Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “Jesus said, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” John 20:29 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Believe even if you can’t see”

We’re all familiar with the story of “doubting Thomas”. Thomas was one of the original 12 apostles. But he wasn’t present at the time the resurrected Jesus appeared to the other apostles and so, Thomas refused to believe that Jesus was alive. A week later, Jesus appeared to them again and this time Thomas was there. Once Thomas saw Jesus for himself he did believe, but his belief was based on sight, not on faith.

This is a primary problem for many people. We have trouble believing in things we can’t see and so many people have trouble believing in God. We can’t see Him and so we often having trouble believing He is real. But He is there none-the-less, and He does reassure us of His presence in many ways.

Author Gary Moon tells the story of how one day he and his wife watched a woman playing in a parking lot with her blind dog. The dog was completely blind and therefore could not see his master. To compensate for the dog’s inability to see, the woman ran backwards across the gravel parking lot dragging her feet and making a scraping noise for the dog to hear. The dog followed the noises made by the woman’s feet and joyfully, playfully, sprinted after his master. As she continued to back up she kept calling out to the dog, “I’m right here, I see you, keep coming”, and the dog responded by continuing to follow the clues the master provided.

Gary said that as he watched this playful exchange between the woman and her blind dog he sensed God speaking to him saying, “Gary, you are like that dog and I am the owner. You can’t see Me, but I am real and I am here. And even though you can’t see Me, I can see you. I’m here. I’ve got you. Just follow My voice and stay close to Me.”

To live the Christian life well we have to believe even when we can’t see. God is real and He is here. He can see you even if you can’t see Him. And, even though you can’t see Him, He will make noise, He will provide clues, He will call out to you so you can be sure of His presence and so you can stay close to Him. Just pay attention, listen and follow.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” Acts 13:22 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Be a person after God’s own heart.”

David was a man after God’s own heart. That’s what God was looking for. 1 Samuel 13:14 tells us “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart …” Acts 13:22 tells us that He found that man in David, and that’s what made David so special. It’s also why God was able to accomplish such great things through David’s life. David was a man after God’s own heart and that resulted in a life well spent. But how do we, like David, become men and women after God’s own heart?

Dallas Willard is a spiritual mentor of mine. I have never met him (he’s in heaven now), so the influence he has had on me has come through his books. I’ve read everything he has written and I’ve also read his biography. One of the most important books Dallas wrote was called, “Renovation of the Heart”. Dallas was deeply disturbed that so much of modern Christian thought is laced with pop psychology, especially the “self-help” kind. This has resulted in modern Christian thought being primarily “me” centered, and consequently very superficial. Christian pop psychology is all about making a person feel good and it is focused on superficial “felt needs”. So Dallas wrote Renovation of the Heart in response to Christian-based pop psychology.

He started by pointing out that the word psyche actually means “soul” and therefore, in its purest and truest form, psychology should actually be soul-ology. Psychology should be all about making the soul well. Secular psychology focuses on thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Soul-ology begins with the soul (heart) and then once it is healthy, the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors follow.

Psychology is a real and helpful science. It is the study of the human person and it helps us to understand how the human person thinks and acts – and why. But in his book Dallas reminds us that it is the soul that is the essence of who the person is and that Jesus is the greatest psychologist who ever lived. Since He created human beings He understands us pretty well, and He therefore is the One who has the answers to life’s problems. With tongue in cheek, and keeping with the theme of psychology, Dallas refers to Jesus as “Dr. Jesus”. He then informs us that the Doctor is in and He is accepting new patients.

Psychology is helpful, but Christian psychology takes us to the heart of the issue (which is of course, the heart – that’s where we need to get to and that’s what needs to change). Becoming a man or woman after God’s own heart begins by surrendering your heart to Jesus. Then the Holy Spirit will go to work renovating your heart. If you spend your life seeking Him and following Him, you will soon find yourself being changed by Him.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

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Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” Philippians 4:11 (NASB)

Our thought for today: “Have a positive influence on people”

When I think about someone who is spending their life well I think about the impact that person has on others. Is your impact good or bad, positive or negative? Are other people better off as a result of being around you?

I love the image Paul paints of himself in Philippians 4:11. Over a lifetime of growing in Christ, learning through experience, and persevering through trials, he had learned to be content in whatever his circumstances where. I get the image of a calm and serene man who smiles a lot. He is warm and inviting, genuinely interested in the person sitting in front of him, and someone who has a positive influence on those around him.

I don’t mean to say that Paul was always like that, he wasn’t, but by this point in his life he had learned to be that way. What a great way to be –  a calm and gentle older man, wise in his ways, warm and approachable, building into the lives of others, and being a blessing to those around him.

What kind of an influence do you have on people? Are they better off for having been around you? Perhaps you have heard the old analogy of people being either like a thermometer or a thermostat. A thermometer simply reflects back whatever the temperature is. A person who is like a thermometer reflects back whatever the situation around them is. If there is anger, then the thermometer is angry too. If there is sadness, the thermometer is sad. If there is joy, then the thermometer can be happy. A thermometer person is influenced by the people and events around them, rather than being the one doing the influencing.

But a thermostat controls things. A thermostat sets the temperature and controls the environment. If you are a person who is like a thermostat then you are a change agent. If you walk into a situation where there is anger, you introduce peace. If there is sadness, you share joy. If there is despair, you offer hope. But a word of caution is appropriate here too. Not only can a thermostat change things for good, but they can also change things for bad. Think of the hyperactive drama queen who can easily take a peaceful environment and turn it into chaos.

So, is your influence on others good or bad, positive or negative? Are people better off because they have been around you? If you are a thermostat person (in a good way), then people will be better off because they have been with you, and yours will be a life well spent.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

1 Thessalonians 4:18 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Be an encourager”

The Bible calls us to be encouragers of one another. Two primary ways to encourage someone is to thank them for what they do, and to affirm them for who they are. But there’s a big difference between the two. When we thank someone we’re expressing gratitude for something they have done. It means we are appreciative. Most of us were raised to be polite and to say “thank you”. Thanking someone is not only an expression of gratitude, but it’s also a form of encouragement in that it makes the other person feel good for what they have done, and that then motivates them to do it again.

But affirming someone for who they are is different. When you affirm someone for who they are you are actually confirming for them what you believe to be true about them. Affirmation inspires and motivates a person, and it bolsters the person’s self-image. Affirmation is a form of encouragement too, but it is a higher form. Appreciation thanks them for what they have done. Affirmation commends them for who they are. Both forms of encouragement are important, and both are needed, but affirmation is more important and more helpful.

Encouragement can be a form of ministry. Making it a point to thank and affirm people is a good way of lifting someone’s spirits and encouraging them to even greater heights of conduct and character.  People who are encouragers find reasons to thank and affirm people. It’s a way of blessing them. By doing so, the encouragers build into that person’s life in such a way that it moves them forward in their development and growth as a person and as a follower of Christ.

The Bible repeatedly calls us to be encouragers of one another. One of my favorite New Testament heroes is Barnabas, the “son of encouragement”. (We could use more sons and daughters of encouragement.) In 1 Thessalonians 4:18 the Apostle Paul urged his readers to encourage one another with Biblical truth. In Hebrews 10:24-25 the writer reminds us that one of the reasons we are to regularly gather with our church family is so that we can encourage others, and so others can encourage us.

Why not add encouragement to your list of ministry activities? Be intentional about it. Make it a point to find reasons to thank people for what they do, and to affirm them for who they are. In my opinion if you are a habitual, intentional, encourager, then yours is a life well spent.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” Acts 20:28 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Just do your part”

This past Friday I had the privilege of preaching the funeral for my friend Dick Foster. As is true of all of us, Dick lived a life of contradictions. He was strong in some ways and weak in others. He excelled in some areas of his life and he struggled in other ways. He had his share of rough edges to his character, but he could also be a very kind and helpful person.

Dick will be remembered in many ways and for many things, but the thing that many of us will remember most about him will be his love for Oak Hill Baptist Church (and his fierce determination to protect and care for the church). Dick served as the Chairman of the Deacons for decades, including during some tough years when there were difficult problems and storms of controversy. At those times Dick led the church through the storms. It was during those times that his strong, tough, no-nonsense personality was exactly what was needed.

The point I wish to make with this story is that Dick invested a major part of his life into caring for the church, some of it in tough times when the church was in peril. In this way in particular, Dick’s life was well spent. God used his faithful service to help make sure there would still be an Oak Hill Baptist Church here today for you and for me.

That’s a story I’ve seen again and again, in church after church, over the course of my ministry years – faithful servants of God, diligently and with great love, caring for God’s church. Often their actual ministry activities are low-profile and therefore don’t get a lot of attention, but their service is vital and extremely important none-the-less.

In Psalm 84:10 the Psalmist wrote, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” I once heard a church custodian paraphrase and personalize that verse when he said to me, “Pastor, I would rather clean toilets in the house of the Lord than to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.”

You don’t have to be a Christian rock star, or a world-famous evangelist, or even a pastor or a deacon, in order to perform important service for the sake of the Kingdom. If you simply embrace the ministry activities the Lord has called you to and equipped you for, and then you faithfully spend your years humbly serving in, and caring for, the church God has placed you in, yours will have been a life well spent.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Just be faithful and hang-in there.”

Jeremiah was having a tough day. In fact, he was having a tough life. God had called him to minister to a bunch of thickheaded, backslidden Jews who were not interested in anything he had to say. It seemed to Jeremiah that he was wasting his time trying to get through to these people and he didn’t understand why God had him there.

In Jeremiah 12:1-4 the prophet voiced his complaints and essentially challenged God to explain Himself. We read God’s response in verse 12:5. But rather than answering Jeremiah directly, God instead posed a rhetorical question for him to consider. I’m paraphrasing God’s response but essentially He said, “Jeremiah, you are contending with mere men and yet they are getting the best of you. So how is it you think you can question Me and My motives?”

The lesson for Jeremiah was to simply obey God and trust Him for the outcome. The circumstances were difficult, but God just wanted Jeremiah to hang-in there, be obedient, and trust Him for the outcome. If you’re familiar with Jeremiah’s story then you know he did exactly that. The years of his ministry were long and hard, but Jeremiah was faithful and he never gave-up.

There’s a lesson for us in that story. Many times our circumstances are difficult and we don’t understand why God has us in the situations we are in. Since God is Sovereign (all-knowing and all-powerful, and therefore in control of every situation), it means that He either directly created your circumstances for a reason, or by His permissive will He chose to allow your circumstances to happen. Either way, He has a purpose and a plan. Your job is to simply be faithful. You are not to give-in and you are not to give-up.

God doesn’t expect you to perform miracles or to accomplish the impossible. He just wants you to be faithful right where you are. Very often a life that He considers to have been well spent life is a life that consists of simple faithfulness, over a long period of time, in difficult circumstances. Jeremiah did that, and so can you.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Jesus gave you new life for eternity, but also for the here and now.”

This morning I want to return to a subject I wrote about on Easter weekend – new life. In that devotional message I said that Easter means new life, new life for eternity, but new life for the here and now as well. Jesus arose from the grave, thereby defeating death, so that we too can have new life.

We know what is meant by new life for eternity, it’s eternity in heaven with God. But what about new life now, what is that supposed to be like? For one thing it means that we are to be distinctly different than we were before we came to Christ. In Galatians 5:19-21 Paul gave us a laundry list of sinful practices. The list represents the kinds of things lost people are often involved in, actions such as drunkenness, sexual immorality, idolatry, and much more. Then he followed it in Galatians 5:22-23 with another representative list designed to illustrate the kind of godly characteristics that will be evident in the life of a person who is following Jesus. They include things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.

So the new life in Christ should be one of holiness rather than sinful conduct, but it’s more than that as well. The new life in Christ is to be one that is spent in ways that are productive for the cause of Christ on earth. There are numerous New Testament passages which teach that lesson. The three expressions of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15 and Acts 1:8 are examples. So are the passages where Jesus taught about our call to service, such as John 13:1-16 and 15:1-8.

If all Jesus meant to accomplish through His death and resurrection was to make it possible for you to spend eternity in heaven, He would have taken you straight to heaven the moment you placed your faith in Him for the forgiveness of your sins. But He didn’t do that. Instead He left you here on earth, living this life, for some number of additional years. He left you here so you can serve Him here, helping to build His kingdom.

Whatever number of years you have left on earth after that moment of salvation, are meant to be spent in service to the Lord and to others. Do that, and yours will have been a life well spent.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is:

Our theme for this month: “A life well spent”

Our Bible verse for today: “It has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brother and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” Philippians 1:13-14 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Serve Christ the best you can, right where you are.”

We often think of the Apostle Paul as a great preacher, teacher, and evangelist. We picture him as he traveled around the known world of his day on daring mission trips, preaching to large crowds, winning people to faith in Christ, starting new churches, confronting hypocritical religious leaders, debating with high government officials, and ultimately writing more than half of the New Testament.

It is true that Paul did all of those things, but he also spent a lot of time in very humble circumstances with no home of his own, with no source of income, and relying on the hospitality and generosity of others just to stay alive. Additionally, he spent lots of time in jails and prisons, sometimes in deplorable conditions.

The letter to the Philippians is a case in point. When Paul wrote this letter he was incarcerated in some kind of a Roman prison, in chains, awaiting trial. But Paul didn’t allow his humble and low profile circumstances to prevent him from being productive for Christ. It’s true that he was in jail, but so was everyone else around him, including the other prisoners, the guards, and the jail staff. Paul had a captive audience in a very literal sense, and so they became his mission field.

It’s not necessary to be a high profile preacher or teacher in order to make a meaningful difference for the cause of Christ. You don’t have to be an international missionary serving in some exotic location. You can make a difference right where you are, doing exactly what you do every day – in your home, at your job, in the neighborhood, and in your church. 99.9% of all Christians are regular people living regular lives doing regular things. The great preacher and author Robert McCracken once wrote, “A man can be as truly a saint in a factory as in a monastery, and there is as much need of him in the one as in the other.”

I encourage you to serve Christ the best you can, right where you are, doing exactly what you are doing.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Our mailing address is: