Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.” Romans 15:1 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “We must extend grace to those who don’t deserve it.”

I have a confession to make, “I am not, by nature, a grace-filled person.” Exactly the opposite is true. In my flesh I have to resist the temptation to slap difficult people. When I’m confronted with a whiny, complaining, self-absorbed, and divisive person, my military officer persona begins rising to the surface and I start seeing images in my mind of this person dropping to the ground and giving me twenty push-ups.

It takes nothing less than the Holy Spirit Himself to keep that in check.

In my reading this morning of Rick Warren’s book, “What on Earth Am I here for?”  Rick introduced me to a new term, “EGR People”. “Extra Grace Required”. These are people who have porcupine personalities – they’re always poking and jabbing and irritating. They are individuals who always seem to have an issue; needy people seeking attention.

There are some in every church. In fact, from time to time I’m probably one of them – and so are you.

Obviously in such situations if we allow our flesh to dictate our responses we could end up with a lot of conflict in the church. And so, the New Testament provides believers with lots of guidance on how to handle difficult people (and how to avoid being one).

In Romans 15:1 the Apostle Paul made reference to being strong and putting up with the weaknesses of others. He’s talking about being strong in the Spirit. He’s referring to spiritual maturity and how it should enable us to be kind and patient and loving and gracious even with – especially with – those who don’t deserve it. You know, kind of like what God does with us.

As you gather with your church family this week you’re probably going to have to deal with some EGRs. I urge you not to slap them! Instead, surrender the situation to the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to empower you to deal with difficult people gracefully. We must extend grace even to – maybe especially to – those who don’t deserve it.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “Only a fool would refuse God’s grace.”

We’ve learned this month that there are two broad categories of God’s grace, “Common” grace and “Special” grace. Common grace is that which is common to everyone, they get to experience it just because they live on this planet. It includes things like sunshine and rain, beautiful flowers and singing birds, a good night’s sleep and the laugh of a baby.

Special grace is reserved only for those who are part of God’s family because they have placed their faith in His Son Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. It includes salvation, sanctification, the fruit of the Spirit, eternal life, and so much more.

When a person resists and rejects God, that person is refusing God’s special grace. How foolish! Why would anyone do that? If a person truly understands what it is they are giving up, surely they would choose God and His abundant grace. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:22-23 that the fruit of the Spirit in a person’s life produces “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” And that’s just one element of special grace. Why would anyone reject that if they truly understood it?

I’ve heard it said, and I’m convinced it is true, that the real test of any worldview (any philosophy of life), is the quality of life it produces in the person who holds that view. So when we’re considering the validity of a worldview or philosophy of life that a person is promoting, we should consider things like how much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control does this person have in their life? How stable are their relationships? How much of a blessing are they to others? That’s an indication of how good or bad that worldview is.

Well, I can say with absolute certainty that I’ve never met an atheist who had a life that I would want. Not once. Not ever.  I have however, met countless Christians whose spiritual maturity and depth of faith produced in them qualities of life that were attractive, winsome, and desirable. They were people who inspired me and whom I found myself wanting to be like. They were experiencing the richness of God’s special grace in their lives and it showed.

Only a fool rejects God, and I believe they do it only because they don’t really understand what they’re missing. That being the case, I encourage you to make sure they can see the fruit of God’s special grace in your life.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5 (NIV)

Our thought for today: “God’s grace is experienced best and most often when we are with other Christians.

Over the years I have known many Christians – far too many, who were not active in a local church. Maybe they would occasionally attend a church service somewhere, but they were not actively and deeply involved in the life of a good church.

Their explanations for their lack of attendance and involvement varied, but none of them were good. The reason I say that is because the New Testament provides us with no example or model (not one) of Christians who were Lone Rangers – uninvolved in a local church, and it having been a good thing. Every positive example God provides us in the New Testament involves Christians being a vital part of a good church.

One of the best teachings on this subject that I have ever come across is from Pastor Rick Warren in his book, “What on Earth Am I Here For?” Rick reminds us that the Apostle Paul taught that being a member of a local church involves much more than just having your name on a membership role. Instead, in Paul’s mind, it meant that you are a vital organ of a living body, “an indispensable, interconnected part of the Body of Christ.”

Rick wrote, “If an organ is somehow severed from its body, it will shrivel and die. It cannot exist on its own, and neither can you. Disconnected and cut off from the lifeblood of a local body, your spiritual life will wither and eventually cease to exist. This is why the first symptom of spiritual decline is usually inconsistent attendance at worship services and other gatherings of believers. Whenever we become careless about fellowship, everything else begins to slide too.”

This is why my people at Oak Hill Baptist hear me speak so frequently about the vital importance of consistent and faithful attendance at the gatherings of the church. You cannot be, and will not be, spiritually healthy apart for participation in the life of a good church. God has ordained it that way. The place where we will most often experience the manifestation of God’s grace – His manifold blessings poured out upon us, is in the midst of other dynamic Christians gathered together as God’s family in a local church.

Again quoting from Rick’s book, “Satan loves detached believers, unplugged from the life of the Body, isolated from God’s family, and unaccountable to spiritual leaders, because he knows they are defenseless and powerless against his tactics.”

If you are out of church right now, if you don’t have a church home and therefore are not regularly and faithfully participating in the weekly gatherings of a good church family, I urge you to correct that right away. For one thing, you are vulnerable; but also, you are missing so much! God’s grace is experienced best and most often when you are gathered with His people.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God blesses a humble spirit.”

Do you remember our working definition for God’s grace? Grace is, “Undeserved blessings freely bestowed upon people by God.” In James 4:6 we’re told that God gives that grace, those undeserved blessings, to the humble. Those are the ones who are His favored recipients. The less humility we have, the fewer blessings we should expect to receive from God. And if our hearts are full of pride, God actually resists us. His most and best blessings are for the humble.

I witnessed a wonderful example of this on my recent fact-finding trip to Haiti. There I had the privilege to meet and begin a working relationship with Pastor Joel Jeune. Joel’s actual title is “Bishop” because he’s the leader of a vast Christian network which includes over 260 churches, 3 orphanages, a widow’s home, a hospital, and more than 65 Christian schools across the island of Haiti. His ministry is called “Grace International”. It’s a great name and it describes the ministry as well as the man very well.

Bishop Jeune is one of the most influential Christian leaders in Haiti. He has met with Presidents and Prime Ministers in his own country and in the USA; he is often on television and radio programs in both countries; and he speaks to gatherings of thousands.

I met him on my first night in Haiti. There was a soft knock on my door and when I opened it, there stood the Bishop. With a big smile on his face he half-bowed to me and in a gentle voice said, “My brother Pastor Jim. Thank you so much for coming to my country.” And then he gave me a big hug. We then sat and talked for almost two hours.

The thing that impressed me most about him was his gentle spirit and his deep humility. He was soft-spoken, warm, kind, funny, and very easy to be with. As we talked, he explained how over forty years God repeatedly poured out His blessings upon the ministry of Grace International – growing it from a small collection of little churches to what it is today. Joel gave all the credit and all the glory to God; saying many times that there was no good reason for God to have chosen to work through a flawed vessel like him. He reminded me a little of Billy Graham – a great man of God with a humble spirit.

The lesson we learn from such examples is the same truth James taught in his letter, that God blesses the humble in spirit. God’s grace – His most and best blessings, are reserved for those who are humble.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Transformation is by the grace of God, as a gift from God.”

Yesterday I mentioned the enduring popularity of that great old hymn “Amazing Grace”. It was written in 1790 by John Newton. John was the Captain of a slave ship and as far as slave-trading sea captains went, he was one of the worst. John was known to be exceptionally cruel and brutal. By his own admission he was a despicable person.

I don’t have time to tell the whole story John Newton right now, but in the middle of a life threatening situation at sea John came to faith in Jesus Christ and quit his profession in the slave trade. He then went on to become a pastor and preacher, as well as one of the most influential voices to get the slave trade abolished. John also wrote many great hymns, the most famous of which was Amazing Grace. And, he wrote it about himself. “Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!”

People who knew John Newton in his slave-trading years could never have envisioned the man God eventually transformed him into. That was an amazing work of transformation and grace and it came about in his life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is what Paul was referring to in Romans 12:1-2. He calls his readers to completely surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, and then to be slowly and progressively transformed into the man or woman He wants you to be.

Chances are you’re not a slave-trading sea captain, or anything even remotely resembling that. But neither are you the man or woman God wants and intends for you to be. That is a process that occurs slowly over time as you submit yourself to the work of the Spirit in your life each and every day. And it is a process of transformation which continues right up until the day this life ends and you cross the threshold into eternity.

We are all in-process. None of us has arrived yet. The grace of God is still at work in each of us to transform us into the people He wants us to be. As with John Newton we can all proclaim, “I know I’m not yet what I should be, but thank God I’m not what I used to be.”

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Ephesians 1:7-8 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “People all around you are thirsting for grace.”

Philip Yancey once wrote, “The world thirsts for grace in ways it does not even recognize.” The more I’ve thought about that statement the more I’m convinced it is true. People thirst for grace; they have a deep yearning to be blessed and to experience kindness, compassion, and mercy. In a world that is all too often not kind or compassionate, people thirst for grace.

This probably explains why the hymn “Amazing Grace” is one of the favorite Christian songs ever written and why it remains immensely popular more than 250 years later, being sung many thousands of times every Sunday in churches all across the world. “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”

The place people should most often encounter the grace of God is in the church. We the people of God should be the dispensers of the grace of God. As Paul teaches, we are to proclaim the Gospel of grace and we are to be ministers of God’s grace.

Gordon MacDonald once observed, “The world can do almost anything as well as or better that the church. You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer (God’s) grace.

That, my friends, is what we have to offer the world – God’s grace. We must offer a clear and convincing proclamation of the Gospel of grace, and we must minister to people in the spirit of grace. Ephesians 1:7-8 speaks of the “richness” of God’s grace “lavished” upon us – which is exactly how we then must deliver it to others, richly and lavishly.

People all around you are thirsting for God’s grace and it is within your power to help them experience it. I encourage you to be intentional about doing that today.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 5:13 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God graciously gives us the freedom to rest.”

As we already know, grace is a matter of God’s blessings freely bestowed upon those who don’t deserve them. One of those blessings freely bestowed upon us from God is the freedom to rest. God established the Sabbath as the day when all our work and our preoccupation with making a living is to stop, and we are to focus instead on gathering with our church family, engaging in corporate worship, and resting. Sabbath rest is a gift from God – it is a matter of grace.

Unfortunately many of us think we’re too busy to rest. We get so caught-up in the demands of life that we routinely disobey God’s command regarding Sabbath rest. Even if we do abstain from the work we do to earn a living, we often fill the time with other tasks such as yard work, or car maintenance.

Recently I came across a poem which President Harry Truman liked. If you know anything about Harry Truman then you’re probably aware of the fact that he was one of the hardest working Presidents we have ever had. He was a workaholic. But he knew this to be true about himself, and he was also a Christian, so he was intentional about attending worship services and then resting and relaxing. Here’s the poem:

“Every man’s a would be sportsman, in the dreams of his intent.
A potential out-of-doors man when his thoughts are pleasure bent.
But he mostly puts the idea off, for the things that must be done,
And doesn’t get his outing till his outing days are gone.
So in hurry, scurry, worry, work, his living days are spent,
And he does his final camping in a low green tent.”

Of course, the low green tent the poet refers to is the canopy erected over the man’s grave for the benefit of those attending his funeral.

Sabbath rest is a gift to us from God. He could have instructed us to work like dogs non-stop seven days a week. Instead He gave us the gift of rest. It is part of His grace to us. Accept the gift. Attend a worship service this weekend and get some rest.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.” Matthew 25:40 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “Grace often shows up in the most unlikely of places.”

Zagorsk Prison is the oldest prison in Russia. Built in 1832, most of the structure is below ground – deep below ground. To get to the cells you have to descend long flights of stone steps. The cells themselves are small, crowded, dark, and damp. It is truly a dungeon in the worst sense. Inmates spend years there without ever seeing the sun.

At one point, shortly after the fall of communism, the government was in shambles and was forced to cut off all funds to the prison, therefore there was no longer any food to feed the prisoners. In desperation the Warden turned to the monks in a local monastery, asking them for help. The monks made it their mission to provide daily food for the prisoners out of their own meager rations. In turn, the Warden allowed the monks to construct a chapel in the prison and to hold weekly worship services. Soon there was a robust church thriving in that place. It was grace in a dungeon.

As I write this I’m in Carrefour, Haiti. It’s a coastal town approximately thirty miles northwest of the capital city of Port-Au-Prince. I’m here on a short trip to meet with some new ministry partners, do a little fact-finding, and make plans for future mission trips.

Haiti is a country with a long history of exploitation by foreign powers, rampant corruption by their own leaders, and a seemingly never ending cycle of natural disasters. There is a small wealthy ruling class, but the majority of the population lives in abject poverty.

In the middle of the poverty and despair is Grace International Ministries – a ministry formed by Haitians to minister to Haitians. With over 260 churches across the island, along with a hospital, three orphanages, a widow’s home, numerous Christian schools, and multiple training sites to teach trade skills to young people, Grace International brings the love, mercy and compassion of Jesus, into a difficult and desperate situation. It kind of reminds me of the story of the monks and Zagorsk prison.

I’m looking forward to bringing medical and dental mission teams to Haiti to work alongside our brothers and sisters from Grace International. It’s a wonderful example of grace in the most unlikely of places.

God’s grace shines most brightly when it shines in dark and unexpected places. That could be a dank Russian prison, or a place like Haiti. But it could just as easily be your workplace on a bad day, or in a hospital room, or perhaps even in your own home. I encourage you to intentionally be a conduit for the grace of God to flow in unexpected ways and in unexpected places.

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

 

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

 

Our Bible verse for today: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (HCSB)

 

Our thought for today: “God’s grace is sufficient.”

 

The last of the four sub-categories of God’s special grace is what is known as “sufficient grace”. It is the quality of God’s grace being fully sufficient first of all, for our salvation. Hebrews 7:25 in the NIV reads, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through Him.” What we read there is that those who come to the Father through the Son are saved fully and completely. God’s special grace is sufficient to ensure our salvation. That’s why the writer of the favorite Baptist Hymn “Grace Greater than Our Sin” was able to write the great lyric, “Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

 

But God’s grace is also sufficient for to meet all of our needs and situations in this life. This is what Paul was writing about in 2 Corinthians 12:9. In Paul’s case, he had some sort of health problem that was debilitating to the point that he pleaded in prayer for God to take it away. God could certainly have done that, but instead he gave Paul the strength and the courage to face the situation head-on and in a manner that brought honor and glory to God.

 

That’s true for you too. Sometimes God will deliver you from the problems, heartaches, and challenges of this life. But more often, through his abundant and sufficient grace, He will empower you to face them and to deal with them in a courageous and admirable way.

 

For the follower of Christ, God’s special grace is fully sufficient to meet all of our needs – in this life and in the next.

 

God Bless,

Pastor Jim

Good Morning Everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Grace”

Our Bible verse for today: “We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Acts 26:14 (HCSB)

Our thought for today: “God’s grace is irresistible.”

So far within the category of God’s special grace we have looked at two of the four sub-categories including “prevenient” or what we called “enabling” grace, and “efficacious” or “effective” grace. Today we want to consider “irresistible grace”. Finally! A word we can understand and don’t have to redefine!

Irresistible grace is exactly that, it is irresistible. Once you experience it you can’t resist it. It is closely tied to enabling grace and effective grace. Enabling grace is the grace of God to me which existed even before I had any interest in Jesus Christ. God loved me and was reaching out to me. Enabling grace is that quality of God’s grace which ensures that God’s grace will have its desired effect in me. But irresistible grace is that quality of God’s grace which, once I’m open enough to experience it, makes it too good to resist.

This is what Paul experienced in Acts 26:14 during his conversion experience on the road to Damascus. Without him even realizing it was happening, Paul’s heart had been prepared to receive Christ. He was in exactly the condition the Holy Spirit needed him to be in. As the encounter with Christ was occurring, and the light of awareness and truth was flooding into Paul’s heart, it was too much for him and he couldn’t resist it. That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “It’s hard for you to kick against the goads.” In other words, “You can’t resist Me can ya?”

The concept of irresistible grace helps us to understand that although a person can have a hard heart and thereby resist and rebuff God’s overtures, once the heart is open enough to allow grace in, it comes in like a flood and immediately becomes too much to resist.

In Psalm 34:8 King David urged us to, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Yes He is, and it doesn’t take much to come to that conclusion. Open your heart just a crack and the grace of God will come bursting in and you will quickly discover how much you like it.

There was a television commercial many years ago which urged the viewers to “Try it, you’ll like it.” Well, that may have been true of their product but it’s even truer of God. Try God and you will find that He is indeed irresistible.

God Bless,
Pastor Jim