Navigating the Bible: James episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 10, 2026 · 57 MIN

Navigating the Bible: James

from Doable Discipleship · host Saddleback Church

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’ - but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” James 2:14-17I think many people probably fall into one of two camps about James: it’s either one of their favorites or they bristle against it a little bit. This is because James does not pull any punches about what it means to live in a way that focuses and cares for other people. He says, “faith is dead without good works.” He says, “His actions made his faith complete.” He says, “I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” All of this is in the context of what James has to say about helping the poor, the widows and the orphans, and what he has to say about how we handle persecution and trials and what he has to say about how we speak. James is an in your face book in the best of ways. To help us navigate this book is Dr. Craig Blomberg, Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Denver Seminary and author of many books including a commentary on James. Doable Discipleship is a podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 450 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/saddleback).Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doable-discipleship/id1240966935) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuwQZOLadbFCZCmZ1V)Resources Related to This Episode: https://www.amazon.com/James-Zondervan-Exegetical-Commentary-Testament/dp/0310244021Related Doable Discipleship Episodes:Navigating the Bible: Hebrews - https://youtu.be/0XwovgqW0cMNavigating the Bible: Philemon - https://youtu.be/D9PTtlDcqxcNavigating the Bible: Pastoral Epistles - https://youtu.be/07kEx20A9GENavigating the Bible: 1 & 2 Thessalonians - https://youtu.be/t4RGfRFSNT4Navigating the Bible: Colossians - https://youtu.be/X8Smy59UyDoNavigating the Bible: Philippians - https://youtu.be/aYoTNKarprINavigating the Bible: Ephesians - https://youtu.be/BbtVXrdC2FINavigating the Bible: Galatians - https://youtu.be/1vudZh57HH0Navigating the Bible: 2 Corinthians - https://youtu.be/GhxuP3onL4sNavigating the Bible: 1 Corinthians - https://youtu.be/5lt9OhkpYbgNavigating the Bible: Romans - https://youtu.be/hQXntME3GocNavigating the Bible: Acts - https://youtu.be/u7ujU81hvjUNavigating the Bible: John - https://youtu.be/0Q8CqUMoTdENavigating the Bible: Luke - https://youtu.be/TKp9FbT3J2kNavigating the Bible: Mark - https://youtu.be/TfD2cHzAFmcNavigating the Bible: Matthew - https://youtu.be/TopzGlIuhYgNavigating the Bible: Malachi - https://youtu.be/Qiwoys1KAa8Navigating the Bible: Zechariah - https://youtu.be/t3beJht6tZUNavigating the Bible: Haggai - https://youtu.be/pGFOmTPUgI4Navigating the Bible: Zephaniah - https://youtu.be/VtKeFsLeG4MNavigating the Bible: Habakkuk - https://youtu.be/89l0HUQceIwNavigating the Bible: Nahum - https://youtu.be/USg64a6Kk8wNavigating the Bible: Micah - https://youtu.be/Tcm3HykhkS8Navigating the Bible: Jonah - https://youtu.be/PxhIyhLSgJQNavigating the Bible: Daniel - https://youtu.be/bnQ-PioWxfgNavigating the Bible: Ezekiel - https://youtu.be/hlg6gBYxqsgNavigating the Bible: Lamentations - https://youtu.be/6rrizlXeYXENavigating the Bible: Jeremiah - https://youtu.be/lXPjWl8PdRkNavigating the Bible: Isaiah - https://youtu.be/NZJLaPkgEgsNavigating the Bible: Song of Songs - https://youtu.be/Sg0CYlNBVMgNavigating the Bible: Ecclesiastes - https://youtu.be/-Wr7LCh8F9ENavigating the Bible: Proverbs - https://youtu.be/DytRT5AsZg8Navigating the Bible: Psalms - https://youtu.be/oZeesooAYUINavigating the Bible: Job - https://youtu.be/14jaf2T1eCQNavigating the Bible: Exodus - https://youtu.be/NB9UTpS1F3MNavigating the Bible: Genesis - https://youtu.be/ddhjMfOoasAInspiring Dreams by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/Creative Commons CC BY 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’ - but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” James 2:14-17I think many people probably fall into one of two camps about James: it’s either one of their favorites or they bristle against it a little bit. This is because James does not pull any punches about what it means to live in a way that focuses and cares for other people. He says, “faith is dead without good works.” He says, “His actions made his faith complete.” He says, “I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” All of this is in the context of what James has to say about helping the poor, the widows and the orphans, and what he has to say about how we handle persecution and trials and what he has to say about how we speak. James is an in your face book in the best of ways. To help us navigate this book is Dr. Craig Blomberg, Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Denver Seminary and author of many books including a commentary on James. Doable Discipleship is a podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 450 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube. (https://www.youtube.com/saddleback).Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doable-discipleship/id1240966935) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1Zc9nuwQZOLadbFCZCmZ1V)Resources Related to This Episode: https://www.amazon.com/James-Zondervan-Exegetical-Commentary-Testament/dp/0310244021Related Doable Discipleship Episodes:Navigating the Bible: Hebrews - https://youtu.be/0XwovgqW0cMNavigating the Bible: Philemon - https://youtu.be/D9PTtlDcqxcNavigating the Bible: Pastoral Epistles - https://youtu.be/07kEx20A9GENavigating the Bible: 1 & 2 Thessalonians - https://youtu.be/t4RGfRFSNT4Navigating the Bible: Colossians - https://youtu.be/X8Smy59UyDoNavigating the Bible: Philippians - https://youtu.be/aYoTNKarprINavigating the Bible: Ephesians - https://youtu.be/BbtVXrdC2FINavigating the Bible: Galatians - https://youtu.be/1vudZh57HH0Navigating the Bible: 2 Corinthians - https://youtu.be/GhxuP3onL4sNavigating the Bible: 1 Corinthians - https://youtu.be/5lt9OhkpYbgNavigating the Bible: Romans - https://youtu.be/hQXntME3GocNavigating the Bible: Acts - https://youtu.be/u7ujU81hvjUNavigating the Bible: John - https://youtu.be/0Q8CqUMoTdENavigating the Bible: Luke - https://youtu.be/TKp9FbT3J2kNavigating the Bible: Mark - https://youtu.be/TfD2cHzAFmcNavigating the Bible: Matthew - https://youtu.be/TopzGlIuhYgNavigating the Bible: Malachi - https://youtu.be/Qiwoys1KAa8Navigating the Bible: Zechariah - https://youtu.be/t3beJht6tZUNavigating the Bible: Haggai - https://youtu.be/pGFOmTPUgI4Navigating the Bible: Zephaniah - https://youtu.be/VtKeFsLeG4MNavigating the Bible: Habakkuk - https://youtu.be/89l0HUQceIwNavigating the Bible: Nahum - https://youtu.be/USg64a6Kk8wNavigating the Bible: Micah - https://youtu.be/Tcm3HykhkS8Navigating the Bible: Jonah - https://youtu.be/PxhIyhLSgJQNavigating the Bible: Daniel - https://youtu.be/bnQ-PioWxfgNavigating the Bible: Ezekiel - https://youtu.be/hlg6gBYxqsgNavigating the Bible: Lamentations - https://youtu.be/6rrizlXeYXENavigating the Bible: Jeremiah - https://youtu.be/lXPjWl8PdRkNavigating the Bible: Isaiah - https://youtu.be/NZJLaPkgEgsNavigating the Bible: Song of Songs - https://youtu.be/Sg0CYlNBVMgNavigating the Bible: Ecclesiastes - https://youtu.be/-Wr7LCh8F9ENavigating the Bible: Proverbs - https://youtu.be/DytRT5AsZg8Navigating the Bible: Psalms - https://youtu.be/oZeesooAYUINavigating the Bible: Job - https://youtu.be/14jaf2T1eCQNavigating the Bible: Exodus - https://youtu.be/NB9UTpS1F3MNavigating the Bible: Genesis - https://youtu.be/ddhjMfOoasAInspiring Dreams by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/Creative Commons CC BY 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Navigating the Bible: James

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“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good...

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