A night of service...

TNT had a great night of service last night. We started with a very hearty meal provided by Jen, which everyone enjoyed. I am going to butcher what it was, but it was a Mexican soup over cornbread and was just delicious! (Seriously hoping that Jen posts the recipe right here.) It was a great time of fellowship and I found it very relaxing after a hectic day at the office. (Lots happening with my fantasy football team...plus the waiver wire was busy....)

Then we got to the jobs. Three persons who were more "cooking inclined" took to the kitchen and baked up a storm. 350 cookies later, and they were finished. The gauntlet was laid down for the cleaning portion of the evening, with myself talking smack about my crazy cleaning skills (or skilz as the kids say...). Let me just say that Kyle and Clark answered the bell, and came out swinging... Clark tackled cleaning two windows at a time, one with each hand, cleaning in a clockwise manner with his left hand and counter-clockwise fashion with his right. (Did you just pick up your hands to see how easy that is??) Kyle answered by cleaning three (!) windows at a time, spraying them down with his right foot, using both hands and his tongue. It was impressive. He said it was a little trick he picked up in the Sioux Center plant. I thought I would go above and beyond the call of duty and pick up some trash, but Clark, cleaning some of the windows outside, found a chunk of concrete misplaced under the prayer tower, so, I kid you not, the man picked up the entire tower! I mean, it was just a couple inches off the ground, but I was impressed. The Tower looked a lot better after he put it down too. (See picture depicting the effect.)

All in all a great night of fun and service, answering James' claim that faith without works is dead. "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."

(Feel free to use the windows at Third Church to see a perfect reflection of yourself, because those bad boys are clean!)

Favoritism and judgment

The other question that we didn't get to last night was "How do judgment and mercy relate to favoritism?" In other words, how do verses 12 and 13 fit in with the rest of the passage??

Showing favoritism, or partiality, IS judging another person's worth or value. Of course James is making the point that we are judging their worth based on things like clothing, social status, money, appearance, attractiveness, etc. INSTEAD of the things that truly matter (their faith). In that sense we are treating their outward appearance/wealth/etc. as more valuable than Christ.

James sees the opposite of favoritism (or judging) as being mercy. Mercy is at the very essense of the "Royal Law" that he speaks about in vs. 8. James is applying the teaching of Jesus. For more on this you can read the parable of the unmerciful servant found in Matthew 18:21-35 and see that he calls the merciful "blessed" in Matthew 5:7.

Until we meet again I'm praying that the Holy Spirit will continue to mold and shape us to be more like Christ. May we show mercy to others~whether that be to the ornery student in the classroom, the smelly patient who doesn't bathe regularly, or the waitress doing her best to serve us.

Judgement and freedom

Another question that was raised concerns vs12. How are we judged by the law that gives freedom?

All of us are going to be judged after we die but as Christians we are to "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom." This is Christ's law. As Christians we are covered by the blood of Christ and will receive mercy instead of condemnation in the final judgment. BUT, we will still give an accounting of what we have done so James is reminding us to speak and act as though we're remembering this! The law gives freedom from our oppression from sin. Thank you Jesus!!!

Follow up from 10/1

Hi All!
We had a great discussion last night on James 2:1-13. I loved the questions that you raised. Questions are how we learn~think of how many times Jesus answered a question with another question...anyways, your questions have had me thinking and I hope have done the same for you as well!

Here's the first question that we didn't get to...it is a TOUGH question!! I'd love to hear other's feedback on this too. The question was...How do we determine right and wrong without being judgmental??

This is an interesting question that I've been struggling with for awhille now. I did some research and here's what I came up with so far (by no means does it completely cover the subject). I think we are all scared of the verse in Matthew 7:1-2 where Jesus says, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." I looked up a little about this verse and here was a good quote from biblegateway.com..."Many people have ripped this passage out of context. Jesus warns us not to assume God's prerogative to condemn the guilty; he is not warning us not to discern truth from error" (see 7:15-23). Discerning truth is a must for those of us who know truth. But, as we talked about last night we have all sinned and broken the "royal law" and will all be judged by Christ. Aren't I thankful that He is FULL of mercy?!? So how much more should I show mercy to my fellow sinner!! AGAIN this seems to be all about our heart and our motives (whether or not we are condemning others/judging vs discerning right from wrong).

