Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted.” Isaiah 61:1 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Reach out to a lonely person.”

 

“He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted” … that sentence is taken from a longer passage of Scripture found in Isaiah 61:1-11 which has come to be known as “The Messiah’s Jubilee”. Through the prophet Isaiah God was prophetically telling us about the coming of the Messiah.

 

Seven hundred years later, as Jesus was beginning His earthly ministry and was visiting in the synagogue in Nazareth, He was asked to participate in the worship service by reading the scripture passage for the day. The leader of the synagogue handed to Him the scroll that contained this very passage from Isaiah which prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. So the Messiah Himself stood there and read that 700 year old passage about His own promised appearance.

 

As the snippet quoted above reveals, one of the reasons Jesus came to us was to bring healing to the brokenhearted. Well if you’ve ever been brokenhearted, and if in the midst of your brokenness you have turned to Jesus for comfort and healing, then you know what an important part of His mission this was. The truth is that there is comfort and healing, strength and renewal, to be found in Jesus. In Matthew 11:28-30 He explained it this way:

 

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 

Today we are only three days away from Christmas. For many of us this is a time of great joy and celebration – but not for everyone. Some people have lost a loved one this past year and are therefore about to experience their first Christmas without that person. Others are alone and they don’t have family to spend the day with. Others don’t even have any close friends. These people need Jesus. Not only do they need Jesus Himself, but they need Jesus’ people – they need to be with Christians who will welcome them, include them, and love them.

 

You probably know people like this. If not, just ask the Lord to open your eyes and to show you some of them because they’re all around you. One action you could take is to invite them to join us at Oak Hill Baptist Church for our Christmas Eve service at 5:00 and at our Christmas morning service at 10:00. We would be happy to welcome them into our church family. But also, how about inviting a lonely person to join you and your family at your Christmas celebrations? Do you have room in your heart, and in your life, to include a person who is sad and lonely and struggling through the Christmas season alone?

 

Jesus came to offer comfort and healing to the brokenhearted. In our day, that comfort and healing usually comes by means of the Spirit of Jesus working through the people of Jesus. That’s you and me. I encourage you to reach out to a lonely person this Christmas.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.” 2 Timothy 1:3 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Give the gift of prayer”

 

So, how would you like to have the Apostle Paul praying for you night and day? Would the knowledge of his prayers for you be a source of encouragement? It sure would be for me! That’s the assurance that young Timothy had. In the opening passage of his second letter to Timothy, his son in the faith, Paul assured him that “I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.”

 

As I write this we’re just a few days away from Christmas. I suspect some of you are still struggling for ideas about gifts to give family, friends, and loved ones. Well, how about the gift of prayer? You could give that person a card with a note inside that says, “My gift to you this year is that I will pray for you every day in 2017. I want you to know that everyday, before you even get out of bed in the morning, you will already have been prayed for.”

 

What a unique and special gift! It will probably be the most meaningful and useful gift that person will receive from anyone. In James 5:16, James the brother of Jesus reminds us that, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

 

Throughout his letters to the New Testament Church we find the Apostle Paul repeatedly assuring friends that of his prayers for them, and asking them to pray for him. The reason prayer is emphasized so much in the Bible, and the reason it is such a beautiful gift to give someone, is because God hears our prayers and moves in response to them. We all know, from the Bible and from personal experience, that when God’s people pray – things happen.

 

So I encourage you to give the gift of prayer this year. You can’t pray for everyone everyday, but you can choose one or two special people who you will pray for everyday. Give the gift of prayer to someone special on your list.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I’ll go to him, but he will never return to me.” 2 Samuel 12:23 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We will see our loved ones again.”

 

The scene recorded in 2 Samuel 12:15-23 is very sad. It tells of the time that the child born from David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba was taken from them by God. David was devastated, as he should have been, but the death was actually no penalty to the child. That child got to skip all the pain and sorrow and heartache that is a normal part of life on earth, and instead went straight to heaven.

 

There’s actually a great spiritual truth about death revealed to us in this passage. Right at the end, in verse 23, David consoles himself with the knowledge that one day in heaven he would get to see his son again. This is just one more place in the Bible where God assures us that one day in heaven we will see our saved loved ones again, and we will recognize them for who they are.

 

As I write this we’re just days away from Christmas. For most of us Christmas is a joy-filled time of celebration. We will be surrounded by family and friends and it will be an enjoyable time of good cheer and happiness. But at the same time we will surely think about those friends and loved ones who are no longer with us because they have gone on to heaven. That can make the holidays a time of sadness as well as a time of joy. But if you are a Christian, and if those friends and loved ones were Christians too, then you have the promise of seeing them again in heaven.

 

Recently I’ve been re-reading Dallas Willard’s great book “The Divine Conspiracy”. The other night I came across a passage where he was writing about the subject of what death means for the Christian. He explained that the moment of death is nothing but a transition from this life into the next. The illustration he used to help explain that transition is that of two rooms. Imagine two rooms separated by a doorway. You are in the first room filled with people, but headed through the doorway into the second room. As you pass through the doorway into the second room you begin to see and hear the people in the second room, and so your attention turns from those in the first room to those in the second.

 

In previous generations, before the days when medical professionals kept patients heavily sedated as they were dying, it was not uncommon for people on their deathbed to be awake and talking to people in the room with them, while at the same time apparently being able to see friends and loved ones who had died before them. The dying person would often engage those dead loved ones in conversation as he or she was passing through the moment of death. It was clear to everyone witnessing the death that the dying person was seeing friends and loved ones waiting for them on the other side of death (or in the next room).

 

The point is that if you are missing a friend or loved one who has already died, and if you are a Christian and so were they, you can rest assured that you will see them again.

 

For the Christian death is just a transition from this life into the next and when we get there, we will see our family and friends and loved ones again. They will be there waiting for us.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head – Christ.” Ephesians 4:15 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Speak the truth in love.”

 

I hope you are a part of multiple family-like groups. I hope you have a good family of father, mother, sisters, brothers, children, and grandchildren. I also hope you have a good church family; and a group of close friends who act like a family; and perhaps some other groups like a good healthy group of co-workers who genuinely enjoy working together and who are good for each other.

 

But in order for any of those groups to be truly “good”, there has to be a level of comfort among the members that allows for the truth to be spoken in love. In fact, speaking the truth in love is an essential element for a family-like group to be truly good and healthy.

 

The truth is that none of us are infallible – not one of us has cornered the market on wisdom and good decision-making. From time to time each of us strays in some way and so we need people around us who will gently and loving speak words of counsel and correction. My wife is especially good at this. You’ve probably heard it said that “The man is the head of the house.” That may be true but it’s also true that the woman is the neck that turns the head. It’s true. My wife can guide and correct me without me even realizing I’m being guided and corrected!

 

We can all think of situations where the truth is not spoken, and consequently all sorts of bad decision-making, sin, depravity, and destructive behavior is allowed to exist. I’ve known of situations where adult children, living with their parents, were doing drugs in the house and even having drug-using friends over to do drugs with them. The parents didn’t like it but they also didn’t stop it.

 

Sometimes situations exist in churches where a member is involved in something sinful, and others know it, but nobody is willing to say anything about it (after all, nobody wants to cause conflict in the church).

 

But this shouldn’t be. If you love somebody you will speak truth to them. If you love a person then you won’t silently sit by and say nothing as they engage in behaviors that cause harm to them and to others.

 

In the Bible God requires us to hold each other accountable and to speak truth to each other when needed. We are to speak the truth in love, but we are to speak it. This is an essential element in all family-like groups. I encourage you to have the courage to say what needs to be said. Speak the truth in love.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “These words I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.’ Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Raise your children in church.”

 

I was raised in the Catholic Church. My mother was a devout Catholic her entire life and she raised all six of us children in the church. Our church was Saint Matthews Catholic Church and it was right around the corner from our house. If the house across the street had not been there, I could have seen our church from our front yard.

 

Every Sunday morning without fail my mother would lead the six of us up the sidewalk, around the corner, and into the church. Every Wednesday night we would all repeat that trip to go to catechism classes (the equivalent of Sunday school).

 

My mom was a godly woman of deep faith and she worked hard to plant the seeds of faith into the hearts of her children. This is what Moses was commanding in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. What he was describing there were homes that revolved around a deep faith in God. He describes a family where the parents regularly share their faith with their children. They talk about it, they model it in their own behavior, and all throughout there home there are numerous reminders of the faith.

 

One of the best things parents and grandparents can do for children is to raise them in a Christian home – a home that is filled with talk and conduct and constant reminders of how important our faith in Christ is. And also, we must take our children to church. I didn’t say “send” them to church; I said “take” them to church. Your children will be much more impacted by what they see you do than by what they hear you say. So make sure they see you living the faith, not just talking about it.

 

I’m so deeply grateful for my mother’s example. I have to admit that as a child I went along with all the Christianity stuff simply because I had to. It was required of me by my mother. Unfortunately as a teenager and young adult I was far, far away from anything that resembled Christianity. But the seeds of faith had been planted in my heart as a child and years later, those seeds bore fruit.

 

Don’t ever underestimate the power and importance of a good Godly example on your children. Speak to them about the faith; model Biblical principles for them by the way you conduct yourself; and bring them to church.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “The wicked man borrows and does not repay.” Psalm 37:12 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Avoid borrowing. But if you do borrow, then repay, and repay on time.”

 

Yesterday I felt led to write a devotional message about borrowing and lending. My main point was that borrowing and lending between family members and friends is often a risky business. It opens the door for one party to feel indebted to the other, and it also creates the possibility of the loan not being repaid, or not repaid on time. That then creates anger and resentment, and it often leads to damaged relationships.

 

The message yesterday was directed primarily at those who have been approached for a loan, and my word of advice was to either say “no”, or to give the money as a gift. I encouraged you to avoid extending loans to family or friends.

 

But I think a word also needs to be said to those who might seek to borrow. First of all, you should avoid it to the greatest extent possible. Each of us has a responsibility to provide for ourselves and to live as best we can on what we have. But, sometimes you might get into a financial jam and need a little help. So if you are going to seek a loan from a family member or friend, pay it back. And pay it back on time. The Bible says that it is wicked to default on your debts.

 

As a potential lender we also need to be careful that we don’t enable bad financial habits on the part of those who tend to borrow frequently. Years ago there was a woman who was close to my family who had the bad habit of borrowing frequently. She always seemed to have a sad story to tell and there always seemed to be a reason that she needed to borrow some money. She also had the bad habit of not repaying what she borrowed. There was usually a sad story to go along with that too.

 

Finally I cut her off. I simply told her that there would be no more loans and she just needed to get to the point in life of providing for herself. And guess what? She survived! It’s true! Once I stopped being her personal ATM she just had to figure it out for herself. And she did. That was years ago and to this day she is still figuring it out for herself. She has actually begun demonstrating some personal responsibility.

 

Would she have achieved that increased level of personal responsibility if I had continued to feed her money? Almost certainly not. When I finally started saying “no” to her requests did she have some tough times and was it a little painful for her? Yes it was. But that was a good thing. It’s what we refer to as “education through pain”. Sometimes our lessons need to hurt a little bit in order for them to result in the needed change.

 

If you are the kind of person who tends to borrow from family and friends I encourage you to stop it. If you are the kind of person who tends to be an enabler of those who have the habit of borrowing, I encourage you to stop it too.

 

Borrowing and lending is best avoided to the greatest extent possible.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “And if you lend to those whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” Luke 6:34-35 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Borrowing and lending within families creates opportunity for conflict.”

 

I’ll be honest with you – I’m not sure why I’m writing this devotional message on the subject of borrowing and lending. It was not on my list of topics I wanted to address this month. But this morning the Lord convicted me about it and I haven’t been able to shake it. All I can conclude is that there’s someone out there who needs to read this.

 

Let me be clear that the Bible does not forbid us to be a borrower or a lender. There are many instances in the Bible where both were done. However Proverbs 22:7 does tell us that, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.” And on the other side of the coin there are many passages which caution the lender not to take unfair advantage of those who borrow.

 

So the Bible doesn’t forbid us to borrow or to lend, but it is clear that the act of borrowing and lending brings with it many possible problems. A borrower becomes indebted to the lender and may find themselves in a position where they cannot repay the debt; or worse still, in a position where they don’t want to repay the debt and therefore try to find ways to avoid repaying it.

 

On the lender’s side there is often the temptation to charge interest and therefore make a profit off of the person who was in the position of needing to borrow. And if repayment becomes a problem, lenders will sometimes give in to anger and resentment and perhaps take strong measures against the borrower who is in default. The Bible cautions us against both paths – defaulting on debts, or getting overly tough with those who default against us.

 

However in Luke 6:43-44 Jesus hints at a different approach. In that passage he suggests that a lender should be content to not be repaid at all. Likewise in other passages, Jesus used illustrations of kind lenders graciously forgiving outstanding debts. What Jesus was describing for us was a model based upon mercy, compassion, generosity, and grace.

 

In his classic work on Christian financial management, “The Total Money Makeover”, author Dave Ramsey builds on that concept of grace and mercy and generosity and suggests a rule that involves no lending at all. He says that you should either say “no” to the request for a loan, or you should give the money as a gift; but don’t get involved in lending money to family or friends because that just creates opportunities for conflict.

 

I agree with Dave and therefore Linda and I have adopted that rule as our own. We don’t lend money to people. We either say “no” or we give it as a gift, but we don’t loan.

 

I don’t know who you are out there this morning, but somebody needs to hear this. I’m thinking that somebody has extended a loan to a friend or family member that is now in default and is creating problems; or you’re thinking about extending a loan and therefore opening yourself up for possible problems in the future.

 

Pray about it, do what you think is best, but relationships are more important than money. If there is a loan and it is in default, you might want to think about forgiving it just to clear the table and get the issue out of the way. If you’re thinking about extending a loan, it might be better for both of you if you just give it as a gift – or just say “no”. But it really is true that relationships are more important than money and borrowing and lending opens the door for conflict and anger.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.”

1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)

 

Our thought for today: “You become like those you associate with.”

 

As has already been noted in this series, a “family” can take many forms. The traditional family consists of a father, mother, and children, all living together in the same home. But of course families can also consist of step-parents and step-children, half brothers and sisters, adopted children, foster children, others who are treated like family, and more.

 

There are also other groups which, although they don’t involve flesh and blood, marital bonds, or living arrangements, they still have family-like qualities. Examples include church family, a group of close friends, military units, and even members of a sports team. Even something as bad as an inner-city gang can have family-like qualities to it. And that brings us to the subject for today’s devotional message.

 

Be careful who you associate with because over time you will become like them. That’s a basic truth of human nature. We become like those we associate with. So if you join an inner-city gang it won’t be long before you will exhibit all the mannerisms and behaviors that are common to such a group. Likewise if your close friends are drug users it won’t be long before you will be a drug user too.

 

We become like those we associate with. Since the evidence for this truth is obvious and overwhelming, we need to think carefully about what kind of person we want to be, what kind of life we want to have, and then choose to associate with those kinds of people. If you want to have a life that revolves around addiction, crime, poverty, and jail, then go ahead and associate with people who are already living that life. But if your vision is for a life that includes good health, a good job, a happy marriage, a nice home, strong faith, and things like that, then seek out and join a group of people who already have that kind of life. A good church family would be an obvious choice.

 

Sometimes we find it necessary to disassociate ourselves from a group we’re already involved with. A drug user who wants to be free from that lifestyle has to stop hanging around with drug users. The fact is that some family-like groups are seriously dysfunctional – emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and even physically unhealthy, and therefore a member sometimes finds it necessary to distance themselves from that group just to be able to break free from that destructive lifestyle.

 

Sometimes we have to leave an unhealthy church family. At other times it’s a work environment that has gone bad and which we need to remove ourselves from. Sometimes we might even have to distance ourselves from relatives whose company isn’t good for us.

 

The point is that since we become like those we associate with, we have to be extremely careful about which groups we will involve ourselves with – and how deeply. I encourage you to give careful thought to the family-like groups you’re a part of. Make sure they’re made up of people you really like and admire, and then make smart choices about how much influence you will allow them to have over your life.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “We need help to get through the trials of life.”

 

This past weekend I met a couple named Steve and Jacki, who I found myself admiring very much. Jacki has been battling cancer for fourteen long years. At times it has been in remission and at other times it has come back with a vengeance, only to be beaten back again with more chemotherapy and radiation. Right now the cancer is back, and she is once again enduring an extended regime of chemotherapy.

 

However they have not allowed the illness to defeat them or define them. They also have not allowed it to limit them. At the outset they constructed an impressive and extensive “bucket list” and then proceeded to march down the list and check off every item. Steve and Jacki have also made it a point to live life large. They have not retreated to a sick room or anything of the sort. They go places, they do things, they spend time in enjoyable activities with people they love.

 

This couple is a textbook example of the principle I wrote about in yesterday’s devotional message about people who have resolved to help each other be resilient in the face of a very challenging time of trial. Fourteen years is a long time to be contending with a life-threatening illness.

 

In addition to their resolution to be resilient, another principle we see in play in the life of this couple is perseverance. The key to dealing with that kind of a struggle is to lean into it, push forward, and to keep moving through it. But as Solomon observed in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, it’s much easier to do that with help than it is to go it alone.

 

Steve and Jacki have walked through this together and that has made all the difference. But they haven’t just done it together. It hasn’t been just the two of them. A key to their resilience and perseverance has been the fact that they have walked through this time with a large group of family, church family, and friends. They surround themselves with people they love and enjoy and as an extended family they have all lived through this illness together. All of them. Together. This is “family” life (in all of its various manifestations) at its best.

 

Do you have a support group like that in your life? It’s great to have a spouse who is your best friend and soul mate to walk through tough times with you, but a larger group of family, church family, and close friends is essential too.

 

We need help to get through the tough times – and the more help the better. Not only do you need others to be there for you, but others also need you to be there for them. This is what “families” do for each other.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Family”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “Families help each other to be strong.”

 

Back in the early 1990s Linda and I knew an older couple by the name of Jim and Carol Aikens. Jim was a longtime Southern Baptist Pastor but in those years he was serving with the California Southern Baptist State Convention. He and Carol traveled the state, visiting churches, holding meetings, and encouraging church leaders. The thing was, Carol was handicapped and at that stage in life was confined to a wheelchair. They went everywhere in a wheelchair van conversion.

 

Linda and I once asked Carol considering her special needs and the associated limitations, how it was that she and Jim were able to go so many places and do so many things.  She replied, “Honey, Jim and I decided years ago that we were going to be resilient people. We decided we would just do what we had to do, and we would deal with the circumstances as they were. We resolved that we would help each other to be resilient and then we would just get on with life”. Those words stuck with us and Linda and I adopted them as our own resolution in life.

 

Now fast forward to the summer of 2007. In March of that year Linda had had a major stroke and two brain surgeries. As a result she was pretty seriously disabled and our entire lives had been turned upside down. I realized I was going to have to leave my globe-trotting work as the Vice-President of a Christian humanitarian relief agency, and we had no idea what the future held for us. So while I was trying to help Linda adjust to all the new limitations in her life, I was also struggling with doubts and worries and a good deal of anxiety of my own.

 

One day, as I was in the middle of an extended pity party, Linda reached out, took my hand and said, “Jim, we are resilient people. We can handle this. We will just do what we need to do and deal with the circumstances as they are. We will get through this. We are resilient people.”

 

So there I was thinking that I had to figure out how to help Linda carry her burdens and deal with her limitations, and actually she was helping me to deal with mine. That’s what Jim and Carol did for each other too, and that’s what we all need to be doing for one another.

 

That’s also what Paul was writing about in Galatians 6:2. As the people of God we are to be resilient. We are to take life as it comes, deal with it, and just do what we need to do. But in order to do that we need each other. Each of us should always be looking for ways to help carry one another’s burdens. This is an important function of church life and it’s a primary responsibility we have to one another.

 

I encourage you to resolve to be resilient. But to do that, you will have to have people in your life who can and will help you. Life can sometimes be hard, and the burdens we have to bear can be heavy. We need each other.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim