Chunks: The Letter of James
Chunks Bible Mini-Podcasts are designed to help you have a richer and more personal understanding of the teaching of Scripture. Each podcast focuses on a particular book or text, and each episode is only 5 to 10 minutes long, so you can listen whenever you have a few minutes to dig in. This podcast focuses on the New Testament letter of James, and is entitled ”Working Faith.” James insists that anyone who has truly received the gospel should show it in their conduct and character. He forcefully challenges his readers to reconsider the thoughtless, hurtful behaviors they take for granted, even down to the way they speak to one another. These are lessons we need in every age, including today. New episodes will drop Fridays until the book of James is finished. About your host: my name is Cameron Lee. I am a Professor of Family Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, where I’ve taught since 1986; I am also a Certified Family Life Educator and a licensed minister and teaching pastor. Writing is my passion: I’ve written or co-authored nine books and several articles, and have been blogging thrice weekly since 2011 at Squinting Through Fog (the-fog-blog.com).
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Episodes
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Olives don't grow on fig trees; figs don't grow on grapevines. What James 3:11-12 teaches is once more reminiscent of the words of Jesus: "You will know them by their fruit." If the gospel is planted in us, as James suggests, does it bear fruit in the way we speak?
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
In today's world, just about anyone can have a platform to share their supposed wisdom. But who's really wise? James 3:13 suggests that true wisdom is shown in an appropriately humble lifestyle.
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
It's probably not hard to imagine how people's ambitions can threaten the health of relationships. James 3:14 suggests that believers were doing things for their own gain, creating chaos in the church.
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
James has already suggested that out-of-control tongues are "set on fire by hell." The strong language continues in James 3:15-16: compared to true wisdom, the counterfeit earthly version is "demonic."
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
James has already spoken about true and false wisdom. In James 3:17-18, he says more about the nature of godly wisdom, and what he says is reminiscent of Paul's teaching about the fruit of the Spirit. The truly wise desire to make peace, to foster shalom.
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Try to imagine what you really want when you're in the midst of an argument... James 4:1 says that the root of our external conflicts is an internal conflict: we have desires that pull us in different directions.
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
More strong language. James 4:2 says that conflict comes from frustrated desire. But his words seem to suggest that Christians were actually willing to commit murder to get what they want. Is that what he really means?
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Most of us were taught to say "please" when we wanted something; without the magic word, we might not get it. James 4:2-3 seems to suggest that this might be true of prayer as well--it's possible to ask "wrongly." Do we need to say things in a particular way for God to answer our prayers?
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
James pulls no punches. He's already suggested that believers were guilty of murder. In James 4:4, he calls them "adulterers." Why?
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
James has already spoken of how our desires clash within us and cause us to clash with each other. James 5:4 suggests that God, too, desires something. But the verse is notoriously difficult to translate, as even a quick glance at different translations reveals. This episode explores what James probably means--and what that means for us.
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