James 5 - The Prayer of Faith

Greek Text:
 13  Κακοπαθεῖ τις ἐν ὑμῖν, προσευχέσθω· εὐθυμεῖ τις, ψαλλέτω·14  ἀσθενεῖ τις ἐν ὑμῖν, προσκαλεσάσθω τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῆς ἐκκλησίας καὶ προσευξάσθωσαν ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀλείψαντες [αὐτὸν] ἐλαίῳ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου. 15  καὶ ἡ εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως σώσει τὸν κάμνοντα καὶ ἐγερεῖ αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος· κἂν ἁμαρτίας ᾖ πεποιηκώς, ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ.16  ἐξομολογεῖσθε οὖν ἀλλήλοις τὰς ἁμαρτίας καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων ὅπως ἰαθῆτε. πολὺ ἰσχύει δέησις δικαίου ἐνεργουμένη.

 17  Ἠλίας ἄνθρωπος ἦν ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν, καὶ προσευχῇ προσηύξατο τοῦ μὴ βρέξαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔβρεξεν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐνιαυτοὺς τρεῖς καὶ μῆνας ἕξ·18  καὶ πάλιν προσηύξατο, καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς ὑετὸν ἔδωκεν καὶ ἡ γῆ ἐβλάστησεν τὸν καρπὸν αὐτῆς.

Holman Christian Standard Bible:

 13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord.  15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will restore him to health; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours; yet he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.


The above passage is what my research project  for college. It has a whole heap of exegetical issues, and I think pastoral issues. I'm currently in the process of writing an exegetical paper on the passage to begin my thinking . God willing I can come up with some helpful solutions

The Atonement: By Leon Morris

I'm starting to read this book  by Leon Morris on the atonement. It's one of the classic studies on the atonement from a leading Evangelical Scholar. After a quick flick through, it looks like it will be a cracker! I hope to post up over the coming weeks some reflections on what I've been reading.

What is Christian Ethics?

I've been reading for a little while now this great book by Michael Hill, "The How and Why of Love - An introduction into Evangelical Ethics."

And I have to say, it has been really enjoyable. It's nice to read something at college that is very clear, well argued and a delight to read. I have been challenged in my thinking about how I go about developing and sustaining what Hill calls 'Mutual Love Relationships" (MLR's). Another thing that this book does really well, is it grounds ethical deliberations within the story of redemption, from creation to new creation (that is, within Biblical Theology.) Hill takes you through this schema, showing his working if you like, and so develops his theological ethic based on a reading of scripture. He then moves on to some moral issues, and so applies his ethical theory to these very important issues, thus giving a module of how Christian ethics is done.

I've also noticed that the publisher has produced a great downloadable study guide. Find it here.

Gospel Song Animation

One of the songs that I often sing to my daughter, especially when we are trying to settle her down (but on other occasions as well) is a song call  'The Gospel Song'. It is a very simple song that has a very profound message. In fact I believe it to be one of the most profound messages that human beings can hear. It is a message of the Love that the God of the universe has lavished on the word. It is the message of why it is possible for sinful creatures (that is those who say to God, 'I'm doing it my way, but I'll take all your blessings, but basically you can go jump!), can be brought into a loving relationship with the one who made them. This is the ultimate Love song in my book. It's the message I constantly pray that my daughter will know and believe. And it's my prayer that others I don't know this message, will come to cherish.

Have a look at this very powerful animation, accompanied by 'the Gospel Song'. It gets to the heart of what the Christian message is all about. The Holy God who in love became the perfect man to bare my blame; the blame that is mine for rejecting the God of the Universe, the one who created all things, and who is only revealed in the person of Jesus. It is very powerful.




If you want to find out about who Jesus is, check out here . I'm happy to chat as well.

Thinking about the Holy Spirit

We are currently teaching a series at Kids church on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. I've been trying to trying to think through some of the issues on the Holy Spirit's ministry of assurance. Big topic! As I've been working through Romans 8,  I guess this is what I've come up with.

How can I know (be confident) that God loves me?

The gift of the person of the Holy Spirit helps me by:
1. Pointing me to Jesus, as the only one who could deal with my sin (8:1-4).
2. Units me to Jesus as an adopted Son, by which I cry Abba, Father. Through this cry the Holy Spirit bears witness to the fact that I'm a child of God (8: 12-17)
3. Helps me Pray, when I don't know what to say (8:26-27).

That's my thinking, I'm going to let that mull lfor a bit.

Meditations on Mission (Part V)

Reflection 5: Do you have beautiful feet?

 ¹Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ²For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. ⁴Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

 ⁵Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." ⁶But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷"or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: ⁹That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." ¹²For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

 ¹⁴How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (Romans 10:1-15 NIV, emphesis mine)

Meditations on Mission (Part IV)

Reflection 4: What is Mission? Mission is the activity of God's beloved people, declaring the praises of Him who has brought us out of the kingdom of darkness into his marvelous light!

 ⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV)