Author Archives: Steve Hankins, Th.D.

“You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” (James 5:5, ESV) One of the wealthiest men I ever personally knew drove a two-year-old Buick sedan. There was nothing special about the car. In fact, it was quite plain. He lived in aContinue reading “Hedonism (James 5:5)”

“Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.” (James 5:4, AV) In my days of employment, I have worked for good employers and othersContinue reading “Abuse Cries Out (James 5:4)”

“Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” (James 5:2–3, AV) There is a television show called “Hoarders” thatContinue reading “Wasted Resources (James 5:2-3)”

“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” (James 5:1, AV) In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote a novel titled, “A Christmas Carol.” I remember watching the film adaptation of the story on television every year at Christmas time when I was a boy. The main character,Continue reading “The Passion Problem (James 5:1-6)”

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17, ESV) In 1983, the Lord saved me as I read a Gideon Bible in a Minneapolis hotel room. Shortly thereafter, I visited a church of another denomination. When I entered the church, in the narthex,Continue reading “The Omission Problem (James 4:17)”

“As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” (James 4:16, ESV) In my first church experience, I remember a preacher once said, “The letter ‘I’ is in the center of the word ‘sin.’” His point was that there is a problem with “I.” I incorrectly interpreted that statement to meanContinue reading “The Problem of I (James 4:15-16)”

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14, AV) When I was a boy growing up in Pennsylvania, I spent a lot of time outdoors, even in the winter. We wouldContinue reading “Brevity of Life (James 4:14b)”

“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a littleContinue reading “Thinking Of Tomorrow (James 4:13-14a)”

“Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and toContinue reading “Speak No Evil (James 4:11-12)”

“Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:9–10, AV) When I worked in the printing business, I discovered that one of the things you could not print was aContinue reading “Approaching God Part 3 (James 4:8-11)”