Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:11 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Keep the main thing the main thing.”   The book of Ecclesiastes is essentially twelve chapters of ruminations and regrets as an old man looks back upon his life and finds himself wishing he had lived it differently. Interestingly, the author was Solomon, a king, the leader of God’s people, a man who had been blessed by God with wisdom beyond anything possessed by anyone else of his day. This was not some pagan king.   Also, many casual readers of Solomon’s story in Ecclesiastes commonly (and incorrectly) conclude that Solomon’s problems were mostly just wine, women, and song. Well, that was part of his problem. A big part of it. But during those decades Solomon also lost himself in many other pursuits that would usually be thought of as being good. He pursued massive public works building projects; he assembled the most powerful military force in the world of his day; he acquired incredible knowledge about the most important subjects and sciences; he developed and implemented effective governmental systems; and so much more! But in the end, as he looked back on it, he concluded it was all futile and a chasing after the wind.   Why? We can understand that his boozing and schmoozing might be cause for regret, but what about the accomplishments? His problem was that he didn’t keep the main thing the main thing. Solomon lost himself in the agendas of the world and forgot that the rule and reign of God is the umbrella under which God’s people are to participate in those secondary agendas. And also, that we are to participate in those secondary worldly agendas only to the extent to which they contribute to God’s purposes. Solomon lost himself in the agendas of the world and that took him away from, and out from under, the rule and reign of God in his life.   We do this too. We exhaust ourselves in our enthusiastic involvement in the secondary agendas of the world such as politics, social issues, careers, hobbies, etc., and we often lose sight of, and drift away from, the rule and reign of God under which everything else is supposed to be happening.   Resilient Christians resist allowing this to happen. We learn to live as kingdom citizens working to accomplish the Lord’s agenda. As we participate in the secondary agendas of the world, we do so only in ways that respect and honor kingdom principles, and we strive to use our involvement in those secondary agendas to help advance kingdom objectives.   We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. For now, I challenge each of us to join Solomon in his reflections. Consider if your involvement in the secondary agendas of the world have become too much, too all-consuming, and if perhaps they’re taking you away from God and His purposes.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “So he got up from supper; laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel tied around him.” John 13:4-5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Be one of the greatest”   We’re now ending our second month of devotionals on the theme of resilience. As we conclude this study, I want to spend our last few days reviewing the most important principles about being a resilient Christian. Remember, being resilient is more than just persevering. While it certainly is about sticking with a worthy endeavor, more than that resiliency enables us to live well and to thrive while we’re doing it. Resilient Christians are observably victorious and joyful, in addition to being consistent and dependable.   A resilient Christian is also humble enough, and sufficiently committed to the cause of Christ, that he or she is willing to assume the role of a servant in order to most effectively advance the kingdom agenda in a world that is often confused, angry, and hurting. This isn’t easy to do. Servants are usually viewed as being weak and unimportant. In our angry society today the temptation for Christians is sometimes to see ourselves as cultural warriors charging off into the fray. But Jesus showed us a different way.   In John chapter 13 we find Jesus and His disciples at the Last Supper on the night before He was to be crucified. In the scene recorded for us by John in verses 4-5, Jesus taught a powerful lesson about servant-leadership. Here’s how Richard Foster described it:   “When Jesus gathered His disciples for the Last Supper, they were having trouble over which one was the greatest. Gathered at the Passover feast, the disciples were keenly aware that someone needed to wash the others’ feet. The problem was that the only people who washed feet were the least. So there they sat, feet caked in dirt. It was such a sore point that they were not even going to talk about it. No one wanted to be considered the least. Then Jesus took a towel and a basin and so redefined greatness.”   This was not an isolated lesson. All throughout His ministry Jesus consistently taught us to serve others as a means of serving Him, and for advancing His kingdom agenda. He made the point repeatedly that those who were willing to do that, they were the greatest of all His followers.   Will you commit yourself to the hard and long and often difficult work of service, and then trust the Lord that in the long run that’s what will make the real difference for good? If you will, then you will be one of the greatest among us.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Your faithfulness does make a difference.”   In recent devotionals I’ve been making the case that what our nation needs now more than ever, is for the Church to be the Church. In other words, Christians as individuals and as churches need to focus on the issues and activities that will help to build the kingdom of God on earth. Leading people to faith in Christ and helping them to grow as His disciples is the best and surest way to bring about positive change in our society.   I also made the case that we need to commit ourselves to the hard work of developing long-term solutions rather than being attracted to and seduced by the sugar-high of angry demonstrations, or snarky posts on social media, or other activities that might enthuse those who already agree with us but which actually don’t change anyone’s mind or accomplish much good. Long-term solutions like building healthy churches, helping people grow into mature Christians, establishing and supporting a crisis pregnancy center, or a local rescue mission, or a church-based after-school program for at-risk children, are all hard work, they take time, and they require a big commitment by resilient Christians, but those are the ministry activities that make the most difference in the long run.   2 Thessalonians 2:7 is an important and insightful verse of Scripture which in context, is about the end times, but which also reveals an important truth that applies to our lives right now. Paul was writing about the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and how it is that the presence of the Spirit in the world is the restraining influence on Satan. The Holy Spirit is present in the world, living in the hearts of the followers of Christ, counteracting the evil perpetrated by Satan and his demonic hordes.   However, at the end of time, at the rapture, the saints of God will be removed from the world and the work of the Spirit through them will cease. At that time there will no longer be a restraint on Satan and then there will be nothing to stop him from unleashing the full force of his evil. But until then, it’s the work of the Spirit, through you, and me, and us, which holds Satan in-check, pushing back and overcoming his evil in the world.   When I say that the Church needs to simply be the Church what I mean is that it’s imperative for all of us as individuals and as the church to be faithful and to simply live our lives and perform our ministries day-in and day-out. Our churches need to be strong in our communities; each of us needs to be faithful and true witnesses and servants; and we need to just keep-on keeping-on as we faithfully serve others in the Name of Jesus and declare the Good News of the Gospel at every opportunity.     Your continued faithfulness is what will make the difference in the long run. The best thing you can do for our nation right now is to continue being the resilient Christian you are.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” Luke 1:44 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Let’s work for long-term solutions”   Yesterday I made the case that crisis pregnancy centers are a more effective and more Christ-like way of dealing with the abortion issue than are demonstrations outside an abortion clinic. Crisis pregnancy centers require an exponentially greater level of commitment than do demonstrations, but in terms of making a substantial long-term difference for the cause of Christ, there’s no comparison in the results. Today I want to tell you a story about an even greater level of commitment.   My Peruvian friend Inocencio was at one time the Governor of the province of Ancahuasi, high up in the Andes Mountains of Peru. It was a remote region that consisted of a few large towns and many small farming villages. In addition to being the Governor, Inocencio was also a part-time pastor and church-planter. In his off-hours he traveled from village to village visiting the people, getting to know them, meeting their special needs, preaching the Gospel, and starting churches. Eventually he resigned as Governor so he could commit his full attention to being a pastor and church-planter.   One day Inocencio and his wife Bertha heard about a sixteen-year-old girl in one of the villages who became pregnant. Her father insisted that she abort the baby or he was going to throw her out of the home and disown her. Inocencio and Bertha went to the village, found the girl, and begged her not to abort the baby. They offered to take her into their own home, care for her while she was pregnant, pay all of her medical expenses, adopt the baby once he was born, and then help the girl to get started in a new life.   Inocencio and Bertha did all of that. The baby was born (a boy named Josue – pronounced “ho-sway”), they did adopt him, and today Josue is a happy and healthy teenager who is growing up to be a fine Christian man like his father.   What a tremendous level of commitment and investment on the part of Inocencio and Bertha! They could easily have simply found that young pregnant girl, given her a little lecture about the sanctity of life, read some Bible verses to her, prayed for her, and gone on their way. Instead, they backed-up their faith with meaningful and substantial action and as a result, a baby lived instead of died. (I like to imagine that when Inocencio and Bertha showed up on that first day and made that offer to the baby’s mother, Josue jumped for joy in the womb at the sound of their voices, just like the baby in Elizabeth’s womb jumped for joy in Luke 1:44).   My point – with this story, and the one from yesterday, and the two days of devotional messages before that, is that resilient Christians take the time and make the effort to be involved in the problems in our society in meaningful ways that really do advance the cause of Christ. These long-term efforts are never quick and easy, and they seldom provide the feelings of instant gratification that come from a noisy demonstration. Instead, long-term efforts that truly do make a meaningful difference require dedication, commitment, discipline, restraint, and yes, resilience.   I encourage all of us to have the commitment and patience to do the things that which, although they may be much harder and take longer, will, in the long-term, truly advance the cause of Christ in our nation.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been wondrously made.” Psalm 139:13-14 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Take the time and make the effort.”   In recent days I’ve been attempting to make the case that resilient Christians have the personal discipline, and will take the time and make the effort, to discover and utilize the strategies that will most effectively advance the cause of Christ in our society. I can think of no better example of this than the issue of abortion.   In the years following the infamous Wade v Roe Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, the Christian community was rightly outraged and determined to pushback against it. For almost two decades the dominant strategy consisted primarily of holding demonstrations outside of abortion clinics. Those events were often peaceful and the Christians involved were kind and well-intentioned. But sometimes they were loud and contentious, and sometimes they got out of control and turned violent. Women entering the clinics reported being intimidated and scared. In some extreme cases, fanatical abortion opponents went so far as to bomb abortion clinics and even, in a few instances, ambush and assassinate abortion providers.   That strategy was largely a failure and abortion rates continued to climb year-by-year. All the while, the pro-life Christian community was portrayed in the media as violent extremists. Most of us weren’t that, but some were, and to a large degree, that image stuck in the minds of the public.   But then in the late 1980s and early 1990s a new pro-life strategy was developed. Christian-operated crisis pregnancy centers were established in communities all across the land. Those centers were pleasant, comfortable places, staffed by kind and compassionate Christians who cared deeply about both the baby and the mother. There were ultrasound machines so the mother could hear her baby’s heartbeat; there were calm and reasoned counselors available to discuss resources and options with the mother; and there were a wide variety of helping resources offered to assist the mothers after they chose to keep their babies.   Those crisis pregnancy centers have been extraordinarily successful. Today there are over 2300 crisis pregnancy centers in the USA compared to fewer than 800 abortion clinics, and the abortion rate has been in steady decline in our nation for more than a decade. Today it is at the lowest rate since abortion was legalized in 1973.   Let me ask you, when was the last time you heard about one of those loud, boisterous anti-abortion demonstrations being held? (They have become rare and with good reason, because they weren’t very effective at actually stopping abortions). Let me also ask you, between the two approaches – the loud demonstrations or the welcoming crisis pregnancy centers, which one looks more like Jesus?   Participating in those demonstrations was a relatively easy thing to do because they didn’t require much time (maybe only a few hours during an afternoon), and they didn’t cost much money (a little posterboard and a stick to hold it up on). Establishing and maintaining a crisis pregnancy center is much more difficult. It requires a much greater investment of people and resources. Taking that approach requires a strong commitment from some resilient Christians, but it’s worth it because it is obviously the approach that works best.   Resilient Christians are willing to put forth the time and effort to do it right – sometimes at great sacrifice to themselves. Tomorrow I have another story for you.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “… I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “There’s a better way to do this.”   I think it’s safe to say that after Jesus, the Apostle Paul is the second-most prominent person featured in the New Testament. He spent thirty years of ministry immersed in the grit and gristle of everyday life with ordinary people and therefore, he is a good example for us when it comes to questions of how to conduct ourselves in society as we participate in the Lord’s kingdom-building work on earth.   In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 Paul described his mindset. If you read all five of those verses (and I urge you to), you’ll realize that Paul was willing to put aside his personal preferences, his Jewish ways, political or social issues he was concerned about, and much more, and he focused primarily on leading people to Christ and helping them grow into mature believers.   It’s not that there weren’t cultural, social, moral, or economic issues for Paul to be concerned about. There were, and at times he did get involved in those things. But his primary focus was to win people to faith in Christ and to help them grow as disciples, because doing that was the best and fastest way to address all of those other issues. Lead people to Christ and help them grow into mature believers, and a lot of those other life issues will be cleaned up in the process.   Yesterday I said I personally believe that conservative ideology more closely reflects Biblical principles than does liberal ideology. I’m convinced that is true. But I also cautioned that when Christians become too passionately political, we sometimes hurt the cause of Christ rather than help it. Here’s why I say that:   When the unbelieving world hears Christians loudly advocating for a conservative political agenda, they probably are not catching the nuance about conservative ideology reflecting Biblical principles. Instead, what they believe they are hearing is just one more person trying to cram their conservative political views down everyone else’s throats. That’s how they hear it. If there is a Gospel message underlying that, they’re largely missing it.   So, if our words and actions are understood by the unbelieving world as being an expression of our politics rather than as an expression of the love of Jesus Christ, is our passionate advocacy of our political agenda helping or hurting? I think the Apostle Paul would probably tell us to dial back the combative politics a little, and be a bit more nuanced in our approach for the cause of Christ. That’s certainly what he modeled in his own life as described in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. Again, Paul didn’t ignore the issues of His day and neither should we. He just kept first things first and put the majority of his focus on the thing that mattered the most.   The question isn’t whether or not we should be trying to influence the outcome of issues in favor of Biblical principles – of course we should. The question is the best way to accomplish that. This is vitally important because in the months and years to come it will be essential for Christians to have a positive impact on the direction of our nation. The best way to accomplish that will be to lead people to Christ and help them to become mature in their faith   Tomorrow I want to share with you a beautiful story about how Christians can be actively and effectively engaged in the hot-button issues of the day, but in a way that directly and clearly communicates the love of Jesus.     God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “Then he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Stay focused on what really matters”   This morning I want to continue our thinking from yesterday because I’m convinced that in the months and years to come, it will become increasingly important for Christians in our nation to be strong, resilient, and focused. In yesterday’s devotional I said that I believe our nation is slowly drifting towards a situation similar to that of the nation of Israel during the days of the book of Judges. They had experienced a complete breakdown in the social order; there was no effective government; and the people of God had virtually no positive impact on their society. Therefore, “every person did what was right in their own eyes.” It was chaos bordering on anarchy. It was one big Gotham City.   I also noted that one of the reasons our society today has become so dysfunctional is because the church has become so ineffective. Too many Christians have lost focus and become sidetracked and distracted by secondary issues. They commit far more time, attention, and emotional energy to political and social issues than they do to God’s Kingdom agenda.   Is this a problem in your life? How would you know if it is? Let’s take a little test. I encourage each of us to spend a few moments in honest self-reflection.  Answer these two questions about yourself:   After people have had an encounter with you and have listened to what you have to say, do they now know about your politics or about your Lord? And, once people have had an opportunity to observe your behavior, did they see you simply going about your own business, taking care of yourself, or did they see you serving others in acts of kindness, mercy, and compassion?   Of course, we have to live life and we have to engage in regular everyday activities. We can’t always be talking about Jesus and we can’t always be engaged in acts of service. But those two activities are so powerful and impactful that they will make a profound impression on the people we encounter. So, we need to dedicate more of our time, attention, and emotional energy to those things rather than to political and social issues. (This can be tricky because I personally believe that in general, conservative ideology does in most cases more closely reflect Biblical principles than does liberal ideology. So, wouldn’t that then mean that simply advocating for conservative causes is by extension advocating for Biblical principles? More about this tomorrow.)   Jesus didn’t call us to be Republicans or Democrats. He called us to be witnesses and servants. Resilient Christians have the discipline to stay focused on the Lord’s agenda and to keep those other things (as important as they may be) in their proper places.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6 (NKJV)   Our thought for today: “We need the church to be the church”   The Old Testament book of Judges is all about the break-down of society in ancient Israel. There was no effective government; the people of God had long-ceased to have any meaningful positive impact on their society; individuals had developed a fierce sense of independence and self-centeredness; and therefore, all throughout the twenty-one chapters of this sad history, we read that the people simply decided for themselves what they wanted to do and then they did that. “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”   I believe our own nation could be trending towards a similar break-down in civil and social order. Across the political and social spectrum, from far-left to far-right and everything in-between, people are in angry and often violent disagreement, sometimes to the point of riots, destruction, and loss of life. Respect for civil authority is at an all-time low, and more and more often I’m hearing people from both of the extremes declare that they’re ready for more chaos and more mayhem if they don’t get their own way.   What our nation needs today is the same as what ancient Israel needed in the days of the book of Judges – the church needs to rise up and be the church. I don’t mean that the church in our day needs to become more political, we already have too much of that, we already have too many Christians totally obsessed with political agendas (left and right). What I mean is that we need to keep political and social agendas in their place (second place, at best) and we need to put God’s agenda based upon Biblical principles in its proper place (first place).   That’s why I have continued for a second month to write about the theme of resilience. Now more than ever our nation needs Christians to be at their best – living joyful, dynamic, thriving, and victorious lives that exalt Christ and bless people in the middle of all the political and social chaos. While there may be some value in trying to persuade others to agree with our political or social opinions, our time and energy would be much better spent sharing the Gospel and winning people to faith in Christ.   As the people of God in our day, let’s commit ourselves first and foremost to being the church and doing what the church is supposed to do – sharing the Good News of the Gospel and serving a broken and bleeding nation in the name of Jesus.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.” Luke 6:47 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Build your life on a firm foundation”   Luke 6:46-49 is a fascinating passage of scripture in which Jesus reveals a great truth that everyone needs to hear and heed. He teaches there that the best life any of us could possibly have is the life that is lived in the center of God’s will, upon the firm foundation of faith in Christ.   He set the lesson up in verse 46 by asking the question, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don’t do the things I say?” The implication is that He had been teaching them the best and proper way to live but they had not been doing what He told them to do. Then in verse 47 (above) He tells them that He will illustrate for them the difference between a life that is lived in obedience to Him, and one that is not. In verse 48 he says of the person who builds their life on the firm foundation of faith in Him and obedience to His commands, “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it because it was well built.”   Then in verse 49 he contrasted the person who has chosen to build his life on something other than the firm foundation of faith in and obedience to Christ, “But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.”   Resilient Christians have learned the truth of what Jesus taught in that passage. They have built their lives on the firm foundation of faith in and obedience to Jesus Christ. It’s why they are resilient. It’s why they can live victoriously in the face of challenges and adversity. It’s why they can withstand the storms of life and not only survive, but thrive.   The best life any person can ever have is the one that is lived in the center of God’s will and in obedience to the commands of Christ. As a resilient Christian you have already discovered this to be true, but you know other people who haven’t. You know others whose lives look very much like that man whose life was built on a weak foundation and consequently, their lives are a wreck right now. Those people need to hear the lesson that you have already learned. They need to know about the firm foundation that is Jesus Christ.   In Luke 6:47 Jesus said that He would show people what a life built on a firm foundation looks like, then He told this story. It’s possible that the people you know will be impressed and impacted by Jesus’ story. But it’s more likely they will be impressed and impacted by how that story came true in your own life. I encourage you to go tell them about it.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Resilience”   Our Bible verse for today: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” James 2:14-18 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Let’s get up out of the p-e-e-e-w”   Does your church have chairs or pews? It doesn’t really matter, it’s just the place where you sit and listen when you’re “in church” and hearing a sermon. Tim Hansel says that for many Christians it’s not just a pew, it’s a p-e-e-e-w. The question he asked was, “Do you spend most of your Christian life sitting stiffly and quietly in a thing called a p-e-e-e-w?”   The implication is inertia, inactivity. And, unfortunately, for many, that is the extent of the practice of their faith. It consists of attending a service, singing some songs, listening to a sermon, and then going back to their regular life. But the practice of our faith isn’t supposed to be something we do for an hour on Sunday morning, it’s supposed to be the life that we live 24/7. It’s not an activity we participate in once a week, it’s who we are. It defines our life. And it is supposed to be a life of action.   In James 2:14-18 James said that faith without works is dead. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, only that it’s not a dynamic, thriving, resilient faith. Instead, it’s a limp, weak, insignificant thing that makes little real difference in the life of the individual who has it or in the lives of the people that individual interacts with.   In yesterday’s devotional I said that we all have considerable untapped potential in our lives and that we can all be stronger and better than we are. I ended by urging everyone to have a plan that will help you to develop and grow in the various areas of your life. One of the best things any of us can do to start making things better is to simply get up out of the pew, or off of the couch, and start doing something meaningful and helpful. Action creates momentum and as momentum builds, it keeps us moving in the right direction.   What can you do in order to improve and grow? The answer to that question is unique to you. It depends on what your life looks like right now. Just pick an area that needs improvement and start doing something about it. James encouraged us to be involved in acts of ministry that bless and help others. I think that’s a wonderful place to start.   We can all be better than we are, and that’s especially true in the ways in which we practice our faith.   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2021 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.