James 3:13-18 starts with verse 13 “ ¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ”

This fits into the season the cluster is in; a season to cluster together to maximise dynamics, resources and fruitfulness.

Some leaders have more members to take care of than the leadership capacity they are able to generate. It will mean that these members will not get enough consolidation/discipling input and thus miss out the kairos season for life growth. On the other hand, some leaders have enough members who are committed and ready to lead but will take a while as harvesting is a process.

Will the former leaders be willing to seed new members to the latter leaders? This will depend on the type of wisdom they have; earthly or heavenly.

Earthly wisdom are described in James 3:14-16: “ ¹⁴But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. ¹⁶For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. ”

May James 3:17-18 challenged us to move in heavenly wisdom: “ ¹⁷But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

This season of clustering needs heavenly wisdom.

What are the characteristics of a good teacher? Many will say things like charismatic, language fluency, animated, great in content knowledge, caring, etc. James 3:1-2a declared that many teachers stumbled: “ 1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2aWe all stumble in many ways.”

The character of a good teacher and a perfect man is stated in James 3:2b: “ 2bIf anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. ”

A faultless and tamed tongue can control big challenges and objects like horses, ship and of course, a whole class of students as in James 3:3-4: “ 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.”

A wild and uncontrolled tongue can destroy forest, one’s life and the hope & destiny of the students as in James 3:5-6: “ 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”

James 3:7-12 further says “ 7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

Therefore, I’m calling on all teachers to speak blessings (words of hope, affirmation, encouragement, faith…) instead of curses.

We all believe God is great and He has a plan for us. Even the demons believe. But the key difference between us and the demons is that we can act on it by living out according to God’s plan. James 2:19 “¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ”

Let us follow the example of Abraham the ‘doer’ by sacrificing our negative thoughts, fear and memories of the past in order to reap the fruit for the next generation. James 2:20-24 “  ²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. ”

Or we can follow the example of another ‘doer’, Rahab, by freeing herself from the spirit of insecurity, poverty and shame to inherit higher calling to prestige, honor and recognition as a representative in the hall of fame. James 2:25 “ ²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?”

Say ‘No’ to dead faith as stated in James 2:26 “ ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Say ‘Yes’ to Step Out in Faith.

Apr-Dec 09 is a season our Senior Pastor wants to train us to walk in Faith. One key thing we want to experience by end Jun 09 is to multiply our cells. As I was reflecting about our cluster, the Lord wanted me to see those with Faith alone and those with Faith & Deeds.

 James 2:14-16 warns us not to live with a ‘Faith alone’ lifestyle: “ ¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?”

Real Faith must come with real Deeds because faith without deeds is dead as mentioned in James 2:17-18: “ ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. ”

Those with Faith and Deeds have identified potential leaders, training them and empowering them. Their group of at least 8 people are ready to multiply anytime when they have 16 members because they have engaged the ‘deeds of preparation’. They have also led their members to love their ‘neighbors’ with good deeds.

Do you see what I see?

We are all guilty of showing favouritism one time or another in our lives. Favoritism is an attitude that plays the role of God on the judgment seat to distinguish the good and evil. The root of this attitude is from the fruit from the tree of the good and evil. God alone should be the ultimate judge and our role should be simply to love our neighbour as ourselves.

This is why James 2:8-9 warn us: “ ⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. ⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.”

We have no right to determine who is worthy and who is unworthy because we ourselves have fallen short of the glory of God as in James 2:9-10: “ ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. ”

Is there someone we think is unworthy? Let us choose to break the curse of judgmental spirit by telling God, “I want to show mercy!”

May we live in triumph, as shown in James 2:12-13 “ ¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! ”

I am a volunteer who sell flags for TCS. Often, those blue collars donate quite readiness. It is also common for me to meet white collar professionals who shun me. I learn that those with ‘rich’ dressing and ‘rich’ financial status do not necessarily mean ‘rich’ in compassion.

James 2:5-8 rightly say “ ⁵Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? ⁷Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?”

Therefore, we should treat people without favouritism because the external often do not correlate to the internal, as taught in James 2:1-4 “ ¹My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”

Recently, there was a group of foreigner workers who were cheated of their money. They paid their agent fee and came to Singapore but the job and agent was not to be found.

One of my 12 read the newspaper article, took initiative to meet and help the foreign workers. Wow, this is authentic religion according to James 1:26-27 “ ²⁶If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Some people like to complain that they are not fed with enough bible teaching. But as I reflect further, I realised that they have at least heard about teaching to care for the orphans, widows, poor, needy and foreigners 30, 60 or 100 times as Christians. Yet when it is time for them to translate the truth into application, the same group of people simply turns away as if they are blind.

This is why James 1:22-25 caution us “ ²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

I’ve conducted a Marriage Preparation Course for a couple and the lady said she felt condemned as stupid whenever the boyfriend said spontaneously “You’re wrong!”.

This is just an example of many of us who are not listening enough, are quick to make judgement and quick to react with how we feel. This attitude will destroy healthy relationship.

This is why James 1:19-21a say “ 19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent “

Let us live out vs19 as we’re challenged by James 1:21b “ and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.“

I’ve often come across people who sound very religious. They make statements like:

• “God is putting me through a test to see whether I’ll trust Him that He is my Provider and will give me a good job” – when the person who makes this statement is not actively looking for a job.

• “Dear Lord, I pray that you’ll bless me with good health” – when the person who makes this prayer is not eating healthily and not exercising.

• “I don’t know why God allows me to fail my exam when I’ve already surrender my studies to Him” – when the person who makes this statement did not put in effort in His studies.

It is time to take up our own responsibility, stop deceiving ourselves and stop pushing all responsibility to God. This is why James 1:13-16 say “ 13When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. 16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. “

It is only when we are taking up personal responsibility to pursue righteousness and flee from sin then can we appropriate God’s blessing as in James 1:17-18 “ 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.“

During my Uni first year, I was in a class of 30 majoring Mathematics. About 80% of the class are scholars (SAF, Police, PSC, MOE…). The brightest among us was NT, an International Olympiad medallist. However, his richness in knowledge did not translate to favor with classmates. He would pursue personal knowledge by engaging the tutor intensely without realising the whole class were staring blankly lessons after lessons not knowing what subject matters they’ve gotten into. One day, I actually had to stood up for him so as to prevent a few ’scholar’ classmates from beating him up. NT was a failure in his pursuit of riches in knowledge.

Many in EE Cluster are rich in knowledge (many scholars among us) or financially rich. May I encourage you to also take time to also grow in humility by helping those who are lowly/needy. James 1:10-11 “ ¹⁰But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.”

On the other hand, I’ve met many people who came from humble circumstance. Many of them are in bondage. They never believe that they can excel in CCA, achieve better result, represent their school, land up with a great job… They need to embrace James 1:9 “ ⁹The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. “

To the rich and highly, taking effort to walk with and understand the lowly is a trial. To the lowly from humble circumstances, believing and achieving great things is another form of trial. Let us take heart and receive James 1:12 without a tinge of doubt. “ ¹²Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

I remember vividly an experience I had in my Mt. Ophir trip as a teenager. CH was a fat boy and AD looked quite fit. It was not surprising that CH got tired faster than AD. However, the later part of the climb proved otherwise. CH was positive and determined but AD was whining, grumbling and struggling.

“Why? Why? Why?”, I was reflecting.

CH came from a difficult upbringing that built up his persevering spirit but AD was fed with a silver spoon and thus cultivated a weak mind. This is why James 1:2-4 read: “ ²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

AD wasted much energy by thinking “maybe I should give up and maybe I should press on” but CH was single mindedness in desiring to reach the peak. James 1:6-8 rightly say ” ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

If you are facing trials of many kinds, grab this opportunity to grow towards maturity and completeness by asking God to give you Wisdom; without doubting. James 1:5 ” ⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”