Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “After this letter has been read at your gathering, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.” Colossians 4:16 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “The printing press changed everything”   History is a little fuzzy regarding who actually invented the first printing press. We do know that the Chinese had a very crude form of a press in the late 800s A.D. which used wooden blocks and produced only a single copy at a time. In the 1300s the Koreans had a more advanced version of the press which involved moveable type and which was a little faster than the Chinese printing press.   But it was in 1436 that a German goldsmith by the name of Johannes Gutenberg invented a mechanical movable printing press that was efficient, dependable, and fast, and which launched humanity into the era of mass media. Prior to this, printed literature was produced painstakingly slowly and at great expense. But now it could be copied quickly, in quantity, and inexpensively. Soon broadsheets, newspapers, pamphlets, books, and especially Bibles were being mass produced and widely disseminated.   As a result, from that point forward, the literacy rate in Europe more than doubled every 100 years. Now that printed material was so widely available, everyone wanted to know how to read. And read they did! Especially the Bible. The advent of the printing press, and the corresponding widespread availability of the Bible in the language the people actually spoke, helped to spur the Protestant Reformation.   So, what a tragic turn of events that today the trend is in the opposite direction. As we’ve already learned this month, fewer and fewer people do very much serious reading anymore – not even reading of the Bible. Instead, there’s a sad regression taking place. Digital technology has clearly brought with it a corresponding trend towards short superficial reading rather than the deep reading (which used to be so common), like that which spurred both the cultural renaissance and the scientific revolution of the1600-1700s. This regression cannot bode well for civilization.   The answer, of course, is for each of us to read more, and to encourage others to read – especially the Bible. If we can’t get Christians to read other types of literature frequently and deeply, let’s at least work to get them to read the Bible that way.     Tomorrow I’ll share with you a story associated with the history of the printing press and the Bible that is both sad and ironic, but which also offers us some hope.   God bless, Pastor Jim

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Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “Open my eyes Lord so that I may contemplate wonderous things from your instructions. I am a resident alien on earth; do not hide your commands from me.” Psalm 119:18-19 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Plunder the Bible”   One of the truly amazing aspects of the Bible is how it can be both shallow and deep at the same time. It is shallow in that many of its truths are right there on the surface and therefore easily understood, even by children. It is deep in that even the most educated scholars can study it for a lifetime and learn something new every time they read it.   Recently I came across a statement written by the eminent Bible scholar, professor, and author Martin Marty. He said that the Bible must be searched and plundered. That conjures up images in my mind of pirates searching for buried treasure, finding it, and then eagerly plundering the treasure chest. While I don’t think we Bible students are pirates, I do love the image of the Bible containing buried treasure just waiting to be discovered. And I do love the idea of me as a treasure hunter discovering and uncovering the treasure, and then joyfully plundering it.   Those of you who have read my book “Walking with Paul” might remember a story I told in one of the chapters. It’s about a farmer in Texas who lived a long life trying to scratch out a living on a poor piece of land. For years he and his family struggled through dust storms, droughts, diseased crops and sick animals, as well as all the other problems faced by small farmers in that area. He always dreamed of one day striking it rich, maybe winning the lottery.   One day a representative of an oil company knocked on his door and said the company’s geological survey indicated there might be oil located under his land. He asked the farmer for permission to sink an exploratory well. The farmer gave his permission and in only a short time they discovered a substantial oil field right under his farm. Almost overnight he went from being a dirt-poor farmer to being a multi-millionaire.   The sad part of the story is that the wealth had always been there. All those years when he was poor and struggling that wealth had been his and was right there waiting for him, but he didn’t know it because he never searched for it. That’s true for many Christians as well. There are precious nuggets of spiritual truth and insight waiting to be uncovered in the Bible, but most Christians never discover them because they never do the work to dig for them.   At Oak Hill Baptist Church we dig for them. Every Sunday morning in Sunday school and in the sermon; on Sunday nights in our seasonal Bible studies; on Wednesday nights in our midweek prayer meetings and Bible studies; and every day in our daily devotional messages we dig for and discover Biblical treasure. I invite you to join us as we plunder the Bible together.   God bless, Pastor Jim

