Neal, here. I was in the jungles of Peru when I learned the universality of this Scripture. The Letter of James had just been translated into the Tacuna language. The pastor, also the chief of this people group was preaching from the newly translated Letter. Doris was translating for me. He came to Chapter Two and said, "My dear people. Now we have in our own language what I have been trying to te...more

Neal, here. I was in the jungles of Peru when I learned the universality of this Scripture. The Letter of James had just been translated into the Tacuna language. The pastor, also the chief of this people group was preaching from the newly translated Letter. Doris was translating for me. He came to Chapter Two and said, "My dear people. Now we have in our own language what I have been trying to tell you for a long time." I thought, this is going to be interesting. I had learned the truth of this Scripture by being the "barefoot, in blue" boy in the cartoon. James had taught it in his First Century context. And now we were going to hear the universal Truth in a culture far removed from any we have seen. He continued, "When I come to your hut, you should not scurry around to fix things up. Nor to go get a special chair for me to sit on, if you will not also do that for your neighbor when he comes to visit." There it is: In every culture of the world, there is the propensity to combine snobbery with faith. But it just doesn't work in the Kingdom of God.less

The arguments presented (trauma center for abused women, had a bad dad, etc) are EXACTLY why we need to maintain the Biblical image of God as our Heavenly Father. I had a father who was "absent", busy about his Father's business. With three older brothers with whom I could not keep up and three younger sisters with whom I could not compete, whether real or perceived, I grew up as a "middle nobody....more

The arguments presented (trauma center for abused women, had a bad dad, etc) are EXACTLY why we need to maintain the Biblical image of God as our Heavenly Father. I had a father who was "absent", busy about his Father's business. With three older brothers with whom I could not keep up and three younger sisters with whom I could not compete, whether real or perceived, I grew up as a "middle nobody." Then, when I was eight, my father died. My mother did not remarry. I had no adult male role model. I did not have a good image of "father." But one day... though I had read it many times before, one day, as I was reading Psalm 139, it was as if there was no one else in the whole universe except my HEAVENLY FATHER and me. Billows of His love washed over me, enveloping me in His presence. And I was healed. An abused wife or child does not need the image of a "heavenly mother!" They need the healing touch of their Heavenly Father. I do not deny that there is great comfort to a child to crawl up into its mother's lap, and cuddle in the folds of her comforting arms. But those cannot replace the strength and security of the arms of Dad. ~~~NEALless