The New Testament letter of James is passionately practical. It breathes down-to-earth intensity. The author yearns to see the realities of the gospel translated into daily life. He has no patience with speculative theology or pious pretense. His cry is: “Let the faith be lived!”
This is a story about two sons, Billy and Dave, and the family of which they were a part. It is also a story of loss—the different kinds of losses that Billy and Dave each experienced and the things their family lost as a result. In the early 1950s Bill and Helen Brownson were the parents of a young and growing brood. Deeply devoted to one another and to the Lord, committed to serving him in ministry, the Brownsons were the very picture of a happy, active Christian family.
Real praying isn’t easy; sometimes it can be difficult. But God wants us to pray. Prayer is also God’s gift. He provides everything we need and then calls us to respond. Well, then, how do we capture excitement about prayer when we’ve lost the heart to pray? Dr. Brownson doesn’t intend this book to be merely a call to prayer. Rather, his purpose is to inspire courage to pray, to leave us saying “I think I can do that. I can learn to pray.”
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he had decided to “know nothing” among them “except Jesus Christ and him crucified,” he was not claiming for himself a narrow, limited message. The apostle obviously addressed a number of doctrinal issues, ethical concerns and church problems. But he approached every one of those in a particular way – in the light of the gospel, in the light of Christ crucified and risen for us. He brought to bear upon every issue he met, the mighty realities of the Gospel. Christ was always at the center.
Read: Romans 7:1-25 What cure can there be for our agonizing inner conflict? Welcome, dear friends, to another in our series on the heart of the gospel, studies in the letter
Read: James 4:7-8 For many people the Devil is nothing more than a cartoon character. But we have a real and terrible enemy in Satan. Let’s learn today how to fight
Read: Romans 6:11-14 Have you been struggling for a long time against a particularly stubborn sin in your life? Well we have good news for you today, there is a way
Read: Hebrews 4:16 Many people today are so unacquainted with God or feel that he’s so far away they don’t even know how to talk to him and hardly even
Read: Matthew 27:46 When Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” he was all alone, but because he was abandoned by God, you
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