Episode #50: A Deep Dive into James 1:27 with Kelly Wilbanks

The Refuge Podcast with Jennifer Elwood

This is another new first... A Deep Dive episode with a guest in person! My dear friend in real life—Kelly Wilbanks—came over at 7am one morning to avoid child-related interruptions. We sat side by side in my grandmother’s chairs and opened up this Scripture. We both studied, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you" (James 1:27, NLT) and this convicted our hearts. We discussed:

• Our initial thoughts of this verse
• A brief flyover of the Book of James
• The presence of widows and orphans throughout Scripture
• A breakdown of a few words in the original language
• The relationship between action and faith
• What this verse tells us about God and how we plan to live differently in light of the truth of His care for orphans and widows

Kelly’s Bio: I’m a total word-nerd, audio-book listener, and a chronic journaler (like since I could form sentences).

I love the Bible, Pumpkin Cream Cold Brews, and campfires. I love digging into life, truth-seeking, and finding a way when there seems to be no way.

I love to helping writers reach their audience by building bridges between themselves and their readers. If you’d like some tips and tricks to do this well, head over to https://kellywilbanks.com. You can sign up for my newsletter, reach out for coaching, or talk to me about helping produce your newsletter.

You can also follow her journey on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kellyewilbanks/, Threads at https://www.threads.net/@kellyewilbanks or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KellyEWilbanks.

Other things we mentioned during the episode:

Margaret Feinberg’s upcoming Bible Study—James: What You Do Matters (pre-order available through December 19th, 2023)

The Bible Project

Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/jonny-boyle/a-little-bit-of-fun