I watched the vans pull into the parking lot.  It was really amazing to watch all these boys pile out of the vans covered in mud, paint splotches all over them.  And it was interesting to see that most of them had on full camo.  They had on the helmets.  They carried the paintball guns.  I got a little concerned when my son, Cameron, ran up to me and said, “Dad, I had a great time.  I love shooting people.”

I thought, “Yeah, man, war is a part of our culture.  It’s a part of our human nature.”

This morning we are going to continue our study in the book of James, as we do this great series called X-Trials.  In today’s passage, we are going to be looking at James 4:1-10.  If you have got your Bibles, go ahead and turn there.  But this morning, we are going to look at war.

As a child of the fifties, I have always been fascinated by the impact of war on our society.  As a child, I used to love to listen to my dad talk about the big one, World War II, a war that he fought.  As a high school student in the 1970’s, I remember talking about the war in Viet Nam almost every day, especially among those of us who had draft card numbers.  It was the topic of a lot of conversations around the school. And then this past September 11, we entered into a new war.  Our President calls this war, the war on terrorism.

As I thought back on my life, one of the things that I have concluded is that war is just a part of our human culture.  It’s a part of our human nature.  This was driven home to me yesterday.  As I was up here at the church studying, all of our sixth graders, who had been playing paintball all day yesterday, showed up at the church.

What would be the greatest miracle, to bring someone on stage who has cancer and to watch God heal them right here, or to bring someone on stage who is going to hell, and have God forgive their sins, past, present and future, and give them a home in heaven?  What’s the greater miracle?  If the truth were known, a lot of you right now are sick.  Your sickness is much worse than the AIDS virus, because you are facing a Christ-less eternity right now.  But I have got some good news for you.  The great physician is in the house and he wants to save you, and heal you.  And he will, if you will call out to him.  The ball is in your court.

James says that a sick person should call out for the elders.  The sin-sick person should call out to Christ.  Isn’t it time that you quit playing games and call out to him?  Just say, “Jesus, I am sick.  I am dying.  I know I have an appointment that I can’t put off.”  The only person who can cure you is Christ.  Won’t you turn to him?

James.  I am the man, I am writing it. “Of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.”  This word “scattered” in the original language is an agricultural term meaning “seed.”  God strategically scattered and dispersed all of the Christians throughout the Mediterranean world so they would be a light to a darkened world, so the other people in the world would know about Christ.  James says that, he highlights that, and he says that is a good thing.

Now look at verse two.  Here is the first part of the faith formula.  James says something that is weird, very radical.  He says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”  Now that is unique.  Consider it pure joy when you face trials?  James is saying that we shouldn’t look at trials in our lives like intruders messing up our comfortable lifestyle.

They have been through many different contests and they have all that stuff under their belt.  Because they do, they are some of the greatest skaters and bikers around.  In the Christian life, we have got to go through some stuff.  We have got to develop, mature so we can become an extreme person with extreme faith during extreme days.

Like Eric talked about in that song by Creed, how does God take us higher?  What is the process involved?  Today we are looking at twelve verses in the first chapter of James.  How do we develop?  We develop by using and putting into practice a formula of faith.

Having said all that, let’s go ahead and dive in because I don’t know about you but I am ready to RUMBLE!  Let’s do it.

James 1:1, “James, a servant of God.”  This is a good way to start, isn’t it?

What was the conversation like as Abraham and Isaac were walking up the mountain?  Here’s this teenage guy.  He knew the score.  He was like, I’m sure, Dad, where, where’s the animal we’re gonna sacrifice?  Obviously, we’re going up here to sacrifice, I mean, where’s the animal?  Isaac had no idea that he was the one.

And I’m sure Abraham said, well, son, the Lord will provide.  He always does.  So Abraham tied his son, his only boy, to that altar, was taking his knife out of his sheath, and God said, “stop!”  Abraham, I, I was just testing you, you’ve got the faith.  You’ve got the trust.  You were going to give up your only son for me.  Take him off the altar and then Abraham heard something in the bushes and there was a ram who was caught, took the ram, sacrificed the ram and he said, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord is my provider.

So I want to introduce you to Jehovah Jireh, the Lord is my provider.  I love this word “provide”.  Comes from Luke, from two Latin words.  “Pro” meaning first; “vide” meaning to see.  We get the word “video” from it.  Isn’t that amazing?  God has already seen the video in your life and mine.  There is nothing we can take to him.  No problem, no hurt, no pain, no whatever, no junk we can bring to God that he’s not already seen and dealt with before.  So we must worship God because he’s Jehovah Jireh.  He’s our provider.  He’s our provider.  On Mount Moriah what happened?

