Oak Hill Baptist Church

Lighten up and enjoy life

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Lighten up and enjoy life”

I would like to be able to tell you that I thought-up the title for this month’s devotional series, but that would be a lie. The truth is that I stole it (which probably isn’t much better than lying about it I suppose). Unless … unless we can all agree that I didn’t really steal it I just “borrowed it”. Yeah, that’s my story, “I borrowed it”. Let’s go with that.

“Laugh Again” was actually the title of a book written by Pastor Chuck Swindoll back in 1991. It was a life application commentary on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians (The Epistle of Joy). In the book Chuck tried to help us see how we can go through life with an upbeat and positive outlook, finding joy and humor along the way.

I especially like the back cover of the dust jacket. There we see a picture of Chuck and his wife Cynthia riding Chuck’s Harley Davidson motorcycle. (It has a personalized license plate that reads “The Sermonator!”) Although Chuck and Cynthia are grey-haired senior citizens they often climb on his Harley, rev up that engine nice and loud, and go roaring off down the road hooting and hollering, laughing and having a good time.

I can relate. I also have a Harley, and although Linda is handicapped and uses a walker to get around, we have on occasions pushed that walker up to the Harley, put her on the back of the bike, and roared off down the road, leaving the walker sitting there in the driveway.

My friends, too many Christians are frumpy and grumpy. They walk around with their heads down, grousing and complaining, grumbling and mumbling into their moustaches, criticizing and finding fault with everyone and everything. That should not be. God doesn’t want us to live that way. Sure, life can get hard and we all have our problems, but it’s not all bad. Lighten up!

Psalm 118:24 reminds us that every day is a gift from God and it is filled with many wonderful things to enjoy and to be grateful for. I encourage you to count your blessings today. Resolve to be joyful. And for heaven’s sake, lighten up and laugh a little.

By the way, did you hear about the pistol-packing pastor who died and went to heaven? When he got to the Pearly Gates Saint Peter asked in astonishment why in the world any pastor would pack a pistol. In his defense the pastor cried out, “But Peter, I was a Southern Baptist Pastor!” Suddenly the expression on Peter’s face softened and with a knowing and sympathetic look he said, “Bless you my son. Those Baptists can be a tough crowd. Enter heaven and receive your reward!”

Enjoy your day my Baptist friends. Rejoice and be glad in it. And be sure to find plenty of things to laugh about.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Laughing is good for you

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Laughing is good for you”

Once I was leading a marriage enrichment Bible study and suddenly one of the ladies in the group starting imitating Homer Simpson. I don’t know why. Maybe she’s going through menopause and has sudden uncontrollable outbursts of weird behavior (I’m kidding). But whatever the reason, right in the middle of a serious discussion about how a woman can build up her husband with words of affirmation and encouragement she comes out with “Doh!”

According to Wikipedia when Homer Simpson says “Doh!” it means “Homer injured himself, realized that he has done something stupid, or something bad has happened or is about to happen to him.”

I’ll leave you to guess which of those definitions that woman might have felt applied to her use of “Doh!” with respect to the topic of her affirming and encouraging her husband, but whatever her intended meaning, the moment was hilarious. One couple was laughing so hard I thought they were going to pee their pants.

After I finally regained control of the class, we all agreed that laughter is good for us – especially when it comes to strengthening the bonds of close relationships. Life is hard and sometimes it gets heavy. Many of us are way too serious. We all know people who trudge through their days, wearing their circumstances like a heavy old coat, seldom smiling much less laughing. But that’s not how we’re supposed to live. It’s not what God intends for us. Like Solomon tells us in Proverbs 17:22, laughter is good medicine, but a heavy spirit dries up the bones. A heavy spirit makes us sour and grumpy and difficult to be with. Laughter lightens things up. It makes us feel better, it makes us nicer to be around, and it causes other people to want to be with us.

All this month we will explore this idea of laughter as good medicine. We will consider what the Bible has to say about laughing and being happy, and we will also think about the importance of intentionally expressing joy. Laughter and being joyful is good for us.

By the way, did you hear the one about the feminist who demanded to know why we always say “Amen” at the end of a prayer rather than “Awomen”? The Pastor told her it’s the same reason that we sing “Hymns” instead of “Hers”.

May you day today be filled with joy and laughter.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Be faithful with your life

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NKJV)

Our thought for today: “Be faithful with your life”

God requires us to be good stewards of everything He has entrusted us with. That includes our money, possessions, relationships, skills, talents and abilities, as well as our time. We are to take care of and utilize in a good way all of the things God has filled our lives up with. In fact, we are to be a good steward of life itself. We have a responsibility to God to use our lives well.

When confronted by a man who complained that this country has not provided him with as much happiness as he believed he deserved, Benjamin Franklin replied, “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”

What Franklin was referring to is personal responsibility. Every person is personally responsible for how they live their life. And therefore, every person has a personal responsibility to live well, utilizing the full range of their God-given abilities and resources, and to live a life of meaning and purpose that brings glory to God and blessings to others. That’s a life lived well. That’s what it looks like to be fully alive.

Throughout the course of this month, we’ve placed a heavy emphasis on being fully alive by doing things with intentionality and purpose. But the emphasis has been on doing things. However, as has also been mentioned, sometimes it’s necessary to do nothing. Sometimes we have to slow down, shut down, and recharge, and that’s what I am going to do now. I’m going on vacation and will be gone for most of the month of August.

I had considered taking the month off from writing these daily devotionals. Instead, I’ve decided to recycle a series from several years ago. It’s an oldy but goody. The theme is “Laugh Again” and it’s about the therapeutic nature of having a good laugh. I think you’ll enjoy it. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

Finally, this morning I want to leave you with a song. No, I’m not going to sing it myself, but I will provide a link below that you can click on if you would like to. Just copy and paste the link into your browser. This is my swan song, my good-bye song for now. See you in September.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu-7DXBiVsA

Attitude is everything!

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Don’t stifle the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Attitude is everything!”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 is one of the most important verses in the New Testament when it comes to living a life that is fully alive, and therefore it’s worth spending a few moments this morning carefully considering it.

First, Paul’s instruction to us in these verses is written in the form of a command. These aren’t suggestions. He isn’t offering us good guidance. He’s telling us emphatically to do these things. Choose to do this. Make up your mind, be intentional about it, and purposely do it. “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything.”

There are literally dozens of verses in both the Old and New Testaments which tell us over and over again to choose joy, to pray about all things, and to be thankful. When God tells us something that many times, it must mean that He wants us to do it. That’s why Paul also writes, “…for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” He then goes on in verse 19 to tell us that if we don’t intentionally adopt those attitudes of joy, prayer, and thankfulness, we stifle the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit can have less of a positive impact in our lives because we have not adopted the attitude we have been instructed to have.

It is a choice. We have to be intentional about these things. Make a decision, “I choose joy over despair.”; Then decide, “I will pray more – about big things and about small things.”; And also, “I will be thankful for what I have rather than regretting what I don’t have, and I will count my blessings frequently.” This is an attitude that has to be purposefully adopted and then practiced with discipline and intentionality until it becomes your dominant mindset. Over time, thinking like that will simply become your nature.

If you have a bad attitude, you cannot and will not be fully alive – you won’t be at your best and truly enjoying life. There’s a reason God commanded us through Paul to intentionally cultivate and maintain a good attitude. It’s because in life, attitude is everything.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Age gracefully but live fully

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ – which is far better – but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.” Philippians 1:23-24 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Age gracefully but live fully”

I’m a Jimmy Buffet fan. Jimmy is “Mr. Beach Music”. All of his songs have to do with life at the beach, or the benefits of vacation time, or about the adventure of living, etc. He has a lyric in one of his songs that really resonates with me at a deep level and which has become something of a personal motto, if not a personal mission statement. It goes, “I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.”

Can all God’s people say, “Amen!”?

We should remain fully alive, living life with enthusiasm and gusto, until we die. Oh sure, the nature and contours of life will be different in different seasons of life. At seventy you can’t do some of what you used to do at forty. But still, there is much that can be done at seventy, or whatever age you happen to be, and therefore should be.

In Philippians 1:23-24 (above) the aged and elderly Apostle Paul wrote that he was ready to leave this life and go to heaven, which would be a vast improvement over the condition he was in, but he also realized that God wasn’t done with him yet here on earth. As long as Paul still had breath in his body then God still had a reason for him to be alive. Perhaps at that time all Paul was physically able to do was write, talk, and pray. Perhaps his days of long journeys, sleeping outdoors, and preaching to big crowds, were over. Maybe at that stage in his life his God-given purpose was to write letters, witness for Christ, counsel disciples, and pray. Well then, that’s what he did. And he did it with enthusiasm and gusto. He was determined to live until he died – and to live fully.

Too many people do not age gracefully. Instead, they make constant references to their aches and pains. They complain about getting old. They spend hours upon hours thinking about and longing for the good-old-days. They withdraw from church life. They can’t seem to accept the season of life they’re in.

I believe Christians should be grateful for, and should fully embrace, every day of life the good Lord grants to them. I for one choose to sing along with Jimmy, “I’d rather die while I’m living than live while I’m dead.”

Let’s all resolve to age gracefully, but let’s also be fully alive every day that we’re still alive.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

You can help to heal a wounded heart

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Fully Alive”

Our Bible verse for today: “The tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4 “Pleasant words are a honeycomb: sweet to the taste and health to the body.” Proverbs 16:24 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Help to heal the wounded heart”

I read a statement the other day which was made by a person with both mental and physical disabilities and who had spent a lifetime being ridiculed and bullied because of it. She was speaking to a class of elementary school students and she was explaining how hurtful the name “retard” can be to someone who struggles with mental limitations. She said “If you hurt my arm or leg, it heals fast, but when you hurt my heart, it can last forever.”

Wise words, and very true. The psychological wounds are often the deepest and longest lasting. Psychological wounds are most often inflicted by words, and the thing about words is that once they’re spoken, they cannot be unspoken. They can be forgiven, but they can’t be forgotten. Once they have been spoken and heard, they’re in the person’s memory bank and they will stay there forever. If they were mean words, cruel words, hurtful words, they inflict a wound on the heart that can last a lifetime.

But words can also be healing. Words of kindness, love, and encouragement can help to heal the wounded heart. And that’s where you, Christian, come in. You can speak words of hope and healing to hurting people suffering from wounded hearts. You can be a source of kindness and encouragement to someone who may be silently suffering.

Much of our focus during this month of devotional messages about being “fully alive” have focused on serving others. And much of the service we’ve discussed involved doing things and taking actions like humanitarian relief. But one of the most helpful things any of us can do for people is simply to be kind and encouraging in the way we speak to them. One of my favorite characters in the New Testament is Barnabas, “The son of encouragement”. Barnabas was known for being a source of encouragement to others. Evidently, he helped to heal wounded hearts.

Yesterday I said that when you bless others, you yourself are blessed. That truth holds true in this case as well. When you encourage others, you yourself will be encouraged. When you help to heal their heart, you will find your own heart has been lifted up as well.

Today there will be people with wounded hearts all around you. You can be a blessing to them, if you only will.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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