YOUR Story Matters!

I can't think of too many times someone has been argued into the Kingdom of God...

I've never heard of anyone being bullied or shamed into God's Kingdom.

And I don't think it's very effective to rationalize, debate, shame or pester anyone into making the most important decision of their life.

Here's what I DO see happening a lot though;

A neighbour, co-worker, family member, barista... someone who you have built some relational capital with... opens up a faith conversation. Perhaps they even ask you; "Hey, why is this God-thing so important to you"?

What they are asking for is YOUR STORY! Your personal witness or testimony as to why life is better with Christ.

What will you say???

WATER IN THE WILDERNESS

This summer we're hearing portions of people's true life stories... the good, the bad and the ugly... but in each I think you'll see the authorship of Jesus all over them.

Tomorrow our own Don Wallar shares a painful, vulnerable part of his life that everyone will relate with in one way or another.

Be encouraged! Even in the midst of being "in the wilderness", God gave Don streams of refreshing, living water.

The Start of a NEW Summer Series

Our brains are literally wired for STORY. It might be one of the reasons Jesus primarily spoke in parables, illustrations and stories.

Each and every one of you has a STORY.

Whether you know it or not, Jesus' fingerprints are all over your story. He is the AUTHOR and perfector of our faith story.

Jesus asks us to partner in this narrative called "our life story". He will not coerce, cajole, or manipulate, which means WE have some decisions about how our story plays out.

So, I guess the question is, are we living a story worth telling?

As we wrap up our James study tomorrow, James himself wraps up his letter... a letter that primarily addresses how Christians ought to live and interact with each other... by encouraging us to put our FAITH in action via radically expectant prayer!

In fact, we invite you to step out in faith and receive prayer in community through the means James lays out in this last section: The anointing of oil and laying on of hands.

Whether it is physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, financial (etc.) healing that needs to take place, God is more than able to bring healing.

There were all kinds of ways as a kid I tried to communicate that THIS TIME,

I really MEANT it.

"cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye"

"I swear on a stack of Bibles"

"I swear on my Mother's grave"

We have grown-up versions of these. Air-tight contracts, NDA's, threats of legal recourse.

James says our Christian character compels us to be people of unvarnished truth.

But it seems there's even more going on here in this deceptively simple verse. Hope you'll join us.

It's interesting to notice the subtle and not-so-subtle barriers that are constructed between the rich and the poor... the "haves" and the "have-nots".

There's even a dating app that promises to weed out the financially meager (put that in the not-so-subtle category). The "Occupy Wallstreet" demonstrations were another stark illustration.

But you can see it in things from gated communities to airline first class (or "business class"). Seinfeld had a great bit about the shame of having them close the curtain to first class.

There's clubs and resorts and golf courses that make a point of only serving a certain affluent clientelle.

I'm sure you can think of your own examples in Canada, let alone the overt examples like the caste system in countries like India.

The Church though is supposed to be the ONE place where everyone is truly equal under God. James addresses a church - much like many churches today - where there are bosses and business owners and the 1% wealthy.

James has a word for them.

It's also a church filled with the perennially poor, enslaved and financially exploited. James has a word for them as well.

Whether you see yourself in one of those categories - or more likely, in the messy middle, James has something we all need to hear and apply.

When I was a kid our car radio had basically nothing but the Christian radio station on, coming in on the airwaves from Detroit. One time I heard a song in the car that I sat enraptured by.

The next day when they were counting down the top Christian songs of the week (think Petra, Amy Grant..) I spoke up and said, "I hope that dust song is #1". My sister was like; "What are you talking about?"

I said: "You know.... that 'dust in the wind' song"

She said: "That's not a Christian song dum-dum" ( may have added the dum-dum to my memory).

Apparently, some soft rock station had snuck into our daily drive.

But isn't this a Christian song?

Now don't hang on

Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky

It slips away

And all your money won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind

All we are is dust in the wind

That could have been taken right from Ecclesiastes. Interestingly, Kerry Lindgren, the writer of that song and member of the rock group Kansas would become a Christ follower a few short years later. Perhaps something was already stirring in him about eternity and the fleeting nature of this life.

James, in a letter that addresses so many practical issues on "living well" really sums it up in this section:

You have one life. It's gone in a flash. So make it count!

James starts this section by giving an unconventional take on why humans always seem to be bickering, fighting and at odds with each other.

Then he really gets all up in our business and links that issue to us being (my words, not James) fence-sitters. A little too enamoured with the world to be fully devoted to Christ.

Ouch!

If you're not up for getting a little personally challenged, tomorrow's service might NOT be for you. You've been warned.

James keeps circling back to this idea, that the God-life is more than "orthodoxy" (right thinking) but ultimately "orthopraxy" (right LIVING). In fact, I'll bet you know some near-geniuses... some genuinely book-smart people who seem to make such appallingly dumb life decisions.

Wisdom... the very thing that Solomon asked for above ALL else... the thing that God says can be made available to all of us if we'd only ask... it's more than reading your Bible every day, it's actually APPLYING all that good knowledge into a lifestyle. But James has some definitions of wisdom that you would NOT expect and THOSE unexpected aspects are worth diving into today.

What tastes better than it smells? Your tongue!

They can’t be seen with the naked eye, but you have up to 4,000 taste buds by the time you’re an adult, each with up to 150 taste receptors. You have less when you’re a child which are more sensitive to sweet tastes which might explain why you preferred candy to cabbage.

Your tongue is as unique to you as your fingerprints. It’s a combination of eight muscles intertwined like an elephant’s trunk so it can move in any direction. They are the only muscles in the body that move independent of the skeleton but like other muscles the tongue is trainable.

Here James is going to show us how the tongue is a test, so we must train the tongue God’s way. Because though it’s a myth that the tongue is the strongest muscle, it is the most powerful.

Our words can hurt or heal, build up or tear down, bringing wisdom or wounds, the Bible says that little thing is the most dangerous in the whole world.