There is so much more that I could write about this topic but I'm curious to hear some thoughts from YOU!!

The Parker Dog, Lady . . .

I can't help but blog about my mentioning of Lady, the Parker dog, last night. Perhaps this blog can be one of my outlets that will lead me to a better relationship with this canine. (Basically, I am going to ramble a little which may be good for me but not as much fun for you . . .)

So, here's the deal, Justin has had Lady since he was a junior in high school. She turned 15 this month (in September). She was very jealous when Justin and I started dating and would put her nose down between us when we would sit together on the couch.

Eventually, they grafted me into the family and she would protect me (and Jarrett too) from anyone who would threaten us.

Why wouldn't this be ok with me? Lady is a good dog. Just don't leave your socks or undergarments laying around. You will see them again it will just be the next day out in the yard. It's amazing what will go through her digestive tract! Justin actually saved a pair of Jarrett's socks once - cleaned them up and he was good to go . . .

Anyway, Lady is a DOG. I have never considered myself a dog person and she came with Justin. I have tolerated this quite well but more recently has become more inconvenient. My biggest issue is that she sheds which requires more house maintenance. I also don't like to be breathed on or brushed up against on hot days. When I am on the floor playing with Jarrett, when I pick him up, I have to use a lint remover on him and me before we leave the house.

As I am writing this, I am saying to myself, "it's so trivial isn't it ". . . My point of writing? Well, to keep you updated on what I learn about what Lady represents for me. It's not logical to be so angered by the canine so there is something there . . . if any of you have insight, feel free to let me know.

In the meantime, me and my lint remover will be close by.

And, finally, we get to this question of religion. Which many of us in the room last night said we recoil at that word. We don't like being called "religious." But this scripture can help us with what that really means and it's great news! If we were truly "religious" in this way, people would love Christians and "religious" people!

James gets to this point to Accepting the Word and Doing the Word but what can this lead to? Religious "practices." It looks good but it becomes mere ritual and not Christ-centered. So James lists 3 penetrating dimensions of religion that are acceptable to God:

1) Control of the tongue - how many sins can you think of that are caused by our tongues? James obviously knows this is a big deal and dedicates chapter 3 to address it. Just to let you know, James is not addressing if we sometimes have an unbridled tongue it's if we have an habitually unbridled tongue.

2) Help those who cannot help themselves = orphans and widows. These two persons in NT days were helpless without men to take care of them in their Patriarchal society. It was up to Christians to lend a charitable hand to meet their needs and help them in their plight. And this is not just to give money but to be personally involved with them. Hands-on caring.

3) An unpolluted life - I think this comes back to the question from the beginning - what does a righteous life look like? This may look different for everyone but certainly includes what this passage addresses - quick to listen, slow to speak and become angry. Listen to the word AND do what it says. Watch what you say and help those who can't help themselves. That may be a good start to this unpolluted life.

Any other ideas?

I love how this passage involves our Words, our Hands, and our Hearts. I am challenged to my core and the dog is my test :-)

Looking in the Mirror

The mirror = the Word. The word speaks of the Old Testament.

When we look into the Word, we see, literally, the "heart of our birth". The longer one looks at the mirror, the more we begin to see our flaws, blemishes etc. (Some talked about when we see ourselves on video, the camera doesn't lie . . . or how about the great 360 mirror on What Not To Wear? Nothing is hidden. . . ) The mirror - the Word - allows us to look at ourselves but also to gaze upon the face of God.

So we have 2 pictures - one person who "looks at their face in the mirror and, after looking at it, goes away and forgets what he looks like." The 2nd picture we get is a person who "looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this."

The first person may have scripture memorized, know the books of the Bible, know stories, etc. They have accumulated knowledge but clearly, that is not enough!

The second person is gripped by what they see in the mirror - and keeps on looking! The "perfect law" refers to the OT Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus because he came to fulfill the law. They see the sin in themselves and they also see the holiness of God. Like Paul says in Romans 7:24, "What a wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

Which kind of person are we? Do we look into the mirror and act upon what we see? Are we a part of a process of looking & doing, looking & doing, looking & doing?

If we are looking and doing? How is this lived out for you?

James closes with a beatitude: if we hear and do the word, one will be blessed in ALL they do. (Wow, really??) That's what the scripture states . . . :-)