Oak Hill Baptist Church

Don’t check your brains at the door

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “The people there were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” Acts 17:11 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t check your brains at the door”

Many years ago, when I lived in San Diego, my favorite Christian bookstore was called “Berean Christian Bookstore.” It was named after the Christians in Berea who Luke referred to in Acts 17:11. The Apostle Paul discovered them to be a community of Christians who were thoughtful and studious. They took the time to carefully consider what they were being taught, and then they did their own work to make sure the teaching was true and accurate.

I’m not sure that bookstore even exists anymore. It was back in the days when Christians still bought and read books, and therefore Christian bookstores thrived. Sadly, in our day, more and more Christians have adopted the habits of our culture in that so many people don’t read books. They spend so much time playing video games, watching television, and engaging in social media, that their reading and study skills have withered away.

This is sad but also dangerous. It’s difficult to be well-informed when your primary sources of information come in the form of tweets and Facebook posts. Worse still, when Christians don’t read their Bibles and good Christian books, their knowledge of the faith will be superficial and they will easily be led astray. That explains why there is so much superficial “easy believeism” in the Christian community today. It is “cotton-candy Christianity” – light and fluffy and sweet to the taste, but it has no substance and no nutritional value. It also explains why so many Christians today willingly embrace values and practices being promoted by the culture, even though those values and practices are brazenly unbiblical.

In 1992 author Josh MacDowell published a very helpful book for teenagers with the title: “Don’t Check Your Brains at the Door: Know what you believe and why you believe it”. The book addresses forty popular myths, misunderstandings, and misconceptions about God, Jesus, the Bible, faith, morality, and similar issues.” The idea behind the book is that as Christians we must be thoughtful students of the faith. We must take the time to know what we believe and why we believe it, and we need to check to be sure that what we are being taught is true, accurate, and Biblical.

Don’t simply surrender your intellect to those who will feed you a cotton-candy version of the faith. Do your homework. Check it out for yourself. Please, don’t check your brains at the door.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church every Sunday at 10:00. Join us in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you are a shut-in, join us online at http://www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

Church done right

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Church done right”

Without question, the local church is the most important and personal expression of Christian community. That is the place where we encounter the largest number of our brothers and sisters on a regular basis, and it’s where we will be open before the Lord with them in worship, study, fellowship, and service. Membership and full participation in a local church is a crucial element for maintaining a healthy and vibrant practice of your faith.

I love the picture of the early church that God provides for us through Luke in Acts 2:42-47. Let’s read the rest of the passage beginning in verse 44, “Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

I love it – brothers and sisters in Christ joyfully worshiping, learning, praying, and lifting each other up. As they fellowship with one another and discuss life, they discover who is struggling and enduring trials, and they find ways to help each other. That’s what a good church is supposed to be like, and it’s the kind of church that people will want to be in.

What kind of church is yours? Some churches have a closed and unfriendly feel, as if outsiders aren’t really all that welcome. Other churches are filled with strife and bickering – there’s tension in the air and everyone can feel it. In some churches there’s a false sense of comradery that is forced and doesn’t feel genuine. That happens when people view it as their Christian duty to smile and to be nice but it isn’t sincere, and you can tell.

A church like the one described in Acts 2:42-47 is a gift of the Holy Spirit at work among the members, and it results when people truly and sincerely love the Lord and each other. It is a church life that is desired by the people, intentionally cultivated, and then protected. It is church done right, but it can be lost if it isn’t cherished and protected by all.

What kind of church is yours? Is it church done right?

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church every Sunday at 10:00. Join us in-person if you are near-by or, if you are geographically distant or a shut-in, join us online at www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

We are partners in the work

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “I give thanks to my God for my remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” Philippians 1:3-5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “We are partners in the work”

The Apostle Paul was a man with a mission. He spent decades traveling around his part of the world preaching the gospel, winning people to faith in Christ, starting new churches, discipling Christians, supervising groups of churches, and raising up new pastors and leaders. He also organized humanitarian relief efforts so Christians in one place could help Christians in another place who were in need.

To accomplish all of that, Paul needed the assistance and partnership of other Christians. Everywhere Paul went, other Christians stepped-up and came alongside to help him in the work. Often, the assistance or resources they were giving Paul wasn’t for the benefit of their own church or community. Sometimes it was for other places where Paul was also working, some of them far away, such as the offering he took among the churches to help the struggling Christians in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-26; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4)

This Sunday at Oak Hill Baptist Church we will be hosting a missionary pastor from Romania. For many years Aniel Naste has had a ministry to bring the Good News of the Gospel and humanitarian relief supplies to poor people living in remote farming villages in eastern Romania and western Moldova. However, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Aniel’s ministry efforts have been focused on the war refugees living in refuge camps on both sides of the Ukrainian border. Aniel purchases van loads of supplies, recruits Christian volunteers from Romania, the USA, Canada, and European countries, and goes into the camps to bring physical and spiritual healing.

To accomplish this, he needs the partnership of other Christians in other places. People like you and me need to care enough to be willing to help – and maybe even to go. Jesus has called all of us to be global Christians. The Great Commission, as given in Acts 1:8 says, “… and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Maybe your circumstances are such that you can’t go to Ukraine, or to any other place that feels like “the ends of the earth” – not even on a short-term mission trip. But you can give so others can go. Maybe you could give a donation so Aniel and his teams can continue going into the camps. We can be global Christians by being willing to partner with other Christians working in other places for the cause of Christ. This is an important element of Christian community.

I encourage you to join us this Sunday, March 12^th, at Oak Hill Baptist Church in Crossville so you can hear Aniel’s report, listen to the stories, see the pictures, and perhaps help. The work belongs to all of us. We are partners in the kingdom-building work of Christ on earth.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church every Sunday at 10:00. Join us in-person if you are close-by or, if you are geographically distant or a shut-in, then join us online at www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

Don’t be a “Log-eye”

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:41-42 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Don’t be a “Log-eye””

Many years ago, when I was a pastor in Southern California, I knew a guy who was essentially the “Weird Al Yankovic” of Christian music. If you are familiar with the entertainment of Weird Al, then you know that he’s a musical comedian whose specialty is parody songs. That’s what my friend Larry Bubb did too. He used Christians themes to write and perform parody songs that were funny and which taught a Biblical lesson. And like Weird Al, Larry’s songs were written to the tune of a popular secular song of the time that everyone would immediately recognize. Larry recorded multiple albums and he was very popular with church youth groups. He was often featured at youth events.

One of his songs was based on Jesus’ parable in Luke 6:41-42 about the self-righteous religious person who was an expert at finding fault in other people, but who was blind to his own faults and failures. The man featured in Larry’s song was known as “Log-eye”. He had a big log in his own eye, but he was always focused on the speck he was sure he could see in someone else’s eye. The problem was that the log in his own eye was so pronounced and so big, that it prevented him from getting close enough to anyone to see if there really was a speck in the other person’s eye or not. It was clear that if old “Log-eye” would get the log out of his own eye first, he might be able to get close enough to other people to see that the speck he was so concerned about in their eye wasn’t really such a big deal after all.

A ”Log-eye” person in a church can cause a lot of problems. As they complain and criticize and point out the faults and failures of other people, they create conflict and arguments and fights. Sometimes it can go so far as to cause people to leave the church, or in some extreme cases, to split a church.

The truth is that most things simply are not important enough to even warrant comment, much less conflict. The right answer most of the time is to just shrug it off and keep your mouth shut. Most things simply don’t matter that much. Beyond that, I think your ability to shrug things off and to keep your mouth shut is a measure of your spiritual maturity. Mature Christians should be thick-skinned, gracious, and very patient with others.

Let me ask you this morning, are you a “Log-eye” character? Do you focus more on the faults and failures of other people than you do on your own? Are you too quick to find fault and to criticize? Please, don’t be that person. Don’t be a “Log-eye”. You will be happier and so will everyone else, if you just shrug it off and let it go.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Please join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church every Sunday at 10:00. Join us in-person if you are near-by or, if you are geographically distant or a shut-in, then join us online at http://www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

No strutting roosters, please

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:14 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “No strutting roosters, please”

In order to fully appreciate the point being made in this morning’s devotional, I encourage you to take a moment to open your Bible and read Jesus’ parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector, found in Luke 18:9-14. It will only take you a few moments.

In the parable two men go up to the temple to pray. One is a puffed-up self-righteous Pharisee who clearly thinks too highly of himself. He prays with a sense of smug arrogance as he stands before God and pats himself on the back for his own perceived piousness. The other man, the tax collector, saw himself for what he was and he was grieved by the realization of it. You can read Jesus’ response in verse 14 (above).

The lesson is clear – the Lord has little patience for strutting roosters. The lesson is also clear that the puffed-up self-righteous person is actually the greater sinner – and that’s true despite their self-perceived holiness.

One of the big problems in the Christian community today, including in our conservative evangelical circles, is we have too many modern-day Pharisees who are entirely too impressed with themselves. This often results in a holier-than-thou mentality and it creates a bunch of strutting religious roosters. I suspect that few things are more likely to repulse the unbelieving world than a bunch of religious posers. The world is turned off by that. Heck, I’m turned off by that too (although, I’m sure that on occasions I’m also guilty of it.)

Good Christian community depends on simple, humble, honest transparency. It begins with the realization that in our flesh, none of us are righteous or holy before God. It’s only the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that saves us from judgment and gives us any standing at all before a holy and righteous God.

As a community and as individuals, we need to adjust our attitudes and see ourselves as we really are. There simply is no justification for any of us to be a puffed-up strutting religious rooster. You are a sinner saved by grace. Period. And so am I. So, let’s not be too impressed with ourselves.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Please join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church every Sunday at 10:00. Join us in-person if you are close-by. Or, if you are geographically distant or if you are a shut-in, join us online at www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

This is an important part of Christian community

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:4

Our thought for today: “This is an important part of Christian community”

An important part of Christian community is helping and comforting each other when we are struggling or suffering. As Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 1:4, God comforts us, and then He wants us to comfort each other.

That lesson has been brought home to me in a powerful and personal way over the last couple of days. On Sunday afternoon I was walking one of our dogs – a cute and cuddly little eight-pound Maltipoo. Melody was friendly, affectionate, and very good-natured. Sadly, as we were walking, we were attacked by a large and aggressive pit bull that had gotten lose from a neighbor’s house. Long story short, it killed my dog and injured me.

Anyone who is a dog lover, especially of a cuddly little lap dog, knows how much a part of your life and of your family they become. Therefore, losing one to death can feel like losing a family member. Linda and I loved Melody very much and we are grieving her loss. But we have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support we have received from our church family and from neighbors. Many people have told us about the pain and grief they went through when they lost a pet of their own and how they could therefore relate to what we are feeling now.

Empathy is a term that describes an ability to understand or feel what another person is experiencing. It allows us to enter into someone else’s suffering with them, and to help them bear that burden. This is what Paul was referring to in 2 Corinthians 1:4. Having suffered yourself, and having been comforted when you were, makes you better able to be there for others when they are suffering.

One of the most important and helpful benefits to being part of a strong and loving Christian community is having people who care deeply about you and who make it a point to be there for you when you need them most.

If you aren’t part of such a community of believers then you’re missing out on one of the best parts of the Christian experience. God ministers to us in our times of sorrow and sadness through our brothers and sisters. I encourage you not to miss this. The time will come when you will need it. If you don’t have a good church family already, I encourage you to visit us at Oak Hill Baptist. You’ll find yourself to be very welcome.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist every Sunday at 10:00. Join us in-person if you are close-by or, if you are geographically distant or if you are a shut-in, join us online at www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville

You have been blessed so you can be a blessing

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You have been blessed so you can be a blessing”

In Genesis chapter twelve we’re reading about God’s call to Abraham to leave his home in the land of Ur and travel to the land of promise in Canaan. God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants and that they would grow into a great nation. But we often miss the last part of the promise, “and you will be a blessing”. Abraham and his descendants were blessed by God so that they could in turn be a blessing to others.

That has certainly turned out to be true for the nation of Israel. I don’t have the time or space this morning to consider all the ways the world has been blessed over more than four thousand years by the little nation of Israel. Jesus, of course, is the greatest blessing to come from them.

But there’s also a general Biblical principle contained in that verse. All the blessings of God are meant to be shared. That includes the blessings God has blessed you and I with. We are blessed so we can in turn be a blessing. There are so many verses and passages that teach this important truth. We as Christians are to first and foremost care for and bless other Christians: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10.

We are also to use our own trials and sufferings as a platform for ministry to others: “He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

Compassion, kindness, empathy, and sharing blessings are the most effective ministry tools we have. God comforts us, provides for us, walks with us through the dark times in life, and we are to do the same for others.

As Christians, we are the recipients of manifold blessings from God. Receiving and then sharing those blessings should be one of the hallmarks of the Christian community – it’s what the world should know us for. Others should be blessed because we have been.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church Sundays as 10:00. Join us in person if you are close-by, or if you are geographically distant or a shut-in, online at http://www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

Is the Good Shepherd searching for you?

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? Luke 15:4 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Is the Good Shepherd searching for you?”

One of the praise songs we sing in our church is “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury. It’s based on Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep, found in Luke 15:3-7. The chorus goes like this:

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ‘till I’m found, leaves the 99
And I couldn’t earn it, I don’t deserve it, still you give yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.

Some people misread the parable of the lost sheep to be about Jesus seeking after lost souls who have never professed their faith in Him. But that wasn’t Jesus’ meaning at all. While he does care deeply for every lost soul, and He is of course seeking them, the parable is about a sheep that was one of His already but then wandered off and is now out there somewhere, alone, in the wilderness, and extremely vulnerable to predators. In the parable the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep who are safe and secure in the flock, and he rushes out to find the one who has strayed and is now alone and in great danger.

The parable is about us. It’s about Christians who have left the flock and are out wandering in the spiritual wilderness. There’s safety in numbers. Sheep in a flock, under the care of an attentive shepherd, are safe and secure. A lone sheep is exposed and vulnerable, and as Peter warned us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”

The Bible makes no provision for “Lone Ranger” Christians. The New Testament always pictures Christians in close fellowship with a community of believers, meeting regularly for worship, teaching, service, and support. If you are not involved in the full life of a good church, then you are that lost sheep that has strayed. I encourage you to let Jesus bring you back into the safe and secure environment of a healthy church family.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church every Sunday at 10:00. Attend in-person if you are close-by or, if you are geographically distant or a shut-in, then please join us online at www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

Shine, make ’em wonder whatcha got

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Shine, make ‘em wonder whatcha got”

In yesterday’s devotional I said that the reason the Christian faith has stood the test of time is because Jesus is irresistible and if we Christians will just help unbelievers to see that, then they will want Him too. The problem is that we Christians often are not so good at helping others to see Jesus as He really is. We are His disciples, which means we’re supposed to be like Him. We are to say the things that He said, and do the things that He did. Sadly, we often don’t.

This reminds me of the comment once made by the famous Hindu leader Mohandas Gandhi in India. This was during the days when the British were the colonial rulers of that land and they were pretty brutal about it. They professed to be Christians, but they didn’t act like it. At one point a British leader asked Gandhi why more Indians weren’t open to hearing about the Christian faith and Gandhi famously replied, “We like your Jesus, we just don’t like you Christians.” He meant that while Jesus was kind, compassionate, winsome, and likeable, the British Christians were loud, obnoxious, demanding, even mean and cruel. The Christians were nothing like the Christ they professed to be following. Sadly, all too often some Christians do act like that, and it damages the testimony of the entire Christian community.

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus described a practice we are all supposed to adopt that will help us to be more like Him (and less like us). He pictured a team of oxen yoked together. In every team of oxen there is a lead ox and a follower ox. The lead ox is bigger, stronger, and more experienced. He carries most of the load and provides all of the direction. The follower ox is to stay yoked to the lead ox, walk side-by-side with him, and learn from him. That’s what the Christian life is to be like. Jesus is our lead ox. We are to stay yoked to Him, walk side-by-side with Him, learn from Him, and become more and more like Him. If we will do that, the practice of our faith will begin to look more and more like the Christ we profess to follow.

The contemporary Christian music group, The Newsboys, once recorded a song called “Shine”. Here’s the chorus:

“Shine. Make ‘em wonder whatcha got.
Make ‘em wish that they were not
On the outside looking bored.
Shine. Let it shine before all men
Let ‘em see good works and then
Let ‘em glorify the Lord.

So, there’s your assignment for today. “Shine. Make ‘em wonder whatcha got”.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church on Sunday mornings at 10:00, in-person if you are close-by, or if you are geographically distant or a shut-in, then online at http://www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)

Jesus is irresistible

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Christian community”

Our Bible verse for today: “… I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:18 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Jesus is irresistible”

I know yesterday’s devotional was a bit tough but I hope it didn’t paint a grim or defeatist picture. While we do live in a broken and troubled world, there is hope and healing found in Jesus.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus promised that He would build His church and all of hell would not prevent Him from doing so. And sure enough, that has turned out to be true. Here we are two thousand years later, the faith is still alive and well and there are more Christians on this planet today than at any time in history. Christianity has survived every form of opposition the devil has ever brought against it. Despite resistance, persecution, imprisonment, torture, and even death, people have continued to come to faith in Christ across the ages and around the world. Enemies have come, they have huffed and puffed, they have shaken their fists and taken their best shots, but they are dead and gone, Jesus is still on the throne, and the faith continues to spread.

Why? What is it about the Christian faith that has stood the test of time and that people have found so appealing? The Apostle Paul answered that for us in Galatians 5:22-23 when he wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Those are the virtues the Spirit of Jesus develops in a person’s inner life. Also, Jesus Himself said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.” He was talking about inner peace. The fact is that Jesus changes hearts and lives for the better, and that makes Him irresistible to people everywhere.

Today the Christian faith is spreading quickly in places like Africa, South America, and China. Sadly, in other places like Europe and the USA, we’re going in the opposite direction. Churches across Europe are largely empty now, and in the USA, as was noted yesterday, there is rapid decline. We should praise God for the growth elsewhere, but we should grieve the decline in our own land.

However, even here in the USA, today there is a wave of revival sweeping across Christian college campuses right now. As I write this, for weeks college students across our land have been gathered by the thousands in chapels that are overflowing as the Holy Spirit draws unbelievers to faith in Christ, and believers to renewal and rededication. Pray that the movement of the Holy Spirit will now spread beyond those campuses into the communities, and then to the rest of the nation.

The truth is that all is not lost. Not even here in America. There is still hope for our land. Jesus is irresistible. People everywhere need Him and, they will want Him if they come to realize what they’re missing. We, the Christians, those who already know and have Jesus, we’re the ones who need to help others come to know Him too. And that’s where we have been failing. We’re not doing our part and that’s why Christianity is in decline in our nation. We’ll think more about this tomorrow.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(Join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church every Sunday morning at 10:00. Join us in-person if you are close by, or if you’re geographically distant or a shut-in, then live online at www.YouTube.com/oakhillbaptistcrossville)