GRINDIT podcast

Our pastor at Authentic Church, James Seiler, asked our very own, Mary Gamboa Tucker from the GRINDIT Podcast, to speak on the Kingdom of God, We are going through a series and Mary. explained what the Kingdom of God is and what Righteousness means. She explains why the two are intertwined and are mentioned together from the Old Testament through the New Testament.

The church at Ephesus was a great church with many great qualities. It was made up of both Jews and Gentiles and stood strong against false teachers. Paul had a great relationship with this church and we can see their love for Paul in Acts 20 as he is on his way to Jerusalem but takes some time to meet with the elders from that church in Miletus. Jesus himself had many great things to say about th...

We dive into the Book of Ephesians starting out this podcast with an introduction to the book. Paul is the author and, more than likely, this was written from prison in Rome along with three other letters. Going through the introduction we learn Paul gives the church at Ephesus an identity and purpose. It's great for today's culture, especially here in America that seems to be confused when it com...

James has been hammering the rich and addressing the poor but at the end of his letter he is pulling them all together and saying, “We are one and it’s time to act like it.” Then he goes through a series of “You” questions... If any of you...then...and he gives a solution to each one. He had just said we should be patient waiting for the Lord’s return and now he says while we wait, act like this....

We are a society that wants what we want yesterday. We don’t want to wait for anything. We get mad at red lights when they change to red and there isn’t a car in sight and we yell and make gestures to those who cut us off and glow slow. Why? Because we are in a hurry to get to a place that isn’t going anywhere yet we think it can’t make it without our presence. We have all the information we could...

James calls out the rich people in the congregation and absolutely hammers them because their money is controlling their thoughts and actions. Remember, he is writing this letter to those who have made the choice to make Jesus their Lord and Savior, not people in the world. James tells them that their money they have hoarded up over time is corroding, wasting away, and come Judgment Day it will te...

Many people take what James says out of context and say we shouldn’t make plans and set goals but that is not what James is saying at all! The context of this passage is how people think they are in control, they have stepped in God’s role thinking they have power to control people and situations when we actually have nothing. It is good to make plans but the bottom line is, if God didn’t allow to...

We revisit some strong language James used for his readers when he calls them, "Adulterers" and he tells them if they continue to be a friend with the world, then they are enemies of God. They, as well as we, cannot have it both ways. We are called to be holy, we have been washed in the blood of Christ, our sins have been forgiven, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Why then do we continue to...

Why do continue to sin after we are washed in the blood of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit? Because we have a choice: we can choose to continue to live for God and what He desires, drawing near to Him, or we can choose to give into fleshly desires, give into temptation that separates us from God. It takes humility and self-discipline to follow God and to do what He desires for us and far too...

James has been writing his letter to confront the followers of Jesus who have been scattered abroad because of persecution to quit sinning. He is trying to get these believers to realize who they are in Christ and who lives inside them, God’s Spirit, therefore, they need to live like it! Their problem is they are trying to live for Jesus while living for the world too! Instead of doing what God de...

Before breaking down James 4, we interview James Seiler, pastor of Authentic Church, 322 Lindsay Street, Alcoa, TN....where we worship! Come see at 10am on Sundays!

A trickle a day won't grow a plant. It must be watered daily. Why do we think we can have a relationship with God with just a trickle here and there? We have to be in the word, praying, communicating with God every day, several times a day! What kind of relationship would yo have with your spouse or friend if there was barely any communication? Jesus desires to have an intimate relationship with u...

James tells his readers, "If you are wise and understand God's ways...prove it! We, as humans, have come a long way since the Tower of Babel. Not only did we try and build a tower to heaven, we have launch rockets into outer space! We are so wise and so smart...we even have "Smart" technology, but does this really make us wise? Do we really think we can understand God's ways? How can we find the w...

James says, "If you are wise, prove it by living an honorable life and doing good works from humility." He is talking to believers who wanted to be teachers in the church but could not control their mouths. Why? Because they are allowing their flesh to control their actions; their hearts are full of jealousy and selfish ambition. James says godly wisdom is pure, peace loving, gentle at all times,...

"If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Wise words spoken by Thumper on the Bambi movie. Our tongue is so small, compared to the rest our body, it is tiny but oh how powerful it is! James says it's a fire that can spread like a wild fire and set a whole field on fire. Once words have been spoken, they are out there and can't be put back into our mouths. What are we speaking?...

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me...this is one of the biggest lies we are ever told as a child because words DO hurt! In fact, they can hurt for a very long time! The tongue is such a small part of our body but it sure is powerful! Once words come out of our mouth, they can’t go back in! James compares our tongue with a fire and how powerful that fire is, how it can...

James tells us that we cannot have faith without works and he gives a couple of examples: Abraham and Rahab. Abraham was given promises from God and they didn’t happen until 25 years later when Isaac was born, then he was asked to sacrifice his son of promise! And Abraham never hesitated! He took Isaac up on the mountain and got to the point of raising the knife to kill Isaac but God intervened! T...

James seems to contradict Paul in James 2 when Paul says in many places “We are saved by grace through faith and not of works...” I hear people say something like this all the time, “You don’t have to do anything to be saved...” and I believe they get that from what Paul says but this is not a true statement. Salvation is a gift from God, Right? When we receive a gift from someone, we have to do s...

James doesn’t hold back when it comes to showing favoritism in the church, among the Lord’s body. He throws a punch to the face when he says, “There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others.” We have to show mercy to anybody and everybody because God has shown us mercy! The old saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together” may be true but it shouldn’t be true in the church! Cli...

James continues his talk with the rich and the poor in the body of Christ. He takes some shots at the rich people because they are showing favoritism towards their rich brethren and shunning the poor followers of Jesus who are right there in the room with them. He says we are to love one another like we love ourselves...sound familiar? James is basically reminding these Christians what his brother...

How do we want to be known? People today are so angry and ready to fly off the handle at the drop of a hat, especially if they are involved with an organization with a bunch of letters in it. Think about it...most of thew time when they are shown on the news, what are they doing? Yelling...Why? Because they are angry! We see them going into stores and wreaking havoc, destroying everything and anyt...

Do you get angry easily? Are you ready to snap at the drop of a hat? Anger is a fruit of the flesh, not the Spirit! James makes it a point to say, “Be SLOW to anger!” How can we do that? By doing what he says just before that, “Be QUICK to listen and be SLOW to speak.” The problem with many people is we barely listen, we hear what we want to, and we are thinking about a response as the person is t...

What's the difference between a test and temptation? How do you know if it's of God or Satan? Or, could it just be from our own fleshly desires? One thing is for sure, James says God never tempts anyone! Temptation leads to sin therefore God will never tempt anyone because sin separates us from God...He wants us to draw close to Him as possible! God does test and these trials build our faith, they...

When trouble comes, we are to run to God and ask Him for wisdom on how to get through it, and not doubt His direction. But far too often people do doubt God, in fact, when a storm comes in their life, they get mad at God, blame Him for everything, and return to a sinful life. That’s exactly what Satan wants! He tries to discourage us with many things so our focus will get off God and on to whateve...

When our world is upside down and it seems like chaos is all we deal with, when it seems like we can’t catch a break because life is kicking our butt, James says, “Ask God for wisdom.” He has already told his readers that troubles will come, and now he says, “When trouble comes, ask God for wisdom.” For someone to have wisdom, they have to experience something, then, once on the other side of the...