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Q2. (Matthew 5:3-4) Why is it necessary to be aware of your spiritual poverty before you can become a Christian? What kind of mourning is necessary for a person to become a Christian? What kind of mourning is a common experience of Christians? (See Isaiah 61:2-3; Ezekiel 9:4.) A true christian is the one who is well aware of his spiritual beckonings and spiritual stand. One should be willing to seek for the spiritual blessings which, indeed, will be done only if the presence of a spiritual poverty is realised..And if we do that God has promised us in more than one occasion to bless us and accept us into His kingdom. To be a christian the first type of mourning one should exhibit the mourning about the past sinfulness and the mourning in repentence.. It should be a mourning to clense oneself of all the sins and recieve the Savior into ones life... In common, the christians experience a variety of mourning which maybe about the self or any significant person in life, about the sins of the world and cruelty done against humanity by humanity..

Q1. (Matthew 5:3-11) Each Beatitude consists of two parts. What are these parts? Why do you think Jesus made each Beatitude a paradox? What is the relationship of the Beatitudes to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? The beatitude is a blessing and the two parts are the blessing and the conditions or the realisations.. I think the role of the paradox here is to stress the importance of the realisation of what is lacking..for eg:- only if you realize that you are poor in spirit will you seek for it and thereby understand the kingdom of heaven and achieve it.. In a way I believe the beatitudes are the applications of the fruits of spirit..the blessings point to the gift of the Holy Spirit which we will achieve on seeking for it and thereby be blessed..

Q5. Now that you're finished with James: Practical Christianity, what did you get out of this study? How would you evaluate the study? What can be improved? First of all, Thank you Pastor Ralph Wilson for this wonderful study... I really enjoyed the study and it was challenging to me as to where I stand when the practicality of my faith is concerned. James presented the matter pretty staight forward and didnot even attempt to sugar coat the bitter truth.. the message was pretty strong which made me percieve things in all together different manner.. I would evaluate this study as a very good one. I would love to see maybe an objective type of questionaire attached to this..

Q4. (5:19-20) In the light of James' emphasis on active faith vs. dead faith (2:17), why is the role of finding and bringing back the wandering sheep so important? James emphasises that "the faith without works is dead". The role of finding and bringing back the wandering sheep constitute one that, of a person of faith in action. James is clear in mentioning that it can be an earnest prayer in faith that could do that or you can do that physically and face the person and help him realise that he has to get back to the loving presence of God and help him deal with the things that facilitated him wandering away from God. And this is an important ministry that we have to do in faith.

Q3. (5:14-16) In the healing prayer, what is the role of oil? The oil in the healing prayer should be acting as a mediator. I think the oil application gives the feeling of some gesture or act done towards getting the healing and more over, this act is done by the elders and that acts as an image of authority doing a mediation to heal the person. What is the role of the prayer of faith? Role of the prayer of faith in the healing ministry is something that is of utmost value.The prayer with faith is what God wants from us. Prayer of faith is fruitful and yeilds the blessing of God. What is the role of faith? Without faith nothing is possible and this message is strongly mentioned throughout the book of James. Faith is the factor by which all the elements in a christian life is determined. And all things are possible through faith. What is the role of confession of sins? God wants us to be pure in our hearts and be singleminded when we come to Him.Confession makes that possible. It helps us get reconciled to our Father in Heaven and live a life that He desires us to live.

Q2. (5:14) What is the elders' role in prayer for the sick? What must be their spiritual qualifications for this ministry of prayer? The elders are to be called to pray on behalf of the sick and to anoint them with oil.. To pray for a person or to intercede is a big duty to be done and not to be taken lightly. The elders should be deep rooted in their faith and believe that God answers their prayers to heal the person they are praying for. They should have a personal relationship with God and have experienced the power of God in his life and does not doubt God and His Grace..

Q1. (5:13-14) According to verse 14, who is to initiate prayer for healing? Why might this be important? The sick person is to initiate the prayer and call the elder also to pray with him.. This is important to determine the faith of the person owing to which he will be healed.James here emphasises the importance of a faith community when it comes to healing of a sick..God wants us to take the initiative as well as wants the whole community to take part in the whole process..this puts into action the faith of all..

Q4. (5:9) What does our grumbling and complaining say about us? About our faith? About our patience? Our grumbling and complaining makes us persons of this world and not of God.. It shows us to be weak in our faith in that in grumbling we express that we are not faithful enough towards the provider of all things.. It also shows that we are not patient at all in that we will not complain about something if we have the patience enough to wait for that thing to the end..

Q3. (5:7-8) What can happen to us Christians if we lack the patience to eagerly expect Christ's return? Why is patience so vital? We christians are expected to wait for the second coming of the Lord with patience and if we fail to do that our purpose of life is lost so is every thing that we belive and affirm...The hope profesied through out the ages will lose its meaning if we lose our patience.. Patience is so vital as it gives us the strength to pull through at the face of trials and problems and we are not patient enough we will give in to the tenptation and fall prey to the devil.

Q2. (5:5-6) What is the spiritual danger of our demand for comfort and luxury? Our demand for comfort and luxury makes to have the craving to achieve those at the expense of others..We forsake our spiritual duties like showing mercy, being loving and the sowing peace..All we care about will be the comforts.. How might our demand for low-priced goods and services cause us to (1) oppress our own employees or (2) cause workers in this country or abroad to be under paid or oppressed? How does all this relate to the need for patience? In our constant demand of low priced goods we do not care about how much the employees are paid..when the manufacturers lower the costs I dont think they will cut down their profit margin but they surely will cut the wages of the poor and oppress them..the patience s needed to wait for the justice to be served..

Q1. (4:13-16) What danger is James warning us about in verses 13-16? James in this part warns about the danger of boasting and bragging. He states the danger in planning ahead the future without giving God the due part in the process. We`do this all the time in that we make future decisions andmake so many plans without even submitting things to God so that He will guide those things.. How can we be humble in our planning without being indecisive and wishy-washy? We can first of all lay all the plans of our future into the caring hands of the maker of our future and trust Him fully to take care of things..When we plan something we have a lot of variables but when we entrust all to God there are no variables and things will work out as God wants them to work out in accordance to His mighty plan and purpose..

Q4. (4:11-12) In what way does bad-mouthing a neighbor cause you to be a judge of the law? Bad mouthing a neighbor is totally against the law of love that God gave us to follow..when we judge a person we think of ourself to be greater in value to the person we are judging which as christians we should not be doing..And we consider ourself perfect to be ableto do the judging part. Why is it tempting to bad-mouth others, do you think? I think when I bad mouth others it is in a step to justify myself about the thing and I guess, to be truthful, it makes me feel a lot better than I deserve to be..

Q3. (4:6-10) Verses 7-10 contain 10 different commands. Why are these actions so vital? These actions are vital because they help in bringing about a spiritual renewal in the person and help us live a life that is submissive to God and not to the evil desires of the self..It also helps us keep apart from ourselves the double mindedness and seeking after pleasure of the world. In what way do they go against our nature? By our nature we are prone to go after the easy things to achieve and we like to walk on the smooth roads rather than going after the hard to keep way of life of a true follower of Christ. All these new practical commandements go against our nature of sinfulness, self centeredness, pleasure loving self, etc. Which of these commands is most difficult for you? The part difficult for me to do will be the resisting the devil and total submission to God..

Q2. (4:4) Why does James refer to church members as "adulteresses"? Church members according to the scripture is married to God personally and as a community to God and are required to be faithful to him..But being pleasure seeking we act unfaithfully towards God and that maybe the reason James call us adulteresses.. What does the adultery consist of? Adultery consists of anything we do that is against the will of God in which we put our pleasures before God..It is self indulgence.. Who is the aggrieved husband? Christ is the aggrieved husband..I guess for a more similar example we should look into Hosea where Hosea was asked to marry a prostitute for the Lord to prove to him the way Isrealites made Him feel... What is wrong with friendship with the world? Frienship with the world is enemity to God..we cannot serve both God and the world together..

Q1. (4:1-3) Is God against pleasure? What wrong in living to increase one's pleasure? God is not against pleasures at all...God would not want his children suffering or living in misery..But the question is about the priority...When you place seeking after pleasures before seeking His ways and kingdom that accounts for a sin..It is said in the Bible that one cannot serve God and money together...

Q4. (3:17-18) With what tool do peacemakers sow peace? Why does this produce a ripening crop of righteousness? In whom does this crop grow? Peacemakers sow peace by being selfless by the act of love and in humility with the disernment or havenly wisdom... When peace is sown it reduces the strife and quarrels and makes the field ready to yield acts of righteousness... This crop is grown in anyone who has the willingness to accept the Peace of God into their heart and souls and make it a field for the works of the Holy Spirit..It is a universal gift...

Q3. (3:13-16) In what ways are "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" (3:14) direct opposites of "humility" (3:13)? How does denial of "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" prevent healing? How does boasting about these prevent healing? Bitter envy is a strong negative emotion harboured against another human being..Selfish ambition is thriving to reach a goal entirely for your own good no matter what it does to others...Humility is the act of submission and recognising the authority of God over all things and letting Him take control..so when humility helps us become 'People oriented', the other two are 'self oriented'... For any act of healing the first step is the admittance of the fact that you are sick..so if one keeps on denying bitter envy and selfish ambition in himself and doesnt admit the sickness,the person cannot be healed... Generally a person boasts about something when he thinks that he has something superior that nobody else has..So when one boasts about bitter envy and selfish ambition not only is he not thinking of these things as good but also thinks of these as things worth bragging about...And I dont think anybody will accept healing for a thing he considers worthy of boasting...

Q2. (3:7-8) Read Matthew 12:34 and 15:18. In light of these verses, why is the tongue untamable? What has to happen before it can be tamed? The speaking of the mouth is said in the Gospel according to Matthew as "overflow of the heart"and as "coming from the heart"..When the heart is full of evil its overflows outward through the mouth.In the light of these verses the tongue is controlled by the contents of the heart which indeed is nothing but evil.. For the tongue to be tamed we have to be able to control what is going on inside our hearts which can be achieved only by letting God take control of our heart and life...We have to open our hearts for the revival of the Holy Spirit..And we have to imbibe in us the qualities of the Spirit like love,joy,etc...

Q1. (3:1-2) Why does James discourage people from aspiring to be teachers of the Word?Why is greater strictness appropriate? Being a teacher calls for a lot of responsibility and commitment from that person in the fact that he is to set a good example for his students.Being a teacher of the Word comes with even more pressure as the person has to practice what he preaches and he has to search his soul and be sure that he is upto the challenge and teachers of Word are accountable to God more than others.. Should you set higher standards for your pastor than you do for yourself? I think we all are accountable in the presence of God and all of us are judged by the same law and criteria..And all of us have to check our conscience to that end...And the standards of a person is set by God and we are not to judge each other about that..

Q4. (2:20-26) How does James' point about the necessity of works jive with Paul's emphasis on salvation by grace without works (Ephesians 2:8-10)? I would like to consider that the two apostles are refering to the two sides of the same coin..Salvation is achieved ONLY and only by the grace of God but we, as a community reflecting His mission in this world should not only have faith but do the "good works" that are expected from us..Ultimately it is up to our Lord to give us salvation through His grace and we do not the know the criteria by which God will do that and that is where the faith counts..

Q3. (2:18-19) What is the difference between the "belief" of a demon and the "belief" of a practicing Christian? The belief of a demon is a dead belief..It does not lead to faith and salvation..It is a belief that arises from knowing the power of God and fearing God...Belief of a christian is by the virtue of experiencing and accepting Jesus as a personal savior..It is the faith that leads to his salvation.. The "belief" of a non-practicing Christian? I do not think that the belief of a non practising christian is any different from that of a demon..And I cant understand the concept of being a christian and not practising..As far as I am concerned my faith and christianity challenges me every day of my life and in such a condition I cant take things for granted and hope that being a namesake christian is enough...

Q2. (2:15-16) To what degree are we responsible for the poor and needy in the church community? I think we are fully responsible for the poor and needy in the church community..God commanded us to Love the neighbour as ourselves and that entails us to provide for the needs of our brothers both in family as well as in faith..And when we fail to do that to our best ability the condition gets worse and does not get resolved..So we have to take up the full responsibility of this and also of not showing to others even a part of the Love that Jesus showed us on calvary. How about our responsibility for those outside the church, in the community at large? Man is a social being and God did create him that way.So we are not only answerable to God in not looking after the needy in church but also the community in large..We are to care for all equally and if we show partiality in caring, I guess, we are going to be severely judged for that too..James mentions this point clearly in the book about the consequences of showing partiality.

Q1. (2:14-18) In what sense is faith dead if it is unaccompanied by action? In what sense might (if that were possible) it be alive? We all have learned in school what makes the distiction between a living thing and a non-living thing, the ability of movement..Life in us is manifested outward by the movements or the actions.. So also faith for itself to be manifested in a believer has to be shown in actions expected of him..I am not saying that just faith is not good but it becomes meaningful only when we do good deeds in good faith.. Faith is made alive in the lives of all those people of God who lived according to the word of God, doing His deeds in this world shouldering the ministry of God in this world in what ever way they could...Actions are the spirit of the body of Faith which keep it alive.

Q4. (2:13b) In what way is showing regard towards the wealthy (2:2-3) a denial of mercy? Extra credit: Read Hosea 6:6; Matthew 5:7; and 9:13. Mercy(Gr.eleos) is defined in a book by Susan.J. Heck as outward manifestation of pity and compassion in kindly action towards the misery of others..It is clear from this that the rich who have it all doesnt need the act of mercy and also when we show regard to them we actually deny the mercy towards the poor who need that. The character of the redeemer is said in Mathew to be merciful to those who show mercy..And it is also said in Hosea and Mathew that rather than sacrifices to please God, He wants us to be merciful... In what way does mercy

Q3. (2:9-11) Why does James refer to the Great Commandment as the