Oak Hill Baptist Church

Take a spiritual retreat

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Take a spiritual retreat”

Have you ever spent time in a monastery? I have not, but it is on my bucket list. I’ve read accounts written by other Christians who have gone to a monastery for a short retreat. They tell of how after a period of settling in and getting used to it, they found the seclusion and the profound quiet to be very peaceful and soothing, and they have had significant encounters with God in the middle of the quietness.

I haven’t had that experience yet but as I’ve traveled around the world, I’ve always enjoyed visiting some of the magnificent cathedrals found in places like Cusco, Peru or Budapest, Hungary. There too you can simply sit in the quietness, gazing upon the beauty of the artwork and the architecture, and soon a sense of the awesome majesty of God begins to envelope you. It’s really a very moving experience.

For most of us a spiritual retreat doesn’t involve monasteries and cathedrals. Instead, it’s usually more like Billy Graham’s time at Forest Home Christian Camp which I told you about in a previous devotional in this series. Or, a retreat like that can occur in most any setting that affords some seclusion and quiet. When I lived in the desert on the California/Arizona/Mexico border, twice a year I used to go to a cabin in the Laguna Mountains which separate San Diego from the desert. It was over 4000 feet in elevation, it was isolated, and it was rather beautiful. It was a good place for a retreat for a few days. Nowadays I sometimes rent a cabin in the State Park right here in our own county in Tennessee. It’s only twenty minutes from my home but it provides seclusion and quiet in a very beautiful setting.

Psalm 42:1-2 paints a word picture of a dry and dusty soul yearning for a cool refreshing drink of the Living Water. It’s a picture of a quiet and serene setting that renews, refreshes, and cleanses. That’s the purpose of a spiritual retreat – even if only for a few hours or half a day.

If you haven’t allowed yourself a spiritual retreat in a while, I encourage you to consider taking one soon. From time-to-time we all need a break from regular life to simply be alone with God.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Soul-rest comes from time with God

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “My soul finds rest in God alone …” Psalm 62:1 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Soul-rest comes from time with God”

There are different ways of redeeming the time in order to truly get the most out of this journey through life. Much of life consists of involvement in meaningful activities, but that should be followed by times of play and celebration, and also with times of relaxation and deep rest (soul-rest). We need a healthy balance.

The Lord brought that truth home to me this morning in a powerful way by reminding me of something that happened a few years ago. It involved my daughter Tracy and the time I spent with her every summer as part of my vacation. The specific reason I was thinking about her this morning is because I’m currently on vacation, but Tracy is now in heaven.

For many years, my summer vacation always included a trip to Southern California to have special father/daughter time with Tracy. She was mentally and physically disabled and needed a lot of special care and attention. On our vacation we would do things like go to the zoo and to movies, we would go shopping and to restaurants. Although my time with Tracy was very special to me, it was also labor-intensive.

On that last trip, after several days of constant activities and providing a high level of care for Tracy, my flight home was also delayed and I didn’t get home to Tennessee until 3:30 in the morning. I was exhausted. It was good time. Special time. Time well-spent. Time that was appropriately redeemed. But also draining.

Then came the time for relaxation and soul-rest. After getting some sleep I got up, grabbed a cup of coffee, and sat out on the porch. There was a gentle breeze blowing, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. After days of airports, rental cars, and caring for Tracy, now it was just me and God, along with the cool breeze, the singing birds, and the coffee. There was a deep sense of relaxation and peace. I just sat there in the stillness and enjoyed a great sense of God’s presence.

When we allow ourselves times of true Sabbath-rest; when our schedule is free and we can therefore just sit with the Lord as long as we please; it creates a bubble in time when we can relax and enjoy God. There are no pressing concerns, there are no distractions, it’s simply you and God, the soft breeze, the singing birds, the shining sun, and coffee.

Psalm 62:1 was very real for me that morning. My soul found peace and rest in God. I hope that’s sometimes true for you too. I encourage you to be intentional about carving out those relaxed, unhurried, peaceful times with God. This is how our soul rests.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Stop working so hard at your play

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1-3 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Stop working so hard at your playing”

Gordan Dahl is a professor of economics at the University of San Diego. He once published an article in the magazine “The Christian Century” which reported his findings about the work and leisure habits of the average American. He wrote:

“In truth, for millions of Americans … leisure has come to mean little more than an ever more furious orgy of consumption. Whatever energies are left after working, are spent in pursuing pleasure with the help of an endless array of goods and services. This is “virtuous materialism” par excellence. It offers men the choice of either working themselves to death or consuming themselves to death – or both.”

What Dahl was referring to is the habit many of us have developed of being as busy in our leisure as we are in our work. Rather than really resting and renewing, we instead fill our leisure time with endless activities that leave us exhausted. We essentially work at our play. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard someone complain that they needed a rest after their vacation.

The great Christian writer A.W. Tozer once observed that we modern Christians have lost the ability to simply “be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). We’re entirely too busy to be still.

As we’ve learned, there’s a lot to be said for playing and having fun and engaging in activities we enjoy. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s even good. But true Sabbath-rest also needs quiet times of inactivity. It should include what the Psalmist was writing about in Psalm 23:1-3, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.”

In order for Sabbath-rest to renew and restore and to be spiritually nurturing, there needs to be times of quiet inactivity – time for reflection and just being still before the Lord.

I encourage you to stop working so hard at your play. You will enjoy the journey of life a lot more if you redeem the time by including time to really rest.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Rest and leisure are good for you

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Rest and leisure are good for you”

As part of our study of “enjoying the journey by redeeming the time”, we have considered the importance of both Sabbath-worship, and Sabbath-rest. We have come to understand that Sabbath-keeping is more than just a day of the week – it’s an orientation for all of life. Sabbath-rest includes incorporating a good balance of work and rest in the regular rhythm of life, and Sabbath-worship is a matter of living in the moment and appreciating each moment as a gift from God.

The Pharisees were confused about the true purpose of Sabbath-keeping. They thought God had commanded them to observe Sabbath for His sake, but in truth God established it for our sake. All of God’s commands are for our own good, and that includes the observance of Sabbath-worship and Sabbath-rest. God didn’t institute the practice of Sabbath-keeping because He needs it, but because we do.

A few years ago I read a book called “Leisure: The Basis of Culture” by the German philosopher Josef Pieper. Although Pieper is a Christian, and although his book is laced with Biblical themes and principles, it’s not exclusively a Christian book. Instead, it’s a study about leisure and culture, and the positive impact a good philosophy of leisure has on any society.

In his research Pieper went all the way back to ancient times – even as far back as the times of Plato and Aristotle, comparing a society’s practice of leisure to the overall health of that society. What he discovered was that those societies that maintained a healthy balance between work and rest consistently fared better than those that overvalued the sphere of work.

In our society today we tend to overvalue the world of work and we undervalue the need for real rest. Even when we do finally stop working and take time to “rest”, we don’t usually really rest. Instead, we end of working at our play and therefore we’re still exhausted and in need of rest.
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The lesson Jesus was teaching in Mark 2:27 is that God instituted the practices of Sabbath-worship and Sabbath-rest for our benefit. Sabbath is a gift to us from God. In other words, you have God’s permission to rest. Actually, that’s really not quite right either. God has commanded you to rest – and He did so because rest and leisure are good for you.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Take time to celebrate

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.” “Nehemiah 8:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Take time to celebrate”

Celebration is a spiritual discipline. It’s true. In Richard’s Foster’s classic work “The Celebration of Discipline” Foster lists “celebration” as one of the basic disciplines of the Christian faith. Along with things like prayer, Bible study, fellowship, worship, and acts of service, frequent times of celebration are an important part of practicing the Christian faith. Celebration is good for you and it should be a regular part of your life.

God’s people have a long history of engaging in fun times of celebration. For the Old Testament Jews, their entire calendar revolved around a series of pre-planned annual festivals and celebrations. King David danced in the streets of Jerusalem as he led a parade. Jesus attended a wedding in the village of Cana and He even turned water into wine to assist with the celebration. The Christians in the early church in the book of Acts spent a lot of time in each other’s homes sharing meals and good company.

As was noted in a previous devotional in this series, the Bible refers to feasting, celebrating, and dancing more than 150 times. That’s because celebration is an important part of life as a child of God. After all, who has more to celebrate than those who are blessed by God and who have the promise of eternity in heaven?

As Richard Foster teaches in his book, celebration is actually a discipline that we’re to practice for the sake of our spiritual growth. That being the case, we have to be intentional about it. We need to plan for it. Enjoying the journey by redeeming the time can and should include times of wholesome celebrations with family and friends – it should be fun and joyous. I encourage you to celebrate.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

It’s okay to play

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “The streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in them.” Zechariah 8:5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “It’s okay to play”

I read a book not long ago called “The Circle” by Ted Dekker. It’s actually a series of fiction novels similar to “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis. However, it’s also similar to the “This Present Darkness” series by Frank Peretti because the story unfolds in two dimensions simultaneously – one dimension is the world as we know it and the other is similar to that of Lewis’s Narnia. The events in each world are directly tied to and influence events in the other world.

In Dekker’s Narnia-type world God is known as “Elyon”, and one of the things Elyon loves to do is to come out and play with His people (similar to how God walked in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve in the early chapters of Genesis). In the story, when Elyon calls His people to come out and play, all sorts of wonderful and amazing things happen. For instance, for the length of their playtime the people discover that they can fly like birds. Elyon also makes waterfalls flow upside down, He turns the grass purple, He makes the water taste like cherry cool-aid, and much more. So of course, the people eagerly look forward to the times when Elyon calls them to play.

Is the notion of God playing like that nothing more than a creative part of a silly fantasy story? I don’t think so. I think there’s some truth to it. I think God has a great sense of humor and I think He loves to play. It was God’s idea for a puppy to chase its tail; God was the one who created a baby’s smile and the cute little giggle that goes with it; and ice cream is a gift straight from heaven. God is playful and fun-loving and I also think He loves for us to play. The Bible refers to feasts and feasting, to dancing and celebrating, more than 150 times.

In his book, “The Christian at Play” author Robert Johnston makes the case that “The person at play is expressing his or her God-given nature.” In other words, God created us with a playful nature like His own and He intends for us to express it as a means of enjoyment and leisure.

Sometimes we adult Christians get too serious for our own good. We equate holiness with seriousness and we become a bunch of dull old fuddy-duddies. We need to lighten-up. It would do most of us some good to spend an hour sitting in a mud puddle splashing and playing with a three-year-old.

God created you with the ability to enjoy life and to have fun. It’s okay to play.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Don’t be a slave

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the Lord your God has commanded you. You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. Do not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or donkey, any of your livestock, or the resident alien who lives within your gates, so that your male and female slaves may rest as you do.” Deuteronomy 5:12-14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t be a slave”

It was miserable to be a slave. Whether we’re talking about a slave back in the times of Moses, or in the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus, or in the USA prior to the Civil War, or in any other place at any other time under any other circumstances. Being a slave was a terrible life. Not only was there a complete lack of freedom, but slaves were sometimes literally worked to death, and then they were simply replaced.

Thank God that you are not a slave. Or, wait, are you? Perhaps you’re not a slave in the traditional sense as referred to above, but are you a slave to your job, or to your chores, or to some sense of obligation regarding what others expect of you? Although you almost certainly are not a slave in the traditional sense, many of us behave as if we are slaves by the way we drive ourselves without letup.

In Deuteronomy 5:12-14 Moses was reminding the people of God’s instruction, originally given in the fourth of the Ten Commandments, to observe the Sabbath and to keep it holy. If you flip back in your Bible to that fourth commandment, found in Exodus 20:9-11, you will find that God linked the commandment to observe the Sabbath to the example He set for us in Genesis 2:2 where He stopped His work and rested.

Sabbath is taught directly or referred to at least 172 times in the Bible. If God begins by setting the example for us, and then mentions it 172 more times, that’s probably a clue that we need to pay attention to it.

The concept of Sabbath-keeping is actually divided into two distinct parts. There is Sabbath-worship and there is Sabbath-rest. Most of us are better at Sabbath-worship than we are at Sabbath-rest. We usually faithfully participate in corporate worship services with our church family (so apparently, we get that part of Sabbath), but the resting part is a bigger problem. Most of us don’t really participate in very much Sabbath-rest.

Why is this so important? Moses answered that for the Israelites in Deuteronomy 5:15: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. That is why the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.”

In other words, “You are no longer slaves so stop acting as if you are.” They were not to be slaves to the Egyptians, nor were they to be slaves to their jobs, their chores, or to their endless activities.

That goes for us too. Don’t be a slave to your job or to your chores or to your activities. Sabbath-rest helps us to push back against and to resist the endless pressure to do, do, do. God intends for our Sabbath-keeping to consist of both Sabbath-worship and Sabbath-rest.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Come apart and rest, or you might just come apart

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers. Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.” 1 King 19:4-5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Come apart and rest, or you might just come apart”

Elijah was a mighty man of God who was often used by God in great ways. In 1 Kings 18:20-46 he confronted and defeated 450 prophets of Baal in a single spectacular contest on Mount Carmel. But then in 1 Kings 19:1 we find him running away in fear from the evil Queen Jezebel. And then in 19:4-5 he just gives-up entirely and tells God he wants to die.

What happened to Elijah? How did he go so quickly from being a bold, confident, mighty man of God confronting and defeating an army of pagan priests, to this whimpering and somewhat pathetic man who was ready to quit? Simple, he was spent. He was wiped-out. His emotional gas tank was empty. He was physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. He needed time to rest and renew.

Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to take a nap. Such was the case with Elijah in this scene. The old adage that you need to come apart and rest – or you might just come apart, is very true and it applies to all of us.

Many of us push too hard for too long. We make excuses for not taking a break. We think about all the work that has to be done, all the chores that must be completed, all the people who depend on us …

But the fact is that if you don’t take a break, sooner or later you will end up like Elijah, out of gas and giving-up. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of anyone else, you won’t be able to continue taking care of the people and the situations that need your care and attention.

You have to come apart and rest – or eventually you will simply come apart. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is to take a nap (or a vacation).

God bless,
Pastor Jim

A time of rest, and maybe transformation

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “A time of rest, and maybe transformation”

Forest Home Christian Camp is located in the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California. At over 8000 feet in elevation, it’s a beautiful setting of magnificent forests, pristine lakes, and spectacular views.

Forest Home is where Billy Graham, as a young evangelist just starting his ministry, settled an important issue with God. It was 1948 and Billy was wrestling with doubts about the Bible. A close friend had challenged him with questions about it that he couldn’t answer. Those questions raised doubts in his mind and he was deeply troubled. So, he took a weekend to go off into the seclusion of Forest Home to rest and spend time with God. One afternoon, sitting quietly deep in the forest, Billy came to the conclusion that he trusted God implicitly and even if there were some aspects of the Bible he didn’t fully understand, he would take it all on faith as the inerrant Word of God.

Billy left Forest Home with the question settled in his mind and heart. Three weeks later he began his famous “Los Angeles Crusade” which drew hundreds of thousands of people over the course of many weeks, and which launched Billy’s amazing career. Today there’s a beautiful little chapel in the woods at Forest Home marking the exact spot that Billy Graham settled that issue with God.

Many years ago, I spent a few days at Forest Home on a personal retreat and I spent some time alone in that very chapel. It was a beautiful, peaceful, and profoundly moving experience. I just sat there in the deep quiet, with the sun shining through the stained-glass windows, and I soaked-in the presence of God. I was so full and so at peace that I can vividly recall the experience more than two decades later.

In his great book, “The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath” author Mark Buchanan writes about the importance of Sabbath-rest: “From it, you can rise up and go – stronger, lighter, ready to work again with vigor and a clear mind.” Let me also add that just as was the case with Billy Graham, those quiet times of rest and renewal also often bring clarity and peace as God helps us to resolve difficult issues we’ve been wrestling with.

At regular times on our journey through life we need special, extended times for rest and renewal. You can call it a personal retreat, or a sabbatical, or a vacation, or whatever, but secluded quiet times like that can be transformative experiences. It’s a time of renewal and spiritual nurture, but it can also transform. I encourage you to regularly set aside a weekend or longer for extended times of Sabbath-rest.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

Be sure to get your Sabbath-rest

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Enjoy the journey by redeeming the time”

Our Bible verse for today: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Be sure to get your Sabbath-rest”

All this month we’ve been considering how we can better enjoy the journey of life by being more thoughtful and intentional about redeeming each and every moment of life. By redeeming I mean using it to our best advantage. This is about not frittering life away or wasting our time on things that don’t really matter and are not beneficial.

One of the uses of our time that matters very much is resting properly. This is so important that God commanded us to set aside time specifically for worship and for rest. In his excellent book “The Rest of God” Mark Buchanan refers to this as sabbath-worship and sabbath-rest.

The clearest and best distinction I have ever seen between Sabbath-worship and Sabbath-rest comes from my friend Bud Lenz. For over twenty years Bud has operated the El Arca Children’s Home in the Andes Mountains, and now in the Amazon Jungle of Peru. Today the El Arca compound consists of 110 acres on the edge of the Amazon Rainforest near the Bolivian border. Bud and the staff provide a safe and loving Christian home for orphaned, abandoned, and abused Peruvian children.

Life in the Jungle is hard. The days begin early, well before the sun comes up. Everyone has chores to do from feeding the animals, to cleaning the buildings, to preparing and serving breakfast. Then it’s off to school for the younger children and off to work on the land for the older teens and adults. In the evening there are more chores, family time, and an early bedtime.

Saturday is the day for Sabbath-rest. Everyone sleeps late and then has a light breakfast. The day then consists of lots of personal time for prayer, reading, wandering on Jungle trails, or maybe sitting by the river. There’s plenty of time for lounging in the family room, playing games, lying in your bunk listening to music, or any other relaxing activity you care to engage in. It’s a deeply restful, relaxing, and enjoyable time spent with the Lord and with your brothers and sisters. This is Sabbath-rest. It is renewing, rejuvenating, relaxing, and enjoyable. There’s no schedule; there are no expectations; just rest.

Sunday is the day for Sabbath-worship in the family room. This is the day to gather for worship, sing songs, study God’s Word together, share testimonies, and perhaps share the Lord’s Supper. It’s not that they don’t sing songs, share testimonies, study the Bible, and engage in acts of worship on other days of the week, but Sunday morning is the designated time for group Sabbath-worship. Together Saturday and Sunday provide a full weekly experience of Sabbath-keeping. You get Sabbath-rest, and you get Sabbath-worship.

I always enjoy Sabbath-keeping at El Arca and I’m getting better at implementing this structure here at home. Sunday is my time for Sabbath-worship, and Monday is my time for Sabbath-rest.

How about you? Are you fully experiencing Sabbath-keeping? I’ll bet you’re pretty faithful at Sabbath-worship, but how about Sabbath-rest? In your case your worship and resting may need to occur on the same day, but I encourage you to make sure you don’t neglect the resting part of the Sabbath.

God bless,
Pastor Jim