James on Sign and Shadow

Four Ways to Preach Jesus from James

tommy@signandshadow.com (Tommy Keene) — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

So let’s return then to our original question: what should I do with this imperative heavy book? How do I read something so targeted towards my behavior? How, to put it succinctly, do I see Christ and the gospel in James, which seems on the surface far more focused on ethics than it is on Jesus?

The Working Wisdom of James

tommy@signandshadow.com (Tommy Keene) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Many of the literary features particular to James, such as the imperatival tone, the prophetic imagery, the use of metaphor and illustrative parable, and the tendency towards aphorism, far from being problems to be solved, are in fact guideposts for modern readers to better appropriate and appreciate this book. They are indicators of the literary character and genre of the book. What type of book is the “Epistle of James” and why might that help us?

Reading James: The Challenge

tommy@signandshadow.com (Tommy Keene) — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

“I’m really struggling to preach about Jesus from the book of James.”

Biblical Wisdom: A New Blog Series

tommy@signandshadow.com (Tommy Keene) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

It’s no accident that the Bible gives us multiple types of ethical exhortation. Not everything is a command. God doesn’t just give us “thou shalt nots;” in fact, since the beginning, those have been the minority. God had plenty for Adam to do in the garden, and only one don’t. The rest of the Bible follows suit: a number of prohibitions, to be sure, and plenty of commands as well, but also encouragements, suggestions, visions, advice, riddles, and wisdom.