Posts Tagged with "Pastoral Ministry"

Favoritism is a serious sin. Why? One reason according to James is because when you show favoritism, 'you become judges with evil motives.' In other words, when you show favoritism you are setting yourself up in God's place as a judge. The Bible says there is only one Lawgiver and judge, but when you make decisions about people based on external factors alone, you are ...

We've seen James condemns favoritism in James 2. But what does favoritism look like? He illustrates. Picture this scene in your minds. The church has gathered together. They've come to worship. In enters a man who is obviously very wealthy. You know he's wealthy because he is wearing gold rings. Literally James calls him a gold-fingered man. So don't think wedding ri...

Is your religion real? In James 1:26 and 27, we are given three tests. 1.) The way we speak. 2.) The way we relate to the vulnerable. And, 3.) The way we relate to the world. Are we worldly? Over the past couple of posts we have been defining worldliness and thinking a little about why it is dangerous. Now, let's try to get specific. What are some specific ways we ...

Worldliness is dangerous because it stains us. James says true religion is to 'keep oneself unstained by the world.' In other words, if you are not actively keeping yourself, you are going to be stained by the world. The reason you have to actively keep yourself unstained by the world is because the world is constantly seeking to press us into its mold.You hear a lot t...

Are you worldly? That's an important question. After all, listen to James 1:27. "This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Fatherto keep oneself unstained by the world." Worldliness is a problem because the world wants to stain you and it's a problem you should be concerned about because as James explains worship that God accepts comes from people...

The first part in a series by Pastor Josh answering the question: What is the Church to do? ...