Oak Hill Baptist Church

It feels good to know you are needed

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “It feels good to know you are needed”

This past Sunday evening the teenagers in our church gave us a report about their recent mission trip. They spent a week working at a Salvation Army center in Wilmington, NC. The site includes a homeless shelter, feeding center, thrift store, and more. Our teens spent the week assisting the staff in a variety of capacities.

Looking at their pictures and listening to their stories as they enthusiastically told us about their adventure reminded me of the truth that mission trips change lives. Mission trips are often mountaintop experiences and the people who go on them end up receiving much more than they gave. It proves the words of Jesus recorded in Acts 20:35 that is more blessed to give than to receive. This is what He meant. It feels good to help others. Doing so leaves you feeling like you accomplished something meaningful which helped to make someone else’s life better. And as a result, you feel good about yourself. That’s your blessing for blessing someone else.

It’s a basic truth about our human nature that we feel more fully alive when we feel like we are needed. Knowing that we made a difference in someone else’s life makes us feel good about ourselves.

In his book “Fully Alive” author Tim Shriver said that this sense of feeling needed is what gives him so much joy working with special needs children and adults through the Special Olympics organization which he leads. Tim says that his friends in that community always make him feel loved, appreciated, and needed. And he says that he always ends his time with them feeling like he received much more than he gave. He went to be a blessing, but he ended up being the one who was blessed. That’s the experience our teenagers were relating in their presentation last Sunday.

If you want to feel more fully alive just go out, find a need, and meet it. The more you do that, the more fully alive you will feel. It feels good to know you are needed.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

We must think carefully about our ways

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “Think carefully about your ways: You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to be happy. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner puts his wages into a bag with a hole in it.” Haggai 1:5-7 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “We must think carefully about our ways”

In yesterday’s devotional we considered Moses’ words to the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 6:10-12. In that passage he told them that when they took possession of the Promised Land, they would find themselves blessed in material ways far beyond what they deserved or had any reason to expect. He warned them to not allow their comfort, peace, and security to lull them into complacency and laziness. If they weren’t careful, they could become too comfortable and they could enjoy their lifestyle a little too much. That then would slowly but progressively draw them away from God. They didn’t listen to the warning and they suffered because of it.

We also considered how true that is today in our nation, and as a result, many Christians in America are lukewarm in their faith, and many of our churches are weak and dying. It’s our lifestyle that’s doing that to us. We’re enjoying ourselves a little too much. We make excuses for paying less attention to God and for being less active in church.

And as we focus more and more on our hobbies and recreation and all the other distractions, and less on God and on church, we discover that we’re less happy not more; less content not more. We’re experiencing the very thing that Haggai described in Haggai 1:5-7 (above). Enough is never enough. No matter how much a person acquires, it they’re not right with God they will still have an unsettled sense of discontentment and unhappiness. No matter how much they have, they know down deep that something vital is still missing.

It’s God who is missing. For those Old Testament Jews God was still there, He was still with them. But their relationship with Him was distant and tepid. And it wasn’t God’s fault. He wasn’t the One who moved away from them, they drifted away from Him.

As was noted in yesterday’s devotional, this is a trend in American Christianity that is only getting worse. As individuals, as churches, and as a nation we’re moving further and further away from God. And was we do, everything gets worse.

Our nation needs to come back to God. But it has to start with us – as individuals and as churches. The church has to come back to God before the nation will. We have to be passionate about our faith and fully committed to the Lord before our nation will be. If we expect the nation to be fully alive in Christ then the church will need to be fully alive in Christ first. It’s time for all of us to carefully consider our ways and to make some adjustments accordingly.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Reverse the trend

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you – a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, houses full of every good things that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant – and when you eat and are satisfied, be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.” 6:10-12. (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Reverse the trend”

In the book of Deuteronomy Moses was giving the nation of Israel their last-minute instructions before they were to go forward and take possession of the Promised Land. The blessings waiting for them were far beyond anything they deserved or had any right to expect. Moses’ concern was that once they got there, they would become a little too comfortable and begin to take their blessings for granted.

Of course, if you know your Biblical history then you know that the people proceeded to do the very thing Moses warned them not to do – they got too comfortable, they enjoyed their prosperity a little too much, and they slowly drifted away from the Lord.

We do the same thing. Life here in America is so easy compared to what it is for Christians in many other places around the world. And as a result, we American Christians tend to be less enthusiastic and less faithful in the practice of our faith, and less consistent in our church attendance, than are Christians in other places. Our blessings and our ease and comfort are becoming our downfall.

Considering the extent of our blessings, we should be more enthusiastic and more faithful than others, not less. But we’re not. And the problem is getting worse. Many Christians don’t read the Bible or even pray much. Church attendance is declining, even among those who consider themselves to be committed Christians their attendance is less consistent than in the past. And many of those who do attend are little more than spectators.

As a result, our churches are becoming progressively weaker. Many are closing their doors altogether. Many could not be described as being “fully alive”. Pastors and Christian leaders are searching for solutions, but competing with the subtle, mind-numbing, and spirit-deadening influence of ease, comfort, and affluence is difficult. And we are heading in the wrong direction. Every week the negative trend is impacting more Christians and more churches.

I encourage all of us to redouble our determination to be enthusiastically faithful to the God who has blessed us so richly. Make fewer excuses. Be more faithful in all aspects of the faith. Obey the Fourth Commandment (remember the Sabbath). Don’t be lukewarm or unfaithful. Let’s all do our part to reverse the trend.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Feasting and fun is good for you

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

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: “Feasting and fun is good for you”

Recently I re-watched the movie “Fiddler on the Roof”. It’s a classic story about the life of Jewish peasants in a small Russian village in 1905. It’s about a poor milkman (Tevya) trying to marry off his five daughters amidst the backdrop of the increasing persecution of the Jews in czarist Russia. The story is both poignant and funny, and is filled with lots of music, dancing, and singing.

One thing that I love about the story is the depiction of traditional Jewish life, with all of its robust and often exaggerated emotions, the laughing and joking, and the music, dancing, celebrating, and feasting that are all such a big part of that culture.

Actually, I think the feasting and celebrating part should be an important part of life for all of God’s people, and I think we Southern Baptists are pretty good about that. Our churches are sometimes jokingly referred to as “The Church of the Covered Dish”, referring to the after-church potluck lunches we’re famous for. In our church we’re also known for our ice cream socials (It could have something to do with the Pastor’s ice cream addiction).

As was noted in yesterday’s devotional, this Sunday evening our Youth Group will be making a presentation to the church to report on their recent mission trip. Afterwards, we’ll all head to the Fellowship Hall for ice cream sundaes and socializing. There probably won’t be much dancing or singing, but there will be plenty of ice cream, and certainly lots of animated conversations, along with laughing and joking. It promises to be a good time.

Celebrating and feasting is an important part of life in the family of God and it goes a long way towards helping us to live lives that truly are fully alive. We need to celebrate. We need to feast. We need ice cream.

I hope you’ll join us. A time of feasting and fun will be good for you.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Pass it on

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Pass it on”

Recently the Youth Group in our church went on a week-long mission trip to conduct service projects in depressed communities in another state. Our young people participated in a variety of ministry projects, and they got to interact with other Christian teens from other areas. It was a great week of adventure and a time of growth for them as they served the Lord by serving people in need. This Sunday, July 25^th, at 6:00 PM, they will make a presentation to the church to show the pictures and tell the stories. Please join us for that!

The couple who led our youth group also have two young boys of their own, both elementary school age. Their boys are being raised in a Christian home, they are involved in the full range of our church life including all of the children’s activities and most of the youth group activities, and they see their parents fully involved and serving as well. The actual practice of the Christian faith is very much a full part of their family life.

This is the kind of thing Moses was calling for in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. Parents, grandparents, and other adults are to pass on the faith to upcoming generations by teaching them, modeling the practice of the faith for them, and also fully involving the children and teens in all aspects of life in their community of faith. By doing this, the reality of life in Christ is woven into the very fabric of their lives. It becomes as much a natural part of them as the air that they breathe.

We are most fully alive when we are fully alive in Christ and when our faith in Him is part of every aspect of our lives. This is true for people of all ages, and it’s something that is learned throughout life and which develops progressively over time. It’s incumbent on all of us to teach it, to model it our own lives, and then to pass it on to others.

I encourage all of us to be intentional about passing it on.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

You don’t have to be lonely

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “Who is my mother and my brothers?’ Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Matthew 12:48-50 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You don’t have to be lonely”

Isolation, and the sense of loneliness that comes from it, is an epidemic in our society. More and more people have fewer and fewer friends. One study from 2018 (pre-pandemic) reported that three in five Americans reported feeling isolated and lonely. Twenty percent reported levels of chronic isolation and loneliness, and that number increases dramatically with age. Forty-five percent of senior citizens report significant feelings of isolation and loneliness.

The problem has only gotten worse since then. Americans have developed a bunker mentality. As a society our close personal relationships have withered and more and more people are relying on social media rather than in-person interactions. This creates problems on many levels. For one thing, we tend to care less about people we don’t know or who we don’t know well. Therefore, the fewer people you know well, the fewer people you will really care about. But also, isolation and loneliness have a negative impact on health – physically and mentally. Social isolation is a big factor in rates of obesity, heart disease, poor lifestyle choices, and mental illness.

Obviously then, loneliness and social isolation are factors which help determine how fully alive a person will feel. The more social interaction and close relationships a person has, the happier and healthier that person tends to be, physically and mentally. Interaction is good for you, isolation is not.

This is where the church comes in. Or at least, this is where the church should come in. Psalm 68:6 tells us that “God sets the lonely in families …” That means “church” families. God takes people who are otherwise socially isolated and lonely, and He puts them in good church families so they won’t be. That’s what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 12:48-50 (above). A church family can and should be the source of good healthy relationships. It should be a source of social interaction and meaningful connection with others. That’s why people who are active in a good church family score much better in all of the studies about loneliness and isolation. They tend to be healthier, happier, and report greater levels of contentment than do those who are not active in church.

The lesson for us? Go to church and be fully involved. It’s good for you and it will help you to feel more fully alive.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Do the right thing for the right reason

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you distressed and why is your face fallen? Surely, if you do right, there is uplift. But if you do not do right, sin crouches at the door, its urge is toward you, yet you can be its master.” Genesis 4:6-7 (JPS) (Jewish Publication Society Translation)

Our thought for today: “Do the right thing for the right reason”

The brothers Cain and Abel both brought a gift to God. Cain was evidently half-heartedly going through the motions because he knew that making an offering to God was the right thing to do. But Abel gave his offering from his heart. God rejected Cain’s offering but accepted Abel’s.

In Genesis 4:6-7 we read that Cain was upset because he didn’t get a good response to his half-hearted offering. But God said, “If you do what is right (for the right reason), there is uplift (you will feel good about it).

In his commentary on this passage, Dr. Dennis Prager notes that doing good (doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason) uplifts us. It makes us feel good because we know we did the right thing, and for the right reason. That then gives us a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment.

Conversely, if you don’t do the right thing (either through wrong action or through the neglect of inaction), not only is that unrewarding and unfulfilling but, as the passage indicates, it leads to sin. If you haven’t made up your mind to do the right thing for the right reason, sin is lurking at your door, it is crouching there ready to draw you in. But you can avoid it. You can be the master of your choices and actions. Sin doesn’t have to win. You can choose to do the good and right thing, and for the right reasons. Not only is doing so morally right, but it will make you feel good. Doing the right thing for the right reason is its own reward.

A big part of living a life that can be described as being “fully alive” involves having the strength of character that consistently leads us to do the right thing at the right time, and for the right reason.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Don’t climb the wrong ladder

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t climb the wrong ladder”

You’re probably familiar with the phrase “climbing the ladder of success”. It refers to the person who establishes a goal to succeed in some career field or endeavor, and then begins to “climb the ladder of success” to progressively advance higher and higher until finally, ideally, they reach the top of the ladder.

That’s fine as long as the success being achieved turns out to have been worth it in the long run. Far too many people spend their lives climbing that ladder of success only to get to the top and discover that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Now that they’re at the top and they have all the fame and fortune, the awards and accolades, the accumulated wealth and the luxury that comes with it, they discover that it’s hollow and unsatisfying. Often, as they were climbing that ladder, so focused on achieving their goals, they sacrificed friendships, marriages, children, health, and much more along the way. And now that they’ve achieved the “success” they longed for and worked so hard for, they realize it wasn’t the great thing they thought it would be. They end up regretting all they gave up in order to get where they are. The ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.

That’s what Jesus was warning against in Luke 12:15. The most important things in life often aren’t things at all. People are more important. Loved ones matter more. Your health matters. Living for something bigger and beyond yourself matters. In his book “Fully Alive” author Tim Shriver calls it “believing in something that lives not in the head but rather in the soul.” This is living from your heart. It’s identifying what really matters and then structuring your life around that.

It’s better to discover this early in life rather than later. You don’t want to look backwards and realize you’ve spent much of your life focused on the wrong things. But, better late than never. You can’t change the past but you can draw a line in the sand, leave the past in the past, and go forward from here doing it better, doing it right.

Be careful you don’t spend your life climbing a ladder of success that’s leaning against the wrong wall. But if you have, for goodness sakes get down from there and start climbing a better ladder. Regardless of your age, it’s never too late to start something new, something better.

You will be most fully alive when you have discovered the things in life that matter most, and then focus on pursuing them.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Live with purpose and passion

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim his praises …” 1 Peter 2:9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Live with purpose and passion”

There’s a lot of speculation these days about whether or not Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire. He is 82 but in good health, and he certainly doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to retire. He enjoys what he does. He also believes in the importance of it and he evidently believes he is still effective in that role. So, he plans to stick around for a while.

President Joe Biden is 78. He plans to serve in that role for at least another three years, and he’s talking about running for reelection. Former President Donald Trump is 75 and talking about running for office again in three years when he will be 78. If he does get reelected, he will be 82 when his second term expires.

What’s up with those people? Why are they working so hard in such demanding professions so late into life? I guess they like it, and I guess they believe that what they’re doing matters. I can relate. I’m 67 but I love being a pastor, preacher, teacher, and writer and I have no plans to stop any time soon. I think my life would be less rewarding and fulfilling if I wasn’t doing this.

However, I live in a retirement community where almost everyone else is fully retired. So many of them seem lost, without clear purpose for this season of their lives. They play endless rounds of golf, they fish, they play card games, and they watch hours of television – only to repeat it all again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. For most of them that gets pretty old pretty fast and they quickly start looking for meaning and purpose. Some of them take part-time jobs just to have something to do. Others find volunteer opportunities. And some of them, sadly, just waste away.

We need purpose and passion in our lives in order to be fully alive. We need a reason to live. That doesn’t necessarily mean a paying job. You don’t have to work until you die. But it does mean that God has created us to be productive and to live meaningful lives that make a difference. The seniors and retirees in our church are excellent examples of that. They are some of the hardest working and most helpful people in the church! That’s the kind of thing Peter was referring to in 1 Peter 2:9. God hasn’t left us here on earth just to play golf, fish, and watch television. There are places to go, people to see, things to do! God has a purpose for your life.

In all seasons of life, we need purpose and passion in order to be fully alive.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Fulfill your God-given purpose

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing. He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done.” Genesis 2:2 (JPS) (Jewish Publication Society Translation)

Our thought for today: “We are fully alive when we are fulfilling our God-given purpose”

Recently a friend gave me a very unique commentary on the book of Genesis. It was written by Dr. Dennis Prager and is part of his series of commentaries called “The Rational Bible”. He calls it “The Rational Bible” because he believes the Word of God to be rational. He means that it is meant by God to make sense to us. Dennis also labels his work “rational” because he believes that if his explanations of God’s Word don’t make clear sense to us, then he hasn’t done his job. The Bible itself is rational, and explanations of it should be rational too.

Dr. Prager is a Jew. He is also a Bible scholar and one of the world’s foremost experts in Biblical Hebrew. His specialty is The Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). As part of his commentary on Genesis chapter two, he offered an insight that I have missed before in my own study and which, once I understood it, made profound sense to me and helped to shed more light on how we Christians are supposed to live today. Dennis was commenting on the fact that after Genesis 2:2, God was done with creating and He then handed the creation off to mankind to do something with it:

“To put it another way, creation was only the beginning. “To make” something of creation is our task as human beings. This is in fact the normative Jewish view: Human beings are “partners” with God in “making” the world. We live in the “Eighth Day,” the post-Creation world, which is ours to make of what God created in the first Six Days.”

I like that, we live in the “Eighth Day” of creation. We are to take what God made and which He has entrusted to us, and do something good and meaningful with it. This is where living with purpose comes in. We’re not to simply go through our days enjoying life and living for ourselves. God has handed to us a wonderful creation filled with innumerable opportunities for us to make good things happen. He has given us life, health, skills, resources, and a world filled with other people. Like Adam in the Garden of Eden, our job is now to go out into the world as it exists in our day, and do something good with it. That’s our assignment and our purpose, and it should be our passion – the thing that gives our life meaning and which inspires us to live well and to live fully.

We’re not fully alive until we’re fulling our God-given purpose. Let’s go out today and do something helpful and meaningful in the beautiful world that God has created and given to us.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim