Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you …” Jeremiah 29:13-14   Our thought for today: “Relive the moment”   Perhaps you’re familiar with the now legendary story of the turning-point moment a young Billy Graham had in his faith and in his ministry when he visited the Forest Home Christian Camp in the southern California mountains in the early 1940s.   Billy had just started his career as an evangelist. He was working for YWAM (Youth with A Mission), traveling around the country holding crusades for Christian youth groups. As such, he was the featured speaker for a weekend youth retreat at the Forest Home camp. But Billy was struggling with many questions about his faith, about God and the Bible, and about his future in ministry. One day while at the camp he went off into the woods by himself, put his opened Bible down on a tree stump, knelt down, and prayed for God to speak to him and answer some of his questions and doubts (or to at least give him some peace about it). It was in that moment that the truth of Jeremiah 29:13-14 became a reality in Billy’s life. God spoke to him.   God didn’t answer all his questions, but He did give Billy a reassuring sense of peace and assurance. Later, Billy wrote in his journal, “I sensed the presence and power of God as I had not sensed it in months. Not all my questions were answered, but … I knew a spiritual battle in my soul had been fought and won.” It was a pivotal moment for him and it’s one he relived hundreds of times throughout his life in moments when he was struggling and needed fresh wind in his sails and fresh fire in his soul.   For many years I lived in California not far from Forest Home and on several occasions, I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time alone at that very spot where Billy had his encounter with God. They’ve built a beautiful little chapel there and it’s a great place to go to do your own business with God. In fact, I’ve resolved some issues of my own in that spot and all these years later (more than 25), I still revisit those times in my mind.   Have you had pivotal moments with God like that in your own life? If so, I hope you wrote them down in a journal and I hope you relive them with God from time-to-time. More than just being pleasant memories, reliving such moments serves to remind you of God’s faithfulness in the past and they can serve to open a door for new, fresh encounters with Him in the present. Jeremiah 29:13-14 really is true, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you …”   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19 (NIV)   Our thought for today: “Don’t let your life slip away”   I have a friend in law enforcement. He’s a young Christian man, early in his career as a law enforcement officer. He had a position with a police department that paid him well, but the hours were bad and his children worried about his safety. Deep in his heart he longed to be working with children, building into their lives, rather than chasing criminals. So when the opportunity arose, he left that job and accepted another position with a different law enforcement agency to serve as a School Resource Officer (a police officer stationed at an elementary and middle school). It’s a lower paying job but one he is likely to find much more rewarding and fulfilling. Not only will those children be safer because Officer Josh is there protecting them, but they will be encouraged and inspired by his solid character and strong Christian values.   I have another Christian friend who had a long and successful career as a medical doctor. Once he retired, he and his wife (a nurse) began going on three or four overseas short-term medical mission trips per year. In-between those trips they serve in their church, and at a local rescue mission in their town, and in other capacities that are helpful to people in need. Their retirement years are rich and full and very rewarding because they’re using them to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others.   One of the most helpful things any of us can do to get some fresh wind in our sails and some fresh fire in our soul is to be involved in things that add real value to the lives of others. I realize that you may not be able to change jobs like my friend did, but are there activities you can begin to participate in that will be a blessing to others and add meaning to your own life as well? I’m sure there are. Regardless of your season in life, there are things you can be doing that will bless others and enrich your own life too.   Dr. David Jeremiah once wrote, “Too often a lifetime has passed and we’ve done little or nothing of eternal value.” I encourage you not to let that happen to you. Don’t let the years of your life slip away only to realize in the end that you didn’t do much that really mattered. Use your time in meaningful ways that serve and bless others. If you do, you’ll discover that by doing so, the quality of your own life improved too.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3   Our thought for today: “God’s love frees you to be real.”    In Jeremiah 31:3 God was talking about His love for the nation of Israel, but the truth He taught applies to us too. He loves us with an everlasting love. The other day I came across a cute story told by Pastor Chuck Swindoll which he borrowed from an old children’s book; it teaches a lesson about the impact of this kind of love. It’s a little lengthy but I want to share it with you this morning because it’s a great illustration of how, and how much, God loves you:               “The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.             “What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”             “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real.” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”             “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”             “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”   One of the most freeing moments any of us will ever experience is when we finally realize that God loves us fully, completely, and with an everlasting love, exactly the way we are. It takes time. Usually we have to live with God and experience His love for us for an extended time before we really begin to appreciate how perfect and complete His love for us is. But once we finally get it, the realization is transformative. You suddenly understand that you don’t have to be like anyone else, you don’t have to lose weight, you don’t have to own more things, or achieve great things, or look like a movie star in order for God to fully and completely love you. You are perfect and precious to Him just as you are and the sooner you realize this, the happier you will be.   I encourage you to relax and be comfortable in your own skin. Spend some time savoring the long and close relationship you and God have had. Re-live the special moments you’ve shared over your long time together. Know that you are precious to Him. Such knowledge gives you the freedom to be real, to just be you.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the Lord your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Stop expecting the worst”   Yesterday I suggested that we could all gain a little fresh wind in our sails and fresh fire in our souls if we would stop focusing so much on just the snapshot of time in which we live. Instead, we should take a step back and look at the big picture of God’s sovereignty over all the events of human history, from the beginning of time until today. When we do that it helps us to realize that God is indeed “large and in-charge”, and that as time passes, events and situations fade away.   In the research for their book, “The Coddling of the American Mind: How good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure”, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt discovered that one of the reasons today’s college students tend to be so fearful and defensive, convinced that sinister forces are aligned against them and intend to do them harm, is because they tend to engage in a pattern of thought known as “catastrophizing”. It’s the belief that the worst possible outcome in any situation is the most likely outcome, and it is going to be awful. That then causes them to be emotionally triggered and they act out in irrational and often irresponsible ways.   Those students tend to be liberal in their social and political views and so their irrational emotionally triggered responses lead them to left-wing extremes. But conservatives sometimes engage in catastrophizing in the other direction. A common narrative we hear today, especially from far-right commentators, is that the leftward drift currently occurring in our national politics is the result of a vast and diabolical conspiracy that is leading us to socialism, or worse.   Hmmm … maybe. But probably not. If you step back and look at the big picture of U.S. history you immediately see that the political pendulum regularly and dependably swings back and forth from right to left and back again. We had conservatives George Washington and John Adams, but then there was the liberal Thomas Jefferson. We had conservative Teddy Roosevelt, but soon after that there was Woodrow Wilson. We had the liberals FDR and Truman, but then Eisenhower; there was Kennedy and Johnson, and then Nixon; Carter and then Reagan; Clinton followed by Bush followed by Obama followed by Trump. Back and forth it goes – so let’s not make more of this than it really is. There have been conservative shifts, liberal shifts, and even socialist and communist scares in our history more than once in the past and yet, here we are today, the strongest form of democracy there is, in the freest nation on the planet, with the best free-market economy in the world.   Let’s avoid catastrophic or fatalistic thinking. It just makes everything worse. It can make us as individuals irrational in our thinking and responses, and also, living in that state of mind is physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually exhausting. And, it only adds to the overall sense of anger, despair and frustration in society.   Would you like some fresh wind in your sails and some fresh fire in your soul? Then stop brooding about and expecting the worst of possible outcomes. Be engaged in the social and political process, do your part to make things better, trust God, and then don’t give in to fear or despair. Stop expecting the worst.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” 2 Peter 3:8 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Look at the big picture, not just the snapshot.”   In yesterday’s devotional I made the point that as we’re trying to form opinions, make decisions, and take actions regarding the difficult issues we all face in these perilous times, it’s essential that we stay focused on the truth of God’s word rather than on all the conflicting, contradictory, misleading, and false information we’re being overwhelmed with. God’s Word is the only dependable source of truth, and therefore Biblical principles have to guide our thinking and decision-making.   Today I want to pursue that thought further. In the letter we know as 2 Peter, the Apostle Peter was writing words of guidance and encouragement to Christians dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and living in dangerous and challenging circumstances. In 2 Peter 3:8 he reminded them that God’s agenda in this world is much bigger and overarching than just the circumstances they were faced with. In verse 8 he was actually quoting from Psalm 90 which reads:   “Lord, you have been our refuge in every generation. Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God … For in your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that passes by, like a few hours of the night.” Psalm 90:1-4   God has been our refuge in every generation. He has watched over every event of human history from the dawn of creation until today and He remains sovereign over all of it. A thousand years of human history is like a day to Him, and a day is like a thousand years. In a single glance He sees the entire picture, from beginning to end, and He isn’t overwhelmed by any of it.   We tend to live our lives in snapshots of time. We focus on and become consumed by the immediate events of our day and we tend to lose sight of the bigger picture. We get tunnel vision, focusing on the proverbial trees in front of us and losing sight of the forest itself. But the current events of our day, whether we’re talking about this week, this month, this year, this decade, or even this century, are just a fragment of time which is here for the moment and then gone.   This is why it’s so important for us to take a step back and keep the events of the day framed within a Biblical worldview and within the context of Biblical history. Doing so will help us to focus on the big picture rather than just on this snapshot of time. It will also help to keep us calm and rational, rather than being emotionally triggered by the events in the world that disturb us. Seeing the big picture rather than just the snapshot can relieve some tension and renew our hope.   I encourage you stay focused on the big picture, not just on a snapshot in time.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Stay focused on what you know to be true.”   A big part of the problem we’re all faced with today as we continue to try to navigate our way through the pandemic, the economic meltdown, the social unrest, and the election year politics, is that we are overwhelmed with information. We live in the information age. We have a 24/7 news cycle that never stops, along with 24/7 instant access to social media from virtually anywhere on the planet. Consequently, we are all victims of information overload.   Worse, much of the information is false, misleading, or contradictory. A good case-in-point is the issue of best health practices for dealing with the COVID 19 virus. In our information-saturated world you can easily find lots of “evidence” to support whatever position you’re inclined to take on the issue. Some of the evidence is good and factual, some of it is false or misleading, and some of it is intentionally distorted to fit a particular political or social narrative. Some of it comes from reputable sources, but some of it comes from a Russian named Boris with a cheap laptop in an apartment in Moscow and posing as a medical doctor.   People can easily find “evidence” to support whatever position they’ve staked-out on any of the important issues of the day. Then, sadly, they often become dogmatic about their beliefs and even a little angry at, or mocking of, anyone who disagrees with them. (I’m thinking that Boris is enjoying himself immensely at our expense.)   In Matthew 10:16 Jesus was teaching that it’s a dangerous and confusing world out there, filled with many threats and lots of deceptions. That being the case we, His followers, have to be smart as we go about His business in this world. We do have to be as “innocent as doves”, in that our motives are to be pure and our intentions good; but we also have to be as “shrewd as serpents”, meaning that we are not to be naïve and easily fooled.   How do we accomplish that? We do it by staying focused on the only true, irrefutable, and unchanging truth there is – the Word of God. As Christians we need to have a clear and well-defined Biblical worldview through which we view all of the events going on around us. Then, we need to compare it all to how it lines up with God’s Word. Once we have done that, we make our decisions and take our actions. We look for clear Biblical principle and sound scriptural guidance to form our thinking about any particular issue. And then we use that to determine what is best and good. Always, we must default to scripture.   If there’s any doubt, any confusion at all, always err on the side of being faithful to Biblical principle. Take the course of action that most clearly fits with the Biblical principles that apply. And if you have to embark on a long and winding road of human reasoning in an attempt to somehow make the scriptures fit your preferred political or social narrative, then your reasoning has gotten you off track and led you astray. We should always check our thinking by returning to the most direct application of the applicable Biblical principles related to the issue.   In this confusing world of ours, I encourage you to stay focused on the only source of truth you can really trust – the Word of God.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.’” Mark 6:31 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Come apart and rest, or you might just come apart.”   In Mark 6:31 we read of a time when Jesus and His disciples had been engaged in an extended time of intense ministry activities. Large crowds of people were milling around, others were coming and going, many needs were being met, and there was no sign that things were going to let-up for them. Finally, Jesus called a halt to it all and told His friends that it was time for a break, they were going off to a remote place to get some rest. The verse says that He invited them to “Come away …” The King James version translates the invitation as “Come apart …” I like that better only because it lends itself to a nifty and lyrical thought for the day, “Come apart and rest, or you might just come apart.”   Sometimes we push ourselves too hard for too long. That’s why God instituted the concept of Sabbath and He made it one of the Ten Commandments. We are to do all of our work and chores in six days, but on the seventh day we are to gather for worship and then rest.   This is important. We need it. We need to be together for group worship with our brothers and sisters. That’s why the New Testament instructs us not to skip the gatherings of our church family (Hebrews 10:24-25). And, we need the rest. That’s why there are still Ten Commandments instead of just nine. Observing the Sabbath day of rest is a God-given mandate that still applies to us in the New Testament Age.   Periodically we also need other, and sometimes longer, periods of rest. That’s what was happening in Mark 6:31. There’s no indication in the passage that this break of theirs was on a Sabbath day. It was an extra period of rest to compensate for the extraordinary workload they had been under. Sometimes we need those special extra times of getting away and decompressing. We also need our vacations – those extended periods each year of a week or more, when we just relax and play. I encourage you not to skip your vacation time. You need it.   When it comes to getting some fresh wind in our sails and fresh fire in our souls, we often need time apart. There’s a lot of wisdom in the old time-honored saying that sometimes we need to come apart and rest, or we might just come apart. I encourage you to get plenty of rest and relaxation during these difficult days we are living in.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:3-4 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Do you have resilient faith and a living hope?”   The other day, as I was preparing the Bible study to go along with our Wednesday evening prayer meeting, I came across two terms that I like very much and which I plan to hang onto. One was “resilient faith” (used by a Bible commentator), and the other was “living hope” (used by Peter in the passage above).   Faith is defined for us by the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 11:1. In the Amplified Bible it reads: “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen (the conviction of their reality – faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses.)   Resilience is the ability to endure stress and strain without breaking. A resilient person can endure a lot and recover quickly. Resilient faith then, is the firm conviction and absolute trust in God and His promises that enables us to endure stress and strain without breaking and to recover quickly.   Hope, as used by Peter, is more than just wishful thinking. Peter used “hope” in much the same way that the writer of Hebrews used the word “faith”. It’s the confident expectation of good things to come, as promised to us by God. The “living hope” that Peter tells us we have been “born into” as a result of our faith in Christ, is something that’s alive and vibrant. It provides us with a sure promise of a glorious eternity in heaven, but it also has great meaning for this lifetime. Our living hope is the key to our resilient faith. This is the truth we sing about in the old Baptist hymn “Because He Lives”, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know, He holds the future; and life is worth the living just because He lives.”   Do you need some fresh wind in your sails and some fresh fire in your soul? Spend some time this morning thinking and praying about the living hope you have been born into and the resilient faith such hope provides. Our faith is based upon our confident assurance that because He lives, all fear is gone …   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “How would you handle it if it was you?”   In the winter of 1984, there was a terrible famine in Ethiopia. Millions of people were starving and dying. The country was so poor and the resources were so scarce that there was little the average person could do to help themselves or their families. If humanitarian relief from the rest of the world didn’t arrive quickly the death toll would be catastrophic.   At Christmastime that year musicians from across Europe formed the supergroup “Band Aid” to perform a huge benefit concert to raise money for the famine. From it they released a song entitled “Do they know its Christmas?”. It was a haunting melody with compelling lyrics. The main point of the song was that while all the rest of us were carefree and going about our business, enjoying the holiday with our families and friends, feasting and exchanging gifts, the people in Ethiopia were huddled together starving to death. Did they even know it was Christmastime? Did they even care?   That song has caused me to consider my own situation in the USA right now. Along with all of you, I’m just trying to push through the pandemic, the economic meltdown, the social chaos, the political ugliness, and all the normal issues of everyday life. Sometimes I feel a little weary; sometimes I feel a little sorry for myself; and sometimes I wonder when it’s going to end so things can get back to normal. But I do know that it will end, and I know that life will return to some semblance of normalcy soon.   But what about our Christian brothers and sisters all around the world living in much worse circumstances, some of which will never get better? How would you like to be a Christian living a miserable existence in a labor camp in North Korea, knowing that you will probably never get out of there alive? Or maybe you could be living under the heavy hand of communism in China, with the full knowledge that the oppression will probably never end in your lifetime and therefore you just have to live the best life you can under the circumstances as they are. How do Christians in circumstances much worse than ours handle it?   The answer is found in Hebrews 12:1-2. They do in their circumstances the same thing we need to do in ours – keep your eyes on Jesus and keep moving forward. Stay focused on what truly matters. Improve your earthly situation as you can, but don’t lose sight of your higher calling and your eternal destiny.   When kept in perspective, we realize that our current circumstances here in the USA (as bad and uncomfortable and inconvenient and worrisome as they may be), are light compared to what many others are facing – but ours are temporary. In time, this too shall pass.   If their situation was your situation what would you do? How would you handle it? The answer is that you would keep your eyes on Jesus and you would keep moving forward. So, let’s do that now in our current circumstances.      God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.

Good Morning Everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Fresh wind, fresh fire”   Our Bible verse for today: “…but our citizenship is in heaven.” Philippians 3:20 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Stay focused on what really matters.”   As we continue to consider our need for fresh wind in our sails and fresh fire in our souls, and as we discuss some of the reasons so many of us are feeling physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained, we need to think about what’s going on inside our own heads. What are you thinking about? What issues and events are you dwelling on? To what are you assigning the most importance and the highest priority in your thought life?   At the moment we’re all caught-up in a series of cascading events which are all difficult by themselves but when taken together, are a bit overwhelming. The COVID 19 pandemic, the economic meltdown, the social unrest resulting in riots and increased danger for all of us, along with a very nasty political environment, along with all the regular issues of life  – all going on at the same time – has all of us exhausted, edgy, and maybe a little cranky. That then can easily lead us to overreact to situations and to make a big thing out of little things. Psychologically and emotionally we can easily be triggered by things that normally wouldn’t bother us too much, and we can end up reacting in ways that are inappropriate or not helpful.   A big part of the problem revolves around what we choose to allow our minds to focus on. Many people are consumed with thoughts about the economic damage that has been done to our economy, and they are angry about the protests and the riots, and they’re irritated by the constant attacks and criticisms of their favorite political candidate. If we’re not careful we can end up brooding about those issues, steaming and stewing, thinking about all we believe to be wrong with other people’s motives, and basically allowing ourselves to be sucked into a sense of anxiety and despair.   Well, those issues are all important, and they do deserve our time and attention, but they’re not the most important. As Christians we are citizens of heaven first, citizens of the USA second. We are to be concerned about the kingdom of God on earth first, and the situation in our country second. We are to be guided by Biblical principles first, and concerns about current events second. As children of God we have a higher calling here on earth that demands our first allegiance and our full attention. Those are the things we should be focused on first and foremost. That’s where our thoughts should primarily be – on the things of God and on His work on earth.   Too often Christians allow themselves to get so involved in, concerned about, and wrapped up in the events of the world around us that we lose sight of what’s truly most important. Worse, sometimes we allow our thoughts and concerns for the issues of the day to infringe upon and even damage relationships.   We need to keep first things first. We do need to pay attention to the issues of our day, but we need to pay more attention to the things of God and to our part in His work here on earth. Thinking a little more about the work of the kingdom, and a little less about the political, social, and economic issues of the day, will go a long way towards giving us a sense of fresh wind inour sails and fresh fire in our souls.   God Bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2020 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved.