Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” John 15:5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Experience the joy of Jesus in your life.”

On Friday Jesus died a terrible death on a cross. That was Friday, but Sunday was coming. On Saturday Jesus was in the grave and His followers were in mourning. That was Saturday, but Sunday was coming. On Sunday Jesus arose from the grave – and nothing has been the same since!

The resurrection changes everything. Death has been defeated and the promise of a glorious eternal life in heaven now belongs to all those who place their faith in the Resurrected Savior.

Have you experienced the joy of Jesus in your life? All this month in our devotional series we’ve been exploring the concept of “Laugh Again”. The idea is that we don’t laugh enough and we don’t experience enough joy in life. Many of us have resigned ourselves to simply trudging through our days, wearing life like a heavy old coat, putting one foot in front of the other and simply getting through life. That shouldn’t be, and it’s not the life the Lord intends for us to experience. We need to learn to “laugh again”.

In John 15:5 Jesus said that one of the purposes of His ministry was so that we might have His joy in our hearts. That would make our joy complete. In Galatians 5:22-23 the Apostle Paul described for us what a life like that might look like. As a follower of Jesus embraces Him and learns to be more like Him this is a picture of what it will look like: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” This is the “completion” Jesus was talking about and it is a part of the Easter story. Easter is about eternal life, that’s true, but it is also about fullness of life now.

Most devotionals in this series have ended with a joke or a whimsical thought, but no jokes this morning. Instead I encourage you to simply spend a few moments thinking about the joy of Jesus in your life. I hope you are experiencing it in ever-increasing measure.

I also want to invite you to our Easter celebration at Oak Hill Baptist Church. We will serve an Easter morning buffet breakfast from 9:00-9:50 in the Fellowship Hall. During that time there will also be an Easter egg hunt for the children. Our Easter celebration service will begin at 10:00. Please join us! The love of Jesus and the joy of Jesus will be abundant supply!

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to live worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Go ahead and cuddle up to the porcupine.”

I love John Ortberg’s book, “Everybody’s Normal – Till You Get to Know Them”. It’s a great title for a book – it’s funny and intriguing, and it makes you grin and want to read it. And sure enough, the title is a pretty good clue about the fun lessons that lie within.

The first chapter is entitled “The Porcupine’s Dilemma”. Porcupines need love too, and they want to cuddle too, but when they get too close to each other there’s the danger of getting poked by a sharp quill. You see, if the porcupine gets a little agitated, for any reason, the quills come out and then someone is going to get poked.

Hello! Welcome to church. We’re all a bunch of porcupines with sharp quills. We need and want love, and we want to have good relationships with others in our church family, but if you get too close, and if someone gets a little agitated, the sharp quills might come out and someone is going to get poked.

The answer to our dilemma is found in Ephesians 4:1-3. There Paul urges us to consciously and intentionally live with humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love. He wrote it again in Colossians 3:12-13. There he put it this way: “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another.”

Rather than getting upset or annoyed at other people’s peculiar personality quirks, learn to laugh about them. Find amusement in the fact that we are all a little weird. John Ortberg playfully illustrates that in his book by explaining that if you were an item for sale in a department store, you would be featured on the bargain clearance table along with a sign that says “Slightly irregular. Flawed. Sold as is.” The fact is that none of us are “normal”. We’re all flawed and we’re all annoying in some way. There really is no “normal”. So lighten up and laugh about it.

By the way, if you’ve had to stand in a grocery store check-out line recently then perhaps you have seen the glaring headline on the front cover of a popular women’s magazine that reads, “Totally Normal Women Who Stalk Their Ex-Boyfriends!”

Seriously? They stalk their ex-boyfriends but they’re totally “normal”? Evidently the dating scene has changed in the forty-three years since I’ve been in it! There must be a new normal these days! I think I’ll just cuddle up to my sweet wife (sharp quills and all) and be grateful for what I have. We’re both a little odd and occasionally annoying (me much more than her), but we’ve learned to laugh about it.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “Make room for us in your hearts.” 2 Corinthians 7:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Take good care of your most important relationships.”

This morning I’m preparing for our Thursday night couples Bible study. It’s actually a marriage enrichment study. Eight couples meet every Thursday night to watch the DVD series “Love and Respect” by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, followed by a time of group discussion. The DVD is helpful and funny but the group discussion is the best part.

Although that study is specifically about helping husbands and wives to maintain a strong marriage relationship, the principles taught really pertain to all relationships. The primary lesson is that we have to nurture and care for the relationships that are most important to us because if we don’t, they won’t be healthy. And life is miserable when our most important relationships are not healthy. It’s tough to be light-hearted and happy, smiling and laughing, if your home is filled with tension and conflict, with bolts of lightening shooting back and forth across the living room.

Perhaps the most important key to keeping relationships healthy is committing time to them. In my sermon last Sunday I talked about this. 2 Corinthians 7:2 was part of the passage we looked at. In that verse Paul urged his readers to make room for him in their hearts. In other words, “Make room for me in your life. Give me some of your time and attention.” In my sermon I reminded my listeners of an important lesson Benjamin Franklin once taught about the value of time. In contemporary language it goes:

“Do you value your life? Then value your time, because time is the stuff life is made of.”

Your life is made up of the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years that God has granted to you. And here’s the thing, once a moment in time is gone, it’s gone; you can never have it back. It’s a piece of your life that is gone and which you will never get back. So when you give a person some of your time you have given them a piece of your life. Therefore your time is valuable and when you give a person some of your time (some of your life) you have given them a precious gift.

I encourage you to care for your most important relationships by investing time and effort into keeping them healthy. Don’t be like the guy who had the following conversation with his wife:

Her: Why don’t you take me out to dinner?
Him: I don’t go out with married women.
Her: But I’m your wife.
Him: I don’t make exceptions.

Don’t be that guy! Take care of your relationships and keep them healthy by committing time to them.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Maintain a positive attitude”

Charlie “Tremendous” Jones was a popular motivational speaker and author. He was hired by companies and organizations to speak to their employees to help motivate them and to help them develop and maintain positive attitudes about their work, but also about life in general.

Charlie was so upbeat and positive that his attitude was contagious. But it was a lot more than just ‘rah rah” cheerleading stuff. The reason his books and seminars were so popular is because his message resonated with people and his strategies worked. And also, deep inside, most people really do want to be positive and upbeat. People want to feel good and they want to enjoy life. Charlie was pretty effective at helping people to achieve that. Your life is better when your attitude is right. More than twenty-five years ago I bought one of his books called “Life is Tremendous!” and I still have it on my bookshelf today. In fact, I have it in front of me right now as I write this.

When it comes to having a good attitude I have always been inspired by God’s command to Joshua recorded in Joshua 1:9 above. Choose to be strong, courageous, and push back against discouragement. That command fits hand-in-glove with a similar command given by the Apostle Paul to his young protégé Timothy recorded in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear (or timidity), but one of power, love, and sound judgment.”

Your attitude and overall outlook on life is one of the most important things about you. A pessimistic person with a bad attitude is destined for a life of misery and failure. A positive person with a good attitude is much more likely to have a happy life. And, your attitude is your choice. You decide how you are going to approach life. You decide whether you will be downcast and morose, or upbeat and positive.

Personally I choose to believe that life is tremendous and full of fun and adventure, because that’s a better way to live than being pessimistic. Likewise, living with a sense of being empowered by God to accomplish meaningful things is so much better than being fearful or timid. Your attitude is your choice.

It has often been said, and I know it to be true, that a bad attitude is like a flat tire – you’re not going to get anywhere until you change it. So if your attitude needs changing don’t wait until you’re bumping along on the side of life’s road like a car with a flat tire and not getting anywhere. I encourage you to change it now. Your attitude is your choice.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:31-33 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be faithful and trust God.”

Matthew 6:25-34 is part of the Sermon on the Mount and it is one of my wife Linda’s favorite passages. In this passage Jesus assures us that we have a loving Father in heaven who loves us deeply, cares for us more than we can know, and who has committed to providing for us. If we will obey and honor Him, we can trust in Him to care for us. He is sovereign over the affairs of our lives, He is all-powerful, and He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

Although I too love that passage and have always been reassured and comforted by it, my personal favorite (especially as I’ve entered the senior years) comes from Isaiah 46:4. This is my personalized translation of it: “Even to your old age and grey hairs, Jim, I am He. I am He who will sustain you. I will sustain you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

Ever since we became Christians almost twenty-nine years ago Linda and I have strived to be faithful to God in acts of service, financial stewardship, and in overall lifestyle. Of course just like you we have been far from perfect, but I think our hearts have been right on the matter. And God has certainly taken care of us. We have never been wealthy, but we’ve also never been homeless and hungry either.

Financial and physical concerns are a common source of worry and anxiety for people. They are also a major joy-stealer. It’s impossible to be joyful and light-hearted if you’re fearful and anxious. Learning to truly trust in the goodness, mercy, and watch-care of your Father in Heaven is the key to breaking free from the bondage of being preoccupied with such matters. It will still be true that God expects you to work hard, earn a good living, be a good steward, make smart money decisions, and give generously to help support His kingdom-building work. But as long as you are doing your part, and as long as you are seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness, He will quietly and subtly take care of the rest for you. You will be provided for.

By the way, I usually end these devotionals about “Laugh Again” with a joke or some funny observation, but today I want to ask you to pray for me. I have an important meeting at a bank later and if everything goes right, I will be debt free and I will own everything I have. I’m so excited I can hardly get my ski mask on!”

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy … Galatians 5:22 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Cultivate joy.”

In Galatians 5:22-23 the Apostle Paul lists what he termed “the fruit of the Spirit”. These are character traits that the Holy Spirit develops in a Christian’s life as that person grows in spiritual maturity. The passage reads: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Joy is one of the attributes the Holy Spirit develops in us as we mature in Christ. But we have to want it and we have to cultivate it. This involves being intentional in all the ways we’ve been considering this month – prayer, Bible reading, blessing others, surrounding yourself with happy and upbeat people, worship and counting your blessings, listening to Christian music, enjoying good clean comedy, and other activities that lift your spirit and cause you to laugh and be joyful.

True joy is usually found in the simple things in life. In his book “Laugh Again” Pastor Chuck Swindoll observed that:

“The happiest people are rarely the richest, or the most beautiful, or even the most talented. Happy people do not depend on excitement and ‘fun’ supplied by externals. They enjoy the fundamental, often very simple things of life … they savor the moment, glad to be alive, enjoying their work, their families, the good things around them. They are adaptable; they can bend with the wind, adjust to the changes in their times, enjoy the seasons in life, and feel themselves in harmony with the world. Their eyes are turned outward; they are aware, compassionate. They have the capacity to love.”

Joyful people who laugh easily and often are usually intentional about being that way. They pursue joy rather than waiting for it to come to them.

I encourage you to pursue joy. Be intentional about cultivating a bright and sunny disposition. Be a lighthearted person who laughs easily and often. Find humor even in situations that might otherwise cause frustration or discouragement. Pastors do this all the time. We make it a point to laugh about much of the sillier aspects of church life.

For instance, have you ever wondered why casual Christians even bother to change churches? I mean seriously, does it really matter which church you stay home from? (Sorry, that’s a bit of dark Pastor-humor late on a Sunday night. A little snarky but still funny. Lol)

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go up to the house of the Lord.” Psalm 122:1

Our thought for today: “Your happy place.”

One of the things I love about Oak Hill Baptist Church is the sounds of laughter that ring out throughout the place. When our church family is gathered it tends to get loud because there’s always so much laughing and joking going on. There are smiles and greetings, hugs and laughing, joking and kidding. In the Sunday school classes there’s lots of good teaching, but the fellowship among the members is even better than the lessons. In our worship service the time of greeting and fellowship is happy chaos as people wander around the sanctuary hugging, talking, laughing, and greeting one another. I frequently get the complaint that I don’t allow the fellowship time to go on long enough. (I think I could skip the sermon and just let the people spend those thirty minutes greeting each other and mingling and everyone would be just fine with that!)

And if you really want to hear some hearty laughter, you should listen-in on our Thursday night Marriage Enrichment Bible Study. Eight couples meet every Thursday evening to watch the “Love and Respect” series on DVD, followed by a group discussion. The DVD is funny, but the group discussion is hilarious. The things that get said in there! Good thing we have a rule that says “What’s said in here stays in here!”

Church is my happy place. Whether the church is gathered for worship, study, fellowship, work projects, recreation, or for any other reason, it is always a bright spot in my week. The rest of life can sometimes get heavy and maybe even a little discouraging. Gathering with the church family is the tonic that makes it all better.

A few years ago the Country singer Kenny Chesney had a hit song titled, “Everybody wants to go to heaven (but nobody wants to go now)”
“Everybody wants to go to heaven, have a mansion high above the clouds,
Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now …
I’m having fun down here, don’t you know that?
Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now …”

I’m sure you probably do want to go to heaven, but not right now. Well, it’s often been said (and I know it to be true), that church done right is a little taste of heaven. So come to church instead! At Oak Hill Baptist our Sunday school is at 9:00 and the worship service is at 10:00. We’ll make you feel welcome, you’ll get your share of hugs, you’ll probably laugh a good bit, and before long church will be your happy place too!

By the way, Kenny Chesney’s song reminds me of little Johnny in Sunday school. The teacher told the children to raise their hands if they wanted to go to heaven. They all raised their hands except for Johnny. The surprised teacher asked, “Johnny, don’t you wan to go to heaven?” Johnny hesitated and then said, “Well, I do, but do I have to go now? Mom said we’re having cherry pie for desert today and that’s my favorite!”

Amen Johnny. I can relate little brother. Heaven is going to be great, but I’d like a little more cherry pie before I go.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is: