The epistle or letter of James in the New Testament was written by Jesus' earthly half-brother. This James only came to see Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah after Jesus rose from the dead. He was a very practical man, and history has it that he was such a man of prayer that his knees had great callouses, from praying on his knees so much.
The book of James is not a long one, but it has several important and practical themes in it for all Christians.
Living Faith: Believers are not only to hear the truth, but also to act upon it. Commitment to love and to serve is evidence of true faith.
Trials: In the Christian life there are trials and temptations. Don't resent them when they come. Pray for wisdom; God will supply all you need to keep you strong in times of trial. Successfully overcoming these trials produces Christian maturity and strong character. Law of Love: Christ commands Christians to love and serve those around us. This is evidence that our faith is real. Wise Speech: You are responsible for every word that comes out of your mouth. You must think before you speak and allow God to give you self-control. Wealth: Each of us is accountable for how we use what God has given us. We should be generous toward others and should not be impressed by the wealthy nor look down on those who are poor.If you need to get a better grip on how to live the Christian life, or if you want to teach others to grasp these truths, then James would be a good study for you.
When you disagree with a commentary, remember that God's Word, the Bible, supercedes any and all other commentaries.
See the Bible Commentaries index page for more about the physical appearance of these commentaries, and how to download and use them.
Read How Spanish Evangelical Resources Began
Mayan church leaders in the Suchitepequez area of Guatemala where we serve have few reference books. A pastor in a western country may have 500-1000 books in his library. A Mayan pastor may have none at all. There are two primary reasons for this shortage of reference materials: the Mayans do not have the money to buy reference materials and low cost, Biblically sound reference materials are not available to them. Our burden is to make the much needed reference materials available to Mayan pastors, church leaders, and teachers through the training seminars we conduct in the area where they live.
These Bible Commentary booklets were born in the mind and heart of Fred Morris, who was concerned that people
in many parts of the world needed to learn these precious truths about God and His Son Jesus, in their own language
and in an affordable way. He wrote many such booklets. Learn more about Fred Morris and his wife Lorna at
the mannapublications.org (USA) website.
Another website manna-publications.org.uk has an editor and
others at work preparing more and more of Fred's books for free download in 4 languages so far. Western culture/jargon
is removed and religious terms are explained. They are easy to translate into more languages. (Yes, this is a BIG project!)
This site is focused on providing the Spanish translations as free downloads, and other helpful materials in this
bi-lingual Spanish/English website.