Tag Archives: James

Peter Enns, N.D. Wilson, and James: Mouths open and shut

Posted on September 27, 2013 by PaulVK

I read some of Peter Enns blog posts earlier this week. I find Peter helpful because he tries to both keep his crunchy faith and wrestle seriously with contemporary biblical criticism. He shows guts in this. In this post he … Continue reading →

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Rahab as model for Faith-Works-Saved

Posted on September 19, 2013 by PaulVK

Meet Rahab I’ve been working my Adult Sunday School class through the middle of James 2, figuring out the matrix of faith-works-saved. Rahab becomes James’ last example of how faith-works-saved works together. Rahab herself is a fascinating character in the … Continue reading →

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The Worldly Church

Posted on August 23, 2013 by PaulVK

If you ask an evangelical what it means to be “worldly” you will probably hear a lot about sex, substances or other vices. You probably won’t hear a lot about love. This is currently a source of great disconnect for … Continue reading →

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Making Up Our Mind on the God of Lean Years

Posted on August 2, 2013 by PaulVK

Why James Upsets Good People It’s not secret that the Epistle of James in the New Testament frustrates and angers many people, including Christians who wouldn’t want to be publicly seen as being “against the Bible”. When some in our … Continue reading →

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What Joseph Testing His Brothers May Say about God Testing Us

Posted on July 25, 2013 by PaulVK

Life Has More Bonds Than Mere Slavery While Joseph carries out the business of feeding and saving the world, the relational story line of his family hangs unfinished. What has become of Jacob and his family? Chapter 42 opens with … Continue reading →

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James, Joseph, Wisdom and the Meek Sufferers of Empire

Posted on July 18, 2013 by PaulVK

Part of the fun of the pastoral life where I have two weekly Bible preps are reading books I wouldn’t normally put together, together. Right now I’m in James and Joseph. Joseph and Wisdom Yesterday I was wrestling with “wisdom” … Continue reading →

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James’ Words to Reactive Christians behaving poorly as they lose cultural power and privilege

Posted on July 18, 2013 by PaulVK

Wisdom After James in 1:4 promises the person/community who endures trials with endurance will be completed, he jumps to the one who is deficient in completeness, and that deficiency is defined as lacking “wisdom”. Wisdom can be a difficult word … Continue reading →

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Of What Enduring Value is Suffering and Maturity?

Posted on July 10, 2013 by PaulVK

The book of James opens with a very difficult passage: James 1:2–4 (NET) 2 My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your … Continue reading →

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