As we reach the end of James’ epistle, we see James call for patience in suffering. He started his letter in James 1 with a call for believers to be steadfast in faith, to be those who remain steadfast under trial, before he launched into the meat of James on godly living. Here he returns to the application of being patient — “be patient, therefore, brothers” ties this application directly to everything we’ve heard in James thus far. The call to patience here and the call to steadfastness in James 1 are bookends.
In this section of James, we look at what it means to be patient as a believer, why it’s important, and how we can be patient practically.
For only the second time in our history, Singapore hosted the Pope, who spent three days in Singapore for the final leg of an Asian tour after visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste.
As we enter into a new year, some approach the year with a sense of foreboding and fear, others with a sense of opportunity and excitement. Still others look at the days to come with a certain coolness of spirit — a disinterest and detachment — that is neither excited nor anxious, because we cannot tell what tomorrow will bring. Truly as James 4 reminds us, we are merely a mist, and we should neither say with certitude that we know what tomorrow will bring, for only He that is eternal, unchanging and enduring can speak of tomorrow with certainty.
This past month, we’ve been reading about developments in Israel and the region. There is every reason to believe that this conflict is only just beginning, and will lead to severe unrest in the Middle East.
But taking a few steps back — how did things get here? And how should the thinking Christian, trusting in the God who keeps His covenant promises, think about these matters with wisdom?
In the "Sermon on the Mount", we see the Lord Jesus' preaching to His disciples of the life and culture of the kingdom of heaven. Where the holy God reigns and rules over His people, people have repented of their old way of life and turned to a new way of living. How then can we be perfectly righteous?
