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

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair, we are persecuted but not abandoned, we are struck down but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You can handle this.”

In yesterday’s devotional I made the statement that oftentimes a measure of our character is revealed in how we handle adversity. I cited the Apostle Paul’s example of how he had to deal with a lifelong affliction but he chose to overcome it and live a full and rewarding life anyway. In today’s verse we find him making another very firm and positive statement along those same lines. Paul was a strong man of character and he refused to let trials and adversity get the better of him. His is an inspiring example, and one the rest of us can learn from.

I’ve had the privilege and good fortune to know many other Christians who handled their difficulties and limitations just like Paul handled his. In a previous devotional in this series I told you about my friend of mine who is battling terminal lung cancer, and he’s handling it like a champ! He has an upbeat and sunny personality, he speaks in ways that are positive and encouraging, and he lives every day fully and to the best of his ability to the extent his circumstances allow.

I have another friend who spent thirty years in a difficult, physically demanding profession. As the years passed the demands of the job took a toll on his body. He had bad knees, a bad back, sore feet, and more. But he is a tough guy, a strong man, and his job involved an important public service that our community needed. So, he sucked it up, dealt with the daily pain, and continued to perform his job until the day he was eligible to retire. He never gave-in and he never gave-up.

My wife models that same kind of tenacity and perseverance. Almost thirteen years ago Linda had a major stroke that left her disabled. But rather than letting her disabilities defeat or define her she decided to overcome them and get on with life. She got herself a little black walker on wheels, put Harley Davidson stickers and flames on it, and moved off into the next season of life with vigor and determination. She’s like the Energizer Bunny and she never gives-up.

We do not have to be defined or defeated by our circumstances. Christian men and women of strong character deal with life as it comes. We do the best we can under the circumstances as they are, honoring the Lord and blessing others along the way. I pray that will be true of you, and of me.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Just trust the Lord and keep going.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a very reassuring promise from God that can have several applications. For one thing when we’re faced with a decision we must make, if we will do our best to seek His will and to honor Him with our choices then we can trust Him to guide us. Even if we don’t feel as if we have a clear sense of direction, as long as our heart is right we can make our best decision, go forward, and trust that God will guide us as needed. It’s a great promise for decision-making and taking action.

But that promise also applies to the subject we began considering yesterday about how to deal with a problem or situation that can’t be solved and therefore must be managed. This would be a problem or situation (perhaps a health issue that’s long-term or even lifelong), and therefore we have to learn to live with it. In that case you could pray: “Lord, I don’t understand why you have allowed this situation into my life, and I don’t understand why you haven’t taken it away. But I do know that you are good and that your love for me is beyond measure, therefore I trust you completely. So even though I don’t understand, and even though I wish the situation was different, I’m resolved to honor you with the way I deal with it and I will do so for however long it lasts. I ask you to guide me and strengthen me today as I continue to do my best to handle this situation. Amen.”

Christian men and women of strong character and solid integrity just trust the Lord and do the right thing. Day in and day out, for as long as the situation lasts, even if that is a long time, even if it is a lifetime, they trust God and they keep going. This is perseverance in action (James 1:2-5). This is what it looks like to refuse to give-up or to give-in (Galatians 6:9). We resolve and remind ourselves that, “I will not give-up. I will persist and persevere no matter what.  I will trust God and do the right thing. I will just keep going.”

I encourage you to hang in there. Persist and persevere. Just trust God and keep doing what needs to be done.

More about this tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:2-5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Some problems can’t be solved they can only be managed.”

My favorite verse in the Bible pertaining to endurance and not giving up during tough times is Galatians 6:9, “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” I love that verse because it is so upbeat and full of promise. If we hang in there and don’t give up, good things are going to happen. I think I can do that! With the knowledge that something good is headed my way as a result of this trial, I can hang in there. I will lean into this thing, slug it out, push through it, and come out the other end the winner!

But that seems to assume that this trial (whatever it is) is headed for a successful resolution. Sometimes that is the case. But not always. Some problems don’t get solved. Instead they have to be managed. Some problems are long-term, or even lifelong, and therefore no matter how long you hang in there and gut-it-out, you aren’t going to come out the other end of this tunnel to find the sun shining, the birds singing, and everything right with your world. What then? How do you handle that?

For the answer we turn to James, the brother of Jesus. His advice in James 1:2-5 seems a little raw compared to Paul’s in Galatians 6:9, and it cuts a little closer to the bone. There is no promise in this verse that the trial is going to end any time soon, or even at all. There are no lollipops or gumdrops in this picture.

Instead James tells us that learning to endure and persevere in times of trial helps to develop our character and it strengthens us spiritually. His lesson is that you will be a better, stronger, more mature Christian as a result of learning to live joyfully and victoriously with your trial, even if that trial turns out to be long-term, or lifelong.

Trials and tribulations come into every life. Most of them are short and easily resolved. But some of them are long-term or lifelong. Some of those trials will be your own, and some of them will belong to a loved one such as a spouse or a child. In that case it’s still yours because you have to walk through this with them.

Some problems can’t be solved, they can only be managed. This is such an important truth for Christians to grasp that we need to come back to it again tomorrow.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, ‘I will never leave you or abandon you.’ Therefore, we may boldly say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6

Our thought for today: “Hold it loosely”

We’re fast approaching the Christmas season and one of the movies that will play frequently on television will be “A Christmas Carol”. It was written in 1843 by Charles Dickens as a short story. It is essentially a Christmas ghost story and it tells the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old man who has made a lot of money in business but who horded it his entire life. He denies himself many comforts and pleasures in order to save money; he shares nothing with anyone; and he pays his kind and faithful employee Bob Cratchit only a pittance.

In a dream on Christmas Eve Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of his former partner Bob Marley, and by the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas Yet to Come. Through it all Scrooge’s heart melts, he changes his ways, and he discovers the joy of giving as opposed to hording.

Scrooge’s problem wasn’t that he had a lot of money. The problem also wasn’t that he put an extraordinary amount of effort into earning money, or that he was diligent about saving what he earned. The problem was that he has in love with his money – he hoarded it. Scrooge did nothing good with the money he earned. Not only did he not use any of it to bless others, but he was cold, hard, mean-spirited, and indifferent to the suffering and struggles of others – most especially to that of his employee Bob Cratchit and Bob’s disabled son Tiny Tim.

In Hebrews 13:5-6 the writer urges us to keep our lives free from the love of money. He immediately follows that by telling us to learn to be satisfied and content with what we have, and to rely on the love and provision of God, who will never leave us and never forsake us. It’s all one continuous line of thinking – love God not money; be satisfied; trust in Him.

This is consistent with what Solomon teaches in the Proverbs, and with what Jesus teaches in the Gospels, and with what Paul writes about in his letters. We are to work hard to earn our money; we are to be good stewards of it once we have it; and we are to joyfully use it to help finance God’s kingdom-building work on earth and to be a blessing to others – especially to those in need.

Money is not the problem. Loving money is the problem. We are to use it not horde it. Men and women of character and integrity know how to use their money in ways that honors God and blesses others.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Character and Integrity”

Our Bible verse for today: “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in the concerns of civilian life; he seeks to please the commanding officer.” 2 Timothy 2:4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Honor the veterans”

Today is Veteran’s Day. It’s the day each year that we set aside to thank and honor those who have served our nation in the Armed Forces. This is different from Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a day in May when we honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation by giving their lives in the service of our country. That’s a far higher sacrifice than simply having served in the armed forces but still, serving at all is very significant too.

We in the USA are blessed to have the greatest military force the world has ever known – and I’m not just speaking of the gross tonnage of our bombs or the advanced technology in our fighter jets. I’m speaking of the intelligence, the talents, the commitment and dedication of the men and women who make up our armed forces. We have the best fighting force in the world because it is made up of the finest men and women to wear a military uniform in any nation in the world. Our people are the best!

We have an all-volunteer military force. Other nations rely on compulsory service to fill the ranks of their militaries, but in the USA every man and woman who wears the uniform does so because they want to. Not only are they there of their own free will, but they had to meet some high standards in order to get in. It’s a volunteer force, and it is a very good one.

Our veterans also serve sacrificially. That’s what Paul was writing about in 2 Timothy 2:4. For one thing, people in the armed forces voluntary surrender many of the freedoms enjoyed by ordinary citizens. They legally bind themselves to a contract of service that lasts for years. They also agree to submit to and be held accountable to a higher standard of laws known as The Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). This is a much tougher and less forgiving standard of justice than what civilians are held to. Additionally, those in the armed services agree to do what they are ordered to do, and go where they are ordered to go, and stay there are long as they are ordered to stay – with no option of quitting. If you refuse to do what you are ordered to do you don’t get fired, you get incarcerated. And if you refuse to go where you are ordered to go, or if you refuse to stay once you are there, you don’t go home, you go to jail. And of course, men and women in the armed forces often find themselves in faraway places for long periods of time, often a year or more. Those places are often hostile environments where their lives are at risk.

I could go on but you get the picture. Those who are serving, and who have served, in our armed forces are special people, men and women of character and integrity. They deserve our respect and our gratitude.

I encourage you to make it a point to show your appreciation to a veteran today.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim