Our theme for this month: Character and Ethics

Our Bible verse for today: Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love and his wonderous works for all humanity. For he has satisfied the thirsty and filled the hungry with good things.” Psalm 107:8-9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Thankfulness is an important character trait.”

Here in the USA our observance of Thanksgiving Day is modeled on the event in Plymouth, Massachusetts which took place in the Fall of 1621. That was when the newly arrived Puritan immigrants from England gathered with local Native Americans for a feast of thanksgiving and celebration. For the Pilgrims it was a time of giving thanks to God for His blessings of safe travel, provisions, and the promise of a new life in a new land.

Those types of thanksgiving celebrations were a regular feature of Pilgrim life and occurred often. The Continental Congress declared a onetime national day of thanksgiving in celebration of the newly adopted Constitution. In the decades after that, days of thanksgiving continued to be observed by the individual states for various reasons, but there was no regular national day of thanksgiving until President Abraham Lincoln instituted the practice in 1863. He declared that the last Thursday in November would be “Thanksgiving Day” and it has been observed as a national holiday ever since then.

And it should be. We Americans have a lot to be thankful for. We live in the greatest, strongest, most prosperous nation that has ever existed. We enjoy more freedom than any other nation, and we have the highest standard of living, with more creature comforts and economic security, than anyone else, anywhere else, in the world.

If Americans in general have a lot to be thankful for, how much more should American Christians be thankful? We are saved, we have the promise of eternity in heaven, we have the Holy Spirit of God living in our hearts now, and we get to enjoy all the other benefits of living in the USA as well! Think about it. You could be a Christian living in a hut in Africa, or in a prison cell in North Korea, or in hiding in China. But no, God has allowed you to live here, safe and comfortable in the greatest nation the world has even known.  We have so much to be thankful for!

Join me today, Thanksgiving Day 2019, in giving thanks to our great God for His bountiful blessings. He has blessed us beyond measure. My family and I wish you and yours a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:6 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Tame your tongue”

Words are not neutral. Words have power – they can bless or they can curse, they can help or they can hurt. And once they’re spoken, they cannot be unspoken. Oh, you can apologize; you can claim you didn’t really mean what you said; but you can’t unsay what you said. Once the words are spoken, they are out there – they are in the memory banks of those who heard them and you can’t get them back.

In James 3:3-12 the Apostle gives us a pretty damming assessment of the human tongue. He starts out in verses 3 and 4 by illustrating how it is that small things can have big impacts. The small metal bit that is placed in the mouth of a powerful horse can cause that horse to obey the slightest tug on the reins by the rider. Likewise, a small rudder can turn and direct a huge ship which weights many thousands of pounds.

The tongue is like that too except that whereas the bit in a horse’s mouth and the rudder on a ship always have a good effect, the tongue can be an evil little thing that often causes great damage. James goes on in that passage and compares the tongue to a small spark which creates a raging fire that destroys an entire forest. Can I get an “Amen!”? How many times have careless and angry words, driven by hot emotions, sparked raging fights that ultimately destroyed relationships? We’ve all been involved in situations like that. At one time or another we’ve all been the victim in such situations, and at other times we’ve been the perpetrator.

We need to watch our words. That’s especially true when we’re angry. Don’t let your anger drive your words. When your mother taught you to count to 10 before responding, she knew what she was talking about. Always, always, always, calm down and think through what you plan to say before you say it. And then make sure your words are going to be helpful rather than hurtful.

So, tame your tongue. Surrender it to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Words are not neutral, they are powerful. Men and women of character and integrity learn to control their words.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.” James 1:19 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Control your anger”

I once knew a man who was prone to explosive outbursts of anger. He had a very short fuse and could be easily set off. And when he was, look out! He would roar in fury, he would pound the table, he would throw things, slam doors, punch walls, and sometimes hit people. He was a menace to be around and he made life uncertain and unsafe for his family.

A person like that has a deep character flaw at least, but probably serious psychological problems as well. Uncontrolled anger isn’t normal. It’s also not scriptural. The Bible teaches us to control our anger. In fact, the more spiritually mature you are, the better able you will be to control your anger.

When James writes that “human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness”, he’s drawing a distinction between “human anger” and “righteous anger”. Anger isn’t always bad. Some things should make us angry. Exploitation of the poor; child molestation; abortion; human trafficking; elected officials violating the public trust. There are things that should make us angry. But in such cases, our anger should be under our control and properly channeled. Jesus was angry that the money changers had defiled the house of the Lord (Matthew 21:12-17). But He controlled His anger and channeled it in a proper and constructive way by overturning the tables and clearing the flea market out of the Temple. This was righteous anger. It was anger for an appropriate reason, but under control and properly channeled.

Inappropriate human anger manifests itself in many forms. It can be explosive, as in my example above, but it can also be silent and seething. It can involve outbursts and shouting, or it can take the form of sullen withdrawal and resentment. “Human anger”, as James meant it, is always inappropriate and sinful. “Righteous anger” is always for an appropriate reason, and it is under control and properly channeled.

From time to time we all struggle with the various forms of human anger. It’s a character flaw that we all share to varying degrees, and it’s also a deficiency in our spiritual maturity. Therefore, it’s something that a growing and maturing Christian will want to get a handle on and learn to overcome. The best resource I have ever found to help with anger management is the Bible study called “The Anger Management Workbook” by Les Carter and Frank Minirth. You can order it online and I’m certain you will find it to be informative and helpful.

I encourage you to learn the difference between human anger and righteous anger, and then learn to properly control your anger.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “Mankind, he has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

One day last week I had the privilege of speaking to the “Crossville Breakfast Rotary Club”. They invited me to speak to them about the El Arca Children’s Home in the Amazon Jungle of Peru.

El Arca is located in a remote location of the southern Amazon basin of Peru, near the Bolivian border. It is 110 acres of jungle land and there are few modern conveniences. A couple of years ago some Rotary Clubs in Canada donated money to purchase a basic solar power system for the home so they would at least have enough power to run a refrigerator and freezer 24/7. Reliable refrigeration has improved the quality of life at the home exponentially. The Crossville Rotary Club is now considering a proposal to help complete the system in order to more fully meet all of their electricity needs.

One thing that struck me about the Rotary Club, and something that many people don’t know about them, is how committed they are to making a meaningful difference in the world through acts of humanitarian aid, kindness, and consistently maintaining high ethical standards. This commitment is expressed nicely in their mission statement which reads:

“Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”

That mission statement reminds me of the mission statement given to God’s people through the Old Testament prophet Micah: “Act justly, love faithfulness, walk humbly with your God.” That commission is expressed numerous times in many different ways throughout both the Old and New Testaments but the meaning is always the same: “Go into the world and make a difference for good, blessing people in the name of Jesus.” That’s it. Just go and bless people. Go out into this broken and bleeding world and bless people with acts of kindness, compassion, justice, and love.

Do you think the world is messed up? Do you think things need to change? Then go be the change you want to see in the world.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them …” Matthew 5:1-2

Our thought for today: “Invest in people”

I became a Christian and learned how to be a Pastor in the supercharged Christian environment of Southern California in the early 1990s. I say the environment was “supercharged” because it was a time in that region of stadium crusades and mega-churches, and there was a very heavy emphasis on big numbers. Success was measured by how big your church was and how many people you had baptized. No other metrics of healthy church life seemed to matter very much.

Not surprisingly, but sadly for me, that mindset governed my approach to being a Pastor for quite a few years. It was a high-pressure and often frustrating way to approach church life – always striving to somehow someway produce bigger numbers. It was stress-producing, it was often frustrating, and it was also diametrically different from how Jesus did it.

At Oak Hill Baptist Church I’m currently preaching through the Gospel of Matthew on Sunday mornings. The way that Matthew structured his Gospel helps us to understand that most of Jesus’ ministry was focused on training the twelve Apostles, and then a slightly larger circle of followers. Occasionally crowds of people got to listen-in (such as during the Sermon on the Mount), but first and foremost, Jesus focused most of His ministry efforts on training the twelve.

That was a lesson I needed to learn. It was an example I needed to be following. Fortunately, in time, I learned to adjust my model of ministry to be more like that of Jesus. I developed a different and better way of being a Pastor which I call “Pastoring deep instead of wide.” In other words, instead of touching a lot of people a little, I focus on going deep with a smaller group. To confirm and to help me along in that new approach, from time-to-time the Lord makes me aware of helpful insights from other people who have learned that same lesson. One such insight was, “Focus on building into individual lives. The Lord isn’t giving you big crowds, instead He’s giving you individual people.” Another goes like this: “If you want to make a difference in the world, it will happen not by multiplying programs, but by investing in people.”

The Lord works in each of our lives to develop the character traits He wants to see in us. Then He calls us to model and teach those lessons to others. That seldom happens, or happens well, in large crowds. It happens most and best one-on-one or in small groups. And it’s not just Jesus, the Apostles, or Pastors who are called to do this. It’s all of us. God intends for each of us to learn and grow, and to then model and teach those lessons to others.

Who are you learning from? Who are your mentors and teachers? And then, who is learning from you? I encourage you to invest in the lives of others.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “We learn by doing.”

Being a military man myself, I’ve always admired and been influenced by the examples of great military leaders, past and present. Cato was a Roman General during the time of Julius Caesar. It was said of him, “He was physically tough, intellectually brave, unflinchingly principled, and beloved by his people.” Robert E. Lee was known as a great military leader and as a dignified man of character, integrity, and virtue. Omar Bradley was a World War II General who was a brilliant tactician and warfighter, but with a kind and calm grandfatherly demeanor – and his troops loved him. Modern military leaders I have great admiration for include Generals Colin Powell, Paul Kelly, and Jim Mattis, and Admiral William McRaven.

What distinguishes all of those men in my mind is their strong character and absolute integrity, which grew out of Christian faith (with the exception of Cato), and lifelong military discipline. In his book “Call Sign Chaos” General Mattis writes,

“Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it. People come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players, by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts we come to be just, by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled, and by doing brave acts, we become brave.”

In terms of character and integrity, we learn to be a man or woman of strong character and unshakable integrity by actually doing the things that men and women of character and integrity do. At first, we have to discipline ourselves to act that way but soon, it becomes second-nature. We learn by doing. Learn it, do it, practice it over and over again, and soon it becomes who you are.

Christian maturity is an interesting mix of God’s work in our life along with our cooperation.   It’s the work of the Holy Spirit that transforms us from the inside out, but we have the responsibility to learn the lessons of Scripture, intentionally apply the principles taught there to our lives, and then keep doing so over and over again until it simply becomes who we are. The Holy Spirit doesn’t simply wave a magic wand and “presto-changeo” now you’re Robert E. Lee. Transformation takes time. It occurs progressively and it is the result of both His transforming work, and of your disciplined cooperation with Him.

We learn by doing. I encourage you to learn the traits of godliness taught in Scripture, and then be very intentional about incorporating them into your life.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “I have chosen the way of truth; I have set your ordinances before me. I cling to your decrees; Lord, do not put me to shame. I pursue your commands, for you broaden my understanding.” Psalm 119:30-32 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Live with a Biblical worldview”

Continuing with our discussion from yesterday, having a “Biblical worldview” simply means that we view the world through the lens of the Bible. We compare everything we see and hear to what God says in the Bible. Then the truth of any claim, the rightness of any action, is determined by how it lines-up with the Word of God. We then base our beliefs, decisions, and actions on Biblical principles rather than on cultural trends. We refuse to give-in to the pressure from those around us, and we don’t allow ourselves to get caught-up in the “group-think” mentality that causes people to go-along just because everyone else thinks this way.

As a Pastor, one of the issues I sometimes have to help people deal with is problems in their marriage, and whether or not divorce is an option for them. Every marriage struggles at one time or another, that’s normal. However, the marriage vow includes the words “until death do we part”. That means that before God and before the witnesses, we commit ourselves to stick with our marriage no matter what trials and tribulations we face – sickness or health, prosperity or poverty, good times or bad.

Sadly, in our society, where no-fault divorce is now common and even promoted, a marriage is easy to end; and culturally, divorce for any reason is readily accepted. So when Christian couples find themselves struggling in their marriage, the advice they often receive from friends and family leads them to consider ending the marriage. “Just end this marriage and try again with someone else. Maybe you’ll have better luck next time.”

But for Christians this shouldn’t even be a question. In the Bible God says that He hates divorce (Malachi 2:16). The only allowance for divorce given to Christians in the New Testament is found in Matthew 19:9. There Jesus said that if your spouse commits adultery then you can divorce him or her. But even then, divorce is not compulsory. You can still choose to forgive and to at least attempt reconciliation.

Divorce is just one example of a contemporary issue that is easily decided on by a Bible-believing Christian who is committed to living with a Biblical worldview. But sticking with your marriage rather than divorcing is a decision that runs counter to what the culture encourages. Therefore the question for the Christian becomes, “Will I allow myself to be guided and influenced by the culture, or by the Word of God?”

Regardless of the issue you’re dealing with, I encourage you to choose to live out of a Biblical worldview. Choose God over the culture.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, have been carried out. He commanded his descendants not to drink wine, and they have not drunk to this day because they have obeyed their ancestor’s command. But I have spoken to you time and time again, and you have not obeyed me!” Jeremiah 35:14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “The Word of God is our standard and guide.”

The Rechabites were a clan in ancient Israel during the days of Jeremiah who had the odd habit of not drinking wine. I say it was an “odd” habit because in those days everyone drank wine. Not so much to become intoxicated, but simply because it was the only beverage that could consistently be trusted to be safe to consume. Water and milk were often bad.

However, for some reason one of the ancient patriarchs of the Rechabite clan, a man named Jonadab, had decreed that his descendants were to refrain from consuming wine. All of the generations since then had honored that decree and refraining from consuming wine had become a sacred tradition which they steadfastly adhered to. God’s point in this passage was that the Rechabites were more faithful in obeying their ancestor’s decree than the Jewish people were to obeying God’s commands. But God’s decrees were holy and just and right, and should therefore have been obeyed by His people.

The Apostle Peter makes a similar point in 1 Peter 2:9;12 when he wrote to us Christians, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light … Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles …”

As the people of God, we are to be different than the world around us because we adhere to a different and higher standard of morals and ethics. Our conduct is governed by God’s dictates and principles as given to us in the Bible rather than by cultural norms. As was noted yesterday, we are not to simply go along with the group-think trends of the culture around us. The Bible is our standard of truth. The rightness or wrongness of anything is measured against what God has said, not what the culture says, and we then structure our conduct accordingly.

This is called having a Biblical worldview and there is much more that needs to be said about it. Therefore, we will come back to this subject again tomorrow, and as an example of how cultural group-think often conflicts with God’s Word, we’ll consider the issue of divorce.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “No, everybody is not doing it.”

We live in an age of relativism. Many people in our society believe there are no objective standards of truth and everyone should be free to do as they please. “If it feels good, do it!” is a motto many people live by. More and more we’re being led to believe that old standards of morality and ethics are archaic – throwbacks to a different age – and should therefore no longer be applied in our modern times.

The more people who adopt that philosophy, the more acceptable and reasonable it seems. This is what we call “group-think”. The more people who accept a notion as being logical, reasonable, and good, the more it takes on the appearance of being logical, reasonable, and good.

This is how we ended up with things like no-fault divorce, abortion on demand, and same-sex marriage, all being legal and perfectly acceptable. This slow degradation of values, and the group-think that goes with it, is also slowly and progressively leading to an increasing acceptance of pedophilia (having sex with children); euthanasia (involuntarily ending the lives of sick and old people); and genetic engineering (custom-designing your baby in the test tube). The thinking that helps to justify this horrifying drift in morals and ethics is, “Everybody thinks this way” or “Everybody is doing it”.

Well, I’m here to tell you this morning that “No, everybody is not doing it”, and “No, everybody is not thinking that way.” There are still plenty of us who rely on the Word of God for our objective standard of truth in all things. It is the Bible that has the final say about what is right and what is wrong, what is moral or immoral, ethical or unethical.

In Romans 12:2 the Apostle Paul urges the people of God to courageously resist and stand strong against the pressures to just go along with cultural thinking. Instead he calls us to allow the Holy Spirit to inform our thinking and to guide our decision-making. The Spirit does that primary through the written Word.

Christian men and women of character and integrity refuse to be carried along with the cultural tide, and we do not allow the culture to determine our thinking for us. Our standard is the Bible, and everything else gets measured against what God has said there. We’ll think more about this tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, ‘Sit here in a good place,’ and yet you say to the poor person, ‘Stand over there,’ or ‘Sit here on the floor by my footstool,’ haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:1-4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t look down on the poor”

Many years ago I was in a conversation with another Pastor whose church had a van ministry to families in a low-income housing project. On Wednesdays and Sundays the church would send the van to provide transportation for those who wanted to come to church but had no way to get there. As he was describing the ministry to me, I could tell the Pastor wasn’t really very enthused about it and I asked him why that was. His response floored me. He said, “Well, let’s face it Jim, you can’t build a church with people like that, because they don’t have any money.”

I almost swallowed my tongue when he said that. I was stunned to hear him say that he rated the value of church members and attenders based upon how much money they were likely to give to the church. It was the exact mindset that James warns us against in James 2:1-4.

I know that I write about our church, Oak Hill Baptist, a lot. But that’s because I love our people so much and I’m so proud of them. James would have been proud of them too, because they model the kind of gracious and generous spirit he called for. Any person who walks through the doors of Oak Hill Baptist Church will quickly be surrounded by many people warmly welcoming them – and really meaning it. The church also puts lots of time, effort, and money into supporting our local Rescue Mission. Likewise, significant resources and investments of time and effort are channeled to impoverished families in Appalachia, and to a children’s orphanage in Peru, and to another in Haiti, and to a missionary family in Southeast Asia, and to a little church in a remote region of Liberia, Africa.

I’m convinced that a revealing measure of Christian character is seen in how the poor are treated – by us as individuals and by our churches. Jesus taught us to have compassion and mercy on those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Not pity, and certainly not a smug or superior attitude, but genuine love and concern.

The poor, the outcasts, the marginalized, and the disabled are important to God and therefore they must be important to us too. God cares about the poor, and as His people we should care about them too.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim