Men's Bible Study 8/23/2010

James 1: 19-25

I hope there was no confusion about where we were meeting yesterday.
If there was, sorry, my bad! I should've sent out an email earlier in
the day. I'll try to keep track of the weather and SMS people if it
looks like we need to switch to a warmer, drier meeting place. Please
send me your phone number if you'd like me to SMS you (If I already
have your number then you don't need to). It does seem like we are
losing warm weather and daylight already, so there's a good chance we
are meeting at Spot next week again. Please keep that in mind if you
arrive at Bidwell Park and don't see us there. But I will try to send
out an update before next Monday about where we are meeting.

This week we talked about being "quick to listen, slow to speak and
slow to become angry". Why does James connect the three? We might
think this is speaking mainly about how we communicate with other
people (and it's certainly great advice), but James says right after,
"Therefore... humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save
you", suggesting that there may be an aspect of this speaking about
how we relate to the God and His word. Ever got angry reading the
bible? Do we arrive at conclusions to soon about what God is telling
us? Do we respond to something minor and are done listening before we
get to the major thing God is talking about?

Then James follows this up by talking about not just listening to the
word, but doing it. "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do
what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and,
after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he
looks like." We talked about how doing what God says actually helps
us to hear Him better, and how action and words really do go a long
way towards communicating effectively.

James believes this point is worth repeating in different ways. From
this point on he will repeatedly come back to contrasting theory and
action. "You have faith; I have deeds." "Who is wise and understanding
among you? Let him show it by his good life". This is where it all
starts. Martin Luther famously had a tough time with this stuff and
stuck James's letter at the end of his bible (impressive considering
there was no MS Word copypaste back then).

Will we wind up doing the same? Is this the start of a new Antinomian
movement? Will Pastor Steve have to step in and sort us out? Will
Cory wear his shirt the right side out? Come and see!