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Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set your ordinances before me. I cling to your decrees; Lord, do not put me to shame. I pursue the way of your commands, for you broaden my understanding.” Psalm 119:30-32 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Learn the principles; stay within the boundaries; enjoy life”   The Bible is the most important form of written communication there has ever been and reading it is the most important form of reading we can engage in. As J.I. Packer wrote, and which I quoted in yesterday’s devotional, we need to know it forwards and backwards. We need to remain immersed in the entirety of God’s story by reading it cover-to-cover, and then reading it again and again; we need to do deep dives into it as we engage in serious study of individual books of the Bible; we must memorize key passages and verses; and we have to be intimately familiar with Biblical principles as they apply broadly to the full range of life issues.   If we want to know God, we must know the Bible. If we’re going to live in a way that obeys and honors God, we have to know His precepts, principles, and boundaries – and that is what the Bible does for us, it provides us with the boundaries within which God wants us to live.   This is a big beautiful world God has created for us, and life is filled with lots of adventures and choices. We have a great deal of freedom to choose for ourselves what we will do and how we will do it. God is not only okay with that, He prefers it. He didn’t design us to be a bunch of robots blindly obeying Him because we’ve been programmed to do so. Instead, He created us with free will and He has set before us a world filled with choices. Then, He gave us the Bible to guide us as we live in this world and as we make those choices.   So, live big. Live large. Have fun. Just stay within the boundaries. That’s what the writer of Psalm 119 meant in verses 30-32 (above). He was using the Word of God as His guide for living life, and then he just went and lived his life.   He went on in verses 33-37, “Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statutes, and I will always keep them. Help me understand your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart. Help me stay on the path of your commands, for I take pleasure in it. Turn my heart to your decrees and not to dishonest profit. Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; give me life in your ways.”   It’s as easy as that. Read your Bible; learn the principles; stay within the boundaries; and go enjoy life.   God bless, Pastor Jim

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Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Psalm 119:14-16 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Four keys for effective Bible study”   J.I. Packer is in heaven now, but during his lifetime he was a widely known and highly respected theologian, professor, and Christian author. I personally believe his best book was “Knowing God”. I have a copy of it on my bookshelf and have read it multiple times. It is deeply insightful and very helpful.   There’s an article by J.I. Packer in “The Every Man’s Study Bible” regarding how to read/study the Bible. Like most of the books and articles Packer wrote, this one is very helpful. Therefore, I want to summarize/paraphrase for you his four keys to reading the Bible.  Before you open your Bible, remember you are in the presence of God. Remind yourself that God is the primary author of Scripture and that what you are seeking is the personal togetherness that you would hope for if you were opening a letter from someone you knew cared for you … then ask God to speak to you, and to make you listen as you read.All the Bible should be read, and read regularly. We should acquaint ourselves with the full landscape of Scripture and keep covering it backwards and forwards.Focus particularly on the richer books. This is quite distinct from point two. There are some books in Scripture which, as words from God to his people, have a richer vitamin content than others. The four Gospels in which you see your Lord in action are the most precious books in the world. They are the Bible books that ought to be read oftener than any others. I also think the Psalter ought to be read regularly, one or two psalms every day. The writers of the Psalms were more alive in themselves and in God than most of us are … and therefore their writings should be studied by us.Linger in the books that have a special resonance with you individually at this time in your life.     I agree with Packer and I think his four keys to Bible study are a pretty good guide. The Bible is God’s letter to you. Read it over and over and over again.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.” Psalm 119:1-2 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Read the directions”   As was noted in the first devotional of this series about the gift of the written word and the importance of reading, throughout this month we will consider our subject from many different angles. But the most important form of written communication is the Bible, and therefore we’re spending the first part of the month thinking about it. Next week we’ll move on to other forms of writing and reading.   