There was a common practice in rural North America in the 18th & 19th centuries. And Amish and Mennonite communities often practice it today. It was a time when the entire community came together to build a barn for a family in their community.
Neighbors from miles around would show up — farmers, blacksmiths, and merchants. Some brought tools, and others brought food. Skilled workers handled the preparation, the structure, and specialized labor. At the same time, others carried wood, hammered nails, or simply supported when needed. Even women and children participated where they could.
“16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years!” — James 5:16-17
Recently, I’ve been reading in the book of James. These verses reminded me of the power of prayer in a fresh way. James shows us that we experience healing, breakthrough, and spiritual strength through two simple but important practices: confession and earnest prayer.
Verse 16 calls us to confess our sins to one another and pray for each other so that healing can flow. Confession certainly isn’t about earning forgiveness from Jesus. On the contrary, His grace already covered us at the Cross. Instead, confession is about walking in the light. It keeps the enemy from cornering us with shame and isolation. It also gives Believers permission to live in an honest, transparent, and grace-filled way. We begin to heal when we step into the light with a trusted community and invite God into our weakness.
Then James points to Elijah in verse 17. He writes of a man “as human as we are.” A man whose earnest prayers absolutely shaped the world around him. Elijah wasn’t perfect; he was simply willing. His life reminds us of something we should never forget. That fervent, faith-filled prayer from ordinary people invites extraordinary intervention from God.
These Verses Remind Us
Honesty opens the door to healing. Equally important, earnest prayer opens the door to God’s power. We don’t need to be spiritual giants. We just need to always surrender ourselves, be humble, and be willing to pray.
Considering this, is there something in your life He’s prompting you to confess so you can walk in the light? And how can you take steps today to pray in faith, believing He hears and responds?
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” — Ephesians 4:15-16
I had lunch with a friend the other day. As we talked, he said something about “P.T. slabs.” With my engineering background, I knew he was obviously talking about post-tensioned slabs. But, I told him, most people would not understand that. We then shared a laugh.
Comments Off on Bearing Fruit in Keeping with Repentance
As we start the new year, many of us reflect on the past and naturally make plans for the future. It’s for sure a season of resolutions and fresh starts. Reading in Matthew 3:8, John the Baptist gives us a piece of timeless wisdom that can always guide us. It guides us not just at the start of the year but every single day: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Repentance isn’t just about feeling bad or saying sorry. It’s also about a life transformed by God’s grace.
Comments Off on Guarding Our Words and Building Community
The Book of Proverbs (6:16-19) gives us a list of seven things God really hates. It’s undoubtedly a serious call to avoid the stuff that tears down what He values. Verse 19 talks specifically about behaviors that wreck trust and unity. The ESV says, “one who sows discord among brothers,” and the NLT describes “a person who sows discord in a family.” Additionally, the NIV widens it to “a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
Now, think about that for a second. Causing division and conflict—just by what we say—is labeled as an abomination to God. That’s obviously huge! Why? Because breaking unity certainly goes against His command for us to love one another and live in harmony.
A few Sunday evenings ago, we gathered together and heard Paul’s entire letter to the Romans publicly read out loud. For over an hour, sixteen different people read sixteen different chapters of a two-thousand-year-old text. After the reading, people weren’t falling asleep or bored. On the contrary, they were excited and encouraged! Imagine sitting down after a long weekend, listening to people read for an hour out of any other book. Before long, people would no doubt fall asleep and be ready to go home. They certainly wouldn’t be smiling ear to ear and talking about how amazing God is.
We live in a polarized age. We all know it. And election years make it worse. “You have to vote, this is the most important election in the history of our country!”, “You can’t vote for him, he’ll ruin our country!” Sound familiar?
“He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” — Matthew 9:35-38
Our church has undeniably been blessed with LOTS of new people. Attendance is at an all-time high. New people are just about everywhere! In fact, over the past six years, we are averaging 856 new people/year, 71 new people/month, and 16 new people/weekend. Assuming half of the new attendees don’t even turn in programs, you can perhaps double that number.
As we continue in our spiritual walks, Proverbs (Chapter 2) provides lessons for us on the value of wisdom. At the same time, it reveals that wisdom protects us and guides us away from wrong decisions and people who want to lead us astray. Wisdom isn’t merely intellectual. We can certainly read, know, and even teach about it. However, it has to be applied to our actions as well to affect our lives.
“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” — 1 Thessalonians 2:8
Last July, several of us went to Faithcamp in Alamosa, Colorado. It was a fantastic four-day conference, and we definitely had an encouraging time. Very tired, we started the nine-hour car trip back to Utah early on Sunday morning.
