“an abbreviated time together”

Download discussion questions:  James 1:9-12
Jump to beginning of James Discussion Group Blog

I encourage you to look at the passage in James before you read this Blog entry.  What do you see in the text yourself?  What questions come to your mind?  How would you interpret what the writer says?  After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.

Because of travel and illness, our group started off this week with about half our members.  Then during our discussion, a couple of people were called away and had to leave.  But even our abbreviated time together produced valuable insights and intriguing questions.  These brief draft notes can provide a starting point for next week’s study.  The notes are mostly observations and some related interpretation questions. (As I began assembling the notes, I realized this might give you a better idea of the early part of most of our discussions, the exploratory process that may not always make it into blog posts.) Continue reading →

“another command that has often been misinterpreted in the history of the church”

Download discussion questions:  James 1:5-8
Jump to beginning of James Discussion Group Blog

I encourage you to look at the passage in James before you read this Blog entry.  What do you see in the text yourself?  What questions come to your mind?  How would you interpret what the writer says?  After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.

James opened his letter linking joy and trials.  Our discussion last week verified his assumption that wisdom should be his next topic.  As group members commented, “I kind of understand, but it’s still difficult” and “It sounds dumb and makes no sense.”  Someone observed that the mention of joy should give us peace, but the immediate connection with trials shocks us back to reality.  Perhaps James anticipated such reactions. Continue reading →

“we need to train ourselves to respond with joy to our circumstances”

Download discussion questions:  James 1:1-4 Further Discussion
Jump to beginning of James Discussion Group Blog

I encourage you to look at the passage in James before you read this Blog entry.  What do you see in the text yourself?  What questions come to your mind?  How would you interpret what the writer says?  After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.

An Important “Introduction”

Our discussion this week was a continuation from our previous time together.  Some of the “Unresolved Questions” needed more examination. We wanted to gain a better understanding of the beginning of the letter of James.  As one member of our group observed, the opening verses are often treated as “just an introduction.”  It is too easy to give superficial agreement to “Consider it all joy…” and then move quickly to the rest of this letter.  Nothing James wrote is about “superficial agreement.” Continue reading →

“Joy is not a passing sensation of pleasure, but a pervasive sense of well-being.”

Download discussion questions:  James 1:1-8
Jump to beginning of James Discussion Group Blog

I encourage you to look at the passage in James before you read this Blog entry.  What do you see in the text yourself?  What questions come to your mind?  How would you interpret what the writer says?  After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.

The handout included the first eight verses of the letter of James, but our group discussion focused on just the first four.  Verse 5 implies that there might be an immediate need for wisdom. We concentrated on those four verses to see just where we “lack wisdom” before moving on. Continue reading →

“Few books have been as controversial and misunderstood as the Letter of James.”[1]
“Little wonder that many Christians have avoided this book in their studies.”[2]

With that as an introduction, we might well ask, “Why study James?”  On the other hand, we might think, “That’s exactly why we should study James!” Continue reading →

UNDER CONSTRUCTION – please be patient – or send an email to hurry things up!