FrequencyOC

"I got your back" such wonderful words when we are running around playing laser tag or going paintballing, but it is truly something we need to live by. As Christians we need to be concerned for our brothers and sisters. If we see sin in their life we should talk to them about it in a loving way. I mean there is nothing better than a relationship with God and we should want nothing to create a divide between us and God. There are times we are unaware of our sins, and we see this in the example of David and Nathan. There are other times we know of our sins, but perhaps we are trying to keep them a secret. But as people who love one another, we should protect one another and go to them in love. I just hope traffic listens the first time, so i dont have to go round up her friends from the dog park....

Labels: James, Message

So another week in the discussion of prayer. As James closes his prayer using the word prayer 7 times we can see the importance of prayer to him. This week we looked at the concepts of healing prayers as well as how we should be in continual prayer IN all things.

Labels: James, Message

So tonight we talked about Prayer, and that was it. Just Prayer. Prayer is such an important part of our faith, yet many of us dont spend enough time with God in prayer. If you need to remember the memory device for the different elements of prayer, here it is:

Acts
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

Labels: James, Message

In Scripture we are called to wait. But does this mean to wait in line? Are we supposed to grab some beach chairs and wait patiently for the Lord's return? James answers this question for us!

Labels: James, Message

Although this message started out a little complicated, with that whole math concept of 1/2 distances and all (not on the MP3) but it all boils down to the simplest of concepts. God loves you, a lot. God wants an indepth quality relationship with you. So if you want this too, James gives you 5 steps to do it.
1. Submit
2. Resist
3. Purify
4. Grieve
5. Humble

Following these will foster a much healthier and more quality relationship with God.

Labels: James, Message

James once again tells us that we can receive the best wisdom for our lives from God. He told us earlier that God will provide us with wisdom and direction for our lives if we only seek Him. James now tells us that there we can seek counterfeit wisdom, wisdom that isn't wise from "The World", from our flesh, and from Satan. James tells us that we should seek Godly wisdom and follow it, thereby showing others our Christian walk by our actions

Labels: James, Message

In James 3:5-12 we can see the power of the tongue. How we have the ability to Praise God and curse man. James gives us 4 more examples of the powers and ability of our tongue. He also calls us to use our tongue for God. We need to strive to be a people who watch carefully what we say, making sure what we say is uplifting to God. We can do so much for the kingdom, and we must strive to be examples, living righteously so that we can be most effective. And if you are at all curious in watching the video of the ruthless and evil squirrel attacking evan, then click below.

Squirrel Attack

Labels: James, Message

This week as we start the third chapter of James, we see James focusing on our tongue. A small part of our body, but a part that can control so much of what we do. James devotes this entire chapter to the tongue, discussing how our tongue Directs, Destroys, and Delights. Tonight we see how the tongue can direct our lives and James compared our tongue to the bit found on the bridle of a horse and the rudder found on a ship. Both very small parts of the "machine" but control such a large part. The same rings true of a steering wheel of a car, a relatively small part of the car, but the part that directs the entire car. If your car has no steering wheel, your car isn't going to go where you want it to go. It will either go straight without turning, or maybe just get itself stuck doing donuts. As Christians we need to be in control of our tongues as they direct our entire life.

Labels: James, Message

As we close out chapter 2, we look at 2 examples that James gives us for people who not only had faith, but they lived their faith: Abraham and Rahab. We also saw that faith isn't believing in spite of evidence but faith is believing in spite of consequence.

Labels: James, Message

We are not saved by our Works. We are saved by the works of Jesus. But why then does James talk about works? What does he mean when he says "Faith without deeds is dead." Do we need works to be saved or not. Upon deeper inspection we can see that James never states that we need works for our salvation, but he sates that if we have a true saving belief in Jesus then our life will show it. If we believe what Jesus taught then there is no way our lives won't reflect it.

Labels: James, Message

In James 2:8-13 James continues talking about Favoritism but this time takes it up a notch. He shows his audience that favoritism is breaking God's Law, and that if we break 1 law we are guilty as lawbreakers. The punishment for this is death, a punishment we can pay and survive through. Jesus didnt come to break this Law, in fact He states that He will fulfill every jot and tittle of the law. Jesus does this by showing us mercy and paying the penalty for us.

Labels: James, Message

James 2:1-7 discusses the concept of playing favorites. Should we treat rich people better than poor people? Should we give better seats to people that are better dressed, smell nicer, or look more presentable? James tells us plainly that we should not do this, but since we know that we shouldn't do it, why do we do it. And knowing why we do it, how do we stop doing it?

