Our theme for this month: “Your life matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord said to him, ‘Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” Exodus 4:11 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “People with disabilities love life too.”

Linda and I have a daughter named Tracy. She was born with cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, and mild mental retardation. Because of the cerebral palsy, she has always walked with a noticeable limp on her left side and she has never had more than 10% use of her left arm and hand. Because of the seizures, she has always had to wear a protective helmet to guard against injury to her head and face and she has always had to take large amounts of medicine in an attempt to control the seizures. But even still, the seizures have often resulted in injuries including broken bones, gashes requiring stitches, missing teeth, and a broken jaw.

As a result of the mental retardation, her intellectual capacity is that of perhaps a first grader, and her emotional development is that of a ten-year-old child. Tracy is now forty-nine and she has done her best to have as normal a life as possible under the circumstances as they are. But she has never been able to drive a car, or count money, or use a stove, or go to the store by herself, or get married, or have a baby, or a thousand other things that most people can easily do and consequently take for granted.

Over more than four decades of raising and caring for Tracy I’ve often wondered why God allowed her to be born this way. And she’s not the only one. There are many millions of people in our world today in Tracy’s situation – born with some major disability that limits their quality of life in significant ways. Do such lives matter? Do they matter as much as yours and mine? They sure do! And I’m saying that based upon four decades of personal experience of loving and caring for a disabled person.

In the days to come I’ll tell you more about why I believe such lives matter, and how it is that those people have a rich and full life too. But for today I will end by telling you that for those of you who know Tracy, you know that she is a very sweet person who is kind and caring, always looking for ways to bless and encourage others, and she is a fun person to be with. Remember the little girl with Down’s Syndrome from yesterday’s devotional? Remember her spunk and uninhibited personality? Hello Tracy! Tracy doesn’t actually have Down’s Syndrome like that little girl does, but she is full of spunk and good humor, she is sweet and funny, she loves Jesus and she loves people and she loves life.

If you spend time with people in the special needs community, you’ll discover that to be very common attitude. They love life too. We’ll explore this thought more tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your Life Matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him: ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ Jesus answered. ‘This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.” John 9:1-3 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “All lives matter”

Recently I saw a video on Facebook of a children’s choir giving a performance in church. The children were all lined up on the stage, standing still shoulder to shoulder, hands at their sides, and singing their song. All except for one little girl with Down’s Syndrome. She started out standing still with the rest of them, but then she starts to sway with the music; then she begins to stomp her feet; then she leans her head back, raises her hands, and really begins to belt out the song. And then she starts doing some dance moves. And I mean, she was really moving! All the while the rest of the kids were standing still with their hands at their sides, well-behaved, and trying hard to remember their lines.

The video was hilarious but also inspiring. That little girl with Down’s Syndrome was completely uninhibited. The Spirit in her was moving her to worship, and she was determined to let it out and let it rip! And she did. By the way, the video went viral and has been seen by thousands of people.

Some people would question the value of the life of a child with Down’s Syndrome, or with any other major lifelong disability. There are secular ethicists who write books and articles, and who give lengthy speeches at scholarly conferences at places like Harvard University, who try to make the case that some life is less valuable than other life, especially because of things like Down’s Syndrome, and that child should have been aborted in the womb, or that her life should have been terminated shortly after birth. Their thinking is that such a life consumes resources that could be better applied to healthier people who make more of a contribution to society.

The Biblical teaching however, is that all life is valued by God and that He has a purpose and a plan for every person. Also, as we learn in John 9:1-3, all people, in all circumstances, can bring glory to God and they can bless and inspire others. That little girl in the video was an absolute hoot and I found myself wishing I knew her. I was certainly blessed by her style of worshipping God!

Over the next few days we’re going to explore this thought a little more. What about those people who are mentally and physically handicapped? Do their lives matter too? And if so, in what way? God says that all live matters – and therefore so do I.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your Life Matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.” Jeremiah 33:3 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Your life matters because God loves you so much.”

I have always found great comfort in the words of Jeremiah 33:3. God spoke those words to the nation of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah during a time when Israel was suffering greatly. The people (and Jeremiah himself) were in a time of life when it would have been easy to doubt God’s love for them, so He reminded them that despite their current circumstances, His love for them was complete, unconditional, and never-ending.

The same is true for you. Regardless of your current circumstances in life, God loves you more than you understand. His love for you is complete, unconditional, and never-ending, and even if your circumstances are difficult, that is not the result of God loving you any less than when your circumstances were better. And, when your circumstances improve, it will not be because God has suddenly started to love you more.

God created us out of a supreme act of love and in order to have an ongoing love relationship with us. On His side of the love equation, His love for us never waivers. And, also, He does not want our love for Him to waiver either.

The “Westminster Shorter Catechism” is a famous document explaining the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. It was developed by a group of English and Scottish theologians during a major Christian convocation that met throughout 1646-1647. One of the statements of agreement that came out of that convocation, and which virtually all Christians since then have agreed with is, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” That statement is often modified to read, “The chief end of man is to love God and enjoy Him forever.”

That’s really a very profound and insightful statement. The purpose of your life is to know God, to love Him, and to enjoy Him forever. That’s exactly why God created you to begin with – so He can love you, and so you can love Him back.

Today is Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday. Sunday is the day we Christians gather in our church families so that together we can show our love for God, experience His love for us, and learn to enjoy Him forever. I encourage you to go to church tomorrow and celebrate your love relationship with God. Your life matters because God loves you so much.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your Life Matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “… I have learned to be content in whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Be content with the life God has given you.”

“Hi, my name is Jim and I’m an aging hippie.” It’s true, I came of age in the 60’s. I even have a red, white, and blue “peace sign” tattoo on my left shoulder. It has been there for almost fifty years. (It was cool at the time but has generated some questions and caused some problems since then. But those are stories for another time.)

I tell you that only as a means of introducing a song from that era which will help us to continue thinking about our theme from yesterday about learning to be content in life. The song is “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. It is a soft and beautiful ballad which paints a picture of a young couple in love, living a simple life in a simple home, and being completely content with it.

“I’ll light the fire, you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today.
Staring at the fire, for hours and hours as I listen to you play your love songs all night long for me.
Our house is a very, very, very fine house, with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is easy because of you …”

We live in a society today where, by and large, people are not content. Instead, we’re unsettled and constantly yearning for more, bigger, and better. But that’s not the life God wants for us. He wants us to learn to be content with what He has given us. That’s what the Apostle Paul was writing about in Philippians 4:11-13. His life had been a roller coaster of highs and lows, ups and downs, abundance and great need, but through it all he had learned to be content. And please don’t miss the fact that he had “learned” to be content. He said it twice in three sentences. This was something he had to learn.

What Paul discovered was that God is sovereign over all the situations and seasons of our lives and that regardless of whatever the external circumstances happen to be at any given moment, we can still be at peace in our heart and content with our life, thanks to the deep and rich relationship we have with Jesus Christ our Lord.

That doesn’t mean that Paul didn’t try to improve his circumstances as he could. He did. It just means that he didn’t stress and strain about it. He found the good in his circumstances; he fully enjoyed whatever there was to enjoy; he remained faithful; and he continued to trust God.

I encourage you to look for the good in your current season of life (it is there and you will find it if you look for it). Then learn to be content with the life that God has given you.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your Life Matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Thessalonians 6:6 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Learn to be content”

In yesterday’s devotional I wrote of how it is that God calls most of us to live simple lives that honor Him and bless others. That reminded me of our Bible verse for today, 1 Thessalonians 6:6, and of a powerful and important lesson God taught me about learning to be content.

I learned how to be a Pastor in the high-octane Christian environment of Southern California in the 1990s. It was a time of hipster pastors, mega-churches, highly choreographed praise music, and stadium crusades. The emphasis was on big numbers – in attendance, in giving, and especially in baptisms. As Pastors we were taught that was what we needed to aspire to, and the success of our church would be measured by those numbers. It was a high-pressure church life that was never quite good enough no matter what your numbers were. But in my heart, I wanted something different. I wanted all the pressure to be gone and I wanted to be content with my ministry.

Many years after that God led me to be the Pastor of Oak Hill Baptist Church in Crossville, TN. It’s nothing like that Southern California scene. Crossville is a small town in rural Tennessee. Oak Hill Baptist is a small church on the boundary line between city limits and the country. We are a small congregation of simple people and to me, it is heaven.

A year or two after I came to Oak Hill, I was in small country store with some church members and I saw a picture of a little white country church, at night, in a snowy scene, with lights on in the church, and some horses tied up in front of it. It was a peaceful and beautiful scene of a simple church in a small setting. I loved that picture and I said so to the friends who were with me. Much to my surprise, a few days after that, when I came into my church office that framed picture was sitting on my desk waiting for me as a gift from those friends.

That was probably ten years ago and that picture has been sitting right there on my desk ever since, and it is a powerful reminder to me of how nice the simple life can be – especially simple church life.

Contentment is one of the greatest feelings we can have. It’s an emotional state of calm and a quiet satisfaction with your situation in life. It creates a sense of happiness which, rather than being euphoric and giddy, is settled and relaxed. Paul teaches us in 1 Thessalonians 6:6 that if you have a sense of contentment, and if it comes to you as a result of a deep and rich relationship with God, you have truly gained something precious and of real value.

One of the most important and meaningful turning points in life is when we have learned to be content. We’ll think more about this tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your Life Matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be grateful for the life you have.”

I once knew a young man who was a very talented singer, songwriter, and musician. He played multiple instruments including the guitar, piano, and drums, and he had a great voice. As a teenager and young man he was deeply involved in the music ministry of the church, and he seemed destined to be a youth pastor or worship leader.

However, he had dreams of fame and fortune. He wanted to be a professional Christian musician making records and performing concerts in large arenas. And in truth, he was probably good enough to do that. But, for various reasons, he was unable to break into the Christian recording industry, so in frustration he crossed over to the dark side. He moved to Hollywood and got involved in the secular music scene. There he did have some success. He became a session musician and found work playing and singing backup for non-Christian recording artists. He even wrote and performed the theme song for major movie. But he also got sucked into the drugs and alcohol that is so prevalent in that world. Long story short, I ended up performing his funeral when he was only thirty-two years old.

It’s typical of human nature for us to glorify and place on a pedestal people like actors, musicians, and athletes. We make celebrities out of them, pay them ridiculous amounts of money, treat them as if they are some higher life form than the rest of us, and secretly, many of us long to be like them. And yes, we do that in the Christian community too. We have our share of celebrity pastors and authors and musicians and we put them up on a pedestal. But that can often leave everyone else feeling substandard or inadequate, as if our lives don’t measure up.

The fact is that God doesn’t call us to be celebrities. Jesus is the only celebrity in Christianity. The overwhelming majority of Christians are called by God to be butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers. We are teachers and accountants and police officers and store clerks and moms and dads and aunts and uncles and good neighbors. God wants us to be regular people living regular lives, honoring Him and blessing others. Oh sure, there are some who will write best-selling books or fill concert halls, but that’s the exception and it’s not what God intends for most of us. And also, that kind of life brings with it a whole host of its own unique and difficult challenges that most of us wouldn’t want if we did have it.

Your life is important and it matters exactly the way it is. Just focus on being the best you that God has called you to be at this time in your life. Be happy with the life that you have.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your Life Matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “He (Esau) said to Jacob, ‘Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!’ … Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ ‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said, ‘What good is the birthright to me?’ But Jacob said, ‘Swear to me first.’ So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.” Genesis 25:30-34 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Resist the urge for instant gratification.”

Yesterday I told you the story about my mother. She was a great mom and an exceptional person. Everyone loved her, and for good reason – it was because she was so nice and she was such a big blessing to others. One of the reasons she was that way was because she had her priorities right. She understood what mattered and what didn’t. She was willing to sacrifice and do without, and she was very patient, especially when it came to deferred gratification.

Back in that day, grocery stores used to give what were called “S&H Green Stamps” as a reward for your purchase. The more you spent on your purchase of food, the more “green stamps” you received. You then pasted the green stamps in a sort of savings book and when the book was full, you started another one. You then saved the books so you could eventually redeem them for merchandise. There was an “S&H Green Stamp Catalog” that had everything from toys to toasters, from bicycles to vacuum cleaners. As a family we saved our green stamps so we could redeem them for products we needed or wanted. Sometimes it would take a long time, depending on the value of the product we were saving for, but it was always worth the wait. That’s a special memory from my childhood that I cherish to this day. In that way my mother taught us about delayed gratification and saving for the things we wanted.

Interestingly, after I finished writing that devotional yesterday, in my daily Bible reading I came across the story of Esau. Esau was a man who wasn’t willing to wait or sacrifice for the things that mattered. Instead, he was focused primarily on instant gratification. He wanted what he wanted, and he wanted it now. That’s what we just read about in Genesis 25:30-34 when he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob in exchange for a hot meal.

Instant gratification is not a healthy or helpful motivation in life, and it seldom produces good long-term results. That hot meal satisfied Esau for a few hours but then it was digested, it passed through his body, and soon he was hungry again – and he never got his birthright back.

It has been said that we gain nothing by choosing the immediate over the significant. That’s true. If you have the personal discipline to consistently choose the significant over the immediate, in the long run yours will be a rich and full life that leaves a lasting legacy. True quality of life takes patience, discipline, and a focus on the things that really matter. I encourage you to resist the urge for instant gratification.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your life matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t let your beauty consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and wearing gold jewelry, but rather what is inside the heart – the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “It’s the kind of person you are that matters most”

My mother was the greatest woman I ever knew. She was kind, gracious, and friendly towards everyone. She genuinely liked people and she cared about them. For many years she worked as a deli clerk in a local grocery store in our hometown, and she came to be known as “The Deli Lady”. Everyone knew my mother, and people often went to the store just to see her because they enjoyed talking with her so much.

In addition to being such a nice person she was also a great mom. She spent hours upon hours with us six kids playing games, organizing neighborhood activities, teaching us to play baseball and football, building snow forts, and so much more. Our house was the hub of the neighborhood, all the kids hung out at our house because there was always something going on. My Mom also taught us how to cook, bake, and sew, and she had us in church every Sunday.

We were the poorest family in the neighborhood by far, so our house was small, it was seldom clean, and we never had much money. But none of that mattered because we did have my mother – and she made life fun for all of us. She was the kind of woman Peter wrote about in 1 Peter 3:3-4. She was a truly good and godly woman, and that made all the difference.

I had the privilege of caring for my mother for the last eleven years of her life. She died on April 12, 2012, and so Mother’s Day 2012 was the first time in my life when my mother wasn’t here on Mother’s Day for me to honor. So that year, as a final Mother’s Day gift, I wrote an essay about her entitled, “What Makes A Woman Truly Beautiful”. It was based upon 1 Peter 3:3-4 and it illustrated how it is that godly attributes make all the difference in a person’s life – regardless of any other circumstances. If you would be interested in reading that essay let me know and I would be happy to send you a digital copy of it. The story is about my mother but the lesson pertains to all of us, women and men alike – it’s who you are, not what you have, that really matters.

The real measure of your life isn’t determined by what’s in your bank account, but by what’s in your heart.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your life matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “He then told them, ‘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: “You’re using the wrong measure”

Many years ago, when I was serving as the Pastor of a church out in the California desert, I knew a woman who was without question one of the kindest, most gracious, and happiest people I have ever known. At that time she was in her late seventies, she lived alone in a very old and very small mobile home on the outskirts of town, she drove an old car with high mileage, and she just barely made ends meet on a small fixed income.

And yet, she absolutely glowed with love and joy. She thoroughly enjoyed people, she was constantly looking for ways to bless others, and everyone looked forward to being with her. Her circumstances were meager by the measures of this world, but she was living a rich and full life, with more true joy and contentment, than were other people with much higher incomes and with many more possessions.

We live in a culture today that tends to measure a person’s significance by things like education, professional achievements, income, possessions, attractiveness, physical fitness, etc. But those things very often do not add up to a life that is blessed and meaningful in all the ways that really matter. There are plenty of wealthy good-looking professionals driving expensive cars and living in big houses whose lives are filled with pain and heartache. And there are many others, like my friend above, who have little by the measure of this world, but who absolutely glow with joy and contentment.

In Luke 12:15 Jesus made it clear that the true measure of your life isn’t found in the things you own. Instead, it’s what’s in your heart that matters. It’s a deep and rich relationship with God and with other people which produces in our lives true joy and real contentment. The Apostle Paul wrote about this in Galatians 5:22-23 when he explained, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Those are the virtues and attributes that make the real difference in a life.

I submit to you this morning that spiritual maturity, not the balance in your checkbook, is what really matters. More about this tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Your life matters”

Our Bible verse for today: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:17-18 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Suicide is not the answer”

This morning I want to return to the story we thought about two days ago of George Bailey, from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. George was a good man, a decent man, and he was simply doing his best to meet his responsibilities and to live an honorable life. He was loved and respected by those who knew him, and his life was making a subtle but significant difference for good in hundreds of ways.

But George didn’t see it that way. He saw himself as a failure and he somehow convinced himself that everyone would be better off if he was dead, so he decided to commit suicide. What’s really amazing about that story is that George wasn’t able to see himself as other people saw him. And while everyone else loved, admired, and respected him, he saw himself as a failure.

That’s very common. We are our own worst critics. And like George, we all have times of despair when thoughts of suicide enter our minds. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, in 2018 approximately 9.8 million Americans had serious thoughts about suicide; 2.8 million made a plan to commit suicide; 1.3 million actually made the attempt; and 47,173 people did take their own lives.

But as was so beautifully portrayed in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, suicide is never God’s desire for us. We are precious to Him (1 John 3:1). He lovingly created us in our mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13-16); He has a great plan for each of our lives (Jer. 29:11); He watches over us every moment (Ps. 121:5-8); and it breaks His heart when we are suffering (Ps. 37:17-18).

As George Bailey learned in the movie, he was wrong in his belief that everyone would be better off if he was dead. And so are you. Your life matters. It matters to God and it matters to those who know you and love you. It has been said that when a person commits suicide they take their own pain, put it on the ones who love them the most, and multiply it by ten. I’m convinced that is true.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please know first of all that Psalm 34:17-18 is true – God hears your cries and He is near to you. Second, there is help. Call out to God and He will rescue you from the act and from the thoughts – He will provide help. Then call a friend, call a loved one, call your Pastor, or call the National Suicide Hotline at 800-273-8255.

Your life matters. It matters more than you realize. It matters to God and it matters to all the rest of us too.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim