You see all kinds of fascinating insights into society’s thinking on social media. Recently I saw a post on Threads (the Meta/Facebook alternative to Twitter) which argued that children should not be taught religion until they are 18. Specifically, they were observing that this is something China seeks to enforce and identifying it as a… Continue reading On banning teaching children about religion until they are 18
Tag: faith
Doubt or belief
The Air we breathe
You’ve probably heard the sermon illustration about faith where the preacher talks about the difference between saying you believe that a chair will hold your weight and proving this by actually sitting in the chair. We were talking about this illustration at our Life Group in relation to James 2:18 and the relationship between faith… Continue reading The Air we breathe
Rahab
To illustrate what he means by faith and works going together, James points to two Old Testament characters. The first and perhaps obvious one is Abraham (James 2:21-24). James reminds us of the statement that “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness” from Genesis 15. He argues that this was particularly… Continue reading Rahab
Where is Jesus?
One of the strange things about James’ letter is that Jesus doesn’t seem to be particularly prominent in the epistle. It is perhaps this, as much as discomfort with his take on faith and works which has tended to make it one of the less popular books of the Bible to study or to preach… Continue reading Where is Jesus?
Faith and works, hearers and doers
Central to James’ argument is that living faith results in transformed lives, particularly in the crucible of persecution and suffering. This transformation affects character (1:19-21) and attitudes (2:1-7) because it is about our lives being shaped by love for God and for neighbour (2:8-13). This means that there should also be a change in behaviour… Continue reading Faith and works, hearers and doers
Can I choose between faith and works?
James continues to tease out the relationship between faith and works to show that the two go hand in hand together. Having used a practical example, he now uses logic by setting up a hypothetical debating partner. A look at the text (Read James 2:18-26) The hypothetical interlocutor suggests that it is possible for one… Continue reading Can I choose between faith and works?
What does saving faith look like?
“How are you?” It’s a standard greeting but not one we expect a response to. We ask it, expecting the other person to say “I’m fine.” So, what do we do when the other person misses the social cues and gives an honest and reasonable answer to the question? Do we say “Bless you” and… Continue reading What does saving faith look like?
Faith, suffering and healing
One of the most common questions we tend to ask is to do with faith, suffering and healing. That’s probably because our health can be so often where we face suffering and where faith is tested. Even if we don’t face persecution, we are likely to face ill health at some point and will know people… Continue reading Faith, suffering and healing
Partiality
One of the crucial concerns that the New Testament letter writers shared was that church gatherings would be characterised by unity. For Paul, a significant aspect of this was the wiping out of ethnic divisions between Jew and Gentile, for James, the focus was on divisions based on class and wealth. A look at the… Continue reading Partiality
Faithroots 