Tiago 5
Kent Hughes · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 5
Hughes addresses some dangers in "opening up" to one another - Psychologically needy persons sometimes use confession to get attention for themselves. Through the apparently spiritual medium of "confession" they can handcuff a captive audience as they relate the details of their sin with a deluded or feigned contrition (ED: HAVE YOU EVER FELT DEFILED BY SOMEONE GIVING THE LURID DETAILS OF THEIR SIN? I HAVE AND THAT IS WHERE WE HAVE TO QUICKLY DRAW THE LINE! LURID DETAILS MAY EVEN CAUSE THE BROTHER OR SISTER TO STUMBLE AND ABSOLUTELY MUST BE AVOIDED!) Confession can also foster spiritual exhibitionism, a perverted moral pleasure in airing one's laundry. The overly morbid can bend confession to become an excuse for unhealthy hyper-introspection. Ostensibly humble confession can also be used as a vehicle for spiritual aggression: "I want to ask your forgiveness for being bitter toward you over the years"—but what follows is not a confession, but an egregious assault. There are other dangers as well, making confession a pious work which becomes, in Bonhoeffer's words, "the final most abominable, vicious, and impure prostitution of the heart." Confession turned into religious routine is deadly! (Preaching the Word – James: Faith That Works)
Tiago 5
Hughes writes "Amy Carmichael, the turn-of-the-century missionary to India, described the attempted healing of one of her treasured coworkers, a woman named Ponnammal, who contracted cancer in 1913. Amy was, of course, aware of James’ prescription to call for the elders of the church to anoint the ill and offer the prayer of faith, but she and her fellowship were not sure what to do. So they sought a sign asking that, if it was God’s will, he would send someone to them who was earnest about James’ prescription for healing. The person came—an old friend of hers from Madras. As her biographer Elisabeth Elliot describes it: It was a solemn meeting around the sickbed, the women dressed as usual in their hand-loomed saris, but white ones for this occasion. They laid a palm branch across Ponnammal’s bed as a sign of victory and accepted whatever answer God might give, certain that whether it was to be physical healing or not, He would give victory and peace. It sounds like a simple formula. It was an act of faith, but certainly accompanied by the anguish of doubt and desire which had to be brought again and again under the authority of the Master.… From that very day Ponnammal grew … worse. The pain increased, and her eyes grew dull as she lingered for days in misery until she reached her limit and her “warfare was accomplished.” (from A Chance to Die, the Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael -- if you have the courage to read this gripping, convicting biography, then please do so. It was one of the "heaviest" biographies I have ever read and actually I think I put it down because I was unable to keep reading the entire book. I still recommend it...if you dare!) (Preaching the Word - James) Below are links to Kent Hughes sermons (Mp3 only)... James 5:13-16 The Prayer of Faith 1 James 5:16-18 The Prayer of Faith 2 Resources on Healing Gotquestions.org and other sources Jehovah Rapha: (Jehovah Rophe) The LORD our Healer Will God Heal Us - A Re-Examination of James 5:14-16a - Evangelical Quarterly 61 - 1989 - 9 page article by Gary Shogren Does God Want Me Well? James 5:13-16: Questions on Healing - Booklet from Discovery House What does the Bible say about prayer for the sick? What is a healing room? Are healing rooms biblical? What is divine healing? “Divine Healing” according to James 5 - William Malee - Grace Theological Journal Suffering According to James Christopher W.