Over the last couple of days, we’ve considered the importance of staying immersed in the story of God so we can develop a feel for how God interacts with people (including us). Today we will consider another way of using the Bible to hear from God.   Shortly after I became a Christian, I met George and Dorcas Taggart. They were an older couple who operated the church bookstore. They sold Bibles, Christian books, cards, gifts, etc. It was George who guided me in my selection of my first Bible, “The Disciple’s Study Bible”. (I still have it and I’m using it to write this devotional). I love this Bible! It’s filled with all sorts of helps in using the Bible to establish and maintain the life of a committed disciple of Christ.   One section provides instructions on how to use the Bible to find guidance pertaining to common life issues which we all must deal with. It lists Biblical principles that pertain to the issue, and it directs you to numerous Bible verses and passages that teach about it. The idea is to read each of those verses and passages, jotting down in your notebook your understanding of what they teach regarding the issue you are dealing with. Once you have read them all, you write a summary statement about your overall understanding of the Biblical teaching regarding the issue. Then you go back to the Biblical Principles Guide and compare your summary statement to the explanation of the principle to make sure your summary is in fact consistent with the Biblical teaching.   Most study Bibles offer a section of helps similar to that. Most Bibles also offer a concordance in the back which helps you to locate verses and passages by category. There are also handy little books like “Walk Through the Promises”, which list hundreds of Bible promises by category; or “God’s Wisdom for Daily Living” which takes all the wisdom sayings from Proverbs and lists them by category and by life issue. All of those tools help us to find verses and passages which pertain to the subject we need help with.   This study method takes a little time and effort but it is extraordinarily helpful for getting Biblical guidance regarding basic life issues. It directs us to the many passages and verses that pertain to our issue and, it helps to ensure that we don’t “cherry-pick” verses, or take them out of Biblical context. I encourage you to try it.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “I have treasured your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Is it okay to read for milage?”   This morning I want us to continue our thinking from yesterday regarding becoming increasingly familiar with God by keeping yourself immersed in the story of God (the Bible). I also noted yesterday that the more familiar you are with God and His story, the more you will develop a feel for God. A feel for God is a subtle sense (call it a gut-check if you will), that something is or is not from God. The well-known Southern Baptist leader Dr. James Merritt once said, “The primary purpose of reading the Bible is not to know the Bible, but to know God.”   I’ve mentioned before that I have the personal habit of reading the Bible cover-to-cover at least once each year, usually twice. I do that precisely to keep myself immersed in the story of God. (It’s true that it’s also important to slow down and do deep Bible studies of individual books, and to do character studies of people in the Bible, and to memorize verses and passages, but there’s great value in reading cover-to-cover as well).   Shortly after I became a Christian, I was reading a biography of the great missionary to China Dwight L. Moody. In his letters and writings Moody often spoke of his personal goal of reading the Bible cover-to-cover forty times before he died, and he kept his friends and readers updated about his progress over the years. He wrote in glowing terms about his increasing familiarity with God as a result of staying immersed in the story of God.   Moody’s example inspired me to set a similar goal. Since reading his story, I’ve also learned of many other famous Christians who had a personal goal of reading the Bible cover-to-cover a certain number of times, and who said so, including John Calvin, Billy Graham, James Dobson, and many others.      The obvious concern about this kind of reading is that it’s little more than “reading for milage”. You have a set number of chapters to read each day and so you just plow ahead to get through it, and as a result, your reading is superficial instead of deep. Well, yes, that can happen. But that’s why we should also participate in some of the other Bible study methods I referred to earlier. Every form of Bible study has its benefits and its weaknesses.   “Reading for milage” is just another way of saying, “I have a goal to read five chapters a day”. If you do that, you will read the entire Bible in a year. I encourage you to try it.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Developing a feel for God”   I love Psalm 119. It’s the longest chapter in the Bible (176 verses), and it’s all about the Bible. Yes, the longest chapter in the Bible is all about the Bible. For 176 verses the writer speaks about the value of God’s Word and his love for it. He describes how the Bible teaches him about God, fills his heart with hope and joy, answers his questions, and shows him how to live. Verse 105 says that the Word of God is like a lamp that lights his path, showing him the way so he doesn’t get lost on his journey through this dark world.   So, how exactly does the Bible serve as a lamp that lights up our path and shows us the way forward? In what way does it answer our questions, and how exactly do we hear God speaking to us through His written word? God accomplishes that in multiple ways and we will take the next few days to consider some of them.   First of all, the Bible is a story. It’s a narrative which describes God’s interaction with the human race over the course of history. So, when we read the story of God from start to finish (Genesis to Revelation), we come to know God and to understand Him better. On the pages of the Bible we see how He has interacted with others down through the ages, and that helps us to better understand how He interacts with us.   One thing this does for us is it gives us “a feel” for God. This is subtle and easily missed or misunderstood, so we need to be careful with this, but as we come to know and understand God better, we can just feel if something is of God or not. You get to the point where you’re familiar enough with God and His ways, because you’ve spent so much time immersed in His story, that you can just sense if a leading is consistent with the ways He typically interacts with His people or not.   Again, this is subtle and it takes spiritual maturity to get this right. Therefore, we don’t rely just on this feeling. Instead, we confirm it by means of other ways in which God speaks to us. But this feel for God is an important and helpful indicator, and it’s developed over time as you become more familiar with God. One way you become familiar with God is by spending lots of time immersed in His story.   We’ll continue thinking about this tomorrow. For now, I encourage you to spend some time this morning reading your Bible.     God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word.” Psalm 119:9 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Bibleman knows”   Over the last two days we’ve learned that the Bible is nothing less than a miracle from the hand of God, and it’s a gift to us from Him. The Bible is the most important book that has ever been written, and it is the bestselling book of all time – having been read by more people in more languages over more years than any other book ever.   Now we need to turn our attention to understanding how God uses it to communicate with us. Although God can speak to us in an infinite number of ways, including through a burning bush or the mouth of a donkey, in our day He generally speaks to us in five basic ways – in prayer, through the Bible, by means of circumstances, through the counsel of other Christians, and by affirmation from the church body. But the most common and most direct means by which He speaks to us is the Bible.   The Bible is God’s written Word to us and in it He tells us everything we need to know in order to live well. Either by direct command (dos and don’ts), or by means of general Biblical principles which apply broadly to many areas of life, the Bible is our guide. Therefore, it’s essential that we know how to use the Bible to hear from God. In the days to come, we’ll think about several of those ways.   This past week we held Vacation Bible School at Oak Hill Baptist. The curriculum was built around the adventures of Bibleman. Bibleman is a superhero who leads a team of other superheros to confront evil with the power of God’s Word. Throughout the week our children learned how to use Biblical truth to live in a manner that’s pleasing to God.   In Psalm 119:9 the writer posed the rhetorical question, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” Well, Bibleman knows the answer to that, “By living according to God’s Word.”  That’s true for all of us, not just for children.   This Sunday, in our morning service, we will conclude our VBS with a video clip from Bibleman and with a short presentation from the children. They will recite some of their Bible verses from the week, sing some songs, and show some pictures. I will then preach a short sermon building on what we learned from Bibleman. If you’re in Cumberland County, TN please join us for the service at 10:00, followed by ice cream in the Fellowship Hall (Yes, ice cream before lunch. It’s always best to eat desert first so you don’t run out of room for it!) If you can’t join us in-person, then please join us online for the livestream on our Facebook page, or on the church website at oakhillbaptist.net.   How can we live in a way that’s pleasing to God? Bibleman knows – and if you join us this Sunday, you will know too.   God bless, Pastor Jim