Fast forward it (Ed gestures fast forward sound) Solomon built his Temple on Mount Moriah.  That’s where the whole sacrificial system took place.  And in that same area was were God sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to be the ultimate sacrifice.  To make the ultimate provision for your life and mine.  For your junk and mine.  For your sin and mine.  Something that none of us here deserve.  So again meet Jehovah Jireh.  God is my provider.  Matthew Chapter 6 says, Jesus speaking, your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

No. God devised an ingenious plan so we could get reinstated, so we could understand our value and dignity that we lost in the garden.  He sent Jesus Christ—something we don’t deserve—to die on the cross for our sins. And because of Christ; because of God’s love and grace; because we have a freedom of choice, we can receive that and we can be brought back into a secure status with the Lord.

This passion for props that you have and I have; this deep yearning and burning desire for significance is all about God.  That’s what it’s about.  It’s about God.  I want to matter.  I want to have value.  It’s all about God.  Look up, vertically.  “God, I see myself the way you see me.”

Then we have to surround ourselves with the right “they” to support that.  Who are “they”?  Take your cell phone out and just scroll through the names and the numbers.  Are they the right “they” or not?  I can predict your future; you can predict mine by looking at the names and calling numbers on our cell phones.  It’s crazy.  My primary props are from God and my secondary props are from others.

A while back I took a stress test.  Have you ever taken one of those before?  This technician led me into this room and he showed me this demonic device called the treadmill.  He said, “Pastor Young, step on the treadmill, please.”

I said, “Okay.”

Then he hooked all these electrodes up with a blood pressure device, and he pushed the start button.  I’m like, “Man, this is no problem.  I mean we’re barely going.”  I said, “This is it? Come on, come on.”

He said, “Just wait.  I want you to walk Pastor Young until you drop, until you can’t go anymore.”

So really when you think about it people say, “Well Ed, you must be talking about giving today.”  No, I am not talking about giving because we are not really giving anything.  We are simply living.  Because if we give, that means we own something.  We don’t own anything so, we’re really returning.

Whenever we’re talking about this stuff it’s about returning.  So just say the word return with me, “Return.”  So again, you’re not giving, I’m not giving, we’re just returning something that is already God’s.  And when I return it to the house, which scripture talks about, I’m simply saying, “God, you are number one in my life. You are Lord of my life. You are running the show. You’ve got the reins. You’re God, I’m not. You’re the owner God, and I’m the manager.”

While I am returning, while I’m blessing, and let’s just say while we’re giving, what happens?  It meets a need in another situation.  It also meets the need in this situation.  It meets the need in someone else’s life, and it meets the need in my life as well.

And that’s what’s so ironic about the economy of God.  As I decide and resolve to bless others, I am being blessed the moment I make this decision to be blessed.  Now, some people out there say, “Okay, I’ve got it.  You give to get.  So I will give, and I will get.  I’ll give and get and give and get.”

No.  We get to give.  We don’t get to get, we get to give.  God blesses us as a result of giving, of blessing others, and blessing the church.  God blesses us every single time that we give.  Sometimes it’s financially. Yet, oftentimes, it is in ways that money can’t even touch.

So true change happens when I say, “I can’t,” and then the exchange occurs. And from there we walk with the Lord.

In Mark 5, Jesus had this interaction with a woman.  And it’s a very interesting story, because Jesus had all the crowds of people around him.  They were all over him wanting him to answer this question, wanting him to heal, wanting him to bring people back to life and all of that.  The disciples were around trying to control the crowd.

A woman, Scripture says, had been hemorrhaging for 12 years.  Every day she had been bleeding.  She had some money, probably a good bit of money. And the Bible says she spent it on all of these doctors.  So let’s pick up this story because it’s really, really fascinating.

Mark 5:25‑29.  Verse 25 says, “A woman was there in the crowd who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years.  She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and spent all she had.”

Someone back in the day who was hemorrhaging was considered unclean.  The religious elite would reject them.  She would be rejected socially.  She was considered a no count, a second class citizen.

Maybe you’re like, “Ed, I can identify with that.  I feel that right now, because I have been hemorrhaging in my finances. We’re hemorrhaging in our marriage.  We’re hemorrhaging trying to rear these kids.  We’re hemorrhaging over this decision.  We’re hemorrhaging over this hurtful habit.  I can identify with her and I feel just an afterthought.  I feel like just a face in the crowd.”

What do we do when we’re in a situation like that? What do we do? Well, I think we need to do what this woman did.  This woman was holding onto things.  She had to let go of some things to have this interaction with Jesus.