Labels: James, Message

In this final section in the first chapter, James gives us a wonderful message on comparing our walk with us looking into a mirror.

Labels: James, Message

James 1:19-21 is the transition from James' introduction of his book to the meat and potatoes. We see in verse 19 the Outline of his book: Quick to Listen, Slow to Speak, and Slow to Anger. As Christians we should be quick to listen to one another, not bouncing to get a word in, or to share our nuggget of advice, but to simply listen to someone's needs. Secondly there is a time for speaking, but an appropiate time, and when the time comes we should stand behind what we say. We shouldn't be speaking without putting thought behind our words. Next James tells us to be Slow to Anger, not that we should never get angry, but to only reach anger at appropiate times and God demonstrates to us that we should not stay angry forever. Finally we saw that what influences we surround our lives with will have a deep and lasting impact on our Spiritual lives. We should live as Psalm 1 teaches, to be firmly planted in the Living Water

Labels: James, Message

Be smarter than the fish. Okay, i'll be honest, if I was this fish in that tiny bowl and there is nothing to do except gnaw on that shinny hook, that might be tempting. But I am smarter than the fish (at least I think I am) But in James 1:13-18 we see James teaching us how to overcome temptations. We saw that there are two types of trials, Tests from God and Temptations from the Devil. How God tests us so that we grow and can be closer to His image and likeness, but Satan tempts us in an attempt to have us stumble, to sin and thereby be seperated from God. We also learned that God gives gifts to us and the 4 things that are associated with God's gift giving.

Also if you haven't checked, all the White Noise Photos are on the Photos site (accessible by the pull string or the link at the bootom of the page or by clicking here!

Labels: James, Message

How do we determine wether someone is wealthy or poor. We can look at their bank statement, and whoever has more money is the richer man. But James teaches us that we should look at wealth a different way. In James 1:9-12, we learn that wealth does not determine God's love for us. That whether we have money or are bankrupt, God's love for us doesn't change.
Jame's thought process was also very similar to that of King Solomon. That even if we have all the wealth in the world (which Solomon pretty much had) that we can't do anything with it when we die. This is why we make wills, because when we pass on no matter how much stuff we had, we can't take it with us. Therefore our focus should not be on things of this world, but rather on Heaven. Colossians 3:2 When we are Heaven minded, then our focus is on right things.

Labels: James, Message

Last Saturday we talked about wisdom. How sometimes in life we face a decsion and we don't know what direction to take. In James 1:5, James promises that if we lack wisdom in anything we can ask God, and God will freely give us the wisdom we need. There have been many times in life where I have faced decisions that I didn't know how to respond, but it is reassuring that we have a God who is so loving that He wants to give us direction, He wants the best for our lives. Also sometime this past week, the new podcast went live, so if you click the pull tab you will see a new link to subscribe.

Labels: James, Message

On Saturday night, we looked at the next few verses in our series on James. In James 1:2-4 James talks about making Triumphs out of Troubles. He tells us that we need to look at the bigger picture in life and not be focused on the short term. It makes so much sense but so often we get stuck on the immediate. We have too difficult a time looking beyond our current problem, instead of asking ourselves "How can God use this opportunity?"

Also White Noise is going to be awesome, I just thought I would share that, so grab one of the last 5 spots because the trip might even be full by the time you read this post......

Labels: James, Message

I have to admit, I like Saturday morning cartoons. I grew up watching them and still love them. Growing up watching these beloved shows I always remembered watching "The More You Know" Commericals. NBC would get celebrities from their TV shows and inform the viewing audience about something that people are sometimes afflicted by. The concept was quite simple, if you tell people the truth and if they have as much facts on the situation as possible, then they will make a better informed decisions. This is the same concpet we looked at this past Saturday as we began our study in the book of James. The more we know about the culture, the time period, the audience, the more we will be able to glean from the book. Therefore we took just the first verse, and asked ourselves 3 questions: 1) Who wrote the book? 2)To whom did they write the book to? 3) Why did they write it. So we spent the evening looking at those questions, so that we we get deeper and deeper in to the book, we will have a better understanding of what is going on.
This series that we are doing through the book of James is called "Life in Motion". James calls us to an active belief in Christ. If we truely believe in what Jesus said and what Jesus did then our lives should demonstrate that. So we shouldn't live stagnant lives, but live in motion, to be in action and doing things. So this is what we will be looking at for the next while, how do we live our beliefs, how do we transform Christianity from a noun to a verb?

update: A new order has been placed for interface shirts and they will be coming soon!

Labels: James, Message