People of privilege (like Vince: a white, straight, middle-class American male) need to be rattled to see that societal autopilot doesn’t just lead to the existential angst of “a meaningless life”, but, beyond that, it is a life and death matter for many! The New Testament book of James offers that needed rattling, and Vince leads us in asking how we can pursue our biggest values, even if that leaves us rattled.

Kyle and Vince share the beginnings of a vision for this summer at Brown Line Vineyard: leaning into one of our core values in particular — being a “community of care.” How? By creating more space for more people within the community to pray together for the needs of the church and people in the church. BLV is empowering a new level of leadership, a Pastoral Care Core. Hear how you can be a part of it!

Why is favoritism toward the rich and powerful so easy to fall into? Because we show favoritism toward what hold up as ideal. And the sneaky truth is that, setting our few more noble aspirations aside, we all still kind of think the good life is being rich and powerful. The book of James from the Bible has lots of help to break this tendency in us!

It is remarkably easy to become “too much talk, not enough action” in 21st century America: we announce what we’re about with signs in our windows or yards, by “liking” good causes on Facebook, and by maintaining how we appear to others. In religious settings, this is reinforced all the more with a focus on holding the “right” beliefs and opinions. But, in our experience, life is really found in asking the hard question: what action do my beliefs and opinions produce? There’s actually a book in the Bible all about this human struggle to be “less talk, more action”: the book of James.