I had the honor of delivering the morning message at my home church, and this podcast episode is the recording of that message. I looked at the Parable of the Four Soils from Matthew 13

Matthew 13:1-9

1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.

2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;

4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

5 Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

8 And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

Find all information about the show including links to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon at

www.aguyandhisbible.com

**If you or someone you love is in crisis, reach out for help** NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI.org Text 741741 for free crisis counseling 800-950-6264 Call 211 Suicide Help Line:  800-233-8255 Domestic Violence Help Line: 800-799-7233

In this week’s episode, Patrick asks the question “If you are honest with yourself, how do you separate people in divisions?” We must be realistic in that fact that it is human nature to show favoritism and must not pretend like these divisions we create exist. Instead we must work on breaking down the divisions we put up when doing ministry work to be a more effective witness for Christ.

James 2:1-4 (NASB)

1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?

Find all information about the show including links to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon at

www.aguyandhisbible.com

**If you or someone you love is in crisis, reach out for help** NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI.org Text 741741 for free crisis counseling 800-950-6264 Call 211 Suicide Help Line:  800-233-8255 Domestic Violence Help Line: 800-799-7233

Do you simply read God’s Word as part of your daily spiritual checklist or do you take it deep into your heart, mind and soul? On this episode, Patrick looks at what it truly means to be a doer of the Word of God and not just a listener as he examines James 1:23-27.

22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Find all information about the show including links to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Amazon at

www.aguyandhisbible.com

**If you or someone you love is in crisis, reach out for help** NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI.org Text 741741 for free crisis counseling 800-950-6264 Call 211 Suicide Help Line:  800-233-8255 Domestic Violence Help Line: 800-799-7233

As we get closer and closer to celebrating the birth of our Savior, the stores will get more crowded and people will be on edge. We must remember, as ambassadors for Christ in this world, that anger is not a solution to a situation. In this episode, Patrick recalls a recent journey to a fast food establishment as an example of a way to live out this passage of James.

20  for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. James 1:20

One phrase we have to remove from our vocabulary is “Gos is tempting me”… God never tempts us because God can not be part of evil… in this passage of James, we look at the true development of sin in our lives. Understanding exactly how sin infests our being and grows within us is vital to helping us understand how to remove it from our lives.

James 1:13

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

God puts us through trials so we can produce the endurance He wants us to have to do His service. We must understand that growing spiritually mature is process we will go through so God can work through us for His work.

James 1:4

And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Why should we be joyful when we are going through trials? In this episode, Patrick looks at these famous words from James and helps us understand that in all things in life, we should be joyful. 

James 1:2-3

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

Who is James and who is the audience he is writing too? In order to have a framework for the this Book, we must understand the answers to these 2 questions. 

James 1:1

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:

Greetings.