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    The Book of James - Epistle of Straw?: Search For Truth Bible Series
    The Book of James - Epistle of Straw?: Search For Truth Bible Series
    The Book of James - Epistle of Straw?: Search For Truth Bible Series
    Ebook57 pages2 hours

    The Book of James - Epistle of Straw?: Search For Truth Bible Series

    By Brian Johnston

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    About this ebook

    Martin Luther didn't seem overly impressed with the Bible letter by James, describing it as 'a right strawy epistle'! It seems he felt disappointed it didn't contain any exalted description of Christ, nor make reference to the work of the Spirit. It's true that James doesn't deal with the glories of Christ and his Church or with the great Christian blessings, nor does he transport us to the world to come. But he forces us to face up squarely to practical realities and their ethical implications. Bible teacher Brian Johnston brings us face to face with them in a down-to-earth style that perhaps James himself would have appreciated!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHayes Press
    Release dateNov 15, 2018
    ISBN9781386195788
    The Book of James - Epistle of Straw?: Search For Truth Bible Series
    Author

    Brian Johnston

    Born and educated in Scotland, Brian worked as a government scientist until God called him into full-time Christian ministry on behalf of the Churches of God (www.churchesofgod.info). His voice has been heard on Search For Truth radio broadcasts for over 30 years (visit www.searchfortruth.podbean.com) during which time he has been an itinerant Bible teacher throughout the UK and Canada. His evangelical and missionary work outside the UK is primarily in Belgium and The Philippines. He is married to Rosemary, with a son and daughter.

    Read more from Brian Johnston

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      Book preview

      The Book of James - Epistle of Straw? - Brian Johnston

      THE BOOK OF JAMES: EPISTLE OF STRAW?

      BRIAN JOHNSTON

      Copyright © 2014 HAYES PRESS

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of Search for Truth UK.

      Published by:

      HAYES PRESS CHRISTIAN PUBLISHERS

      The Barn, Flaxlands

      Royal Wootton Bassett

      Swindon, SN4 8DY

      United Kingdom

      www.hayespress.org

      Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, the New King James Version® (NKJV®). Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked NIV are from New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scriptures marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

      Table of Contents

      Copyright Page

      CHAPTER ONE: TALKING ABOUT TRIALS

      CHAPTER TWO: PREFERABLY NOT PARTIAL

      CHAPTER THREE: THE FAITH THAT SAVES US

      CHAPTER FOUR: TAMING THE TONGUE

      CHAPTER FIVE: BELIEVERS BEHAVING BADLY

      CHAPTER SIX: GOD AND THE DOCTOR!

      Further Reading: A Crisis of Identity

      Also By Brian Johnston

      About the Author

      About the Publisher

      CHAPTER ONE: TALKING ABOUT TRIALS

      Martin Luther described the Bible letter by James as ‘a right strawy epistle’. It seems he felt disappointed that it didn’t contain any exalted description of Christ, nor make reference to the work of the Spirit, and didn’t work hard to defend the faith.  We usually take it to have been written by James, the Lord’s half-brother. He came late to faith; his conversion wasn’t until after the Lord’s resurrection. Despite that, and to some extent influenced perhaps by his family association to Christ, James appears to have been highly respected by the community of faith at Jerusalem. Famously, he chaired the Jerusalem Council recorded in Acts chapter 15.

      It’s true that James doesn’t deal with the glories of Christ and his Church or with the great Christian blessings, nor does he transport us to the world to come. James seems to be at home in more mundane matters. He doesn’t write in great soaring passages, nor are there many strongly motivating exhortations. But the value of his contribution, under God, is in forcing us to face up squarely to practical realities and their ethical implications.

      Let’s take it a chapter at a time, and so we’ll begin with the first chapter which is almost, if not, entirely devoted to how we should cope with a major difficulty in Christian experience – that of facing up to trials and troubles. We would be so much poorer without this introductory chapter of James. Repeatedly, throughout his letter, James uses the expression, ‘my brothers’. He’s not speaking down to his audience from a great height, but he’s drawing alongside to give compassionate counsel – counsel we can be so grateful for. Let’s read it:

      James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials ... (James 1:1-2).

      With these opening remarks, James sets the scene. He wanted to speak to his audience at that time – and to us today – about adversity in testing – the kind of testing we routinely face in the varied trials of Christian life. He continues:

      "... knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let

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