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:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

Our thought for today: “Don’t allow yourself to dwell in despair.”

The concept of “mind control” sounds spooky to many people. It conjures up images of a diabolical genius who can control other people’s thoughts; or someone who dabbles in the dark side of the spiritual world and has learned to bend spoons with his thoughts.

But actually “mind control” is much simpler and innocent than that. Mind control simply means having control over your thoughts. It means taking positive control over the influences you allow into your mind and the thoughts you allow your mind to dwell on.

This is a bigger issue than you might realize. The things you allow your mind to dwell on determines how you think and what you believe to be true, and it also colors your personality – thereby determining how other people view you.

When it comes to our theme of “Laugh Again”, what you allow your mind to dwell on will determine if you are happy or sad, upbeat or depressed. If you allow your mind to dwell on negative thoughts and depressing situations, you will be negative and depressed. But if you make yourself focus instead on positive and upbeat things like encouraging bible verses, or humorous thoughts and jokes, you will be positive, upbeat, and maybe even funny.

“Mind control” is what Isaiah was referring to in Isaiah 26:3. Those who choose to keep their minds focused on God and on the things of God will find themselves to be at peace. You can accomplish that by memorizing and reciting encouraging passages of Scripture. You can do it by means of listening to uplifting Christian music. And yes, it can happen through comedy and laughing, and surrounding yourself with Christian friends who encourage you and lift you up.

All of us have times when we feel down, but we don’t have to dwell there. We don’t have to remain depressed and discouraged. We can be intentional about taking actions that will move us up out of despair. There’s a general principle about human behavior that applies here. It says, “All of my problems become smaller when I take action to deal with them.” That applies to problems of all kinds but especially to despair, discouragement, and depression. It all begins to dissipate when we take positive and intentional action to deal with it. You don’t have to stay there. You can control your mind.

And also, if you know someone who is struggling with this issue, please be sure your help is actually helpful. Don’t be like that church that started a support group for them but then put in the bulletin, “The Low Self-Esteem support group will meet on Thursday at 7:00 PM in the church basement. Please use the back door.”

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Keep it clean”

The other night Linda and I pulled out the TV trays, cooked ourselves a pizza, and sat down to watch a movie we had been eager to see for some time. The name of the movie is “Stan and Ollie” and it is about the real-life story of the famous comedy team Laurel and Hardy. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were the most popular slap-stick comedy act for much of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. They were hilariously funny, but in an innocent and clean way. The movie was a heartwarming behind-the-scenes look at their personal relationship as close friends and partners.

So much of what passes for “humor” in our day is dark and dirty and mean. It doesn’t uplift, edify, or enrich the minds and lives of the audience. Instead it has the opposite effect. It plants dark, dirty, and mean thoughts in the minds of those who listen to it. Worse, getting enjoyment from that kind of filth poisons a person’s personality. Fill your mind with dark, dirty, and mean thoughts and soon you will become a dark, dirty, and mean person. Comedy shouldn’t have that effect on people.

Ephesians 4:29 is one of several passages found in the New Testament which reminds us that as the people of God we should not use foul language. That would include telling or listening to dirty jokes. As a child of the 50s and 60s I grew-up on the comedy of Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, The Little Rascals, The Bowery Boys, Leave it to Beaver, and the Andy Griffith Show. I’m so glad I did because it conditioned me to appreciate and enjoy good clean comedy.

The good news is that there is still plenty of clean comedy around today that will help us to laugh at life and to enjoy ourselves. Chonda Pierce, Jeff Foxworthy, and Louie Allen, are just a few examples. In our region of the country we also have The Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge, TN. There are actually more choices for clean comedy than you might realize. The reason is because many people prefer it to the dark, dirty, and mean-spirited stuff that passes for comedy in our day.

By the way, did you hear about the 17 year old boy who was in rebellion to his father? He insisted on wearing his hair shoulder length. His father wanted him to get a haircut. One day the boy came to his father and asked to borrow the car. The father said, “You can borrow the car when you get a haircut.” The boy replied, “You know Dad, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, the Apostle Paul had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair.” To which the father replied, “Yes, and they WALKED everywhere they went!”

I hope you have at good day today – even if you have to walk everywhere you go. (Trevor, get a haircut!)

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “A happy heart makes a face cheerful …” Proverbs 15:13 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Being happy makes you smile, and smiling makes you happy.”

It comes as no surprise to us that when we’re happy we smile. But did you know that smiling also makes you happy? It does. There’s an old saying that goes, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile is the source of your joy.” The truth of this has been scientifically proven in numerous psychological and neurological studies.

Psychologically there is a theory known as “self-perception theory”. It holds that acting as if you feel something will eventually lead you to actually experience that feeling. If you act like you are brave, soon you will begin to actually feel brave. If you act like you love someone, and if you continue in those actions, eventually you will begin to experience true feelings of love for them. Likewise, if you act happy, soon you will begin to actually feel happy, or at least happier than you were.

Most of us acknowledge that if we feel happy we will act happy. But it’s also true that if we act happy soon we will feel happy. Smiling is a major part of the happiness equation. When you’re happy you smile. So conversely, if you smile you will begin to feel happy. The self-perception theory proves it over and over again. If you want to have something to smile about, just go ahead and smile, and soon you will be smiling because you feel like it and not because you are trying to.

There’s also a neurological element to this smiling business. Smiling results in the secretion of endorphin hormones in the brain. Endorphin has an opiate kind of effect on us in that it makes us feel good. The physical act of smiling generates a release of endorphins in the brain. That in turn makes us feel good, which gives us even more reason to smile, which then releases more endorphins, which make us feel even better, which makes us smile even more … and on it goes. Smiling makes you feel good. And the more you smile, the better you feel.

This is good stuff, man. And it’s legal! You can get high on endorphins and there’s no law against it! The more you smile the better you feel and the better you feel the more you smile. Smiling is also contagious. If you smile at other people other people will smile back at you. Then they will experience the release of endorphins, they will feel better and happier, they will smile even more, which will cause yet more people to smile, releasing endorphins in them, causing them to smile at other people and … Wow. This stuff could change the world!

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile is the source of you joy. So smile today! Smile a lot.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “Our mouths were filled with laughter then, and our tongues with shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.” Psalm 126:2 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be joyful, and let it show”

I once heard it said that “The Christian should be one big “hallelujah!” from head to toe!” It’s true. Nobody has more to be grateful for than the Christian. Your sins have been forgiven. You have the Holy Spirit of God living in your heart. You have a loving Father in heaven who is always looking out for you and who is committed to meeting your needs. You get to experience the Fruit of the Spirit in your life in increasing measure. And, when this life is over, you have a wonderful eternal home waiting for you.

Yes, the Christian should be one big “hallelujah!” from head to toe!

I love the scene depicted for us in Psalm 126. It is known as “A song of ascents”. It was sung by the Israelites as they marched up to Jerusalem to worship. Jerusalem sat on a hill, which is why it is commonly referred to in song as “a city on a hill”. As that large throng of Israelites ascended the hill, with the city of Jerusalem in sight above them, they were laughing, singing, rejoicing, and calling out praises to God. It was a great scene of joy.

Our theme this month is “Laugh Again” – with an emphasis on “again”. The implication is that long ago we stopped laughing enough. The joy of life drained away and many of us simply resorted to getting through our days. May I politely suggest that you knock it off? To borrow a phrase from Sergeant Hulka in the movie Meatballs, “Lighten up, Francis!” Life is not as hard as you make it out to be. Go back and read the previous devotional about the 80/20 rule. You have been blessed beyond measure and there is much more good in your life than bad. Life is meant to be enjoyed not just endured. There is plenty to be thankful for and happy about. And there are lots of reasons to laugh.

Did you hear about the little boy who was invited to say the blessing at his family’s Thanksgiving dinner? He thanked God for his mother, father, brothers and sisters. He thanked God for their guests, and for the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and even for the Cool Whip. Then there was an extended silence until finally the mother looked up and saw the boy with his eyes open, looking at her, and in obvious distress. He whispered to her, “Mom, if I thank God for the broccoli won’t He know I’m lying?” Everyone at the table burst out laughing and they all agreed it was the best Thanksgiving prayer any of them had ever heard.

Make it a point today to look for things to be grateful for and to be happy about. And laugh. Laugh at lot. Go ahead and be one big “hallelujah” from head to toe!

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse for today: “Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, ‘The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.” Lamentations 3:22-24 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Choose to be happy”

Have you ever known a person who seems to be an expert at finding something wrong with everything? If you say it’s a beautiful sunny day, they’ll point to the one dark cloud in an otherwise clear sky. If you tell them they look nice today, they’ll respond by saying they recently put on five pounds. If you tell them the glass if half full, they’ll tell you that it’s also half empty. Do you remember “Eeyore” the donkey from the Winnie-the-Pooh books? Winnie was always upbeat and positive but Eeyore was always pessimistic, gloomy, and depressed. No matter how good things are, Eeyore finds something wrong. We all have encounters with the Eeyores in life, and they’re not fun to be around.

I saw a cartoon recently of two women talking. One was babbling on and on. We the readers get the conversation in midstream,  “… and then I caught the flu, the house burned down, our car was stolen, George had to have an operation, the cat got the flu …” The other woman, looking trapped, is thinking to herself “Dear Lord just take me now!” You’ve been in that situation. You’re trapped in a conversation with a narcissist who drones on and on about all her misfortunes (real and imagined) and there seems to be no way out for you. So you’re thinking “Just shoot me now!”

Abraham Lincoln is reported to have said that “Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” That’s a great truth. You can choose to see the glass half full instead of half empty. You can choose to see the sunshine rather than the cloud. You can choose to thank God for what you have rather than complain about the things you don’t have.

In the book of Lamentations Jerusalem had been completely destroyed and was in ruins. The people had been taken into captivity and the situation seemed hopeless. In the middle of the destruction and desolation the prophet Jeremiah uttered that wonderful statement of faith and praise that we just read in 3:22-24 above. He found reasons to praise God and to trust Him. I encourage you to read it again now.

In my Bible I keep a typed list of positive affirmations which I review frequently and which help me to maintain a proper perspective in life. One of them pertains to choosing happiness over despair. It reads “I choose to be happy. Happiness is a choice. I can choose to think thoughts and engage in activities that bring me joy. I choose to be grateful, and I choose not to complain. I have joy in my heart, a smile on my face, and laughter in my voice. Life is a privilege. I choose to live it with joy.”

How about you? Do you choose to live with joy? Do you laugh easily and often? I hesitate to hold Winnie-the-Pooh up as a model to emulate. Winnie has serious weight control issues and his fingers are always sticky with honey. But if the choice in your life is between Winnie or Eeyore, be Winnie my friends, be Winnie.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “Laugh Again”

Our Bible verse today: “Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine …” Genesis 35:22 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Everybody’s normal – till you get to know them.”

There’s a great truth expressed in that statement – “Everybody’s normal – till you get to know them.” The fact is that we’re all a little weird. There really is no “normal”. After more than twenty years as a Pastor I’ve come to understand that every person is a little odd and every family has skeletons in their closets. Granted, some people are odder than others and some families have a literal boneyard going on, but still, we’ve all got stuff that we’d prefer others don’t know about. (As a Pastor I get to know a lot of that stuff. It’s kind of a side benefit to the job. The stories I could tell! Lol).

A Biblical case-in-point is told by Pastor John Ortberg in his 2003 book by that same title, “Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them”. In one section he tells the story of one of the great Biblical families – that of Jacob. Jacob was a bit of a scoundrel and a swindler. He had at least thirteen children by four different women. One son (Joseph) was sold into slavery by his brothers. Another son (Reuben) slept with his father’s mistress. Another son (Judah) slept with his own daughter-in-law and fathered a child by her. One daughter was raped and two sons then led a military expedition to wipe out the entire village that the rapist lived in. And those are just a few examples of the dysfunction in that family. John Ortberg writes, “These people need a therapist. These are not the Waltons. They need Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura, Dr. Ruth, Dr. Spock, Dr. Seuss – they need somebody!”

Feeling any better about your family?

The point is that we’re all a little weird – there really is no “normal”. And that’s a good thing. I’m glad there are no perfect people. It makes me feel better about myself.

I sometimes tease our folks at Oak Hill Baptist Church that we’re a lot like that place everyone has come to call “The Star Wars Bar”. The Star Wars bar was a place in the first Star Wars movie. Han Solo and Chewbacca go into this inter-planetary bar and we see that it is filled with an array of weird creatures from across the galaxy. One guy is purple and has two heads. Another is orange and has a single eye in the middle of his forehead. One creature looks like an octopus with tentacles sprouting from various places, and on it goes. Weird people. Funny looking people. But all of them somehow getting along.

That’s us! At our church we’re just an odd collection of unusual people, but somehow we all get along. So, if you’re looking for a church, I invite you to visit us. (I’m thinking you will probably fit right in.)

So there are no normal people. Nobody is normal because there really is no “normal”. Everyone is a little bit strange. So I encourage you to celebrate your weirdness today. Just be you – and enjoy it!

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is: