James the Arminian

As a Calvinist I can sniff out Arminians through my computer screen. James is an Arminian who wants to be able to manage his religious life for himself: “Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” The Rational: God will follow my lead.

Totally not true! It is not that easy because God is unfair.

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The Tongue

So it is with the tongue: small as it is, it can boast about great things. [...] And the tongue is like a fire. [...] But no one has ever been able to tame the tongue. It is evil and uncontrollable, full of deadly poison. 9 We use it to give thanks to our Lord and Father and also to curse other people, who are created in the likeness of God.
What is your reaction to the way in which James describes the tongue? Is the tongue hard to control? How do you react when someone gossips about another? What is the effect of words that are spoken in love?

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Faith and Works

James lists two great “friends of God” whose faith was exhibited in righteous action, Abraham and Rahab.
Who? – Yes, the Holy Hooker!

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True Religion

James writes: “What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.”
What do you think?

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Guest Preacher: New Beginnings

New_Beginnings_9_18_2011.m4a Listen on Posterous

Listen to a sermon by Leen Fritz, my pastoral intern. It was delivered at Provo Community United Church of Christ on September 18th 2011. 

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You are the Scum of the Earh and this World’s Garbage

Most people have Jesus’ saying memorized that Your are Salt of the Earth and Light of the World.
What Paul says is equally true though: We are no more than this world’s garbage; we are the scum of the earth to this very moment!
How does that make you feel?

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Tolerance: Karma, Christ, Star Trek, Star Wars, Whatever?

Today Christian Smith wrote an interesting piece on religious tolerance. I agree with him that when it comes to religion “we need to reject both sectarian conflict and liberal whateverism and commit ourselves instead to an authentic pluralism.”

The battle that has been brewing between Star Trek and Star Wars for 35 years is now finally settled that William Shatner has decided to weigh in with his own thoughts on the subject.

Sectarian conflict is good when it comes to Sci-Fi!
Whatever!

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Spiritual Growth

One’s spiritual life is often compared to a plant. Paul describes a three-step: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.”
Who was your Paul?
Who was your Apollos?
Who is the God who makes you grow?
Whose Paul are you?
Whose Apollos are you?
Who is the God who makes you plant and water?

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Homiletics 101

How does the art of preaching work?
Here is a lesson from Paul (1 Corinthians 2:1-16):
- Do not use big words.
- Forget everything except Jesus Christ and especially his death on the cross.
- Do not deliver your teaching and message with skillful words of human wisdom.
- Allow room for convincing proof of the power of God’s Spirit.
- Yet DO proclaim a message of wisdom to those who are spiritually mature.
- Accept that it is only our own spirit within us that knows all about us; in the same way, only God’s Spirit knows all about God.

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Fides quaerens intellectum

Paul knows: “God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful.”
Faith cannot be argued for or achieved through a thought process. But faith seeks understanding and rational expression once found, as Anselm of Canterbury put it.

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