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Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and Reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “The grass fades, the flower withers, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “It’s a miracle!”   The written Word of God is a miracle. It has to be. There can be no other explanation for it. Beginning with the circumstances under which it came into existence, we see it had to have been by the hand of God and no other way. Paraphrasing author Josh McDowell in his great book, “A Ready Defense”,   “The Bible was written over 1500 years; over 40 generations; by more than 40 different authors – including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars; written in different places – including the wilderness, a dungeon, on a hillside, in a palace, in prison, while traveling, on the isle of Patmos, and during the rigors of military campaigns; written during both war and peace; on three different continents – Asia, Africa, and Europe; in three different languages – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. It addresses hundreds of difficult, complex, and controversial subjects, and yet the authors spoke with harmony and consistency from Genesis to Revelation.”   How could any book be written by more than 40 very different authors, over 40 generations, on three continents, in three languages, over the span of 1500 years and yet tell one consistent story woven intricately together from start to finish? It’s a miracle! It has to be. There’s no other explanation.   And then consider that the enemies of God have been working vigorously since the time of Moses (more than 3500 years ago), to diminish, discredit, and even destroy the written word of God and yet not only has it survived, it has thrived. For thousands of years the Holy Spirit has moved across generational, geographic, cultural, and language barriers to have the Word of God translated into the languages that people actually speak, so that the Bible can be read by everyone. Today the entire Bible is available in over 700 languages, the New Testament is available in over 1500 languages, and portions of the Bible have been translated into another 1100 languages. The Bible is the bestselling book of all time. No other book even comes close to the number of copies produced or the number of people who have read it.      The Bible you hold in your hands is nothing short of a miracle. It is God speaking directly to you. I encourage you to take some time right now to thank God for the Bible, and then I encourage you to spend some time reading it.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good morning everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Writing and reading”   Our Bible verse for today: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “The Bible is most important”   The earliest evidence we have of any form of written communication comes from approximately 3200 B.C. Archeologists have discovered tablets from ancient Mesopotamia and Persia containing cuneiform inscriptions. So, humans have been communicating in writing for at least 5000 years, but probably longer than that. Yesterday I quoted Exodus 31:18 where we read of God inscribing the Ten Commandments on stone tablets and giving them to Moses. That was the first instance of God putting Scripture into writing for us, and it occurred somewhere around 1500 B.C.   Without question, the most important form of written communication there has ever been is the Bible. As Paul told us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (above), the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Every word of the original manuscripts came from the mind and heart of God. He used human authors, inspired by the Holy Spirit, as His instruments to record that communication, but it comes to us directly from Him.   The Bible is complete, and in it, God tells us everything He wants us to know about Himself and His ways. He also tells us what He expects of us and how He wants us to live, as well as about our future in heaven. Obviously, there’s much more that could be known about all those things, and someday in heaven we will know all there is to know, but in the Bible God has given us all the information He wants us to have at this time. And it’s a lot. You can be a diligent student of the Bible your entire life and there will always be something new to learn.   So, why don’t more Christians read the Bible? Since it is God speaking directly to us, you would think a professing Christian would be fascinated with the Bible and wouldn’t be able to get enough of it. But no, that’s not how it is. A recent study by the LifeWay research department (the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention), revealed that among Christians of all denominations fewer than one-third have ever read the entire Bible even once. Eighty percent admit that the only time they even hear the Bible read is in church.   Now, that’s true of Christians across all denominations. Those percentages are higher and better when they look at just evangelical Christians (and that’s encouraging to this Southern Baptist pastor’s heart), but the percentage is still low. Far too many professing Christians either never read the Bible, or only read it sporadically and not in a deep way.   This means that Biblical literacy in the USA is low – and declining. And that’s a problem for the Church. A serious problem. If you don’t know the Bible well, then you don’t know God very well. And if you don’t know God very well, you’re probably not going to obey Him, and you won’t be a very good follower of Jesus.   Of all the things you could read, the Bible is most important. It’s the written Word of God and it has been given to us by Him as a gift. We’ll think more about this tomorrow.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.