Showing results by author "Thomas James" in All Categories

Bedtime Chapel helps families draw nearer to Jesus by gathering for nightly prayer and deepening their understanding of the Gospel. We release a nightly 5-min prayer service and a weekly companion episode that discusses the gospel readings for the upcoming week of nighttime prayer.

Bedtime Chapel helps families draw nearer to Jesus by gathering for nightly prayer and deepening their understanding of the Gospel. We release a nightly 5-min prayer service and a weekly companion episode that discusses the gospel readings for the upcoming week of nighttime prayer.

This book is my 50th anniversary gift to Linda. We could not renew our vows this year and have the celebration that we would have liked because of the pandemic that has swept the world. So this book is something that I hope will remind her of all the good years that we have had together. The years have flown by. But we have been abundantly blessed from the very beginning. I hope that the pages of this book will accurately describe the very full life that she and I have shared together. For sure, it is a testimony of what the Lord can do with lives that are surrendered to Him.

To date, I have written four complete daily devotion books. The first one was a general topic devotion book that contains a single devotion for each class that I took at Liberty University when pursuing a Graduate degree in Bible and Pastoral Counseling. The second devotion book contains a daily devotion for many of the people who are talked about in the Bible. So it is a Bible character devotion book. The third devotion book is a daily devotion for every verse in the book of Proverbs. The fascinating thing about that book is that the numerical dates in the devotion book match up with the ...

In the first part of the fourth chapter of the epistle of James, the author wrote about the unanswered selfish prayers of those who primarily pray for what they want. The obvious conclusion is that truly godly people should always pray for what the Lord wants of them rather than for what they might hope to get for themselves from Him. In the second part of the fourth chapter, he wrote about the importance of putting the Lord first in all things. The reasons for doing that are many. It is important to live a holy life. It is important for the saints of God to hold up each other. It is ...

This book begins by examining the two occasions when Satan and the "sons of God" presented themselves in heaven before the Lord. A brief explanation will be offered at that time concerning the use of the term "sons of God" and what it has meant in other places in the Bible, especially in Genesis 6:2 and Genesis 6:4. From there, the discussion will show how people can know that Job actually lived and when he had probably lived. The point will even be made that some theologians believe that Moses might have been the author of the book of Job. Next, the visit to Job by his three friends will ...

This short book has been written to share a couple of very important spiritual truths. The first, called the Eternality of Bible Truth, maintains that every word of the Bible has always been true even before it was spoken or written. The second truth is that the Old Testament saints probably did not hear God's audible, out loud voice. That simple statement is not meant to sound heretical. Those words are also not meant to deny anything that Christians have traditionally believed about God. The real message is that what we have many times just accepted as truth in the Bible may in fact not ...

This book has been written to clear up some confusion about John 3:16. In the pages that follow, the actual originator of those words will be identified. The verse is in red in Bibles that identify the words of Jesus with red letters. But did He really say those words in His conversation with Nicodemus? In reaching the most logical conclusion, careful consideration will be given to the verb "gave" in that verse and to the Apostle John's use of the aorist active indicative case for that verb. Verses from other parts of his writings and the New Testament will also be considered to arrive at ...

This study looks at the Genesis account of Creation in Genesis chapter one. Key Hebrew words are analyzed. Discussion is presented about some of the more popular views about Creation, such as the Big Bang theory, the Theory of Evolution, the Gap Theory, the Age-Day Theory, and Pantheism. Key creation terms, such as Fiat Creationism, Progressive Creationism, and Theistic Evolution are defined. The role of the Second Law of Thermodynamics as it pertains to Creation is discussed. At the end of the commentary on the first chapter in Genesis, the creation and impact of angels is briefly examined...

Ten places in the Bible, mention is made about events and decisions that were made from, before, or since the foundation of the world. Four of those occasions were spoken by Jesus during His public ministry. One was written by the Apostle Paul. One was written by the Apostle Peter. Two occurrences were included in the book of Hebrews. Two occurrences were mentioned in the book of Revelation. In chapters one through three of this text, two of the writings about events and decisions from the foundation of the world will be shared. First, Jesus taught secrets about the Word of God and secrets ...

The purpose of this book is to celebrate the victory that the saints of God can have through the power and might of a personal relationship with Christ. It has been divided into four parts. Part one is, "The devil could not overthrow God." In that part, the reader will learn when the devil became the devil. A key point will be that he is not in control of the events of this life. In fact, he is quite limited in what he can and cannot do. Part two is entitled, "The devil cannot overthrow or stop the saints." In that part, key times and events in the lives of Job, David, Abraham, and Joseph ...

In my adult Sunday school class on December 12, 1982, I spoke to the class about the Theory of Evolution and expressed my beliefs about how that theory will lead to the Tribulation. Remarkable as such a statement may sound, I believe it to be the truth. So I have written this book to retrace the steps that led to that lecture. I hope to relate, in this summary, not just a review of that Sunday morning class, but also to provide a trail of my research. Perhaps, after reading these pages, my reader will be led to conclude, as I already have, that the end may be much nearer than we think. ...

This third edition of this commentary begins with Paul's final days of freedom before being arrested in Jerusalem. The timeframe was at the end of his third Bible-recorded missionary journey when he was going there to attend the celebration of Pentecost. He also went to take some financial aid to the church in Jerusalem. While there, he participated in a Nazarite ritual with four men who had taken a vow. Following that ritual, he went to the synagogue with those same four men. But as soon as some of the Jewish people saw him, they immediately accused him and attacked him. Given the ...

This is a text that I originally started work on in 2016. But I set it aside because I did not know exactly how I wanted to present the seven roles of a pastor. Those roles are elder, bishop, shepherd, preacher, teacher, servant, and messenger. An elder is a man of spiritual maturity who teaches and leads the flock of God. A bishop involves overseeing the needs of the flock. The shepherd cares for the flock. The preacher proclaims the gospel message to those in the assembly. The teacher explains the whole Bible. The servant ministers to the needs of others. The messenger delivers the ...

In the first part of the third chapter of the epistle of James, the author warned spiritual leaders within the church about being God-called and about being God-prepared for their respective ministries. That warning applies to anyone who is in a position to lead others to Christ and to also show them how to live according to biblical principles and standards. So the clear teaching is that one does not actually choose his or her own ministry. Instead the Holy Spirit places saved men and women into those positions where He would have them work for Him. Once they are in those areas of ministry...

This text has been written as a way for this author to cope with the stay-at-home orders that have been put into place for the currently ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But that does not take away from the topics that have been discussed. It has actually given this author the opportunity to write one more book about the two things that are most important in this existence. The first is becoming a Christian or getting saved. The second is living the life that the Lord wants the saved individual to live. It is believed that sharing the gospel with others and encouraging them to get saved, too, ...

This book has been written to share what I discovered during a unique experience in late 1989 and early 1990. While that experience was not very pleasant, the discoveries that I made have more than made up for any of those anxieties which I felt. After having been a Christian for a little over twenty-two years, I suddenly and without warning lost my job. Since at that time I had been faithful in the Lord's work for over fifteen years, plus had also done very well within my profession, being released from my employment did not seem logical. Therefore, from the very beginning, I acknowledged ...

In his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul shared nine important truths. First, he spoke about the necessity for every saint to be called by the Holy Spirit into his or her specific ministry. Second, he indicated that salvation is by the Lord alone and that He is longsuffering with people because His desire is for them to be saved. Third, he told Timothy that the Lord wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth of the gospel so that they can be saved. Fourth, he told Timothy that Jesus performs the role of mediator in reconciling lost and saved sinners to God the Father. When...

This book has been written mainly to share with others what the Lord has done for me. These pages describe key events from my youth and explain how I grew up in a good home with good parents, in an average family environment. Nearly everything about my early life had been ideal. I had lived in a fairly small town, during what had seemed to be a fairly good period in our nation's history - the fifties and sixties. As I approached my teen years, the future looked bright except for one very important fact. I did not know the Lord as my Savior. Because of that, my whole existence from a ...

This book is the second daily devotion book that I have written for regular daily use on Facebook. As such, it is very similar to the first devotion book that I wrote for Facebook. The main difference, however, is that many of the devotions in this book are based on some of the other books that I have also written. For example, some of the devotions are based on the characters that were identified in my book entitled "A Guide for Life Is God for Life." Some are based on the book "Twenty-one Steps to Living One's Best Life." Some are based on the book "The Apostate Church Will Soon Be Here."...