through salvation it becomes “Forgiven sin.” For many years now Christians have been taught to walk around pretending this sin wasn’t there. So instead of dealing with it we tend to hide it and pray that nobody ever finds it… Well eventually, what has been hidden is surfaced! Amen? The book of James teaches us how to deal with this sinful nature within ourselves and in others.

The book starts off by teaching us that when we are tempted, turn to God. (James chapter 1:1-27) Notice I said when we are temped not if. We are all tempted to do wrong, remember it’s our nature. The task at hand is to learn to destroy our nature and follow God’s Nature. James chapter two instructs us not to favor rich people over poor. WOW, what a lesson for today’s church! This chapter goes on to teach us that our actions demonstrate our Faith. Let me be very clear, our Salvation is FREE, Jesus paid the price for us, and you will NEVER have to work to earn your spot in Heaven. Just receive the Gift of Jesus from God the father. But it’s our day to day actions that will build or destroy our Faith and our testimony to others! Remember it is not always what you say but most of the time the true testimony comes from what you’re doing and who you’re being…

Next James teaches us how to speak wisely and the power of the Tongue….

James 3:9-12 God’s Word

9 With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God’s likeness. 10 Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen! 11 Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water.


The biggest lie that the Devil ever sold us is the proverb that says, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me…” Over the past years I have ministered to so many individuals that had been attacked with words. Our tongue is like a two edged sword that slices both ways. Let’s learn to watch what we say and how we say it. The book of James goes on to talk about how to deal with each other and how to address conflicts in a Godly manner. And I love that way the book ends, by instructing us to be patient at all times.

James 5:7-9 God’s Word

7 Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. See how farmers wait for their precious crops to grow. They wait patiently for fall and spring rains. 8 You, too, must be patient. Don’t give up hope. The Lord will soon be here. 9 Brothers and sisters, stop complaining about each other, or you will be condemned. Realize that the judge is standing at the door.

I hope today’s BLOG has wetted your appetite to read the Book of James. But more so, I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide us and teach us to live God centered lives until we get to eternity!

Pastor H

Patience vs. Impatience

Have you ever noticed that when you feel like you’ve made it, or you feel like you finally got it together, all hell breaks loose? The Bible teaches many lessons about patience. Patience is described as a Spiritual Gift that can only be developed through trials and tribulations. A few synonyms for Patience are: endurance, staying power, stamina, open-mindedness, charity, serenity, and tolerance… It’s amazing that when we read about Patience and the total package that comes with it, we really don’t see the contemporary Christian Faith. We as Christians spend so much time picking out the faults and imperfections of our Christian Brothers and Sisters and so little time looking for good in everyone and finding God’s Will in each situation.

During times of stretching when were in the wilderness we are often fronted with different circumstances and situations that test our Patience. Remember: Patience can only be developed through trials and tribulations. I have noticed through my Spiritual walk, that it’s during these times that we are quick to take on different offences. Someone once said that the word offence literally means “Bait.” Think about it, the enemy uses offences to Bait us into a trap and lure us away from God and His Will for our lives. Offence is the antonym or the opposite of Patience… You see, when we are baited into an offence we do not have charity, Love, tolerance, or any other gift that is developed through patience.

Over the past month I have been involved in two different situations in my personal life that required patience and the gifts that fall under it. I would love to write a great testimony about how God just moved through me and how great I handled each situation. But, if I said that then I would be lying. I was baited into an offence and said things both times that I walked away wondering why. Saying to myself, “I know better than that!” Does this sound familiar? In both situations, I feel that the other person was at fault and I was right and my stance was Biblically correct, but my attitude was wrong. I have come to discover that, “all of the right in the world, with a bad attitude is just WRONG!”

Well for those of you who thought I was perfect, well you need to wake up, you have never been more wrong. But praise God for Grace! I have said many times that there was only one who was Perfect, Righteous, and Just; and they crucified Him! So my BLOG today is two-fold; first: don’t take the Bait in times of Conflict, don’t let the enemy trap you and lure you in… and secondly: when you stumble and fall (not if but when, no ones perfect) don’t beat yourself up over it or do not allow others to tear you down. Remember we all have imperfections, faults, and shortcomings, we all mess up, and occasionally we all choose to do the wrong thing or go the wrong way, or have a wrong attitude, amen? Let’s learn to give each other a break, and God will develop True Spiritual Patience in us, that we may be a light into the World and Shine before all men!!!